As Eric stepped off the deactivated training platform he saw that the vast indoor training ground which had been mostly empty when he arrived was now bustling with activity.
Many students were entering the hall. Most of them were clearly second-years. But there were a few first-years scattered among them as well.
They were all looking for a place to train.
And among them Eric spotted a familiar green-haired figure.
It was Kado. He was pacing impatiently back and forth.
He was scanning the hall for a vacant training platform.
But it seed all of them were now occupied. Every platform had a shimring shield around it indicating it was in use.
Then Kado’s eyes landed on Eric. Eric was just stepping down from the platform he had been using for hours. Kado’s face lit up with relief. And he imdiately ran over to Eric.
"So here you are!" Kado exclaid his voice a mixture of relief that he had found him and exasperation that it had taken so long.
"We’ve all been looking for you you know! Where have you been?"
Eric still feeling the bone-deep weariness from his intense training session didn’t react much to Kado’s boisterous greeting.
He simply looked at him his expression tired. "You were all looking for ?" he asked his voice a little hoarse from exhaustion. "But why?"
Kado stared at him completely baffled.
He couldn’t believe Eric didn’t know.
"You don’t know? We tried to tell you after the induction program ended! But you just walked away without talking to anyone! All the staff mbers your friends Alina and Void everyone in your new group they’re all looking for you! You need to get your asurents taken by a staff mber so your Academy uniform can be made tonight!"
He gestured around at the other students in the hall.
"You need to find a staff mber quickly and get your fittings done. Otherwise you’ll be the only person in the entire Academy who shows up to the first day of class tomorrow without a uniform! You will stand out!" He paused then added a new note of urgency in his voice.
"And besides that tomorrow is when they decide which class section everyone will be placed in. I don’t want to end up in any section lower than C."
"Getting into Section A is probably impossible for . And even Section B is going to be incredibly difficult to get into this year because there are so many talented students from all over the continent. But I’m hoping I can at least make it into Section C."
Eric knew about the class sections. The United Academy stread its students. It placed them into different classes based on their perceived talent and their overall performance in the entrance examinations.
Section A was reserved for the absolute elite. It was for the most promising and most talented students in the entire year. Anyone who graduated from Section A was almost guaranteed to beco an incredibly powerful warrior.
They would beco a figure of renown on the continent. Eric’s brothers Raven and Leonard had told him all about it before he had left for the Empire.
However there was one crucial thing his brothers had conveniently omitted from their descriptions of Academy life. They had not told him about the powerful all-encompassing student factions.
Both Raven and Leonard despite their own considerable talents had only managed to reach Section D when they were students.
The competition at the Academy was on a completely different level.
There were geniuses from all over the continent here.
They were individuals whom even his talented older brothers could not surpass. The factions and their influence played a big role in a student’s success.
Eric hearing Kado’s hurried explanation simply nodded his head. He was too tired to feel much of anything else right now.
"Alright," he said his voice weary.
"I’ll go and find a staff mber now." He then gestured towards the now-vacant training platform he had just left. The green light was on indicating it was free.
"If you want to train this platform is free for you to use."
The exhaustion was clearly visible on Eric’s face. It was in the slump of his shoulders. It was in the deep-set weariness in his eyes. His entire body ached from his long training session.
Kado however was overjoyed at the prospect of finally getting a training platform to use.
"Thanks Eric!" he said clapping Eric hard on the shoulder. He then eagerly ran up the short flight of stairs and onto the platform. It imdiately shimred to life around him creating the protective barrier.
A short while later after having found a staff mber and getting all his asurents taken for his new uniform Eric found himself in a park.
It was a large green space situated just in front of his dormitory building.
Many of the first-year students were also there.
This included the forty mbers of his own fledgling group The New Warriors.
They were gathered in small clusters talking amongst themselves. Their voices were a mixture of excitent and nervous energy about the next day.
Eric however sought solitude. He wanted to be alone. He found an empty bench in a quiet secluded corner of the park and sat down. The weight of his situation the incredible pressure he was under settled heavily upon him.
I don’t understand any of this, he thought a sense of overwhelming despair washing over him. How am I supposed to get the Emperor’s signature? The task seems utterly impossible.
It is a cruel joke played on by a fate I can’t comprehend.
He had made a promise or rather Adam had made a promise in his na.
And now he Eric was the one who had to deliver on it. He felt trapped powerless. He was like a single insignificant pawn in a massive ga whose rules he didn’t even know.
He felt like he was going to fail everyone. His father the mbers of his new group and himself.
He was lost in these troubled thoughts when a familiar transparent interface shimred into existence before him.
It was the [System Window]. He had not called for it but it was here.
Reviews
All reviews (0)