Chapter 16: Naming the Ability and the “Bad News”

“Alright, that’s all for the ability assessment for now. You just need to register with the Professor later.”
The girl said, then stood up and walked to the bookshelf, taking out a brand new chest emblem from a small compartment.
“This emblem is your proof as a ‘Guardian.’ Stephen will teach you its specific functions.”

The girl returned to the square table and knelt down again, handing the emblem to Xia Xingli.
Xia Xingli took the emblem with a somewhat speechless expression and temporarily fastened it to her clothes.

This emblem was obviously made in advance.
It seemed the girl was determined to have her join the “Guardians,” having even prepared the emblem beforehand.

“The emblem only contains your basic information. After you’ve had your ability recorded, Stephen will help you record the complete information.”
The girl took a sip from her teacup.

“Ah… I’m just destined for a life of hard labor.”
Stephen slumped onto the table without any regard for her image.

The girl merely smiled at the mischievous Stephen and continued to tell Xia Xingli about some things to note. “Your older brother, Xia Lixing, is currently missing, but he has a small house in ‘Xia’ City. It’s staff housing assigned to him by the ‘Light of Hope’ where he taught. That small house now belongs to you. Additionally, Xia Lixing has a lot of points, and those will also be transferred to your account.”

Points were the “universal currency” after the apocalypse, which could be considered the unified human currency.
In the current apocalypse, besides points, only some unofficial places still accepted gold and other precious metals for trade.

As a powerful “Guardian,” Xia Lixing received a considerable number of points for completing missions and participating in repelling beast tides.
He also received a fixed amount of points when he taught at the “Light of Hope.”
These points, aside from necessary living expenses, were hardly ever spent, so it was a considerable sum.
Xia Xingli hadn’t expected that the higher-ups would decide to give her all of Xia Lixing’s assets.

‘This probably means that the higher-ups believe Xia Lixing’s chances of survival are slim, so they’re doing me a favor by giving his assets to his sister, Xia Xingli, which also serves to win her over.’

In any case, Xia Xingli was very satisfied with inheriting these assets.
But she was a little surprised that she could continue to live in the staff housing.
Although she was now “Xia Lixing’s younger sister” and a powerful A-rank ability user, it seemed a bit inappropriate for her to continue living in the “Light of Hope’s” staff housing.
Or was it that the higher-ups intended for her, a thirteen-year-old girl, to take over Xia Lixing’s teaching job?

“Additionally, considering your age, the plan is… for you to enter the ‘Light of Hope’ as a student.”

Huh?
Send me to school?

Before Xia Xingli could react, Stephen chimed in, “That’s pretty good. Didn’t you say your ability suddenly became stronger, little Xingli? Besides, you’re not confident in controlling your own ability well. Instead of sending you on risky missions, it’s better for you to study at the ‘Light of Hope.'”

“Mmm… that sounds very reasonable…”

After careful consideration, Xia Xingli had to admit that this arrangement was indeed very reasonable.
But sending her to school with a bunch of kids…

Although she herself was also a child.

“If little Xingli has no objections, then it’s settled.”
The girl’s form of address was clearly influenced by Stephen.
“If little Xingli is thirteen this year… then you can go to Class 1 of the second year.”

“Class 1, second year…”
Xia Xingli paused for a moment.
She was no stranger to this class, as it was the class Xia Lixing had once taught.

‘To think I’d become a classmate of those kids.’

“Class 1 of the second year can be considered a gathering place for geniuses. Although there are only sixteen students, their ability potential is all A-rank or above. And although they are still young, their ability ranks have already grown to at least C-rank. It can be said that many of them have the hope of becoming the next batch of A-rank ability users.”

Among ability users, some found it difficult to make any further progress after awakening their abilities, and the ability ranks of these people were generally low.
There were others who, although not very powerful when they awakened their abilities, had great potential for their abilities to grow.
Some of them could even steadily enhance their abilities just by growing older.
Almost all the low-rank ability users belonging to the “Guardians” were the former, while those with growth potential had either already become powerful or were on their way to becoming powerful.

The growth potential of an ability was generally determined by its potential value.
Barring any accidents, the level of the potential value was the theoretical level an ability user could reach.
Those with an ability potential value of A-rank or above were considered very likely to grow into A-rank ability users.

“When the regular holiday is over, you can go directly to the ‘Light of Hope’ to report. As for these few days, let Stephen arrange a place for you to stay.”
After settling the matter of Xia Xingli’s schooling, the girl made the final arrangement.
“You can live in that staff housing after you enroll. Of course, if you want to stay in the dormitory, that can also be arranged for you then.”

