"The singularities… you should already know which one you've unlocked, since the moment it happened, the world imprinted your power directly into your mind. So you already know which singularity you possess and how to use it, even before actually using it," said Mikey.
It was truly fascinating, and indeed, Cleia already knew which singularity she had and how to use it, even though she had never touched it before.
"From now on, you'll need to learn an elemental magic called System. It's a passive magic that will help you record all your stats: your mana, the spells you've learned, and your singularity. It can also be shared upon request to show your stats to whoever you want.
The only thing the System cannot record is Aptarchy.
Tonight, I'll ask you to send me your stats so that I can forward all necessary information to the Information Center."
After handing us a sheet with instructions to unlock this magic, Mikey sent us to our rooms.
"So we have to learn this magic by today… and tonight there's a new meeting with Mikey, right? He's scary… I don't want to see him again," said Cleia.
"Same." replied Astrid.
After a very brief discussion, both began learning the magic. Apparently, the System appeared as a small virtual rectangle visible only to the user, just like in video games.
After an hour, they successfully unlocked it and exchanged their stats.
"Wow! You have 4951 mana, amazing!" said Cleia excitedly. "And your singularity is 'Supergenius'? It doesn't say what it grants you."
"For example, I just need to read a book, and I memorize it all. Basically, I don't need to study, and I understand things ten times faster than a normal person. Also, the more mana I have, the higher my singularity stats become. With about 5000 mana, my learning abilities are ten times greater than a normal person's. Oh, and it's a passive ability," said Astrid.
That really seems overpowered, thought Cleia, but she asked another question:
"Then why did it take you as long as me to unlock the System?"
"I was pretending, just to keep you company," said Astrid with her usual impassive expression.
"Let's see your stats… 4566 mana and singularity 'Adaptation'? Yours doesn't have a description either. What does it do?" asked Astrid.
"It's a passive ability. As the name suggests, I have the most primal human power: adaptation. My adaptation is much faster than that of normal people. It works like yours: the more mana I have, the higher the stat. With about 4500 mana, I adapt ten times faster than a normal person.
To be honest… this world doesn't have much imagination: our abilities, although different, work in the same way."
"Yeah, but think… they have to invent a singularity for every single human. They must be running out of ideas," said Astrid.
The two girls almost felt pity for the world itself, struggling to create new singularities, yet ending up making them all similar.
It was time to go to class and submit the sheets. Cleia and Astrid left and sat in the main hall.
Mikey stood in front of everyone.
"Good. I hope you managed to unlock the System. Now I'll ask you to send me your sheet."
The "sheet" was simply the name of the rectangle showing their stats. Cleia learned something new every day and was happy about it.
After sending everything, the students were dismissed.
Regular lessons would start tomorrow. Who knew what they would study… But Cleia was certain: Astrid would have no problems.
For dinner, they went to the cafeteria. The menu was white rice with vegetables. After a couple of minutes of chatting, a boy approached.
"Is this seat taken?"
He was very handsome: wavy black hair, long beige coat, dark green turtleneck, matching pants, brown belt, and elegant brown leather shoes.
"Sure."
The boy sat down.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Zeryan Myers."
"I'm Cleia Veyl."
"Astrid Argon."
After chatting for a while, the two girls returned to their rooms.
"Cleia, wake up, we have to go to class."
"Yes, I'm coming."
Cleia got ready and joined Astrid. Shortly after, Zeryan joined them.
"Good morning."
"Hi." replied Cleia, while Astrid ignored him completely.
"Good morning, everyone! Today's first lesson will be geography. Get your notes ready," said Professor Thyra.
She began explaining:
**"This world is enormously vast and divided into five kingdoms. Today we'll study the northern kingdom of Brekfjord.
The North, Brekfjord's territory, has the largest area of all the kingdoms, but it's also the hardest to inhabit. The temperature is constantly below zero. It's full of extremely tall mountains, often exceeding 8,000 meters.
