Adam Armswell. A Class 5 officer, and in the novel, a Colonel.
He would also be the principal of this academy for the next three years, and just looking at him made something sour and hot flicker in my chest.
Why?
Because this was the man who had taken in the protagonist.
A Fantasian, a child of the enemy, brought into the heart of Terra's most prestigious academy through a recommendation spot, and all because Adam had pulled the right strings.
And what had that kindness bought the Federation? A menace. A thorn in Terra's side that would only grow sharper once the boy's mana core awakened.
Haaa. What a fool.
Adam raised a hand, and a holographic interface flickered to life around his wrist.
With a single flick of his fingers, a swarm of small drones peeled away from the air above him and scattered across the hall, humming like angry insects.
Each one carried a sleek, orange-glowing cuff, and they dropped them one by one in front of every student before darting away.
"These cuffs contain your exam instructions," Adam said. "Put them on."
The hall rustled as hundreds of hands reached out.
I picked up mine. The instant my fingers touched it, the cuff squirmed in my palm, unfolded, and wrapped itself around my wrist, glowing a soft gold before the light faded away.
A faint hum ran through my skin as it synced with my pulse. I turned my arm over, studying the thin metallic band, its surface etched with circuit-like patterns finer than hair.
Then I glanced at the watch on my other wrist. It seems to work almost the same way as this thing.
Around me, most of the others had already finished putting theirs on.
"You are about to take the exam," Adam said, his calm voice reaching every corner of the hall.
"I advise you to give it everything you have. As you may know, this academy accepts only one hundred from this exam."
Huuu. Okay.
"Good luck."
A shadow slid over the courtyard as a gigantic airship descended from the clouds behind him, its engines rumbling low enough to rattle my ribs.
It touched down about twenty meters away, and the hatch hissed open. A lone figure stepped out into the sunlight.
"That is your ride to the exam location," Adam said.
I stared at it. The ship was monstrous, easily twice the height of a skyscraper. No, more than that.
We started moving toward it in a slow, shuffling line.
The man who had emerged from the hatch stood at the bottom of the ramp, directing us in.
He had black hair, black eyes, and a thin white scar that ran down one side of his face.
He said nothing, only pointed, and one by one, we filed inside.
When I was almost at the front of the line, a hand tapped my shoulder.
I spun around.
A girl about my age, sixteen, stood behind me. Her hair was a striking shade of blue, and her black eyes were sharp enough to cut glass.
She was stunning, easily on par with Elizabeth Bathory, and that was saying something.
"Hey, Nate. Glad you made it on time." She paused, a little smirk tugging at one corner of her mouth. "Well, more on time than usual, anyway."
I knew exactly who she was. Not from memory. I hadn't received any of those yet. I knew her from the novel.
She was one of the few main cast members who came from Terra, a girl from a noble house, and one of the heroines of the story.
Natasha Denoir, of House Denoir.