CHAPTER 2 : FACTS

{{{{{{{ I added a paragraph at the start of chapter 1 , so please check it out }}}}}}}

After leaving Luck behind i pick up my order, and sat down in a remote corner of the cafeteria .A few moments later Luck arrived , he was wearing a standard school uniform, consisted of a white dress shirt below a black button-up blazer and a red tie ,along with black pants. After our eyes met he starting glaring at me, looking at his facial expressions and physical gestures , i can tell that he was pissed that i didn't take his order,which i could have done, but it just that i enjoy messing with him , i may sound like a bully, but i'm challenging Babylon by the end of the year so i don't know went we can see each other again . I was always bother by the fact that i can't visit or see my family and friends if i go through with my decision, but on the other hand it quite understandable, Babylon and the middle area (from 51 to 54 floor ),are like two different worlds , so a person must chose one of them.

While i was lost in thoughts a girl with long blonde hair ,blue eyes and slim build ,sat across the table , she was wearing a regular black uniform and a short white skirt , unlike boys , girls had more freedom customizing their uniforms , they just had to put the black school blazer on top on whatever they felt like wearing ,which i found quite unfair , not that i have any complains about my uniform , anyways her name was Martha , she is kinda a childhood friend , frankly speaking she just forced her way by sticking next to Luck each time we hung out . Well ,she is not unpleasant and innocent, so we just let her be.

"Where is Luck i don't see him here ?"

"I guess he should be somewhere around there. " I pointed towards the middle of the crowd , then took a bite of my sandwich , oh man this taste so good you wouldn't believe it was some giant eyeball monster meat .

"Wait , if you already have your meal ,why is Luck still waiting in line?" Martha opened her lips again,"Don't you usually make him wait in line for you ?"

Did she assume i was some kinda monster , we usually take turns , but whenever it's my turn i ask him to gently wait in my stead , and he simply accept it every time. It's not my fault that our class is the farther from the cafeteria. Our school is home to more than 1,800 students , it have two main entrance , one near the parking lot, used by the teachers and others staffs , and the other one is a giant dynamic door leading to a park ,various paths lead the students to the different facilities in the school grounds through the park , at the right ,you can see 3 similar six-floor buildings : each floor contain multiple classrooms ,every class is equipped with a screen board, lockers and a fixed numbers of tables .At the left of the park , exist other facilities : a three-floor library , a double floor swimming pool ,and a big gymnasium that students use for different purposes. Then finally on the other side of the park is the cafeteria and other small shops , so unless you can fly or jump from a six floor building without damaging the ground, then you have to walk all the way to the cafeteria, while i was lost in thoughts again , Luck was approaching the table .

"See there. " Said Luck while pointing his finger towards Luck" Why don't you keep Luck company will get i us some good spots at the Lecture hall ? Then he tapped on his friend shoulder before leaving.

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By the time i got here , the lecture hall was already half full , by the look of it, it can only hold up to 900 students , i guess the rest will have to watch this through their screens ,not my problem thought .While waiting for the others i talked to some upperclassmen , most of them are not really thinking about challenging Babylon, and i guess the rest of them will back down by the end of the guy from the bureau speech.

Speaking of the devil , it seems that he just arrived , he was quite tall and well build , with clear blue skin covered in grey freckles ,snow-white hair,and one horn on his forehead.If i have to take i guess , i say that he is an ice Oni , i never seen one before , but i remember my mother telling me that the ice and fire Onis are the only Oni clans that managed to survive since the creation of Babylon .Now he is just standing behind the podium , looking bored. Hmm, what was that just now , it seems that the flow of Sinlyeog near his throat is slightly different.

"Can everyone hear me clearly?".The Oni checked everyone reaction before speaking again."My name is Arnaz , i'm a former ranker that work for the bureau now , due the special circumstances regarding this year each school has been assigned a supervisor from the bureau to help you understand the pros and cons for what some of you are signing for."

'I guess i was right, he is using some kinda skill to enhance his voice so that everyone can hear him'

Unlike his previous attitude , Arnaz spoke with a serious expression on his face, then reached to the board screen behind him, a text stared forming on the screen.

"I believe the school provided you with a document that a sent earlier."The students started checking their phones , the oni opened his lips again."You can just read it later , we will be discussing the important parts anyway ."

