Location - Garden of Blades
Walking through the hallway, Kael sooner than not stepped out of the garden and his airways were hit with the familiar Sanctuary feel. It was artificial but welcoming nonetheless. Raising his hand, he remembered something that was important for new Pioneers, their uniforms and student terminal, two of their most vital belongings for life at Pioneer.
They had already been debriefed on here to collect these instruments but it had just slipped away and Kael remembered now when he needed to purchase things, because after you enter Pioneer, Sanctuary no longer becomes responsible for providing food or shelter nor covering their expenses.
He began heading to the direction of the Student Utilities, where such things are to be procured from. As he walked, he stared at the rowdy bunch of students who had just collected their utilities, some older years who came to purchase what they required, with sometimes graduated Pioneers who came to replenish their gear.
The student utilities were located in the Market, an area designated to be under Pioneer which contains pretty much any student may or may not require, from weapons, foods, and other resources. Unlike the Hub in the inner part of Sanctuary, this is smaller in scale but more specialised towards the students and Pioneers.
The Sanctuary is divided into the walls, the outer area, the inner area, the central area and the core. Pioneer is located on the outer area, the place closest to the wall, to serve as a sort of defense and to also allow for swift deployment of troops for missions.
After a few more minutes of walking, Kael arrived at the building which was labelled as the Student Utilities. Entering in, he approached the receptionist area where a female with formal attire, long brown hair tied into a high ponytail welcomed him.
"Hello. Welcome to Student Utilities. What can we do for you today?" Her voice was friendly and calm, distinct from the blunt and cold tone he had just felt as he talked with Sirette. "Hello, I'm a recruit who has just been accepted as a Pioneer and I wish to collect my utilities as per Pioneer's instructions," Kael mentioned, as he unknowingly tapped his hands on the raised platform in the receptionist area.
"I see. If you don't mind, could you tell me your name so I can check through our system if we have what you need," she commented as she dived straight to the computer that was in front of her with rapt attention and focus.
"Sure, my name is Kael Levane, does this help?" Kael commented after giving his name. "Yes, thank you. Give me a few seconds to check through our records and I'll get back to you," she said as she paid her attention to the request she was given, her hands professionally gliding through the keys of the keyboard, her typing producing a rhythmic and beautiful melody, which was surprisingly pleasing to the ears.
Some minutes later, she raised her head up high from the computer. "I have found your details and soon, one of my colleagues will arrive with your essentials, you may sit and await him at the waiting room, right behind you," she commented as Kael nodded, turned back and headed for a seat in the waiting room. He sat on a chair, facing the reflective glass in the room, his curly hair framing his darker shade light skinned a trait from both his parents, his father who was dark skinned and his mother with her mixed ethnicity and light skinned.
"Hello, recruit Kael, Please follow me," a man, most likely in his late thirties approached him, wearing the same uniform as the receptionist, with a name tag of Kevin. Quickly acknowledging the staff who was more than likely the person who was asked to lead him to collect his utilities.
They arrived together at the deeper part of the building where a box with his name printed at the top awaited him. "This box contains your Pioneer uniform and your student terminal, but before we can conclude the handover, we will need to measure you and readjust the uniform so it fits," the man commented as he led Kael to a tube that was placed vertically and led inside.
The staff shut the cover and after some mechanical clicks and beeps, the door automatically opened and Kael stepped out of it. "Thank you for cooperating with the procedure. I have modified your uniform based on the measured parameters, now you can collect it," he commented to which Kael nodded and picked up the box and after bidding a farewell to the receptionist, he walked outside the building and with no hesitation, began to walk towards his recruit dorm, which he would soon move out of.
SOME MINUTES LATER
The boy had sooner than not arrived in his dorm, he dropped onto his bed after he dropped the box containing all he collected from his trip. Taking some time to settle down, he opened the box and inside it, there was his Pioneer uniform which had now been fitted for him and a small compact terminal (it looks like a smartphone but much slimmer).
