Thirty four years had passed since the dimensional anomaly disaster, and in the year 2108, supernatural powers and human technology had grown.
Nowadays, human could do supernatural powers such as telekinesis and elements control. They used that powers to fight the monster from other dimension, and to support their daily work.
Even so, human had not abandoned conventional weapons such as guns and missiles, that weapons still used as a backup to fight the monster, although its attack were not as effective as supernatural powers.
In general, human supernatural powers began to grow at 18 years old, and after 23 years old, its growth began to slow down, this was the same as the puberty process in human beings.
If human supernatural powers opened after 23 years old, then that power could not be used to fight the monster or to support their works, because its strength was too weak.
On the other hand, the development of human technology was more developed in the field of telecommunications. At this time, peoples were no longer used handphone, but they used a bracelet that could show a holographic display.
That hologram bracelet known as Howlet.
http%3a%2f%2f4.bp.blogspot.com%2f-id06GG6F4cA%2fVf...howlet.jpg [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-id06GG6F4cA/VfJ9PwIcnfI/AAAAAAAAABI/OIxATfsNPeQ/s400/howlet.jpg]
Howlet had been used for various communications activities such as calling, email, video calls, recording, streaming video, and other activities. Howlet discovered in 2058, and almost all human activities today’s were done by the help of howlet.
Howlet also equipped with a voice recognition ability, so all commands could be done by speaking a specific keyword. If you wanted to call, then just said 'CONTACT' and instantly a hologram display would appear from howlet, afterwards you just mentioned the name of the person that you wished to call.
Howlet could also be used to determine the user body condition, such as detecting heartbeat, breathing patterns, blood pressure, and supernatural energy levels.
The government were fully subsidized howlet, so everyone could get a howlet for free. This was intended to increase the work efficiency, so the country’s economy could grow faster.
# # #
The time was six o'clock in the morning, and my howlet that located on my left wrist activated the alarm system to woke me up.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
I disabled my howlet’s alarm system, and woke up from my sleep. After that I sat beside my futon. I didn’t use a bed to sleep, because I didn’t have a private bedroom.
Everyday, our family had been sleeping using futon in the living room, because we lived in a small apartment.
There were only two rooms in our apartment, a bathroom and a storeroom. Therefore other activities carried out in the living room.
There were only one television, a dining table that could be folded, and two cabinets in our living room. Although there were no entertainment devices such as playstation or computer, I could use my howlet devices for playing games or watching movies.
I smoothed my futon and put it back in the cabinet. My mother was preparing our breakfast, while my father had gone to the office since five o’clock in the morning.
My father did not eat breakfast at home, because he had to catch the train to get to work on time. He always eating his breakfast in the office by purchasing a bread from minimarket near his office.
My father worked at the shipping company that located in the city of Sendai, Japan. His salary was low, so our family had to scrimp, and I also had to worked part time to helped our family finances.
DING!
My Howlet gave a notification sounds , and displayed my activities for today.
Good morning, Mr. Michio Taniguchi, today is April 3, 2108. You are now in the city of Sendai, Japan. Schedule for today are go to school at seven o'clock in the morning, and work part time at mini market 8TWELVE at four o'clock in the afternoon.
After I got the notification from my howlet, I immediately went to the bathroom, and when I wanted to open the bathroom’s door, it was locked from inside. It seemed my sister was still using the bathroom.
I had a younger sister named Chika Taniguchi, she attended 9th grade at a junior high school.
Next year, she wanted to attend the same school as mine, my school was Shirayuki Gakuen senior high school. Her goal was to become a teacher like my mother. Of course, she had to study hard to achieved that goal.
I decided to wait in front of the bathroom. I did not have to wait for a long time, because there was only a shower in my bathroom, and my sister had a short hair too, so her bath’s times would be faster.
Fifteen minutes had passed, and finally I had finished showering.
After that, I went to the storeroom to change my clothes.
Today was the beginning of new school terms, and the beginning of spring season, so I used a black blazer with a white shirt, a red tie, and gray trousers for my school uniform.
The stuff that I brought to school were umbrella, a water bottle, and a bread for lunch.
Nowadays, all Japan students rarely used books for studying, because all data could be accessed via howlet. In class, we only had to listen to our teacher explanations and we did not need to take notes.
The lessons that still used books were lessons like calligraphy and art. Although, we no longer needed to writing by hand, writing lessons like calligraphy still remained to preserve the culture and history of Japan.
After I wore my school uniform and finished tidying up my bag, I left the storeroom to ate my breakfast.
My mother was preparing our breakfast, and she put the breakfast on the table that could be folded. This foldable table was very useful, because it could be folded and placed on the corner of the room when not in used.
My sister was sitting besides me, and my mother sitting across from me.
Our breakfast this morning were natto with a bowl of rice, and miso soup as a side dish.
Natto was a traditional Japanese food, it made from fermented soy beans. In Japan, natto favored by people in the eastern region, including Kanto, Tohoku and Hokkaido.
While we was eating, my mother began to pour hot tea into our cups.
After that, she asked us about our activities for today.
"Michio, today is the first day that you become a 11th grade student. What major that you will take, soldier major or worker major? "
Chika also immediately put down her chopsticks and rice bowl on the table, then she was looking at me with a serious look, she wanted to know the decision that I would take.
"Ah.. I see ... today’s brother will become a 11th grade student. What major that brother will take? Chika wants to know! "
I immediately became speechless, and while I was continuing to ate my breakfast, I thought seriously about the major that I would take.
After the dimensional portal disaster, all 11th grade students at Japan, who were aged 18 years old must choose between two main majors, ‘Soldier’ or ‘Workers’.
Soldier major studied supernatural powers to fight against the monsters. Elements control, aura manipulation, and war skills would be learned by the students of soldier major.
After graduating from senior high school, the soldier major student would be tasked to fight the monster and maintain the security of the country.
