Man Of Systems

Chapter 14: Blue Agate Academy

Nothing special was required to apply to the Blue Agate Academy. As long as his score was above the required Cut-Off, he could join it with the tap of a button.

Once he applied, he was accepted automatically, gaining him the status as a student of the Blue Agate Academy. All the relevant data was already downloaded into his identity card.

A row of instructions then appeared on the screen when he pocketed his identity card. Rael read it aloud, “Terminal 796; board the train there to head towards the Blue Agate Academy.”

A map then flashed on the screen, pointing out the floor plan of the building while displaying the route that he had to take to reach Terminal 796. Suddenly, his identity card began to blink as he took it out, noticing that the same map was now displayed on it too, acting as a GPS, “That’s pretty cool.”

He left the booth and began to follow the map, moving through the crowded place as he noticed countless students around him. Most of them either seemed his age or slightly older. A rare few among them were even younger, surprising him.

After all, the younger one was, the less developed their body was, not to mention their emotional maturity. And, considering how dangerous the screening test was, it was amazing that they had survived.

Now that he had begun walking through the building, Rael realised just how massive it was. After all, even after an hour of walking, he hadn’t even traversed half the distance, “Why is everything so massive here?”

Grumbling in response, he had no other choice but to continue walking. No matter where he went, it was crowded, making him realise just why this place was built to be so massive. It was to account for the traffic of people too.

After all, this was the place from which students selected their respective academies. Also, there was an underground rail network connecting this place to practically all the academies on the planet.

Adding onto the depot for the countless space shuttles, it was no wonder this place was so massive.

Thankfully for Rael, his Terminal was pretty close in comparison to others. He made a silent prayer for those that had to head towards Terminal 1, for that was the farthest away, practically making it seem like it was situated in another city.

After another hour of walking, he finally reached his destination. At this point, his legs were aching, not to mention he was hungry and dehydrated, barely managing to hold on.

He had already completed the Quest but hadn’t received the rewards yet. He didn’t know how it would increase his stats. So just in case, he wished to do it once he arrived at a safe area.

Attempting it in public was just a fool’s legacy.

He reached Terminal 796, entering what seemed to be a rectangular room, spanning a breadth of 200 metres and a length of 20 metres. There were seats placed throughout the place, with quite a few of them occupied.

They were all waiting for the train to arrive, which only did once every four hours. First things first, Rael picked a seat and slumped on it, grunting in relaxation, unwilling to get up after this.

He then noticed that there was around 45 minutes before the train arrived, relaxing in the meantime. There were quite many social students here, moving around from one seat to another as they made small talk with the other students, introducing themselves to one another.

Similarly, when some of them wished to talk with Rael, they noticed his sweating, exhausted self, frowning before ignoring him, labelling him as weak.

They were true though, for those that attained this Cut-Off were pretty powerful in their own right. If their stats were compared, then Rael would very well be the weakest among them.

He was in an academy for the elites, after all. And, his score had barely cleared the Cut-Off.

Even though they didn’t know his score, he was the only one here that was so exhausted. So, he was obviously ignored by the social butterflies.

Though, Rael didn’t seem to have noticed them, happily taking the time to rest, fearing how sore his muscles had become. Thankfully, the air conditioners were installed in this place, allowing the cold air to chill him.

Slowly, his eyelids turned heavy as Rael struggled to keep himself awake. He had been walking for a day after all. It was too exhaustive.

Finally, when it seemed like he was unable to endure any longer, the bullet train arrived, gracefully stopping with the perfect alignment to the Terminal. Its length was the same as the Terminal, hence its perfect alignment when it stopped.

Rael was one of the first to board it, looking around as he praised the heavens that the seats were actually berths, allowing him to sleep on them. He quickly occupied the one next to the window and relaxed, sporting a smug attitude when he watched the others stream in after him.

Though, none seemed to notice his expression, as he was pretty subtle about it.

The train only stopped for fifteen minutes before taking off, zooming rapidly through the tunnel. Rael peeked over his seat, noticing a large monitor placed on one of the walls.

It showed the distance they had to travel, and the time of journey, “16 hours…thank goodness.”

Thinking of that, he fell asleep immediately, jolted awake only when the train reached its destination as a student that was getting down patted him awake.

Rael quickly alighted at the Terminal, rubbing his eyes as he looked around, becoming wide awake immediately.

When it had departed, the bullet train was underground. But now, their destination Terminal was situated high up in a building, with its walls made from glass, allowing him to gaze at the scenery beyond and take in the grand view of the academy.

It was imposing in the sense that the buildings themselves had been arranged in such a way that when viewed from this spot, they formed the words of ‘Blue Agate Academy’.

It was pretty domineering. Rael then observed countless skyscrapers behind it, not to mention massive stadiums and the likes. There were also vast forests further beyond, situated around mountains. And, everything seemed to be the territory of the Blue Agate Academy.

