Chapter 11: Current Standing

“Come on Mark one more, you can do this!”

Roland yelled from above me as I was doing a bench press. I felt my arms shake as I pushed the bar up with all my strength. Ultimately, I was unable to push out another rep and Roland took the bar from me.

I allowed my arms to drop. My right hand searched for a towel I had placed next to the bench. Finding it, I wiped the sweat off my forehead and got off the bench. Looking around at the gym I couldn’t help but appreciate its quality. Anything I could ask for during a workout was here and the area was large enough that every applicant could be in there and you would never struggle to find a spot to work out in.

I saw many other applicants around doing their workouts, some running around the track, others engaging in weight training and some even rock climbing. At B-Rank most of us would be capable of quickly healing the microtears that occur during workouts, ensuring that we wouldn’t end up sore the next day. Such a method unfortunately also came at the cost of lessening muscle gains, so it was best to use it sparingly.

Turning back towards Roland I helped him change out the plates on the bar. Roland was not only an entire 4 inches taller than me, he was also quite a bit stronger. He was surprisingly strong for his muscles being only lightly toned.

‘Of course, they’re still larger than mine. I need to work out more.’

I observed as Roland began his own set of bench presses. As I did I began to recall what Roland had revealed to Vivian and me last night. He had told us about what Violet was going through. We had discussed what to do but were unable to come up with any ideas at the time.

“Hey Roland,” I said, after he had finished his set, “did you come up with any ideas for how to help Violet?”

Roland nodded at me, looks like he had been able to come up with something after all. It was better than my attempt, I was unable to think up a single solution all night.

“Yes, I do have an idea.”

“And what are the chances of success?”

“Not sure. I don’t know the Woo family very well. If I had to give a guess I’d say 50% is a decent guess.”

50% was surprisingly high. The Woo family was one of the strongest psychic families on the planet, they were practically a country in it of themselves. Force was not an option and negotiation was unlikely to work considering the amount of resources that they had. Chances were that whatever could be offered, the Woos either already had or could go without.

Looking towards Roland I planned to ask him what he had come up with but his face signaled to me that he didn’t want to talk about it. Pondering why he would be hesitant to tell me I concluded that it likely involved some rather underhanded techniques.

The Nordt family that Roland was a part of was comparable to the Woo family in terms of wealth and influence. Roland could be pulling strings behind the scenes to somehow lead to Violet's release. Concluding this, I decided it was best to switch topics.

“Roland, I’ve been meaning to ask but what rank are you?”

Roland stared at me suspiciously for a moment, it was only fair considering we still hadn’t known each other very long. Knowledge about someone's rank could be used as a bargaining chip or help form strategies of attack. Luckily, it appeared that I had gained enough trust from Roland, he quietly told me his rank under his breath, so nobody else would hear.

“I’m a Mid B-Rank. You?”

“Low B-Rank,” I said, mimicking Roland's lowered voice.

We continued with our workout for about another half an hour before we returned to our room. Vivian and Violet were there, having chosen not to join us. Seeing us, Vivian immediately got up to greet us as we entered.

“You’re back. Took you long enough. Why are you working out anyway? With psychic powers muscles become irrelevant.”

I chuckled lightly for a moment. It was true though. Psychic powers at our level invalidated the use of muscles almost completely. Psychic energy flowing through our muscles could increase our strength fivefold or more.

“Well Vivian,” I answered, “there are a few reasons.”

“First reason,” I put up my pointer finger as I said this, “you never know when you might have to resort to using no psychic powers. In such a situation being fit and muscular will prove to be quite useful.”

I looked at Vivian as she nodded understandingly. She had asked a genuine question earlier, and now she wanted to learn. I lifted my middle finger to match my pointer and continued.

“The second reason is it’s healthy and has been proven to potentially increase lifespan.” I then lifted my index finger and stated the final reason. “Thirdly, people are usually more attractive the more muscle they have.”

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To be honest that was probably the biggest reason Roland and I worked out. Just making an A-Rank increased the average lifespan by about 25% when compared to a C-Rank. With all of us as prodigies, we were almost guaranteed to hit A-Rank at some point. But not much could improve appearance as some muscles did.

Vivian laughed at my final statement. She was the type of person to laugh easily in most situations, something she and I had in common. As she laughed I couldn’t help but appreciate her appearance.

Vivian didn’t have anywhere near the beauty Violet possessed, nor did her looks place her anywhere among the most beautiful women I’d seen before. But her personality was supremely endearing and her face was rather cute.

As Roland and I got settled down in the room again we all recounted our current rankings.

I was still in first, but second place had been rising rapidly. They were now at 120 points. If they kept up that pace then I would lose my position. I had only been able to get another 20 points for a total of about 150, basically entirely done by helping out the staff in their menial tasks.

Roland on the other hand had made it up to 5th place and now had 45 points. He had cleaned nearly the entire gym last night, something which I had regrettably abstained from considering how he earned 15 points from it.

Violet had made significant progress in advancing, having helped Roland the previous night. She was now in 68th place with a total of -44 points. Looking at Violet I noticed how she now appeared quite friendly with Roland.

‘What turned them into friends like that?’

Vivian had done rather well in her progression. She was now in 27th place and had -8 points. She was in a great position now to potentially make the top 20 and be accepted into AGH.

