Quest Academy: Silvers, page 2
Sal wanted to shake his head and smile, but his father’s grip felt different this time.
Petro looked at him earnestly and chided him gently. “There’s no point in worrying over something that hasn’t happened yet. Just go in there, see how you feel…and remember that you have our full support.”
Sophia nodded in agreement.
After a moment of silence, Petro turned back to his son with a grin. “But if you’d like to go on and graduate…we could really do with that Hero tax break you’d get for the family.”
With that said, Petro laughed and took a seat on the lounger. Sophia rolled her eyes and joined him, leaving Sal to stand at the window alone. Despite it always causing headaches, Sal looked at his reflection in the glass and inspected himself.
Almost instantly, his appearance faded and he saw threads of power coursing around his body like a circuit board. Sal used his power to weave the threads into different shapes…knowing that the right combination would unlock an entirely new ability.
Next stop, Quest Academy!
Sal disengaged his power and whirled around. His parents stood at the center of the room, with all his luggage.
Sophia just shook her head with a smile. “You always look so tranquil and free of worry when you use your power. I didn’t want to interrupt you!” Her hands raised defensively, as if preempting Sal’s complaint.
Petro placed an empty glass on the bar and pointed to the corridor they had entered from. Before he moved to leave, though, he seemed to remember something and reached into his coat pocket.
He slid an envelope across the surface to the attendant. “Thanks for looking after us.” Her shocked expression was a sign that she wasn’t used to getting tips, but Petro had no intention of waiting for her thanks. He picked up a suitcase and moved to the corridor.
Just as Sal went to follow his parents, the attendant spoke to him in a warm but excited voice. “I’ll be cheering for you! Consider me your first official fan.”
Sal gave her a smile as he left the carriage. But he wondered why a Hero was pretending to be a train attendant.
Chapter 2:
Quest Academy
Sal shielded his eyes as he got off the train. Sunlight reflected from practically every angle, with each skyscraper completely sheathed in reflective glass. It was hard to fathom that this was a university campus, especially when he considered the huge artillery guns atop each of the buildings.
Blinking a few times, he tried to acclimatize to the lighting.
“They’re a technical wonder,” his father said, his awe obvious. “Are you seeing this, Sal? Those buildings right there.” Petro pointed at the five skyscrapers around them. “They absorb the magical essence from the atmosphere and somehow convert it into power. I’ve no idea how many cores it must take to power those guns, but they can apparently keep firing for hours in the event of an outbreak! And there’s at least half a dozen of them.”
“Yes, thank you…all of these.” Sophia gestured to Sal’s luggage and moved out of the way of a porter who had come to assist them. “Do you need a name or identification? So he knows where to find them later?” She finished with a smile aimed at Sal.
The porter shook his head and handed a black metal card to Sophia. “This is the room assigned for Salvatore Argento. I was sent to pick up his luggage specifically. You’ll be told everything about your room arrangements and class schedule at the induction meeting taking place in the plaza.” He pointed through the skyscrapers, gesturing toward their destination.
Petro moved his small case away from the porter. “Not this one, thank you.”
With a few more nods and smiles, the porter was gone, with all of Sal’s belongings stacked on a trolley.
“Guess there’s no turning back now,” Petro muttered as he gave Sal a playful dig in the ribs.
Sophia shot her husband a withering look before linking her arm with Sal’s. “Come on, let’s not be late. We want to make sure we’ve got a good spot.”
Sal followed her gaze to the train carriages that were still spewing out students. Many of them must have been the first in their family to unlock an ability, with the Quest Academy being the first stop in their journey to riches and fame. Some of them were unsteady on their feet and looked shaken.
Some of the mounted turrets had been ripped off the top of the carriages and there were huge gashes in the metal shields of one that had failed to retract. He wondered how they repaired it before it took off for the next stops.
Before he could think on it too much, he followed his mother’s lead and walked toward the plaza. A few other families had taken the luxury compartments of the train, but most of the affluent people had used their own forms of personal travel.
“Little excessive, don’t you think?” Petro laughed as a luxurious private aircraft touched the ground. There were a series of them hovering above, waiting for landing space. Most of them sported the same design, but there were a few that looked custom-built.
Sal agreed with his father’s stance on excessive wealth. It was nice to be able to afford comforts in life, but wasting money that could be used to help people was completely out of touch. Their family business, the Argento Auction did it’s best to help those in need, with a good chunk of profits being donated to rehousing refugees in the reclaimed zones.
Petro started to complain about it as they walked toward the Plaza. “A single one of those aircraft could re-home a few dozen families in a safe sector. Not to think of the essence they’re using, or the cores they need to operate it? We should ask people what they think. Would they like reassurance that the barriers protecting them from demons are being sufficiently powered…or should we allow the mega-wealthy to take some of those cores for their own personal use?”
Sophia scoffed and shook her head. “And just where do we get those cores, hmm? Who carves the cores out of the demons after killing them? They’re mega-wealthy for a reason. So what if they take a couple for themselves? We need them to keep doing their job.”
