Global City is divided into 20 districts.
5 outer districts are where the workers and engineers who run and maintain the city reside.
12 inner districts, which provide the best facility and luxury to the cadets of the academy to live and train in.
Then there are 2 separate districts that offer housing to professors, instructors, and guests of the Global City.
At last there is the 1st inner district, which is the biggest and the most secure out of all the other parts of the city.
The Global Academy occupies the whole 1st district.
Although aside from theoretical teaching and a little field practice, cadets won't be spending much time in the academy itself.
-"Is that him?"
-"Yes, that's definitely him! Lucas Morningstar!"
-"I've heard he was disowned by his father, General Reynold Morningstar, recently. Can he even carry the Morningstar family name now?"
-"So he's not from a ruling family now? No money, no connections, and no outstanding potential either. His life in the academy will be tough."
Amidst the bustling crowd of soon-to-be cadets in first-year uniform, I stood in front of a massive architecture.
Although it was supposed to be a famous Military Academy, it looked more like a modern-styled castle surrounded by five-tall skyscrapers than a traditional schooling building.
Towering walls encompassed the castle and giant metal gates blocked our entry to the academy building.
Outside the academy's giant gates was a humongous concrete field that stretched for a few square kilometers.
The field was crammed with kids around my age, belonging from both high and low backgrounds alike, waiting to get inside.
I couldn't help but notice that not everyone around me was human. There were long-eared elves and short-framed dwarves.
A few kids in my immediate surroundings, who didn't fail to notice me, started gossiping among themselves.
Maybe they were aware that I could hear them, yet they didn't care. That didn't bother me one bit, however.
I tried to spot the main cast of the novel amidst the crowd but I couldn't seem to find anyone.
I knew the protagonist was going to be late on the first day, but where was the rest of the main cast?
Maybe they were in the back lines?
As I stood there, I couldn't help but feel that the crowd was lacking in numbers. But soon, I remembered the reason why.
Young Elites, a group of cadets belonging to the ruling and most influential families, must be having a meeting by now.
The factions within the academy have already started forming starting the first day.
"Haaa"
I couldn't help but sigh again after thinking about what path lay ahead of me.
It was going to be difficult surviving past the final war.
Just a mere thought of that sent a shiver down my spine.
Screech—!
A loud metal screeching sound rang throughout the field where the academy's future cadets were standing in wait.
In the next moment, the giant black steel gates of the academy swirled open, which caused everyone to turn their attention up front.
A girl dressed in a white one-piece uniform with blue linings under a long blue coat stepped out from the gates and elegantly stood in front of the crowd.
She had waist-long silver hair that was tied into a long ponytail and deep merlot eyes which seemed to have a shine of their own.
Her skin was slick like silk, and she possessed a slim yet attractive figure that was honed for battle but was still irresistible enough to make heads turn her way.
Nevertheless, the most distinctive feature of her was her slightly long ears, revealing her identity as a half-elf.
All that, when coupled with her small face that carried a sense of dignity, made her stand up to the definition of the word 'pretty.'
She bore a very, very close resemblance to me in terms of appearance. That was natural since she was my elder sister— Yelena Morningstar.
Or at least she used to be until my family disowned me.
Oh yes, in case you're wondering, Lucas' mother was an elf.
But unfortunately, Lucas didn't inherit her bloodline, so he had no elven features aside from his uselessly handsome face.
Honestly, I couldn't imagine how charming he would have been if he had inherited the elven bloodline.
-"Look! A blue and white uniform!"
-"That must mean she's one of the 'royals'!"
-"You idiots! Do you not know her? She's the firstborn of the prestigious Morningstar family! Yelena Morningstar!"
As soon as Yelena stepped out of the gates, murmuring broke out among the crowd again.
Even those who didn't know of Yelena's family background deduced that she was a high-ranking student after taking a look at her special uniform.
The dress theme for normal cadets was black and red, while 'royals' sported blue and white.
