2023-03-20 04:05:43As the graduation ceremony came to a conclusion, Aron trudged back to his dormitory to gather all of his belongings. Being expelled from the school, he had to leave the school grounds within a week.
Although he appealed their verdict, the authorities denied him of it and further informed him that he wouldn't be allowed to appeal any more due to the conclusive evidence they had obtained against him. So, they advised him that he shouldn't be wasting their time and rather start preparing himself so that he could leave the campus grounds before being forcefully thrown out.
With his heavy heart filled with disappointment and frustration, Aron could only leave the university all alone without noticing anyone around to send him off, that was because he had lost almost all his friends after the accusation was announced against him.
And the remaining two friends of his also couldn't see him off as they had to attend the mandatory meeting that was held for graduates. As for the rest of his friends, they had abandoned him the moment the information was divulged, which was quite weird in itself.
Upon arriving at his home, Aron found his parents, waiting for him, eager to hear the whole story from him with all the detail, as they had only heard the short summary of it.
However, as soon as they saw the expression on their son's face, Rose and Michael knew that it was going to take a long time to listen to the entire story.
With tears streaming down his face, Aron painstakingly recounted to his parents about all the events that had transpired in excruciating detail. He also explained how he had been denied graduation by the university and later was expelled from the university for something he didn't even do.
Although his parents had heard the short form of the story, they still listened to him with great attention and utter disbelief, the two were completely unable to comprehend just how their son could have been treated so unjustly.
After completely listening to his explanation, despite being filled with sadness and anger on their son's behalf, they looked at each other, while Michael asked with concern, "So what do you plan to do now?"
Aron sighed and answered, "Honestly, I don't know where to start. And since I can't appeal for it again in the university, the only way for me to be able to do anything other than sue them, is to find a job, since I am aware that we can't really afford to take any legal actions."
Although Michael and Rose felt embarrassed upon hearing this, neither of them could refute his statement as what he said was mostly true.
But they also understood that their son wasn't saying this to shame them or anything but simply acknowledging to them that his only path to fight against this injustice was also blocked due to their financial situation.
"So, I'll have to start looking for a part-time job since I don't have a diploma, and most of the jobs in my field need one," Aron said, his demeanor seeming like he had already given up on the idea of trying to return to the university.
"Furthermore, it's also most likely possible that I won't be getting a job either, because, for some reason, it has been leaked out that I have plagiarised my thesis. So, I already have a negative reputation in the entire industry," Aron added, trying to restrain himself from cursing in front of his parents and his little brother, Henry, who was oblivious to whatever was happening.
Aron's parents were hardworking individuals who had sacrificed a lot to provide their son with the best education possible. However, despite their best efforts, they were still struggling to make ends meet and simply didn't have the financial means to assist their son with his legal battle.
Aron's mind was about to be overwhelmed by guilt seeing the sadness his parents' felt for him, but just as he was about to console them and assure them that this wasn't going to be a significant problem, he heard a notification on his phone, informing him that he received an email, curious, he got his phone from his pocket to unlock it before giving it a read and oh god, he was taken aback by what he saw on the white screen and almost had a heart attack because…
[ Dear Aron,
I regret to inform you that, as a result of your expulsion from Columbia University during your final year, you are required to repay the scholarship funds you had received so far. We understand that this is a challenging situation for you, but it is a necessary step we have to take in order to maintain the integrity of our scholarship program.
We have come to the conclusion that the total amount of your disbursed scholarship funds for the academic year will need to be repaid all at once. We understand that this may create a financial burden for you, and we want to work with you to find a repayment plan that is feasible and manageable given your circumstances.
Please contact our office as soon as possible to discuss the repayment options and to initiate the process of returning the scholarship funds. We will work with you to make this process as smooth and efficient as possible.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are here to support you and help you through this difficult time.
Sincerely,
Steven Brock
Scholarship Program Coordinator
]
Noticing their son's face suddenly turning deathly pale, Aron's parents got scared, while Rose asked with worry, "Aron, what's wrong?"
However, Aron wasn't able to hear her question since his mind was already occupied while calculating the amount of money he had received during these four years of scholarship.
The estimated cost of attendance for an undergraduate student in an academic year, including the tuition, fees, room and board, books, and other expenses, was approximately $61,500 per year.
This means that he had to pay the minimum sum of $246,000 more or less for a four-year undergraduate degree.
He almost fainted after completing his calculations because he knew he was in a fucked up situation for the next few years until he repaid everything.
However, when his parents asked him to show what the message was, he refrained from doing so, knowing that it might give them a heart attack. Their current financial situation couldn't support debt payments or they might just have to file for bankruptcy.
