Corruption

The constant invading sound of paper moving and pencils writing drowns out the lecture hall while the professor teaches his students on the subject at hand. Many of the students are attentive as it's their first year at this highly prestigious university while a select few are either tired or bored as some of them were forced by their families to enrol in this famous school.  One of these tired characters was a young man  named Kiyoshi slouching down on the table, visibly exhausted. Everyone around him was a blur as he was too tired to pay attention to any one of them, he nodded slowly as he's trying to stay up. He was woken up by the professor informing the class that their personal dorm rooms will be available tomorrow and are free to move in here.  The lesson ended shortly after and he walked through the halls while everything around him was still unfocused. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, he decided he needed some caffeine and decided to go to the cafe across the street after leaving school. He shuffled towards the entrance of the school, occasionally bumping into students. It was the 3rd day of the first week he began the first semester, he was too drowsy to try to recollect his memories of school but maybe he would after getting some coffee. Clumsily he bumped into a girl making her fall, after all she was shorter than him, he nearly stumbled but was able to stabilise himself. He was too tired to help her but gave a mumbled half hearted apology before continuing his slow march to his objective.  He opened the doors to the crisp autumn air, students talking to each other while others were waiting by the steps glued on their phones patiently waiting for their friends. Kiyoshi walked across the streets with the massive skyscrapers looming over him and everyone else. They had gold decor covering around the skyscrapers, some of them having sky bridges that connect them like neighbours.  The rich upper class do love showing off their wealth, he walks the street past the smaller buildings and apartments passing by the regular citizens in society who help support the economy. He walks to a known cafe and is popular with the older folk. He grabbed his cup of coffee and left. He went down the street, past the luxury cars, past the business men trying to sell a product that would fail in hope to hit it big, and past the beggars. He stopped in front of many entrances to his town; they didn't really have an official name but the public agreed to call it the Slums, not really creative. There are many ways to enter the slums, the stairs, some ramps, roads or just be a very unlucky person that was born into the slums. 

Walking down the long stairs, some of the concrete deteriorating, and the railings showing signs of rust. While walking down the stairs he stares across the town and sees ever expanding houses and incomplete buildings and it keeps going that it's hard to see the end of it. Sighing as it takes him at least half an hour to walk to his house, walking through the trash filled streets with occasional beggars down on their consistent bad luck. He walks past one of the hangout zones where young teens or delinquents hangout, an highly graffitied playground with a connected skate park. There are multiple streets and narrow pathways that resemble a maze, a highly hazardous maze with pipes that spew hot steam and boiling water. Turning left down a small street he walks until stopping in front of two houses that are so close together that there's a small passageway that only a few people can notice and a few that can go through it as there are multiple pipes and broken pieces of glass that covers the ground. He makes it past all of the obstacles as he goes through this pass many times throughout his life. He exits out of the small alleyway and enters into a small area with a small tree and mound of grass where the sun shines at. At the end there is a door that connects to one of the houses, it was originally an extension for the house but was walled off for rodent infestation. He walks across the grass petting the leaves on the tree and grabs some keys for his door. The door had 2 built in locks and an extra heavy duty padlock, the door originally had glass panes but was smashed with lead to cover it with 2x4 wooden planks. The layout isn't impressive as it has only two rooms, the larger bedroom that connects with the kitchen and the smaller bathroom. It's more sanitised and much cleaner than other houses as he knows it could lead to more infestation such as bugs and rodents. He has a styrofoam mattress with multiple blankets and 2 pillows. The kitchen isn't much as it has a metal sink, the counter around the sink shows signs of decay, some of the paint on the walls are peeling and the water from the tap is usually dirty. The bathroom has a toilet, a sink and a small bathtub. Besides that, there's nothing much to do here, no signs of entertainment like a tv or a video game, the only pastime is reading books or improving oneself. Being fully attentive he decides to just relax, knowing this is probably the final time of him living in the slums,recalling the moments before this and how he got to this moment in the first place. He doesn't recall how humans gain a supernatural ability, powers that one ordinary person cannot replicate, he heard rumours that it was a solar eclipse, some say it was the next step in evolution, while fools believe that a baby who was shiny gave us powers. If you ask me I just don't really care but I did hear whispers about a former war circulating through the slums. Since then we called these powered individuals alters and their powers 

