Khael gained some insight into how this place works after asking around. The day begins with the morning siren. The cadets must proceed to the academy building right away. Also, the academy wasn't kept in a single structure. They had to construct additional buildings to fit the large number of cadets who joined drawn by the low fees and high demand. Unfortunately, Khael was assigned to the main building while Felix was assigned a different one.
Each class has fifty cadets. He had no idea of the class he was in until someone pointed out that it was written on the ID card. Finding the right room was easy since each door clearly displayed the class numbers at the top. Now, Khael was seated on a bench in the upper middle section of what he couldn’t help but call a “too expensive” academy.
The majority of the structure was made of sturdy glass, and every element—aside from the walls—was aimed to look glassy, including the floor and stairs. Since no cadet had enrolled in two months, Khael was the only one wearing regular clothes in the entire building; everyone else was dressed in the tidy black uniform. Upon making their way to their seats, most of the cadets glanced at him.
Khael had a bored look on his face. His mind wandered back to the events of the morning—it reminded him of a day long ago when he felt like life had rushed past him. But his thoughts were cut short by the sharp sound of a bell echoing outside. The room fell silent instantly.
Moments later, an old man in a crisp military uniform entered, carrying a bundle of papers and books. He had a calm but firm face and black and white streaks in his hair. He reached the podium, set everything down, and looked out at the class with a warm, steady expression. The old man cleared his throat.
“It’s been a while, but we have a new cadet joining us today,” he announced.
Murmurs traveled through the class. People looked at Khael as heads turned. Some threw curious glances over their shoulders or ahead, while others whispered to their neighbors.
“You,” the man said, pointing directly at Khael. “Come up here.”
Khael let out a quiet sigh, stood, and made his way down the aisle. He reached the front and turned to face the class, shoving his hands in his pockets. The old man looked him over for a moment before addressing the room again.
“This is Khael… well, I’ll let him introduce himself,” the man said, stepping aside slightly.
Raising an eyebrow, Khael glanced at the instructor before turning back to face the sea of faces that were staring at him. He was already aware that some people were criticizing him, maybe because of his appearance or his lack of passion.
“Khael,” he said flatly.
For a moment, silence filled the room. His one-word answer seemed to hang in the air awkwardly, leaving the class unsure how to react. Then, from somewhere in the back, someone decided to break the tension.
“Ass or boobs?” a voice called out, loud and shameless.
A few chuckles echoed through the room, breaking the silence. Khael did not hesitate.
“Boobs.” he replied casually.
A mixture of suppressed giggles and quiet laughter resulted from this. A few cadets remained stoic, either they were either too disciplined to participate or didn't care about his response.
Someone a few rows ahead whispered, loud enough to be heard. “Looks like someone still plays with his moms boobs.”
The cadet who said it laughed, and the giggles of the people seated next to him added to the laughter. He turned back to Khael, expecting to see him standing awkwardly in front of the class. But Khael wasn’t there anymore. The laughter faded as the cadet realized Khael was standing right beside of him, silent and towering.
“Say that again,”
From the front of the class, the instructor barked, “You! Get back down here now!” His voice echoed sharply, but Khael didn’t even flinch. He stood staring straight ahead at the cadet who had made fun of him.
The cadet paused for a short moment, but then his confidence returned with a sly smirk. Leaning back slightly, he muttered, “What? I said you look like some–”
He didn’t finish.
In a single, vicious motion, Khael's fist struck the side of his face. The cadet's body fell over the bench behind him. His head bounced back and hit the edge of the bench with a sickening thud. Everyone in the class gasped and shifted around, with some getting up from their seats to get a better view. Blood seeped from the cadet’s crooked nose, pooling above his trembling lip.
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“KHAEL!” The instructor’s voice thundered across the room, breaking through the chaos.
Khael glared down at the crumpled cadet. Then he walked back to the teacher after turning around. The instructor's serious stare pierced Khael. A low hum of class murmurs filled the room as others discussed what had just happened.
“Explain yourself, now!”
“I don’t like being mocked,” he said plainly.
The instructor narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening on the podium. “This isn’t a street fight. You don’t settle disputes with violence here. Do you understand the consequences of what you’ve done?”
“He asked for it.”
A few cadets chuckled quietly in the back, but the instructor silenced them with a sharp glance.
