Rosemary Walsh, she was one of the most well known up and coming students of Skyward academy.
She was rated an A2 and her ability was highly sought after by many hunter teams as well as heroes. She had the ability to share senses as well as abilities to a certain extent if the target consented to her.
Making her weak on her own, but very lethal once she joins any team. It was why even in the Academy she was a kind of Diva that everyone wanted to get close to. Because during practical's, her ability was too good to ignore.
There was also the fact that she was a beautiful girl on her own, making many young boys to hover around her.
Though she had eyes for only a single guy in her year and it was none other than Ram, the guy with an immortal power flowing through his veins.
The power of a phoenix.
Sadly, that man never looked her way. No he was too blind to his own goals and aspirations for that to happen.
Not to mention, she can't approach Ram the way other girls can. Because on the surface she still was dating Triptan from Blue Mountain academy who was even more famous than the current Ram.
That was to be expected because Their batch is just in the second half of their year and Triptan had been in university for 3 years at least and had more chances to shine, which in turn caused him to be more popular.
Triptan was also an individual that had held over flames just like Ram, causing people to compare the two.
But Rose knew the truth, she was aware of the difference in rank a long time ago. It was why she abandoned her old friend the day she learned how low he was when compared to someone like Ram that shined like a sun in the starry sky.
Compared to her old friend, that was just a wick of a candle.
Hence she was all the more sure that Ram would soon overtake Triptan in popularity and stand on top of everyone.
She believes herself to have an eye for people and Ram is the kind that will shine the brightest.
It was why she always looked for an opportunity to get closer to him.
And it just so happens the dark past of Ram has been exposed to the school.
A past she was well aware of, but she didn't say anything in case of catching the ire of Ram. But the bumbling fool that is Kuluvi spoke all of it at once, making the scenario a lot worse than it should have been.
But this was an opportunity for her. A chance to get closer to Ram.
So she exposed the names of a few that were involved in his bullying while acting as if she remembered a bad memory that she wished to forget.
She even earned some pity points from others while doing so.
And a natural meeting with Ram as well.
"You shouldn't have told them the names. Now they will start a war with Blue Mountain Academy over this." Ram complained, not wanting to see his own classmates suffer due to him. Not to mention, it was his own past and a personal matter. And he didn't like to involve other people into things like these.
But Rose just shook her head and helped Ram recall a certain past. "You are too kind for your own good. Even in middle school you acted the same and hence became the target of those people."
"You didn't even listen to my suggestion during those days, causing your bullying to worsen."
"Now look at how things have become."
The event she spoke about only happened after Ram had already awakened with his power, before it she was completely oblivious to his plight.
But why would she mention any of this?
And besides, in those days there were many that tried to help him after his awakening, she was not anyone special.
Though now she has connected her words and actions in this way. The meaning of the words from the past might change in Ram's might.
And that's what she was going for.
A change in perception. She wanted to make Ram fall for her.
Rose was not some fool like other girls that showed their emotions and fawned over Ram. She was smarter than them and understood what moderation meant.
So after her small talk and showing that she cared for Ram in her own way, she left. Leaving Ram a bit confused, as he recalled his past.
'Yes, there was that weird guy as well.'
And in that past, a foolish face flashed by his eyes, a guy that carried an anime bag to his school and acted like a moron most of the time.
But when it came to studies, he always excelled at it.
And he seems to be doing the same as well, though he doesn't appear in the open as much anymore.
Still, Ram hates the fact that his past had been exposed by that same foolish guy.
At least Rose was smart enough to not open her mouth until she was forced by others. But considering the nature of that guy. It was weird that his secret had been hidden till now.
"She is right, enduring won't do."
Even though Ram didn't want to do it initially. At the end of the day, it has come to this.
It would be better to deal with this bad karma than to wait and let time sort it out by itself.
*****
"You bastard, because of you I can't do my exercise in peace anymore."
"Hey bro, it's not my fault. I was just saving my skin."
After playfully getting beaten up by Andy, Luvi cursed his close friends' mother and "fathers" before calming down in his room.
"That bastard, his kicks really hurt."
Though a bit more curses came from his vulgar mouth.
But then he entered meditation for real this time.
It's been five weeks since he got the knowledge and today he felt it. He knows that today might be the day he succeeds at the practice.
After a series of meditation, Luvi took off most of his clothes, leaving only his underwear. He had been fed with washing his clothes daly due to his grueling exercise making his clothes too smelly.
So after ordering a couple of new boxers, he had opted to stay partially naked as he practiced.
And today was going to be a day like that as well.
"Proper form, from head to toe, from in to out." He has repeated the move so much, his body already remembers it by instinct, while the mana circulation still needed some focus and while repeating the steps through his mouth, he controlled the channeled mana through his body.
It was a lot harder than before. For he was not looking forward to a failure, hence he was completely focused on his exercise.
Its success means a new life for him, a new future not only for him, but for humanity.
His success meant the survival of humanity, a hope for a better future. Not the bleak one that he saw in the gift.
So it would be a lie to say that Luvi was not scared of failure. His heart rate was high and he almost trembled and caused his exercise to break in between.
But he still persisted, just like he had been doing since the day he received the day, he persisted and did his best.
It had been a long time since he worked so hard.
And it had been even longer when his hard work was rewarded.
"I can feel it."
After the first cycle is formed, the body will automatically absorb the mana from the atmosphere on its own at a very slow pace. Which was miles better than before where one needs to absorb mana manually.
But it was not the true function of a body building technique.
Luvi picked up a rubber ball and squeezed it tightly between his hands.
"39 kg."
A full increment of 2 kgs at once.
Usually, its hard to increase one's grip strength unless one practices for months with specialized diet and equipment.
The other method is to raise one's rank through mana absorption and enter the white grade or even green grade.
But just by practicing this technique one time, Luvi saw a full increase of 2 kgs.
"Ha hah!!"
A small laugh escaped from his mouth. But it didn't take long for it to become huge.
"Bwahaha!!... I knew it… I fucking knew it."
"I hit a fucking jackpot."
He laughed and laughed, the flesh on his face shaking up and down as he fell down on his bed.
"Talent doesn't matter anymore, Ability doesn't matter as well…"
"The superheroes will evolve, there is no need to rank people by the ability they were born with."
"They don't even have to have an ability to gain power anymore."
Pride and hope gleamed in Luvi's eyes.
There was also a particular post that had been in draft form for a long time.
But it was time to release it to the world.
"Go my little lion, shake the foundations of the world."
With a single click, Luvi sent the post that would change the direction of the world.
And in turn force him on a path of destitution.
To the current him, it was all a joke.
Because at the end of the day, ignoring all his schemes and mind games. He was still a young child that was unaware of the darkness of the world. Unaware of responsibilities.
Unaware of what it means to have the fate of humanity on his shoulder.
But he will learn. There is no choice left for him but to learn it.