 The slums has been here before he was born, the slums was known as a former megacity but after some events it slowly turned into the slums where the rich uses it as a form of resource, taking advantage of the unfortunate souls by having the land being drained of its dwindling oil and source of clean water that was stored in the earth's crust. It does give us a bit of pity by sharing     unfiltered water that is usually cold and barely has any power, but it's overshadowed by how much pollution they expel with all the sludge they pump out into our brown streaked rivers and the heavy amount of air pollution they expel. He was born into the slums and lived there from birth, told how to live and how to hide. Was told where to go and where to avoid, certain parts of the slums are owned by smaller gangs or packs of street dogs. The slums were never quiet for long as there always seemed to be something happening like a small explosion because a person mixed the wrong chemical while trying to make spice or the occasional fighting whenever a drug trade went wrong. People in the slums knew of kiyoshi as that one youngster who always looked to have a goal in mind, everyone has a goal but  he seems determined by his constant morning exercise and honing his powers. Training one's powers isn't uncommon but the way he was training was eccentric down here in the slums as they always relied on outside factors such as drugs or even rarely surgery, he was pushing his powers to new heights and breaking his body with extensive training.  Some of the nicer residents asked  why he's training so hard for but he never did answer and instead just walked past them, usually keeping his distance. He recalled some points of his memory like him reading textbooks filled with maths and science, devouring the information and completing a book every day. 

At the age of eighteen when he was confident he left the slum and went into the central city like any other day but this particular event was special. Walking through the central city was a hassle as it's pretty populated with everyone trying to get from one place to another and it usually causes a jam. When in a highly populated area it could lead to some maniac or a person to lose control and use their powers, leading it to mass casualties which isn't pretty for the government. To combat this type of situation they invented a robot that walks around and monitors any individual's mental state and tries to prevent anyone from causing a massacre. 

Walking throughout the city took a while, he was walking down a market district and turning the Corner he came across a small crowd. The crowd was gathering around two individuals, the most noticeable was a large bald man with scars covering his body and holding with his right hand was  a fire hydrant with concrete still on it and on the left was a large duffel bag. The person he's clashing with was the famed bishop class hero " Blur ", Blur was an interesting name that was given to him by the public because of his power. Blur power was to make anyone he looks have their senses dulled to the point of being almost useless so whenever he fights someone all they see is a blur.  The blue hero costume was a full grey bodysuit with some padding on his knees and elbows as well as some kevlar lining around his suit. He has built in gloves with brass knuckles attached to give some power to his strikes, the built in goggles are useful against attacks that reduce his visibility and has a utility belt with many purposes. 

" petty bank robberies eh?, that's pretty vile of you to commit you scum!" Blur boisterously spoke, he walked slowly towards the villain while continuing his speech " look at the chaos you committed, the civilians are in fear because of you", Ironically they look excited while filming on their phones.  " For this crime against humanity I the blur shall smite you down and bring you to justice!" the Blur dashed towards his opponent while activating his power which caused the giant to stagger back from being surprised of his lack of vision.  Quickly as when he was stunned he then recovered and took a swing in front of him hitting the hero into the building next to him. The crowd was in shock of what happened, they didn't expect the blur to go down so easily but the years of basking in publicity has made him arrogant, the giant then looked at the public surrounding him, which left him no choice but to try to hit civilians out of his way. But before he could get close to the nearest civilian he was being climbed on by the blur holding him in a chokehold with one hand and the other reaching into his utility belt. Trying to grab him off but failing as his movements were heavily reduced which gave the blur enough time to pull out his modified taser to subdue villains. He activated the taser and pressed it against the criminal neck which electrified the muscular                     man. After a couple of seconds the giant fell onto the concrete. 

