Chapter 8 - Duds

They all exited the hall, some of the cadets decided to look around the academy, some of them headed back to the dorms, while a few of them went to the cafeteria, and among those few were, Adrian and Dave.

Entering the cafeteria, Adrian stared at the place, taking in the neatly arranged sturdy tables with chairs, large windows that allowed sunlight to pour in at one side of the building, the walls were adorned with elegant wood paneling.

Adrian and Dave walked towards the serving area, passing by cadets that were already seated and eating.

The counter, a gleaming expanse of polished surface, stretched majestically to each side of the hall, its length punctuated by small, sleek screens that displayed the day's offerings.

Behind the counter, attendants were busy at work as they attended to the cadets with a friendly smile. Adrian and Dave stopped stared at one of the screens, scrolling through the assortment of foods, they couldn't help but salivate, but most of the foods cost points, Adrian noticed a large piece of beast steak that cost 50 points.

"Mhen, I'll just take the nutri-bowl since it's free, what about you? " Adrian decided to go for the free meal instead.

Dave touched the screen and ordered two nutri-bowl for them," I'll also the the nutri-bowl, have to watch how we use the points." Dave replied.

An attentand put two trays on the table, it consisted of a bowl serving of quinoa, it's creamy white grains slightly browned from roasting. On top the quinoa is a rainbow of roasted vegetables, scattered throughout the bowl are a variety of crunchy toppings, next to the vegetable is is box of orange juice, with a bottle of water.

After picking up the tray, they picked a table and sat down, "Mm, it's delicious!" Adrian savored the food as he munched away.

"Yeah, and I'm sure the others would be better, when I have enough points, I'll surely taste every delicacy they have to offer, hahaha." Dave's laughter further lightened the mood.

A while later, the duo finished their food and left the cafeteria, Dave started walking towards the dorm, when he noticed something and turned around," Hey aren't you coming?" Dave asked.

Adrian checked his watch and turned around, "Nah, you go ahead, I want to check the library."

"Alright" Dave nodded and continued walking towards the dorms, Adrian turned on his watch and tapped the screen, entering the map section.

The watch showed possible destinations, but he picked the library and a small holographic navigator appeared, pointing him towards the direction he should take.

Adrian walked through the academy, admiring the magnificent structure as he passed by them, after a few more distance, he came to a stop in front of large building, it had a huge clock at the top of the building.

Adrian walked through the door, shutting close behind him, rows and rows of towering neatly arranged bookshelfs greeted his sight, the whole place was spacious, chandeliers of different sizes and shapes floated above the shelfs.

Adrian walked towards the counter to his side, stopping in front of a podium with a mid sized screen ontop, he slightly touched the screen, curious as to what it does, the screen lit up, series of lettered appeared on it.

"Welcome to the Lexicon library, a hub of knowledge and learning. You can simply say or write down the topic or book you're looking for and I'll assist in any way I can!" a small synthetic voice reached Adrian's ears, "Wow, it can talk?" Adrian muttered in surprise.

"Oh yes I can, and you can call me Ary, so, what may I help you with?" the voice podium replied.

Every since he passed through the portal, it's like he's been sent to another world, everything is just different from the tough life back at Plankton city, although they also had cool devices and machines, but nothing comes close to what he's seen in the academy so far, "Ah, yes, I'm looking for a book about the strongest unawakened that managed to rise in strength even without an ability.." Adrian woke up from his thoughts and replied.

The screen flashed as numerous options appeared on it,

1. "The Unyielding: A Study of Ability-Less Ascension"

2. "Beyond Innate Talent: The Rise of the Unawakened"

3. "The Strength of the Unenhanced: A Historical Analysis"

4. "Unawakened and Unstoppable: The Biographies of unawakened Achievers"

5. "The Power of Sheer Will: Overcoming Adversity Without Abilities"

...

The screen showed a long list of options, but Adrian already set his eyes on the first and fifth option, after selecting it, the podiums synthetic voice rang out, "Head to book shelf IV, just ahead of you and you'll find the books there, it won't be hard to notice!"

Adrian walked through the shefls, he could see the engraving on each one of them, after a while, he stopped in front of a shelf, "Where is the bo-oh, there it is," Adrian looked at a part of shelf that was letting out a small glow.

He pulled out the book-," Huh, what is this?" the thing he thought was a book was actually something else, it had the size of a book, but it looked more like a disk, it had a dark Grey colour, the title of the book written at the middle of the disk.

Adrian was confused as to why it was disks, instead of books in the shelf, so he went back to the podium. After questioning it, he realized that the disk contained information on what he was looking for, so he just had to pick a table and insert the disk.

Adrian walked to sitting area, the oval tables and chairs showed how organized the library was, after choosing a place to seat, Adrian stared at the tables surface, that's when he noticed a small screen on the surface, and a small compartment to the side, that's probably where the disk would go.

After inserting the disk, the screen at his side of the seat lit up, showing the contents of the first book on the list.

Unknown to him a small translucent light formed around the table he was sitting, silencing the sound that came from his area.

Chapter One: The Double-Edged Gift of Aether

Aether, the mysterious force that flows through every living being, is a blessing and a curse. Its power can elevate the unawakened, dubbed "duds" by society, to unprecedented heights. By tapping into our inner will, we can unlock hidden reserves of strength...

***

After a considerable amount of time, Adrian closed his eyes as he read the last page, resting his head on the chair, he let out a small sigh, his mind going through copious amount of information.

Most of them talked about the challenges, setbacks, feats and other things about the strongest unawakened out there, Adrian thought all hope was lost when he didn't awaken his ability, but after reading the books, he's had a change of perspective.

"Maybe it's not so bad, i can already use aether, although a very small amount.. But with the academy's help, I'll be grow stronger, strong enough to face the Zularks, I'll avenge my parents death!" a deadly glint flashed across Adrian's eyes.

>7:27 PM<

Adrian checked the time on his watch, then he returned the disks back to the shelf and left the library.

Making his way back to the dorms, Adrian kept on thinking about a sentence he read in one of the books,

"Awakened or not, what matters the most is how strong your will is, how persistent you are, the sacrifices you make, and how much work you're ready to put into your path towards power, you have no limit! Tear down your limits and be born anew!"