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2022-08-04 00:28:23Ravenwood met an unprecedented change 2 years ago. Grey clouds, churning like that of a thunderstorm, suddenly filled every inch of the sky above the city. Everyone in the city was stunned to see this, as there weren’t any prior signs of a storm, but soon noticed that some people started to feel drowsy, and later drifted to sleep fell. The rest who were awake went into panic mode because no matter how hard they tried, they simply couldn’t do anything to wake those who were asleep. The clouds hovered in the sky for 4 hours and after, disappeared the same way they appeared. However, the real change came when afterward, the people who had passed out started to awaken to abilities. Under further study of this phenomenon, it was discovered that these people had their DNA’s altered granting them numerous abilities.
The incident heralded the dawn of a new era for Ravenwood. However, though some people had these new abilities, a slightly bigger number of them didn’t. Now, the city had to adjust to people and the super-powered people living together. Predictively, the rate of crime and clashes sky-rocketed during this period, and soon enough, it became a war between the regular people and these super-powered people, plunging the city into infernal chaos.
After months of deliberation, the authorities sought to control the situation by passing a directive to establish Ravenwood as a containment zone for these humans with abilities to further study this phenomenon. But before they could give the directive, a colossal organization, called Centurion appeared and appealed to oversee the affairs of these humans with abilities. However, the specifics of the discussion between this organization and the authorities remained unknown till today. Even the press was left in the dark of everything that occurred in Ravenwood, and the few that insisted on finding answers were met with various obstructions, even as some of them went suddenly went silent. The news released was that the authorities perceived Centurion capable of overseeing the affairs of the humans with abilities, thereby granting them full authority. The organization then gave these super-powered humans the code name, Cyph, and to avoid further conflicts, the ordinary people in Ravenwood were relocated to other cities to begin new lives, while Cyphs weren’t allowed to leave Ravenwood without a special permit from the organization and under heavy surveillance from the authorities, and that was if they could leave in the first place. In other words, they were isolated from the rest of the world.
…
11-year-old Gene Finnian was a young boy just like any other in Ravenwood, but the incident two years ago forever changed his life. He was among those granted abilities after the incident two years ago and being the only one in his family acknowledged as a Cyph, he had to remain in Ravenwood while his family was relocated. Since that time, though it could be said that Cyphs were being looked after, it didn’t change the fact that he was alone in Ravenwood.
Finnian had just joined Ravenwood High school this year, automatically joining middle school for the first time. It was a typical experience for every freshman, and one had to remember that the Ravenwood of yesteryear wasn’t the Ravenwood of today. But even at that, it was slightly more distressing for Finnian. The reason was unknown nor did he want to explain that to anyone, but his appearance was a tad more bizarre than usual. But this didn’t apply to his looks; rather, it was more of what he wore. From what anyone could guess, he always wore weights under his clothes and even stuffed some in his shoes. Being the slender young boy he was, this made him appear funny-looking, and his glasses didn’t make things any better, to say the least. He was widely known for this appearance and his signature clumping sounds that sounded out whenever he walked due to the weights in his shoes.
In such a school environment, it was customary for some people to have their opinions of him, but Finnian always tried to pay them no heed. Not long after starting middle school, they embarked on a school trip to the Centurion headquarters here in Ravenwood. This school trip had become a tradition for Ravenwood High to know more about the organization they were under and explore the numerous opportunities of being among the selected few who would be recruited by the organization someday.
Today, the kids made their way through the gargantuan halls of Centurion headquarters, staring blankly like lost sheep. It was possible that the words fit to describe this place were yet to be added to their vocabulary, so they could only ouu and ahh when they saw something fascinating. Finnian tried to avoid being socially awkward today by not making his presence known with his dragging footsteps and ended up behind the group. He wasn’t concerned about this though. At least, it gave him more time to see the detailed structures everywhere in the hall.
The tour guides and the teachers in charge of the school trip were ahead of the group explaining in detail what Centurion was all about; catering for the Cyphs. Finnian, on the other hand, cared less about the explanation and focused on something else.
The Ranking Board!
The Ranking Board was basically as its name served; it contained the different ranks Cyphs fell under. In as much as Ravenwood was now a city of Cyphs, they weren’t all equally strong. Hence, Centurion created a ranking system to gauge their strength. Finnian drew closer and closer to the ranking board, but to his disappointment, there weren’t any names on it. Nonetheless, this didn’t stop Finnian from looking at the board with so much enthusiasm that his eyes welled up in excitement. If he was strong enough to meet the requirements someday, he could be among the new recruits of the organization! He was so immersed in this feeling that he didn’t notice when someone walked up beside him.