Unlike soldier major, the worker major did not need to fight against the monster. Worker major students would be taught on how to used their supernatural powers to support their works.
The most famous supernatural power of worker major was ‘Triple Tasking’. Someone who had the power of triple tasking could thinks three different things at the same time, so that power would be very useful for office work.
After that, because I could not decide the major that I would take. I used my usual technique to changed the flow of conversation, I named this technique ‘Diverting Attention’.
"Hmm…. What major that Mom has taken in the past? "
I asked my mother that question to diverting her attention to herself, so my mother would not focus her attention to me, and she would tell a story about her past.
But…
My mother immediately smiling, then she started to answer my question with a slight laugh.
"Ha ha ha .. You want to change the subject? That trick will never work on me. But never mind, if you don’t want to answer right now. I have taken worker major in the past, but because my supernatural power is not strong, I could not get a good job. "
It seemed my mother already knew about my trick that I used frequently to change the conversation subject, maybe next time I had to used the other tricks.
From my mother answer, I knew that she could not get a good job because her supernatural power was too weak. Human were not born equal, so there would be a supernatural power that was stronger than the others.
My mother had a supernatural power in terms of calculations, she had the ability to counting faster than an ordinary person. But of course, when compared to other supernatural power users, her powers was considering weak.
My mother worked as a private tutor for elementary to junior high school students, although her salary was not very high, but she was able to send us to school.
My father had a supernatural power in the field of telekinesis. He could lift heavy objects using his mind. This power was useful for his job at delivery services company.
But, If compared with the forklift machine, my father’s telekinesis power surely lost. At least, he could lift items up to 30 kg weights with his telekinesis power.
Although, my mother and father were not born with a high supernatural power, we still had a hope, and that hope was my genius sister, Chika Taniguchi.
Since childhood, she always got a ranking in her class, maybe it was because of her good memory and supernatural talent.
When compared to me, I just a normal boy and I did not have a good physical appearance. My height was 170 cm, and with a thin body made me could not expect to had a good supernatural talent. My brain ability was normal, because I never had a ranking in my class.
I finally answered my mother question with a neutral answer.
"I don’t know what major that I will choose. I will just look at my test results. "
"Ohh.. Okay, just don’t force yourself and choose the major that suit yourself."
"Brother will be alright, Chika sure of it! Because brother will never give up! "
My sister patted my shoulder, and looking at me with an optimistic view. She was convinced in my abilities.
I rarely talked about my problems, because I did not want to made my family worried about me. Perhaps because of that, they were assuming that I was strong and independent person.
I decided to end this conversation by showing a little smile in my face, and said the most common words to close the conversation.
"Thank you all, I will do my best."
The supports that were given by my mother and my sister, made me more eager to got a good test results.
The test that I would take today was the test to determine a major for the students, whereas that students would be more suitable in soldier major or worker major. The test determined the major by analyzing the supernatural talent and physical status of that students.
If the test result was showing the undesirable major, that student could still be free to choose between the two majors, but on the condition that the risks would be borne alone by that student.
After I had finished my breakfast, I said goodbye to my mother and went to school.
http%3a%2f%2f3.bp.blogspot.com%2f-944h8GSZLis%2fVf...Bchika.jpg [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-944h8GSZLis/VfJ-KBf1PGI/AAAAAAAAABU/TOjYBghJ_uM/s1600/michio%2Bchika.jpg]
Our apartment located on the second floor, so I had to go down the stairs to go out of the apartment complex. In this apartment complex, no one had a car, so there were only motorcycles and bicycles in the parking lot of this apartement.
My sister school was in the opposite directions, so we did not walk to school together. The distance of our apartment and my school was only 800 meters, so it only took 15 minutes walked to my school.
Even so, there still a lot of students in my school who went to school by using a motorcycle. Perhaps, it because their homes were far away from the school or because they wanted to hangour after school. It could also for show off, so they could get a girlfriend easier.
Finally, I said goodbye to Chika at our apartment’s gate.
After 5 minutes of walking, suddenly I heard a sound of person who greeted me from behind.
"Good morning, Michio!"
I quickly looking back, and saw the face of a young girl with blue hair that reached her shoulders, and she also had blue eyes.
She was Aika Shimasaki.
http%3a%2f%2f2.bp.blogspot.com%2f-bKXx7_ysswU%2fVf...ka%252B1.jpg [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bKXx7_ysswU/VfJ_SzFTK6I/AAAAAAAAABg/4q1cFPfrTiA/s1600/aika%2B1.jpg]
Aika was my childhood friend. I had known her since I still in elementary school.
In the past, when I was playing at the park, my mother met her mother, and since then we had became a friend.
Her blue hair and blue eyes were not because she was a descendant of a foreigner family, but it was because of the effect of her element’s aura.
Since dimensional anomaly disaster, the human eyes and hair color that born after that disaster had changed base on their element’s aura. It seemed that Aika’s element was water, so she had blue hair and blue eyes.
Even so, I had black eyes and black hair, my parents also had black eyes and black hair, but unlike us, my sister had brown hair and brown eyes.
Maybe black color indicated that the person supernatural powers were not too high, so it did not affect the hair pigment. But, when compared to other hair color, I would still choose black color, because this color did not make me too stand out.
With blue hair and blue eyes made Aika looked more beautiful, because of that she became one of the popular girls in my school. She was also a smart girl, so I did not surprise, if many men would fall in love with her. Even so, she just had a relationship once, and that relationship had already broken.
I immediately greeted Aika back, but I could not stare at her face for too long, because it could show my nervousness in front of her. Although she was my childhood friend, I rarely met her since 8th grade junior high school, so naturally I felt myself blushing to see her beautiful face.
"Good morning ... Shimasaki. "
After I said that, Aika immediately paused and puffed out her cheeks, it seems that she dissatisfied with my greeting.
