Chapter 9: Secrets of the world.

Godfrey enters the large domed structure and looks around in confusion. The entire space looks to be a technologically advanced gym. There are giant hydraulic press-like machines and advanced treadmills.

Principal Jefferson quickly organizes the children and swiftly gives instructions.

"Alright first years. Ready your identification tablet and place it on the terminal for the biometric scanning machine when you hear your name. Firstly..."

Godfrey notes that the process is quite simple. One must place the handheld tablet on the terminal and stand for 5 seconds under the scanner. One by one the students are called, until it is Godfrey's turn.

He places his chip down, and stands steady. After a few seconds, his information is displayed on his handheld tablet.

Godfrey Gallahad

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Height: 1.95 meters

Weight: 245 kg

Eye colour: Gold

Blood type: N/A

Abilities: ???

Principal Jefferson sees the results and is confused.

"There seems to have been a malfunction my boy. We'll list your abilities as we go."

He walks towards the hydraulic press and the students follow. Godfrey has a suspicion as to its purpose but decides to listen.

Principal Jefferson presses a few buttons at a side terminal, and the hydraulic press smashes downwards.

*BAAAANG*

He looks to the students and laughs.

"This is a modified hydraulic press. Even the sixth year students still use this to train their physical strength. There are many situations in which you need to push your body to it's breaking point as a whole. While the concept of this machine is simple, it is incredibly useful."

He continues as he resets the hydraulic press.

"Same as before, place your tablets on the terminal and you may begin. Godfrey, you are first this time."

Godfrey places his tablet down and braces himself. His blood boils at the concept of quantifying his strength. The machine presses down and he holds steady until the tons range.

1 ton, barely a sweat.

5 tons, slight exertion

7 tons, slight strain

Principal Jefferson sees the futility in small incremental increases and directly adds 10 tons.

17 tons, muscles beginning to sore

20 tons, sweat forms on Godfrey's forehead

25 tons, his entire body shakes and his body adapts.

It repeats a cycle of strengthening and the test continues for 20 minutes.

70 tons, his body shakes again and it adapts.

Principal Jefferson suddenly stops the machine and rubs his forehead.

"Stop Godfrey. Your classmates need to test themselves as well. We'll get back to your strength test another day. For now we'll list it at to be determined."

Godfrey nods and sees the shocked faces of all his classmates. He sees Sylphaera's jaw drop and he laughs to himself.

The speed and endurance test went very much the same way.

For the speed test, he ran as fast as he could and his body adapted, thus allowing him to run faster.

In the endurance test, he ran with 35 tons weights on his body and didn't stop until Principal Jeffrey stopped him once more.

Godfrey's body simply pushes itself even further the more he exerts himself. Though Godfrey knows the rate he'll improve at will slow eventually, it must seem like he'll endlessly grow forever to his classmates.

The final test of the day is the abilities test. Godfrey is, once more, called to be the first and demonstrate his abilities in front of the class.

Godfrey first decides to fly and lap around the large gym while the machines calculate his speed.

He creates lightning and manipulates them into various shapes. He strikes a test dummy, that calculates the force of his blow, and utterly decimates it with 70% of his power.

Principal Jefferson is at his wits end and simply shoos Godfrey off the stage. As he waits, Godfrey inspects his tablet with his updated biometrics report.

Godfrey Gallahad

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Height: 1.98 meters

Weight: 252 kg

Eyes:Gold

Blood type: N/A

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Abilities:

Lightning Manipulation:

Force: Missile

Voltage: To be determined

Flight Speed Limit: Mach 2

Super Strength Limit: To be determined

Super Speed Limit: To be determined

Super Endurance Limit: To be determined

Godfrey scratches his head at the less than informative screen. He decides to simply not rely on quantitative measurements as his growth is too erratic. He does cheerfully note that he has grown taller.

'Measurements like these would take too long to update and the frequency in which I have to do so is staggering. I'll simply keep training with my head down.'

Godfrey pauses at that thought and laughs internally.

'Haha. The former GodKing keeping his head down. My wife would have laughed me out of the palace.'

A burst of melancholy erupts from Godfrey's soul and he doesn't have the heart to pay attention to the rest of the abilities. That is until Sylphaera demonstrates her abilities, and a thought comes into his mind.

'The name is simply a coincidence right?'

'WHAT OF HER ABILITIES YOU FOOL? SHE EVEN LOOKS THE SAME AS A CHILD. ARE YOU AN IDIOT?'

'Enough. I have lived long enough to meet others who resemble me. A coincidence is just that, no matter how I wish it wasn't.'

'YOU WOULD HIDE AWAY LIKE A COWARD? YOU WOULDN'T EVEN CHECK? WHY??!'

'Because I failed.'

'...'

' I have failed and there is no changing that.'

'...'

'I am scared, and that makes me unworthy.'

'...'

The testing ends and Principal Jefferson has a mischievous smile on his face as he speaks to the students.

"Remember what I said about the one rule? Competion is the rule that allows humanity to keep pushing forward. I may have decided to leave out the part where the top scorers will receive rewards from me."

