As the ceremony progressed, three more students managed to awaken rare grades, but most fell into the common or uncommon categories. The atmosphere shifted: excitement mingled with disappointment as dreams were realized or shattered.
As Song Chi walked away from the pedestal toward his friend in the crowd of students, he felt a slight pang of disappointment at awakening a colorless-grade spirit core. Despite it being a fighter jet, even compared to a common-grade assault-class ship. His felt like comparing a kid wielding a toy to an adult swinging a giant hammer forged from thunderstone—the difference was heaven and earth.
Elder Mei's words had been nothing but consolation, probably so he wouldn't feel too bad.
"Wow, Song Chi, what a load of crap is this thing you awakened?" Fatty Lou laughed loudly at his friend and patted his chest reassuringly.
"Don't worry, bro… watch this European emperor take you soaring when I awaken an awesome spirit core!"
"Lou Zhangshi!"
Suddenly, Fatty Lou's name was called next.
"Song Chi… wish me luck. Since you don't need it anymore!" Fatty Lou quickly patted his friend's back and sprinted toward the stage where Elder Mei was waiting, using his bulky frame to push other students out of his way.
Five minutes after his name was called, Elder Mei's voice rang out again, sending a chill through Song Chi and Fatty Lou's spines as both shuddered at her cold confirmation.
"Failed to awaken a core."
Her voice was mercilessly cold as it poured down on Fatty Lou like ice water.
Despite the dejected looks on Song Chi's and Fatty Lou's faces, the expressions of the other students barely fluctuated. He wasn't the first person today to fail, but being the tenth out of roughly 300 students had significantly reduced their fear of failure. The probability of not awakening seemed low.
Finally, Elder Mei concluded the ceremony with a warm smile. "Remember, students, today is just the beginning. Your spirit core is a reflection of your potential, but it is your choices that will shape your destiny."
As Elder Mei's voice fell silent, she and the principal stepped into the military-class chopper that had been hovering silently overhead. It roared away and disappeared, leaving the group of final-year students with a myriad of emotions.
"Fatty Lou… Mr. European Emperor…" Song Chi walked up to his friend, who was still standing frozen under the pedestal, his head bowed, a desolate air surrounding him. Song Chi wrapped an arm around Fatty Lou's wide shoulders and whispered into his ear.
"Why don't you come and become a trash collector on my load of crap?"
"Fuck you, Song Chi," Fatty Lou gloomily shook off his hand and raised a middle finger.
"Well… at least we tried, right?" After a moment of silence between them, Song Chi spoke again, recalling their old promise of awakening the best spirit cores and roaming the world together.
"We're from the orphanage," Fatty Lou shook his head in dismay.
"What do you expect from us bottom feeders?" Clenching his fist, Fatty Lou turned around, ignoring the vice principal's announcement, and walked away in silence.
"Fatty Lou… don't give up hope! You're gonna be my crew captain in the future!!" Song Chi yelled after his friend, who was walking desolately out of the arena.
Looking at the groups of students moving in twos and threes—some excited, others dejected—Song Chi sighed. Out of the roughly 500 third-year students at Rising Sun Academy, only ten had awakened rare-grade spirit cores. The majority awakened uncommon grades, while the rest got common grades. Ten people failed. By general standards, this year's awakening results could be considered poor.
"Don't worry, Lou. We're still going to make it big." Song Chi clenched his fist, lamenting both his and his friend's outcomes. Despite awakening a core, a colorless one felt almost the same as having none.
After shaking his head, Song Chi turned toward the school dormitory and left the awakening area, following the stream of people heading out. He walked a short distance until he arrived at the boys' dormitory, east of the school arena.
The boys' dorm consisted of two bunk beds per room for groups of four students. As Song Chi entered his room, no noise greeted him. Walking toward his bunk, he flipped the mattress over and retrieved a jade-green pendant. The pendant, carved with a twin-dragon design, suddenly glowed with resplendent silver light.
This stupid pendant. I've prayed to it since I was six, convinced it was why I always dodged the worst beatings at the orphanage. Maybe it's just a rock. Maybe I'm just delusional. But right now, with a colorless core and my best friend broken, I'll take any luck I can get. Please… just one more miracle. For both of us.
