Selection Day

"Sei, wake up." Saikyo said.

Seicho slowly starts waking up, finally coming to his senses he becomes filled with energy.

"Selection day, Selection day, Selection day!" He sang in excitement.

As the two were walking out Saikyo thought to himself.

It's finally the day, the selection only allows people between twelve and eighteen to attend. I could've gone long ago but I couldn't leave without my little brother.

Splitting off again, they wave each other off. Upon entering the school Saikyo saw Kori standing by the gates. 

"What do you want, Kori?" Saikyo said in an annoyed tone.

"As you know, I was gauging your strength yesterday."

"Why?" He asked as they walked and talked.

"After the chosen event for selection day is over the students who make it get not only one of the four power types gifted by Gaia but are also given a five man squad, in fact they put together their team themselves, but if they come up short on men, others will be auto-assigned to them. After this they take the Celestial academy entrance exams as a team, they will attend as a team, graduate as a team, and advance into the Celestial army as a team."

"That makes sense but there also seems to be a flaw in your plan." he said.

"And what would that be?"

"Most people don't seem to pass, trillions of people attend the selection event and apply for Celestial Academy yet when it's all said and done the average number of people who pass the selection is around 200 million. The people who go on to get accepted to the Celestial academy is around nine million, so in other words you can't directly decide who you want in your team until after the selection due to the fact that it's too hard to pass, but even so, you gauged me and my brother's strength, how do you know we'll make it."

"I don't know, I just have a good feeling."

"A feeling? Kori… you're so weird." 

"Maybe, but, if you don't end up passing, then that could only mean that I overestimated your abilities… Saikyo-kun."

"Wh- Don't say my name like that, weirdo."

What the hell was that shiver I felt on my neck just now, this girl, something about her is off.

"Anyway, my brother and I will pass, the one you should be worried about is yourself."

"Don't worry about me, you'll be sure to see my face at the end of the selection." Kori says as the two arrive to class. 

Everyone was shocked to see Kori and Saikyo having a conversation.

So, she doesn't seem to have any ulterior motive to talk to me, she wants strong allies but it didn't come off as if she only wanted to use me and Sei for power, plus she could very well be my first ally. Then it's settled, I'll join Kori's team after the selection, manage to get into the Celestial army and find a way to get back to my people but not before finding the person who issued the orders to hunt and kill my parents, that's right Saikyo, steady fast on the goal.

A teacher walks into class and the students start to get excited. 

"Attention students! Get out of your seats and follow me in an orderly manner." He said.

The students obediently listen and as they all roam the halls, Retsu coincidentally bumped into Saikyo.

"Oh, you're here." Saikyo said in a tone that made it seem as if he couldn't be bothered by the current situation.

"Screw you demon, I could destroy you, I have a clear video of you and a witness as proof of what you did." he said.

"Oh? Is that right~. Video didn't seem clear to me at all. Hey, hey~ I think you might just have the wrong purple haired kid." Saikyo said as he shrugged his shoulders.

"That's wrong, you're lying." 

"Can you prove that I am?"

Retsu was quite angry and frustrated so instead of going any further he decided to speed up and get away, which made Saikyo quite happy.

No one in Galaxy 19 hardly had background, after all, the most poor are pushed back to the farthest, latest explored galaxy, however the reason I'm always weary of that guy is because he did. I'm sure him being on Galaxy 19 right is some sort of punishment handed to him by his family.

All students began to get on a ship-like flying transportation which resembled a long bullet. After exiting the school building. The thing was flying at speeds around 700 miles per hour and no one even flinched, the human race has truly evolved. 

They reached the end of the city in no time, upon getting out of the ship they saw a massive black building plated in a strange black metal and a forcefield that had been placed to run along the outline of the city and  protect it.

"Children, do not wander off in this building, it would be extremely dangerous for not only you but this city also." The teacher said in a serious tone.

As they walked into the building they saw workers carrying circular machines, some of them would emit green light, some orange, and others red.

