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2022-02-21 23:03:41“This is your identity card, Soldier Rael.” A soldier handed him an item when the space shuttle reached the surface. “Everything related to you has been coded into it, so don’t lose it.”
“Thank you,” Rael nodded in response as he noticed that there were three others in the space shuttle that had arrived with him. It seemed they had begun to produce Plasma in their bodies at the same time as him, making him wonder, ‘Is it fine to make a re-entry trip just for four people? Isn’t that just a waste of resources?’
But, the soldier didn’t have an amicable expression, so Rael didn’t have anyone to clarify his doubt with. Based on the soldier’s instructions, he was asked to proceed straight and enter a gigantic building that was situated more than twenty kilometres away.
‘I have to walk for that long?’ He groaned mentally. But upon looking around, he understood the cause. Space shuttles continued to land and take off one after another. And there were thousands of them moving about, cluttering the space.
And, everyone being dropped off were students. As this place seemed to be the landing depot of the entire planet, it was pretty crowded. Hence, a walking distance of twenty kilometres didn’t seem all that odd.
He was just vexed about having to walk that far away. There was a good chance he might take an entire day to reach his destination, given his subpar endurance.
The moment the four of them began to walk on the long, narrow path, their space shuttle took off as another landed on the spot soon after. A group of three students around his age exited it.
Unfortunately, he didn’t know anyone, so he didn’t have any company, having to walk slowly. A couple of hours passed in such a fashion when suddenly, there were murmurs all around. Rael turned around, noticing the students retreat to the side immediately.
And there, walking in the centre like she owned the place, sporting a haughty demeanour was a girl his age, but a head taller than him.
White hair, white eyes, blue-tinted skin, and a sharp presence. She was a Mauman. Upon seeing her, most of the students were surprised, gazing at her as if she were an exotic species.
The Mauman girl calmly continued to walk, sporting casual pyjamas. There was a head ornament that shielded the crown of her head while clamped at the end of her braided hair was a cylindrical item made of a material resembling brass.
Whether it was just a hairclip or not was unknown, as it seemed heavy.
It wasn’t just due to her demeanour alone that the others paved way for her. In actuality, when she approached Rael, he understood the reason.
The air around her was sizzling hot, as if he had ventured into a desert. So, affected by the heat, he automatically moved over to the side to cool himself, watching the Mauman girl saunter forth like an empress.
And, whether it was her aura, her presence, or just her appearance in question, calling her an empress would be a given.
Gazing at her back, watching her continue to walk past, Rael thought, ‘Appraise!’
[Name: Calca Duta]
[Origin: Gator City (Planet: Strombus Nebula)]
[Age: 15 Union Years]
[Race: Mauman]
[Might: 28]
[Toughness: 29]
[Mobility: 30]
[Endurance: 33]
[Plasma: 201]
[Body Tempering: 2986 Newton]
[Temperature Index: 324]
[Rank: E]
Seeing her stats, he was shocked, ‘She’s freaking strong, even though she’s the same age as me.’
The Mauman Girl, Calca Duta felt his gaze lingering on her for a bit longer than others, turning around to glance at him once, subtly frowning.
Though, she didn’t seem to mind much, used to the gazes of others on her all the time, continuing to walk proudly.
For some reason, Rael didn’t wish to walk slowly after seeing her. Or rather, he just didn’t wish for her to lead him by too much, at least hoping for her to stay within his sights. That way, he could continue seeing her.
After all, this was the first time he had seen a Mauman up real.
Earlier, he wasn’t aware of just what a Mauman was exactly. But after becoming a soldier, the nurse had told him about the Maumans.
A Mauman was basically a human that had been born possessing the power of Plasma in their bodies. They were genetically the superior version of humans.
As soldiers with the power of Plasma had been around for four centuries already, they had been possessing Maurta hearts all along. So, in families with a long-standing continuous generation of soldiers, the Maurta heart had become more and more adapted to their genetics.
