Michael and Annabelle sat next to each other on the way to the Saphirelake Military Academy.
Michael wasn't awkward with Annabelle and asked a few questions.
He was very interested in her archery skills. Since their first spar, he felt that there was something profound in her archery skills, and he wanted to learn more about it.
Being an Archer, whose skills and accuracy had been tempered by Fenrir's memories and the Eagle Eyes Soultrait, Michael did not have a bad start. He was a good archer, had a great foundation, and his experience was not little either. Fenrir's memories tempered him a lot.
Nonetheless, he could still learn a lot from the Forest Elves, who already showed him lots of tips and tricks to improve his mastery. His interest in Annabelle's skills increased drastically after Michael encountered the Forest Elves.
He realized that Annabelle had been much stronger and more talented than he was. In fact, Annabelle was on Lilica's level of expertise, while only being Tierless and several years younger than him.
Intrigued by how Annabelle became this strong, Michael asked her way more questions than he initially wanted to.
Annabelle didn't take offense at the bombardment of questions and patiently answered him.
She looked cold and distant on the outside, but she wasn't rude. On the contrary, she was quite open and spoke a lot – though the way she spoke made it seem as if she wanted to keep her distance from Michael and the rest of the freshmen.
Michael chose to ignore the tone in her voice. Instead, he listened to her detailed explanations and the small hints she dropped. That way, the two spend the two hour trip to the Saphirelake Military Academy without a second of boredom.
Because the shuttle bus took longer than expected to reach their destination, the students had to rush to the open auditorium.
The Dean was already standing on the stage. She was an old figure, casting a stark contrast to the young and vigorous faces in the audience. However, her presence radiated vigor and endless power.
Her gaze moved through the audience until it landed on the students, who arrived last. A faint smile blossomed on her face as she gestured to the latecomers to find a seat and sit down.
She cleared her throat, the scratching in her voice evident.
"Good morning, freshmen," the Dean began, her voice surprisingly loud and strong, "and welcome to the Saphirelake Military Academy."
She paused, taking a long moment to scan the open auditorium and lock eyes with a few individuals in the first few rows. The audience grew eerily silent. Something in the air made it impossible for the students to even think about uttering a noise.
"You may be feeling nervous, or excited today, but I assure every single one of you that you belong here," The Dean continued, "Some of you might have lost your territories on the way to Kelta, but that can happen. In fact, not many freshmen will be able to stay Lords until the end of the first semester. Most of you will probably lose your territory due to various complications, and inevitable reasons. Some of you will even die!"
The Dean's voice grew heavy, and every student in the auditorium tensed. Even some of the professors seated far behind the Dean couldn't keep their faces straight. They knew too well that the Origin Expanse was a merciless place.
"But don't let that discourage you," The Dean added, her face brightening up a bit. Simultaneously, the tension in the open auditorium eased noticeably as well. "You have all worked hard to get to this point, and now is the time to make the most of it. The Saphirelake Military Academy will become your whetting stone to transform you – the unpolished gemstones – into brightly shining, polished gemstones of immense value."
"As fellow freshmen, everyone in the auditorium must have realized that there are more than 10,000 students. Every single one of you is powerful and an unpolished gemstone. However, not all of you will be able to overcome the ordeals and finish the process. Some of you will fail, others will give up, and many will die in the Origin Expanse.
Our task is to provide you with the best facilities, and opportunities to grow stronger. We will guide you and give everyone our professional advice. Nonetheless, everyone present has to understand that your future lies in your own hands. If you give up, you will inevitably fail. But if you keep swimming against the stream, you'll be tempered and become stronger than you can fathom.
As the Dean spoke, her voice seemed to grow in strength and power. It was as if she was channeling all the emotions and experiences of her long career into this moment.
In the next half an hour, the Dean continued on, encouraging the freshman to embrace new ideas, seek new experiences, and challenge themselves to grow. She spoke with passion and conviction, her words carrying the weight of decades, and great authority.
The audience sat captivated in the open auditorium, listening to her intently. Michael too, stared at the dean with gleaming eyes. He could feel that her charismatic speech reached the depths of his being. It was quite terrifying if he was to be honest.
As the speech came to an end, the Dean left the stage with a final nod to the crowd. She might be slow and be affected by the influence of old age, but she had the spirit and power required as the dean of the Saphirelake Military Academy.
The message she wanted to convey with her speech was also clear; be bold, be curious, strive for improvements, and most importantly – survive by all means!
'I hope she teaches a course as well!' Michael mused in his heart.
He wanted to have a talk with the dean, get to know more about her vision of the future, and receive some wisdom from her teachings.
However, that had to wait until later.
Michael's stomach grumbled loudly. The freshmen around him looked at him with a grin, but Michael just shrugged.
"I guess, it's time for lunch," He mumbled before turning to Annabelle.
They had been seated next to each other while the Dean held her speech, and he wanted to continue talking to her during dinner.