The battle wasn't flashy and didn't really excite the crowd but it was serviceable, the crowd slowly dispersed when the law enforcement came to arrest the criminal. Checking the time he realised he was about to run late, so in a hurry he sprinted down the road and cut through a couple of alleyways, he emerged from the maze of buildings and landed in a nicer looking part of town. The buildings here are impressively designed with glass spirals and towers connecting with each other. Around that was the campus, the famous school of turning students into heroes, the famous United Heroic University. The University is a big plot of land that stretches over 10km, the well designed metal walls surround the building and only has 4 entrances.  It has 4 buildings, the biggest of them all is the training building, it's a rather large structure that has many rooms and intricate workings that help students with a variety of testing.  The second is the university. The whole university had a large spiral tower with a circular building at the base. Around the building were multiple circles which housed the many Classes and lecture halls. The third building is the arena which holds the tournaments and student duels. Lastly the dorms, which house the students and provide the highest quality of stays. 

He stopped in front of the famous gates, he heard about them and what they represent, the four gates of  virtues, Courage, Justice, compassion and hope. The gates are made with marble and decorated with gold and silver to symbolise importance and decadence at this highly prestigious school.

Standing next to the gates are the Judicators, the law heavy law enforcement that are usually people with no powers but can go toe to toe with alters due to their exo-suits that are designed to subdue alters. They seem to be checking in each person to see if they are certified applicants or not as they don't want a rampaging altar running around during the registration exams. Looking over the lineup it wasn't that bad, only a moderate amount of applicants there, he walked over and joined the herd. " ah!, is this the line up for registration?" a voice behind ask, looking behind him it was a girl that seemed to be around his age, her hair reached to her shoulders and was wearing a baggy sweater with a skirt and black leggings. Her most notable feature was the dyed red hair in front of her two sides. Kiyoshi looked at her and nodded, he then turned around to focus on the front of the line waiting. The girl then started to talk, " so what course are you taking? Athletics? Law enforcement?, military?, Im taking a hero course". Kiyoshi, not being the talkative type but doesn't want to be an ass on his registration exams, says "hero courses". 

"So we might be in the same class then, that's cool, so are you ready for the test?"

Kiyoshi nods in response. 

The person in front of the line starts to make a commotion, " wait, wait WAIT! This is the form I swear, I got this  from the official site! It's not fake, damn it I'm not a liar!" 

The Judicators, noticing this walk in front of him and take him aside, the person who seems to be in charge of checking for certified applicants doesn't seem to be fazed by the commotion and ask for the next in line. The fraud who tried to commit a crime is currently being cuffed with the purifier, which is reinforced steel with advanced technology that nullifies a person's power.  

" Geez, wonder why he was so desperate to get into the school?"

Kiyoshi didn't respond but had a probable explanation, the man needed to go to the school for either it's his only chance to get out of his situation or either a favour to a gang. 

The  line slowly gets smaller and smaller until Kiyoshi is in front, the sharply dressed lady with her dark hair neatly tied back, she has a small tablet that he presumes that's used to check in for students.

She motions for him to step forward , he does as told. 

" I need the certification number and ID"  the lady said flatly, Kiyoshi handed her the id and memorised the number he told her "7423817"  

She checks it, and nods in confirmation that he can proceed. 

The gates in front of him were created with the latest technologies with the intent to protect and keep out threats from their students. He successfully walks past the towering gates that loom over them, it grants him and the others before him solitude, a reassuring feeling that it would serve its purpose. 

It's a new experience to him, he never attended school, being known for living in the slums proves difficult to attend school with the rest of society. He felt uncertain, attending this prestigious college has this sort of expectation that you need to show. Swallowing his uncertainty he determinedly walked to the main building where they are holding the registration  exams. He read up on the entrance exams, they hold 5 exams and include 5 types of attributes that you need to prove to be a part of the college. 

These exams test you on your Physical fitness, Intelligence, Mental health, power control and fighting. 

Walking through the doors into the school and he's see around him a large lobby, in the middle of the room is stairs that go the second floor, on the right is a security desk with guard station,  he looks like a gruffled middle age dude with a stubble beard and ponytail, drinking a cup a of coffee he makes eye contact with kiyoshi.