"So this is our terminal? It feels much simpler than I thought," Kael murmured to himself as he slid his fingers over the smooth glass of the device and this seemed to bring to life as blue lines began to flow through the glass screen before it formed into a holographic display connected to the device. On the screen, it displayed his picture, his student information and his points he had.
[ Name of Student : Kael Levane
Student Number : P - 91089
Points : 1500
Student Results
Practical - Grade S
Theoretical - Grade S
Supernatural - Grade SSS
Overall Grading - SS ]
This was what his screen showed him as it gave a more detailed answer to where he placed now. With his result and grading, he won't be part of those who'll be removed from Class A and he will be able to keep his state and he was sure that Pioneer won't be willing to lose someone with such high infusion rate, especially if the possible war is true, Kael pondered as he stared at his results.
After gaining an understanding of his grades, Kael opened the student grading to understand where he stands and where Monnae, Lark and the others were. The top of the Detel trial was him, followed by Nieve surprisingly, although she didn't surpass the record that Kael beat, she was able to get up to 92 percent which was also quite high, the third being totally unexpected was Sirette with a 91 percent infusion rate, which alarmed Kael. "No wonder she said that she was holding herself back. I guess if she really did mean to, with her combat prowess and high enough Detel infusion rate, I probably wouldn't have won," Kael reminisced to himself, understanding that although he had huge infusion rate, it doesn't make him special nor the strongest, it was more like a potential of what could be.
He also glanced at the Practical list to understand who were present in the leaderboard. The list was led by Meisha and Kira who were tied and then followed by Monnae and then Sirette and finally Nieve and at the theoretical list, it was led by Nieve, followed by Lark and then Sirette and Monnae then Meisha and Kira.
As he saw the true list for each of the programmes, he was surprised by the different grading that each of the top 5 had. The two who caught his attention the most were Sirette's high grading on the infusion rate and Nieve, the quiet girl, who got the highest at theoretical and the second highest on the Detel infusion rate, trailing behind the recorded top by just 4%.
'She is such a mysterious girl,' Kael mused as he glanced at the girl's record. Closing his terminal, he decided that it would be better to get some sleep before heading out to lectures tomorrow. 'I didn't find Monnae and Lark today. They must be resting too,' he thought as his mind became clouded and sooner than not, he fell into the warm embrace of sleep, his strained body starting to heal him.
THE NEXT DAY
Kael awoke to the banging at his door. Jumping down from his bed and after making himself a bit more presentable, he unlocked the door to his room and there was Monnae and Lark, both dressed in their designated student uniform and cheerful faces. Monnae, with no warning, moved closer to the startled Kael, placing her cheeks next to him as she hugged him tightly. "Kael! I've missed you! I know you have missed me too, right? I would've come much earlier if it wasn't because of my parents," Monnae mentioned, her lips forming into a pout.
"I'm fine. Thanks for the worry, Mon," Kael commented as he tried to move her away, although for his effort to fall to the void as Mon held him so tightly that if he wanted to force her out, it would lead to injuries, so he had to let her have her way with him.
"Hello, Kael. How are you? Do you need help?," Lark asked , as he glanced with a chuckle on Kael's distressed face. Kael looked him deadpan in the face, which made him laugh a bit loudly this time.
"We came early because we knew you wouldn't have awoken yet and we were right. That day was surely just a fluke," Monnae comments as she steps away from Kael, regaining herself back. "Yeah, Kael. I guess this is something that you can't change after all," Lark commented as he stared at the unkempt Kael who took a great deal making himself a bit presentable before opening the door.
"Thanks. I should get ready then. Could you wait for me downstairs?" Kael mentioned as he was about to get ready. "Sure, we'll be at that bench, but don't take too long afterall, none of us wish to get into trouble on the first day," Lark commented as he grabbed the back of Monnae's clothes and lifted her up like a cat and began to walk away, while Monnae kicked and punched as she was suspended in the air. "Let me go, Lark!"