As it stood our dorm was likely one of the highest-ranked dorms overall across all the applicants. With our current standing, we would be targeted if the option arose in the obstacle course section tomorrow.

‘I should ask them.’

I sat up in the couch I had rested myself on and asked Vivian and Violet about their ranks.

“Vivian, Violet, what are your ranks?”

“I’m a Mid B-Rank.” Vivian started.

“Uh, yeah… yeah, same for me,” Violet answered.

It appeared that I was the weakest in the group, being only a Low B-Rank. I gave a hearty laugh inside of my head. If the other applicants knew that I, the highest-ranked applicant, was a Low B-Rank, I wonder how they would react.

“What’s your rank, Mark? You too Roland, tell us your rank,” Vivian asked. It was fair to request such information, it was merely an equivalent exchange. Not providing her the same would show distrust and a lack of camaraderie.

“I’m a Low B-Rank.”

“Mid B-Rank.”

‘It looks like we all know where we stand now.’

Vivian and Violet were rather surprised at my rank. Assuming I was Mid B-Rank at minimum was fair, after all, I was the highest-ranked applicant. Even if I was in first place because of a test that did not require psychic powers, they had likely subconsciously linked my performance to my strength. Perhaps they even suspected I was a High B-Rank.

About an hour later we had begun to eat dinner. The conversations we had were largely about the abilities we had. We also made sure to avoid any topic that might lead to Violet’s family or her injuries unless she began to move the conversation that way.

From our conversations, I concluded a few things about our specific abilities and our tendencies.

Roland was at elemental manipulation, the ability to control fire, water, earth, air, and potential subsets. It was one of the main reasons that he had been pushed up to Mid B-Rank. He also told us that it was partially affected by his Unique Power, although he refused to tell us what it was.

Vivian specialized in telekinesis, the power to manipulate objects in space with psychic powers. It was the main determinant of one's rank up until A-Ranks as it was the easiest area of psychic powers to improve. As a Mid B-Rank, Vivian's telekinetic powers would likely be far greater than my own.

Violet was an all-rounder as a psychic, skilled in telekinesis, elemental manipulation, physical enhancement, constructs, and energy projection. However, she wasn’t nearly as good at elemental usage as Roland and not remotely as skilled in telekinesis as Vivian. However, she did tell us her Unique Power. Soul Seer it was called, could allow her to see a person's inner desires and thoughts. While it could act as a form of future sight in combat it was extremely draining.

I was also an all-rounder, but, as a Low B-Rank, I was weaker in all categories when compared to Violet. Out of everyone here, I was the most likely to be a liability, unfortunately.

‘Well, can’t do anything about that now. I’ll just have to figure it out.’

…

I had fallen asleep at last, only to be woken up by him again. He had been contacting me more and more often recently, likely incensed by the knowledge that I would expend more psychic energy than usual during these next application sections.

‘It’s been a long time since you dragged me in this deep. This had better be important.’

‘...’

‘So you’re still asking. My answer remains the same.’

‘...’

‘If I did that then hell would break loose. Now stop asking.’

‘...’

…

I looked outside the bus window, they were transporting us to the place where the obstacle course would be. It had been almost an hour now and the city was long out of sight for us. Instead, we entered property owned by AGH and were surrounded by nothing but forest in all directions.

Whatever this obstacle course was, requiring us to be so far from the city, it was either massive, dangerous, or both.

They had organized us randomly into seats in different buses, leaving me isolated from the rest of my roommates. In fact, I was sitting next to nobody. I happened to be placed in the final seat with nobody else to sit with me.

As the engine of the bus roared we rounded a corner and I saw it at last. Ahead of us was a large, blue, metallic, rectangular building, and a massive path was behind it. The path curved around a mountain, unfortunately, preventing me from seeing more. However, I did notice some people in the visible part of the course digging out holes in the ground.

‘I wonder what those might be used for.’

The busses pulled over to the side and opened their doors to let the applicants outside. I heard the steps of 200 eager and hopeful applicants step off the bus, most of them moving towards the groups they had been rooming with.

I did the same, and quickly located Violet, Vivian, and Roland who had already gathered together.

“Mark, there you are,” Roland called out to me.

Roland and I gave each other a high five. We immediately began to walk towards the entrance, hoping not to allow people to focus on us. This was something we had discussed last night, the fewer people who didn’t see us, the higher the likelihood that we wouldn’t be targeted early on.

The doors on the front of the building opened up and applicants began to flood through them. Inside was a stage lifted off the ground and a podium, brightened against the dark room with a spotlight.

When all the applicants had entered, the room was rather cramped for the sheer number of people that had gathered into the room. We stood shoulder to shoulder in the limited space, pushing against each other to try and gain more space.

‘This is fucking ridiculous.’

As we were pushing against each other, a man walked out onto the stage. Principal Sever walked out with a wide grin on his face, yet underneath I felt a strange hint of sadism. Slowly the crowd stopped pushing against each other as we looked towards the Principal to explain the upcoming section.

He came to the podium and his voice boomed throughout the room.

“Hello, future stars. Welcome to the second section.”

…

‘...’

‘Yes, I do remember what he did to me.’

‘...’

‘No, I don’t think the Principal is a threat. Now let me focus.’

‘...’

‘If I told them the truth about my injuries I have no doubt that some staff would have heard it in secret. For now, it’s best to remain quiet.’

…

End of Chapter 11