"Everyone, these are portals, some even call them gates, the one that emits green light leads to planets that have been completely taken over by man and is fully secured enough to maintain stable living."

"The one that emits orange light are gates that lead to planets that range from being barely explored to mostly explored, however, it is not secure and any civilization built is liable to be attacked."

"The gates red in color are planets that have never been explored or secured and the only thing humans could do was connect the portal, which means they failed at placing a civilization and uprgrading it to an orange portal, red portals can also result in losing placed civilizations to the natural habitants of any planet the gate is on, red portal placements are usually what we call suicide missions." 

The crowd of kids started gossiping about the new information with a mixture of awe and fear at the newly learned information.

"Who the hell would willingly go on red portal placement missions." Saikyo said aloud.

"People with bigger balls than you." Kori whispered.

Was I too quick to call her an ally? Saikyo sighed as he thought this, with a wry smile on his face.

"Class, this portal leads directly back to earth, where you will participate in the selection event. As you know, the average life span is around 200 to 300 years old, so, if anyone in the crowd is over 18 please separate into a different crowd, I am trusting you to be truthful." The teacher said.

Many people who had failed during their time between 12 and 18 had stepped out, although there were still a few who had stayed hopefully wishing they could slip by and pass this time.

The teacher orders them to walk in the portal. Saikyo and Kori look at each other before simultaneously walking inside.

This feels unsettling, it's like my body no, my entire being, every cell is on fire, it hurts, but it doesn't feel like I'll die, I can sense the galaxies drifting behind me in slow motion as I pass them, yet it feels like if I blink then I'll miss them. 

After appearing on the other side of the portal, Saikyo fell to the ground, he looked pale and exhausted, everyone was standing over him. 

"What are you guys looking at?" He said painting as he had run around the world and back.

Since no one wanted to speak out, Kori did.

"Saikyo, you took longer than everyone else, the portal is supposed to be nearly instantaneous, plus you look extremely exhausted right now."

"It's not like this for everyone?" 

"Of course it's not." The teacher said.

"Then why?"

"Obviously, it's because you're half Zenoikian. Although human tech is mostly derived from the technology on the ships that the Zenoikians invaded with, we were the ones who invented portals. Soon after,  we realized that the Zenoikian race could also use portals, so we rewrote the system to only accept human dna. In other words, the only reason you were able to enter was because of your human genes, but you were also rejected and restrained by your Zenoikian genes, I kind of expected you to get incinerated upon entering to be honest." He said.

Bastard, what the hell is wrong with this person? He let me go through even though he knew there was a chance I could die. 

Although Saikyo knew this particular teacher didn't like him, he did not think he would purposefully or go out of his way to plot a scheme against him. 

Saikyo turned to his right, and saw Kori fuming with anger. She took a step toward the teacher with a face of pure hatred. Saikyo quickly stood up to grab her hand and stop her.

"Stop it, you're smart, no denying that but if you acted irrationally, we won't get away without any consequences like last time." Saikyo whispered.

After she glares at the teacher a little she quickly disperses her assault and blows her hair out of her face in an annoyed manner making Saikyo smile a little.

As the class looks around they notice that they are in a similar building to where they just teleported from.

The teacher leads them outside and they all see a big controlled crowd was in front of them, they gasped at how different and beautiful Earth was compared to the books.

The air, it's so refreshing. Not to mention, I feel as light as a feather right now, I can't believe there are families that live like this all day. I wonder… are the planets that the Zenoikian are holed up in as good as this, hopefully. Saikyo thought.

Saikyo turns around to look at the building and above a carving says, G-19. Next to the building lay 18 others. This led him to assume that all the students gathered in front of this building were students from schools scattered along the different planets within G-19's multiple solar systems.

All the teachers had joined up together at the front of the crowd, they led the students into a wide and massive staircase leading up to an arena. The entrance to the arena had Gaia's face carved into it. As the students walk into the arena they notice it is very dark, but torches light and as one lights up so does another then another until eventually it creates a giant circle. The torches reveal thrones in the arena filled with Celestial guards and next to them a massive throne with Gaia herself sitting in it. Her beauty was indescribable but she was beautiful nonetheless, she had four white wings and a halo, her body glistened with a white aura.

