Cornered

Guess she wanted to confront me about yesterday.

Alex knows that what he did last night, not coming to meet her at the cafeteria is very unlike Xander. If it was him, he would've run like a dog whenever Hannah asked to meet him as he was deeply in love with her.

It was quite obvious since his heart was beating faster right now from being near Hannah.

But he was too hasty yesterday.

Since he assumed that Hannah and Amara were two problematic individuals that he wouldn't want to be associated with, he thought that ignoring them would be the best move he could make, but he was wrong.

Doing so would only make them even more interested in him.

Because of that, he decided that he would make it right starting from this day.

Following Hannah from behind, Alex arranged his mind and method to confront her, and when he snapped out of his mind, he found the two of them were already in a small dead-end corner of the hallway with only one room to the right.

Hannah is facing away from him, also pondering about what to say.

When she was ready, she turned around, exposing her indifferent look with her arms crossed in front of her. Tension swirls between them until she eventually opens her mouth, "I didn't know that you were aiming to get inside this academy"

"You are here, Hannah. Of course, I naturally aim to enter this academy" Alex replied, shyly.

Upon hearing this, Hannah's lips pursed. Her eyes also squinted before she continued, "Are you hiding something from me, Xander? I've never known you are that strong, and how do you even pass the initial screening with a low Bio-aptitude"

Many questions came from Hannah's mouth.

But it was natural, the person she knew changed so much in a short timeframe.

It was only a couple of months ago that the engagement between them was canceled, and the Xander back then was still as pathetic as ever, not even arguing back against her and her parents and blaming himself instead.

However, he came back out of nowhere and even managed to enter the academy.

Not to mention his feat during the Trial was quite impressive.

Alex scratches the back of his head awkwardly with a genuine smile on his face, "It was my fault that our engagement ended, and I wanted to restore that so I trained very hard. As for how I passed the screening, I asked Uncle Fredrick for help"

Despite trying to act natural, Hannah seemed to have a peculiar look on her face.

Clearly, she felt something was off.

"Even then, this is reckless of you, Xander. You have a low Bio-aptitude. You might be okay now, but when the physical conditioning for power armor starts, there's a high chance that you will die" Hannah warned, the life of those who have low Bio-aptitude is very rough.

Bio-aptitude is essentially the compatibility of a person with advanced weapons.

Numerous powerful weapons belonging to the Hyperion Empire such as combat suits, power armor, railguns, or even tanks and mobile artilleries can only be used after an individual has undergone cybernetic augmentation to fit the particular weapon.

A person who has low Bio-aptitude wouldn't be compatible with the majority of weapons.

Forcing to have cybernetic augmentation will highly likely result in death.

Hmmm... Maybe Xander has a low Bio-aptitude, but now I have the Nexus Mark. I'm sure if it can even help me infuse mana into advanced weapons, then it would also help me survive the cybernetic augmentation.

Putting on a bright smile, Alex replied, "Don't worry, I'm willing to do anything for you"

Upon hearing this, Hannah sighed.

It has always been like this, she was trying to make Xander fall for her back then, and she was successful. But now that she no longer wants to be with him, this has become a burden for her more than anything.

"Anyway, why didn't you come yesterday?" Hannah eventually asked.

Pausing for a second, Alex then answered meekly, "I was embarrassed to meet with you"

Shaking her head in discontentment, as she should've known the answer from the start, Hannah decided that she had all the answers she needed. 'Right, he's still the same. His feat was nothing more than luck, and he must survive thanks to that woman from earlier, Natalia. Instructor Kayla overestimated him'

Deciding to leave, she sighed and walked past him.

"We are not meant to be, Xander. I think you should stop chasing me, it's not good for you. You understand it well that you are not at my level" Hannah said as she walked past him, advising him to stop chasing her with a little hint of contempt in her voice.

All due to the low Bio-aptitude that made her certain that he wouldn't become anything.

Before she could leave, Alex grabbed her hand.

Hannah was stopped abruptly, her body pivoted back and saw Alex tilting his face down, not showing his face. "Am I really not good enough? Can we not get back like before? I'll do anything for you"

"Sigh... Stop it, Xander. You and I are nothing now, please remember that" Hannah replied.

Twisting her hand, she broke free and walked away.

However, had she taken a look back one more time, she would've noticed a triumphant grin.

Alex was ecstatic seeing that the plan had gone smoothly.

