Chapter 41 - Waves
(Rodova Military Academy– The Academic Wing, Principal's Office)
Seated in the grand, dimly lit expanse of his private office, Principal Alric Dainhart swirled the champagne in his glass, the golden liquid catching the light of the massive holographic display before him.
His mood was exceptionally good today—better than it had been in years.
Because, just moments ago, he had received a Level-One Alert from the academy's Genetic Assessment Department for student Su Yang.
A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips as he reviewed the report once more.
A true scion of the Su Clan, the boy had been evaluated to possess Monarch-Level Potential—a classification so rare that even among the Six Great Clans, it was spoken of with reverence.
In the universe, Monarchs were beings with power and influence just a step under Gods, and to possess genes capable enough to reach that threshold was a true rarity.
In the universe, one's genetic make-up decided what one's potential was as a warrior, as while one could surpass their potential by a maximum of one tier through hard-work, defying it twice was simply impossible.
The growth rate of a warrior with a Monarch level potential was usually ten times that of a warrior with only a Grandmaster level potential, and hence Genetic Make-up was usually the main component behind deciding which individuals were going to be placed in the Elite Class, and which were going to be placed in the regular class, as the Rodova Military Academy simply did not wish to invest it's resources into students with inferior talents who were simply never going to yield the same rate of growth.
And as far as talents went, Rodova had not seen a student with Su Yang's talent in over a decade, despite being one of the top Military Academies in the universe.
Infact, Su Yang was only the seventh student in its illustrious history spanning centuries to have such a potential, making him a truly generational prospect.
'This is it! With Su Yang leading the first-years, Rodova Academy finally has the chance to reclaim its rightful position as the number-one military academy in the universe, finally overtaking Geneva–' Alric thought, as he took a gleeful sip of his Champagne.
For the first time in years, Alric Dainhart felt confident that things could turn around for good, however, just when he thought his day could not get any better, a new Level-One Alert flashed across his tablet, this time from the Physical Monitoring Department.
"What? Another alert? Did Su Yang break another record?" He wondered out loud, as he opened the alert message with haste.
However, to his surprise, the student generating the alert this time around wasn't surnamed Su, but Skyshard instead.
"Skyshard, Leo – Reflex Test Results" the heading read, as the moment his eyes landed on the reaction time metric, his body froze.
0.007 seconds.
A number so absurd that for a moment, he wondered if the system had malfunctioned.
But as he scrolled further, his expression shifted from curiosity to intrigue.
Leo Skyshard had apparently completed the reflex test chamber with an accuracy of 100%, A speed index score of beyond recordable thresholds and a historic #1 position amongst all past Rodova Military Academy Recruits for this test.
"Ha.... Hahaha" Alric chuckled, as for a moment he could almost not believe his eyes.
Rodova was a prestigious military institute with centuries worth of history.
Some of its graduates were now Transcendent and Monarch level figures in the universe, yet Leo had somehow surpassed their test score today.
"This is... quite the surprise," he murmured, reclining slightly as he accessed the student's full evaluation report.
And that's when he saw it.
Suspected Mu Clan descendant.
It was a note written by his psychological analyst, which explained quite a lot.
For a long moment, Alric simply stared at the screen, his smirk deepening.
The Su Clan's brightest heir—and now, a potential Mu Clan scion with unprecedented reflexes?
It seemed like Rodova wasn't just getting one monster student this year—
It was getting two.
He exhaled, taking another sip of his champagne, the bubbles fizzing pleasantly against his tongue.
"If his genetics live up to his performance..." he mused, a shiver running down his spine, as he shuffled restlessly in his seat.
He was hoping Leo was a Monarch level talent like Su Yang, however somewhere deep down he knew that hoping for yet another Monarch level talent was probably asking for too much.
"Even a Transcendent level talent is fine, as long as you're a Transcendent level talent, we can nurture you into one of the university's best Alumni–" He muttered before pressing a few commands on his tablet.
—-----
ALERT:-
Priority-Level Evaluation: Leo Skyshard.
—------
Sending an urgent priority message to the Genetic Assessment Department, Principal Alric requested for Leo to be escorted to the Genetic Assessment Room immediately, skipping all existing queues to be evaluated at once.
At this point, Alric no longer cared about the others, as he could not wait to see just how Leo was going to perform in the most important of all initial evaluation tests.
********
(Rodova Military Academy – The Teachers' Staff Room, Professor David's Office)
Across the academy, in a smaller, more modest office, Professor David sat before his monitor, his gaze narrowed as he read through the same notification that the principal received.
David was the head first year instructor, incharge of all first year students, which gave him the same access to their reports as Alric, but unlike Principal Alric, he was far from pleased by what he saw.
His fingers tapped against the desk, a slow, irritated rhythm, as his eyes skimmed the details of the alert through disdain.
The alert was generated by another suspected Great Clan descendant.
Another so-called prodigy shattering records, as he felt genuinely displeased by its optics.
"People like him ruin the academy's balance," he muttered, leaning back in his chair.
Individuals like Leo and Su Yang were natural born geniuses.
They were individuals who had never struggled, never fought tooth and nail to climb from nothing.
And David had seen the pattern of the rise of such individuals in class before.
These types of students—born into privilege, gifted with superior talent, showered with resources—
They suffocated the ordinary cadets.
They crushed their morale before the year even began, just by existing, for their superiority was too blatant, too overwhelming for most to compete with.
And now, with two of them in the same first-year batch? David felt assured that no-one else was even going to try and keep up, dampening the overall morale.
'No one else will even try to compete,' he thought bitterly.
'They will accept defeat before the race has even started.' he concluded before grinding his teeth in anger.
"How am I supposed to nurture an excellent batch of equally accomplished students when the outcome is already decided?" He muttered out loud, as he banged his fists on his desk.
His frustration ran deeper than just one student's performance.
This was the cycle.
The Great Clans weren't just wealthier, their scions weren't just fed elixirs and taught secret arts from birth, giving them a better foundation than the commoners could ever hope for, they were also born with better genes.
In a universe ruled by talent and power, they always stood at the top, ensuring that the gap between them and the common-born remained insurmountable.
And the rest?
They were left to fight for scraps, struggling against an impossibility, forever outmatched from the moment they were born.
And it was this unfortunate reality of the universe that made his blood boil.
"I'm a retired Universal Government Officer," he thought bitterly. "A well-respected Major, more experienced and decorated in real wars than that fool Alric!
Yet because my bloodline was insignificant, because I wasn't born with superior genes, he sits as Principal while I'm left overseeing first-year brats." David mused, as his lips curled in disdain.
Alric earned twice his salary, wielded twice the influence, although he was half as competent.
And to make matters worse, because he earned twice as much, he had more disposable income to spend on his kids and grandkids, and more influence to give them a headstart in life, to ensure that David's kids could never catch-up.
It was an endless cycle.
The powerful remained powerful, while the weak stayed weak.
"No more." David mused, his nails digging into his own skin, as he took a slow breath, making a bold decision.
"I refuse to partake in this system any longer." He said, his gaze burning with resolve.
"From this year, things will change."
"From this year, I will suppress the strong—"
"And uplift the weak."
"Because if no one else is going to level the playing field— Then I will do it myself."