Without any trouble, they quickly arrived to the school. It wasn't that unexpected though.
No one would be crazy enough to attack a government hovercar which was guarded by six government agents. It was simply suicidal.
The main bulk of the students were yet to return.
Mr. Davis led the five of them to the office of the principal.
He was a kind looking old man. To Damien's surprise, he couldn't sense his aura! The principal looked at him and smiled.
"Next time you shouldn't do that. That goes to all of you too. It is extreme disrespectful to use your sense to probe people's aura. They may take it as an act of provocation and attack you," the Principal advised.
"Yes sir," the five of them replied.
"Alright. That was just by the way. I am Jeremiah Gray. You can refer to me as Principal Gray. First of all, I want congratulate you on becoming an awakened.
All of you are now in the Enlightenment realm and can sense mana. You must make it a habit to absorb mana regularly because the more mana you absorb, the stronger you will become.
Now that you are awakened, you must know that it is not an easy path to walk. You will make sacrifices, you will have to take crucial decisions to determine your future and you will also have power over yourself and even those around you.
Use that power for good.
In a world and a galaxy that power is key, you must strive to become powerful, put in more effort and be discipline because the path of an awakened isn't easy. It takes hard work, dedication, determination and discipline and of course, a little luck to grasp power. You do not want to be powerless in these times.
Nine decades ago, had our ancestors been powerful enough to withstand the Voronoi, we wouldn't have been enslaved by them to this day. You people and others like you are the future of humanity and the whole earth is looking up to you to become great.
Perhaps one day, you people will have enough power to liberate us from the Voronoi and elevate Earth to the highest pedestal.
I have hope in you all.
For now, I will enable you access to DAUN as you have now become awakened.
You may have heard a little about DAUN in class. DAUN is the Divine Advanced Universal Network which connects all the races in the galaxy.
It is also an alliance made by the powerful races and aliens in the galaxy which serves as a form of regulatory body for the galaxy and races part of DAUN.
When the Voronoi colonized us, they introduced us to DAUN. It is a platform much like our native internet, only on a much broader scale.
Very soon, you will get a hang of it but for now, you will have access to it and as time goes on you will uncover its uses which you are allowed to access," the principal said.
Behind his desk, he typed away at a private holographic projection. Suddenly, everyone's comm rang and in tandem they looked it.
A message had come, notifying them being given access to DAUN.
They quickly created accounts and logged in.
"So there you have it. You are finally in. As you may have noticed, there are many restrictions on your account. When you choose one of the Awakened Schools or Institutes and become a student there, everything will be opened naturally to you.
Concerning the issue of schools, let me briefly talk about it.
Currently, there are close to fifty schools on earth for Awakened but only six are top class and worthy of talents like you. They are the Awakened Institute, True Star College, Enlightenment College, Diamond Institute, Regal Blue Academy and the Imperial Institute.
Those are the top six schools on earth currently.
After you leave my office, you will have the opportunity to see your teacher and apply to any school. I would recommend that you choose from those six.
You have two weeks to choose the school you want to attend. They will reply to you after your letter has been sent and send you details on what to do and when to come.
Additionally, you will receive a special nanosuit that has been configured with your uniform and allows you to add as many clothes that suit you.
Due to that, you will have no need to pack clothing.
That doesn't prevent you from bringing clothing though.
Also, when it is time for you to go to your new school, you will come here and various hovercraft will convey you to specific drop-zones of various schools. The school's hovercraft will then pick you up and transport you safely.
This means that a month from now, you will all leave for your respective schools.
Let me sound this warning to you; be vigilant.
Minimize frequent outings!
It is around this time that agents of the Dusk Organization become active and start gunning for talents like you. Already, one of you and another two of your mates were taken today and we do not want a repeat of what happened to occur.
Government agents are monitoring you overtly and covertly to prevent such incidents.
This does not give you the leeway to be careless. Dusk agents are cunning and will stop at nothing to kidnap you.
