The gym is a large, industrial-feeling space built for intensity and discipline, capable of handling any special surge users' massive outputs of energy. The ceiling rises high overhead, crisscrossed with exposed steel beams, and hanging lights cast a harsh white glow onto the floor below. The air is thick with the scent of sweat, leather, and disinfectant mixed with the faint metallic tang of iron. For Huntsman, this gym reminds him of the one back at prison, where usually the fights he causes happen, but enough of that, the greatest lesson that sends the spirit in a frenzy is about to commence.
"You probably experienced this feeling before, since you classify as a surge user. Not only that, but you have a true surge ability under the creation category. From the files we pull up on you. You got a deadly surge ability indeed," said Morina Everlast as she treads slowly around Huntsman, looking directly at him with signs of admiration filled in her eyes.
The music begins with a single lingering note from a guzheng – soft, delicate, like the sun rising over a river at dawn.
Twist! And turn! Her body stretches around like a Rolly Polly, treading slightly forward, she steps into the light wearing a simple sweatshirt, loose and unadorned. Absorbing motion rather than exaggerating it. Yet when she raised her arms, each posture demanded attention, shoulder relaxed, movement restrained and precise.
A bamboo flute joins in
Her arms rise in slow, circular motions, wrists bend with ancient elegance
"Surge is the natural flow of everything in continuous motion by controlling the rhythm of the flame heart to expel a burst of energy that flows through and out of your body." Said Morina elegantly as she moved gracefully. The air follows her hands as if being guided, shaped. Light gathers faintly at her palms, warm, dim like embers waiting to breathe.
"Your heart is the conduit of all your natural abilities, which are activated through dance, martial arts, or skills that are tapped in through these disciplines," said Morina as her steps sharpen
The drums enter – deep, steady.
BOOM THUMM THUMM THUMM BOOM THUMM THUD THUD THUD THUD
She starts jumping in place, her head bouncing as she shifts side to side, her body shaking with a hint of madness, fueling the growing energy in the room. Her steps accelerate, making her dance more precisely and abruptly. Spins turn into quick pivots. Smooth turns sharpen into deliberate strikes that almost hit their target. With each rotation, the light encircling her arms intensifies as she releases bright beams of fire, control, and focus.
"Without control, a surge can become wild, causing the user to enter a frantic state and almost go berserk with little to no control," Morina explained as she demonstrated the exact state a beginner attempting these dance techniques might find themselves in.
The beat drops
Morina quickly transitions into rapid plucks, then slows down her movements, twisting sharply with one foot, stamping the floor gracefully. Her hands sweep forward in a dancer's arc, but this motion releases some of her abilities—SUN SURGE.
"Then, when you find it in your heart to master it all, your true abilities become visible, FOR ME A SINGLE POINT," said Morina Everlast as she chants "Supreme Sun Surge – ChronoSaintius."
Appeared before Huntsman was something resembling a small sun in a golden crescent, calm and peaceful.
"From all the emotions and pain, something greater than life is born, each ability representing the natural universe we once knew," said Morina emotionally as the light illuminated her crimson, orange eyes engulfed with the gold blaze of the world behind it.
Musical Number
Crowns will rot, but will remain,
Truth burns loud in sacred scars.
If calamity knows my name
Then let it hear it from the stars
Because only the piece of hope was chosen by me
I won't be saved, I won't be tame
For the world lost my name in the confines of hell
Morina flicks her finger quickly as the small sun vanishes into thin air, leaving nothing but a lingering feeling of natural energy pulsing throughout the gym. As she exclaimed slowly with a hint of excitement in her voice. "So that is all you need to know for now. As you pass the foul exams (The tournament of the foul), you will learn more about surge. For now, all you need to know is finding your mojo, if you get what I mean."
"It's either dance, martial arts, or a special skill you're good at that can be your conduit to learning surge. For me, dancing has been the very thing that kept me going as a surge user. Basically, what I am saying is that Surge is born through the passion and hopes of the people, their will to fight something that keeps them sane." Said Morina as her voice struck a sharp note of inspiration in Huntsman, as her entire play was beautifully done.