"You should allow Kael to get ready, Mon," Lark said calmly as he kept on walking, Monnae's voice becoming silent with the distance. Kael stared in the direction they walked away with a smile forming on his face before walking back to his apartment to get ready.
After getting ready, Kael hurried out of the dorm and joined up with Lark and Monae who were awaiting him and together, they headed for Pioneer, in high spirits in anticipation of what Pioneer held.
They followed the direction they followed when they were shown their classroom for the first time and as they walked into the class, it was filled with those who have been picked as part of Class A, with the top five students and the class teacher Avral Leignt standing on the podium at the front of the classroom. Quickly taking their seats, Kael, Monnae and Lark settled themselves and paid rapt attention to what he had to say.
His speech that day had won the hearts of the whole recruits in this class and it made them respect him very much, something which was very noticeable with how all the students were focused, even the top 5, like they were ready to learn what wisdom he had to share.
"This bath top 5 are more down to earth than the former batches whose arrogance were off the charts because of the title they had been given. I wanted to perform the tradition of Pioneer where the teacher knocks all of you all down your high horses but I guess this won't be needed this time," Avral commented as he positioned his glasses n his nose bridge, his sharp eyes scanning the whole classroom, which was by now silent but filled with tension nonetheless.
"You all have completed your Detel Infusion and have succeeded with a high enough Infusion rate to remain in class A which means proper education may now start. I shall explain to you how Pioneer education works, so you'll be able to strengthen your strengths and pick up other things you may need or like. The courses are divided into Mandatory and Elective. The Mandatory are courses which are to be attended by all recruits regardless of your future career path while Elective are courses that are selective and could be based on your career path or things that interest you," Avral Leignt explained calmly to the students.
"The Mandatory Courses are ones like Detel training and control, Combat Classes, Theoretical and Survival Knowledge Classes while the Elective Courses are ones like History, Weapon Forging Classes, Medical Studies and so on. Each student has two slots on which Elective Classes they wish to pick but as you advance, you may ask for an increase in those slots or to drop one of your Elective courses," The homeroom teacher said as he broke it down and simplified it so each student would understand it quite perfectly.
"Is there any question?" Mr Avral questioned after a brief pause and a casual glance at the classroom, his eyes moving through the top 5 recruits to Kael and Lark and then the rest of the class. A hand raised up, which was Lark, caught the attention of the wandering eyes of Mr Avral who permitted him to ask his question.
"Sir, you said we had two slots for the Elective Courses, my question is if it is compulsory to pick an Elective Course and does it matter if we pick one Elective course?" Lark asked and after he took his seat back, with the intense eyes of Kael and Monnae fixed on him. "Aren't you guys glaring at me a bit too much?" Lark commented as he understood the two pairs of eyes who kept staring at him without having to turn back to see who it was.
With little to no hesitation, Mr Avral prepared to answer the question from Lark, which diverted both Kael's and Monnae's focus back on him. "That's a great question, Recruit Lark Faide, Recruit Rank 6. As you begin, you have to pick an Elective at the very least, but you are not required to fill in the two slots. You can keep the second slot if the available Electives aren't to your tastes or you don't like them. Pioneer education only forces this requirement on each of you so at the very least, if you can't fight and defend Pioneer against the threat of Xions, if you have selected elective skills which are practical, it removes you from being just another waste of space. Think of it like being your second chance in case something happens. Does this answer your questions, Recruit Lark Faide?"
"Yes, it does. Thank you, Mr Avral," Lark commented after the teacher addressed his question. "I'll pass around sheets of paper which is where you'll document your chosen elective and when you have picked, you'll send it back to me to approve your Elective. Because of this, for the first week, there'll be no formal elective classes but it doesn't mean you can't join in some trial Elective classes to have a feel before you decide on which to pick," Mr Avral commented as he began to hand out the document where the students would fill in their selected Electives