Good, I think I mimic Xander's personality perfectly, and she didn't suspect a thing. With this, she should have genuine disinterest with me. Now, all that is left is to get rid of Amara and I will be fine throughout my academy year.

Just as she was about to turn, she suddenly stopped.

Raising his gaze, Alex frowned when he found her stopping, looking to the side in surprise.

But then another figure appeared, it was Amara who somehow knew that they were here, and her unfriendly gaze instantly fixed on Alex. Approaching with wide steps, she then grabbed Alex by the collar and pushed him to the wall.

Pinning him on the wall, she then said in irritation, "Who said you can enter the academy?"

"W- What do you mean, Sister Amara?" Alex asked, he was utterly confused.

However, in the next second after he said that he felt a burning sensation on his cheek as a solid slap landed squarely on his face and forced his head to turn to the side. "Don't call my name with that filthy mouth of yours, I already told you a million times. Not that I expect anything from a bitch's son, but you are getting on my nerves"

"Whatever. I don't care how you managed to get into the academy, but you have to leave by the end of this week, or else you'll regret it" She added fiercely, roughly pushing Alex to the side and turning around to leave.

In the process of leaving, Amara grabbed Hannah's wrist and pulled her away.

Upon the two of them leaving, Alex spat blood to the side, the slap was harder than he initially thought. She's a problem, I need to take care of her, but it's going to be tricky. Maybe I should suck up and beg her to let me stay in the academy. Judging by her character, it could work.

Although the prospect doesn't sound fun, there was no other choice.

Tidying his uniform, the air around him turned cold again, and he stood up with a light sigh.

Since he still has class, he would need to hurry to the cafeteria before it starts.

Meanwhile, Amara was still pulling Hannah away.

Eventually, she started to slow down and let go of Hannah's wrist.

Hannah stole a glance at her who seemed to be in a very bad mood, Alex's appearance in the academy clearly soiled her mood. It was even more so as there's a possibility that others might catch wind of Alex being a Sitradus too.

It would completely embarrass her, being siblings with a person with low Bio-aptitude.

"Ekhmm..." Hannah clears her throat. "I don't know if it's important or not, but he passed the screening thanks to the favor from Uncle Fredrick, and his lucky feat allowed him to be accepted into the academy"

Upon hearing this, Amara clicked her tongue in displeasure.

She was not expecting this at all, "Whatever, I'll only need to make him leave the academy"

"How will you do that? He just got here, and I don't think he would be willing to leave even if it's you who said it" Hannah replied, forcing Alex to leave the academy would be quite hard as he seemed determined to win her heart.

But a confident grin appeared on Amara's face, "Leave that to me, I know just the thing"

Later that night.

Alex takes a tour around the entire academy grounds instantly after class finishes.

Due to the altercation with Amara and Hannah earlier, he kept his feat average to not draw their attention to him and deliberately missed a couple of shots during the range training despite having the full ability to hit his mark all the time.

Xander has trained in his aim rigorously.

It was because of him that Alex would be able to hit all of the mark perfectly.

Amara's attention is not something he needed right now, and thus he was forced to be like this. Even during the range, Instructor Kayla was looking at him with a frown as it seemed she realized that he was deliberately missing his shots.

Just one action alone caused him a great deal of trouble in the academy.

I should be more diligent in assessing my situation to avoid this kind of situation in the future.

Sighing to himself, Alex stood on the station, looking at the map of the academy.

From the looks of it, the academy is divided into four primary sections: the central section, housing the main building with classrooms and dormitories, the research section which includes laboratories and bioengineering gardens, the space section, featuring the space station and interstellar observatory, and lastly, the aspirant section which encompasses all facilities dedicated to Aspirants.

Deciding to look at the academy trading center, he decided to go to the aspirant section.

Walking out of the capsule, he met with a spacious, open place.

Alex had never been to this section before, and he was surprised to find that there were all kinds of entertainment places around. Places such as cafes, restaurants, and even arcades could be seen adorning the place.

Even though it's a military academy, this kind of place is mandatory.

Only aspirants with high morale would be able to become a proper and strong Mech-Soldier.

I still have about two hours before curfew, it's enough to look to the trading center to buy an energy source and a desolate place for me to practice my wind element. I expect to finish at least one of them, but who knows, maybe I can find both right now.

Nodding his head, he then stepped forward, entering the aspirant district.

Since the section is big, he's quite hopeful.

Just before the night ends, he aims to get everything he needs so that he can move on.