Chapter 2 - Academy

I stood in front of the imposing metal gates, memories filling my head.

Bright Star Academy.

The most prestigious academy in Oceania, everyone in Oceania desired to enter this academy.

Out of the millions of entrees that are submitted, only a thousand are able to past the test and exam. Wealth and influence did not matter, only knowledge, wisdom and strength mattered.

The school fees itself were monstrous, but it was miniscule compared to the facilities and resources provided by the school.

It had anything you wanted, a mall, gym, Olympic length pool, any sport field and the most impressive of all, the chance to have the Z chromosome activated.

The Z chromosome was something all humans had, but less than 1% of the entire world population were able to activate them. Why? Simply because the Z chromosome was always in a dormant state and it required immense potential from the host to activate it.

Having an awakened Z chromosome was something anyone in the world would dream of, it had the power to give the host supernatural abilities, such as control over the elements and superhuman abilities and more.

However, all usage of abilities relied on kratos, the energy of the world. Without it, one would not be able to use their abilities. It was a passive energy that lay within everyone's body.

People who had an awakened Z chromosome had an unlimited amount of kratos but the ability to wield and control it, depended on the user.

The possibilities were infinite, but the users were finite. Anyone who was able to awaken the Z chromosome was greatly favoured by the any super power of the world, but the most prominent one was called Arcadia, who were essentially the nation of Z chromosome users who in short were called, Heretics.

United Nations feared Arcadia, the power they held and industries they owned.

Arcadia was previously known as Greenland, almost everyone in Arcadia was a heretic except for a select few. Arcadia itself was very prosperous, there were 5 cities and 1 capital. The cities were not too big but living in them was like utopia.

Skyscrapers were scattered across the cities and every city had its own defence system; all cities powered by plasma energy. Everything was far more advanced compared to the rest of the world and there were no slums within Arcadia.

Almost all of the top companies and organisations in the world were created by the top echelons of Arcadia.

While Arcadia was very powerful, the other nations were not too far behind, each superpower of the world had at least 3 families of heretics which very powerful in their own right.

The superpowers of the world were America, China, Russia and Japan.

America's noble families were comprised of the following abilities, manipulation earth, manipulation water and super strength. The water family was the most powerful and usually they were presidents or held extremely held high positions within the government.

China's noble family's abilities were manipulation of poison and transformation of animals. The animal noble family was the most powerful and they had changed the government of China into a kingdom, the current emperor was from the animal family.

Russia's noble families had the following abilities, manipulation of sound, manipulation of metal and manipulation of flora. There was no dominant family, they coexisted in harmony.

Japan had only 2 noble families, but they were very powerful, they were lava manipulation and blood manipulation.

Usually Heretics would awaken a part of their body which would allow them to do extreme things with it, such as superhuman strength in arms or superhuman speed in legs.

The part that is enhanced would be become superhuman like.

Elemental manipulation was extremely rare, only the noble families in Arcadia and each superpower of the world would have them.

Ares family had fire manipulation, Zeus family had lightning manipulation, Loki family had ice manipulation, Hermes family had wind manipulation, Hades family had darkness manipulation and Hera family had light manipulation.

The 6 noble families were pillars of Arcadia, they controlled Arcadia, each had balanced power and kept each other in check.

Anyone who awoke an ability that was the same as the noble families would join them, whether they wanted to or not. They would be given a special chemical that only noble families have, the chemical to have at least 1 child who will awake their Z chromosome.

Instead of joining a noble family or the army of Arcadia, I have decided that I will create my own noble family, that welcomed every and any ability.

But that was for the future when I had become wealthy and strong enough.

"Come on, are you coming or not?" Rachael spoke as she walked through the gates and waved at him.

Shaking away my thoughts, I smiled and ran to catch up to her.

Bags in Bright Star Academy were made of carbon fibre, an extremely durable material that was as light as a feather. It also was an electrical device which let it convert into our VR headsets that would become our laptops and textbooks.

Today was an assembly, but it seemed that this assembly was special.

Some students with connections to the upper echelons of the school were talking about how today would be the day where we were allowed to go through The Awakener, the device where it would stimulate ones genes and try to make the Z chromosome awaken.

People who failed were not looked down or have any consequence, they merely hoped that they would be able to awaken it next year.

Through constant trials and battles it may improve the chance to awaken it, but it doesn't help that much.

Although there were certain drugs and stimulants that would improve one's chances but there were also pretty nasty side-effects.

The noble family's children always had one child that had Z chromosomes that will awake, it was one of the reasons why people would try to become mates of people of the noble family.

People chattering excitedly as they headed towards the main hall.

As we entered through the doors, 3 men and 2 women were standing at the top of the podium.

They stood out, mainly because they wore different flags and had a special marking on them, the mark of a heretic.

They were the representatives of each superpower.

Seeing this, the students exclaimed loudly and knew what day today was going to be, the day that only came once every 3 years.

Awakening Day.

The Awakener would put the students through special situations that have the chance of awakening their Z chromosomes.

A balding middle-aged man walked up to the podium and bowed to each of the representatives in a polite manner then grabbed the microphone.

Seeing this, all chatter and noise quieted down immediately, leaving an atmosphere of anticipation.

"Today, is Awakening Day. The day where carps become dragons and becomes a heretic. While most you will not awaken the Z chromosome, those who do, will have the choice to join any superpower here." The principal spoke majestically as he gestured to each of the representatives.

"Each of you will take The Awakener, to those who will awaken your Z chromosome. I congratulate you and to those will not, better luck next time."

An elderly woman stood next to The Awakener, calling out names and the students would form lines according to the list.

The ones with connections lined up first while the poor lined up near the end.

Rachael and I lined up at the back, although she could've been one of the first.

"Are you excited?" She asked as she watched countless people come out in disappointment.

I smiled and lightly nodded my head then I looked around to see if I could spot anyone that I recognized. Hopefully, I would be able to pull to them to my side before anyone else takes them.

Only 3 people I recognized, and all three went to Arcadia, one of them became a captain but the other two didn't have any significant achievements.

The male with black hair was the one that piqued my interest, in the future he awakens the power to manipulate weapons.

With such an ability, his potential was unlimited as long as he had the right weapons, he would be able to crazy damage.

The rest of the people I recognized only had body enhancements, nothing too special.

Rachael also awakens the ability to manipulate lightning and gets taken away by the Zeus family. She is also forced into an arranged marriage with the heir of the Zeus family. All this happens in about 2-3 years, plenty of time for me to slowly rise up.

4 students out of the 3280 that already gone had awakened their Z chromosome and people were surrounding and congratulating them. However, they only awakened body enhancements.

China took away two students who had body enhancements in their legs and American took away the last two who had superstrength enhancement.

"Kai Morningstar," the elderly announced as I neared The Awakener.

The Awakener didn't look like anything special, it just looked like a metal dome with a body suit made for the user.

I put on the body suit and the technicians on the side gave me a thumbs up and I entered The Awakener.