1 I dont want to be a prodigy

I stared up at the night sky. Thousands of stars decorated the black sky. It was a rare clear night, most days the desolate trash planet 134's sky was filled with space debris. However tonight was different. The authorities of the planet had went all out to temporarily clear the rubble.

The reason was simple, It was time for the annual test. The powerful schools of the galaxy would grace each planet once a year, scouring for talents. Of course trash planet 134 would not recieve the attention of the powerful schools, and everyone knew that their presence here was a mere joke.

A talent had not been found in nearly 50 years, and even then the person had only been able to enroll in a low tier school. They had been forced out of the school in the first month. That person was the current strongest person on the planet. A rank F being, who was only slightly more powerful than a regular adult.

I sighed. I had just turned 16 this year, which meant I too would need to be tested. The test was a formality, and I had plans to join my uncle's scavanging business afterwords. His company was one of many on the planet, and they scavenged through the trash and vehicles that littered the space around our planet.

If they were lucky they could repair some of the scattered space crafts, making a small profit. If not, they would only need to tighten their belts until something came along. The citizens of trash planet 143 were no strangers to starvation, and even the wealthiest of inhabitants were still malnourished.

Most teens were excited for the test, even the slimmest chance of having the potential to be recruited into one of these schools was enough to motivate them to train.

I had no such aspirations. My uncle had found me in a cyropod on one of the ships 16 years ago. I had been a newborn, and had no identification. He had tried with his limited resources to find information about me, but the most he could find was that the ship had been attack 200 years ago, and had been drifting through space ever since.

My uncle had no children, he lived alone. He claimed this was because he did not want to bring a life into this world, but really I think he just had low self esteem. He had lost his leg a few years before he found me. And while he had a prosthetic that helped him get around, it was hard for him to earn enough to even feed himself, let alone anyone else.

Because of this I had grown up around the scrapyard he called a business. He was quite skilled when it came to repairs, and I had managed to learn a thing or two from him. Not enough to be of any real help as I was still a child, but enough to ease the burden on him by a little.

All I wanted from life was to repay my uncle for the things he had done for me. I had no dreams of joining a fancy school, or becoming a prodigy. I was content the ease the burden my uncle would face. All I had to do is wait until after the test tomorrow and I could finally put the things I had learned from my uncle to practice and become a real scavenger.

I smiled at the thought, and brought myself into the small shack my uncle and I shared. It was only a single room, and on the rare occasion that it rained the roof would leak. My uncle was already snoring away on his cot, his blanket pushed to the side. exposing his worn out socks. His big toe hung out the side of his sock, and the material seemed that it was only being held together by the dirt.

I sighed as I approached, covering him with the blanket. Even on this trash planet we were considered poor. We were lucky to get a scrap of food every other day, and it was not strange for us to go a week at a time without food.

I looked at the broken mirror in the corner of the room, and caught my own reflection. I was incredibly skinny, my cheek bones were exposed, and my green eyes seemed to be sunk in. My blonde hair was matted with dirt and grease, and looked much closer to a brown because of this.

I could not be considered attractive. Perhaps it would be different if I gained weight and was able to shower regularly, but such luxuries were not even something I dreamed of. As long as I could have a warm meal every day I would consider myself a lucky man.

My uncle rolled over as I did so, and I could see the hint of a smile on his face. I shook my head at the sight. He was probably dreaming of food. I laid on my cot, but sleep did not come easy. Tomorrow was just another day for me, but even with a miniscule chance, how could I not be nervous.

Morning came, and I did not manage to fall asleep. I could hear my uncle rustling around in the shack, but I stubbornly refused to open my eyes. If I opened my eyes it would mean I gave in to my lack of sleep, and I was not quite ready to do that.

As my uncle made more and more noise I grudgingly got out of bed. I rubbed my eyes as I groggily looked around the room.

Our single room shack was slightly dirtier than it had been before I went to bed, in fact slightly was not a strong enough word. Our dirty shack which was normally well organized was a mess. However uncle seemed to be in a rather good mood as he walked over to me holding a plain brown shoebox.

"You're up kid? Good. You know the examination is today?"

I nodded while stifling a yawn. Of course I knew. As soon as it was out of the way I could finally start working for real.

My uncle paused as he looked at me. "Well I have a good feeling about it. I told you before that I found you as a child aboard a ship right?"

I nodded. This was all information I had heard before. I was an orphan. and he had taken me in and raised me as his own.

"Of course uncle. That's why I'm glad to finally be of help to you". I said it with a smile. It was truly how I felt.

My uncle just shook his head. "You are meant for better things than his trash planet. What I never told you was that inside the pod there was also a skill book. I have researched the book secretly over the years and have never even seen another like it. I can only think it was something that your birth parents wanted you to have."

I looked at my uncle for a moment and shook my head. "We can sell it. Perhaps the money we can gain from it would be enough to regrow your leg."

My uncle laughed. "Don't think I haven't thought about it. But this book is the only thing your birth parents left you. It would be wrong for you to not learn it. When you pass the assessment, which i know you will, then you can consider making enough money for me to get a new leg."

I was silent for a moment, before I nodded. His words made sense. I placed my hand on the book, and a game like screen appeared before me.

The screen was something that I was familiar with. It was something every person in the galaxy was familiar with. In this universe science and magic had melded together in a strange fashion. Magic was something had existed in the distant past, and through technology humans had once again gained access to it once again.

We had gained access to the primal energy of universe through a mixture of technology, a specially designed chip that was implanted into our brains, as well as ancient texts that could teach people the magics within.

