"No way... he awakened?"
"You mean to tell me that someone can awaken their Gift after hitting 18 years of age?"
"This can't be real... who am I going to test my new skills on now?"
So many different voices shot out at Logan to the point that he had to cover his ears, clicking his tongue at the sudden discomfort.
'This may be a byproduct of my enhanced hearing, but I can't stand all these voices,' he told himself, deciding to further close himself off by turning to the corner of the room.
On the other hand, the person who asked him the question—Cecile—tapped him on the shoulder. "Logan, are you really telling the truth?" she asked, looking at him curiously. As her hand stuck onto his shoulder, he felt something ice-cold begin to press into flesh, freezing his mind asunder with stirs of pain. "No matter. I'll see for myself."
The action was so random that Logan didn't retaliate, sitting as he watched the way her pale skin grew lighter in complexion, letting additional, small spears of glassy blue fly out from the back of her hand to extend entire inches into the air. Just milliseconds after, his vision obscured with white, her hand holding him in place with all the intensity of a bright flame.
White-hot pain undulated all throughout his shoulder, slamming into his bones and frying nerves. He could only stagger in horror as he felt his skin crackle from the cold, even beginning to split by the individual cell.
Logan screamed, falling out of his chair headfirst into the ground.
"Wow, your shoulder didn't freeze off from my Gift. It seems you're telling the truth."
Writhing from the horrible throbs, Logan clenched his teeth, biting back the urge to murder her with all his being. "What the fuck is your problem?"
She didn't immediately respond, instead coughing out a slight burst of air as she looked down at him, condescendingly. "If you were Gifted, your life would have some value to it, and you would survive. If you were Ungifted, you wouldn't have been worth keeping alive. Either way, the outcome didn't matter."
As he saw the way she smiled at her own logic, Logan dusted himself off. Getting up to sit himself back down, the other students didn't speak. No, they only watched as the scene unfolded before them, unwilling to sever the heavy air enshrouding the room.
"Wow, Logan Reed has awakened. This is cause for celebration, is it not?" The one to speak was the professor, clapping it up for Logan without the support of the class. Still, while everyone was silent, Logan had only found himself laughing at the fact.
"What's so funny?" one student asked, kicked back on his desk. "Even if you awakened, you're still garbage. Don't forget that."
Immediately, Logan recognized the voice. It was Nico, parading his all-too nonchalant attitude. It was also the kid who Logan suffered 27 defeats against over his six years of attendance at Buford Academy.
"Nothing Nico, just that of all the people to disrespect me even after obtaining a Gift, I didn't expect it to be this class—the lowest of the low in the entire school. I mean, look at you; your ability is looking a quarter of a second into the future. What use does that have? What about Cecile? She cools down her hands—and just her hands—to below freezing. Joseph? Minor strength augmentation—hah! Every Gifted has the ability to augment their strength! And then there's—"
"What about you, tough guy? What's your ability? What has you running your mouth?"
"W-well..."
"Enough; Logan, Nico. Now is not the time for your petty grudges. There's an important class we must get to." With the professor's intervention, Logan stifled his breath.
"Professor, are you truly going to ignore what Cecile did to me just now? She tried to freeze my entire arm off! But no, once I decide to fight back, there's suddenly grounds for intervention? Are words truly where you draw the line—"
"Enough!" The chalkboard splintered against the mighty force of Professor Wilhelm's fist, digging into the wall and even reverberating some of the force into its mana-resistant material. "You and I will have this conversation after class. As for you, Cecile, I urge you not to do that again. Now, for the time being, I am going to continue my instruction. Anyone who talks while I am instructing will be forced to leave the room."
Defeated, Logan looked to the striations in his wooden desk, counting the stripes. Anything to get his mind off the incident. Then, out of boredom, he actually checked the contents of the chalkboard. There were runes scribbled on it, roughly translating to a rudimentary mana storage spell if one were to rewrite the numerous mistakes.
'Are we finally going to learn about mana, now?' he pondered, feeling his chest explode with bubbles of excitement. It had been far too long since the class had taught anything of substance, so much so that he could already begin to feel himself forget some of the postulates they'd learned at the beginning of the year.
"Alright class, I believe it's about time we learned about the mana core," Professor William stated, holding with him a pointing stick. Instantly, Logan's face fell. "The crystalline formation enshrined within all of us, the device which gives all humans—Gifted and Ungifted—the power to live and stand above others as a ruler."
Crudely, he pointed to himself, positioning his stick just below his chest along the midline. "Anterior to the diaphragm, it takes in the atmospheric mana through special receptors in our cells called 'Manacules'. Once infused, it either recycles its mana to be used later, or transfers mana into 'life energy,' or, in other words, the energy needed to power our cells."
"Okay, but what does this have to do with the class? We already know all of this," one student chimed in. It was Isaac, his light blond hair waving a couple seats in front of Logan. "I thought this class was going to be super 'important', professor."
The professor pointed at the door. "Out."
"B-but—"
"Now!" The professor waited through Isaac's pout, tapping his foot as Isaac slowly inched his way to the door. Once it slammed shut, he continued. "As I said, nobody will talk during this instruction. Obviously, I understand that you guys are well educated on the nature of the mana core, but for this lesson, you're going to need to know these things. Why? Because we're going to be learning how to increase your core's mana stores."