"Uuhhhh ... How many times that I have to told you to call me by my first name? Just call me Aika! We are childhood friend! "
Aika was not satisfied with my greeting.
In Japan there was a culture to called someone using their first or last name. Usually we called someone by their first names for close friends, girlfriend, and family.
Calling someone by their last name used for people that we just met, ordinary friends, and coworkers.
Of course, because I knew that culture, I would not call Aika by her first name.
I immediately turned my face from her view, and looking for an excuse to end the conversation, then with a small laugh, I answered with the usual reasons that I used to avoid someone.
"Ha ha .. I will think about it later. Err.. I have to pick up my friend to go to school together. So, goodbye, I don’t want to be late to pick him up. "
Afterwards I walking faster and heading to the alley in front of me, but it seemed Aika still following me from behind.
I immediately stopped my step, and asked her.
"Err .. why are you still following me?"
Aika also stopped and stared at me, It seemed rather difficult to make her go away from me.
"Let’s go to school together with your friend as well. It’s still early, so we wouldn’t be late."
"But, my friend's house is far away, so I don’t want you to be late to school."
"Hmm … It’s suspicious, are your friend a woman?"
Aika was frowning and showing a sharp smile, her expression was like a journalist who had got a very interesting gossip.
Apparently the talk was leading into the wrong direction, and Aika still insisted to going to school with me. So, I immediately used my ultimate technique that I used to avoid someone. I named this technique 'Dead-end Conversation'.
"My friend is a man, and I have already known him since I was in 10th grade senior high school. His home is far away, and there is a fierce dog in his house. I have to go to his home to return his book that I borrowed from him, so I don’t want you to be late to school.”
After I said that, Aika immediately stopped talking and then she started to put her left hand on her chin, and then replying me with a little nervousness in her face.
"Ahh ... He He .. okay, then I will go to school alone, and good luck with your choices today, I hope you get a good major."
After saying that, Aika walked away from me, she seemed a little bit disappointed.
This 'Dead-end Conversation' technique was used to end the conversation by providing a strong reason so there was no room for questions, and by adding things that she feared would make her go away from me. Since childhood, Aika afraid of dogs so I used her fear of dogs to make my reasons stronger.
I stayed away from Aika was not because I hated her, but because I wanted to avoid the attention of the people around her. I did this because I was bullied when I was still in junior high school, so I did not want to be a target of bullying again.
I must avoid unnecessary attention to avoid being bullied again. An ordinary person like me that just had a normal look and low economic level must not too stand out.
Someone became a target of bullying was not because he was weak, but because he was too stand out. If only he was too standout but he was strong and rich, then he could not become a bullying target. But, If he was weak and poor, then he could become a target of bullying from the people who envy him.
The bullies envy him was not because of his weakness, but because of his popularity. If he had a good physique or rich, then it would not be a problem. But, if that popular person came from the weak people so it would be a problem, because he was not worthy for such popularity and the bullies would get rid of his popularity.
Just try to Imagine, if a weak person like me became a close friend with Aika, who was one of the popular girls in school. Of course, many students would be jealous and they would try to get rid of me, because they wanted to get Aika attention.
Afterwards, I would definitely became a bullying target, and they would terrorize my mind until my personality destroyed so Aika would stay away from me. But, if I was a cool or rich person, the bullies would not dare to bully me because I was considered a worthy person to become Aika friends.
With this way, I had not bullied since I entered senior high school. I would continue to maintain this lifestyle, so I could live in peace.
After 18 minutes of walk, I arrived in front of my school gate.
At the school gate, there was a big banner to welcome new students.
[WELCOME TO SHIRAYUKI GAKUEN HIGH SCHOOL]
Today was the start of the new school terms, so the new 10th grade students would enter into my senior high school. New students would attend the students orientation, that contained the introduction of school facilities, school culture, and school programs.
I checked my howlet bracelet, and opening my email’s inbox to see my class information.
Name: Michio Taniguchi
Date of birth: January 16, 2090
Age: 18 years old
School: Shirayuki Gakuen High Shool
Class: 11 - A
Data last updated on 2 April 2108 at 8 pm.
From the information that transmitted by my school database, I was placed in class 11 A.
Class 11 A was located on the second floor of the main building, and I also could see the map to my class.
All school information could be accessed through howlet bracelet. This was done in order to saved more paper, so we would not cut down trees again to made a paper.
My school was divided into six parts, the front yard, parking lot, main building, canteen, gymnasium and multi purpose field.
In the front yard, there was a garden with Sakura trees. Now, it was early April, so the Sakura trees were blooming. This made my school looked more beautiful, and this also made me a little excited to go to school today.
After walking through the front yard, I arrived at the main building.
This building was divided into four floors, the first floor for 10th grade students, second floor for 11th grade students, third floor for 12th grade students, and the fourth floor used for the briefing and multipurpose room.
Staff room, research room, library, and infirmary were on the first floor, that rooms were placed on the first floor to ease the access for students.
There was only one elevator in the main building, and it used for carrying freight, so all students had to used ladders to move between floors.
# # #
Finally, I arrived at my class, which was located at the threshold of the second floor corridor.
There were 36 seats in my classroom, and it divided into 6 rows laterally and 6 rows back.
I immediately sat in the back rows near the door of my classroom. I chose to sat there, because I did not want to attract too much attentions.
Usually, the teacher would focus their attention to the students who sat in the front row or back rows near the windows.
While waiting for the class to began, I busied myself with watching news via my howlet. By speaking the word ‘ENLARGE THE DISPLAY' my howlet would display a larger holographic screen that could be used to watch videos.
After that, I immediately took off my howlet's display chip and put it on the table, I did this to adjust my howlet’s holographic display, so it would be aligned with my vision.
It seemed other students did the same thing as me while waiting for the class to begin, they were playing games, watching news broadcasts, and listening to songs, and its all done by using their howlet bracelet.
