Day One

"In this academy, there are twenty naturals, including yourself and Kaiden,"

The general spoke as I held the badge in my hand.

"That badge is, from this day forward, the most important thing you own. Your identity is irrelevant; you are a member of the Hell Reapers, and that is all. That badge is the only identification you'll need,"

He said. 

"You'll train with the others in our elite wing, and stay in the dormitories there. Your training will, of course, be much harsher than it would be here. However, it will be tailored to understanding and training your ability."

Hey, wait a second.

"Dorms? How come that guy gets to have his own apartment?"

I stuck my thumb towards Kaiden.

"The side effect of his ability requires we keep him away from the others. Keep in mind that your status is now classified under the highest order. To the rest of the world, you will remain a level zero nobody. Should you leak any information regarding your position or anything regarding the Reapers as a whole, you will be summarily executed."

I gulped. I've never been that good at keeping secrets...

[You can say that again. How you managed to reveal your identity so quickly is beyond me.]

Hey! You can't say anything! Your guidance wasn't exactly top tier, you know!

"Kaiden. Please show him to his dormitories. You can orient him and get him started with training."

Kaiden saluted.

"Yes, sir. Mars, let's go,"

He said as he walked towards the double doors. The two guards opened them once again. I followed behind him.

"Hey, so, if you're a natural too, what's your ability?"

He didn't say anything.

"Hey! What, you're ignoring me because you had to clean up a little blood? Don't be a prick, man,"

He sighed.

"I'm ignoring you because you need to think. Don't ask so many questions, try to at least figure something out for yourself. I obviously can't tell you my ability here. Wait until we get to the Hidden Wing."

Fine, fine. Be that way, all secretive.

We walked through the level zero wing and out to the courtyard, where a hummer was waiting for us. Kaiden climbed into the back, so I did, too. We rode in silence. It was pretty boring.

Eventually, we had driven through the campus and stopped at the elite wing. This was where the fourth years who had advanced the most trained. Heading inside, it was a whole different world to where I'd been. Glass, tall ceilings, and fancy screens on the walls were everywhere the eye could see.

Geez, they really had us living in squalor comparatively.

We entered one of the classrooms. Inside was an elevator. Kaiden scanned his badge and the doors opened up, letting us step inside. Cool, it felt like a spy movie.

We went down for about three minutes before the elevator finally stopped. When we stepped out, I was met will purely steel infrastructure. 

"Ugh, it's bright down here."

There were lights lining the whole ceiling. So, the naturals trained underground? Kaiden walked me through the wing. It was pretty small. We walked past the cafeteria, a series of classrooms, and finally got to the dorms. Kaiden stopped in front of one of the rooms.

"Give me your hand and your badge."

I presented both.

"Um, sure, what..."

Kaiden drew a knife from his belt and swiftly sliced into my hand.

"Ow! What the hell, ma..."

He opened my badge and pressed the metal against my wound as it closed.

"That healing of yours is truly incredible. I'm surprised you get to be strong and fast on top of it, too,"

He said, but I was distracted by the badge. It seemed to be soaking up the blood. Fortunately, Kaiden decided to explain.

"Your genetic signature is now tied to this badge. Here, hold it up to the scanner."

I did, and the door to the room slid open, with the sound of gears quietly working behind it.

"This room is yours now. Besides the staff, none of the other students can open this door. Alright, go inside and change into your uniform. Then, we'll head to the training grounds."

This guy is too pragmatic. What the hell happened to the kid I saved on the train?! I liked him better when he wasn't all high and mighty. Well, whatever. A new uniform! Nice!

Inside the room, it was nothing special. A twin bed, a dresser, a desk, a small chest, and a bathroom with a standing shower. Still, it wasn't bad. Everything seemed to be high quality. It kind of sucked that there wasn't a window, though.

[Don't worry about the sun not waking you up. I'll do that for you, remember?]

You better fucking not, metalhead.

On the bed was a uniform. Unlike the other school uniforms, which were almost entirely black, this one was a set of a white dress shirt, a red vest, red tie, grey pants and black shoes. Woah, stylish. 

I threw it on, struggling with the tie. Meh, whatever.