"For me, this is my gospel, my little idea of what surge truly is to me as a person."
"So in summary, what I learn is that surge is the continuous motion of energy through the rhythm of the flame heart, which fuels the surge ability, meaning surge should come naturally rather than basically overcomplicating it," said Huntsman as his interest spiked instinctively.
"My favorite hobbies are probably, well, I was good at gunslinging at the shooting range at rehab basically when you're in a prison and marked as a person with potential – "
"You get perks in rehab like learning to become a galactic officer, I know, I know, the stupid system that Grandmaster General put in place," said Morina as she was just fed up with hearing stuff about the galactic union. "You may not know this, unlike Xu, who is a GoShot in the galactic union, which is already a high position."
" I am the very opposite of that. Let me explain
When a surge user is born, they are automatically tagged as a rogue surge user, meaning they are in the early stages of the hierarchy that this world set in place. If they want to get out of that position they must either join a union.
At the age of 15 years old, A surger user has the choice of entering the tournament of the foul to gain a position in the Galactic Union
Or
They remain in their origins, becoming a rogue surger joining what is known as the rogue union, where you either do your own outside work to rank up the system, becoming either a vice Calamitas, High founder, or Calamity Agent.
The only difference between the Galactic Union and the rogue union is the opportunities. As a rogue, you have a higher potential of being known on a universal level, with great peaks, the only downside is that you have a higher chance of becoming a criminal or a war monger if you don't know what you're getting into because being a rogue is more complex compared to joining the galactic union where you entire life is set, heck if you become a GoShot your instantly a billionaire because of commission, movies and magazines people will want you in.
Titles in the Galactic Union are as follows in a simple format.
Grandmaster General – The title is gained by the vote of the people in the entire universe; it doesn't matter if they are under the Rogue Union or the Galactic Union. Once people vote them in its set in stone. They must also be strong, well-coordinated, educated in legal affairs and political affairs, and understand the inner workings of surge tech and ancient technology. Attaining the title of Masterless Amongst the Omniverse.
General Titans – They are descendants of the giant race or titans of ancient times. They are given a role in the galactic union because they played an important role in the galactic union during the first surge wars, back when the union was just the world union.
They are professionals in a certain skill of choice, usually reserved for them automatically.
GoShots – Goshots, which stands for Most Popular Amongst the Union or celebrities that are either rank SSS OR SS, which are hard ranks to achieve. They are like the Stars and leading role in their Fraction which is usually founded by them or passed down from a previous GoShot.
Vice Goshots – The SSS or SS rank that don't make it as GoShots usually becomes a subordinate for the Goshot playing the role of navigator, mission boss, and strategy agent in the faction as for the GoShots... Uh, well, have you ever watched anime before, like Naruto? They are like the hokage of the faction or Guild Master; they have to record, report, and inform the Grandmaster General about anything important or a red-level threat that appears.
In summary, there are other titles below them, like
Commander
Sergeant
Special Forces
Rookie
So that's all about the Galactic Union for today. I will go into the Rogue Union, but I said enough today, you probably overwhelm, I am the Highest Rank in the Rogue Union right under The Keeper, that all I will say."
"Wait, you are, thought you were a regular person to be honest," said Huntsman in a teasing demeanor, smirking slightly like he is about to laugh.
"I must tell you that I earned this title through a long history of battle, and unfortunately, I have lost many along the way during the surge war," Morina said as she reflected on certain past events that still resonate with her today.
"You're a survivor of the third surge war. I heard stories about it. According to data, 100 AntiRifts appeared in the universe, and it was the first time a Shingara manifested in Humanoid form," said Huntsman, recalling the events he learned in school.
"The issues of the galactic union were the true cause of the conflict. Meeting with the Grandmaster General is the only way to get his personal story about the Surge war. He knows everything, and I could only tell you what I know about the battle. His narrative abilities are also unparalleled. When you meet him, it will be an important day," said Morina as she walked to the table in the gym for a drink of water after all the talking she did today.