While I was watching the news, suddenly I heard a very familiar voice. That voice was coming from the students who was talking with her friends at the front row seats.
“ Hi Imagawa, it turns out that we are in the same class again this year."
“ Yes, I don’t think, we are going in the same class again, but the reality is different.. Ha Ha Ha.”
That students who were speaking to each others were Aika Shimasaki and Hideki Imagawa.
Hideki was one of the most popular student in my school. With a height of 180 cm, brown eyes, brown hair with undercut style, and masculine physique made him favored by many women.
Obviously, people as cool as him would not be a problem, if he became a friend with Aika because they had a same dignity, that dignity was a ‘high quality physical appearance’.
Human’s dignity were divided into three aspects, that aspects were economic, physical, and fame. After that, it divided into three levels, lower, middle, and upper level. Someone could only associated with a person that had a same level as him or one level higher.
If the person with a lower level dignity was hanging out with the person from upper level dignity, then there would be a conflict that led into social jealousy a.k.a bullying.
I knew this knowledge from my bullying experience in the past, so I needed to know the person’s dignity before becoming friends with them, it was done to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
But something was wrong.
Why Aika called Hideki by his last name?
Maybe Aika did that to keep their distance and not giving excessive expectations. But of course, Hideki could attract the attention of any women, so he would not sweat over that minor issue.
After that, another man was coming from behind and he approached Aika and Hideki who were talking to each other.
"Wow! We are in the same class again! This year will be definitely more fun! "
"Hello Fujimaki, hopefully we can help each other again."
"Ha ha ha .. You seems in high spirit Ichirou, just don’t fall asleep in class again."
"No way! I will enter soldier major, so there will be no boring class again! "
The man who approached Aika and Hideki was Ichirou Fujimaki.
With a height of 178 cm, maroon eyes, muscular physique, and red hair with spike style made him as famous as Hideki. He was famous for having a good physique and passionate speech styles. He also one of the student that had the potential to become the frontline soldier.
I was thinking that because usually a person supernatural power determined from their physical abilities and lifestyle. So, people like Ichirou would potentially had a great supernatural power to begin with.
Even so, I hated him because he was one of the bullying perpetrators in this school. There were not many students that knew this, because he did a bullying so carefully, so even though he was reported to the teacher, he would not get into trouble, because the reports could not be processed due to insufficient evidences.
He was also known as close friends of Aika and Hideki, so the victims of his bullying could not avenge him, because no one would believe that he was bullying other students.
A person who was close friends with popular students like Aika and Hideki would certainly considered as a good person.
I knew that he was bullying other students, because I often eating my lunch on the school rooftop. One day when I was in the 10th grade of senior high school, I saw him intimidate other student at the school’s side yard.
After I saw them chatting in the front row, I turned off my howlet’s news display, and I pretended to be asleep by putting my face on the table and crossing my arms as its base.
I did this so Aika could not see me because if she knew that I was in the same class as her, she would greet me.
If only, she greeted me by my last name, of course it would not be a problem, but she certainly would greet me by my first name, so it would attract the attention of other students, and I could become Ichirou’s bullying target.
I would pretend to not know Aika, unless she greeted me first then I could not avoid her, but I would avoid her as much as possible.
http%3a%2f%2f2.bp.blogspot.com%2f-xoN_XfX-LrI%2fVf...Bclass.jpg [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xoN_XfX-LrI/VfKMFrdL9cI/AAAAAAAAABw/-0rFEjOoQqQ/s1600/hideki%2Bclass.jpg]
# # #
5 minutes had passed, and my homeroom teacher entered into my classroom.
My homeroom teacher was a 43-years old man named Mr. Watanabe.
With a height of 183 cm, and a bald head with black beard made him feared by many students. Perhaps because of his physical appearance that looked like a bouncer made many students became afraid of him.
He was not alone in getting into our classroom, there were two students who followed him. It seemed they were our upperclassman from the soldier and worker major.
After that, Mr. Watanabe started our classes for today.
"Hello students, you have turned 18 years old, and you will running a series of tests to determine your major. This test is only for reference and you are free to choose your own major, but it is highly recommended to choose your major based on the test results. "
After giving his speech, Mr. Watanabe invited the upperclassman to introduce their majors.
The first explanation came from the soldier major’s upperclassman.
"I am a 12th grade student who take soldier major. I just want to say one thing, that if you're not talented and don’t have the courage, you should not get into soldier major. The soldier major student will fight the monsters, so your lives will be at stake. "
His statement made the whole class became silent. Of course, its because the warning that he gave, and indeed our lives would be at stake, if we chose soldier major.
To lighten the tense atmosphere, the upperclassman from worker major began to gave his speech.
"Ha ha ha .. Why the class become so silent? But It is true about what he said, that you must prioritize your own safety. If you don’t want to become a soldier, then you can also support the government by working in various sectors. Worker major will teach you about how to use your supernatural power to support your work, and make your work more efficient yet effective. "
After that, the upperclassman stopped their speech, and Mr. Watanabe was directing the students in my class to go to the research room that located on the 1st floor of the main building.
I got up from my seat and followed other students to go to the research room. On the way to research room, other students were talking about their feelings, they could not wait to know about their true supernatural powers.
I was also impatient to find out about my real supernatural power. Human’s supernatural power awakened at the age of 18 years old, but its only just the power to felt the flow of the aura within the human body. So, to use the real supernatural power, our power should be opened with the help of technology.
Finally, we arrived at the research room, this room size was two times the size of my classroom. In this room, there were three CT Scan tools, five hospital beds, and cabinets to store the research tools.
These CT Scan tools had been modified so it could read the aura within the human body, and awaken the human’s supernatural powers.
After arriving in the research room, Mr. Watanabe immediately shook hands with the doctor and their assistants who was preparing the CT Scan tools.
