While someone was running for his life, a battleship from Zenith-12 departed for Planet Nova.
Kyle Nox stared at the man before him. Looking out toward the vast space was his boss and childhood friend, the Crown Prince of the Empire of Solaris.
He could only sigh as he looked at his back. His long white hair, cascading over his shoulders, still maintained its luster even after all they had experienced. It was unlike him, who would take time to fix his mane only to end up with a chicken coop by the end of the day.
From where Kyle stood, what was clear of his friend's reflection was his azure eyes that gleamed with freezing intensity.
Of course, who wouldn't be in such a mood when they were so close yet so far?
When they informed the Prince about the vendor's elusiveness, even after Eden took a jab at it, Kyle knew he would be in for a ride.
All Eden could find now was the residual trace of the other soldiers' first search. She said the seller's defenses greatly improved after the restock.
They expected that. Since, who would be so relaxed about selling high-value things as if they were in some flea market? They just didn't think it would be to that extent.
Luckily, they tried probing during the first sale.
And that was why they were headed back to the Nova Base.
Originally, the plan was to recuperate away from the Empire's core military power, but with the knowledge that there was a probability of the seller being in Planet Nova, the decision was almost instantaneous.
Not only did they decide to come back to the base, but also to the Academy.
So, Kyle had to scramble to the Prince's office to ask about their plans.
"Your Highness, we're really going back?"
They were students, yes, but as students who took on actual military assignments, they barely saw the school.
"Stop using honorifics. You make that mistake outside, and you'll see the light in advance." Prince Aeric said with his back legs leaning against his desk.
And Kyle, who had no plans to go without fulfilling his lifelong dreams immediately acquiesced.
"Do you have any other leads? Why the school of all places?"
"Who else in the Empire would be capable of countering Eden like that?"
"But more importantly, which idiot would sell such products at those prices? Only hot-blooded kids would think of doing something outrageous."
Kyle wondered who this outrageous seller was. But if that was his initial guess, the best gathering place for all those people would be the Royal Military Academy.
After the conscription edict, most young adults, regardless of gender, were drafted into military academies. This was especially true for the nobles.
The Empire of Solaris managed to stay at the top of its game for this long because the nobles kept their titles by virtue of military or other advancement contributions.
It was not uncommon to strip titles from families that were only trying to benefit from the Empire while acting like salted fishes.
Of course, that wasn't the case for the retired nobles who had already served the Empire and were entitled to well-deserved rest.
It sounded authoritarian, but it hadn't always been like that. If not for the increasing and worsening spread of corruption beyond the usual zones, the Empire's leaders would not have opted for mass conscription.
No one really wants to send the most productive people into battle for nothing.
But here they were, forced back by the need to keep on replacing the troops to guard against an even bigger threat.
The Spiritual Power Imbalance.
Soldiers needed to be rotated to minimize the risk of them depleting their Spiritual powers in battle, as that would result in almost guaranteed chances of getting infected with the corruption.
Just like his boss and the Marshal.
The Prince only looked fine and robust after consuming several apples. But before this, the guy was almost on his deathbed, and Kyle felt like he was soon to follow.
So, even he understood how important this search was.
"Then what were we out for this time?"
"The usual clearing operations at Zenith-12."
"How do you plan on going to school with that constitution?" Kyle was told not to use honorifics, so he had better not be scolded for this.
"I can, but only until A-rank. Without enough energy to compensate, that's all I could use to keep the delicate balance."
"A-rank?! Was it that potent?" Kyle did not think he'd be able to recover enough spiritual power to get to at least A-rank with just several apples.
Before the orders came, they had already used the Imperial Family's reserves, and even hundreds of those amounted to almost nothing. It was like one apple could replace so many expensive relics.
Kyle shuddered at the implication and understood why his boss looked too serious.
They were the same age and grew up together, but one carried the weight of centuries of refinement as he was born with a crown instead of a pacifier. While he could only watch, crawl, and eat mud as a child.
The gap between heaven and land was really something.
But he had more things to worry about. After all, arriving late to school as a member of the Combat Division required a little bit of fanfare.
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Meanwhile, the hot-blooded idiot was still on the verge of mental collapse after surviving the 'warm-up.'
To be fair, Luca suffered greatly because he tried doing it properly, allowing his body to take the effects of gravity. But when he felt like his bones would start giving out soon, he had to put a layer of Spiritual Power into the soles of his boots.
He really wanted to wrap his whole body, but he didn't want to be called out.
So, Luca survived the increasingly difficult run by using his abilities mid-way.
Most still panted, but Luca could only gape at the Top 3 students who looked too fresh after that horror of a warm-up.
"Wow, Host! Is everyone supposed to end up looking like that?" D-29 asked a relatively unrealistic question.
"Probably. Maybe the people who would be alive after this would end up looking like that."
The instructors kept reciting the syllabus as they ran, telling them how fast the first term was going to be.
The division needed to weed out the students who wouldn't make the cut-off because they were at war against the Corrupted and would need to manage the military's resources well.
Mechas could only be given to those who would survive.
The rest, who don't deserve to waste mecha energy, should go to the infantry division as soon as possible to catch up on the lessons.
That or leave the Academy for another mecha combat school.
And Luca was tempted.
He was really tempted, especially as he sat inside the training pod for the actual class.