"What about Xu? How old is she, and what is her rank in the Galactic Union?" said Huntsman, as he still wants to learn more about the person he will be working with in the future.
"Xu is 36 years old, married to Kugo Sung Gi. She preserved her last name because of our family norms. She has one kid who is now on the planet Tartarus, working on a tiny job my father tasked her with. Xu is ranked #1 as the GoShot of the Sun. Her major talents are in Tai Chi and basic Martial Arts - Her expertise is in Gunslinger, wielding two Desert Eagles that have a hidden morph," said Morina. " Xu is my little sister; she is the youngest of the six of us, with the oldest being me at 69 years old."
"Damm, this is a lot of information about her, as for you. Your sixty-nine years old, why do you look like a thirty-year-old woman?" said Huntsman in great curiosity about the lady's personal life.
"Well, for starters, when you undergo turning into a Supreme Calamitas, one perk is the unlimited surge capacity you gain from it. Sadly, the side effect of this is your body being unable to age from a certain point. I was already looking young for my age, so I have been looking like this for almost 15 years now with no signs of aging, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't just naturally die like ordinary people; it just takes longer to die as a Supreme Calamitas." Said Morina as she started thinking to herself that she was rambling again.
"Ok, I get the point. You and Xu have very important titles in your respective union and specifically, you played an important role in the recent war that happened 15 years ago," said Huntsman as he put the information together, taking notes as they discussed further.
After a while of important discussion between Morina and Huntsman, they realized that it's getting late since the most they got done today was talking about Surge and other information that will be crucial later. Huntsman realized they almost skipped lunchtime and suggested they go get something to eat at the fast-food restaurant down the street in the upper town area, close to the café. Leaving the gym, both walking quietly along the streets, admiring the beautiful buildings and structures in Fante. Soon after they arrive at the restaurant ordering their meals waiting patiently for them. Then, gaining the meal soon after 40 minutes of waiting, they head to a small park on the edge of the upper town that has a nice view of the market and the forest out west. Morina and Huntsman sat down to have their meals as the view of the city calm the mind and soul. Morina leans closer to Huntsman and flicks his head, saying.
"You look just like my kid, same white hair and red crimson eyes," said Morina as she looked away slightly after saying that, raising her head, looking straight at the city, a small tear fell down her eye.
"So what's your son like?" said Huntsman, concerned yet ready for anything that will make him emotional.
"He died during the surge wars. He was a galactic soldier with so much more life to experience, his life shortly taken away by a foul who only concern was hunting down rogues and those associated with them," she said, holding her chest tightly, holding every tear that could leave her eyes in the moment.
Huntsman reaches out his hand, comforting Morina as she begins to cry uncontrollably. As the sunset below the horizon, the mood of the night shift swiftly changed as Huntsman soon realized that, probably, the reason all along for her bailing him out of prison was his similarity to her child, wanting to experience being a mother again.
Morina slowly wipes away her tears, looking straight at Huntsman smiling about bring the words out of her mouth that will change Huntsman life on a personal level, " You are really just like him, You both have Beast Surge, same height and everything – Huntsman you have the choice to leave us if you want to live a normal life but please I will like for you to consider this offer, Can I adopt you as my son. Xu was the only person I could've asked to bail you out since I didn't have the money, but she wanted her own way as well, basically asking that you aid her in a project."
Huntsman's hand extends to his head as he begins to rub it slightly, as he thinks to himself before he answers that he lived his entire life fighting to survive. Even before prison, he was an orphan, basically learning to survive in the world with no parents or parental guardian left. In the forest, he was raised by mythical wolves, teaching him how to hunt. Eventually, he found himself in the city of Avados, where a school took over his life. The principal wasn't really a guardian, but he did provide him food in exchange he gain an education, then followed suit after he was framed for a crime he didn't commit. I mean, should he accept, he thinks to himself, after all, what happened to him, he deserves some form of happiness, right?
"I will be happy to be your son,"