After that, the doctor welcoming us.
"Good morning, students from class 11-A, you get the first turn today. Before we start the supernatural powers awakening session, please gather your howlet bracelet, I want to update your howlet system."
All students in my class took off their howlet bracelet, and gave it to Mr. Watanabe.
"We want to update your howlet system, so it can be used to read the potential of your supernatural power, also this update will make the skill explanation in howlet easier to read."
Mr. Watanabe gave the student’s howlet bracelets to the doctor assistant.
"Okay, all howlet bracelets have been collected and its system will be updated. You will now be scanned with the CT Scan machines to awaken the true potential of your supernatural powers. Before that, are there any questions?"
One of the student in our class raised her hands, and asked a question to the doctor.
"Why our supernatural power must be awakened by using a CT scan machine? Could we awaken our supernatural powers in a natural way?"
After hearing that question, the doctor stood up and walked toward that student.
"That is a very good question! Human supernatural powers awaken at the age of 18 years old, but it’s just the ability to sense the aura within the body, and it’s usually takes 5 years of training to use that power for daily activities. But, by using this CT Scan machine, you could save that 5 years of training, and use that times to further develop your supernatural power. "
"Are there any health risks? "
"There are no health risks, because we have done various experiments, and there is no problem until now. In addition to that, your howlet bracelet’s system will be updated to control your supernatural powers."
"So, we have to use a howlet bracelet to control our supernatural powers?"
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" You could also control your supernatural powers without the help of howlet, but it’s better to control your supernatural powers using howlet to make it more efficient and safer. "
"Okay thanks for the explanation, doctor."
After the explanation completed, students in my class immediately lined up in front of the CT scan machines to awaken their supernatural powers.
I lined up in front of the CT Scan machine number three in order to not attract too much attention, because CT Scan machine number three location was the farthest from the research desk and the room entrance, so after I got scanned then I could stand in the corner of the room.
Finally, after waiting in line for 10 minutes, then came my turn to be scanned with the CT scan machine. I did not need to undress to be scanned with the CT scan machine, because this tool had been modified, so the radiation from this tool would only affect the aura within the body.
The doctor’s assistant gave me a blindfold to keep my eyes from the light radiation in the CT Scan machine, so my eyes would be safe from the radiation of this tool.
After that, the supernatural power awakening process began, and my body was shined by violet lights that came from the CT Scan machine. That lights made my whole body felt like being jolt by a small electric current, and my body immediately steaming hot.
This process took two minutes, and finally I got out from the CT Scan machine.
The supernatural power awakening process had been completed.
I saw my body steaming hot, and other students also experienced the same thing. It certainly made me panic, but the doctor’s assistant explained that the release of steam from the body due to the awakening of supernatural power, and after 10 minutes the hot steam that came out of the body would stop and the body would return to normal.
The doctor’s assistant then gave us a medicine to recover our stamina. The process of supernatural power awakening made our stamina became depleted, so this medicine would bring our strength back.
After all students had finished, Mr. Watanabe redistributed our howlet bracelet, and the doctor gave further explanation.
" Your howlet bracelet system has been improved so it could explain all your physical and supernatural status. You could know the status of your Strength, Agility, Vitality and Intelligence, just like the RPG game that you often play with."
Suddenly, the whole class became noisy due to the announcement of that system. We could know the status of ourself just like in the RPG games, this would definitely made this world like a game.
By knowing the status of ourselves, we could improve our status to became stronger. Obviously, this was very efficient, because we could focus on improving the status that we wanted.
" Your status display will come out after 1.5 hours. Your status derived from the calculations between your physical condition and supernatural powers. Further details will be described by your teacher in their respective classes. We wish you get a good status and skills . "
The doctors ended the supernatural powers awakening session for my class, because other students from different class had already been waiting in front of the door.
"Okay students, now you have 1.5-hour rest period. I suggest all of you eat a lot of food so your stamina will fully recover."
After that, Mr. Watanabe immediately directed us to return to our class.
I arrived in my classroom and I opened my bag, then took a bread and a drinking bottle.
Apparently, there were only a few students who returned to the class, since most of them went directly to the school canteen.
My school canteen located in the middle of the school park. It sold a wide variety of food like sandwiches, bento, ramen, sushi, onigiri, and other Japanese foods. The canteen’s tables and benches were made of wood to represent the nature concept.
In the middle of the canteen’s park, there was also a koi pond, wooden bench, and a variety of plants including Sakura trees. Students usually ordered the food from canteen and eating them by sitting in front of koi pond while enjoying the scenary of cherry blossoms.
I certainly could not buy the food from my school’s canteen, because its price was relatively more expensive. One ramen alone costing three times the price of my bread, and I had to downsize in order to not burdened my parents.
I rushed to the school balcony that located on the top floor of the school main building. The school balcony was an open space, that fenced with green iron fences for safety. There were some wooden benches, trash cans, and plants that placed in a long pot made of stone.
Only a few students that spent their resting time period on this school balcony, because this place was not attractive, far distance, and we had to climb the stairs to get here. Usually, only people who wanted to be alone that spent their resting time here.
Because my class got the first turn at the supernatural powers awakening session, so there were no people here, and basically I was alone in here for today. Then, I opened my bread’s wrap and stand behind iron fences to see the view of my school’s front yard while eating my lunch.
The bread that I ate today was a chocolate bread, I bought it last night from the mini market where I worked, so the bread was already hard and cold. Even so, I could get this bread at low prices, because breads that still unsold until night would be sold at half price.
I only needed to chew my bread five times to finished my lunch, after that I went to the side part of the school balcony to throw my bread’s warp into the trash can. After taking out the trash, I shifted my view down to see the sights of the school’s side yard.
The school’s side yard only contained an electrical substation and a few garden tools. This place intended to store school’s garden tools. A place like this was perfect for people who want to confess their love or doing the bullying.