Looking at him he notices the tag on his unkempt security jacket, "Mamoru". Ending the eye contact, Kiyoshi continued walking into the lobby. He looks at the large map of the schools showing the classes and facilities that it provides, right next to the map is a small frame sign that reads " registration exam, room 111 ". With that in mind Kiyoshi goes to the required destination.  

Walking past and occasionally bumping into the wave of registrants that crowd the hallway that leads to the exam room. The wall of potential students block kiyoshi, one of the registrants unknowingly backs up into kiyoshi which pushes him back.

While being pushed back he bumps into someone behind him, looking behind him he sees that same girl he met earlier. "Ah! sorry I didn't mean to be so close to you, waaait it's you from earlier, the big tall dude!"  Looking down at her, he didn't say much but muttered a sorry.  

Offering his hand to her she took it, and smiled a thanks. After getting back up she asked " So are you prepared to take the Exams? They are pretty extreme to any average person."  While looking at her he gave her a thumbs up in response, " Nice, i'm also prepared, i studied weeks ahead and was training for the many exams this test has for us!".  

The swarm of students was beginning to filter out as they were entering the massive lecture hall. Taking this as a signal to leave, Kiyoshi took it and headed towards the entrance, with this new acquaintance he doesn't have the name for.  

The lecture hall was beautifully and carefully designed with wood and marble, each row of seats was engraved showing seat numbers.  Taking the nearest seat available, he claimed seat 71, and his acquaintance decided to follow behind seating right next to him. 

"In the midst of chaos, of people trying to find seats and to not make too much of a scene, the mysterious young girl broke the tension between.

"Soooo what's your name, since we haven't properly introduced ourselves" , "...Kiyoshi..yours?", she let out a light chuckle.. Well kiyoshi my name is Ayuna, nice to meet you",  " likewise Ayuna " 

The crowd starts to thin as mostly everyone  has found their seats, looking down on the podium there were three figures. The Dean, an older man who looks to be in his early sixties while seeming to be in great shape. On his left was a younger lady, what he assumed was head doctor and on his right was the man from the security desk, which was the head of security. 

" May I get your attention, I'd like to say welcome to those who are partaking in the registration exams, we appreciate your dedication in furthering your education and honing your abilities", he scans the room taking in all of the expressions of those who are participating. 

" I see some of you are nervous while others are eager, some of you are here to pursue your dreams from childhood like being a hero and saving others, while there are those who wants to use their powers for competition like athletes or pursuing a sort of trade job that can benefit from your powers, yet let me tell you this, you all have something in common, possessing the courage in pursuing your passion which is the most important qualities to have"  

The dean then looks at his peers next to him and continues " Me and my colleagues are here to make sure you are safe and would be monitoring you during the exam to ensure your peace of mind, I have head doctor Iyashi and Head of security Mamoru and the rest of their department to keep you well safe and monitored" 

Stepping back to let Head doctor Iyashi take the mic " Hello, me and my staff are here to assist in your well being and and to treat you in case of emergencies, the moment something wrong happens we will be notified immediately and provide treatment and care"  

Stepping back to let Mamoru have his talk

" Listen up, Me and my security are here to keep the safety secured, we will not tolerate outburst and endangering other students because of your little tantrum that you couldn't make it, we will not hesitate to subdue you in if you cause harm outside of the exams and you will be fined and banned from college"  

The silence is broken of those nervously murmuring around them as the threatening announcement was harsher than expected. 

The dean takes the mic while looking unfazed by the previous statement made, as he heard many times before, " With that said, is there any questions before we start?", 

"I-Is there going to be an actual duel for the fifth exam?" 

" Great question, yes, yes there is" Clearing his throat he resumes talking " it's going to be a student on student fight, it's going to focus on managing you power while in a stressful situation such as fighting a powered individual"  

He looks around expecting more questions, muttering on the silence in the room

"Alright, with that said, it's time for exams to begin!"