"Big brother" Saikyo heard as he felt someone grabbing his arm from behind.

"Sei, did you just arrive?" 

"Mhm" He says as he nods his head in excitement.

"Don't I get a greeting too?" Kori says as she hugs Seicho from behind. As Seicho gets flustered again, he remembers something.

"Big brother there were big piles of people coming out of the big buildings next to ours and they looked beautiful, and they had guards around them and-." Seicho mumbles on.

As Saikyo hears this he just assumes that it has something to do with the royals and rich families from other galaxies but doesn't really care enough to go into deep thought over it.

"Students, the event for the selection today will be the advancement of a red portal planet into an orange portal planet, you will be supplied with what we call an experimental soul support system, this device can detect the surrounding terrain, life, and name or announce new found species. Remember that these are not official soul systems and will only provide the most basic of its said functions." A man said sitting on the right hand of Gaia.

Someone in the crowd asks the man if he can go into more detail about the soul support systems.

It's that girl from my class who asked about the Celestial army. She always ranks second in school after me but I can never seem to remember her name. Saikyo thought.

"Soul support systems are wristwatches that house the souls of Celestial army guards that have passed away. They help along your journey throughout your life, however you can always get them removed." The right hand man of Gaia had said.

The girl's eyes light up again just as they did in the classroom as she feels fulfilled by the information she just gathered.

As the guards descend from their small thrones they slap watches on everyone's wrist. Saikyo feels like he recognizes this person from somewhere.

"Hageshi!" A female student says.

"Hageshi?" A male student asks.

"Don't you know, he's the universe's strongest human, The one that sits at the right hand of the Goddess Gaia herself." The girl said.

President Hageshi

In this day and age humans have been more unified than ever so it was only right that they should follow one leader, and that person is President Hageshi. His words, orders, and feedback echoed over all 19 Galaxies, although there were smaller leaders, Hageshi was definitely the one above all.

Feeling surprised and curious, Saikyo looks over to Kori.

"Kori, is President Hageshi your-" 

"No! That man is not my father!" She said as she quickly stopped Saikyo from talking, biting her lip as she did.

Saikyo didn't ask more but he knew she was lying. 

If she was truly the president's daughter that would make her akin to something like a princess, and since that's the case then why was she residing in G-19, that is the last place for someone with background and royalty to remain, did she run away?

As he thought this, a portal emitted a red light, immediately Saikyo, Seicho, and Kori looked at each other in a concerned manner. Saikyo quickly starts mumbling to himself.

"G-19's students are going first, why us first." As Saikyo says this he figures it out almost immediately.

If us people with no background and are the most poor get pushed to the back of the galaxies we will be the first to get attacked by opposing Zenoikians, so if we are the first to explore a red portal planet, we will also most likely be first attacked upon entering, damn it, humans never fail to make me despise them . He thought to himself.

The red portal suddenly starts to pull students toward it slowly.

"Students, upon entering the portal you will be separated from your friends and you may even end up alone, your soul support system will lead you to a suitcase, using spatial magic it will be encasing an entire city. Secure an area free from threatening alien life and defend it for two days. A lot of our spatial mages are assigned to the suitcases for each galaxy, but the one rule is that they will run out of mana in approximately two weeks or just stop their magic usage right then and there. Upon this happening the city inside the suitcase will be lost and you will all fail, now with the rules of this year's selection event stated, I wish you good luck."

Saikyo, Seicho, and Kori were just a few feet away from the portal.

"Meet at the location of the suitcase no matter what, don't leave that area once making it there, this is the best chance we will get to meet." Kori says.

Saikyo and Seicho nod their heads in unison.

"Sei, if you see something you run, you hide, this situation won't be as easy as it was with Retsu."

"I won't let you down big brother."

They get absorbed into the portal.

The selection starts now.