“Ah, is it over? Then I’ll take little Xingli to have her ability recorded now.”
Stephen, who had been lying on the table, suddenly stood up and pulled the somewhat dazed Xia Xingli up with her.
“Then we’ll be taking our leave, Lady Oracle.”

Bowing to the girl and conveniently pressing down on Xia Xingli’s head to make her bow as well, Stephen pulled the still-dazed Xia Xingli and rushed out the door.
Outside the door was only a short corridor, and at the other end was the elevator they had taken to come up.

“Stephen is still the same as always.”
Watching Stephen run out in a flurry, the girl smiled softly and waved goodbye to the two outside the not-yet-closed door.

After the door slowly closed on its own, the smile on the girl’s face disappeared.
Frowning in thought for a long time, she tidied a lock of hair by her ear and gently tapped the square table in front of her a few times.

Above the square table, the holographic projection activated again.
This time, a call interface appeared in the air, and the call was connected after only three seconds.

“Pres…ident.”
To be honest, the girl still didn’t understand why this person insisted on them calling him “President.”
“Regarding that new ability user—Xia Xingli, there are some things I think I need to report to you…”

“Alright, from now on, this ability will be called ‘Violet Spirit Ice Flame.’ If there’s nothing else, get out of here! Don’t disturb my experiments.”

In a laboratory on the third basement level, an old man with white hair and a beard shooed Stephen and Xia Xingli out in a huff, turning around and slamming the special blast-proof door shut.

“Oh my… the Professor is still so grumpy.”
Stephen scratched her head nonchalantly and flicked Xia Xingli’s forehead.
“Alright, now your ability has a name. Aren’t you happy?”

“Not happy at all. What a stupid name…”
Xia Xingli slapped Stephen’s hand away, rubbed her forehead, and complained with a straight face.

The old man who had just kicked them out was the Professor.
He was the most important researcher in the entire “Guardian” organization, bar none.
Most of the current technology related to “Aberrant Cores” was designed with his participation.
In addition, he was also the one who proposed and perfected the ability recording system.
It would not be an exaggeration to call him the “number one scientist” after the apocalypse.

The Professor had no name.
No one knew what he was called, and he himself never said what his name was.
Before the apocalypse, he was not in the scientific community.
It was as if he were a scientist who had appeared out of thin air after the apocalypse.
However, although this point made people suspicious, the contributions the Professor had made over the years were there for all to see.
People gradually let down their guard against him, and no matter their status or strength, everyone respectfully called him “Professor.”

The Professor spent almost every moment holed up in his underground laboratory doing research, as if there was nothing left in his eyes but research.
But there were exceptions to every rule.
Even the Professor had a strange hobby, and that was naming things.

Almost all newly discovered abilities were named by him, and the titles of S-rank ability users and some special A-rank ability users were also decided by him.
The Professor liked to name any unknown thing, but his naming skills were really nothing to write home about.
Maybe sometimes he could come up with a nice-sounding name, but most of the time, the names he came up with were very ordinary or even… terrible.

Stephen’s despised title, “Light of the Heart,” was the work of the Professor…

And according to rumors, among the eleven S-rank ability users, the reason Shun was the only one without a title was because after learning that he would be “bestowed” a title by the Professor, he went to the laboratory for a “friendly discussion,” which was how he got the Professor to make an exception for him.

Whether it was true or not, it was a universally acknowledged fact that the Professor’s naming skills were quite limited.
Xia Xingli’s “Violet Spirit Ice Flame” probably reflected this point as well.

“Alright, it’s just an ability name, don’t worry about it so much. Maybe when you’re qualified to get a title in the future, you’ll find that… compared to your title, your ability name is already pretty good.”

“Stephen… are you trying to comfort me or gloat…”

Faced with Xia Xingli’s somewhat complaining voice, Stephen just smiled and didn’t answer.

“By the way, where am I going to live for the next few days?”

Xia Xingli didn’t dwell on it.
She was more concerned about her accommodation now.
There were still a few days left in the regular holiday, and she had to solve the problem of temporary accommodation.

“You don’t have to worry about a place to stay. Didn’t Lady Oracle already leave that to me to arrange?”
Stephen adjusted her glasses.
“I have a room in the ‘Central Tower.’ It’s sixty or seventy square meters, so there’s no problem with one more person staying there. Is little Xingli willing?”

“Eh? You want me to live with you, Stephen? I don’t really mind…”

Hearing Xia Xingli’s reply, Stephen suddenly showed a very dangerous smile. “Is that so? That’s great. I have a lot of clothes waiting for little Xingli to try on.”

…Is it too late to change my mind and say “I do mind” now?!