And eventually, the genetics fully merged into them, causing the newborn to be born with the power of Plasma. And, as they were born with this power, their growth was many times faster than regular soldiers.
At present, most of the powerhouses of the Federation were the Maumans. Also, as a soldier continued to grow stronger and accumulate more and more Plasma in their bodies, they would slowly begin turning into a Mauman.
This was why there was no sense of discrimination against the Maumans but they were instead respected. It was because every strong soldier of the Federation looked like a Mauman. And, giving birth to a Mauman was a blessing, for they were the true elites that protected the Federation.
It was hard keeping up with Calca Duta, for she was fast, even though she was walking casually. Eventually, Rael began to pant as he was getting tired. But, he didn’t wish to stop, feeling competitive for some reason.
[Conditions met, generating Quest]
<Ding!>
The System’s voice resounded in his ears as Rael stopped all of a sudden, only now noticing something that he hadn’t noticed before. The System’s voice…resembled his mother’s.
At the start, it still seemed robotic. So, he hadn’t thought much about it. And considering his emotional state at that time, he didn’t have the mental faculty necessary to think about it further.
But over time, the voice changed gradually, now resembling his mother’s, confusing him, causing him to mutter, “System, why is your voice the same as my mother?”
[That’s because the first User of the System was your mother, Stella Rukh]
The System replied before generating the contents of the Quest.
[Quest: Reach the destination before the Mauman, Calca Duta]
[Rewards: +1 Mobility, +2 Endurance]
‘I have rewards now?’ The gears in his mind whirred in response as Rael hurriedly recalled everything that he had conversed with the System, nodding in response, ‘I see, since the System has every technology that is part of the Federation, it must have the means to raise one’s stats like this.’
He was still unsure as to how others raised their stats. All that the nurse, Echlika Lael had told him was that Plasma affected the body, strengthening it in response to its quantity within the body.
As to the means, the underlying principle, and the governing ratio of the same, he knew nothing. But, since the System promised him rewards that consisted of three stats points, he would of course accept it.
After accepting it, Rael took in a deep breath before he began to pace with longer steps, trying his best to catch up to Calca Duta. The total distance was twenty kilometres. So, he had to pace himself very well to surpass her.
Though, he shouldn’t do it early. What if he triggered her fighting spirit? Due to her stats, if she actually wished to do so, defeating even a hundred of him was easy.
So, he shouldn’t reveal his motive yet.
Thinking as such, Rael began to take in deep breaths, regulating his breathing to ensure that he would be able to last longer.
He did cross people from time to time, causing them to shoot weird glances his way. After all, he was sweating buckets while the others weren’t, having been walking at a comfortable pace.
Rael didn’t care about their gazes, used to such a thing since long ago. After all, he had been sick throughout his teenage years, having been the recipient of gazes of pity and other forms.
And over time, he became accustomed to them, beginning to naturally ignore them after that. He built up a natural immunity to the gazes of others.
‘Damn, how…how long?’ He began to pant soon after, gasping for air as he stopped moving, thinking of something as he massaged his leg muscles according to what Echlika had taught him. He noticed that with a simple massage, he was able to move once again.
The pain in his muscles had relaxed to a tolerable extent. And, having rested for a minute, he managed to catch his breathing, beginning to walk once again. Soon, he caught up to Calca Duta, pacing twenty metres behind her.
She gazed at him once before choosing to ignore him, ‘What a weird fellow.’
It seemed forever before a building was outlined in his sight, causing him to almost tear up in joy, for the long walk felt torturous. He continued to massage his leg muscles while walking, creating a comical sight.
Soon, when there was only hundred metres left to reach the destination, Rael increased his walking speed, approaching Calca Duta.
Suddenly, the air around him turned hot, as if he was in a desert, causing him to sweat buckets as he quickly moved past her, causing her to shoot a weird look at him.
‘Finally!’ He reached the end before her, raising his hand into the air in victory before turning around to grin at her with an expression of smugness.
