"Results have been sent to your system's mail," the examiner announced, his voice booming over the chatter. "Check them now to see where you stand in the hierarchy."
He paused, his eyes scanning the crowd until they landed on John. He gave the boy a brief, silent glance, a look of troubled empathy that clearly sent lots of warning signs to John. Then he shifted his eyes around all as he added:
"Follow me! You are going to attend your admission ceremony now."
The next instant, the group of youngsters around John all moved in unison. John counted, and there were around twenty-five students in total, including himself, who all walked and chatted in vigour and excitement. As for him, he decided to lag, putting some distance between himself and others, while his mind was troubled by something else.
'System mail? You have a mailbox?' John asked internally.
-
[Ding! The system he is referring to is the Student Training & Guidance System, provided by the Azure Academy to all its recruits. It is an external, sanctioned, simple, and primitive interface. Your Hacker System will act as a filter for this official mail.]
-
'Ah, I see. A shell within a shell,' John reasoned. He didn't even consider opening the mail to know what it said. He remembered the empty room, the ignored training doll, and the zero-point performance. 'I scored a zero, for sure. I'm the lowest student in the lot. No doubt about it.'
He took a deep, steadying breath, squaring his shoulders. 'Fine. This is just the baseline. I'm starting at the very bottom of the pit. Nowhere to go but up.'
He shifted his attention then towards others, eavesdropping on what they were chatting about. Most were excited about this ceremony, wondering if they could attract any Elite Club attention. Only a rare few walked in arrogance, feeling like the entire world revolved around them.
John noticed they were the same group which boasted about having direct ties with Paragons. Regardless of what Paragons meant, he could easily tell they had everything planned out to join those Elite Clubs.
John hated this type the most. He hated those who would take power for granted and misuse their family connections. Be it the government, or wealthy and strong families and corps back on Earth, or those arrogant youngsters who were showing off with their backgrounds, John despised all of this.
That was why he kept fighting against those back on Earth, hacking and exposing their dirty secrets back then. That was why he ended up in that prison, meeting Mark.
Part of him wanted to enforce justice in the world, but another part just wanted to break all the shackles enforced by the old laws and regime, teaching those arrogant people that the world truly didn't revolve around them. It was the people's choice to support and elevate them to any status, not the opposite.
As he was lost in his deep thoughts, the peace was shattered by an aggressive shout that echoed off the high ceilings.
"Who the hell is this loser named John Mirage? Show yourself!"
A student stood up from nearby, kicking a seat aside as he rose. He was roughly John's age, but that was where the similarities ended. He was a mountain of a teenager, nearly a head taller than John and twice as broad, his muscles stretching the fabric of his clothes.
He looked like he had been bred for the front lines, strong, arrogant, and radiating a toxic level of confidence. He clearly scored a high score and was offended by the mere presence of a zero on the roster. And he was one of those who showed off earlier by their connection to the Paragons.
Before John could even think of a retort or step away, the scarred examiner moved with surprising speed, interposing himself between the two youths. He stood like a wall in front of John, his arms crossed over his massive chest.
"This is the starting point for everyone," the examiner said, his tone low and warning. "You shouldn't linger on these initial scores. They are a snapshot of where you were, not where you're going. What matters is the effort you put in from this moment forward. Now, move out! Follow me!"
The examiner was clearly trying to extricate John before a fight broke out, a protective gesture that made John feel a sudden, genuine sense of debt.
With this intervention, the fleeting moment of rage and desire to crush this boy vanished from John, and he decided to let it pass. But the arrogant youth seemed to look down on John, deciding to use him as an example to showcase his superiority and establish his status in the class early on.
"Humph! There's no use waiting for anything from a failure like him!" the large student spat, totally ignoring the teacher's warning glare. He stepped around the teacher just enough to point a thick, mocking finger directly at John's face.
Before John would react or answer, the teacher took another step, totally pushing the arrogant youth away. The latter harrumphed, moved back to the frontline, acting as if he did something huge to be proud of.
"Let's go," the teacher gave John a silent glance, as if he was showing his support to him. John simply clenched his fists, said nothing, and yet inwardly he vowed on one thing.
'I swear, regardless of anything, I'll make sure to wipe that arrogant smile off your face today!'
The teacher didn't give the students any chance to get at John again, walking just a few metres ahead of him till they got out of the building into an open space.
It was midday, and the sun was hot and high in the sky. John could tell it was late summer as the atmosphere was hot. And yet his eyes were glaring hotter than the sun. He kept his eyes fixated on that youth, waiting for a chance to get back at him.
"Welcome to the admission ceremony of the Military Department," a taller student appeared, alongside many others, "today you are going to get to know more about our department's famous clubs, see what requirements you need to join any. Feel free to ask anything you want, and we'll always be there to help you…"
John learnt from the whispering around that these students were from higher years in the Military Department. In front of him, a big garden was filled with lots of booths, each of which raised different flags, with symbols inspired by animals and mythic symbols.
He walked slowly, seeing flags of chimaeras, dragons, and even lions out there. There were also ancient Greek Gods drawn on a few club flags. Overall, there were around twelve different clubs, with five being Elite and the rest being commoners.
The students started to diverge and move towards different booths, asking about the conditions to join each club. John stood in the middle of all this, while noticing that the clubs with ancient Greek Gods flags were the Elite, and the ones with mythic creatures were the commoners.
Just as he was standing idle, listening but not actively participating, he noticed something glaring. All this kind talk evaporated when most of the students tried to ask about the conditions to join any Elite Club.
The first question was whether they were an affiliated family of Paragons. As most weren't, they were instantly driven away by a few higher-year students.
Only the arrogant group, like the one who tried to mock John, were warmly accepted into these clubs, standing with other students there like they were old friends or family members.
As John was watching in silence, a tall student stepped up towards one booth and asked about the conditions to join a certain Elite Club.
"Go away, Luke," one of the arrogant freshman students suddenly barked from a distance, "you aren't allowed to join any of the prestigious clubs, and you know why!"
Unlike the usual, that tall student didn't walk away like the rest. Instead, he crossed his arms and shouted back, "I have the right to join any club I want."
"Hahaha, that's pathetic." From a different direction, the arrogant student who picked at John finally appeared. He walked alongside five, two of the freshman year, and three from older years. And before John would think of an opening, that arrogant youth presented it to him over a silver plate.
"You know how the world runs, and you do know you have zero chance at joining the Elites. Only if the sun shone tomorrow from the west, only if that zero scorer had a chance to join an Elite Club, then you definitely can try your luck, hahaha!"
"Alfred…" the tall student named Luke lowly roared as if he had heard the most solid argument in his entire life. As he roared the name of that arrogant student, John simply stepped up, with one simple thought running wild in his mind, 'it's payback time!'
"Alfred isn't it?" John calmly approached, one step at a time, "Why don't you fck the hell off of here before I teach you a lesson?"