SSS Cultivation: I Can Conquer Earth's Rank System
Chapter 53: Caught Again.

Chapter 53: Caught Again.

The training center was eerily quiet now, the heat of battle replaced by the cool hum of the various automated machines and bots going about their preprogrammed duties.

School guards had taken Jade away, and the air still smelled faintly of scorched metal. Leo sat on a bench, rolling his sore shoulder while Jose kneeled beside him, finishing up the last of his healing work.

But instead of leaving, Jose lingered. His gaze flickered to Leo’s wrist specifically, to the sleeve where he had seen the thing... The thin blue pen-like thing.

"You know," Jose started, voice calm but edged with curiosity, "I saw you push that thing up your sleeve back there."

Leo tensed for just a second but kept his expression neutral. "What thing?" he asked, feigning innocence.

Jose scoffed. "Don’t play dumb. The blue pen. I saw it." He sat back on his heels, studying Leo with sharp eyes. "Why are you doing that?"

"Doing what?" Leo persisted in his fake innocence.

"You didn’t shoot back at Jade until you pushed that blue pen up your sleeve. I saw it right."

"No, you didn’t. You see nothing."

"Yes, I did. I’m sure there’s a thin blue device in your pocket right now. Will you please prove me wrong?" Jose said.

Leo wanted to counter that again, but the words got stuck in his throat. He knew he has been caught by yet another person in the academy. Hunter had caught him at the arena that day, and be had made a painful bargain out of it. But now that a student has caught him also, he didn’t dare to think of what would happen. Everybody will probably know by tomorrow.

Or maybe if he can make him see that it was nothing but just a pen...

"Okay, if you insist. I have a blue pen, so does a hundred others in the academy. Did I do wrong by owning a pen?"

"No, you did no wrong by owning a pen, Leo. But there are many wrongs if you’re using that pen secretly to enhance or make a false quirk. You know the authorities will comdemn you for that, right?" Jose pressed.

"Well I’m not using it for anything other than writing," Leo said.

"And why do you need to write? We all have a teaching device that contains all our lessons in case you need to see it again. Why are you carrying a pen with you?"

"Other students have pens too."

"But they don’t carry it around," Jose squinted.

"Well, I love mine," Leo squinted back.

"Okay, let me see your beautiful pen, Leo."

"No, I don’t want to show you."

"You have to."

"Why?"

"Because I will report to Mrs Black that you’re hiding a suspicious item that seems to enhance your quirk," Jose threatened.

"Errr... Okay. I’ll show you."

"Loads of meteors, I’m in a fix..."

He dipped his hand slowly into his pocket and came out with the blue pen-like device.

Jose snatched it away from Leo’s hand to see.

It was nothing but an ordinary pen from the outside. It was deep blue with some dark subtle patterns on it. The ball point was silvery like a normal pen, and at the base, a design was seen displayed as "Loca’s Pen." For a second, Jose was confused. He was sure he saw Leo sneak it into his sleeves earlier, after which he started shooting those blue lasers. Was he really mistaken?

"I’m sorry I must have been mistaken. It’s a beautiful pen by the way. Where did you get if from?" Jose asked as he was about to pass the pen back to Leo.

"Err... It was a gift from–" Leo was saying when a sharp whistling sound accompanied a bright flash of blue right before him.

Jose was sent flying into the air at an unbelievable speed and height.

While passing the pen back to Leo, Jose had unknowingly pushed the button which was perfectly hidden from plain sight due to it being paralled with the body of the pen...and yes, the ball point of the pen was facing him when that happened.

Leo was alarmed. He rushed forward to save the senior, but instantly thought against it...

I can’t wait under to catch him. He’ll crush me with his weight... Oh, I can use the bubble. Err, no... Right, he’s a healer. He won’t die from such a fall.

Jose almost reached thr roof of the training centre before he started falling back down. His long and loud scream accompanied his fall but was replaced with a loud sickening crunch as he landed with a bang and broke his back.

Leo ran to him hesitantly. He expected Jose to deal with it on his own but he became a little worried when he didn’t stand up after a while.

"Are you there? Are you okay?"

His eyes were shut tight, and he doesn’t seem to be breathing.

"Oh my days, is he dead?"

"You belittle me, you freshman," Jose replied quietly as he sat up. His face was red.

"Are you okay? I’m sorry about that. I’m really sorry..."