Its borders are marked by blue crystal mountain ranges.
Beyond the mountains lies a vast plain called the 'SCPP', Snow-Covered Pulsating Plain: a snowfield where craters slowly pulse, as if breathing. These are areas of unstable microgravity.
In the North, there is also the largest lake in the world, the Glacedlake, a frozen lake with ice slabs as transparent as glass. Its depth can reach 10,000 meters, and the water is so clear that one can see up to 200 meters. If you have vertigo, don't go there.
The flora is equally unique: trees absorb cosmic radiation and keep the territory uncontaminated. They are called 'Mercki.'
Regarding fauna, there are dragons in the highest mountains. For example, Freon'thyr, the tallest mountain in the world, reaches 19,761 meters.
In short, everything is record-breaking.
The population, however, does not exceed 640 million, very sparse compared to the vast territory."**
The bell rang: an hour had already passed.
She doesn't seem that terrible, thought Cleia… until the professor added:
"For tomorrow, study pages 3–26. Complete exercises 1 through 13 on page 27."
I take it all back, thought Cleia.
Those were twenty-three densely packed pages. For Astrid, no problem. For her… yes. And for many others: some went pale.
Cleia and Astrid went to the library to study.
Or rather: Cleia studied. Astrid had already memorized everything but stayed to keep her company.
The girl who had mocked Cleia approached with her group.
"Hey monster, how are you? Studying geogra—"
"Go away," said Astrid. "Your presence is not welcome."
"How dare you?!"
"Leave," said Zeryan from behind.
"Oh yeah?! I'll humiliate you all in the combat tournament! Let's see if you still have the courage to fight back!"
"She's very confident…" Zeryan commented. "Her singularity allows her to open a dimensional portal and take any weapon she desires. It's called something like 'Golden Gate.' She can choose from an vaste arsenal — though only she can use those weapons."
"Does this arsenal have a limit?" asked Cleia.
"No, she can choose from an infinite variety of weapons. But it's useless if she can't use them," Zeryan replied.
"And you? Which singularity have you unlocked?"
A sheet appeared in front of Cleia.
"It's all there."
"6903 mana?! Incredible! And the ability 'Puppet'? What does it do?"
"If I get some of my opponent's blood, I can control their body for one minute and nine seconds, using my current mana."
"That seems really strong." said Astrid.
"Yeah," he replied.
"But what is this combat tournament that this girl talked about?"
"This girl Is called Yuri. The tournament takes place a week after the singularities awaken, to test abilities. It's class versus class. The winning class gains 20 extra points on the third-year exam.
A class can win three times: then everyone gets 60 points, passing the exam even if they don't know anything.
The most deserving students receive a stipend from their kingdom and a guaranteed job. The less deserving still get 40 points."
Makes sense, thought Cleia.
"Thanks for explaining, Zeryan."
"I'm off now: I have practical magic."
"We also need to return to class," said Astrid.
The first practical magic lesson began. Professor Thyra explained:
**"Today we'll use advanced magic. As you know, there is a hierarchy:
elemental magic (50–100 mana)
intermediate magic (100–500 mana)
advanced magic (500–1000 mana)
primordial magic (1000–10,000 mana)
If you run out of mana, you lose all energy and could even faint. So we won't study primordial magic yet."**
Some students protested.
"We'll start with advanced magic Healing. Costs about 700 mana and heals minor injuries.
For deep wounds, it would just waste mana. In that case, use Flight, which costs 980 mana and allows you to fly at 30 km/h for five minutes, useful for taking injured companions to the hospital."
The professor continued explaining advanced healing magic until the bell rang.
"By tomorrow, I want you to use all these magics perfectly! In five days, the combat tournament will take place: I want you to win and crush your opponents!"
Wow, aggressive, thought Cleia.
The professor handed out a packet to each student with the rules and rounds of the tournament.
"Study this as well!"