15 015

At the end of the day, he sat comfortably at an outdoor table from a small restaurant close to his home. He was having ramen for diner. He had a few bags filled with outfits and things for the house near his chair. As he ate, he heard a lot of folks talking about the new university term.

Apparently, this city had one of the nine best universities here. They taught a lot of subjects related to space and there were two particular departments that stood out from the rest:

Augmented Soldier Training

Heavy war machine Controlling

The first one was all about training people to become soldiers. But not ordinary soldiers. Soldiers who would have the ability to go far beyond what others could do. By adding mechanical contraptions to themselves, becoming closer and closer to machines, they would become true monsters. They would be soldiers capable of facing armies!

Humans had settlements in many galaxies but they weren't the only ones trying to rule the vast universe. A lot of other species did exist. Some friendly, some unfriendly. Augmented Soldiers were the stars of the battlefields when it came to repelling the unfriendly ones. Many were treated as heroes and considered celebrities. This was because wars were broadcasted, like a sport. And one's feats during a war brought fame. The Augmented Soldiers earned wealth like no others.

But there was a downside obviously. They died young. Which was a very heavy downside. But there were always youth who dreamt of being Augmented Soldiers, appear on TV while heroically defeating their foes. Hence, dreaming of becoming heroes. Unfortunately, most of them couldn't understand that they could 'die' or rather, they believed they would be the one to survive. Heroes, right? Yet, heroes died just like villains in the cold real world. No one was invincible.

Still, how could a youth comprehend this? How could someone who had never faced death understand how scary it was? Ron had. Even though he was so young. Which was why he found it so foolish. Learning to become a soldier? To go die? No, thanks. He wouldn't ever want this kind of life. And so, he found all those who fawned over such ideas quite pitiful. They didn't understand how lucky they had it now.

The other department, HWMC, was similar in that it was related to war too. It was slightly better though as it prepared the future officers and commanders of fleets and battleships. It was safer to be inside a giant crusader ship than being a lone warrior in the midst of enemy territory. Still, it was risky too. It was war after all.

Whether this one or the other, both departments were horrible from Ron's point of view.

Obviously, he was the only one around to think so. The other customers and even the passers-by were discussing exaggeratedly about what kind of prominent figure would be in the next generation of augmented.

Ron focused on his meal instead of these idiotic topics.

…

A week went by in a flash.

Ron had searched for a job first thing the next day after dressing up with a more decent outfit. A pair of jeans and a simple T-shirt made the cut. He wore socks and sneakers as well. As he walked through the streets, people ignored him. It felt heavenly. They had acknowledged him as a part of them.

It was with a smile and renewed vigor that he went job hunting, knocking on the doors of every business he saw in the streets.

But he always faced the same question: "What can you do?"

To which he answered: "I was a miner so I have confidence in my strength and stamina. I can do heavy work"

And he always got the same answer: "Sorry but we don't need such things, we got robots do the menial tasks here, it's cheaper. Can you do anything else?"

He couldn't. He had no education and lacked knowledge. In the end, he was always sent away. After an entire day, he hadn't found a single job. He couldn't even become a cashier since there were none, there were only robots everywhere. He sat down at the restaurant he found yesterday, deep in thought.

The waitress had to ask twice before he ordered. As soon as he was served, he began to dig in absent mindedly. The waitress got curious about him? It was his fourth time coming here in two days and he had changed a lot from yesterday… He looked like a weirdo back then but now, he was decent. Though he needed a haircut urgently.

She approached him since there were still few clients and asked him: "You seem lost in thoughts, Sir? Is something wrong with the food?"

She used her job as a way to break the ice and it worked. He hurriedly apologized and told her the food was lovely. Then, he began to speak about his worries.

The waitress knew where he came from. She only worked here because her Aunt owned the shop, it would have been a robot otherwise. It was only until she finished her studies and found a better job too. She was apologetic but she couldn't do much for him.

After a few exchanges, she ended up saying that 'having an education was more important than actually knowing how to do stuff on this planet' and from there, Ron had a new idea.

If he was going to remain as he was, he would end up poor again on this planet. She was right in that what he needed to ascend in status was an education. He brightly smiled at her while giving her his thanks. She smiled back. She was happy that she managed to cheer the guy on.

Then, she merrily went back to work.

As for Ron, he was now pondering on how to get an official education quickly… It would no doubt involved using the gem, the question was how. He still couldn't try selling them. Even if this was a more evolved world, they would still kill a random like him for so much money. He needed to play it smart.