"You are awake," the voice echoed through the room.
"Where am I?" The boy on the bed asked, his green eyes wavering from exhaustion.
"Relax, don't overwork your body," the nurse said, walking closer with a transparent tablet in hand. "You just awakened your core and became a super," she explained.
"A super?" The boy repeated, clearly surprised.
"Yeah. Your exact rank has yet to be confirmed, but you awakened at least a prime-tier skill," she added.
The world seemed to spin at the revelation. "I still don't understand you, prime tier skill, awakening a core. I did not even go through a core resonance," the boy said, confused.
"Although rare, there are cases where supers awaken without resonance. They usually have really high-level skills. The radiant sentinel is an example," the nurse said, her eyes not even moving from the tablet in her hands.
After a few swipes, she looked up into the boy's face.
"Xavier Maverick, 18 years old, orphan, best graduating student of Rovers University's department of technology," the nurse stated everything about Xavier as if she had always been there since the beginning of his life.
Guided by instincts, Xavier nodded to each words.
"You have been admitted to Etrion Atlas Academy, which is also where you currently are," she concluded as the screen on her palm switched off.
At this point, Xavier did not even know what to do or say. Everything seemed to happen in a blur, from awakening to prime tier skill, to rarity, to admission. But he was able to calm down slightly, or at least ease the storm brewing in his mind.
"Can I at least go back to take my things?" He asked.
"There is no need for that; we transported everything to the academy," the woman replied.
"Ohh, I see," Xavier nodded. 'There is no going back now, I guess,' he thought in acceptance.
"Follow me to the assessment area. We have to know your rank and skill."
"But you just told me not to overwork my body."
"That was when you just recovered. You were still being tested, but you are perfectly fine now."
Xavier blinked at how straightforward she was whenever she spoke.
"Should we go now?" He asked.
Immediately, as the words left his mouth, the room seemed to crack, as fissures spread. In merely an instant, they vanished.
Before he could even open his eyes to see the place, his tummy stirred, and he poured everything out.
"Good thing you prepared a bowl beforehand," the woman commented as she looked at the smiling woman in a full white laboratory coat.
"Alice, don't you think it is too cruel to use something as teleportation for new supers?" The woman asked.
"Really, Mira, you expect me to waste time bringing recruits to the assessment area?" Alice asked.
"Never mind, not like my words matter to you anyway."
Mira walked to Xavier and placed her palm on his bag. "How are you feeling?"
"Nauseous," Xavier's reply was short and sharp.
A smile tugged at Mira's lips at his blunt reply. "Here, water to help calm down," she stretched her hand into space, and a glass of water appeared. Handing it to Xavier, she turned back to her earlier position, beside a huge, spherical, deep black machine that whirled with blue light.
She waited for a while, letting Xavier drink the water and approach her.
Alice just stepped back, letting her sister take over from there.
"This is a resonance sphere," she began, her hands sliding on the machine's surface. "Place your hand on its surface, it will measure your resonance, and show your skill," she revealed.
"Why are you waiting?" Mira asked, looking at Xavier's eyes that lingered on the machine.
"So...sorry," he murmured.
As a tech-obsessed boy, he could not help but glaze the incredible machine that stood before him.
"No need for apologies, just place your hand on it."
Xavier nodded.
Slowly, he lifted his palm and placed it on the machine.
As his palm connected, the blue light brightened, radiating an intense light that threatened to blind everyone in the room.
The light receded just as fast as it shone. The screen on the sphere lit up.
[Skill: Vector Manipulation]
[Tier: X]
The words appeared on the screen, bold and bright.
Xavier stared in disbelief.
The girls looked at it for only a moment before retracting their gazes. It was as if they had always expected the results before them.
Before Xavier could even talk or comment on what he saw, space folded again, and he disappeared.
In the assessment room, only two people remained, Mira and Alice.
"Just as I thought, it is the same Maverick family," Alice sighed.
"How can a family constantly produce X-tier supers every generation?" Mira added.
"And all their history is mysteriously covered; we never know they are the ones unless they awaken an X-tier skill," Alice spoke, already tapping several things on her tablet.
"Just hope this one does not disappear like the rest always does."
"Mira, get the simulators ready. The students will begin their combat simulation class in about 30 minutes," Alice said, already moving away from their discussion about the Maverick family.
"Okay," Mira quickly ran out of the room, passing through the small door at the other side of the room.
"She is gone now. What do you want?" Alice's voice rang through the room, her eyes still focused on the tab.
"Still as sharp, Alice," a voice replied casually.
"We are not talking unless you reveal yourself," Alice, unbothered by the compliments, said.
Several tiny particles began to wriggle at her words. All over the room, it seemed like dust had been drawn together. In a breath, they all came together, forming a figure.
Blue, cerulean eyes, and brown hair that flowed in perfect harmony.
"Good evening, Alice," the man greeted.
Alice finally looked up from her tablet, looking into the eyes of the man whose name brought dread to all villains, the Radiant Sentinel. "Serath, why are you here?" She asked.
"Is that how you greet your old comrade? We haven't seen in like 3 years, and you just keep that cold face," Serath complained, furrowed brows.
A warm smile formed on Alice's lips. She walked up to him, and gave a hug, one she poured all her emotions into.