Ascenders Rift

Within the private room, a stifling silence filled the area as a few of the scientists had cast their sights towards Alton. Their faces were filled with sweat as some couldn't help but swallow their spit. Not long after, the individual who had left to gather the documents had returned with a clipboard.

Carefully looking, one would see that there a few stacks of papers fitted with the board's clip, each with a different type of color ranging from blue, orange, red, and gold. On their front was a significant bolded title written as - Coded List Class 3, Class 2, Class 1, and Class X, each which was a representation of their content's importance.

Some rumors claimed those listed on these sheets would be transferred to a place that does unspeakable things—the lucky forced to conform to their group, while the unlucky were never heard from again.

Yet, these were mostly wild speculations on the most part, for the more common of scientists as only the core most members knew the actual rights and wrongs. In fact, even if these specialists knew anything, they wouldn't be so foolish to try and spread the news and make a controversy, as their families and loved ones have already become their liabilities.

The scientist having brought the Coded Lists was slightly sweating, but he didn't waste any time in handing over the clipboard to Alton as he spoke, "I-I've brought them, sir."

"Excellent," Alton replied with a smile, he took the clipboard in his hand and browsed the list carefully as he recalled a few of the names already listed.

After flipping through for a short while, Alton had finally arrived at an empty section on the Class 2 Coded List. The scientists upon seeing this gulped once more, as they didn't think that the current talents recorded would be listed on such a highly ranked list.

Alton smiled as he looked back on the faces on the tablet and wrote down two of their names on the list. If one looked closely, they would notice that the faces of these two individuals were none other than Susie Lewis and another student from the senior group.

After doing this, Alton then skipped onto the Class 1 Coded List before he wrote on Michael Keller's name. Having completed this task, Alton smiled with a happy expression as he spoke, "Good, with these three added, we will have a suitable supply of new blood for a limited time. I am most pleased about that Michael; his talents are most suitable to last us until the 4th or even 5th Calamity. He should make the most splendid one yet..."

Marcus, who stood nearby, couldn't help but speak, "Hmm, is he that gifted? What of that Susie and that other brat?"

Alton hearing this shook his head as he replied with a cold expression, "Worthless talent will only be wasted talents, in the end, their potentials will more or likely be exhausted by the time of the 2nd or 3rd Calamity. By then, they'll be ready for 'that' procedure..."

Marcus nodded his head in agreement with Alton's words, as he spoke, "I suppose that you're right... but all this is..."

Marcus was about to say something else, as a trace of hesitancy appeared in his eyes, Alton seeing this narrowed his eyes as he glanced at him. However, it was at this moment; Donna, who was analyzing a series of data, had spoken out loud.

"This... how strange? What's going on here?" Donna said with a look of wonderment on her face.

Alton, Marcus, and a few other nearby scientists couldn't help but grow curious as they walked over towards Donna's terminal.

As Alton arrived, he leaned his head forward and asked, "Donna, what's going on?"

Donna's finger tapped the desk as her face showed a complex look when she spoke, "Section Head, I've found something extraordinary about a few particular individuals. Their strength is a bit odd, showing capabilities beyond their current recorded stats, here take a look..."

Alton and Marcus then glanced at the screen and saw the names of a few familiar individuals, both being Joe Goldsmith and Rick Rayfield. The details shown on the screen were ordinary stats, with Rick's details slightly above the average.

Yet, the two separate video displays were showing how Fatty Joe had barely defeated a bear while Rick had casually dealt with a group of snakes.

Alton, having seen their details frowned as he spoke, "So strange… these two don't even have the minimum requirements for talent, yet they are capable of performing such feats? Hmm, who are they?"

A nearby scientist that carried a tablet upon hearing this had replied, "Reporting to sir, Joe Goldsmith is the son of Kelvin Goldsmith, a fairly competent businessman. However, that Rick is a bit more troubling, I've dug up a bit on his details and have found that he has relations with the Golden Palace, even more surprising is the fact that he is royalty..."

The eyes of Alton and Marcus flashed when they heard this; they looked at each other with a knowing look.

Alton then spoke with a frown, "I've heard about the 2nd prince's connection with Alan Lawson. However, I would never have thought that he came to this school in disguise. Is he here with an ulterior motive, or could it be a plan of that Lawson? Che! That man is pretty troublesome as it is on his own; even after we convinced his best agent Ralph to join our ranks, the details on him are still too limited. How do we deal with this?"

