The sound of knocking echoed.
But since there was no reaction, the knocking grew louder.
Anon's eyelids trembled as he lazily got up from bed and made his way to the door.
As he opened the door, his focus returned when his gaze fell on a pair of ruby-red gems intently staring into his amber-gold orbs.
"The instructors sent me to fetch you." Seth smirked, "Everyone is awaiting your presence."
"Oh," Anon replied, looking dazed.
Seth wondered, Was he asleep? For how long?
"What time is it now?" He asked.
"Quarter to eight," Seth said with a hint of amusement.
"You weren't seen for dinner, so they assumed you were asleep. It seems that was the case."
A strange brilliance flashed in his eyes as he continued, his tone questioning.
"Is it, Anon, that you suffer from insomnia?"
"In fact, that would answer why you're always so languid during the day. It isn't your true persona, just that, you're so exhausted that you can't help it. I didn't expect this from that man's son."
As Seth stepped into the room, he laughed, "Although everyone in this dorm has their own room, I see no problem with sharing. I'll give you a couple good night kisses and you'll sleep well, and if it's nightmares, I'll even go so far as to lend you some emotional support."
Anon yawned, heading to the bathroom.
He ignored the crimson-eyed boy and washed up, preparing himself before leaving the second floor with a silent Seth.
…
"While some may know, I'm sure there are others more confused for the reason why they are here?"
Parkinson, in a room that was prepared to house at least forty students, stood in the front and spoke to the six geniuses sitting a distance away from one another in differing parts of the room.
"Every year, there's a program to nurture a group of individuals who we deem to have the highest potential, not just to enter the military academy, but succeed within it."
He smiled.
"Usually, there are only one or two, maybe three. Though intelligence is an indicator to one's talent, it isn't an accurate one, so the safest thing to do is bring only the children of great families to this program."
"After all, they are usually already very close to becoming stellar fighters, or maybe, already one."
Parkinson then pointed at a student, "Andrew, stand up for a moment."
Though confused, Andrew Webb took to his feet, causing the legs of his chair to scratch against the floor.
He was sixteen yet already had a towering figure, standing at 6'3 and with a muscular frame, he had an even more imposing aura surrounding him than Mr. Park.
And with his brown hair and hazel-colored orbs, his gaze confidently met with the five other students, not caring if they were from great families or had ranked first.
Inherently, all geniuses held a trace of arrogance.
Once used well, arrogance and pride could be an advantage just as much as it could be a disadvantage.
"Andrew Webb isn't from a great family, yet his natural physique is a great indicator of his talent. To boot, he finished in the top fifteen in the final exam rankings."
"I ranked in the top fifteen?!" Andrew exclaimed.
Great families naturally had their ways, so their children also knew of their results early, but ordinary people needed to wait until their school's graduation ceremony.
The ceremony was at the end of June, and this program lasted two weeks, merging into the camp of ten thousand.
None of the students here would be able to attend their respective school's grads.
Waving his hand, Parkinson signaled for Andrew to take his seat and pointed at Melissa Green.
As she was about to rise to her feet, he mentioned, "You don't need to stand."
He shifted his gaze to the rest of the class.
"Melissa Green may not have a physique comparable to Andrew, but her results in the final exams speaks for itself."
"Finishing second, she had full marks in the beast exams, and the even more difficult stellar cosmic dust exams. With such results, she could've embarked in U.S.A.P instead and aim to become a scholar of the void, or stellar cosmic researcher."
In this world, the titles of scholar and researcher are even more revered than those of the average soldier.
"Obviously her intelligence isn't ordinary, and since her first choice is the military academy, we'll naturally not decline."
"Although her body doesn't scream 'stellar fighter', there are an many stellar fighters with weak bodies yet far reaching and devastating prowess, and we see her future self as one of them." Parkinson smiled at her.
Hearing such praises, Melissa bowed her head, embarrassed.
In fact, she also didn't know that she had done so well in the final exams, finishing second.
Then, she thought, if she received full marks in both the beast and stellar cosmic dust exams, the hardest subjects, why didn't she finish first?
Finally, Parkinson turned to Anon.
His gaze paused on Catharina, Seth, and Nickyle Orland before shifting to Anon.
"Anon, in St. Hope high school, is synonymous with the title of 'the greatest slacker'. He has also sent more than one student to the infirmary. Logically, he should've been suspended or even expelled from such a prestigious school."
Hearing this, Anon titled his head.
Compared to Andrew Webb and Melissa Green, when Mr. Park turned to speak about him, it almost seemed as if he had a grudge against Anon.
'I don't remember seducing your nonexistent daughter.' Anon inwardly thought.
He was caught unexpected, and left slightly speechless.
"But how could they."
Parkinson paused after saying this.
Anon's ears perked.
"Anon's St. Hope high school's would-be valedictorian. In every exam, he's had a hundred percent record, and nothing changed in the final exams, so much so that the machineries used to analyze the test papers deemed some of his answers and explanations worth more than the points available."
"In the Core district where some students are children from greater families, this isn't an unprecedented event, but it is in Blackridge."
Parkinson had a broad grin etched onto his face.
"If his intelligence wasn't enough of an indicator, my words previously weren't to denounce him but show that he also has some fighting ability. When combining the two, it is only natural that we bring him to this program."
With his focus on the three students not from great families coming to an end, he turned to the three that was.
Each one of them had a disposition unique only to them.
Nickyle, who had dull-blue eyes and black hair leaned back on his seat with his arms folded. His features were certainly above average with thin lips, long eyelashes, and a nose ring.
His hair fell back, reaching all the way to his shoulder blades.
Catharina's crystal blue eyes and blonde hair made her stand out from any crowd.
Coupled with her slim body, hollow cheeks, and high cheekbones, her beauty was a kind of radiant and attention grabbing one akin to the fabled sun star of the old world.
Seth's most striking feature, his hypnotic blood red orbs, was genuinely as stunning as Anon's amber gold gems. His black hair had red on its ends and his skin was extraordinarily pale, yet it suited the atmosphere that surrounded him.
His hands were in his pockets as he sat whilst staring downwards at the desk in front of him. Truthfully, he almost appeared akin to a mentally ill person, but he didn't seem to have a care in the world.
"I know that great families have their children undergo training from young. However, since the enlightening platform is government property, you have likely undergone the less effective awakening ritual one or two times."
His eyes paused on them, holding a momentary silence actively seeking to build up tension.
"Have any of you awakened?"
Although he asked this, he didn't truly expect any of them to be stellar fighters.
Just, one hand raised, then two, no, three, wait what…?
In the back of the class, Rolan sat with his eyes closed, but they opened automatically when he sensed the sudden silence that followed Parkinson's words.
In the class, all three children of great families had their hands raised.
This was shocking, no doubt, but why was there a fourth hand?
Wait…
Anon, the homeless kid, had his hand up.