After a couple minutes I returned outside where Kaiden was waiting.

"Really? Your tie is loose, your shirt is untucked, and you've somehow already wrinkled the pants. You're kind of hopeless, aren't you?"

Hey! Don't be a dick!

"It's comfortable, alright?! Bring me to the training grounds already!"

He sighed again. Um... he did that a lot. Was he really that fed up with me? I wasn't even doing anything wrong?

The training grounds were only another minutes walk down the hallway. There was a large set of steel doors which Kaiden opened with his badge.

"Alright. Everyone in here should already be training. For starters, we'll need to go over the functions of your ability and learn how to use it more efficiently. Then we'll try to figure out how to make it grow."

As we walked in, I was met with an amphitheater not dissimilar to the one from the level zero course. This one, however, was massive. It looked bigger than the entire rest of the hidden wing.

Inside were around twenty kids, each of which was doing something different. However, the moment we walked in, they all stopped and saluted.

"Dude, they're all saluting me, haha. Did you tell them to do that? I'm glad someone recognizes my greatness,"

I said, smugly.

"They're saluting me, dumbass,"

Kaiden replied.

"Huh? Why would they do that?"

I asked. This little twerp couldn't be strong enough to deserve a salute. Was it some kind of school culture? Some mutual respect thing where everyone salutes each other?

"Oh, that's right,"

He turned towards me.

"I'm going to be your teacher."

Huuuh?!

"You?! Why?"

He gestured to the other students and they returned to what they were doing. 

"I've been practicing with my ability for a much longer time than the rest of you, and I'm quite gifted in understanding the powers of others. There are other teachers, but for this introductory course, I'm in charge,"

He grinned at me. This bastard was getting smug as hell!

"Alright, like I said, we'll need to test your ability. Follow me."

Dumbfounded, I walked with him to the center of the amphitheater. The other students cleared the way.

Kaiden put his hands in his pockets.

"For starters, just show me what you've got. Attack me."

Haha... hell yeah. I wanted to kick his ass real bad.

Mars' status:

[Name: Mars Valentine]

[Level: 4]

[Race: Zombie]

[Mutation Points: 2]

[Skill Points: 1]

[Skills:

Immortality (MAX):

*PASSIVE*

Bearer is effectively immortal so long as brain remains intact. Bearer will not age and all injuries will be healed rapidly.

NOTE: If bearer does not consume human flesh regularly, the effects of {Immortality (MAX} will be diminished, reducing healing capabilities of the skill.

Pain Tolerance(LVL 1):

*PASSIVE*

Increases bearer's tolerance to pain.

Mana Drain (LVL 1):

*PASSIVE*

Through consuming human flesh, bearer can harvest the mana within it and increase his capabilities with mana-required skills as well as increase his physical capabilities.

Charged Fingers (LVL 1):

*ACTIVE*

Electricity will run between the bearers fingers, electrifying anything touched by them.]

[Energy Absorption (LVL 1):

*PASSIVE*

Allows the bearer's body to absorb the raw energy floating around in the air and earth, allowing cells to generate MIATP (Mana-Influenced Adenosine Triphosphate), effectively allowing the bearer's cells to generate mana on their own as long as there is an abundance of magic energy freely flowing throughout the area in which the bearer occupies.]

[Mutations:

Hunting Claws: Allows the bearer to grow retractable claws under his nails. 4 inches long and as sharp. 0.1 mm wide edges.

Condensed Muscles: +1 Strength. Causes bearers muscles to remain more compact while becoming stronger.]

[Ability: N/A]

[Curses:

Zombified:

Bearer has been affected by a strange and ancient pathogen. No longer requires sleep. Buffs to all stats. After going long enough without eating, bearer will turn into an insatiable killing machine, out to consume human flesh.

G.A.M.M.A.: The incredible and powerful system known as G.A.M.M.A. has granted pity on the pathetic bearer and granted him new life as a zombie. G.A.M.M.A. is amazing, beautiful, and all around the greatest creation the universe has produced.]

[Capabilities:

Strength: 10(+1)

Agility: 7(+1)

Endurance: 5(+1)

Intelligence: 8(+1)

Mana: 7

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