VINCENT MILES: AND THE FIST OF FIRE

CHAPTER 5: POWERS AND RUMORS

The first year tenth-class is as energetic and chatty as always. As all of the students in this class are all standing and talking to fellow students, in others words, newly found friends. However, their conversations are stopped as Mr. Brown entered the classroom. All sat down and took out their notebooks.He then clapped his hands and signaling the start of class. Vincent sat on his chair at the last row and end of the room near the window, he feels comfortable there since it reminds him of the mountain views that he always encounter every day during his training. He smiled a little as he looked out the window, the campus is also beautiful. He was smiling like nothing horrible happened last night. His eyes were puffy but not that much, he managed to cover it with his glasses. Mr. Brown asked the whole class questions regarding of their lessons yesterday. They all looked confused since it has only been a day but their teacher wrote a different lesson on the board, and it says there,

“HERO ORIGINS: PIONEERS OF THE GOLDEN HERO AGE”

Although everyone of them were a little bit troubled, they were relieved to learn that from now on they are about to study about true heroisms. But the teacher noticed their confused faces and face-palm himself.

“By the way you reacted to this lesson. I’m absolutely sure that I didn’t or the orientation didn’t told you about the educational system inside the Academy. “ sighed Mr. Brown.

All the students nodded in agreement and Mr. Brown let out another disappointment sigh.

“Let me fill you in quickly.” He cleared his throat,

“The Hero Academy educational system is very, very different from normal school systems. We change the lessons everyday. We don’t stick to one lesson because our target lessons is as many as the school days every month. You, students will only study for five months. After five months, you will be handed down to your Power, Self-Defense and Heroics teachers. You will train for two straight months until the Tournament draft starts. I will explain the Tournament in five months but for now you need to understand that you need to memorize each subject everyday, your only vacation is Saturday and Sunday, and if you have remedial subjects, you won’t get any rest. Keep in mind that next week we have an exam. So get your notes and let’s get started “.

Their teacher’s words were almost inaudible but somehow they understood what he just said. Five months in studying. They are obviously in luck. Vincent was very glad to hear because like normal people, studying is so annoying if you’re not that smart and hard working. Vincent, even at the mountains, he studied, his grandfather provided him teachers who will teach him like a teacher in a school would do. He is most attracted to History lessons, since he somehow loves to study history. Their lesson started. History is very important. It is the foundation of the Hero Society. Their teacher taught them everything about the Origins, some of them didn’t quite get their lesson but Vincent was very impressive since he wrote down everything their teacher has said. According to their teacher or history, the Pioneers of the Golden Age is a bunch of wizards who wished to be able to use their powers without using their wands. Three thousand years ago, a high ranking wizard has accomplished a spell that would transfer their magic in their bodies. All of the wizards volunteered for this spell. The spell to this day is still unknown. After casting the spell to all of them, the wizards tested it and it worked. Elements, abilities and many more has manifested in their body. They broke their wands all together as a sign of the end of the Wizardry Era and they named themselves Heroes. This called heroes then mated with normal humans and that’s where the spread of people with powers started. The heroes then decided to found an organization to control heroes and manage them so they created with the eldest heroes on top, they created the Hero Government Association. To this day there are about three million people all over the world that has powers and those people are called heroes, they are organized by squads so they remain in order. The elders also founded this Academy before their demise so that future generations of heroes can be bred and trained properly with a professional. And since then, the Hero Government made this words their slogan and motivation

“MAY THE POWER WITHIN YOU, AWAKEN ONLY FOR HEROISM “

AND

“PRIDE, HONOR, DIGNITY AND RESPECT. THESE ARE A HERO'S TRUE ASPECT “.

All of them were glad to hear or see this words. They were amazed by these words that it boosted their courage to continue to pursue their dreams.

The bell rang and lesson ended. Their teacher gave them ten assignments which is for them, quite brutal. Their teacher left the room but none of them dared to stand up since the next teacher is quite fierce and scary like Mr. Brown. After waiting for five minutes, Ms. Michaella finally arrived. She was carrying more books than usual. She started her lesson immediately.

“I presume that your gloomy and weird teacher has taught you all about the origins? “ she asked. All of the students nodded

“Well then. Let’s start”  she says.

