Nox had seen how the chosen kids had subconsciously split themselves up. From the viewpoint of everyone else in the hall, he was going to end up alone. No friends. No allies.

Regardless of which group they were in, everyone was getting tired of waiting. The crowd was getting more and more agitated, looking up at the podium. Some of the kids even started complaining to the guards. You mind as well try talking to a statue. [Denying the rich kids their attention? Whoever runs this place sure knows how to make a big entrance.]

Eventually, a man stepped up onto the podium. Murmurs swept the room as stiff thuds walked up the staircase.

Nox’s recruiter spoke. “I am Mort, principal of Hemotech Academy. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Academy.” He coughed. “The first thing I want to say-”

“Hey! What took you so long!”

“Yeah! Do you know who we are?”

“Treat us like that again and-”

Suddenly, the bodies of the misbehaving students glowed a light shade of red, before they started squirming... In the air. After a few seconds, Mort seemed to release his grip on them.

Within a few moments the three cocky kids were squirming on the ground.

[Such strong essence manipulation!]

Mort didn’t even look at them. “The first thing I want to say is that you are insignificant. At home, you may have been the centre of attention. Hell, maybe you were a king. But here,” He waved his hands. “Here, you are nothing. In a little over 2 years, you will be sent to the frontlines. Most of you think you have good odds of making it. I’m gonna sugarcoat it. You’re wrong.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Nox smirked. [I’m starting to like this guy.]

“You may think of the frontlines as a place where the heroes go. Full of glory and valour. That’s the second thing. There is no glory, or valour. Or any of that. Only bloodshed. If you think I’m wrong, then you have either watched too many movies or you don’t belong here.”

[Heh. Way ahead of you.]

“In the next two years, we will be training you to win this war. You will not be children anymore. Shame, because you deserve to be. But by doing this, maybe, just maybe, the next generation of kids can be.”

[Alright, we heard all this before. XERO pumps out this propaganda as much as they pump out pollution. When are we getting to the important stuff?]

After a few minutes of monologuing, he finally switched topics. “We used to follow a house-system, but research has shown that this negatively affects behaviour on the battlefield. Now, there are no houses. You will be on your own, only exceptions being the allies you make.”

Nox’s head perked. [This is interesting. Aren’t they worried about a gang problem?]

“There will be one game that you will play here. We call it the War Simulation Room. Some know it as the Sim. Even during recreation you will be training. Train hard, and you will be rewarded.”

Motioning with a jerk of his head to the people next to him, the man continued; “These are your seniors. Each of them is wearing a training-grade Exosuit. If you perform well, you are guaranteed to be like them.”

“Each of you will now be split into different groups led by the Seniors, and shown to your dorms. Good luck to all of you.”

----------------------------------------

“Honestly, I’m kinda worried. Without houses, he’s going to end up alone.”

“Most likely. But that’s the purpose, isn’t it?”

“I know, I know. Another ‘one man army’. But that army can’t be there if he’s beaten up.”

“We’re keeping a close eye on him. He’s a smart kid. He can handle it.”

“What if he can’t?”

“Well, we always have other ones.”

“Yes, but none as good as him. I mean, his control over essence must be through the roof!”

“We’re working on another kid. Even better than him. She'll be able to cast essence spells like it's nothing. But it’ll take, what, a hundred years for her to be finished?”

“Ha. This war might be over in a hundred years.”

“Try not to jinx it.”