As if it were an afterthought, Sophia raised her hand and pointed at Petro. “And yes, I know…the same core that powers a private aircraft can power an entire train and help hundreds of people.”
Sophia’s tone became exasperated as she finished both sides of the argument without letting Petro speak. “But how many more people could take the train if we were to take away the first four luxury carriages? Where is the line between us and them? What side are we on? Are we poor compared to them?” Sophia gestured roughly at the aircraft. “Or are we obscenely rich to them?” Her hand waved at the clusters of people getting off the end of the train.
Petro paused before turning to Sal and completely changing the topic. “So…what classes are you thinking of taking?”
Sal laughed as they made their way toward the plaza.
The area surrounding the train station was incredible. The platform was man-made and attached to the various skyscrapers. It was like a floating stadium constructed between the surrounding towers.
Above them, several other constructs stretched out, containing private gardens, sparring areas, and landing zones. Sal could have sworn a private aircraft landed on one of the topmost platforms near the tops of the skyscrapers. As impressive as they were, they couldn’t rival the view of the city.
The only other prominent buildings that could hope to dwarf Quest Academy were the guild towers in the distance. Each of them pierced the sky in their own distinctive architectural shapes, but all of them stood proudly in a circle, protecting the academy within.
“Whoa…” Petro breathed as he laid eyes on the academy plaza.
It was an amphitheater, with thousands of seats circled around an enormous stage. Rather than being built up, it dipped down into a curve, with the stage being at its lowest point. Sal led the way down a series of steps to get to their seats. The winds were stopped by the protective barriers, and small orbs of orange light emanated from between the seats, offering a comforting warmth. Many of the seats were already occupied, and Sophia waved at a few people she recognized. Petro shook his head as he turned around constantly, trying to take everything in.
Sal eyes were practically in overdrive at the sight of so many powerful people. He couldn’t tell what skills they had, or what their abilities were…but their internal threads of light were on a level he hadn’t witnessed before. One practically dominated his vision with how bright the light was.
With a concerted effort, he broke eye contact with the threads and tried to quell the growing unrest in his chest. It was one of the many downsides of his power, but he was used to calming it. When he got himself under wraps, Sal nudged his father and asked about the identity of the person he had just inspected.
Petro only needed to take half a glance before his face broke into a smile. “Oh, I’d say he was as bright as a sun? Yeah?”
Sal nodded as he took a steadying breath, and Petro continued, including Sophia this time as he gestured at their pained son.
“He just used his eyes on Neuro. Guess how that went?”
Sophia gave Sal a comforting smile and rubbed his shoulder. “He’s the most powerful telepath in the world, but there’s a rumor that his daughter is even stronger. Mind Control, apparently!”
She glanced around the stands. A frown crossed her face as she reached into her bag, withdrawing a small black case. “Put these on.”
Sal groaned inwardly as she pressed the pair of sunglasses into his hand. “I’m fine. I can control it…I just won’t look at people.”
Sophia closed her bag and placed it at her feet, leaving the sunglasses case in Sal’s hands. Petro gave him a gentle nudge and gestured for him to put the glasses on.
Maybe it was for his own benefit or an act of solidarity, but Petro withdrew his own pair of glasses from the pocket of his blazer and put them on. Sal felt like less of an idiot and had to admit that he felt a lot better the moment he put them on.
“Thanks, Mom,” he muttered in defeat and noticed a small smile appear on her face.
Ladies, Gentlemen, Heroes, and Aspirants!
Welcome to Quest Academy!
Please take your seats. We will be starting our induction event shortly! Note that our staff wear white uniforms and will be around shortly to offer refreshments. We would ask all guests to kindly refrain from recording the event as we will be discussing topics of a sensitive nature.
Thank you.
A series of drones circled overhead, emitting a faint light as they scanned the rows of guests. As if confirming their attendance, a compartment under the seat slid open smoothly to reveal a handheld device.
Petro was fastest out of the three and quickly scanned through the documentation. “It’s a non-disclosure agreement. Fairly standard, so don’t worry.”
Sophia and Sal didn’t need any further reassurance and accepted it immediately. Their screens flickered to reveal new information, with a full itinerary of what was to be covered in the induction. Each of the options was interactive, and Sal started to investigate the different classes that would be available to him.
Looking down at his own device, Sal scrolled slowly and was surprised at how different the curriculum was from previous years. He had researched the classes in the past, but it looked like everything had changed. Sal clicked into one of the Masterclasses that had an impressive looking Hero on the icon. A list of prerequisite classes and grades appeared at the top, and no matter which option he selected, he was met with another wall of requirements.
Petro looked at Sal’s device with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t this a bit overkill?”
With no context, an enormous screen flickered to light above the center stage. It was shaped like a giant circle that would allow each person in the amphitheater to clearly read it. After a few moments, names started to populate the screen, allocated into place based on their seating.
