"This is awesome," Kai exclaimed. His perception expanded. He saw red patterns of information, possibilities branching like a cosmic web. The Astral node had granted him access to a game-like system. Data streams and symbols swirled around him, merging with his consciousness.
"How does this even work? Do I have powers? What's my skill?" He raised his hand, and the holographic display responded, obeying his command.
-|SKILL: UNAVAILABLE|-
-|SKILL: UNAVAILABLE|-
-|SKILL POINTS REQUIRED TO UNLOCK SKILLS|-
-|SKILL POINTS AVAILABLE: ZERO|-
"Okay, so I have two skills but they're not available," Kai sighed. "Seems pretty useless." He continued to search through the system interface as he was still trying to understand what and what he could do with this system.
-|MISSIONS: REACH LEVEL 5|-
-|DAILY MISSIONS: EAT 5KG OF MEAT|-
-|REWARD: 5 EXP|-
"Eat five kilograms of meat?" Kai scowled. "Where will I even get the money to buy that much meat?" It seemed like he was understanding the system lesser and lesser the more he explored. When he was done, he sighed disappointedly. "I have no idea how this system even works." He shut the system down with his mind. The idea that he now owned an Astral Node was still crazy to him.
He knew his father was the one who created the Astral Nodes and was executed because he was going to give it to the Gormockers instead of the humans. The Astral Nodes were only sold to the richest in the nation to grant them abilities through systems. With these abilities, they would become Alien Hunters and go through portals to kill Gormockers. The more Gormockers you kill, the richer you will become.
Kai knew what he had to do to make money, he had to become an Alien Hunter!
But time was running out! Today was the last day of application and the recruits go to the academy tomorrow. Kai had no time to waste, he quickly hurried out of the house so he could catch the free rollerbus on its way to Hyper City.
αα
Hyper City was the capital city of the nation of Technova. It was where the first Alien Hunters banded together to save Prime Earth and stop the Gormockers.
It was a bright blue futuristic city with large long buildings and aeromobiles flying over the towers and structures. It was also the city where the S.T.A.R.S recruitment headquarters was. S.T.A.R.S was an acronym for Spaceborn Tactical Alien Response Squad and recruits who are picked, join the S.T.A.R.L.I.T.E academy which was an acronym for Spaceborn Tactical Alien Response Learning Initiative for Technovan Elites.
Kai was not an elite by wealth, but he had an Astral Node. That made him just as much an elite as any other teenager in the recruitment since the Astral Node was one of the most expensive things. He stared at the blue dome-like structure which had a giant star on top. Then he took a deep breath and entered the premises.
After a quick check by the door, he was inside the white and blue of the big building. Kai could feel everyone's eyes on him, judging him, hissing and swearing at him. They were all dressed in fine expensive clothes and he was wearing mere rags.
Kai ignored them all and walked up to the receptionist. She frowned hideously at his sight. "I am here to register for the STARS recruitment program," he declared.
The receptionist hissed wickedly. "You're not an elite. You can't register."
Kai sighed, maintaining his composure. "I have an astral node so yes, I can register."
"You?" she laughed. "Where would you get an Astral Node from? You don't even have the money to get neat clothes."
"The rule says anyone who has an Astral Node can apply for the recruitment program as long as they are aged above seventeen," Kai replied to her with a smile tugging at the side of his lips.
"Whatever, peasant," the receptionist whose name was Ketsy rolled her eyes. "It's not like you're going to last long there anyway. Beggars like you do not belong with the elites. Place your hand on the dashboard. This will be over quickly."
Kai did all that he was told, ignoring her comments like he usually does. His hand remained on the dashboard for a while as it scanned his power and potential.
"I knew you were a weak trash!" Ketsy laughed. "You all are. Look at how low your power is. You barely even have anything."
Kai looked down at the dashboard and it was glowing a dull gray, meaning that his powers were extremely low, in fact, almost nonexistent. The STARLITE recruitment only took in those with high power and potential, what made him think they would ever accept non-elite trash like him?
"Now let's check your potential, it will probably be poor too since your power is so bad," Kesty continued to jeer. Razen's palm remained on the dashboard and slowly the gray light began to glow and glow until it transformed into a powerful red light.
"What?" Ketsy murmured in disbelief. "This can't be possible."
"What is it?" Kai asked. "It's glowing red. Is that a good thing?"
There were five colors to determine power and power potential in the S.T.A.R.S recruitment facility. Gray meant extremely low, black meant low, green meant good, blue meant very good, yellow meant excellent but red? Red meant supreme! Supreme Mastery. This meant that Razen could be a supreme master of his powers.
The dashboard exploded and began to let out some smoke. "Whoa!" Kai exclaimed as he moved away from the smoking device. "What was my potential, ma'am?"
"You have a low potential," Ketsy lied. She couldn't stand the idea that a slaveboy could have such a high potential over the elites of the nation. "You see? Like I said you're just wasteland trash. Low power, low potential. You wouldn't survive a week in the academy. Come and sign here if you still want to join."
Kai didn't let her words get to him even though they were like punches to the face. He slowly walked back to her and signed his name on the list. As Kai left, Ketsy picked up her phone and called a mystical wealthy man who was in his dark office and then reported about Kai Halsten who had the potential of Supreme Master. A potential that hasn't been seen in a long time.
The mysterious shadowed man nodded his head and hummed. "I will keep my eyes on this Kai Halsten."
Just as Kai was about to leave the building, he saw some teenagers about his age coming out from the pyrolift with their expensive clothes and polished shoes.
Kai started to hurry out so that they wouldn't see him and cause a scene by bullying him, but it was too late.
"Hey!" Ake Randi's pitched voice halted Kai in his steps. "It's you again. That slaveboy scum that was begging my father for money! What are you doing here in the recruitment center?"