For this one month, I would advise you to stay home and train.
The government has allocated a quota of mid-grade mana stones to you. Absorb them and grow stronger. Exercise regularly.
For those of you who awoke in the Body path, train your body regularly.
Those of you on the Spirit Path with elemental powers, use them. Train your spirit sense, experiment and create spells and find unique ways to utilize your power.
If you find yourself wondering, use DAUN. There, you will be made privy to general spells made by the government for various elemental powers that you can learn.
In short, your walk to power starts now. Seize it!
If you are diligent enough, you will be able to reach the mid Enlightenment level before you leave for an awakened school.
Your schools will take good care of you and guide you when you finally reach there but for now, it is up to you to start training.
When you leave my office, see your teacher for your mid-grade mana stones and if you have made your mind up already on which institute you want to attend a month from now then do let your teacher know.
Remember, you have two weeks to do that.
I wish you all good luck," the Principal added
The five students thanked him and exited the office.
While the rest stood behind to talk, Damien quickly hurried down to Mr. Davis' office. Already he was itching to start absorbing mana stones!
Damien was thinking about what the principal had said. It had made him realize that though him having four powers was nothing short of impressive, he had to train four times as much as regular awakened or else whether he had more powers than anybody or not, he would be left behind.
Damien had experienced how it felt to be awakened. Already, a fire had been kindled in him.
He had to become stronger!
If he was strong, who would be able to kidnap him?
If he was strong, would he need the government to send agents to look after him and his family?
No!
Subconsciously, Damien's mind didn't feel at ease to have government agents watching over him.
This subconscious thought though had unwittingly stirred him up to train and become stronger, if not for anything, to protect his family and to prevent anyone or any organization from hurting or traumatizing him ever!
"Oh hello Damien. How may I help you? Are you here already to choose your school?" asked Mr. Davis, looking up from his holographic desk.
"Not yet, sir. I haven't made up my mind yet. I'm here for my mana stones though," Damien replied.
"Alright," Mr. Davis got up and walked towards a door at the back of his office. He entered it and shortly returned with a black box.
"Here you go. It's quite heavy but it won't be a problem," Mr. Davis said, handing the black box to Damien.
He nodded and left the office.
The black box was unlike anything Damien had seen. Somehow, it prevented the mana stones inside from leaking mana into the surroundings! Damien's sense couldn't enter into it too.
Damien finally got out of the school block and saw the now familiar government hovercar with two unfamiliar agents waiting beside it.
Damien frowned inwardly.
Who were these two?
Not letting his unease show, Damien walked over but kept his distance.
"Ready to go home?" asked one of the agents with a smile.
"Who are you? Where are the usual agents who brought me today?" Damien asked.
Damien sensed something was amiss. His newly sharpened instincts were screaming at him that something wasn't right.
"Oh. They are currently…indisposed. We've been sent to take over," replied the other agent.
"Why are they indisposed?" questioned Damien.
"It's classified information, kid. There's no time to waste. The sooner you get in the hovercar for us to take you home, the better," replied the first agent, his smile was looking… strained now.
"Yeah… show some ID first," replied Damien.
The agents exchanged glances and the first one sighed.
"I was hoping you'd come with us without much of a fuss. You ask too many questions for your own good," he said.
Damien's eyes widened as his feeling of danger had reached an alarming crescendo!
"Why shouldn't I? Wait a minute… what's that thing doing inside a government hovercar?" Damien said, pointing at the hovercar behind the two agents with a frowned face.
"Huh?" the agents asked and turned to look at where Damien was pointing.
There was nothing there!
Before they realized, Damien had thrown the black box at them and was sprinting towards the school!
"Fuck! Catch him!" roared the first agent in annoyance, angrily throwing the black box to the side! It had struck him squarely in the chest but he was too angry to notice.
A mere brat had tricked him!
"HELP!" shouted Damien as he rushed towards the office block.
Behind him, the two fake agents gave chase!