Terran continued to walk. While he got many stares, no other group approached him. Many times, he stopped to look at a campus map. Unfortunately, navigation was not his strong suit and many of the buildings looked the same. Luckily, the posted maps could connect to an app with GPS, and after much struggle, Terran finally arrived at his dorm.
Upon opening the door to his room, he was serenaded with the sweet sounds of argument. "Come on, bro, you have to join. We'll be standing at the top of the school someday!"
"Tch, I don't want to be a part of this school's stupid games; I can take care of myself!"
However, with the door's abrupt opening, the conversation quickly came to a halt. The two's attention turned to Terran as he entered the room.
"Who are you?"
Terran sat his backpack down on the unused bed wearing a straight face. "I'm the RA, here for a pop-up inspection to search your room for any prohibited items."
Immediately the first guy, who had been trying to convince the other of something a second ago, got a little anxious. "Hahaha, lucky we don't partake in any of those things. Go ahead, search away!"
Meanwhile, the other roommate did not seem bothered. "Dumbass, he's obviously our new roommate. Didn't you get the email?"
"Of course, I knew that! What would make you think otherwise?" Although he spoke with confidence, his face told another story.
Terran could not help but smirk at the nervous reaction.
The gullible one, who had a medium build with short blond hair, got up and stepped forward. "It's a pleasure to have you here. My name is Oliver. You are?"
"Terran."
Without a second of pause, Oliver continued. "I'm trying to start a gang. Would you like to join me?"
"N--"
"Wait-wait-wait, your new, so you must not know what it's like here. While these schools look nice from the outside, on the inside, they are no better than a jungle. We live in a dying world with finite resources. Here, power rules. Teachers won't even care if students go missing! Not to mention, the first years will be going on an outing soon. From the rumors I've heard from our upperclassmen, it is not rare for 5% of the students to not return. We need to group up if we want to survive!"
Hearing this, Terran was a little surprised. "So much for the city treasuring every blessed." He thought, but without much concern, he still replied, "No thanks, I'll be fine on my own."
Oliver wore a defeated expression. Nonetheless, he continued trying to sway them while patting his ID. "Why are both of you so stubborn? You don't lose anything from joining, and in exchange, I'd help you with protection and resources!"
Like many of the other students, Oliver wore his ID around his neck, and on it was a large bold B. Seeing this, Terran was quite intrigued by what blessing he might have.
Meanwhile, the other kid who had been lying on his bed this time was unperturbed by Oliver's speech. "Tch, yeah, right? You could not protect a lion from a butterfly." He then got up, slinging a katana that had been lying next to him on his back before walking out the door.
"What's his problem?" Terran asked, even though his attitude had not been much better.
"Beats me. Ken's been acting all edgy since we moved in. I've been telling him he's got to change his attitude, or he'll scare all the girls away, but he acts all stubborn and won't change. Enough of him. Why don't you take out your schedule so we can find your classes before you find yourself in a rush tomorrow? I'll also show you where all the facilities are while we're at it."
At first, Terran had thought Oliver was a lot like the guy that had tried to rope him in when he arrived. This was the root of his previous deflective behavior. But Oliver was turning out to be a friendly guy. Honestly, the idea of joining his group was not a bad one. However, Terran was a free spirit, and he did not want to be under someone in any way, even if it was a silly school gang. While the idea passed his mind of humoring Oliver's request so he could leach resources, that was not his goal. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but this was probably his best chance to ever experience a normal life. No matter how many screws he had loose. He didn't want to start off a potential friendship with lies and deceit.
Terran and Oliver were currently exploring their campus, on the search for all of Terran's classes. While they walked, Terran asked the questions that had been eating away in his mind. "What did you mean earlier when you said this school was a jungle for resources? Doesn't the Federation of Blessed Individuals serve to make sure all blessed stay happy, so they don't riot?"
Oliver squinted his eyes at Terran. "What rock have you been living under? What don't you understand?"
"Ah, you might as well just pretend I have been living in my parent's basement my entire life and tell me everything!"