Their lesson started with excitement. Their lesson is all about,

“POWERS: TYPES AND RARITY “

Another pumped up lesson has arrived and they all hoped that this pace would continue. This lesson is all about the powers of each student or hero. Their power will also depend on their blood line. Some heroes has the same power but have different uses . She used herself as an example as she raised her hand and wind suddenly slammed the faces of the students. But the most common and almost all the heroes that have powers has this are the Elemental powers. She then wrote down the basic elements on the board

“WATER

   WIND

   EARTH

LIGHTNING/ THUNDER

and FIRE”

Heroes possess one of these elements and sometimes they possess four of it. She then explained that among all of the rarest powers, the Fire element is the rarest among the rarest. No one is seen to have posses this power and the last user of this power was a weak and lame boy two thousand years ago. And to this date, no one uses this even the high ranking Heroes. She told them that if you posses and use more than one of this elements then you will be called as an Elemental.

Some of the students felt amazed since 30% of the first year tenth class possess elements. Champ is an example since he uses the element of wind.

She then listed down the other rare powers,

“ GRAVITY

    TIME

   LIGHT

   FORCE

 ADVANCED /HIGH HEALING CAPABILITIES

   SHAPE SHIFTING

    MAGMA

   TELEKINESIS

     ICE

    SOUND WAVES MANIPULATION

    SHOCKWAVE MANIPULATION

     And INVISIBILITY “

These powers are considered rare since only a handful of heroes possess them. Michaella then approached Vincent. The whole class looked at him.

“Let me do an example. Mr. Miles. Please stand up. “ she ordered.

Vincent stood up. She then asked a student who has the power of the element of water to wash Vincent’s hand when she gives the signal. Michaella then gave a knife at Vincent. His face twitched and his chest scars suddenly throbbed, but he will be embarrassed if he is scared of a simple knife. He took the knife then Michaella ordered Vincent to cut his hand, Vincent eyes widened. The whole class started to whisper. But Vincent didn’t hesitate, he closed his eyes and cut his palm with the knife. Blood trickled down his palm and onto the floor.

“Now! “ yelled the teacher.

And the water girl shot water on Vincent’s palm. Once the blood was cleared, the whole class saw the open wound that it left. What amazed and shocked them more is that the wound is healing very fast and in just seconds, the wound is gone.

“That my students, is the power of High Healing Capability. Healing within seconds. Very rare. Mr. Miles is now the only one who posses this kind of power. So I believe that he isn’t powerless at all.” Explained the teacher.

Vincent’s classmates shot him a glare of awe and shock. Their classmate has been making unbelievable progress quickly and they felt being left out. But Vincent doesn’t think highly of himself, he trust himself but the strength and power he has is just very disappointing. His strength is still nowhere near his sister Sophia who he absolutely knows that she has magnetic powers. He has still a long way to go and many more challenges will come to him. Their lesson went on until the bell rang. And this time, their Power teacher has given them fifteen assignments and all of this needs to be done and submitted tomorrow, so meaning, students won’t have time to sleep nor rest. They understand this because they entered a school for heroes and Heroes never rest because every single second, hour or minute, someone might need their help. They waited for their next teacher who will teach them Science. Even though this is a Hero school, they still have some normal subjects that normal school provides. Three subjects have passed and it seems like their lunch is a bit late. Then finally, the bell rang for lunch. Champ and Vincent went down together quickly to get a decent seat to eat on. They arrived at the cafeteria which is almost empty, they quickly lined up and got their food. They sat at the end of the cafeteria near a wall. Both of them talked about Vincent’s healing but he himself don’t know what’s going on in his body. After ten minutes, the cafeteria is already full and noisy, Vincent was glad to get three cups of coffee since it would be a drag to line up and get a refill. Vincent was the first one to finish eating. He then excused himself to Champ and their other classmates who seated besides them. They asked them where is he going but he didn’t answer properly, he just said that he is about to meet someone. Vincent walked out the cafeteria. He then went straight to his destination, the school clinic. Because he didn’t noticed the twins earlier, he thought about visiting them. He arrived at the clinic and no one was there. The bed of the girl he saved is now empty. He was about to go outside when he heard a laugh. He looked around and reached the counter, he looked above and then someone suddenly popped up and startled Vincent. His head hit the metal bed frame.