So, he only told them that the email was about the confirmation of his expulsion, which was also why he became paler, and that nothing else was wrong.
Although the two understood that he was lying or not telling the whole truth, they didn't insist on it and left him alone, knowing that he was currently immensely stressed and there is no need to pile more on top of it.
.....
While Aron was sleeping soundly. That is if you could count sleeping by using sleeping pills.
Aron lay sound asleep in his bed, exhausted from the emotional turmoil he had to go through for the past few hours. Also, the humongous debt that had been dropped on him while he was still stressed.
Recovering immediately when you suddenly find that you have a quarter of a million dollars in debt without any warning was impossible.
And for the current Aron, life had already been really stressful. He simply wished that he could turn back time and change whatever might have caused this. That was if he knew what caused it, but he was determined to find it and when he did find it, he would...
….....
While Aron was soundly sleeping, a strange object suddenly appeared in space, it hovered briefly before it was pulled towards the Earth by the planet's gravity and descended into the atmosphere.
And to everyone's amazement (if someone was even capable of witnessing it), although the object was falling at an intense speed, it didn't cause any ripple during its fall at such a distance due to its small size and its terminal velocity which wasn't really surprising.
It passed right through buildings and trees effortlessly as if they simply didn't exist.
Eventually, it landed directly on top of Aron's head and passed through it, however, the next moment it didn't emerge on his chin or elsewhere.
However, if one had the ability to see through things, one would notice that the object had stopped right within Aron's brain and had started to assimilate with it while seamlessly synchronizing with it.
The assimilation was going on smoothly without any problem until Aron abruptly woke up, only to faint immediately.
The strange object that had fallen from the sky had somehow forced him to continue his sleep while it continued merging with his brain and assimilating with it.
While the assimilation was taking place, some parts of the object were integrating with Aron's nervous system, while some parts were mingled with bone marrow, and there were still some which dispersed throughout all the parts of his body
However, even then, almost half of it remained covering almost all of his brain, mimicking the functions of the specific regions of the brain it was assimilating.
DING!!!!!
SYSTEM ASSIMILATION IN PROGRESS!!!...10%...30%...50%.....99%…
The message was sent to Aron's brain, but he couldn't perceive it since he was currently forced into a comatose state for his sake, if not, he would have experienced excruciating pain throughout his body and would have wanted death for himself or the world…
99.999999999%....100%
Once the progress number reached 100, all the parts of the object in Aron's body ceased making any movements as they also started to continue acting to function identically as the areas of Aron's body they were currently assimilated in.
SYSTEM ASSIMILATION COMPLETED...
Again, the message was sent to him, but like before, Aron didn't hear it either.
EXAMINING AND ANALYZING HOST'S BODY...
ANALYSIS COMPLETE...
EXAMINING AND ANALYZING THE HOSTS EXISTING ENVIRONMENT…
ANALYSIS COMPLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLETETTETEETETTETTETETE
ERorR ERorR ERorR ERorR
EXISTENCE OF MAGIC ENERGY CONFIRMED
THE USER'S BODY AND SIMILAR CURRENTLY EXISTING LIFE FORMS ON THE PLANET HAVE NOT EVOLVED FOR MAGIC USE
DUE TO THE SYSTEM'S CURRENT LIMITATIONS SYSTEM CAN'T HELP THE HOST'S BODY HANDLE MAGIC, LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION...
REQUEST SOLUTION AND UPGRADE.... .... ..... .....
Since Aron's body or like anyone's body on earth hasn't evolved to be able to wield magic, the system sought requests for upgrading options and permission for upgrading the user's body to be able to use magic abilities. However...
%%%%erROr%%%%%
MAIN SERVER CONNECTION UNAVAILABLE.....
Unfortunately, the main server that would have helped Aron's body to be able to wield magic was not present in this universe, denying him a YOU SHALL NOT PASS moment for Aron.
That would have been pretty cool though.
RETRY.....
%%%%erROr%%%%%
MAIN SERVER CONNECTION UNAVAILABLE...
RETRY...
x10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 TİMES REQUESTED
Man, that piece of junk was persistent like damn! I mean if you tried something a billion times and you still failed, man give up. Have some dignity for yourself.
ACTIVATING MISSING SERVER PROTOCOL FOR UPGRADE
Oh, but it looks like someone was smart enough to make this as well. Thank God!
REQUEST SOLUTION AND UPGRADE FROM EMBEDDED LOCAL SYSTEM
REQUEST APPROVED DUE TO REASON #EU8475NDAKUEMjdLSJ748/26*361583154BCS
UPDATING...10%.....75%...100
SOLUTION FOUND!!!!
RUNIC CODEX DEEMED SUITABLE FOR THE USER!!!!!!
