Instructor Johan only gave Yi Tan the mission details and nothing more before sending him to the main gates. The academy had its own pathway to the main gates, which was a shuttle powered by a mini magic reactor that rode along a rail. When Yi Tan first arrived at the station, he found that there was already a line forming for people to get on.
This was a place that not everyone was allowed to enter. Only those who had a mission pass were allowed to use the shuttle. This was because this only led to one place, and that was the main gate. Once you reached the main gate, even if you arrived there on the shuttle, you would be asked to show your pass once again.
As Yi Tan waited in line, he saw that most of the people going out were much older than him, both men and women, and each one seemed to have a secondary weapon such as a sword or gun. These weapons actually intrigued him because they all seemed to have small magic reactors in them. He had never seen such weapons before and wondered how they worked.
Although he was curious, he did not stop anyone to ask about them. He wanted to stay low key and not bring any attention to himself. To be honest, he found this whole situation to be somewhat funny. He did not understand why after only just arriving at the academy, he would suddenly be told to take on a mission.
From what he understood, solo missions were only given out to those who were in the second year. First year students would get a mission half way through the year, but this only came about when it was time to test the abilities of these new students and grade them on their performance. This meant they would be followed by many instructors to ensure their safety. But here, he was assigned a solo mission in his first week of arriving.
So for Yi Tan to think this was all fishy was normal. But he also felt this was just fine by him. If this was some kind of plot to try to get even with him after what happened the other day, then he would rather be alone than putting Mei and Ana in danger again.
Yi Tan showed his pass to the guard at the shuttle, who inspected it before nodding his head and handing it back to Yi Tan. Yi Tan took and headed down the well lit hall to the main station where a small shuttle was waiting to depart. He climbed on and found a spot near the door to stand while holding the metal bar above him.
He did not dare take one of the seats since he did not want to cause trouble with any of the seniors in the academy. He stood there and waited for almost another five minutes before it was finally time to go. To say that he was calm at this time would be a lie. It was going to be his first time out of the city, which meant he was going to be leaving the protection of the dome city that keeps him safe from the toxic air outside. Yi Tan hoped that his first mission outside would not end up as his last mission outside.
When he arrived at the main gate and showed his mission pass, the guard handed him a mask that had to be worn at all times, no matter what, while outside. Yi Tan had caught a look of pity in the guard's eyes, and as he handed him the mask, he even whispered: "Take this. I wish you luck."
Yi Tan did not know why the guard was whispering such a thing to him and would not find this reason out until much later.
After donning his mask and walking into the pressure chamber that split the city from the outside world, Yi Tan stood in the metal room that was slightly damp and had metal pipes and gages covering all the walls. It sort of reminded him of the slums where he had originally come from.
As the room began to fill up with more people who were taking on missions, the air seemed to be tense. But this was to be expected when going outside the confines of the city walls. It was a place where any of these people would lose their lives. This included Yi Tan as well. Even Sei, who was normally chatty, was quiet as if affected by the air inside the room.
As time passed and the room filled to capacity, a loud buzzing sound was heard, and a notification that the room was about to be sealed was heard. A red light began to flash as an extra warning. All personnel who were not going outside needed to exit the room quickly at this time. Everyone quickly got their masks on and waited for the huge metal doors in front of them to open up.
After a few minutes, the alarms went off, and a yellow light began to flash. The metal room began to shake as the metal doors in front of them began to open. A piercing light shined through the crack causing everyone to close their eyes. Yi Tan quickly made sure his mask was solidly on his face as he looked at the blue sky that was visible through the crack. Sweat trickled down his back as he clenched his fists. He was currently seeing the real sky for the first time in his life. A sky he had not once seen before in his fourteen years of life.
To Yi Tan, this was an exciting moment but also a frightening moment. While he got to see the real sky, the real sun, it all came at a risk. The monsters outside only saw humans as a source of food. Yi Tan took a deep breath as he tried to calm his nerves and took his first step forward. Then another and another as he followed the crowd of people outside until his foot landed on the ground just outside the gate. He was now on the outside...