Chapter 11 – The Power of Earthlings

Kuno attentively listened to Cooper’s lecture, more than he had ever done during his years in school. He wasn’t the only one. All fifteen of them looked focused at colonel Grayson and the screen, even Jean. He didn’t like the thought of Jean being a good student. Not out of jealousy, but since it’d make him an ever more dangerous opponent, if they ever had to face each other.

‘I thought I was the only one who had it all…’ he thought, likely the only one to see Jean and him as equals.

Summed up, the hour of lecture included the following:

The new Brain has been summoned and is under complete protective management. The 23rd generation is a go. After sixteen years, the summoning has given us a new Intestines user, being Kuno. The current generation contains the following classes.

Group Donovan

Group Bernard

Group Xiuying

Group Jean

Brain

Don (C) – Blood

Bernard (C) – Skin

Xiuying (C) – Multi Class (SSSS)

Jean (C) – Muscles

Brain

Walt – Nails

Fernando – Kidneys

Yuki – Vertebrae

Tyra – Bones

Sammy – Fat

Lisa - Lungs

Sarah – Stomach

Kuno – Intestines

Ariel – Vocal Chords

Cara – Hair

Regnum has taken control of two-thirds of the planet, although 10% of land is still under constant pressure. All groups, with the exception of Group Jean, will have an adjusted quest quota to fill. We want to further your progress as fast as possible, so we’re going to take some bigger risks. Quests will be weekly, unless otherwise noted.

A couple of things stood out to Kuno. The big one was Xiuying, who seemed to be the woman with a scar on her cheek. ‘Multi Class (SSSS)…’ he thought. ‘That’s a thing?’

Another was the fact that Jean’s group only had two members, and that they were exempt from the quota. He already expected Raphael wouldn’t be in a group, considering his special situation.

Towards the end, Cooper booted up a video to end the presentation. Kuno gave a big yawn. ‘Damn dude, it’s still morning and I wanna go back to bed already!’ he said, with Walt replying: ‘I think we’re almost done. He’s never showed a video before. I wonder what it is…’

‘A previous summoned had some sort of disc, where we extracted this footage from,’ he said.

The screen showed a documentary of a savannah tribe in Africa, sharpening their spears and performing some sort of dancing ritual. All the men had dark skin, and fully shaven heads, tall built, but with a skinny physique.

‘Hey, Don,’ Kuno said. ‘You know those guys.’

Don turned to Kuno with a confused frown – ‘Because they’re black?’ he asked, surprised by Kuno’s comment.

Kuno immediately turned red. ‘I-I meant because they’re bald…’ embarrassed at the misunderstanding. Walt gave a quick chuckle, after which Don said: ‘I shave my head… This is a choice.’

‘It looks great,’ Kuno said, turning to the screen, having failed at his joke.

‘All of you are spawned with a gift,’ Cooper said, playing with his thin mustache. ‘All of them being unique.’

The women of the tribe mixed something white into a small stone bowl. After adding a bit of water, they applied the white substance to the men’s faces. Under the eyes, around the lips, the forehead, cheeks, different kinds of patterns were drawn, giving them a fierce and intimidating look – after which the men set out.

‘We’re similar in many ways to you lot and your realm, here in Terra Two,’ Cooper said. ‘Our bodies, our physics, our cultures. Of course, we have our magic, and are ahead of you in technology, but we’ve seen something in you that we lack… Something everyone single one of you seems to carry deep inside more than us.’

Flattered and curious to know, unknowingly, all of them moved inches forward. With the exception of Jean and Tyra, who didn’t move, but did smile, the former more than the latter.

The tribesmen snuck up on an antilope, who peacefully ate from whatever the earth had provided it. The dry and tall grass didn’t fully cover the tribesmen’s bodies, but the antilope hadn’t noticed them yet, as the tribesmen moved with minimal motion and sound, each step enlarging their chances to hit.

The camera zoomed in on their faces and hands. Although drops of sweat fell from their forehead, their hands stayed steady – honed by years of experience.

‘That deer is dead as hell,’ Kuno said.

‘That’s an antilope…’ Sammy whispered.

Instinctively, upon seeing the tribesmen ready their spears, winding up their arms, everyone watching held their breath as their pupils grew. Cooper was too far to notice the details, but knew the atmosphere changed for a split second.

They threw, but the antilope had his own tools for survival, and upon sensing their presence, bolted off at almost 60 mph. The whole hall exhaled, easing their shoulders.

‘Damn! That boy’s fast!’ Kuno said through the room, annoying no one, since all of them thought the same.

But this wasn’t what Cooper was referring to. He turned back to the screen, saying: ‘failure is a part of life. All of us here have probably tasted more defeats than victories throughout the years.’

Jean, Walt, Don, Xiuying, and Bernard clenched their jaws as for a second they turned their attention to Cooper instead of the screen.

‘Couldn’t be me,’ Kuno said.

The tribesmen collected their spears, with the camera now switching to the sprinting antilope, creating more and more distance between her enemies. It sat down, with the camera still having its eyes on it. In the background, the documentary played a steady beat of African drums, with the low hums of men assisting the instruments.

