"Wake up Mr. Nolan!" A sharp voice exclaimed. At the same time Braden felt a pain on his head as he blearily lifted his head to look at the woman in front of him who had just hit him with a ruler.

"Sleeping in class again? Go stand at the front of the class." Said Ms. Shapiro, Braden's teacher. Still trying to shake off his sleepiness, Braden looked around and saw the grinning faces of his fellow classmates. Realizing he must have fallen asleep in class again, Braden stood up and moved to the front. It wasn't the first time it happened, so he felt comfortable standing up front even with everyone whispering and snickering. Ms. Shapiro returned to her lecture after giving Braden another withering glare.

"Now then class, as you are all high school students, and should have a basic knowledge of history at this point, I am going to ask you all a few basic questions to make sure you've been paying attention." She shot another glare at Braden at this point.

"Tell me, what are the three stages of cultivation of superpowers?"

A girl raised her hand and answered, "That would be Internalization, Externalization, and Altering Reality"

Ms. Shapiro nodded her head and turned to Braden asking, "Mr. Nolan, would you care to explain to the class what each of these three levels entails?"

Braden rolled his eyes, but clearing his throat, went to answer the question.

"Internalization is the beginner stage which occurs right after awakening. You can only use your power internally at that point, not affecting the external world. Externalization is the next stage, when you become capable of affecting the world around you. Finally, Altering Reality is the peak stage of Super cultivation. Those who reach that point are capable of affecting the external world on a much larger scale."

Ms. Shapiro harrumphed, grudgingly acceding, "Yes, that's at least a basic description. Though you forgot to point out that not all powers of capable of achieving each stage. Some powers, such as physical enhancements will forever be stuck in the Internalization phase. Very well then, who can answer a more analytical question: why have Supers become such an important part of society, to the point that Pangea grants them such privileges as tax exemption, immunity from misdemeanor charges, and indeed implemented a separate legal system for them?"

The class remained silent. Clearly they didn't expect that a teacher would actually ask them to think. Ms. Shapiro shook her head, disappointed. "No one?" She asked.

Braden remained silent for a moment, before shrugging and saying, "The Intergalactic Tournament."

Ms. Shapiro looked at him in surprise, before nodding and asking, "How so?"

Braden shrugged again. "After the Great War, a treaty was brokered between the Parisians and Earth. The war was ended, and instead, every 10 years, a tournament would be held in which the strongest Supers from each planet would meet on an uninhabited planet and fight it out. The loser had to give resources to the winner. Though initially each Tournament was bloody and deadly, as time passed, and other planets joined the Tournament, it turned into more of a sporting event, like the Olympics or the World Cup. As the planets began to interact, an organization known as the Galactic Trade Organization was formed. Under the Galactic Trade Organization's influence, the tournament became known as the Intergalactic Tournament, and rather than exchanging resources, it changed to exchanging favorable trade policies. Earth, as a planet that only recently developed Supers, was at a disadvantage. Thus, Pangea placed emphasis on training strong Supers. As a result, many of the original Super families formed alliances, and eventually were absorbed into each other, to increase the chance of strong Supers being born. With the increase in the Supers in these families, Pangea started to give out special privileges to the clans with the best results in the tournament. With those as an incentive, not to mention the fact that the tournament became much less deadly under the influence of the Galactic Trade Organization, Super clans began to put great importance on training each generation of Supers, resulting in superior performances in Tournaments, and thus cementing the importance of Supers to society."

Most of the other students' eyes had glazed over during this explanation. Ms. Shapiro looked pleased that someone could think critically in her class.

The bell rang, and Braden moved back to his seat to grab his bag. Students began shuffling out of the room. Braden moved to join them, but Ms. Shapiro held him back.

"Braden, I know you're an intelligent boy. But no matter how intelligent you are, you still need to pay attention in class. The information we provide you now is basic, but it will serve as the foundation for your further studies, should you be accepted into university."

Braden shrugged, gave a half-hearted reply that he would try harder, and left.

He walked out of the school towards the parking lot where the buses waited. But rather than join the throng of students waiting to get on each of their buses, he turned towards the main road and began walking west along it, towards his home. Unlike many others, he lived close enough to walk to and from school. The school, of course, encouraged students to take the bus, claiming it was a safety issue, but Cataclysm Beasts hadn't been sighted in the area in decades.

"I think I'll take the risk," He snorted to himself.

Braden walked along the side of the road absentmindedly, thinking about what Ms. Shapiro had said. She was right in a way. He knew what he was learning would be important if he went to university. Oh, not the information he learned, but rather the skills he learned. How to study, how to write, how to read analytically. Once he went to university no one would bother teaching him how to do those things.

But he still couldn't bring himself to try. It all seemed so pointless.

"In a world dominated by Supers, what does it matter if I go to university?"

Preoccupied by his thoughts, he almost missed the turn-off for the street on which his house lay.

As he turned down the street, he saw a couple of street toughs standing around. "Well," He thought. "It's worth going to university just to get out of here." Centuries had passed since the Cataclysm. The world had returned much to the way it had once been. The main difference lay in the integration of Supers into society, and the development of technology since becoming a part of the Galactic Trade Organization.

He avoided the street toughs and kept walking, eventually reaching a small wooden house, painted white. He walked up the sidewalk to the house. The door stood open, but a screen door blocked bugs from gaining entry. He opened it and went inside, letting the screen door slam shut behind him.

"I'm home," He said, even though he knew no one was there to answer.

His mom had passed away years ago. The funeral had been a bleak affair, consisting of little more than him and a priest. She might have had family he could have invited, but she'd never told him. She'd never told him much of anything, other than scolding him whenever he did anything even slightly wrong.

He shook his head, banishing the memory to the back of his mind as he went into the kitchen to prepare some dinner.

As he did his mind wandered back to thoughts of university.

"Do I really have no other choice?" Like all people under the age of sixteen, he did not dream of going to university, of stepping foot into the mundane world of studies and business and money. No, he, like so many others, wished for one thing: to be a Super.

Over the years, the Supers had fully integrated with society. The original Supers that had been recruited by the military had families who had families who had families. Five centuries had allowed for the spread of whatever gene allowed Supers to develop their powers when faced with the Z virus rather than dying like everyone else.

While some treated their genes like precious resources and formed elite families, like the politically powerful and rich families that the teachers spoke of in history classes, most weren't that farsighted, allowing the spread of Super genes throughout society.

Maybe because of that, and because he had never known his father, he had still held out hope. He wasn't sixteen yet. He still had time. That was what he had told himself for years. Even though his mother wasn't a Super, it didn't mean he couldn't be. All he need was a chance, a chance to develop his Ability.

But after nearly sixteen years of thinking like this, very little hope accompanied these thoughts.

And now, as he sat to have his dinner, he thought to himself, "Tomorrow is the day. I'll find my Ability tomorrow. I have to." Though he had told himself this for years now, repeating it like a mantra to the point that he normally just mouthed the words without really thinking about them, today they had a special meaning. Today, he felt determined. Because today was April 17th, one day before his 16th birthday. As of 11:47 PM tomorrow night, and he had checked the time printed on his birth certificate more times than he could count, he would be sixteen years old. And if he hadn't developed an Ability by then he never would. That was something that everyone had made clear.

He sat and pondered dark thoughts as the sun set. "Tomorrow," He murmured around a mouthful of food, half hopeful, half dreading. "Tomorrow."