Cabinet Conference

This is an emergency. An abnormal amount of Rutus Energy has been detected in Area B of Central Inazuma. I repeat. A possible Fracture is appearing in Area B of Central Inazuma. The level is yet to be determined. Please follow our personnel and evacuate immediately to Area C...

"This sucks! Every channel gets interrupted when a Fracture happens, and it happens like 5 times a day," Saki complained as she slumped on the couch.

"Fractures appear in Inazuma all the time, unfortunately. We have to get used to it," said Ichinose.

"The Fracture rate differs in each region. Hinata barely experiences any Fracture even though it's one of the larger regions of the world. I wonder why."

Azuma pointed out correctly. Hinata had the lowest Fracture rate in all five regions of Hakuryuu. Because of that, technology wasn't developed as much compared to Inazuma, making it the countryside of Hakuryuu.

It made sense. All the resources should be focused on the regions that suffered more from Erosion. Since Inazuma was vulnerable to Fractures plus the fact that it was the central region of the nation, the Administration established one of its headquarters there to respond to danger as fast as possible.

Other regions were invested highly as well due to the increase of Fractures lately, but Hinata still was living peacefully.

"Anyway, let's discuss what we learned today. Nakano-sensei gave us a rather heavy lecture on theories, so I think we should go through it again. It's our responsibility as the class cabinet, after all."

Right, it was our second day at the academy, and suffice to say, we had a lot to take in.

"It was all theory, but as we all know, theory will become practice. There might be tests about it too, so we better prepare than doing nothing."

As expected from Ichinose, she was fitting to be our class president... Well, I still couldn't shake off what happened the night before. I thought Ichinose would be avoiding me, but she acted normal the whole day. Maybe I was the weird one?

"As expected from our academic weapon! Only you can be thinking about tests on our second day."

"She's begging for her cheeks to be squeezed, isn't she?"

Day two and Ichinose has already found Saki's weakness. Another year and she might become Ichinose's subordinate.

"Nope. Tell your hands to stay put or I'll fight for real!"

Saki seemed traumatized by the constant kneading from Ichinose. Her cheeks were looking more puffed and red today. 

She reminded me of the Guizhong beauties that constantly appeared on social media. Their makeup was wicked, to the point where everyone could look like an angel descended from heaven even with the most unfavorable genetics.

With that type of face, no makeup was needed on her, so I would say it was a blessing in disguise.

"Put your adorable fists away now and start working," Azuma smiled gently.

They've really become sisters that fast, huh? When could I get that?

"I got something on my mind. Debate time. Luck or training? Which one takes the cake regarding the power a Repulsor can possess?" Ichinose started off the discussion.

"Luck! As Sensei said, Pulses are manifested at random. If it's focused on training, then there wouldn't be any D-Grade or C-Grade, right? I doubt people turn into a pig and bask in the sun all day when they can become stronger just by putting in a good effort. Whether you become powerful or not is decided by birth!"

"Saki-san, I respectfully disagree. Many people have different talents in the world, but only those who sharpen their swords enough can use them. Pulses exist because of Repulsive Force, and you can refine it to a certain extent."

"This is combat, Hiyori-san! It doesn't matter if someone is more skilled at their craft or not because they're gonna be crushed in the face of an overwhelming power anyway. The least they can do is to dodge and pray."

"People who are skilled have more qualities of a fighter. Courageous, determined, smart, calculative. Being equipped with skills grants you one step ahead every time over a mindless person who only boasts about their powers."

"Hmm... Does it matter if they're squashed meat at the end of the day?"

"Why not both? Talent paves an easier road while hard word paints it," I intervened.

"It's not much of a debate if you stay ambiguous with your stance, Hinode-kun," the adjudicator gave her judgment.

"Fortunately, you're looking at a person that has both, so what gives?"

"It gives cockiness. You guys will see this part of him sooner or later, though I didn't expect it to be this soon," Saki side-eyed me.

"It's not cockiness when I can back it up. Remind me who's leading the rankings again?"

"Hmph! Nice one. You didn't even believe you would be at the top at first, how cute!"

"Have to be humble at some point. I can't get ahead of myself but what I can do, is to get ahead of you."

"You...!"

If some stranger saw us talking like this, they would have thought we were seriously arguing, but this was a normal day for us. Banter had become our daily ritual, and we loved every second of it.

At the end of our fun talk, two possible scenarios would happen. Number one was this.

POW!

A punch to my arm. Even Ichinose and Azuma winced slightly seeing how powerful Saki could punch, but don't get it wrong. This was far less scary than the second scenario. 

A perfect smile. White pearls revealed themselves with a glistening radiance. Soft and delicate lips with a subtle rosy hue. So innocent and pure. With that smile, anyone could be saved from the darkest of the abyss.

It might look like the warmth of a mother enveloping her child but behind that smile lies a sinister demon. This was a sign of danger approaching. Even my prized talent for the swords couldn't stop this apocalyptic event. It rarely happened, but when it did, I could only be powerless as an ant. 

In short, she was mad, like genuinely.

"Ahem. Let's trace back to our main topic here. The performance of each individual and each class solely depends on Pulses. In essence, they are special powers imbued since we were newborns, and to activate them requires some sort of medium. Nakano-sensei said it could come in any form or shape as long as it unlocks our force flow..."

"And normally, it would be a watch," Azuma completed the sentence for Ichinose.

Could that be connected to the watch my father gave me? If the watch was to have such importance, then how could it have been broken? Shouldn't the watch not be fragile? I had many questions when I heard that information in class.

"Another problem. Since our classmates have some misconceptions about Repulsive Force, it should be mentioned that not everyone has it. I heard them saying that even their mom and dad can be Repulsors. That's wrong. And even if they have it, the force flow is so insignificant that it'd be unwise to become a combatant."

I would've thought so. Selecting all these students into one academy meant that they were detected to have above-average force flow. I was clueless about how the academy did that, though. 

"Did Sensei tell us how we got recruited in the first place?" I asked. And unknowingly, I asked a dumb question.

"Did you fall asleep in class? Anyway, there's a device that detects people who have abnormal force flow. It works like a satellite but only hovers around our continent."

"That's so cool! I still couldn't believe how advanced the technology is over here." Saki's eyes widened.

"Hinata truly pales by comparison," Ichinose sighed.

"Yeah... Hearing about all of this makes me feel like a country bumpkin who's clueless about everything in the latest trend. I hate it!"

Saki was someone who loved catching up with the latest trends, but it seemed that Inazuma was on another level that she couldn't handle yet.

As the night continued on, we discussed more important topics at hand.

"We should look at everyone's Pseudo-Grade and analyze some interesting points."

"Why're we doing this so early?" Saki asked.

It was because of a crucial event for every new student in this academy. It would change the balance of both individual rankings and class order, and it would happen to take place on Monday of next week. The event was...

"The bestowment of Pulse Watches."