Superpower Trait testing

September.

School had only started a few days ago, and the weather was still rather hot.

Donghai No. 1 High School, senior division, Class 2 of Year 3.

Smack!

A wooden pointer struck a tall stack of textbooks hard.

Fang Yuan jolted awake and hurriedly sat up straight.

"Sleeping in class, and talking in your sleep, too. Tell us, what were you dreaming about?" the young, pretty history teacher asked sternly, holding her pointer.

Fang Yuan glanced at her and grinned. "Not any of the girls in class, anyway."

"Ooh..."

The whole class burst into laughter, and a few boys even whistled.

Liu Yaqin tapped the lectern with her pointer and barked, "Quiet!"

The teacher still commanded some authority, and the classroom soon quieted down.

Liu Yaqin tapped Fang Yuan's desk again. "Stand up. Sleeping during the very first history lesson of the new semester? Open your textbook and read the preface aloud."

Fang Yuan had no choice but to stand, turn to the first page of his history textbook, and begin reading.

"In the middle of the last century, the appearance of spatial rifts acted as a key, opening the door to dark matter. The world entered the age of Star Power. Along with opportunities, the emergence of Star Power also brought a tremendous crisis..."

Liu Yaqin walked back to the lectern. Only after Fang Yuan finished reading the preface to Modern History of Star Power did she say, "Stay standing. Sit down once you're fully awake."

Fang Yuan sat down without hesitation.

"Did I tell you to sit?" Liu Yaqin demanded, waving her pointer.

"Ma'am, you said to sit down once I was fully awake. I'm wide awake now. Completely awake. I've never been this awake," Fang Yuan answered with absolute certainty.

A vein in Liu Yaqin's forehead twitched a few times, but in the end, she held her temper and threatened, "If you dare come second in history this semester, just you wait!"

"Sure. I'll try for third."

Fang Yuan's answer sent the whole class into another burst of laughter.

"Hahaha..."

There was little Liu Yaqin could do about Fang Yuan.

After all, teachers liked students with excellent grades. Even if such a student was a little mischievous, that minor flaw could be overlooked as long as his grades were good.

Fang Yuan's academic grades were indeed pretty good, but that applied only to academic subjects. Martial arts was another matter entirely.

Ever since spatial rifts began appearing in the middle of the last century, scientists had finally been able to observe dark matter.

Within that dark matter, they had discovered an energy source-star source ore.

The emergence of star source ore had also ushered in the age of Star Power.

However, the appearance of spatial rifts had brought not only Star Power, but also a tremendous crisis.

All sorts of ferocious Rift Star Beasts had surged out of the spatial rifts, treating Earth as their hunting ground.

The war between humanity and the Rift Star Beasts had also begun.

That war had lasted thirty years, interspersed with overt and covert struggles between nations.

After thirty years, the war had gradually entered a stable phase.

Humanity still occupied most of Earth's land, but the wilderness outside the cities was no longer safe.

Moreover, the spatial rifts that kept appearing could change the current situation at any moment, pushing Earth toward doomsday.

With the invasion of the Star Beasts, Star Power Awakeners had also begun appearing among humans.

Star Power was a form of energy that shared its origin with star source ore.

The difference was that Star Power could be generated within the human body.

Humans who could generate Star Power within their bodies were known as Star Power Awakeners.

Awakeners could use Star Power to accomplish many incredible things.

For instance, Awakeners who awakened the ability to fly could soar through the sky.

Awakeners who awakened the ability to breathe underwater could use Star Power to draw oxygen out of the water to breathe, allowing them to remain underwater for long periods like fish.

Not only that, but Awakeners' physical abilities also far surpassed those of ordinary people. Powerful Awakeners could even stand against firearms, or even armies.

Of course, the opponents Awakeners actually faced were Rift Star Beasts.

During the first thirty years of the spatial rift invasion war, the toll of warfare had been so immense that no nation on Earth could sustain a prolonged war fought with conventional weaponry.

Even if they could hold out, their economies would inevitably collapse.

Thus, after Awakeners appeared.

Nations began training Awakeners as "weapons of war" while vigorously developing Star Power technology.