Since Aron's body was incapable of using magic, the system chose the only way Aron could be capable of interacting with magic, which was RUNE'S.
UPDATE COMPLETE.
SYSTEM PERMISSION(FULL)
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY SYSTEM BOUND
DING!!!!!
Aron remained in a deep slumber, completely unaware of the profound changes that were occurring within him and the new path of fate that had been opened for this universe.
This was because the DLC of using magic, including its discovery and ways of using it for humans was planned to be released in about 3000 years in the future in order to allow the living thing's on the planet to evolve.
Therefore, one small step for Aron was a giant leap for every life on Earth.
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After gathering every last body from the wreckage and laying them in the hangar, Dreznor finally broke the silence.“Do you have any way we can cover them for burial?”{I can print them for you if you want,} Little Protagonist replied gently.“Please do so,” he said, his voice subdued as he turned back to kneel before the body of his son, small, still, and cold, with a gaping hole in his chest where the energy round had ended his young life. Dreznor lowered his head and placed a cloth over his son's face with shaking hands.“Rest in peace. I’ll join you after I’m done with all of them,” he whispered.He moved to his wife next, then to his mother, repeating the same words, the same gesture, each time slower than the last. Each time it felt harder to let go.Half an hour later, the 3D printer beeped softly, indicating that the burial cloths were ready. One by one, he wrapped the bodies in the printed covers, each fold done with reverence and care. The process was slow, painful, six hour
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Nyx's First Action
“Looks like this is what he was talking about,” the Trinarian prince murmured as he removed the VR device from his head. The thin, metallic trusses, designed to automatically and comfortably adjust to any head size or shape, felt strangely underwhelming in his hands, considering the sheer magnitude of what they were capable of.He stared at it, already dreading the thought of going back to a life without this technology. Now that he knew it existed, how could he? More importantly, he knew the government would feel the same once they learned the full extent of its capabilities.“Any updates on our request for a meeting with the emperor, or are they still delaying?” the prince asked, not bothering to look up.“We haven’t checked yet, sir,” his assistant replied. “We were awaiting your directive. With this new information, you may want to reconsider your approach, perhaps adjust what we’re willing to offer after consulting with the king and hearing his input.”The prince smirked slightly
I Need a Moment of Peace
One Hour Later“Then we will take an hour-long break for him to update you on his findings,” Masimbi announced, pausing the meeting just as Cravath logged out. Without hesitation, he and the other human representatives stood up and left the room, granting the others privacy to discuss without fear of prying eyes.The moment the doors closed behind them, Cravath wasted no time.Without a word, he pulled every representative into his mental network, no warning, no request for permission.Yet, not a single one resisted.They all understood the urgency. Whatever he had discovered was significant enough that he deemed it necessary to share immediately and without interference.Curiosity and unease filled the air as they waited for his findings.………….“The two hours I spent there told me everything I needed to know about it. And if anything, they’re underrepresenting what this technology can do,” Cravath said the moment everyone took a seat at the rudimentary round table he had constructed.
The Zelvora Scapegoat
“Would you like to test it?” Masimbia asked, his tone calm and measured. There was no point in further explanations, he knew their minds were already racing with doubt. Instead of arguing over the validity of the technology, he would let the results speak for themselves.Silence.None of them answered immediately. Their hesitation was obvious, their expressions guarded. Trust between them and the Empire was at its lowest, this was nothing more than a transactional relationship, devoid of any real goodwill.And with what they knew of the Zelvora’s capabilities, both in offense and defense, some from firsthand experience, how could they be sure this wasn’t a trap?What if, the moment they put on the devices, the Empire activated them?Trapping them in an illusion. Brainwashing them. Shattering their minds. Or, worst of all, extracting their memories, laying bare their governments’ secrets, their personal vulnerabilities, handing the Empire an undeniable edge.The risk was too great.
Dreznor II
For hours, Dreznor spoke, recounting every memory that surfaced. His voice wavered at times, thick with emotion, but he pressed on. He told Little Protagonist about his past, the life he once had, and the chains that had bound him ever since he was fifteen.His civilization had lost a brutal war against a neighboring power, and the terms of surrender had been merciless. Anyone who had played a role in the war—whether as a soldier, a medic, a logistics officer, or even a mere clerk in the government—was stripped of their freedom. Families of these individuals were not spared either. Some were forced into indentured servitude, while others, like Dreznor and his mother, were outright sold as slaves. His father, being a valiant General who had fought to the very end and perished on the battlefield, sealed their fate. Yet fortune intervened, as Dreznor and his mother found themselves purchased together by a single owner.For thirty years, Dreznor had known nothing but servitude. He had gro
