While the crowd was gawking at the wounds, the nurses were setting up different pieces of equipment, and Principal Ojus smoothly continued his explanation without paying any mind to the injured students. "With the right abilities, injuries can recover swiftly and often at a pace that surpasses the effectiveness of modern medicine alone."
"Watch closely." Principal Ojus prompted as projections appeared on the walls to give the crowd a better view of the wheelchair-bound students. The audience watched as the first nurse carefully pressed and glided her hands over the scattered cuts on the first student's body. The crowd watched in disbelief as the wounds seemed to seal shut like a zipper, leaving only a faint scar behind.
The second nurse knelt in front of the student with a broken leg and placed a hand above and below the injury. Students in the crowd gasped and winced as the bones beneath the injured student's skin began to shift, realigning themselves back to their original position.
The final nurse opened a container to unveil a hand. As the nurse picked up the missing appendage and brought it back to the owner, the projection showed strings mysteriously appearing and extending from the lost limb back to the remainder of the arm. The crowd clearly saw the bisected flesh and bones, a scene that many students found too brutal to watch, closing their eyes entirely. Victor, however, found himself strangely mesmerized by the process. The strings penetrated the student's skin, drawing the hand back to the arm as they intricately wove everything together once more. The process unfolded with an unsettling smoothness that he couldn't help but find oddly beautiful.
Principal Ojus smiled as he gestured towards the crowd. "Behold supernatural power."
The three treatments were quick and bloodless, and the students both on and off stage seemed to be in a trance, albeit for different reasons. The demonstrations had concluded, so the nurses wheeled the three students off the stage. Victor shot a glance toward Matt, managing to catch his expression becoming colder.
"Right now those three will be receiving further treatment to prevent any complications. By tomorrow you should see them wandering around school just fine." The principal spoke reassuringly. Those words seemed to satisfy most of the crowd, yet Matt's face remained unambiguously fixed on Principal Ojus.
Victor himself wasn't too convinced, so he made a mental note to verify those words himself. After giving it some more thought, he decided it might be better for him to find out why those three were injured in the first place...
"The three demonstrations you just saw were examples of innate abilities manifested and trained for countless years. Tomorrow, by the time you wake up, you will have received abilities of your own. Innate abilities have infinite ways to manifest themselves and a wide variety of applications, but each individual only gets one." The principal explained.
"Tomorrow, you will not only gain a new ability, but you will also be welcomed into the Promotion Star Games. Your futures will be determined by your skills and how you cultivate them and how you fare against your competition in the star games. Upon your induction into the system tomorrow, you will gain a deeper understanding of how this world operates, and over the coming months, you will discover the roles you can take within it."
Ojus continued speaking with a proud expression. "Today I will be announcing the start of your graduating assignment. All final-year students globally will be evaluated across multiple dimensions. The primary emphasis will be on the development, mastery, and performance of your ability, though other skills will also be evaluated. Whether or not you want to comprehensively develop your skills or focus on your main ability is up to you. Both strategies have proven effective in the past, yet we encourage all students to embrace creativity in their efforts to ascend the ranks."
"Obviously we are not grading this assignment," the principal continued. "Your final ranking will serve as a testament to your accomplishments. In addition, attaining higher ranks brings valuable rewards that are well worth the effort. This is not just a contest and a competition. It also serves as a tutorial to prepare you for the real world. Take advantage of this chance, for attaining easy rewards beyond our planet is not as simple."
Principal Ojus gave a pointed look toward the crowd. "When you leave, think deeply about the kind of ability you desire in your life."
Leaving the crowd with those strange words, the principal ended his speech after a few more words of encouragement and advice and dismissed the crowd.
Shortly after, Victor and his friends left the building with various thoughts reflected on their faces. It was already late into the afternoon, and no classes were scheduled after the assembly, so the group wandered across campus while stewing in their thoughts. Darius was the first to shatter the silence. "What the hell was that? Did the principal go insane?"
"He sounded pretty serious to me." Jax responded with some consideration.
"What if this is some kind of twisted joke?" Elaine casually suggested.
"No, I doubt it." Victor began. "Did you see how Matt was staring at Principal Ojus? If I were to venture a guess, those students were injured because of the principal."
"The principal hurting his students?" Elaine spoke skeptically. "That sounds crazy. That's like a farmer abusing their cows."
Jax raised an eyebrow. "What kind of analogy is that? We aren't livestock. It's not like he owns us. And he's definitely not going to butcher us when this year is over."
Elaine looked over with a faint smile. "You don't know that. After all, have any of us heard what happened to the upper years? Who's to say they aren't being served in the cafeteria right now?"
