X-Class is the name of a worldwide secret project to bring special kids to find the new Blackwing. Even today, the legend is still uncontested in combat strength and popularity. UDC still struggles to find someone strong as him, but even UDC's best hope wasn't able to fulfill that. Blackwings own daughter. She currently holds the same name as her father, but even she is nothing compared to the original.

 

And I am unlucky enough to be part of this program. But I have nothing to worry about since I eliminated myself from the game at the start. You may ask why? Because I don't have any intentions of becoming someone like Blackwing. I mean a forefront hero who inspires billions around the globe. I don't see that light inside myself. Still, all the advantages that come from being a member of the program, one example being how many people I managed to get into Horizon, are undoubtedly worth the suffering it will give me. So it won't be like I wouldn't try my best.

 

"Good morning, young cadets. I suppose all of you already know why you are here. As selected members of class X program, our education will be slightly different than the rest of our classes."

 

Yes, I am aware of that. There is a reason we only have seven people in total in our class, while others have twenty each. All kids in Horizon are gifted since this place is one of the four top military high schools, but X-class is different. We may not be the most gifted, but we are certainly some of the most interesting.

 

Let's start with what we have inside here. Let's start with the person who is drawing the most attention. Duke.

 

Duke has good physic, a handsome face, long wavy golden hair, and emerald green eyes. There was a large crowd around him on the first day. But his charm isn't his ability. His scent is. He can release toxins that have different effects on his body. From ones that can melt skin on contact to a sweet smell with a touch of lavender.

 

After Duke, we have a kid named King Ali. Descendant of a famous boxer/vigilante who stood against evil in all forms. He can cover his body with bone-like super durable plates, and he has superhuman physical capabilities. I think he can lift more than five tons, sprint faster than a horse for a long time, and strike strong enough to shatter most armor. He may not be charming as Duke, but he is an interesting character.

 

The next on the line is Alice, and she doesn't need any introductions. Insane speed, my eyes weren't able to follow her. Insane strength, she lifted a ground drone that weights 4 tons like it was nothing, plus she has an aura she can manipulate to use either defensively or aggressively. Thanks to her ego, she missed the opportunity to crush me in the secret exams, but I will not try my chance and go into another fight against her.

 

Then we have Mia, the little magician, too egoist, too friendly(!), and too good for her own good. But, I gave one thing to her. She is intelligent. After all, she has the third highest point in the written exam, right behind the support team's favorite. Ah, I forget about them. School also has a place for kids who work as medical staff, weapon makers, and strategists, but they are not popular as the kids who can punch space bugs very hard, so they mostly stay out of sight and do their job.

 

Now, I will finish talking about the class after the last two. Steelwinged Alex, as the name indicates, is a boy with razor-sharp and highly durable wings. He flies around and cuts things. Simple as that. Coming to his personality, he looks friendly and energetic. I can give more about him when I learn more.

 

Finally, the last member. Binn. He has super strength and durability. Just that. Nothing more. He doesn't have laser eyes, he cannot fly, and his battlesuit doesn't have any letter or color blue on it. He is, I will hit you, then you hit me, and we do that until one of us dies type of guy, straightforward.

 

*Cough* Our teacher entered the classroom. He is a long and built man at the start of his fifties. "Dear class X, I am your classroom and warfare teacher, Lee Field." He looked around. "Well, I suppose there is no need for introductions since most of you already met through the secret program exams, and I already know all of you, so if you have any questions, ask me." I like this one's attitude. Straightforward. No unnecessary details unless asked by someone.

 

Mia raised her hand. "Your gift, what is that." And the attitude, ah, I wonder if she can find any friends, let alone a lover with such wording, but who knows, maybe she is a sweetheart deep inside. I only know her for an hour.

 

"I inherit an ability to shoot any object I hold towards any location I want." He pulled out a pencil from his pant pocket. "While the way I told it may sound simple, it isn't. My gift works by accelerating an object towards the vector of my choice. Smaller the object, the higher the velocity. With enough time to focus, I can fire this mechanical pencil faster than a railgun projectile of similar size."