Arnaz took an orb from his pocket , the a ellipsoid hologram with 3 different colors appeared."To understand how the bureau operate , you first need to understand how Nexus is divided .Now, let's assume that this ellipsoid is in fact Nexus , the part in red is Paradise which represent 20% of Nexus space , the blue one is Babylon which cover 67% , as for this small white part is the middle area that cover 6% , the other 7% is just empty space."

I guess what he's saying is logical , Babylon is like a constellation , but instead of the stars ,a group of floors is what give it a shape .I just realized that Mr Smith forgot to mention how the floors are connected , just after the guardians utilized the planets to create the trial floors and Paradise , they used the existing paths inside Nexus to link them. With the help of the guides and Pandora moving between floors may seem like teleportation ,but in reality we are moving through space just like the Sapientianns did a long time ago , just a lot faster that we don't realize that we crossed a great distance , the only moment when we fell the distance is while moving for the 50 to 55 floor by train which explain the 7% of empty space.

"Unlike in Paradise, the administration bureau has full authority inside Babylon. The middle area is not a part of Babylon since no test is conducted in the 51 to 54 floor , but it's still under the jurisdiction of the bureau since different area in the 51 floor are considered rewards for passing tests on certain floors."

Inside Paradise is a monarchy with strong military power, and many residents are high rankers since they have to pass the 85 floor test to gain access to it ; that exclude the residents brought by the chosen ones ,while some of them may have powers similar to that of a ranker or even a high ranker , many don't possess any combat abilities,; so the bureau have to be careful while dealing with them.

On the other hand the 51 floor is basically a republic ,but the bureau hold the real power , they possess many branch offices in each area ,their objective is to keep law and order and create a safe environment in the middle area especially in Exilis, which have the highest crime rate.

In the 51 floor, the living conditions of each citizen depend of their rank ,the higher the rank the more privileges you and your direct family will receive which bring us to the structure of the residential area.The 51 floor that is divided into 3 areas : Adgil{AREA A} [ accessible to mid rankers who reached the 70 floor or higher , it population doesn't exceed 50,000 people], Middrift {AREA B} [ accessible to low rankers who reached the 40 floor or higher but failed to go further than the 69 floor ;it population doesn't exceed 900,000 people. ] , and finally Exilis {AREA C} [ accessible to semi-rankers who reached the 21 floor or higher but failed to go further than the 39 floor , it have a population of 3 billion people .]

"Which bring us to the reason we are here today ." The ice oni spoke with a face full of excitement," Babylon door is opening for the second time in history , that mean that anyone can challenge it and take a part in the tests without an invitation from Pandora." The oni looked at the crowd , he realized that some of them weren't following what he was saying.

"I see,it seems i got a little excited so i ended up skipping some explanations .I believe you all got Infinity ."All the students in the front row nodded their heads in agreement. Infinity was a mind drive implanted into the back of the neck of a person,while the person think of a word of their choice a screen poop in front of them it , the screen come in different shapes and seizes according to the owner preferences ,and provide the user with various options , like texting , browsing the internet , reading a book , taking pictures, etc. .

"Infinity have all those functions that make your live easier.Pandora is the same but in a different way,Pandora is a system that help rankers get stronger, provide them with skills and facilitate communication between allies.In fact Infinity is just a version of Pandora meant for civilians developed by the Moonlight Industries ."

The Moonlight industries has a major hold on every industry in the 51 floor , be it food , clothing ,high tech products... The Moonlight industries own both the 52 floor [Also called the workshop area] where the industrial area is located , and the 53 floor where the research facilities, agricultural areas and livestock are kept . Plus the ML industries is the only weapons and airships suppliers in both Babylon and Paradise ,the ML industries also sponsor multiples famous teams and rankers , which make them a force to reckon with. Although they seems to have a good relationship with the bureau since they supply their equipment for free.

The administration bureau was formed a few years after the chosen ones passed the 100 trials by the it current head and the other 10 guides who oversaw the trials back then .After the ranking system was adopted they started recruiting rankers, those who take direct orders from the guides are called administrators , while the others have different named based on their tasks.

The oni started smiling then said. "Now that we got the introduction out of the way , shall we start with the reasons you should or should't challenge Babylon first?"