Victor just rolled his eyes in response to Elaine's sick joke. "Tomorrow, keep an eye out for those three who were on stage. I want to see if the principal was lying when he said they would be fine. Those types of injuries don't heal that quickly. If you get the chance, try asking them how they got those injuries."
Elain rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you guys, tomorrow we are all going to wake up to an announcement telling us it was all an elaborate ruse, and the lesson will be how we shouldn't trust scammers so easily."
Rosa shook her head in response. "No. The way this was set up, from the mandatory viewing to the demonstration..." She shivered slightly at the thought of the severed arm. "They went too far for this to be just a prank."
As if to agree with her, Victor's communicator pulsed.
"Uhhh, did everyone else get that?" Darius asked.
The group exchanged a look before they all opened their communicators together. They were met with a schoolwide announcement. "Attention all students. Please be in your simulation pods within the next 30 minutes. Please ensure that you are in your simulation pods within the next hour. Failure to do so may result in property damage, injury, or even death when you awaken your ability."
"Again with this ability nonsense?" Elaine murmured, but Victor could tell she was significantly less confident in her previous assertion. The five exchanged a glance. Recently they had a habit of heading into town to hang out after classes, but it appeared that today that wasn't an option.
"Let's head back. If we are lucky, we might be able to meet online. If not, let's just message each other, and we'll meet tomorrow." Victor suggested. The group said their goodbyes, each taking the announcement extremely seriously.
The group said their goodbyes. Victor was one of the last students to arrive at his residential building, leaving only 10 minutes to enter his simulation pod. It was one of five buildings of its kind across the campus, each with five floors, meant to provide living accommodations for students in their year. There were around 1000 students in Victor's grade, each of whom had a room to themselves.
Victor swiftly scanned his keycard and entered the building. He gave a quick wave to the lady at the front desk right before dashing up the stairs to his room on the 4th floor. Right as Victor was about to scan his keycard to enter his room, he heard a familiar voice call out to him.
Victor looked down the hallway with surprise. "Angie!" Victor smiled and turned to his caretaker, maternal figure, and the woman who had cared for him since he was a baby. The tall, dark-skinned woman in her mid-thirties stood in the doorway, her face showing tenderness and melancholy as she looked at him. By all rights, Victor should have noticed her standing there when he came out of the stairwell, but Angie always seemed to appear without anyone noticing. Victor wondered in the back of his mind if she was using an ability, but he was too focused on her expression to pursue that thought.
As if reading his mind, she laughed before approaching and giving him a short hug before retreating to arm's length, looking at him thoughtfully.
"Almost 17 years..." She mused. "I'd like to say you've grown up, but to me, you will always be that baby I cared for way back when."
A sheepish expression appeared on Victor's face, but he sensed the strange atmosphere and asked her directly. "Where is this coming from? I have to enter the simulation pod soon, you know."
Angie gave Victor a sad look before answering. "This might be the last time we see each other."
For a moment, Victor was at a loss for words, but he was easily able to guess why. "...Is it because of what's happening tomorrow?"
His caretaker nodded, pulling out a small bag from her pocket before speaking solemnly. "It's a goodbye gift. I hope it will be useful in your trials ahead."
Upon seeing the bag suddenly, the situation felt all the more real, and tears welled up in his eyes. He then spoke the most earnest question in his heart.
"Will I ever see you again?"
Angie gave him a motherly smile before answering. "That depends on you. As long as you are strong enough, you can make anything happen."
Victor tried desperately to hold his tears back, but he was doomed to fail from the start.
"It seems the boy who wears his heart on his sleeve has never truly disappeared. Seeing you cry... it's so nostalgic. It almost makes me feel relieved." Angie wiped the tears that were falling down Victor's face.
"Victor, I know this world is not meant for people like you, but I truly hope the next time we meet, your heart is just as kind as I remember."
Victor did not really know how to respond, so he just let the minutes pass in Angie's embrace as he had done all those times in his childhood. As the time got dangerously close to the enforced curfew, Angie spoke up.
"It's time for you to go. Also, about your gift..." Agnes pointed down at the bag in his hand. "Don't try it on until after you awaken your ability."
Through the tears in his eyes, Victor checked his communicator for the time, learning he only had less than three minutes left to enter his simulation pod. Even still, he couldn't help but take his time saying his goodbyes. Sensing his indecisiveness, Angie took it upon herself to be the one to end their moment together. Victor then watched as the one person he had relied on his whole life walked away and disappeared around the corner, leaving behind some parting words.
"Tomorrow you will have to learn to fly all on your own. I hope one day I can see the shape your wings take."