All people had the ability to learn these magics, but for most it was a waste. The truly talented were those who were born with what was called a talent. A talent was an inborn skill, one that contained unique passive skills that increased the power of a person.

These talents were what the universities tested for. If a person was awakwned a talent they were considered gifted, and could gain entrance into a college. If a person was born with a powerful talent they were called prodigies, and were allowed entrance into the best of universities.

These talents varied widely. Some of them increased a persons stat growth, and others gave them a bonus to a certain profession. These talents were ranked on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being the strongest, and 5 being the weakest. Everyone dreamed of awakening a powerful talent, but those who could awaken a level 1 talent were extraordinary rare, even the weakest rank 5 talent only had a chance of 1:100,000,000.

This showed how rare the talents really were. Skillbooks likewise had a rank. They were ranked from grade 1-5. Rank 5 were weaker abilities, while rank 1 were incredibly powerful. That was not to say a rank 5 ability was something that could be neglected. Fireball was a rank 5 ability, but if a person trained hard it was deadly.

The demon's eye ability was an unknown rank, meaning it had not been officially categorized the the universal federation. This meant it fell under one of two categories. One, it was a unique skill that belonged only to a specific clan, or two it was an undiscovered skill. Either way learning this skill would give me an edge over other people, no matter how powerful it truly was.

With these thoughts in mind I selected yes. The contents of the book began to pour into my head, causing an incredible pressure to build. I doubled over in agony as the pressure built, coming to a head in my left eye.

The pressure continued to build, until I could not take it any more. I desperately let out a scream, hoping for something, anything to relieve the pain I was feeling. I could only conclude that the gods had abandoned me as the pan and pressure crossed the threshold of what a human could take.

I desperately hoped to die as I silently screamed in agony. The pressure evenentually reached its apex, and I could feel it escaping from the only exit it had. I could feel my eye Implode, collapsing in itself like a black hole.

Only then did the pressure ease. My eye socket began to itch as I felt new tissue being rebuilt around my collapsed eye. Only a moment passed, and the eye had already been rebuilt. I let out a relieved sigh as I looked down at the book I had touched. only to find it had crumbled into dust.

I looked from the book to my uncle, to see a look of surprise on his face. The surprise did not seem to be directed at the torture he had put me through, rather at the dust that remained from the book.

I was unable to pay to much attention to his expression, as my gaze was centered on the strange information that had overtaken my vision.

A red circle surrounded my uncle's head, next to it was listed all of his information.

<Name: John Meyer

Age: 37

Occupation: Primary: ???/ secondary: scavanger

Power level: D

Abilities: Telekinesis>

I could only look in awe at my uncle. He had a power level that was much stronger than even the "most powerful person on the planet" and had an ability. Telekinesis was the lowest rank 3 ability. It was not considered overly powerful, but it had a huge amount of versatility. In terms of power it would only be ranked mid rank 5 at best.

Uncle looked at me a questioning look in his eyes. "Well? Did it work?"

I nodded. "It worked, I don't know the extent of its power, but at the moment it let's me know details about you. For example your name is John Meyers. You're age is 37 and you have a D ranked power level. You have the Telekinesis ability."

John looked at me for a moment, his eyes wide. "is that all it says?"

I shook my head. "No there is more, but I can't access most of it."

John whistled softly. "A growth type skill. Those are pretty rare. It seems more information or abilities will appear as the skill level grows."

I nodded, I had of course heard of these types of skills. I had never really paid much attention however, as I never had any real plans of walking down this path.

"It also says you have a second profession, that being a scavenger is only secondary?"

John grew stiff as he heard this, and scratch his face while having a guilty look. "This..."

I shook my head. "If its uncomfortable to talk about it don't. Regardless you're still my uncle."

John smiled, the relief evident on his face. He reached into the shoe box and pulled out another book.

"The last book was a gift from your parents, but this one is a gift from me. It is in a way a parting gift. Once you leave this planet I will as well. It is part of my other job you see..."

He trailed off at the end, it seemed that there was no reason for me to come back to this planet if the universities accepted me. If I could pass their tests.

"What if I don't have a talent? What if I don't get accepted into a university?"

My uncle laughed. "That will not happen, you have a talent, though I do not know what it is. It was tested when I found you, but you were too young for it to have awakened yet. Even if it is a bad talent you will still be able to go to a university."

I nodded as I looked at the gift he handed me. It was also a skill book. The title was something I expected from the information I already knew. I placed my hand on the book.

<Warning: Your rank is below C, and you can therefore only learn 2 abilities from skill books. Learning [Telekinesis] will mean you are unable to learn new skills from skill books until your power level reaches rank C.>

Once again I did not hesitate to select yes. Telekinesis was not a powerful ability, but it was extremely versatile. It was also a rank 3 ability, which was the highest ranked ability someone below C rank could learn. More importantly it was a gift from my uncle, and was also the same skill that he himself possessed.

As I learned the ability the book before me visibly dimmed, the magic power within it being absorbed into my body. The book did not crumble like the previous one. This was actually rather normal. These books would eventually recharge as they absorbed the magical radiation in the air. In a couple of years the book would once again be able to be used.

When the book dimmed John placed the book back in the shoe box and closed the lid.

"Do not underestimate the power of Telekinesis. When trained well it is an extremely practical skill. It might not have the power the destroy a city like some B or A ranked skills, nor is it as flashy as fire balls the like, but it is a powerful skill. It is a C ranked skill for a reason."

I nodded as I listened to his words. I had complete trust in him, my uncle had yet to lead me down the wrong path.

To be continued

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