"Wow. I’ve being blasted with quirks many times, but that’s the heaviest single blow I’ve ever received in my life. Even my healing quirk couldn’t deal with damage faster. That would have knocked Jade out if it hits him at a close range." Jose said in his small voice. It was hard to know if he was angry or impressed.

"I just hope he’s not angry..."

Leo sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "You gonna report me?"

Jose shook his head. "Nah. If I wanted to, I would’ve been on my way, yunno."

"You’re commiting a deadly offence. It’s funny, but the consequences for faking a quirk in the academy is more dire than the consequences of stealing a beast weapon. You could get expelled, but that’s not even on the list of the worst punishments available."

"Err, I know," Leo said, still messing his hair.

"Where did you get that?" Jose asked.

"Someone gave it to me before I got in."

"Who?"

"You don’t have to know," Leo replied.

"I guess I really don’t have to know. But why are you faking it? Why are you deceiving everybody? You’ll probably get caught sooner or later. Why go through the stress?... Wait, does that mean you’re an impossible? You have no quirk at all?

Leo exhaled slowly, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. "I’m having this because people like me don’t get a chance otherwise," he admitted. "You saw how Ethan and Jade treated me like I was nothing. It would have been worse without the faking... And no, I’m not an Impossible. I just haven’t discovered my quirk yet."

Jose was confused. "What does that even mean? If you have no quirk after returning from Luxus, you are nothing but an Impossible."

"Okay. I’ll leave it at that for now. But I know what I mean."

Jose frowned. "Okay. But... isn’t it exhausting? Pretending? Always hiding?"

Leo chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "Yeah. But it’s better than being ignored. Better than being treated like I don’t matter." He looked down at his wrist, flexing his fingers. "This thing gives me a fighting chance. A way to stand on the same level as people like Jade, even if it’s just a trick."

Jose was quiet for a moment, then tilted his head. "But what happens when someone finds out? What if one day, you can’t fool them?"

Leo smirked slightly. "Then I’ll cross that bridge when I get there."

Jose sighed, standing up. "You’re crazy, you know that?"

"I don’t think so. I’m just guarding myself. Now that you know my little secret, will you please not tell anyone? I really can’t afford to get sent out of the academy now."

Jose laughed. "Little secret? There’s nothing little about that secret, boy. Don’t worry yourself, your little secret is safe with me, until you’re done with why you’re here at the academy, aha. You’re making it sound like you’ve been sent on a secret mission, haha. Tell me, who’s the target?"

Leo forced a laugh also. "There’s no target, it’s just me. I will really discover my quirk soon."

Leo can’t believe he just blurted that out. This is the first time he’s ever told anyone the main reason he’s here. Did he just grow to trust Jose? Is it because he feels they are in similar situation as per being constantly bullied?

"Well, good luck discovering that quirk," Jose laughed again. There was no way Earth gives one a quirk. Only planet Luxus was capable of doing that, so he thought Leo was only moving crazy.

They went out the Training centre together and departed to their different dorms.

***

Back in the training centre, a second year boy was lunging laxily behind a demarcating board. The place where he lounged was close to where Leo and Jose just left, so he overheard almost everything they discussed. Though he didn’t appear shocked.

This boy’s name was Peter. Peter Payne, and he possessed the passive quirk of advanced hearing. To others, his quirk is useless unless he’s needed to eavesdrop on others by the higher rankers.

Also, the fact remains that Peter Payne was not a normal boy.

After filling his ears with the big gist, he rose again to go out the Training centre. "I’m about to spill a very big news, aha," he said to himself.

But as he walked away, he came across a few boys gathered in a meeting.

"Oh, look at our adorable Peter," one student from the cluster of students said in a jest.

"Peter, what crazy gist do you have for us today? I heard you mentioned something about hearing ghosts now," another student asked.

"Let’s leave him for now, he’s in a hurry. He needs to listen to ghosts again." Everybody laughed.

"Did he really believe in ghosts? Was he born before the Xollante attack?"

"He said he has advanced hearing. Now that he’s hearing ghosts, he should meet the teachers to upgrade his rank."

"He should be close to the S-rank anytime soon, haha."

"By then, he’d have unlocked the ability called Xollante hearing. He should hear what strategy the Xollante is using in the coming war."

"And just like that, Peter Payne saves Earth from the deadly Xollante race. Epic ending."

The group howled about in a bout of serious laughter. They had created the joke of the day as far as they know.

Peter walked away with his news. "You know what, I’ll just keep it to myself. Matter of fact, I’m tired of this world," he muttered, dejected.