1 Introductions (1)
"Lastly we have Ryuji Kaneko, in possession of Divine Remnant Son Wukong." yelled instructor Koa.
His voice reverberated off the walls as the hundreds of cadets turned their heads to find who among them possessed a Divine Remnant. Near the back of the classroom, a hand shot up drawing the room's attention.
"Here!" he shouted, "You can call me Ryu."
"Sun Wukong?"
"Another Divine Remnant?"
"How many is that in our year?"
The excitement among the cadets was palpable, only the instructor and a handful of the cadets managed to keep a relaxed expression on their faces.
Ryu sighed, he still wasn't used to people treating him like some type of celebrity. He didn't mind the stares but having the paparazzi waiting in front of his family's apartment had been too much.
Less than a week had passed since he awakened and received a divine remnant, yet the world expected him to be some media-ready celebrity.
"All right quiet down," Instructor Koa spoke, "Since I can tell you're all curious I'll let you know there are six, well actually I should say five Divine Remnants in UGA's new cadets this year."
A wave of murmurs spread throughout the classroom after the statement, even at a military academy designed for awakened Divine Remnants were rare enough to illicit a reaction.
Eventually, the atmosphere of the class returned to normal as instructor Koa finished the role call.
"Now I'll begin your first lesson and then we'll get right into sparring," said Koa as he began to write on the whiteboard, "Now all of you are here because you've awakened Remnants, but not all of them are made equal."
"I'm sure you're all aware that Remnants are divided into the Heroic, Legendary, Mythic, Divine, and Empyrean tiers. Can anyone tell me why these classifications matter?" asked the instructor as he surveyed the audience.
"Because they correspond to rarity." one of the students called back.
The instructor nodded, "That's part of it, but more than rarity what the tiers truly represent is potential. As you train here for the next year you'll likely come to understand this fact for yourselves."
Ryu quickly grew bored as Koa continued his lecture on remnants, everyone present already knew the basics but they were required to cover it anyway. Gazing down from his seat near the back of the auditorium classroom Ryu decided to test out one of his remnant abilities.
[Golden Eyes]
- Divine Ability: Allows the user to see through all things.
Ryu felt his pulse quicken as his normally brown pupils began to take on a golden hue. He had practiced using the ability a lot since his awakening but this was his first real opportunity to use it around other awakened.
First, he focused his ability on the instructor at the front of the class.
Koa Aolani: [Mythic Remnant Maui]
- Heritage Relic:[Divine Weapon: Maui's Fishhook]
- Remnant Abilities:[Mythic Ability: Transformation] [Heroic Ability: Superhuman Strength]
Attributes:
Strength: S-
Endurance: A
Speed: B-
Dexterity: C+
Perception: C
Aura Capacity: C+
Damn, his stats are way higher than mine, Ryu thought as he used his blank laptop screen as a mirror to see his reflection. When he did the same information appeared in his mind.
Ryuji Kaneko: [Divine Remnant Son Wukong]
- Heritage Relic:[Divine Weapon: Ruyi Jingu Bang] [Divine Relic: Golden Headband]
- Remnant Abilities:[Mythic Ability: 72 Transformations] [Divine Ability: Cloud Soaring] [Divine Ability: Golden Eyes] [Divine Ability: Hair Soldiers] [Mythic Ability: Freeze]
Attributes:
Strength: F+
Endurance: E-
Speed: E
Dexterity: E-
Perception: E+
Aura Capacity: F-
The biggest issue right now is Aura, Ryu noted, I can't take advantage of my divine abilities if I don't have the Aura to fuel them.
"That's enough lecturing for now," spoke instructor Koa, breaking Ryu from his thoughts, "We're going to do some sparring exercises now, the point of these is to see what level each of you is at so we can create an optimized training plan for each of you."
Upon hearing this a buzz overcame the class, for many of them, this would be the first time they got to use their awakened abilities in actual combat.
Ryu followed the instructor as he led them from the classroom to the sparring arena. It was much smaller than Ryu had expected, holding the same dimensions as a typical gymnasium. The walls and floor alike were all covered in a black mesh likely rigged with some state-of-the-art technology.