Some kids standing near me stole a few glances at me. It seemed like they were hoping for some kind of reaction from me.
But seeing my lethargic expression, they frowned and disappointedly turned their head to look back in the front.
As if she was waiting for that cue, Yelena dramatically raised her hand to silence everyone standing before her.
Every single person present in the field quieted down at that moment.
That was the power a high ranker– a royal possessed. To be able to silence a crowd this big with a mere movement of the hand.
I won't lie, but I felt quite envious of her.
"Calm down, everyone," a melodic, almost angelic voice resounded throughout the field right then.
Even though the field was so big and she wasn't using a speaker or anything, everyone was able to hear her voice clearly.
Almost as if she was standing right next to everyone.
It was sound magic—her signature and first choice of magic in the novel.
Yes, she was an important character in the first half of the novel.
"I'm Yelena Morningstar, the current Queen of Global Military Academy."
-"Q-Queen?! No way!"
-"Wow! I knew she was incredible but to think she was this strong!"
-"I love you, Yelena!"
The positions in the military academies are based on chess pieces.
Everyone below the 'Top 16' are called cadets. They hold no special authority of any kind.
In the Top 16, there are 8 pawns (Disciplinary community) and 8 royals (Cadet Council). Royals range from King to Rook. Exactly like chess pieces.
It's as if they are telling us we are nothing but expendables—mere pieces which have no say in how they wish to move whatsoever.
Yet, those rankings are the symbol of hierarchy and authority not only within this academy but also in this city.
And Yelena just announced that she was one of the most influential people present here.
Needless to say, the kids present in the field broke out in awe after hearing that.
But Yelena didn't give them a chance to fawn over her much longer as she continued her speech almost immediately.
"Now, I know many of you are excited to be here while most of you just want your years at the academy to pass by as soon as possible," she said and briefly paused before continuing to speak.
"However, let me tell you one thing. You all are the hopes of this world. Soon, you'll be fighting in wars and defending our cause— protecting our lands from the vampires and our planet from kalis.
"I won't lie, it won't be easy… Kalis are quiet for now, but soon they will begin their last-ditch effort to invade our planet. They will try to take our homes from us.
"Vampires are at a stalemate with us, but the upcoming war with Kails will encourage them to push their borders on us from the north once again. In short, the times ahead are tough."
When Yelena was done speaking all that, she took another brief pause and scanned the crowd before her. Everyone had grim expressions on their faces.
The situation wasn't as dire as she was making it sound to be. Earth wasn't in any real threat for the next couple of years.
The reason she was doing this probably was that she wanted to test the 'hopes' of this world.
Seeing that she might've scared the crowd too much, Yelena shook her head and began to recite her speech again.
"Tough times call for strong men. But strong men are not enough to win wars. What we really need are heroes. Heroes who can guide us to a bright new future– a peaceful future!
"But heroes are not born; they are forged! Through hardships and trials, they are forged to fight. But they fight not in order to subjugate! No, they fight to protect.
"And this right here is the place where we forge the heroes of tomorrow! This is where we forge the defenders of our world!
"So I ask of you, not as the eldest daughter of the Morningstar family and not as the reigning Queen of the Global Academy, but as someone who was born into this world! Defend this world and embrace your destiny as heroes by stepping inside the gates of this academy!"
Seeing that everyone's faces began to light up, Yelena smirked and summoned a sword from her dimensional storage.
She then raised her sword and exclaimed in the highest, most noble tone possible: "For the glory of our world!"
-"For the glory of our world!"
-"Yes! We will do whatever it takes to defend our homes!"
-"Damn those vampires! Damn those kalis!"
-"Marry me, Yelena!"
As soon as Yelena finished her speech, the crowd broke out in cheers.
"Wow," even I was genuinely impressed by her speech.
Had I not known about the future of this world, I too would've gotten roused like the rest of the people attending this event.
But that was not the case since I knew what story lay ahead of us…
I knew what was awaiting us, in the end, was nothing but…
A cruel fate.
