That day, Rafael went back to the dorm after buying food from the cafeteria. The night passed in a slow, syrupy silence, broken only by the distant hum of the Meg-glide station.
In the morning, Rafael left for the Core Control and Void Manipulation classroom. It was in the Core Training Hall, on the right side of the Classroom building. It was layered with reinforced metals and nano barriers. The Hall was much like the Arena. But it had separate sections for each year's students.
Rafael entered the section for 1st years. His so-called classmates were already present there. Fredric came forward as soon as he saw Rafael.
"Hey, Raf. Morning." Fredric greeted. Few eyes were already on them.
"Morning, So, today, is it an Ability control lesson?" Rafael asked in a subtle and low voice.
'If I have to show my ability, it'll just be humiliating for me. Ugghh... I wanna vanish!' Rafael groaned softly, rubbing the back of his neck. He could already feel the stares burning into his skin.
Fredric looked around for some moments and answered with a grin, "It looks like it. But don't be afraid. I am here for you."
'Yes, you are here for me... so are you gonna beat them when they humiliate me?'
Fredric's grin softened into something more sympathetic, as if he could almost hear Rafael's silent retort. "I mean it," he said, clapping a hand on Rafael's shoulder.
Before Rafael could formulate a response, a sharp, resonant chime echoed through the training hall, signaling the professor's arrival. The ambient chatter died instantly.
A severe woman with hair the color of polished steel pulled into a tight knot. Her eyes, a piercing cerulean blue, scanned the room, seeming to catalog every flicker of nervous energy. They lingered on Rafael for a fraction of a second too long, and he felt his stomach clench.
"Good morning," she began, her voice cool and clear, carrying to every corner of the section without needing to be raised. "Myself Aris."
"Today, we move beyond theory. Today, you will manifest your cores. Not in a burst of uncontrolled power, but with focus and intent."
A wave of excited murmurs rippled through the other students. This was what they had been waiting for.
'Is it really a thing to be excited this much? You damn fools." Rafael's heart was running faster as each second passed.
"Your core is not a muscle to be flexed," Aris began, her voice cutting through the last of the whispers. "It is a generator, an engine of potential deep within your being. To access it, you do not push. You listen."
She began to pace slowly, her boots making no sound on the reinforced floor. "Close your eyes. All of you."
A collective rustle followed as the students complied. Rafael squeezed his eyes shut, the darkness behind his lids swimming with spots of nervous light.
"Good. Now, block out nearby noises, the sound of my voice, the person breathing next to you. Turn your attention inward. Search for the silence between your heartbeats. In that silence, you will find it. A point of warmth. A hum of energy that is uniquely yours. It may feel like a knot of heat behind your navel, a pressure in your sternum, or a faint vibration in your palms. There is no wrong sensation, only your truth."
Rafael did as she said, closed his eyes, and darkness enveloped him. But this time, no shadow awaited him; it was pure black.
He tried to cancel out all the noises, the teacher's voice, the breathing, the sound of people walking, everything.
Then he felt the warmth around his navel. His Rank-0 core.
He tried to feel that warmth more. It was a sensation of lukewarm water pouring down. He knew this feeling from when he first became Evolved. That day, black mists began to form and emerge from his body, uncontrolled but weak. And after a few hours, the mists dissolved into the thin air. But the mists never fully came under his control until the entity and its system appeared. He could now control it well, but not that efficiently.
Professor Aris broke through the silence, "Now, if you have felt your core, gently coax it forward. Do not force it. Imagine a door opening within you, allowing the Void energy to flow out. Let it manifest in the palm of your dominant hand. Control is the goal, not power."
A soft gasp came from Rafael's left. He cracked an eye open to see a girl with shimmering, water-like energy swirling above her palm, forming intricate, tiny whirlpools. To his right, a boy had conjured a small, flickering flame that danced between his fingers. All around him, the air began to crackle and hum with nascent power. Light, heat, and tangible force bloomed in the hands of his classmates.
Fredric stood calmly, but above his hand, a small, dangerous-looking ball of violet lightning crackled and snapped. It was strong and controlled.
"See, he got lightning as his ability."
"Yes, lightning abilities are too powerful."
Rafael swallowed hard, his own empty hand feeling heavier. He watched the violet energy dance in Fredric's palm, so bright and alive. It was the kind of power people respected, even feared.
'Lucky guy,' he thought, a sharp pang of jealousy mixing with his anxiety. 'Must be nice to have a power that doesn't just look like... dying campfire smoke.'
He focused hard, trying to pull his own power out. A pathetic wisp of black mist curled out of his hand.
A few people snickered.
"Was that it?"
"He's just making smoke."
"Wow. So weak."
Rafael's face burned. He kept his eyes fixed on his hand, refusing to meet anyone's gaze. The black mist wavered, thin and unimpressive. The snickers around him grew louder, less hidden.
"Looks like a wet match."
"Some Void power. More like void of power."
He clenched his jaw, pouring all his focus into his palm. The mist thickened slightly, coiling like a sleepy snake. It was better than nothing, but it was still just… smoke next to Fredric's storm.
Then Professor Aris was there. The whispers cut off instantly.
"Stop whispering, we will be doing practicals now, get prepared." Her voice echoed in the hall.
Rafael let the wisp of black mist vanish, his heart still pounding from the humiliation and the professor's intense scrutiny. He wiped his sweaty palm on his pants.
"Practical application is the true test of control," Aris announced, her voice ringing through the hall. "You will not be aiming at each other. You will target the resonance crystals at the far end of the section."
Professor Aris gestured to a row of dull, grey crystals. "Your goal is not subtlety. It is an application. You will shape your power and use it to destroy the target crystals. Or, if your affinity allows, you will move them. Power without control is noise. Power with purpose is a weapon. Show me you can be more than noisy."
Then—
BOOM... BOOM... BOOM
Something burst inside the hall.