Donna, who was listening for a while, couldn't help but speak at this time, "Sir, I think I might have a suggestion..."

Alton, who was trying to find a course of action, turned his sights to her before he spoke, "Continue..."

Donna smiled as she fixed her glasses and spoke, "Sir, you shouldn't be so worried about either of these two kids. They are, after all, normal and not talents. In the end, only talents matter as only they can grow even if they do have limits, thereby increasing their total value."

Alton remained silent as he listened on keenly, Donna then continued to speak, "Also, sir. Though Alan is quite a dangerous character, he is but only one man, even if he has the aid of the prince, he is with limited power."

Alton, hearing this shook his head as he spoke, "While I can agree with your statement about those kids, I must differ with your opinion in regard to Alan. You don't know anything about that man... he is also far more dangerous than you think."

After Alton said this, he rose to his feet took a deep breath before he spoke, "My decision is made, for now, don't pay any attention to Joe Goldsmith. He doesn't have any talents, and as Donna said, he won't be of any major concern or importance. If anything, that Rick might be acting under some kind of ulterior motive, but in the end, his circumstances are in no way different from Joe Goldsmith, just have a minor agent keep a watch on him. Next is to continue keeping a close on the others for more students with potentials, those we can add on the Coded Lists. Also, you must thoroughly inspect the remaining suspects on the Death's Fissure Case; we need to have these details by morning as the Chief himself is waiting for them..."

"Yes, sir!" The scientists said as they continued their tasks once more.

Alton then rose from his seat and walked to the window; there, he saw that the dark sky was slowly turning blue as bits of light shone from the horizon. He muttered in a soft tone, "Since a new day is about to start... then this first session should now be concluding."

***

Within the central area of EarlingStar, in a high-class room. A familiar-looking man in a yellow suit sat around a table with a bunch of papers scattered about his desk.

Looking closely, one would notice that there were two familiar faces, on one paper was a handsome young man with curly black hair, he wore blue glasses that covered up his cyan blue eyes. While on the other, was a somewhat similar-looking face with a straight nose, broad forehead, and wide lips, with short but curly blue hair.

The man tapped his finger for a while before speaking out loud, "I wonder, will he truly be able to discover anything? Has he even made any progress with Evan Cross?"

As the man said this, his brows knitted as he rubbed his temples, but not long after, his phone began to ring. The man glanced at his phone and saw an unregistered number; he frowned before answering it in silence.

"....." After a short while of silence, the person behind the phone spoke.

"Hmm, what's wrong? Instructor Al... you're not telling me that you've forgotten basic etiquettes now, have you?" A familiar female voice said.

Alan was surprised by the voice as he spoke, "Angeline, why they surprise call? You're still bent on calling me Instructor, I've thought that I've made it clear that I won't be returning to the MSS..."

"..." Angeline remained silent for a while before she spoke with a sigh, "Instructor Al, I'm not calling about that, I'm done trying to persuade you. My call this time is for another matter..."

"And what's that?" Alan said.

Angeline then spoke, "Were you the one who told Prince Erickson to enroll in the academy?"

Alan, hearing this wasn't surprised, he spoke, "No, it was his idea. Prince Erickson is a person with his own plans; I am merely his closest aid..."

Angeline sighed as she spoke, "Then, did you not think that RADA would have been able to find out his identity, believing him to have an ulterior motive?"

Alan smirked as he heard these words, he spoke, "The prince had considered this as well, but he merely went into the academy as an act of cover. He won't be showing any signs of suspicious activities or movements, as his only goal is to buy time for us to clear up a few details, while at the same time, gather information..."

Angeline then spoke in a slightly angry tone, "Instructor Al! Don't you think that's a little careless? What if RADA decides just to capture him? It's not that hard to perform such a task, especially if they knew that he has some sort of connection with you..."

Alan, hearing this spoke with confidence, "Neither of us is a fool; even if RADA wants to capture him, they will still find it to be a troubling task. Plus, at this stage, I don't believe that RADA would be willing to take such a drastic action... at least not yet."

"...." Angeline hearing remained silent for a while, Alan then took this chance to speak, "It's quite a good timing you've called with, I've wanted to ask you about a certain group activity..."

Angeline was a bit surprised. She asked, "Hmm, that depends on the group, which is it?"

Alan's eyes flashed at this moment as a solemn expression came on his face, his eyes faced the windows as he spoke, "Tell me everything you know about the Val Corps..."