 

Quite the fascinating ability. Time to do quick math. I will use the formula of F=1/2MV^2. Let's assume that the pencil he is holding weighs like hundred grams, and a railgun projectile has a speed of around 2500m/s. When that pencil hits, it will strike with a force of 312500 joules. For comparison, a 50. ammunition that weighs 700 grams and travels 900 meters a second will only hit 283500 joules of kinetic energy. Of course, mine is only speculation since there are hundreds of variables in real life, but you got the point.

 

But one cannot kill the curiosity, so I raised my hand. I want to know the limits of this ability.

 

"You," He pointed to me. "May I learn your name before you ask your question."

 

"Leonard Clock."

 

"Ah, James' son. How good to see you here. So, what is your question."

 

"So, I have a hypothesis. Let's say you have a cylindric object that weighs one kilogram and is perfectly balanced. Not counting air resistance, with what speed you can shoot it." 

 

"Hmm, it is a question I got before. Well, after ten seconds of focus, let's say, something close to Mach 14, but that would consume lots of energy, and air resistance will not let it go that fast."

 

That is 4800m/s! That means almost 36 times more kinetic energy on impact than that pencil. For a better explanation, that means double a 120mm anti-tank round, which can shred tank armor like it is nothing. "That is a kinetic energy compared to a howitzer round."

 

"Now, now. There are as many minuses as the pluses of this power. It requires at least five seconds of staying still, plus the amount of energy I will use for such a shot will leave me unable to fight for at least a minute." He is talking like this is nothing, but how not he is not on the fields and here teaching. I looked at the faces of my classmates. They are excited by the strength of our teacher. Well, they will have more chances to be impressed.

 

The teacher began laughing. "Believe me. My ability can only be considered over average when put next to all that powerful agents on the field. Now, do we have any more questions? I don't want to rush into lessons on the first day."

 

All class raised their hands. It will be a fun day. But I still have questions about that power of his. He said about recharge times but is it that much of a problem for him? Can't he station himself in a distant location and shoot specially made ammunition? I suppose I have about two classes worth of time to ask as much as I want.

 

                                 *****

 

Our classes consist of five theoretical before lunch and four physical post lunch. We are currently on lunch break, which is quite long. Around an hour and a half, but considering the three and a half hours of physical training waiting for us, this is fair enough. One thing about lunch, while students can eat other meals anywhere they want, lunch is required to be eaten at the dining hall since the school wants to control the nutritional value of at least one meal a day, but this is not a bad thing since they have all sorts of options for all types of diets.

 

But food and how it will taste is my second concern. The dining hall has two floors, and it can host around five hundred students on each god help me if I miss my team, and they straightly go there. Finding them would take a stupid amount of time.

 

While I was waiting on the school building's exit, looking around for the rest of the team, something grabbed me from my chest, a black tentacle, a soft one. I suppose they found me instead.

 

Olivia turned me around using her tentacle. "Well, well, look at who is waiting outside. Isn't this mister special from the X-class? Are you waiting for a date?" The rest of the team is behind her, and just as I expected, she is wearing the late-fall version of the school suit, even though it is still hot outside.

 

"Well, madame, I was waiting for a group of chuckaboos. They're supposed to be several people from a team in this school. I was hoping to be lucky enough to eat my lunch with them." She hates this kind of victorian talk. Let's make it worse. I bowed forward.

 

"Tss, showman. But it isn't up to me to forgive you, so keep your tricks to others. Now, let's hear what those others have to say." She turned towards the team once again. "Do we accept the traitor who is supposed to be our team leader but is not even in the same class as us?"

 

"Painful for me to accept, but we cannot ditch the captain." Lucas passed next to me and patted my shoulder while moving.

 

"Agreed. Mister Leonard might leave us, but he is still respectable." Yin followed Lucas and nodded while passing next to me.

