Controlling Destiny - 4 Pinnacle Tier

“Just wait a moment, I just need to file these last few folders,” Said the secretary in the department of growth.

[Hmph] Thought the young girl who was waiting impatiently in the lobby.

[Why is it me who has to go find that useless Ultrix?] She thought to herself in a grumpy mood.

[If he was here I would want to beat him up really hard right now. Then again, if he was here, I would not have to be.] She thought.

“Okay, I am done, how can I help you?” The secretary asked politely.

Snapping out of her daze, the young girl was just about to tell the secretary about how Ultrix had not shown up to class earlier and how bad of a person he was when the phone suddenly rang.

“Sorry dear, let me just pick this up really quickly,” the secretary said.

A hint of frustration flashed in the young girl’s eyes, but she dared not to mutter any complaints.

“Ah, combustion department secretary Dobess, I haven’t heard from you in ages!”

“Oh, a transfer? That’s pretty rare indeed, but why did you call me?”

“I- What- You’re serious?!”

“Yes, I completely understand. Yes, of course. Of course, of course. Not a word.”

“Very well, I’ll see to it. Good day.”

With a bit of a shaking hand, the secretary put down the phone.

“Sorry about that,” she said to the young girl. Her posture and expression remained composed, but the girl had clearly seen how excited she was earlier.

“What was that about?” The young girl asked with curiosity in her voice.

“I-” The secretary looked around the room briefly before looking back at the young girl.

“I’m not supposed to say, but apparently this morning a young man took the combustion affinity exam and successfully switched out of his previous department.”

The young girl looked confused. “That’s rare, but not super hard to do,” she said. “Why is this such a big deal?”

“Well, you see,” the secretary said with a hint of ecstasy in her voice, “This young man happened to not only pass the exam, but he achieved pinnacle completion rates as well!”

“Wait, pinnacle completion rate?” The young girl asked, even more confused. “I’ve never heard of that before, aren’t there only 3 tiers of completion rates?”

“Well,” the secretary explained, “naturally there are the bronze, silver, and gold completion rates that everyone knows about, but on top of that there is a secret tier as well.”

“The tier above gold is known as a ‘pinnacle tier’ and it means that the user is unnaturally gifted at their affinity.”

“Currently, in all of our academy’s history, only 3 people have ever achieved such a tier, and they have all gone to become grandmaster magi!”

“Gr-grandmaster magi?!” The young girl stammered.

“Yes, grandmaster magi. Naturally from your expression, I believe you understand just how powerful such an individual is?”

“Of course I understand!” The young girl replied. “Ebeus was said to have been a grandmaster at growth affinity, and legends said that he single-handedly held back an army of a hundred thousand soldiers by growing trees out of the ground that intertwined like thick walls!”

“Ah, so you do know of the kind of power that I am talking about, then.” The secretary replied. “Well, I have to prepare for some things now, as this marks a huge change in our academy’s era, I hope you understand.”

“Yes, yes, of course.” The girl stammered out, still slightly dazed in shock.

She felt as if she had forgotten to do or say something, but she could care less about what it was. It did not seem super important to her at the moment anyway. She quickly ran back to her class to tell them the amazing news she had just heard.

“Oh, Chiro! You’re back already?” The teacher asked her when she ran through the door.

“Hey Chiro, did you find that useless pig Ultrix yet?” one of the male pupils asked.

“Ultrix who?” She asked awkwardly. And then she remembered why she had left in the first place.

“Oh! I completely forgot about him!”

“Chiro!” The teacher said sternly. She was just about to berate the young girl when Chiro quickly added: “I was going to tell the secretary, but then she got a phone call and so many interesting things happened!”

Chiro then recalled all of the news that she had heard.

“Seriously?!” Her classmates shouted in surprise once she was done.

All of them looked at her with a burning passion in their eyes and a few of them even seemed like they were about to pass out from the excitement.

“Why would I lie to you?” Chiro asked them, although she too had doubts in her mind. Had it not been that she had been there when the secretary had gotten the news, she would probably be in disbelief as well.

The teacher then looked down at her token for a minute and then confirmed with everyone as well.

“The news is legitimate,” the teacher assured everyone. “They are going to announce the identity of the person later at assembly.”

“Yay!” The whole class cheered. They were all very excited.

“Who do you think it is?” Chiro asked.

“I sure hope it’s a cute guy,” one of the female pupils said.

“I really hope it’s a hot girl.” a male pupil added shamelessly.

“Too bad Ultrix is not here to see this life-changing moment.” One of the male pupils sneered in contempt.

Elsewhere, Ultrix suddenly sneezed. [Geez.] He thought to himself. [Are people talking about me already?]