After a moment of awkward silence, Oliver decided to indulge his clueless knew roomy, so he explained. "Some people call it world energy; others call it mana. It is energy invisible to the human eye. It is everywhere in the air surrounding us. World energy is what all blessings run on, just like a lamp runs on electricity. It is also key for life to thrive and is why no one lives outside of the Oasis. The issue is our world no longer produces it. We don't know when, but if nothing changes, one day, even the Oasis will become uninhabitable."
Seeing Terran's face looking like a kid hearing a bedtime story for the first time, he could not help but sigh. "Jesus, you really have been living under a rock!"
"Tch, go on, what does all this information have to do with the state of the school?"
"Isn't it obvious? Since blessed suck up world energy whenever they use their blessings, they accelerate the rate that our planet dies. Knowing this, the solution to prolong the inevitable would be to get rid of the blessed. However, who holds the power? It is simply not possible to exterminate the blessed, not to mention any large-scale war would fast-track our downfall. That's only the first reason why many choose to look the other way even when a blessed is killed."
"What's the second?"
"Don't rush me. I'm getting there. Like world energy, all other resources are finite. The fact that there are fewer available only amplifies the effect of greed. Ever heard of the tragedy of the commons?"
Terran did not respond and let Oliver continue as the question was rhetorical.
"To gain resources, one needs power in this day and age. Of course, some naturally have more ability than others with their blessings, but that is not the only way to accumulate power. There are also pills that, when taken and combined with training, enhance one's senses, strength, and stamina. Some of the more basic pills are allocated to every student each week."
At this point, things were starting to make sense in Terran's mind. "I'm guessing that just because they are distributed equally doesn't mean they end up in equal hands."
"Now you're getting it. Those with stronger blessings, take some of the other students' pills in exchange for protection. If they didn't, they would just get stolen from other groups anyway, and they would be left beaten up, sometimes even dead! At the end of the day, for an F ranked blessed, it is impossible to keep any for yourself."
Hearing this, Terran nodded in contemplation.
Oliver patted his B rank ID hanging around his chest and grinned. "So now that you know, do you want to join my gang? I won't even take any of your pills. In fact, I'll even give you some every week. That's something only I'd do! We're roomies after all!"
"Ha-ha, no thanks, I'll be fine on my own."
"Brother, what rank is your blessing to have such confidence? Oliver asked with a mix of intrigue and reverence in his eyes.
Terran flashed him his D, and the reverence in Oliver's eyes instantly disappeared.
"God, what did I do to deserve getting roomed with an edge lord and a suicidal dumbass!" Oliver complained out loud. Frustration filled his voice, and yet it was not directed at anyone.
"Well, my door will always be open, but don't bring too much trouble with you when you come knocking. Understand?"
Terran's lips curved upward. While he knew he wouldn't need his help, it was nice to know he had at least been given a kind roommate. Given time, he was confident he could take down anyone in this school, but he had come here hoping to learn and live his life. It would have been a shame if he had needed to battle his roommates just to sleep in peace, and based on Oliver, it would seem he had gotten lucky with his odds.
Meanwhile, Ken, the other roommate, was still a bit of a wild card, but Terran expected him to stick to himself. This was because, from their short interaction, he had given off loner vibes. Which was, of course, fine with Terran as he was not one of those people that got the sudden urge to interject themselves into other people's lives.
There were many buildings to explore, and the sun had already set in the blink of an eye. By this point, Terran knew where to find all his classes and various facilities.
After grabbing some nutrient fluids at the dining hall, the two turned in for the night. Terran wanted to get plenty of rest to be in peak condition for his first day of class. But before collapsing for the night, Terran made sure to complete all of his daily challenges. He now had 18 unassigned stat points, 75/200 EXP, and 3 Lottery spins.
His time with Sophie had been cut short, and so he planned to use the lottery spins the next time she visited. As for the stat points, Terran didn't exactly know what he was waiting for. At the moment, he didn't exactly need more strength or more mana, and he had not developed a fighting style. Similar to the reason he had not learned the Imp's Terror blessing, he did not want to cuck himself by cutting off a future avenue.