‘I’m quite a fan of your kind,’ Cooper said, eyes locked on the screen. ‘I can’t help but admire the people of Earth…’

The beat of the drums slowly loudened, together with the hums as they grew into singing.

‘I’ve been told you’ve kind had countless of hurdles, much more than us.’

With the volume of the beat rising, the camera shifted from the antilope to the horizon, the sun’s heat vibrating the vision.

‘Maybe that’s why you developed that skill… the skill all of you seem to have over us,’ Cooper said, the volume of his voice lessening.

As multiple silhouettes grew on the horizon, with the music blasting from the screen, the people’s eyes grew wide, unblinkingly staring straight ahead, with goose bumps forming on their skin.

The silhouettes sharpened, revealing the tribesmen, having ran all the way the antilope had, and kept running in this scorching heat.

‘Endurance,’ Cooper said.

The antilope stood up again, trying to run, but it had long since depleted its tank.

‘Tenacity.’

Half a mile later, the men had reached the creature, slaying it for sustenance in this merciless land.

‘Iron will.’

A smile grew on all the faces of the summoned. A smile made of pride and amazement. They were part of these men and women. They were humans of the Earth, of their Earth, of Terra One. Don got chills. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen a documentary like this, but seeing it here and now filled him with courage and hope. His peers shared the same feeling. The only one who didn’t gain more hope from it was Kuno, who shouted:

‘Let’s go! Atta-boys, that’s what I’m fucking talking about!’

Because he never lost an ounce of it. It was already at its cap, and that’s where it stayed.

The people laughed at Kuno’s reaction, even those with steel expressions. Cooper too, since although he had seen many generations, Kuno’s character was a rarity. He had only seen it once before, and the memories made him feel nostalgic.

The people left the lecture hall without much conversation in between parties. Kuno was like a child who’d just seen his first movie in a theater. ‘What now, gang?’ he asked, having gained back his energy after everything that happened to him today.

‘I’m kinda curious about what you’ve been doing,’ Walt said.

Sammy didn’t say anything, but the look on her face showed she was interested.

‘Let’s go to my place,’ Don said.

And what a place it was. Kuno’s house was like a dog pound, while Don lived in a triplex, sparkling clean, furnished to the bone building. It had a rustic feel to it. Wood on the floor and walls, fuzzy carpets, 15-16-17-18 or 1900s paintings, Kuno couldn’t tell the difference. ‘Wow, good for you, teach!’

‘This is how the A ranks live,’ Walt said, walking to the fridge like he owned the place. He grabbed a root beer, lifting it up with a nod to ask Kuno if he wanted some. ‘You got Bountain Bew?’ he asked, to which Don replied:

‘I don’t drink that chemical trash, even if they’d have it here.’

Kuno lifted his hand at Walt to signify root beer would do. ‘That’s blasphemy,’ he said, sitting on the couch, melting in it after feeling how comfortable it was.

Walt gave Sammy a lemonade, their acquaintancy showing, after which he opened his bottle with the bottle opener and passed it to Kuno.

Kuno chugged his drink immediately after opening. He wiped his mouth and gave a: ‘ah!’ after which, he noticed all eyes were on him.

‘What’s the scoop?’ Walt asked, taking a sip.

Kuno didn’t make them wait, immediately pulling out the diary in his shirt, waving it around their faces. ‘Tada!’

The looks on their faces couldn’t be blander. Walt took another sip, unblinkingly looking at the notebook. Sammy looked at Don and Walt, thinking she was the only one.

‘Guess what it is! Oh-my-God-oh-my-God!’ Kuno said, getting excited.

‘Uhhhhhh-,’ both Don and Walt said, before Don tried to make a guess saying: ‘Is it-.’

Kuno couldn’t hold himself in anymore, shouting over him: ‘it’s the diary of the first Shitman!’

Walt spit his root beer out, with Don’s neck jolting forward. ‘What?’ Walt said, after wiping his mouth.

He opened the diary to the first page, placing it on the table, after which Walt bumped Don’s thigh with his own. Don scooted over, and Sammy walked around the table to sit next to Kuno.

‘What does it say?’ Walt said, squinting his eyes. ‘Turn to the last page and read the bottom right?’

Kuno looked Walt deep in the eyes. ‘Want me to do it?’ he asked, the serious look in Kuno’s eyes putting Walt on edge. ‘Y-Yeah, I guess.’

He did it, with Walt reading: ‘Got you, sucker!’

All three of them looked at Kuno in confusion. ‘Don’t feel bad, he got me too… But that’s not the cool part,’ he said, going to the second page, showing them this indeed was the diary of Alcott Baron Booker, the Shitman.

‘Yo…’ Walt said, with Don putting his hand on his mouth and exhaling. ‘This is insane… Where did you find this.’

‘I was creeping in the vents and found some underground den,’ Kuno said. His words almost cracked the party’s skulls, creating a hundred questions all at once. What they were most curious about, however, were the contents of this diary – these legendary pieces of paper.

‘Go on,’ Don said.

But when Kuno turned the page again, something he hadn’t done yet, they were met with a most surprising yet unfortunate sight. A call for progress – something Kuno was already planning. The page glowed red, everything on the page completely blank as a single sentence rose as a hologram:

‘Come back when you’re S-class, loser!’