Chapter 13: Calca Duta
"This is your identity card, Soldier Rael." A soldier handed him an item when the space shuttle reached the surface. "Everything related to you has been coded into it, so don't lose it."
"Thank you," Rael nodded in response as he noticed that there were three others in the space shuttle that had arrived with him. It seemed they had begun to produce Plasma in their bodies at the same time as him, making him wonder, 'Is it fine to make a re-entry trip just for four people? Isn't that just a waste of resources?'
But, the soldier didn't have an amicable expression, so Rael didn't have anyone to clarify his doubt with. Based on the soldier's instructions, he was asked to proceed straight and enter a gigantic building that was situated more than twenty kilometres away.
'I have to walk for that long?' He groaned mentally. But upon looking around, he understood the cause. Space shuttles continued to land and take off one after another. And there were thousands of them moving about, cluttering the space.
And, everyone being dropped off were students. As this place seemed to be the landing depot of the entire planet, it was pretty crowded. Hence, a walking distance of twenty kilometres didn't seem all that odd.
He was just vexed about having to walk that far away. There was a good chance he might take an entire day to reach his destination, given his subpar endurance.
The moment the four of them began to walk on the long, narrow path, their space shuttle took off as another landed on the spot soon after. A group of three students around his age exited it.
Unfortunately, he didn't know anyone, so he didn't have any company, having to walk slowly. A couple of hours passed in such a fashion when suddenly, there were murmurs all around. Rael turned around, noticing the students retreat to the side immediately.
And there, walking in the centre like she owned the place, sporting a haughty demeanour was a girl his age, but a head taller than him.
White hair, white eyes, blue-tinted skin, and a sharp presence. She was a Mauman. Upon seeing her, most of the students were surprised, gazing at her as if she were an exotic species.
The Mauman girl calmly continued to walk, sporting casual pyjamas. There was a head ornament that shielded the crown of her head while clamped at the end of her braided hair was a cylindrical item made of a material resembling brass.
Whether it was just a hairclip or not was unknown, as it seemed heavy.
It wasn't just due to her demeanour alone that the others paved way for her. In actuality, when she approached Rael, he understood the reason.
The air around her was sizzling hot, as if he had ventured into a desert. So, affected by the heat, he automatically moved over to the side to cool himself, watching the Mauman girl saunter forth like an empress.
And, whether it was her aura, her presence, or just her appearance in question, calling her an empress would be a given.
Gazing at her back, watching her continue to walk past, Rael thought, 'Appraise!'
[Name: Calca Duta]
[Origin: Gator City (Planet: Strombus Nebula)]
[Age: 15 Union Years]
[Race: Mauman]
[Might: 28]
[Toughness: 29]
[Mobility: 30]
[Endurance: 33]
[Plasma: 201]
[Body Tempering: 2986 Newton]
[Temperature Index: 324]
[Rank: E]
Seeing her stats, he was shocked, 'She's freaking strong, even though she's the same age as me.'
The Mauman Girl, Calca Duta felt his gaze lingering on her for a bit longer than others, turning around to glance at him once, subtly frowning.
Though, she didn't seem to mind much, used to the gazes of others on her all the time, continuing to walk proudly.
For some reason, Rael didn't wish to walk slowly after seeing her. Or rather, he just didn't wish for her to lead him by too much, at least hoping for her to stay within his sights. That way, he could continue seeing her.
After all, this was the first time he had seen a Mauman up real.
Earlier, he wasn't aware of just what a Mauman was exactly. But after becoming a soldier, the nurse had told him about the Maumans.
A Mauman was basically a human that had been born possessing the power of Plasma in their bodies. They were genetically the superior version of humans.
As soldiers with the power of Plasma had been around for four centuries already, they had been possessing Maurta hearts all along. So, in families with a long-standing continuous generation of soldiers, the Maurta heart had become more and more adapted to their genetics.
And eventually, the genetics fully merged into them, causing the newborn to be born with the power of Plasma. And, as they were born with this power, their growth was many times faster than regular soldiers.
At present, most of the powerhouses of the Federation were the Maumans. Also, as a soldier continued to grow stronger and accumulate more and more Plasma in their bodies, they would slowly begin turning into a Mauman.
This was why there was no sense of discrimination against the Maumans but they were instead respected. It was because every strong soldier of the Federation looked like a Mauman. And, giving birth to a Mauman was a blessing, for they were the true elites that protected the Federation.
It was hard keeping up with Calca Duta, for she was fast, even though she was walking casually. Eventually, Rael began to pant as he was getting tired. But, he didn't wish to stop, feeling competitive for some reason.
[Conditions met, generating Quest]
<Ding!>
The System's voice resounded in his ears as Rael stopped all of a sudden, only now noticing something that he hadn't noticed before. The System's voice…resembled his mother's.
At the start, it still seemed robotic. So, he hadn't thought much about it. And considering his emotional state at that time, he didn't have the mental faculty necessary to think about it further.
But over time, the voice changed gradually, now resembling his mother's, confusing him, causing him to mutter, "System, why is your voice the same as my mother?"
