Chapter 18 - First Day

Haaa.

I stood in front of the mirror looking at my outfit. I was currently wearing my uniform for my fist day of class.

It's been a week since the exams. I was the only one who had passed by killing one of the fantasian prisoners.

Although I kinda do feel bad tho. Afterall, since I who originally wasn't in the top hundred but just because I killed a prisoner, I would've most likely stolen their chances at being admitted into the largest and the most influential academy in Terra.

Yeah. Oh well. Snooze you lose I guess. With my preparations done, I headed off.

**************

"Is that him?"

"Yeah. That's definitely him! Nathan Hunt!"

"I heard he's an illegitimate child. Marshal Joseph Hunt's bastard. Can he even carry the Hunt name with pride?"

"Does it matter? He got in, didn't he? Though, I don't know how or why killing one prisoner should qualify him to attend this academy. I mean some of us had to kill scores upon scores of beasts".

"Exactly! It's unfair right? Some worked their butt's off to qualify and yet he just got in for killing one person".

"Maybe he's just lucky. Either way he's not one of us."

"Haaa." Amidst the bustling crowd of incoming cadets, Nathan stood. He sighed upon hearing what the other cadets were saying.

They had all been admiring him when the exam ended a week ago until they heard his name.

Everyone in Terra or rather everyone who held some importance in Terra knew who Nathan Hunt was.

The illegitimate bastard son of Joseph Hunt. And given the laws of the council that prohibit the marrying of more than one spouse, it was a given he would be scorned.

And so he decided to pay them no heed. He stood in front of the Nublar Academy for the second time in his life and yet it wasn't any less breathtaking.

The academy was a breathtaking combination of modern and medieval design— a castle like structure surrounded by seven towering skyscrapers, all of them encased in towering walls and guarded by giant metal gates.

It was inaccurate to call this a school but rather a fortress.

The place was huge, spanning around eighty square kilometres.

Towards the side of the academy was the large expanse that Nathan and the examinees had stayed waiting for the examiner a week ago.

The field was quite large. Spanning several square kilometres and was packed with new cadets.

Well not packed per say, just had the new first year cadets.

Nathan stood out like a sore thumb in this setting, though not for reasons he would've liked.

Whispers and side-long glances followed him like shadows. Some cadets even pointed at him openly, their voices carrying just enough for him to hear.

Others sneered, their disdain palpable. He knew what they were saying. What they always said. Since birth.

Illegitimate

Bastard

Unworthy

He clenched his fists but his expression remained neutral. Let them talk. He'd heard it all before.

What bothered him this time was the inconsistency in their mockery.

Some criticised him for being admitted on what they deemed a technicality—killing just one of the fantasian prisoners during the exam.

Others dismissed him outright because of his birth status. As if being an illegitimate child somehow made him less capable.

Although there were the few who shrugged it off, arguing that he had met the requirements fair and square hence was deserving of the spot he was given.

"Huu." Releasing a sigh of relaxation, Nathan decided to ignore them, his eyes scanning the sea of faces searching for the main cast of the novel.

He remembered reading about the entrance ceremony in the novel so he was sure they would come.

Well not all of them anyway, as some or rather most would be in the Fantasia Military Academy.

But he was sure of one thing. That at least three members of the main cast were present here in the Nublar Academy.

The protagonist, Lucas was arriving late as he had in the novel. But what about the others.

He hadn't seen Natasha yet. But he was sure she'd come. Then what about the rest? Marcus? Maria?

According to the novel, they should've arrived here by now, and standing out in their own ways. And yet he still couldn't find them.

He then frowned. Maybe they were at the back, trying to avoid the initial rush. Or perhaps the timeline had shifted due to his presence.

He couldn't tell. All he knew was that this world was no longer just words on a page. It was real now and he had become a part of it.

His mind wandered to the prisoner he had killed during the exams.

That man probably had his own dreams, hopes, family, friends and yet it was all in smoke now.

He had ensured that man died. And the man did. So he was even more sure of it now.

All he could do now was keep moving forward. Until all his enemies were dead.