“Too bad there aren’t any names there yet.” He said.
Finnian wasn’t paying attention and so couldn’t perceive when this man walked up beside him. He jerked before calming down a bit. “I guess so,” He didn’t know who this man was, nor did he want to engage in any idle conversation. Hence, his straightforward reply. However, at a second glance, Finnian noticed something odd about him. Besides the trooper’s Centurion badge tied around his arm, one would think he was a beggar from the streets.
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Finnian’s body went cold. It was akin to being seen through by the principal. Finnian was known as an unrepentant dawdler in everything. He’d always move slowly and was often taunted by Martin for being slower than a snail. Unfortunately, this habit of his affected his punctuality in school. There were times when he’d come to class after three classes were over. And some other times he’d get to school during lunchtime. By now, every commissioner working in the school had noted this behavior of his and reported it to the principal.Finnian didn’t know what to say to defend himself and simply replied,“I understand sir. I’ll do my best from now on.”The principal nodded,“That’s fine. That will be it for our little meeting. I hope to see more outstanding qualities in the next trial.”The principal beamed a smile as he sent the students off,“Seek the commissioners for more details.”Outside the office, Finnian felt relieved the meeting was over. It was sort of embarrassing being scolded
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“Hey,” Finnian piped up. “I’ve got a question for you.” He turned to Joel. “What is it?” “I’ve fought both you and Evan and you both excel in speed. But I’ve been wondering for a while now… who’s faster between you both?” It was just as Finnian had said, both Joel and Evan excelled in terms of speed. And although he asked this question, he knew deep down who was more problematic to deal with. Simulating his fight with Joel and Evan, Finnian found it a bit surprising that Joel posed more of a threat than the elite! Joel’s physique would throw anyone off about what enhancements he excelled in. Only by fighting him would one come to figure out that this meaty fella wasn’t in any way to be trifled with. Speed aside, Finnian also felt that Joel was a good fighter too. For someone his, he was both flexible and agile. The same thing went for Evan. Finnian simulated his fight with the elite, and though the latter was quite something, he fell short of Joel in some ways. In terms of speed,
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How'd You Do It?
Martin walked over to Finnian’s bed. He too had a couple of scratches that required attention, but not as bad as his friend. “You look horrible,” He snickered.“Yeah well… you’re fat.” Finnian couldn’t come up with a retort and snapped with that instead.Martin slightly frowned, “That’s low… even for you.”“You didn’t give me much of a choice. Besides, aren’t you supposed to be on bed rest, what are you doing here?”“I heard you were in a terrible condition and wanted to check if you were dead yet,” Martin shrugged. “Also, unlike you, I don’t badly need bed rest; I can move around as I want.”Finnian faked a smile, “Good for you, now leave me alone. With you around, I don’t think I can recover at all.”And before Finnian could finish his sentence, Martin already made himself comfortable by perching on a corner of his bed. Finnian already expected this and didn’t bother to struggle.“Sure, make yourself comfortable. It’s not like I need the space or anything…” said Finnian sarcastical
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"Un... believable..."
The one arguing with Doyle wanted to laugh but restrained himself, “You’re taking this too personal; that’s why. It’s no one’s fault the elites are that strong. It makes no difference if you hate them or not.”“You’re not getting the point,” Doyle cut in. “The elites are strong indeed, but why can’t someone else be strong as well?” This was his argument.The crowd around them was stirred when Doyle said this. Most of them were passive toward the elites and Doyle’s statement pointed their minds in another direction. The mixed crowd was provoked into an atmosphere of intense arguments, to the point where the commissioners had to step in to maintain decorum.“Please remain silent, the counting isn’t over.” Commissioner Glenn announced. This was supposed to quell the intense atmosphere, but the reverse happened.Not yet done? Who else was left?The commissioners stepped in again and the noise died down. Over at the counting station, Finnian had a look of indifference, but truth be told, h
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The Counting Continues
The crowd became increasingly agitated but soon became calm because another name had popped up on the screen. The counting continued!Everyone had something to say but swallowed it to not make a fuss out of nothing. After all, it wasn’t a crime if Finnian’s skill and raw combat prowess could get him this far. Some thought he cheated but even they knew that was near impossible. Anyone who could pull it off might be seen as the greatest mastermind of all time. The eleventh name was a rather promising student and the one who had been Finnian’s opponent in the simulation, Joel Adric.The kid named Joel can be considered one of the few students who drew the attention of the organization besides the elite and special class. His records so far drew Centurion’s attention because, in terms of speed, there wasn’t anyone who could match up to him, except for Evan. And even at that, Centurion couldn’t conclude who the fastest was between them. Also, in terms of combat prowess, he was among the fi