Sal’s name appeared, but it didn’t register his parents. The nearest name to him was someone called “Christopher Gage,” who sat two seats away. Leaning around his father, Sal looked back to see Christopher staring right back at him. Sal gave him an awkward smile and a nod, but Chris returned a quizzical look that reminded Sal he was wearing sunglasses in a shaded space.
Glancing back at the board, Sal could see hundreds of names now listed there.
Sophia, on the other hand, was still going through the device as she investigated each of the classes. “It’s absolutely overkill.” She looked over at Petro. “This reads more like a military camp than a university curriculum.”
“As it should! We’re at war with demons, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
The voice came from directly behind Sophia. Sal turned to look and saw a heavily scarred older man clutching at his son’s shoulder. Even with the sunglasses on, Sal could tell that there wasn’t an ounce of magical essence in the haggard man, but his son definitely had a spark of power.
Sophia nodded slowly and gave Sal a solemn look. “I’d hoped our kids wouldn’t need to suffer through the pain we did. I didn’t mean to cause offense.” She gave the man a sympathetic nod and turned back toward the screens. A few moments passed, with more than a few people waving at Petro and Sophia.
Sal was eager for things to start, and just like that, it did. A chorus of classical music sounded out, drowning all the chatter from the stands. It sounded like an anthem of sorts, and it gave their host plenty of time to get onto the stage. A slender, middle-aged man with fading blond hair stepped into view and gave everyone a warm smile.
I’d like to thank you all for your patience. I wanted to give you time to get settled and read through the curriculum. You can probably tell that we’re not pulling any punches this year.
But to explain why that is, I need to explain a little bit more about myself.
I know many of you here, but I’m incredibly excited to see a lot of new faces in the crowd. The rate of awakenings is growing, and the potency of the next generation is unparalleled. Thank you for entrusting the next generation to the Quest Academy.
My name is…well, you can call me Quest.
Quest’s tone was friendly and judging from the number of smiles in the audience, he was a well-known figure among the previous generation.
When I first discovered my power, I thought it was useless. Recognizing essence signatures? What does it even mean? Well…in my head, it was like…law. I could pinpoint how strong a demon was, just from looking at its essence composition. I could even see how strong my peers were because they were using essence too.
As I worked on my ability, it branched out, and I could see skills and how they develop. I decided to create a structure of my own, that anyone could understand, which I called the System. It was just rules for all the things I saw, and terminology that people could follow and understand. If I told you that a demon—let’s say a Prowler—what if I told you that its essence signature had this shape? It would probably mean absolutely nothing to you.
Everyone in the crowd looked up to see an intricate weave of pulsating threads. Sal was speechless as he took off his sunglasses for a better look. It was the first time he had encountered a replication of what he, himself, saw in people. The headmaster wasn’t done, though, as he turned around with a flourish, only for the picture to be replaced with a scale containing different threat levels.
But what if I told you, it was a Level 6? Oh yes, now we understand exactly what we’re dealing with, and we have a point of reference. Now, what if I can pinpoint an essence signature of an impending portal? Could we calculate its expiration date?
These were the concepts that I spent years working on and adapting into the System. My nickname became Quest because I embarked on an endless pursuit of knowledge. My mission is to create an accessible system that could be understood by the masses, that would give us an advantage against the demonic hordes. Powerful people joined my cause, and we founded this institution. The guilds all follow the System, and we’re all on the same side in this war.
Quest paused, as though considering his next words carefully. He looked up at the screen, which had reverted to the list of names. With a click of his fingers, the screen changed to reveal an empty leaderboard. Silence washed over the crowd, with everyone hanging on his words.
We developed a new technology that could potentially change the world as we know it. It requires an incredible amount of investment and resources that we, frankly, don’t have. Even if we did, we need to be very careful in how we use this opportunity. In my research of essence signatures, we’ve discovered a method of imprinting those signatures into internal cores.
The excitement on his face was infectious, but the audience seemed split at those words. A few cheers ripped through the crowd, followed by ecstatic applause, which was adopted by the confused attendees too, until the whole amphitheater shook in unanimous celebration.
Thank you. But as I said, I want to make things accessible, so let me explain. This new technology allows us to artificially implant abilities into students who hold an affinity for it.
The halfhearted applause was replaced with a thunderous roar of approval. It was the most incredible news that they had heard in such a long time, and many of the attendees were openly weeping, smiles on their faces.
Sal understood the impact very clearly. The greatest limitation they had against the demons was the random nature of which ability would be assigned at birth. Removing that limitation would allow them to grant powerful abilities to the best suited students.
So, why is our curriculum closer to a regimen? Because we’re going to create those affinities in your children. We’ll build up their knowledge and capabilities to such a level that we’ll be able to enable them with the skills they’ll need to really make a difference in this war.
Better yet, this technology has been tried, tested, and proven. Our implanted skills are at the level of inherent, so the students will feel as though they’ve had it their whole lives. It’s a level of mastery that we’ve strived for over the years, and now, we’ve achieved it.