"Dear lord and my unknown parents from above, give me more luck starting from today," Song Chi clasped the jade pendant he had worn around his neck since his orphanage days and all through school. He closed his eyes and knelt, hands raised above his head in silent prayer.
Song Chi had always believed the pendant augmented his luck, given how fortunate he had been during his orphanage years, and he would constantly pray while holding it between his hands.
After finishing his prayer, Song Chi left the dorm and headed to the open space used as a hangar by third-year students who had awakened. He concentrated on the spirit core inside his dantian area and tried to summon it.
"Summon," he mumbled, focusing all his concentration on the phantom-like entity within.
Summoning the spirit ship after awakening always proved challenging for new awakeners. Only after repeated summoning and usage would the act become smooth and as natural as thought.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, the sound of an object slicing through the air echoed as a huge object appeared, hovering in front of him and making the space feel cramped.
Song Chi circled the object slowly, examining and touching the spirit ship. Despite being a colorless grade, it looked no different from a common-rank ship. The vessel turned out to be an F-4 Phantom II fighter jet.
Looking at the massive plane before him, Song Chi recalled the details of the F-4 Phantom II.
The F-4 Phantom II is a legendary supersonic interceptor and fighter-bomber known for its imposing, industrial, and distinctly "brutal" physical appearance. Its design is a study in aerodynamic functionalism, where every unusual angle was a solution to high-speed stability challenges.
The F-4 features a massive, semi-monocoque all-metal structure stretching approximately 58 to 63 feet long. Its silhouette is dominated by a long, pointed nose housing a powerful radar system. In later variants like the F-4E, this nose was elongated to accommodate an internal M61 Vulcan 20mm rotary cannon, giving it a sleeker but deadlier profile. Directly behind the nose is a tandem-seat cockpit covered by an aggressive, streamlined canopy. Here, the pilot and a Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) or Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) sit one behind the other.
One of the most distinctive features is its "cranked" wing and tail configuration: dihedral wings (low-mounted, 45-degree swept-back with a "dogtooth" leading edge, outer portions angled upward by 12 degrees for lateral stability, foldable for carrier storage) and anhedral tail (all-moving horizontal stabilizers angled downward at 23 degrees to stay clear of turbulent wing wake and improve roll control).
Large, rectangular air intakes flank the fuselage sides, featuring prominent "splitter plates" to ensure clean, high-speed airflow for the two powerful General Electric J79 turbojet engines. At the rear, the two engine nozzles are nestled under the tail, separated by a robust arrestor hook for carrier landings.
The F-4 sits on a rugged tricycle landing gear system. Its sheer size is underscored by its ability to carry up to 18,650 pounds of ordnance—missiles, bombs, and fuel tanks—across nine external hardpoints. This massive carrying capacity often led observers to describe it as "two huge engines with some wings added," a testament to its raw power and utilitarian beauty.
Examining his fighter jet, Song Chi walked up to the cockpit.
"Open," Song Chi commanded as he reached the recessed handle. The command triggered a pneumatic hiss; the heavy, steel-framed front canopy unlocked and hinged upward and rearward like the massive jaw of a predator. With the cockpit now exposed, Song Chi used the jet's built-in oval-shaped kick-steps and handholds to climb up. Reaching the edge, he carefully stepped over the sill and lowered himself into the dense, analog environment of the Martin-Baker ejection seat. Once settled among the sea of circular "steam-gauge" dials and toggle switches, Song Chi slid his legs beneath the instrument panel and began the rhythmic ritual of strapping into the harness and connecting life-support leads. The process concluded with a firm reach for the internal handle, pulling the heavy glass canopy down until it sealed with a sharp, mechanical "clunk.
After taking a seat in the pilot position, song chi turnn on the jet, as the screen lit up showing a welcoming message, a startling difference between a spirit core plane and a normal plane. Song Chi clicked on the core status to display its stats and ability. Another difference that comes along for all those who were able to awaken, even if it is the trashiest grade of them all, is the ability to view and monitor his and his cores' various stats, giving them adequate control over the progress.