Suddenly, I saw a sight of two students, they were arguing with each other.
It seemed that student was Ichirou who was intimidating other student. He held that student’s collar and pushed his body against the wall. I knew that student was Ichirou, because there were not many students in this school who had red hair.
From my analysis, It seemed Ichirou was bullying that student to get his money, and after that he would use that money to bought his lunch.
My guess was right..
The student who was bullied by Ichirou immediately went to the canteen, and a while later he was back with a lunch package on his hand and he gave it to Ichirou.
In this era, many people rarely used paper money. We did not need to bring paper money again, because all payment transactions and transfer could be done via online through howlet bracelet.
But for those who had not became an adult, then their money would be limited by their parents. All parents could limit their children spending limit, and they could know all transaction history that their children done.
A child was said to had became an adult, if they already graduated from college or had a regular full time job. In the past, the child automatically became an adult when they reached 17 years old, but the government revised that policy and treat someone as an adult by looking at their independency not their ages.
Despite of that regulation, my parents did not limit my spending, because they knew that I already got a part time job, and I always report to them the amount of money that I had.
It seemed that Ichirou did the bullying because his spending was limited by his parents, so by doing that he could save his lunch money and allocated that budget to hangout with his friend or bought the things that he wanted.
Ichirou did the bullying alone, because if he did that with his friends, it would arouses suspicion and many people would be involved. Also, his friend could betray him and it would lead him into the trouble.
By doing the bullying alone, Ichirou could be more safe and the bullying target could not report it to the teacher, because there was no strong evidence.
I could record the bullying that Ichirou had done with my howlet bracelet, but I could not do that because the distance was too far, and his face would not clearly seen in the video.
Besides that, although I got a clear video about Ichirou’s bullying, I still needed to told the teacher about the identity of the person who recorded Ichirou’s bullying, and because of that my identity would be exposed and after that Ichirou’s gang would attack me for sure.
I need a lot of Ichirou’s bullying video to got him expelled from this school, because only one record was not enough, and it would be recognized as a normal fight between students, so it would be solved in a peaceful way.
After seeing Ichirou’s bullying scene, I walked to the wooden bench that located in the middle of school balcony, and laying down on it to slept. Then, I set my howlet alarm system to woke me up after 1 hour 15 minutes later.
My body felt so tired, this was because of the supernatural awakening process that I just had. Also, I rarely did any sports activties and often came home at late night because of my work, so it was normal that I felt so tired and there were eye bags on my face.
These eye bags made my face looked older, but I did not mind about it because the important things to me was I could get money, so I could help my family.
###
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
My alarm woke me up and it meant the class would be starting soon. It was already 1 hour and 15 minutes past, since I slept at school balcony wooden benches.
My body condition was already normal and there were no changes at my physique, its just my aura felt stronger and I could control its flow.
I immediately went to my classroom, and other students were already in the classroom.
After that, the class began with Mr. Watanabe and two upperclassman from soldier and worker majors who gave the speech this morning .
“ Okay students, these two upperclassman from soldier and worker majors will explain about how to see your status at howlet bracelet. They will also explain all attributes in that status, and you all free to ask them anything about the system.”
That two upperclassman walked into the middle side of the classroom’s front row, and they began to explain about the status system.
“ Okay everyone, open your status display by saying the keyword ‘STATUS’ at your howlet bracelet.”
All students in my class were saying that keyword, and after that the status display that described our physical attributes and supernatural powers came out in front of us.
# # #
> Quote:
> Name: Michio Taniguchi
> Gender: Male
> JOB:
> - 11th Grade Student at Shirayuki Gakuen Senior High School
> - Cashier at 8TWELVE Mini Market (Part Time)
> STATUS
> HP : 100%
> MP : 102/102
> STR : 6
> AGI : 8
> VIT : 7
> INT : 11
> CHARACTER CLASS : UNKNOWN
> MAJOR RECOMMENDATION (SOLDIER / WORKER) : WORKER
> RANKING : E
> ELEMENT : NEUTRAL
>
> SKILL :
> SOUL GATHERING
> [Passive Skill]
> Take the soul of living beings who has just died. It cannot be used on living beings that still alive. (Need further use to determine the potential of this skill)
>
> JOB RECOMMENDATION:
> Grave Keeper.
> (Please ask the company that related to the business, whether this skill could be used for this type of work or not).
>
> TRACK RECORD : -
# # #
BLARRRR !!!
It felt like struck by lightning at day light.
I was shocked…
My status was so bad!
E rank was the lowest rank, and usually normal people would get a D rank, It meant my status was below average.
Besides that, the skill that I got could not be used for normal works, because this skill could only be used for dead creatures.
Also, my howlet bracelet seemed unsure about my job recommendation, because it did not sure whether I must took the grave keeper job or not.
I immediately looked for other students reaction, who knew there were some students that got an E rank too, so I would not be alone.
But, the reality was different…
“ Wow, I get a D rank.”
“ You get a D rank? Me too.”
BLA BLA BLA…
Wherever I heard, everybody always talked about the same thing, that they got a D rank.
Suddenly, at the front row seats, there were some admiration sound, it seemed something happened in there.
“ Wow!!!! Ichirou and Hideki get a C rank! “
“ What!? Is that true? Let me see their status! “
“ Wow, it’s real! This is really great!”
Almost all students in my class immediately walked to the front row seats, they wanted to see Ichirou and Hideki status. I also got up from my seat and walked to the front to see their skills.
Of course, I still kept my distance between them so I would not get too close to them.
After that, Ichirou and Hideki enlarged their howlet display status.