“As expected of one of the best A-Rank academies.” A student nearby muttered, amazed by the scene. The two then gazed at each other, grinning immediately as they noticed that the both of them had the same thought echoing in their minds.

“I’m Dune Skate.”

“I’m Rael Rukh.”

The two introduced themselves and as they began to converse with one another, they were surprised to hear that both of them were from the same city.

“To think I’ll see someone else here from Wrister City. That’s a surprise.” Dune laughed as the two of them hit it off pretty easily.

They talked with each other, sharing their experience in the screening test, complaining about the difficulty from time to time as they began to walk in the direction of the crowd, taking on the herd mentality.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to proceed anywhere blindly as a faculty arrived before them; his booming voice resounded, “Students! Welcome to the Blue Agate Academy!”

There was a cacophony of greetings from the students in response as the faculty said after a pause, speaking when the crowd grew silent, “The academies here aren’t like the schools that you’ve studied at. There are some courses that you have to take. But when and where is your sole discretion.”

He then smiled a little, saying, “You’ll be awarded credits for every course you complete. And the awarded credits are based on the score you attain in that course. Beyond that, you can take on missions to amass a lucrative number of credits every time.”

He laughed after that, “Credits are basically the currency used here. Every facility that you can use here needs credits, including food and water supply. And, you can save up credits to even buy weapons, armours, abilities, slots in famed squads, etc.”

“Now, you can complete your registration and be given the basic necessities.” Saying so, he pointed at the row of counters behind him and vanished, shocking everyone.

They had seen such scenes through television in the promotional videos of the military. But, those acts could also be attributed to visual effects. But, seeing a man disappear before their very eyes, in reality, was an entirely different experience.

Rael and Dune followed the crowd, eventually arriving at a counter each.

“ID?” The lady behind the counter asked mechanically, extending her hand towards Rael. Taking his identity card, she placed it in a socket, pulling up all his information. She then fed some information to it, retracted the ID before giving it to him, “You’re given a joining bonus of 100 credits and a month’s stay at the Blue Peach Dorm. Your room number is 21W.”

“Anything else that you wish to purchase, including an extension of your stay at the dorm would need credits. So, work hard.” She said before handing him a pamphlet, “As for your basic necessities, head to the Material Centre and collect everything from there. You’ll be given a basic kit of uniform and other items.”

“Thank you,” Grabbing the pamphlet, Rael pocketed his ID, walking away, soon meeting up with Dune as they continued along the crowd’s pace through the corridors.

Soon, they arrived before another opening along the side of the corridor, one that seemed like a massive store. It was the Material Centre. The students entered there as Rael and Dune did the same.

A lady motioned for him to enter a booth nearby, using a measuring tape as she noted down his measurements. She then clicked some buttons on the wall as a whirring sound resounded before countless packets fell out from a box-sized hole nearby.

They consisted of uniforms, undergarments, the basic set of toiletries, etc. She placed them all in a bag before handing them to Rael, “There’s also a pen and notebook in it. A poster is hung on the wall in every dorm room detailing everything a student needs to know.”

“Thank you,” He thanked her, for despite sporting a poker face all along, she still gave him instructions, alleviating his confusion to a great extent.

“Where’s your room?” Rael asked Dune.

“17Z, Blue Peach Dorm.” Replied Dune, asking in response, “What about you?”

“Same dorm, 21W.” Rael replied, sighing, “21^st floor…ugh, I hate that.”

“Maybe they have lifts?” Dune tilted his head, wondering why Rael was so against physical exercise. After all, soldiers were required to move their bodies the most.

“Let’s eat first.” Rael said, hearing his stomach grumble, “I haven’t eaten anything for almost two days now.”

“They provided food and refreshments in the train though.” Dune said, laughing upon seeing Rael’s expression, “Did you sleep through the entire journey?”

“Pretty much,” Rael sighed, “So, I am famished now.”

“Let’s first place our luggage in our room and then grab something to eat,” Dune said as the two of them eventually made their way to their dorm, one of the massive skyscrapers with more than a hundred floors.

Thankfully for Rael, there was a lift as he praised it loudly, causing the students nearby to shoot weird glances at him.

Rael got down at the 21^st floor, finding his room quickly as he swiped his ID through the apparatus beside the door, watching it open.

The room wasn’t anything spectacular. Spanning a length of four metres and a breadth of three metres, it was a compact room. The walls were covered by posters that doubled down as wallpapers, unable to be removed.

They were filled with information as Rael felt his head spin while gazing at it. He then noticed a large monitor attached to the walls, switching it on to see that it was a touch screen, similar to a mobile, allowing him to surf through a lot of things.

Not only was he able to select the sources and schedule when he wished to see them, but even typical news and entertainment channels were available, causing him to sigh as the feeling finally sunk in, “I’m a Soldier now.”