There was also a spectator section slightly elevated on the right side of the arena separated by a glass wall.
"Alright the locker rooms are to your left, there should be a locker with your name, sparring gear, and weapon of choice in there," said Koa.
To his pleasant surprise, Ryu entered to find that the lockers were more like rooms, with each cadet having a private space to change in and several items and equipment already prepared for them.
Below the plaque of his name, there was a black and gray body suit and a long nano-steel twin staff.
Ryu nodded his head in appreciation, They say nano-steel is as durable as a low-tier relic.
By the time Ryu made it back out to the sparring arena it seemed nearly everyone had finished changing.
He made sure to survey the competition but unfortunately, he didn't have time to use his Golden Eyes on every new cadet.
"Alright does anyone want to go first?" asked instructor Koa when it seemed that all the cadets had gathered.
"I'll do it," responded Ryu.
He wanted to leave a good impression on his first day and what better way than to volunteer himself first?
"Then I'll go as well," spoke another voice from behind him.
Ryu turned trying to spot the cadet he would be facing.
"Very well, the first match will be between Amon Darvish and Ryuji Kaneko," spoke Koa, "feel free to go all out, I'll step in if it seems like things are getting dangerous."
Ryu nodded as he stepped into the center of the arena.
Once the rest of the cadets left for the spectator box Ryu began observing his opponent, Amon Darvish.
He was tall, roughly the same height as Ryu but with a slightly more slender frame. He had a handsome face and light brown skin, his eyes however were pitch-black, giving his face a sinister air.
Darvish, then his father must be Mohammed Darvish, Ryu realized, since his father's a bigshot government official he must have trained for his awakening since childhood.
Ryu activated his Golden Eyes to get a better grasp of Amon's abilities.
Amon Darwish: Divine Remnant Anubis
Heritage Relic: [Divine Relic: Scale of Ma'at] [Divine Relic: Sceptor of Anubis]
- Remnant Abilities: [Divine Ability: Judgement] [Divine Ability: Reaping]
- Attributes:
Strength: E-
Endurance: E+
Speed: E
Dexterity: D-
Perception: E
Aura Capacity: D-
Fuck his stats are a lot better than mine, Ryu noted with a scowl.
"Begin!" the instructor's voice rang out.
Amon moved suddenly, bursting forward with startling speed, as he drew closer a golden scepter materialized in his right hand. Ryu leaped backward but couldn't fully escape the scepter which slammed into his left shoulder sending him sprawling.
That asshole started summoning his relic before the instructor gave the signal, thought Ryu.
With a flash of light, a black staff with intricate gold bands adorning its ends formed in Ryu's right hand, this was the Divine Relic of Sun Wukong, The Ruyi Jingu Bang.
As Ryu pulled himself to his feet Amon slowly paced around the arena, not displaying any of the eagerness from his last blow. Ryu decided to take the initiative stabbing forward with his staff, Amon parried the blow and stabbed back with his scepter.
Tilting his head to dodge, Ryu swung his weapon once more, this time Amon caught the blow with his scepter and kicked forward, catching Ryu in the chest.
Ryu barely had time to recover before Amon was on him once more, stabbing and cutting with his weapon, it took all of Ryu's concentration just to fend him off.
With a shout Ryu performed a basic sweep with the Ruyi Jingu Bang, it was an obvious attack that Amon prepared to block but at the last moment, the staff ballooned in size catching him off guard.
The massive pillar swept Amon up and into the wall, giving a resounding clank when he made contact with it.
"Heh, you would've seen that coming if you'd read Journey to the West," Ryu taunted.
"You're a cheeky piece of shit aren't you?" replied Amon, speaking for the first time.
As Amon rose to his feet Ryu suddenly felt the atmosphere change, his awakened senses felt all the Aura in the room converging around Amon. Suddenly, the lights went dark, and Ryu was all alone, floating in a vast expanse of nothingness.
All he could see in front of him was a gold scale balancing a heart and a feather, Amon's voice called out to him from the abyss, "Let's get serious then."