Her archery training method was quite interesting. Michael hoped that he could find a way to implement her training in his workout routine. That way, he could maintain a great balance between flexibility, speed, and power.
"Do you want to have dinner with me? I heard that the cafeteria gives a welcome feast. We won't have to pay a cent and will get highly nutritious dishes!" Michael asked, unable to keep his excitement under control.
The thought of having delicious food created uncontrollable excitement within Michael. He felt energetic and jumped up from his seat, smiling brightly at Annabelle.
She looked at him, one eyebrow raised. Annabelle thought about it for a moment and gave him a slight nod.
"Let's go then!" He said, leading the way.
Michael wanted to eat to his fullest. He was not sure when he would be able to fill his stomach with the delicacies cooked by the Saphirelake Military Academy's Chefs. Thus, he had to make the most use of it.
Since it was already late and everyone was tired, not many freshmen chose to visit the cafeteria. Instead, they visited other facilities, entered their rooms to return to the Origin Expanse, or they socialized with the freshmen coming from other planets.
However, Michael was glad about that. He would rather have more food for himself than share it. Wasn't that obvious?
He picked up four plates and filled all of them to the fullest before he brought them back to the nearby table without spilling any of it. Afterward, he returned to fill two more plates.
The first round of dishes had been prepared, and Michael was ready to feast.
Annabelle, on the other hand, was much more demure. She filled a single plate and ate slowly – and with manners.
She finished her plate in the same time Michael spent inhaling the aroma of six plates that had been filled to the brim.
It shocked Annabelle a little bit, but she didn't think too much about it. Some Soultraits required a tremendous amount of nutrition to work properly.
When Michael returned to the cafeteria staff for a second helping, they stared at him in shock. At first, they thought Michael wanted to hoard some food for the next few days. A few of them wanted to say something, but their chef restrained the overly ambiguous staff.
It looked like they noticed something in Michael's gaze. They weren't surprised when they saw Michael gorging on his food in the blink of an eye. Meanwhile, the staff was shocked to the core.
The Chefs looked at Michael with fatherly love as they refilled his plates.
A fellow glutton never failed to recognize one of their kind.
The Chefs had all Soultraits that consumed a tremendous amount of nutrition, and they naturally thought that Michael was similar.
But was that really the case? Michael had always been a glutton, even before he awakened Extraction!
Michael saw a few familiar faces when he returned to the table with his dishes again.
Kaleb and the Barbaric Couple were at the table to eat their daily dose of nutrition. Their body and mind had already been accustomed to eating to their fullest after finishing a huge jumbo plate every single day for a whole month.
They filled several plates to the brim and sat down around Michael – Frederik to his left with Jacqueline next to him, and Kaleb to his right.
None of them said a word as they feasted on their meals.
This astonished Annabelle quite a bit. She looked at the odd group of four people for a while before she blurted out the thoughts that flashed through her mind.
"I thought you guys hated each other. Seems like you're just friends pulling a joke on the first day of the trip!"
Frederik grumbled a few incomprehensible words at Annabelle's accusation. Meanwhile, Jacqueline recalled the day Frederik had been taken and forced to join the Limit Breaker course. She felt like throwing a drumstick at Michael at the mere thought of the troublemaker.
Meanwhile, Kaleb shrugged while continuing to eat.
After dinner was over, everyone was satiated and happy.
It was pretty hard to feel sad with a stomach that had been filled to the brim with extraordinary mouthwatering delicacies.
The entire human race would have to be on the brink of destruction to disturb Michael's happiness after tonight's dinner.
He ignored a few banters a few students started in the cafeteria and watched the staff intervene after a while.
The students ought to beat the shit out of each other tomorrow during the Real Combat assessment. They had enough time to beat each other until one of them gave up.
While listening to the quarreling students, Frederik, and the others were reminded about the Real Combat assessment.
Kaleb wouldn't join since he had yet to become an Awakened, but Frederik was ready to fight Michael once again.
He wanted a rematch and was certain that he had worked hard enough to defeat Michael at last. After all, he had finally advanced to Tier-1, and his degree of refinement exceeded Michael's by now.
Frederik Kolbenheim used his resources to surpass Michael, and he wanted to show once and for all that he was more talented than Michael.
He acknowledged that Michael was a prodigy, that the young man without special background was powerful, and that he progressed rapidly. However, Frederik had to fight and defeat Michael. Otherwise, how could he even think of becoming the Sun of the Freshman, and defeat other prodigies if he couldn't even fight Michael head-on?
What Frederik didn't realize was that his hatred toward Michael had dispersed a long time ago.
Rather than considering him a bastard, or a nobody, who didn't deserve to join the Saphirelake Military Academy, Frederik began to see Michael in a new light.
The trip to Kelta changed his mindset a lot.
Now, Michael was not a nobody anymore.
He was a rival on equal footing!
