Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

Chapter 1995: The Academy Opens

Three years had passed since Tritus died. And only now had the second project Ning had worked hardest on finally been completed.

The academy stretched across a massive tract of land, with several large buildings connected by wide paths, enclosed training grounds, medical facilities, dormitories, research rooms, and enough open space that students with destructive abilities could practice without immediately putting everyone around them in danger. The outer walls were reinforced far beyond what an ordinary school would ever require, while layers of suppression technology were built into nearly every major section of the campus.

Glade Wells stood beside Ning with his hands behind his back, looking far more like a headmaster now than the reluctant noble Ning had first ordered into the position three years earlier. Keira Strait stood on the other side, watching several workers carry furniture into one of the administration buildings.

"There are still a few things left to finish," Glade explained as he looked across the grounds. "Some of the classrooms need furniture, the eastern dormitory is missing part of its equipment, and the staff residences aren’t completely furnished yet. But people can live here now, and the important systems are already functional."

Keira nodded toward the buildings behind them. "The suppression field is probably the most important part anyway."

Ning looked toward the academy with approval. "That should prevent most accidents from becoming actual disasters. Anyone powerful enough to ignore the field entirely would probably need special arrangements anyway."

"That was our conclusion," Glade said. "If someone needs to practice at full strength, we can isolate a section and lower the field there without affecting the rest of the academy."

Ning nodded and began walking.

Glade and Keira followed as he toured the campus, showing him everything that had been built over the past three years.

Ning stopped inside one of the larger training halls and looked around.

"You built more than I expected."

By the time they returned to the administrative building, he had seen enough to know that the academy itself was ready.

Now they only needed people.

Glade sat behind his desk. "We’ve already received interest from a few people, but not enough that I’d trust opening the academy yet."

"I’ll handle the teachers," Ning said.

Keira raised an eyebrow. "Personally?"

"Yes. They need to be handpicked to make sure they’re the right people for the job."

Glade nodded. "That would help. Once we have the staff, Keira and I can focus more on identifying students."

Ning left soon afterward and spent most of the following month traveling between countries, hero agencies, research facilities, hospitals, and specialized training centers. He looked for people with useful abilities, but he cared just as much about whether they had the patience to deal with frightened children who might not fully understand what was happening to them.

Some were retired heroes who had spent decades controlling dangerous powers of their own.

Others were doctors experienced with awakened injuries, researchers who understood suppression technology, or teachers who had worked with children displaying unstable abilities.

Ning rejected many candidates, though the System did most of the work anyway.

By the end of the month, however, he had assembled enough staff to begin preparing properly for students.

Around the same time, a message arrived from Glade and Keira.

Ning returned to the academy and found both clairvoyants waiting for him.

"We found someone," Keira said.

Ning looked between them. "A student?"

"Most likely," Glade replied. "Someone in Veronoth is going to awaken very soon, and if nothing is done, they’re going to become a danger to themselves and everyone close to them."

Ning immediately contacted Prince Tarian.

The prince had become much easier to work with over the past few years, especially after seeing how many of Ning’s seemingly strange plans eventually turned into something useful.

"A dangerous awakening?" Tarian asked after Ning explained the situation.

"That’s what the clairvoyants saw. Somewhere in Veronoth, and it should happen soon."

"Do you have a location?"

Ning gave him everything Glade and Keira had managed to determine.

Tarian did not waste time. "I’ll let you know once we’ve found her."

"Thank you."

The search did not take long.

Within hours, Veronoth’s authorities found the source of the disturbance in a residential district, where smoke had already begun rising from several nearby buildings.

The person at the center of it was a young girl barely 13 years of age.

Her ability had awakened suddenly, causing her body to radiate enormous amounts of heat in every direction. Furniture had ignited around her, walls had blackened, and anyone who tried approaching was forced backward before getting close enough to help.

The girl herself was terrified.

She stood in the middle of a burned room, crying while the air around her shimmered from the temperature. Every time her fear increased, the heat grew worse, which only frightened her further when she saw what was happening to everything around her.

Tarian’s people evacuated the surrounding homes and established a perimeter rather than trying to restrain her physically.

Ning arrived soon after.

He could feel the heat long before entering the building.

The girl noticed him through the smoke and immediately backed away.

"Don’t come closer!" she shouted. "I can’t stop it!"

Ning continued walking toward her without showing any sign of discomfort. "That’s alright. You don’t have to stop it right now."

She stared at him through tear-filled eyes. "Everything keeps burning. I tried to stop it, but it gets worse every time I think about it."

"I know. That’s why I’m here."

Ning reached her without difficulty and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. The heat around her did nothing to him, and the simple fact that someone could stand beside her without being hurt seemed to calm the girl more than anything else could have.

"You’re not going to hurt anyone," Ning said.

The girl calmed down.

Once the immediate situation was settled, the prince quickly found the girl’s parents and told them what had happened and what could be done.

Then, she was taken to the academy.

The suppression field began affecting her ability the moment she entered the grounds.

The unbearable heat surrounding her dropped rapidly until the air finally returned to a normal temperature. For the first time since awakening, she could stand beside other people without watching everything around her burn.

She looked down at her hands in disbelief.

"It stopped."

"Not completely," Ning said. "The academy is suppressing it. You still have the ability, but while you’re here, you won’t have to be afraid of hurting someone every second."

Glade and Keira watched from nearby, both looking relieved that their first prediction had resulted in exactly the sort of intervention the academy had been created to provide.

Ning looked around at the staff gathering to receive their first real student.

Three years of construction, preparation, money, and planning had finally reached this moment.

The girl had awakened with a dangerous power that could easily have destroyed her home and injured anyone who tried to help her. Instead, the clairvoyants had identified the danger, Veronoth had responded quickly, and the academy had given her somewhere she could exist without being treated as a threat.

Ning smiled faintly.

The idea worked.

That was all the proof of concept he needed.