After their initial shock and excitement about the powers he had awakened and their worry about the attack, Damien's parents had firmly decided to leave the selection of the school to Damien's discretion.
According to them, he was the one who would be going and he had the right to choose one which caught his fancy.
Fast forward to a few hours later and now Damien was looking up info about the six schools the principal had recommended on DAUN.
All six schools were on Earth.
After the Voronoi invasion and the subsequent events and years after, Earth had surprisingly undergone minimal changes, that is, if it could be called minimal.
The geographical arrangement of previous eras hadn't changed much till date.
Perhaps, that was if you considered how the earth had expanded in size.
According to one of the laws made by races in the DAUN Alliance, when a powerful race subdued a lesser race which wasn't part of DAUN, they had to introduce them to awakening and also awaken the home planet of the said race to increase the mana quantity there.
Worlds or planets where mana wasn't sensed easily were known as Type 0 worlds. When the world core was made to absorb mana and finally generated mana on its own, the world would now become a Type 1 world which could generate its own mana.
Thus, when the Voronoi colonized earth, they leveled up the world core of Earth, upgrading earth from a Type 0 world to a Type 1 world.
Due to Earth now passively generating mana, the aftereffects of world war three which were still prominent even after three years had passed were restored.
Again, another change which could be easily noted was that a lot of past borders had been broken. Due to the colonization, Earth had become one huge unified entity presided over by one government.
What had formerly been the United Nations council became a fully-fledged government.
Previous regions and continents had their names changed and now there were no more continents but rather sectors.
The Western sector comprised of what had formerly been called North America.
The South western sector was what had formerly been known as South America.
The Southern sector was what had previously been known as the continent Africa.
The Middle sector was what had been previously known as the continent Europe.
The Eastern sector was what was previously known as the continent Asia.
The South eastern sector comprised of islands like Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia.
In total, there were six sectors.
Damien lived in the Western sector, Philly City to be precise.
It was one of the cities at the extreme left end of the western sector.
Those six schools that had been named by the principal were the best school in each sector.
There were many schools for newly awakened but from each sector, those schools had been unanimously accepted to be the first in their respective sectors.
The Awakened Institute was the best in the middle sector.
The True Star College was the best in the eastern sector.
The Enlightenment College was the best in the South western sector.
The Diamond Institute was the best in the southern sector.
The Regal Blue Academy was the best in the South eastern sector
The Imperial Institute was the best in the western sector.
Damien had to choose one of these six schools as his future school. Which of these schools would be more suitable for Damien though?
All the six schools had a top notch reputation and widely regarded as the best in their respective sectors.
Due to Damien's high mark and powers, any school he decided to go to would eagerly welcome him. In fact, if the school selection was left to the schools themselves, they would be salivating and itching to get Damien!
Damien though wanted to choose one that truly fit him.
Even though it hadn't been long since Damien had awakened, he had realized that in the scheme of things he was truly weak and helpless.
If no government agents or any powerful person was with him and somehow he found himself face to face with Dusk agents, didn't it mean he would be long kidnapped?
He would be powerless and defenseless!
The Dusk organization wasn't even the only threat in the galaxy at large that could harm Earth and its inhabitants.
Malicious alien forces and even Earth's colonial master, the Voronoi were all enemies.
Sooner or later, humanity would have to fight for their freedom against them.
All this showed that people on Earth were living on borrowed time.
If disaster struck or even the Voronoi decided to wipe Earth out of the galaxy, would Earth be able to resist?
Certainly not!
Previously, Damien had been elated about receiving the black box which was filled with 100 midgrade mana stones.
Now he knew that it was no longer enough!
If he wanted to become stronger, he would need more than a measly 100 mana stones.
Already, he had made plans to buy more mana stones with the reward money he had received after helping to catch those two Dusk agents.
Still, he would need even more of those mana stones.
That was where the school came in.
According to the info he had searched concerning the schools, a monthly quota of five high grade mana stones was given to students.
Again, there were many other avenues available which students could use to get even more mana stones.
Damien wanted a school where he could grow and be able to get even more mana stones.
A school which would help him understand how to effectively and efficiently use his powers.
A school which would push him to his limits.
A school which would help him get enough strength to protect himself.
Which school would that be?
For a week, Damien had thought long and hard about it. He had checked out information on each of the six schools and to be honest, all of them looked equally enticing to him.
All the six schools had solid foundations, good teachers and good facilities.
Damien was having a headache mulling over this issue.
He had to make up his mind soon.
This is difficult, Damien thought as he lay in his bed, looking at the ceiling and contemplating. Where did he really want to go?
For starters, he had already taken out the Diamond Institute, True Star College and Regal Blue Academy.
They were a little too far away.
The threat the Dusk organization posed was enough for him to overlook such schools no matter how good they looked.
His safety was paramount!
Even though Damien knew that the schools would do everything to ensure the safe arrival of the new students, he felt paranoid.
What had happened to his mates and kids from other schools was too fresh in his mind for him to ignore.
The Dusk organization had acted unpredictably and brazenly then.
What prevented them from doing the same thing again?
Damien would rather play it safe and avoid travelling such long distances than to encounter another kidnapping attempt again.
The next Dusk agents who would come after him in the near future will certainly be smarter and much more dangerous than the previous.
He couldn't take such a risk.
That left only three schools now; the Awakened Institute, Enlightenment College and Imperial Institute.
Even though he had eliminated half of the six schools, the remaining three didn't make it any easier.
Damien decided to see principal Grey and ask for his advice. After all, he had recommended those six schools to them. Perhaps he could help Damien out.
**
A day later, Damien was in the principal's office.
"Damien, like this are important. No one is to make them for you. You have to make those decisions yourself.
I will not influence your decision making in anyway," Principal Grey said with a kind smile.
"But principal, I'm at a loss. I don't know which to choose," Damien said. His voice was tinged with frustration.
The principal gave him a wide grin.
"Trust your instincts, Damien. Choose the school which your instinct points out. That is if you're still undecided. I trust you will choose one which will resonate with you.
Damien sighed and left the Principal's office.
He walked towards Mr. Davis' office and stood there for a long time, gazing at the door.
"Trust my instincts, huh?" Damien muttered to himself.
Finally, he settled on one school.
Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door and entered the office.
Mr. Davis looked up from his holographic desk.
"Oh hello Damien. What brings you here?" Mr. Davis asked.
"I've decided on which awakened school I want to attend," Damien blurted out.
"That's wonderful, Damien. Which one is it?" Mr. Davis asked.
Damien opened his mouth to answer.