 

"I don't care about which class he is in, he is strong, and I care about that. So, I only want food." Steinar passed without doing anything.

 

"I am with Steinar on this. Food is crucial for the body, and our captain showed himself capable when he beat all of us (he will be sad when I tell Marco that it is only him and Steinar), then got all of us in the same school using his smartness." Marco joined the rest.

 

"Agreed, but I think I missed the beatdown part, but keep it for now. I don't want to wait in a long line. Move lizard boy." And Stephanie is Stephanie, I suppose. Cheerful and carefree. She is a simple character with nothing to hide.

 

And Ivan is. "Right behind you." A little soulless, but a good fit for the team.

 

"Well, well, look who got spared by his team." Olivia pulled her tentacle back. "Now, will you move? Or want me to carry you there." She pulled out two tentacles from her hands.

 

"Much prefer for you to not, but may I have a second of yours."

 

"Oh, you can, but it would be you who will be late for food. I can always close the distance."

 

I smiled. "I have no doubts. But I just wanted to ask how your first day is going. Anybody bragging about scars."

 

She raised her hands like she was guilty. "No one." Lie. I can clearly see a bitter smile on her face, a smile she forces herself to make. Too bad I know you well, dear sister.

 

"Because no one saw them, or because everyone was kind enough?" She won't talk if I don't force it. I hate doing this, but it is for Olie's good. A person strong as her must not get pushed down for a stupid reason like a scar or two. "Also, I don't remember you wearing the long version in the morning?"

 

"Well, no one saw it, but you cannot know what people might say anything without things happening." She ignored the second question. There is something.

 

"There will be the physical training classes after the morning. Do you think you can hide them there? Before you open your mouth. I saw the sportswear, and no. You cannot." I grabbed her from the shoulders. "My sister. I want you to feel proud and happy as you could in here. No person has the right to bully you for these scars. Remember your strength, and remember what you can do. Now, who did it? Tell."

 

"No one!" She pushed me away. But there is discomfort and guilt on her face.

 

"Name Olie!" I hate making her sad, but damn it, that is for her good.

 

"That not happened."

 

"Lie! What about I ask other team members? Would they keep it away from me?" She broke down. Finally, I hope we will get over this.

 

"There was that one person, a girl with yellow hair, I don't exactly remember her name, but I remember she whispering something to a group of three girls when I first entered." Good, she is doing great. "Then on the first break, she moved next to me with pitiful eyes and began asking questions, like if I have an abusive boyfriend or father, but I told about my scars being with me since childhood, she cracked into laughter." She sighed. "And told me that, girl, don't take it personally, but you need to learn to do some makeup, or you will stick as this weird antisocial monster."

 

"And?" Someone's going to die in this school year.

 

"Well, I didn't say anything, but Stephanie jumped in." She began chuckling. "She said this." Olie took a breath. "My sister, please don't take it personally, but didn't your family teach you about not wasting things? If not, learn that it is bad for the environment. Don't get me wrong. I don't talk about your face and how it has enough makeup to be considered a chemical dump zone. That is a tragedy of another newspaper. I mean, how bad a person can use makeup, but don't be sad. Look at your face. You can't hide that even if you jump straight into an industrial tank filled with foundation, so it is not up to you."

 

Good to know someone stood for her. But I want her to assert to other people that she is not an abuse victim but someone capable of trashing professional UDC agents. "On the first opportunity, you go, challenge her to a friendly duel. Don't worry about the consequences. That is a common thing in places like these. She will accept it, and then you will beat the living shit out of her using your powers. No one will be able to say anything because you are strong, and they respect that."

 

"I will." I still don't trust her, but she looks more confident under her mask. Hopefully, we will take care of this problem in the closest time. "That reminds me of the entrance exams, my equipment wasn't hiding all my scars, but I don't anyone speak anything about them after I beat a guy or two in the matches." Good! That's what I want to hear.

 

"Now, we are feeling better. Let's catch the rest of the team. Shall we."