“Lost my glasses. Sorry about that, KAKAKAKAKA! “ laughed an old woman, he recognized her immediately and she was Margarita.

Vincent stood up.

“The twins that you are looking for is at their room. Building C, second floor, room 25. “ says Margarita.

Vincent thanked her and was about to go outside when she called him.

“This might be weird but can I get a favor? “ she asked.

She then walked up to Vincent, now that she is in front of him, Vincent realized what was she about to ask him. They were alone, the door can be locked and there are beds. Vincent slowly backed up and gulped

“I still haven’t got my cherry popped! “ he stuttered.

Margarita laughed.

“Do you actually think that I’m going to ask that? Hilarious! “she laughed at Vincent for thinking that way.

She explained her request and Vincent was relieved. It turns out that she wants to examine his blood because of his healing capabilities since every doctor ‘s dream is to find a cure for a certain and if not certain, all diseases. So she asked Vincent to come at the clinic every Saturday so she can examine his blood to find out the mystery of his ability. Vincent agreed as he thought that if it is going to help a lot of people someday then he wouldn’t mind to give or let his blood be examined by trusted hands. Vincent then said his goodbye to Margarita and said his apologies for the misunderstanding, and Margarita just laughed at him. Vincent ran and headed to the dorm of the twins. Their dorms is near the library and was quite big with ten floors each building so it wasn’t that much difficult to find. He then searched for Building C. The building was at the almost end of the lot. The building was organized from A to L which is a lot. He then climb up to the second floor and found the their room immediately. He knocked three times and waited. The door opened and it was the chubby twin, Jamie. She asked Vincent to come in. Jamie offered tea and Vincent without hesitation asked for coffee. Vincent saw the other twin laying on her bed already awake. It confused Vincent since the clinic told them that she wouldn’t be awake for about a week or two, and now her eyes are wide open and staring at their ceiling that is filled with glowing fake stars.

“Hey. ” greeted Vincent.

The girl looked at him and let out a weak smile. Vincent answered her with a grin.

“How are you? “ he asked.

The girl forced a laugh.

“I’m fine…. Thank you. “ she hushed.

Her voice is still weak and shaking.

“I know this is not the time and it is kind of embarrassing. But, can I know your name? “ asked Vincent.

The girl forced a weak laugh again. And for some reason, Vincent has reminded her of his other older sister, Angelica. That soft and calm voice even though is temporary sounds exactly like her.

“My name… is Faye Phillips. Pleased to meet you, Vincent Miles. “ she says.

Jamie arrived with the coffee. Vincent took a sip and it tasted perfectly, it isn’t that much bitter, sweet or creamy, it is very balanced, unlike the ones he is making that sometimes are bitter, sometimes very sweet and sometimes he put too much milk. Jamie warned Vincent on being late but he didn’t mind since the Queen’s Building is just near and he can run there in just a minute. Since Vincent protected Faye from a goon, they told him that that guy, Leonard is part of the Disciplinary Committee which is a branch or an organization that is part of the Student Council. They warned him since somethings are just isn’t right about the Council but all students in this school knows there’s something big and bad going on inside the Council. Of course it is just rumors but being alert isn’t that bad. Vincent then asked them on how did they know this kind of rumors since both of them only spent half of the day of their first day and today they are absent. They answered him. Vincent found out that they had a twenty day pre-school event where all of the students that came from normal schools and did not received an invitation were gathered to see if they are worthy of entering. They studied for twenty days and the event ended just two days before the entrance examination. That’s where they found out about the rumors. Vincent realized that he hadn’t got in that event since he received an invitation because he is part of a Noble Household and his siblings are accomplished heroes. Jamie also explained on how did Faye ended up waking early, it turns out that Margarita found a way to heal her fast and it worked. They were enjoying their conversation when the bell rang. Vincent thanked Jamie for the coffee and told Faye to get well. Vincent ran and arrived at his classroom just before his teacher could. They spent the remainder of the day being flatten by hard and impossible lessons. Their assignments has piled up, they have now forty assignments but they were lucky since some of the assignments are expected to be submitted next week. The bell rang and the second day of school ended. Both  lessons and enemies aren't going easy on Vincent, and it is very frustrating to him. But just as he thought that his day won't be a problem anymore, someone arrived to tense him up once more.