The emergence of Awakeners had raised individual combat power to an entirely new level.

Alongside academic subjects, schools around the world also offered martial arts classes to train the younger generation of Awakeners.

Ring...

The bell signaling the end of morning classes rang.

Guo Songtao, the homeroom teacher of Class 2 of Year 3, tapped the lectern with a set square and announced, "This is your first semester of your final year, so before the semester ends, you'll need to choose your college entrance examination track. Think carefully about whether you want to take the academic track or the martial track."

"...The school will conduct a Superpower Trait test this afternoon. Based on your Star Power levels, the school will then offer recommendations for your college entrance examinations."

Hearing the afternoon's arrangements, a student immediately asked, "Sir, if we choose the martial track, does that mean we won't have to take academic classes anymore?"

Some students in the class who grew sleepy at the mere sight of textbooks immediately pricked up their ears. Not having to take academic classes would be fantastic.

Guo Songtao already knew what these students were like and poured cold water on their hopes. "In your dreams. Chinese and mathematics are compulsory subjects. Choosing the martial track only exempts you from subjects like history and physics."

"Aw..." A group of students sighed and groaned.

"Sir, I just don't get it. If I've chosen to become a martial artist, why do I still have to study academic subjects?" complained a burly boy whose martial arts grades were sky-high and whose academic grades were rock-bottom.

Guo Songtao was not angry. "Because Chinese and mathematics are fundamental. Even if you become a martial artist in the future, if you can't even understand a weapon's instruction manual, are you planning to have someone read it to you?"

"Hahaha..." The whole class burst into laughter.

A boy with a short buzz cut turned around, patted the burly boy's shoulder, and said, "Don't worry. I'll read the manuals to you."

"Get lost! Your academic grades are even worse than mine." The burly boy knocked the buzz-cut boy's hand away.

"All right, quiet. Let me finish."

Their homeroom teacher, Guo Songtao, banged his set square against the desk again and continued, "Choosing your examination track is important. It will affect your entire lives. So take this afternoon's Superpower Trait test seriously. I hope you all get into the universities you want. May those choosing the academic track soar in the entrance examinations, conduct research, become legislators, or start companies and be bosses. As for those choosing the martial track, may you all become Star Martial Artists, colonels, and generals."

"Yeah!"

The whole class slapped their desks and cheered, brimming with youthful energy.

No one knew what sort of person they would become, but at that moment, every student carried a dream in their heart.

After the lunch break.

The final-year students of Donghai No. 1 High School all gathered in the auditorium, lining up by class for their Superpower Trait tests.

The students waiting in line below chatted quietly.

"What's a Superpower Trait?" one student asked a classmate beside him.

"Are you from Mars? You don't even know that? This is basic martial arts theory. A Superpower Trait is a special property possessed by an Awakener's Star Power," the classmate recited from the textbook, though the wording of the explanation was too formal.

Another classmate could not bear listening any longer and cut in. "Why make it so complicated? Just tell him a Superpower Trait is an Awakener's superpower."

"We usually call superpowers special abilities."

"That's the colloquial term. The formal term is Superpower Trait."

While the students were talking.

A pretty girl with a smile at the corners of her lips walked into the auditorium, carrying her textbooks.

Her name was Han Youwei. Her tall figure, paired with her pleated-skirt school uniform, made her long, fair legs particularly eye-catching.

Coupled with her clear, limpid eyes, delicate nose, and thin lips, she needed no makeup or dressing up. Just a slight smile made her seem incredibly approachable.

The neatest touch was her waterfall of beautiful hair, tied into a ponytail behind her head. A tiny butterfly adorned her hair tie, perhaps the only accessory she wore.

As soon as Han Youwei entered the auditorium, many boys turned to look.

However, every boy at Donghai No. 1 High School knew that Han Youwei was the sort of girl to admire only from afar.

Because...

They couldn't beat her in a fight!

Han Youwei was not only outstanding in appearance and from an excellent family; her academic performance and martial arts talent also eclipsed everyone else's.

Her martial arts grades, in particular, were already off the charts.

She could take on ten ordinary boys at once. Who could handle that?