Secrets Revealed

"You wanna tell me what the hell is going on Cross?!"

"Well clearly the God of Handsomeness tried to have me killed out of jealousy, but the Goddesses of the world just wouldn't let me die."

Dwayne's face dropped, clearly not amused at Gregor's deflection. Grabbing Gregor by his shirt, he growled, "Cut the shit. Forgetting the fact that there is no longer a whole in you chest, how in the hell are you even conscious with all that blood loss?"

"Like I said, the Goddesses just couldn't bear to part with my stunning face so soon," Gregor said, flashing a smug yet somehow charming smile. Even men such as Dwayne and the Vice-Principal were taken in for a split second.

"Enough, Dwayne. Whatever happened is likely beyond Gregor's understanding, much less our own. Besides, this student just suffered a very traumatic experience, we should let him return to his dorm to rest."

Dwayne looked at the Vice-Principal, then begrudgingly set Gregor down. "Fine. Tomorrow, report to the Chief Medic for a full work up, and you'll be returning to class the day after. Vice-Principal, I believe we should discuss this further in a more discreet environment."

The Vice-Principal nodded. "Very well. Get some rest son," as he said this, he clapped his hand on Gregor's shoulder, and an imperceptible glimmer shone in his eye. 'Interesting,' he thought.

As he and Dwayne began to walk away, the Vice-Principal couldn't help but smile to himself and mutter, "Very interesting."

-----

After the two men left, Gregor made his way back to his dorm room. While most dorms in the Zenith Academy held two occupants, Gregor's room had only himself. Despite this, the other half of the room remained untouched, as while transfers were uncommon, they were not impossible.

As Gregor sat down on his bed, a genderless voice once again rang in his ears, "If you continue to use the Gods for your excuses, even the regenerative capabilities of your new body won't save you."

Gregor's eyes widened after being exposed to a secret hidden in plain sight: the existence of the Gods. While worship and religion exist in every civilization, the actually existence of deities always remained in question. The ball of light's words revealed one of the worlds most asked questions.

Shaking off his surprise, Gregor asked, "Where exactly are you, anyway. It sounds as if you're in the room, but clearly that's not the case."

"The space you saw me in before belongs to the Inheritor to the God Battle, the first Berserker, and until you, the only True Berserker. Should you grow your prowess into the realm of the divine, you may take you place as the new God of Battle. That is, if you survive until such a time."

Gregor pondered the ball of lights words. The inheritance of a God was no small matter, and would obviously attract the envy and jealousy of the world. Additionally, throughout the entire pantheon of Gods, there was not even the slightest mention of a God of Battle, giving him pause to his belief in this gods supposed existence.

"Why are there no records of any God of Battle? Even minor gods have at least some legend and lore, but a being as prolific as a God of Battle must be doesn't even have a single story to his name."

" ... "The ball of light grew silent for a moment before speaking. "What I have told you of the Gods already borders on taboo. All I can say is that my creator had his enemies, as well as his demons. Both eventually proved too much for him in the end."

"Fair enough. What exactly does this inheritance entail anyway? Clearly some sort of regenerative capability, but that can't be it."

"Indeed, that is not the limit of the Inheritance. However, your current strength greatly limits what you have access to. I will show you how to see your abilities shortly. Have you learned how to absorb mana yet?"

"No, that is taught after the first exam, and that's not for another month. Besides, it wont matter as I'll be expelled once I fail."

"Expelled? One moment while I check your memories ... ah, I see. Your baseline is truly terrible. I suppose this may be why other qualified candidates were passed on however. It is far easier to build upon a blank slate than to demolish and rebuild an established foundation. We have a lot of work to do then. I guess we can start with your basic abilities. Lie on the bed, and we'll get started."

-----

Back in the Vice-Principals office:

" Are you listening sir? You've been staring into space for the past fifteen minutes and we need to handle any backlash we might receive from the Cross family."

As the Vice-Principal turned back to look at Dwayne, he said, "Keep an eye on the Cross boy. He is hiding an incredible secret. I think he may be the next rising star of Zenith Academy. As for the Cross family, I'll make a call to Maxwell, and we should be fine."

"Respectfully, Cross is a talentless waste of space. He only got in based on his father's influence, how could he possibly be a star?"

The Vice-Principal leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, showing a wry smile. "When I put my hand on his shoulder, I scanned his body with my mana. I saw nothing wrong with his body, but the entire time it was within his body, the mana trembled, as if in fear of the boy. That is someone worth paying attention to."