A chorus of groans sounds out but is quickly silenced when Principal Jefferson raises a hand and shouts.

"SILENCE! You are no longer children. In here, you are aspiring heroes. Conduct yourself with the appropriate class!"

He waits until the air is quiet and continues.

"Learn quickly. Everything you do in Ascension Academy is a competition. Feel free to make friends, but never think that you won't have to compete with them. When the year ends, you'll have to battle one another. The ones with the most unsatisfactory performances will leave."

He turns his eyes to Godfrey and smiles.

"Godfrey, Sylphaera, and Roderick. Follow me to my office. The rest of you shall head outside and follow your teachers to the cafeteria."

Godfrey looks to Roderick and realises that he's the boy that threw the rocky fist towards him. He pats the boy, whom Godfrey notices is not that much shorter than him, on the shoulder and speaks.

"Hello Roderick. I'm glad that my throw did not eliminate you from the academy. Your strength would be a welcome boon in the coming battles against evil."

Roderick looks shocked that Godfrey would even talk to him, but is even more shocked at the way he speaks.

"Umm right. Uhh thanks for holding back? I would've been unconscious if you threw a little harder. Glad to meet you Godfrey."

Sylphaera watches the awkward interaction and bursts out laughing.

"HAHAHAHA. Oh my goodness, you're so awkward Godfrey."

Despite his long life experiences, Godfrey feels embarrassed as he has never been openly teased like this.

'Except by Sylphaera.'

He is brought out of his thoughts by Principal Jefferson as he urges the trio to follow along. They once more walk through the campus and now see the senior students walking about. Their seniors, however, observe Godfrey and battle intent once more permeates the school grounds.

Godfrey ignores them as he walks but Sylphaera curiously asks Principal Jefferson.

"Sir? Why are they looking at Godfrey like that?"

Principal Jefferson laughs and speaks as if it was obvious why.

"They feel his strength. In this academy, there is no distinction between years. Any one of these students can suddenly experience a spike in power. Such is the chaos of puberty. Therefore, we allow students to challenge each other, regardless of the years."

They enter a small building that looks out of place on the campus as Principal Jefferson continues his explanation.

"Obviously we observe closely and make sure the challenge system does not become a means of bullying."

He gives Godfrey a good look and thinks to himself.

'As soon as you leave my office building, the challenges will begin Godfrey. You'll have to show them that you mean business.'

They enter a small office room and Godfrey is in disbelief at how humble it is.

'One would think the headmaster of the top academy would have a more lavish office. I assume that he invests his own money back into the school.'

Principal Jefferson sits down and relaxes into his chair. He removes 3 boxes from a drawer and places them onto his desk. He then turns to Roderick and motions for him to step forward.

"Roderick, as the third place I give to you a pass for unlimited training room hours. The average first year only has 1 hour per day."

He turns to Sylphaera and motions for her to step forward.

"Sylphaera you also get unlimited training room hours, and can commission a super suit that will be made with technologies that even the military do not possess."

He waves to the door and it opens.

"You may both leave. I would like to talk to Godfrey alone. Well done."

Sylphaera and Roderick both exit. Godfrey looks to Sylphaera as she passes and she gives him a toothy grin.

'What if?'

His divine sense scans her soul for any signs of divinity. Alas, there is none. Godfrey smiles back sadly.

'You are not her.'

They exit and the room now contains only the headmaster and Godfrey. The headmaster points at the chair and laughs.

"Well don't just stand there hahaha. Take a seat please."

Godfrey sits and listens to what the rewards are. Principal Jefferson whistles as he opens the 3 boxes.

"You will find that the academy is unique in that the lectures we provide are optional. That's good news for you as these passes I am about to give you, could make the normal students riot. On top of the previous rewards given to the two others, this is a privilege that only the first place holders of every year can enjoy."

Principal Jefferson points to a green pass.

"This pass means that you can access the gravity chamber. For you, this is the ultimate training area."

He points to a blue pass.

"This pass means you can access the secret library. It houses vast knowledge on all your subjects including abilities, and the history of the world. We're still an academy. We take our written tests quite seriously hahahaha. Of course it has its perks that you will no doubt figure out."

He picks up the last red pass.

"This pass is special. With this, you can teleport to our secret mars base. After terraforming, we've been able to live on mars for the last 200 years. It's been kept a secret due to the "natives". You'll learn more when you decide to head on over."

He stares seriously at Godfrey and a pressure fills the room.

"There are secrets in this world that would shake even the most stalwart of heroes. Do not let power get to your head. The library, is a treasure trove of secrets. Tread lightly Godfrey."

He then opens his arms and congratulates Godfrey.

"Well done. Go eat then head home to rest. I look forward to your growth in the coming years. Remember that competition exists everywhere. Keep fighting. Oh, and make sure none of the information I just told you leaks. You will be held responsible on crimes against mankind."

Godfrey nods and collects his passes. The Principal was kind enough to give him a small bag for them. He steps outside the building and is immediately reminded of the one rule in Ascension Academy.

A shadowy spike zooms towards his chest as soon as he opens the main door.

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END