# # #
> Quote:
> Name: Hideki Imagawa
> Gender: Male
> JOB :
> - 11th Grade Student at Shirayuki Gakuen Senior High School
> STATUS
> HP : 100%
> MP : 157/157
> STR : 15
> AGI : 18
> VIT : 20
> INT : 15
> CHARACTER CLASS : DEFENDER
> MAJOR RECOMMENDATION (SOLDIER / WORKER) : SOLDIER
> RANKING : C
> ELEMENT : EARTH
>
> SKILL :
> - DEFENSE FIELD
> MP COST = Depending on use.
> Enlarge the range of your aura to detect all incoming enemies attack.
>
> - STEEL BODY
> MP COST = 20
> Increasing your defense for 10% for a period of 10 minutes. The defense that increased is the body’s defense, not the armor defense.
> (Need further use to determine the potential of this skill)
>
> - RECOVERY AURA
> MP COST = 30
> Focusing your aura to speed up the recovery process. This effect will last for 10 minutes.
>
> JOB RECOMMENDATION: SOLDIER – Front Line Defender.
> TRACK RECORD : -
# # # #
> Quote:Name: Ichirou Fujimaki
>
> Gender: Male
> JOB :
> - 11th Grade Student at Shirayuki Gakuen Senior High School
> STATUS
> HP : 100%
> MP : 142/142
> STR : 16
> AGI : 20
> VIT : 17
> INT : 14
> CHARACTER CLASS : ATTACKER
> MAJOR RECOMMENDATION (SOLDIER / WORKER) : SOLDIER
> RANKING : C
> ELEMENT : FIRE
>
> SKILL :
> - FIRE WEAPONARY
> MP COST = Depending on use.
> Add fire element to your attack.
>
> - SHARPEN
> MP COST = Depending on use.
> Focusing your aura to your weapon to increase its durability and sharpness. This skill also reduces the weight of the weapon.
> (Need further use to determine the potential of this skill)
>
> - ADRENALINE RUSH
> MP COST = 10 / minute
> Improve the performance of the adrenal glands in the body to speed up the process of receiving information, strengthen reflexes, and increase your speed.
>
> JOB RECOMMENDATION: SOLDIER – Front Line Attacker.
> TRACK RECORD : -
# # #
Just as I expected, they would get good skills and an above average rank, It was because of their trained body and lifestyle.
Hideki and Ichirou had a trained physique like an athlete, also with their ambitious attitude would make them stronger. Otherwise, it could have been they were a gifted child.
Humans were not born equal, many factors would determine the difference between humans. A person who had a strong power from born would be called a genius. Supposedly, if there was a way to beat a genius person, whatever the condition I would certainly do it.
After seeing crowd of students in front of the class, Mr. Watanabe immediately told them to return to their seats.
Then, the upperclassman was preparing the holographic projector to explain about the details of our status.
In this era, the projector was no longer needed to use a white wall as its base. The holographic projector could show the holographic display without any base, so its display would seem to be floating in the air.
“ Everyone, please see this display, it explains all the attributes of your status, you can also access this information via howlet.
A big holographic display screen with a blue frame appeared in front of Mr. Watanabe and the upperclassman.
# # #
Strength (STR) : this attribute measures your physical strength. The greater this attribute, then the ability to lift loads and your attack damage from punch will be even greater.
Average human STR points: 8
Agility (AGI) : this attribute measures your physical movement. The greater this attribute, the greater your reflex and response to the attack.
Average human AGI points: 10
Vitality (VIT): this attribute measures your body’s resistance. The greater this attribute, the greater the ability to withstand physical attack and disease.
Average human VIT points: 8
The abilities of STR, AGI and VIT can be improved by exercising or doing any sport activities.
Intelligence (INT): this attribute is not measured the person’s intellectual aspect, but it measured the person’s supernatural power. Researchers called this attribute with the word ‘Intelligence (INT)’ because that word is widely used in RPG games, so everyone will be familiar with it.
It is not known exactly how to improve intelligence status, because human supernatural powers cannot be exactly measured with an absolute number. The only known way known to improve intelligence status is by using your supernatural power constantly and creatively.
The more creative in using your supernatural powers, your power will evolve and get stronger so your intelligence (INT) status will increase.
Average human INT points : 15
The status ratings also take the gender factor into account, so even though the status of men and women are equal, but still the men will be more powerful than the women.
For examples, man and woman have the same strength status, which is 8 points, so that man still be stronger than the woman, but if that woman has the strength status of 9 points, then that woman is stronger than the man.
The person’s class is determined by analyzing their status, skills, lifestyle, and supernatural powers. For an example, someone who gets attacker class, it is usually due to their physical capabilities and skills that suit for battle.
Class selection is done automatically by howlet system by matching the person’s capabilities with a variety of research data that stored in the howlet database. That database are data from internet, literature, historical manuscripsts, gaming system and various other data.
Each class will have different effects, for example 'accountant' class from the worker type. The accountant class will have the effect of increasing the ability to process numbers, so they can analyze the financial reports more quickly.
Next is the element, there are nine elements in this world, that elements are fire, water, earth, electric, wind, metal, dark, light, and neutral. Your element is determined from birth and until now we still don’t know the true origin of the element’s assessment.
Humans element would never change from birth until death, although there are some very rare cases in which the humans element had changed.
The last and most important thing is the ranking.
There are six ranking in this world, that are E, D, C, B, A, and S.
The lowest rank is E and the highest rank is S. Most people usually get a D rank, except for those who get a skill that not commonly used for working or fighting the monsters, and get a below average status, then he will get an E rank.
If a person got a C rank after their supernatural awakening session, then it’s mean they have an above average skill and status.
B rank to S rank can only be obtained by looking at the track record of that person.
Soldiers must kill the monster and complete their mission to get promoted to a higher rank.
Workers must get a good results at their job to get promoted to a higher rank.
The assessment from your boss or supervisor will greatly affect your ranking assessment, so a good behavior and results are needed.
S rank only applies for soldiers, and this ranking cannot be obtained in the usual way. Only the soldiers that have a superior ability, and completed a special mission, also had already become a leader for A rank squads, which can obtain a S rank.
