Most of the people on the bus were regular citizens making their way into City A-3 for work reasons.
But a few of the passengers were dressed like Archie, either in the same black uniform he was wearing or a different school uniform.
These were fellow students.
The only difference between Archie and the few students wearing the same black military-esque uniform he had on was that on the left side of their uniform, in the chest area, all of them had at least one gold star, while some had two or even three.
Only Archie, standing in the back of the bus with music playing in his earbuds, had zero stars.
His chest was a blank canvas.
If it weren't for the fact that the fellow Trinity Academy students on the bus were accustomed to seeing Archie as they all took the same bus on their way to school, they would've been staring at Archie while snickering.
Why?
Because of the gold stars.
The stars were a reflection of your power rank, with each one representing the real-world leveling system that existed in everyone.
Not only did more stars mean you were more powerful than people with fewer stars, but you would also receive more privileges at the academy, and depending on the mistake, you would receive more leniency from the teachers with their punishments.
So, what does it mean to have zero stars?
Well, not only are you at the very bottom of the food chain at the academy, but it also means you're simply a regular human being.
No increased strength, no magic spells — nothing.
To make matters worse, having zero stars at Trinity Academy made you less of a student and more like a servant.
Archie and zero-star students like himself were in charge of manual labor around the academy, such as sweeping and mopping the training rooms, throwing away the trash, cleaning up the bathrooms, etc.
They were essentially unpaid workers who were only allowed to attend the academy through the Victor Scholarship Program for three reasons.
First, some of them would eventually get their first star, making them "official" students.
Second, it allows the academy to save on money.
They didn't need to skimp on money as the academy was extremely wealthy, but the current headmaster of Trinity Academy has a motto that every last coin matters.
And the third, but most importantly, it was a good image for the headmaster to allow powerless people to attend his school.
Even though most people knew that there were hidden motives behind his benevolence, for some, it did improve their idea of him.
When the bus doors opened up, Archie, along with the other passengers, got off and immediately formed a line in front of one of the many entrances into the force field.
One by one, their IDs were scanned, and they were allowed entry into the city.
Now, their names were listed on a database of external people who've entered the inner city, and unless they bought a room at one of the many hotels that automatically extended their stay inside the city, they were expected to leave the city before curfew.
If they failed to do so and their name was still on the database an hour past curfew, the city patrol would hunt them down and forcefully remove them.
Depending on the circumstances of why you were late to leave as well as how long it took to find and remove you, you might receive a punishment of being suspended from entry for a week, a few weeks, a month, or, the worst case scenario, a lifetime ban.
Once it was Archie's turn, and he was allowed entry after a successful ID scan, he quickly entered and began sprinting to one of the Trinity Academy's bus stops.
He had only two minutes before the bus would arrive, according to the app on his phone.
If he missed it, it would be another fifteen minutes before the next one arrived, and by then, he would be on track to be late for class.
"Phew. Cutting it close there," he muttered as he got to the bus stop just as the bus was coming to a stop and the doors opened up.
Compared to the bus that he was just on earlier, this bus was the equivalent of a spaceship.
After scanning his student ID, he took a seat at the front.
Although his favorite position to be in was the back, those seats back there were reserved for students with at least three stars.
Once the bus stopped a few more times in different locations in the city, it finally began heading straight to the academy.
As it stopped, Archie stepped out onto the aisle and began following the small crowd in front of him who were getting out.
Step. Step.
In front of him was Trinity Academy.
To compare it to a palace wouldn't be an exaggeration.
There were numerous buildings, each with its own purpose.
For example, the white building that was very simplistic in its rectangular design was the Hall of Aristotle, a building where books were stacked to the sky.
However, there were three primary buildings that students spend most of their time in.
The first one was considered the main building, the Hall of Arthur, and it was where students attended "regular school," aka, subjects like math, science, language, etc.
The second building was the Hall of Ichiro, named after the strongest human in the world.
It was a building with six floors, each floor containing multiple training rooms where students could spar, try out their talents, develop their magic, etc.
Lastly, the third primary building was the Hall of Potential.
It was the only building at the academy that wasn't named after a person.
Only students with five stars or more were allowed to enter that building.
It was similar to the Hall of Ichiro, except that it was a million times better.
There was a gravity chamber there.
A battle simulation system.
Personalized one-on-one training with powerful teachers.
Most importantly, there were occasional lectures from guest speakers.
It was in these lectures that many students who were struggling to make a breakthrough in their combat skills, talent level, or had hit a wall with their power rank were able to reach that next level.
An estimated 99% of the school's budget was poured into the Hall of Potential.
For most students who applied to attend this academy rather than the other prestigious schools around the world, the Hall of Potential was the deciding factor.
Walking down the path that led to the main entrance into the Hall of Arthur, Archie could hear the snickers and feel the gaze from the other students.
But after being subjected to this kind of attention before, it didn't affect him too much.
Instead, he was simply in a hurry.
'I'm going to make it to class on time. Yes!'
He was excited because although the things taught in this building were considered useless by the other students, for him, as a punishment for being late to their classes, zero-star students such as himself were subjected to even more labor they needed to do.
Just as he was about to take a step into the building, a hand grabbed his backpack.
Archie was pulled backward, causing him to stumble and fall onto his butt.
"Ouch," he groaned.