“Enough!” he barked, his voice echoing off the glass walls. “You’re disrupting the order of this class before it’s even begun. Consider this your first and only warning. Step back to your seat.”
He turned and walked back to his spot in the middle row. He could feel the eyes of the entire class on him. The instructor straightened his uniform and cleared his throat.
“Alright listen, today’s the theory exam.”
“???” Khael leaned forward from his chair.
“I hope all of you studied hard. Write your names at the top, answer everything as best as you can, and don’t bother asking questions. You won’t get any answers.”
There was little response from the class, just the usual moving of chairs and hushed sighs. One by one, the instructor passed out papers down the aisles.
“Huh? What exam?” Khael muttered to himself. “I just got here.”
When the sheet landed on his desk, Khael glanced at it. The title read _Theory Evaluation - Section A_. He grabbed his pen and scribbled his name at the top without much thought.
The instructor, now back at the front, crossed his arms and spoke again. “You’ve got an hour. No talking, no looking around. Start.”
The room fell silent except for the faint scratching of pens on paper. Khael looked around and saw everyone was serious about writing. With no other choices, he looked down at the sections listed at the top: _Physics, Math, General Knowledge, History._
“Alright, let’s see,”
The first section was physics with only one question.
“A particle is moving in a circular orbit under the influence of a central force inversely proportional…uhhh”
His head was already spinning as he blinked at the words. It felt like staring at a foreign language.
“Calm down. So, proportional to the cube of the distance. Derive the expression for the orbital period in terms of the system's total energy…I’ll… get to that later,”
He flipped to the math section. His pen hovered as he read the first question.
“If A is a 5x5 matrix with eigenvalues 3, -2, 0, 7, and 11, and B = A^3 + 2A^2 - I, calculate the Frobenius norm of B and prove that the trace of–Nope.”
He flipped to the general knowledge section.
“Evaluate the geopolitical implications of the Treaty of golden drago… Goldar…Galdaron on interstellar trade, focusing on–what the hell is this?”
Khael let out a dry laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” He went back to the math section and looked at the second question.
Evaluate ∫01(x3+2x2−x+1) dx∫01 (x3+2x2−x+1)dx
“Okay…that seems easy.” He started writing down the answer, and he went halfway there but forgot how to do the rest. He didn’t studied for the past four years and of course it was normal. He flipped to the last page, the history section.
“In the Battle of Sector 14–hey that’s where I was!”
His heart gave a small leap of relief as he saw the question.
“In sector 14, which geographical location did the engagement take place, and what was the total number of troops involved?”
This, he could answer. He hovered his pen over the paper, ready to jot down the answer. But then, something stopped him. All he knew for sure was that the place had been barren, dusty, and as hot as hell. It felt like a desert, but he didn’t know the proper name. Khael gritted his teeth, frustrated. He had no idea where it had been located—just that it was one of the most desolate places he’d ever seen. He couldn’t write that down. Not without making it seem like he had no clue.
“Whatever,”
The next question made him pause again. It asked:
“How many troops were involved in the Battle of Sector 14?”
He grabbed his pen, quickly wrote 17. It felt good to know something, to answer one question without hesitation. He set the pen down and waited. When the time was up, the cadets flipped their exam papers closed as the instructor walked around, collecting them one by one before leaving the room.
The next period was scheduled to be another theory class, but a half-hour break came first. Some cadets headed outside, stretching their legs or handling personal errands, while others stayed behind—some studying quietly, others chatting in small groups. Khael decided to step outside and take a proper look around.
The main building looked like a modern mall. An open atrium in the center allowed anyone to look up at the skylights far above or down at the first floor. Khael was on the fourth floor, leaning on the railing and stared down at the moving cadets below. However, he noticed a small group of people to his right. They had gathered near the railings further down the corridor, blocking the walkway.
Curious, Khael stepped forward. He pushed past the onlookers and found a guy arguing angrily with three other people. The invisible barrier that held the others in place was broken when Khael moved forward alone. He put a firm hand on the lone guys shoulder.
“Calm down, buddy. Arguing won't solve anything.”
Surprisingly, he paused, staring at people and growling. He backed down with clenched fists and a stiff stance, glaring at the others but not pressing any further.
However, one of the three wasn't prepared to overlook the situation. His voice was loud enough for everyone to hear as he scoffed with his arms crossed.
“Yeah, listen to your boyfriend.”
Khael stopped in his track. “Say that again,”