There are only 8 soldiers in Japan who had managed to get a S rank.
# # #
Finally the explanation was finished, and the upperclassman allowed us to ask some questions.
In that instant, Hideki immediately raised his hand to ask.
"Why Health Point (HP) attributes described in percent, as well as Attack (ATK) and Defense (DEF) attributes aren’t displayed in the status? "
" Health point cannot be explained in terms of numbers because the calculation will be more complicated, so howlet decided that health point must be presented in percent to indicate the condition of the body. If your health point showed 100%, that means your body is healthy and there are no injuries at all.
Regarding the attack and defense attributes are not present in the status, because their calculation are depend on the enemy’s attack and defense power, so it’s impossible to determine the absolute calculation number of the enemy’s attack and defense power. "
After hearing that explanations, Hideki thanked the upperclassman and sat back to his chair.
It seemed there were no students that wanted to ask again.
“ Okay, before we close this session, we want to inform you that there is an additional feature on your howlet that feature is called ‘ HIDE SKILL ’. This feature can hide your skill display, but you cannot hide all your skills, and you must leave one skill to be displayed. This feature is useful when you are being kidnapped by your enemy, so you can hide your true strength and waiting for a chance to escape.”
Hearing that answer, the students who sat in the front row asked to the upperclassman.
"Has there ever been a case where human were kidnapped by a monster?"
"Until now, there have been several cases where a human was kidnapped by a monster, but it is a very rare case because monsters usually killed the human on spot.
And, don’t use ‘HIDE SKILL’ feature in ordinary circumstances, because your instructor or supervisor cannot see your skills, so it will affect your rank’s assessment. "
Finally, there were no students that asked a question again, and our class ended for today.
Afterward, Mr. Watanabe gave the closing speech.
“Okay students, today’s class is finished and you can go home now. Remember! You have one day to think about your major, and tomorrow you will decide your major whether you choose soldier major or worker major, it’s all up to you. But, I suggest that you choose your major based on the Howlet suggestion.”
Once Mr. Watanabe finished giving his closing speech, he left our classroom.
Students in my class immediately walked to saw Hideki and Ichirou status again, and other students also comparing their status with each other.
I decided to shut off my howlet display status in order to prevent other students saw my status, because the status and rank that I got was very bad.
When I got up from my seat, I saw the person who sitting in front of me was frustrating while looking at his status. I immediately walked behind him and focusing my gaze to saw his status.
[ Name: Takuma Matsushita, Rank: E ]
Waw…
He also got an E rank.
Takuma had brown hair with bangs on it, brown eyes, and height approximately 168 cm. He did not have a good physical and had the same body as thin as me.
He also an E rank, maybe he sat on the back because of the same reason, that he did not want to attract too much attention from other students.
Then, I called him to start a conversation.
Of course, I called him in a whisper, so other students did not know the content of our conversation.
“Hey Takuma.”
Takuma immediately shocked as I called his name from behind, and he turned off his status display, and after that he looked at me.
“Ahh… Hello, where did you know my name?”
Apparently, he did not know my name too. Well, that’s normal, because I avoid other students attention while in the class, and also I was a quiet and introverted student.
I answered his question with a small smile in my face.
"I saw it from your howlet display and it seems you also get an E rank. We are the same then, I also got an E rank too. "
"Uhh .. you also get an E rank?"
"Yes, but don’t tell anyone about this."
I said that I got the same rank as him, so Takuma would be more open to me, because usually people would be more relaxed, if the interlocutor had a similar interest or came from the same level with them.
Afterwards, I asked about the skills that he had.
"What skills and major’s recommendation that you got? "
"Errr .. I get a worker major recommendation, and I just get one skill that is ‘DOUBLE THINKING’, usually people get a ‘TRIPLE THINKING’ , so I have to practice better to improve my skill. "
"Good for you ... At least you get the skills that people have in general, and with a lot of practice you can get a D rank."
" Yes..Indeed, what skills that you have?"
"I get a ‘SOUL GATHERING’ skill, that skill is just useful for keeping the tomb, besides my status are below average, so because of that I get an E rank."
"Ooo .... okay then. "
At least, Takuma had gained the skills that possessed by other workers in general, and because his skill was slightly weaker than the average worker, so he got an E rank. But still, he was more fortunate than me, because my skill was totally useless for normal work.
Finally, I decided to end the conversation, and after saying farewell to Takuma, I left my classroom.
Because, the time was still showing at 12 noon, I decided to go to the school library.
My school library was located on the 1st floor of the main building, so I just had to go down one floor to get there.
There were three large white tables and four bookshelves in my school library. Books in this library were novels, literature, historical manuscripts, school data from the 20th century, and the research data from a century ago. In this era, just a very few people who still used book, so the library function in this era was for the data storage.
I sat on the bench, which was located beside the bookshelves. I chose to sit there because it was far from the entrance, so other people could not see the data that I read.
There were only nine people in this library, they were browsing and reading a book. I immediately took of my howlet bracelet and put it in the table’s download terminal. By placing my howlet inside the download terminal, then I could download the research data from this school.
The research data that downloaded from the school could only be read within a week, and after that the data would be automatically deleted. Students also should not upload the data to the internet, because that data were the property of the school.
If all information could be found on the internet, then there would be no more people who wanted to go to school. Therefore, the government implemented this policy, so people still wanted to go to school.
I decided to download data about the understanding of human spirit and magic tutorial based on the elements, I would read the data while I was working tonight.
Afterwards, I went to the receptionist to fill in the data retrieval form. This was done to protect the data, so if there was a student that upload the data to the internet, then the uploader could be found and would be prosecuted.
The time was already half past two in the afternoon, and my next step was to visit the only place I had in mind at this moment.
I would visit this place to know the potential of my skill, the place that I would visit was the shrine.