[That's because the first User of the System was your mother, Stella Rukh]
The System replied before generating the contents of the Quest.
[Quest: Reach the destination before the Mauman, Calca Duta]
[Rewards: +1 Mobility, +2 Endurance]
'I have rewards now?' The gears in his mind whirred in response as Rael hurriedly recalled everything that he had conversed with the System, nodding in response, 'I see, since the System has every technology that is part of the Federation, it must have the means to raise one's stats like this.'
He was still unsure as to how others raised their stats. All that the nurse, Echlika Lael had told him was that Plasma affected the body, strengthening it in response to its quantity within the body.
As to the means, the underlying principle, and the governing ratio of the same, he knew nothing. But, since the System promised him rewards that consisted of three stats points, he would of course accept it.
After accepting it, Rael took in a deep breath before he began to pace with longer steps, trying his best to catch up to Calca Duta. The total distance was twenty kilometres. So, he had to pace himself very well to surpass her.
Though, he shouldn't do it early. What if he triggered her fighting spirit? Due to her stats, if she actually wished to do so, defeating even a hundred of him was easy.
So, he shouldn't reveal his motive yet.
Thinking as such, Rael began to take in deep breaths, regulating his breathing to ensure that he would be able to last longer.
He did cross people from time to time, causing them to shoot weird glances his way. After all, he was sweating buckets while the others weren't, having been walking at a comfortable pace.
Rael didn't care about their gazes, used to such a thing since long ago. After all, he had been sick throughout his teenage years, having been the recipient of gazes of pity and other forms.
And over time, he became accustomed to them, beginning to naturally ignore them after that. He built up a natural immunity to the gazes of others.
'Damn, how…how long?' He began to pant soon after, gasping for air as he stopped moving, thinking of something as he massaged his leg muscles according to what Echlika had taught him. He noticed that with a simple massage, he was able to move once again.
The pain in his muscles had relaxed to a tolerable extent. And, having rested for a minute, he managed to catch his breathing, beginning to walk once again. Soon, he caught up to Calca Duta, pacing twenty metres behind her.
She gazed at him once before choosing to ignore him, 'What a weird fellow.'
It seemed forever before a building was outlined in his sight, causing him to almost tear up in joy, for the long walk felt torturous. He continued to massage his leg muscles while walking, creating a comical sight.
Soon, when there was only hundred metres left to reach the destination, Rael increased his walking speed, approaching Calca Duta.
Suddenly, the air around him turned hot, as if he was in a desert, causing him to sweat buckets as he quickly moved past her, causing her to shoot a weird look at him.
'Finally!' He reached the end before her, raising his hand into the air in victory before turning around to grin at her with an expression of smugness.
'He has a couple of screws loose.' Calca Duta's eyelids twitched upon seeing his foolish grin as she ignored him and continued to walk past, leaving behind a sentence, "If you actually wish to compete against me, join my academy."
"Which one?" Surprised upon seeing her take the initiative to talk with him, Rael controlled his breathlessness, barely managing to ask in response. In close up, she was gorgeous, causing his heart rate to accelerate.
"The Blue Agate Academy." Saying her piece, she turned around and entered the building, disappearing into the crowd.
"The Blue Agate Academy…" Muttering in response, Rael decided then and there, "Alright."
He quickly entered the building, noticing a robot moving around, handing out pamphlets to everyone.
Rael received one, reading the details, "The screening test is graded for a score of 500. Similarly, the time taken for you to produce Plasma is also graded for the same. Overall, your score out of 1000 is your total score that would decide which academy you could join."
"There are Academies ranked from S to D, with D Rank Academies accepting students in the range of 1-200 scores, C Rank academies accepting from 201-400, so on and so forth, until finally, S Rank Academies accepting students with a score above 800." As he read it, Rael frowned, 'So, everything we did was tallied?'
He then looked at the bottom-most line of the pamphlet, "Beyond that, academies would also place a Cut-Off within the ranks. Only students that have scores above the Cut-Off can join the respective academy."
He then flipped the pamphlet, reading through the instructions written there. Following it, he appeared before an empty booth. There were thousands of such booths placed there as students streamed into them one after another.
He entered his booth and closed the door, watching the screen lit up as an arrow pointed at a part of the machine, flashing the words, 'Scan ID.'
Rael took out his transparent device and placed it in the respective socket, watching his information appear on the screen.
[Name: Rael Rukh]
[Screening Test: 348/500]
[Awakening: 403/500]
[Overall Score: 751/1000]
[Academy Eligible Rank: A]
"Hopefully, I'm qualified for that…" Muttering, Rael typed the name of the academy in the search bar, soon pulling up information for it, "Here it is, Blue Agate Academy…"
He quickly scrolled through the contents, gazing at the line that said the Cut-Off, "750…?"
"Holy shit!" His eyes widened as he muttered, "Why is the Cut-Off so high?"
As he browsed through the Cut-Off for the numerous academies in the A-Rank, he noticed something, "Every Academy with the word Agate in them have a minimum Cut-Off of 750. It seems they are the cream of the crop within the A-Rank."
He then grinned, nodding in response as he applied to join it, "Alright, Blue Agate Academy it is."