‘He has a couple of screws loose.’ Calca Duta’s eyelids twitched upon seeing his foolish grin as she ignored him and continued to walk past, leaving behind a sentence, “If you actually wish to compete against me, join my academy.”
“Which one?” Surprised upon seeing her take the initiative to talk with him, Rael controlled his breathlessness, barely managing to ask in response. In close up, she was gorgeous, causing his heart rate to accelerate.
“The Blue Agate Academy.” Saying her piece, she turned around and entered the building, disappearing into the crowd.
“The Blue Agate Academy…” Muttering in response, Rael decided then and there, “Alright.”
He quickly entered the building, noticing a robot moving around, handing out pamphlets to everyone.
Rael received one, reading the details, “The screening test is graded for a score of 500. Similarly, the time taken for you to produce Plasma is also graded for the same. Overall, your score out of 1000 is your total score that would decide which academy you could join.”
“There are Academies ranked from S to D, with D Rank Academies accepting students in the range of 1-200 scores, C Rank academies accepting from 201-400, so on and so forth, until finally, S Rank Academies accepting students with a score above 800.” As he read it, Rael frowned, ‘So, everything we did was tallied?’
He then looked at the bottom-most line of the pamphlet, “Beyond that, academies would also place a Cut-Off within the ranks. Only students that have scores above the Cut-Off can join the respective academy.”
He then flipped the pamphlet, reading through the instructions written there. Following it, he appeared before an empty booth. There were thousands of such booths placed there as students streamed into them one after another.
He entered his booth and closed the door, watching the screen lit up as an arrow pointed at a part of the machine, flashing the words, ‘Scan ID.’
Rael took out his transparent device and placed it in the respective socket, watching his information appear on the screen.
[Name: Rael Rukh]
[Screening Test: 348/500]
[Awakening: 403/500]
[Overall Score: 751/1000]
[Academy Eligible Rank: A]
“Hopefully, I’m qualified for that…” Muttering, Rael typed the name of the academy in the search bar, soon pulling up information for it, “Here it is, Blue Agate Academy…”
He quickly scrolled through the contents, gazing at the line that said the Cut-Off, “750…?”
“Holy shit!” His eyes widened as he muttered, “Why is the Cut-Off so high?”
As he browsed through the Cut-Off for the numerous academies in the A-Rank, he noticed something, “Every Academy with the word Agate in them have a minimum Cut-Off of 750. It seems they are the cream of the crop within the A-Rank.”
He then grinned, nodding in response as he applied to join it, “Alright, Blue Agate Academy it is.”
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Man Of Systems Chapter 14: Blue Agate Academy
Nothing special was required to apply to the Blue Agate Academy. As long as his score was above the required Cut-Off, he could join it with the tap of a button. Once he applied, he was accepted automatically, gaining him the status as a student of the Blue Agate Academy. All the relevant data was already downloaded into his identity card. A row of instructions then appeared on the screen when he pocketed his identity card. Rael read it aloud, “Terminal 796; board the train there to head towards the Blue Agate Academy.” A map then flashed on the screen, pointing out the floor plan of the building while displaying the route that he had to take to reach Terminal 796. Suddenly, his identity card began to blink as he took it out, noticing that the same map was now displayed on it too, acting as a GPS, “That’s pretty cool.” He left the booth and began to follow the map, moving through the crowded p
Man Of Systems Chapter 15: Flux and Plasma
After filling his belly with food, Rael returned to his room, sporting a pensive expression. After all, a single meal consisted of 1 Credit. As for water and electricity, they were charged whenever the consumption reached a Credit’s worth. “Are they planning to wring us dry completely?” He groaned, for based on his estimation, he would be spending through all 100 Credits by the end of the month. And, this was in the case if he only spent them on basic necessities. “To learn special abilities, I need to use Credits.” Sighing at the thought, he browsed through the instructions left on the wall poster, getting a general gist of things. He then switched on the TV, browsing through the basic courses that he had to do, selecting the first one. “Basics of Plasma, a reward of 10 Credits for a perfect score.” He read through the first one, signing up for it immediately. Basic courses didn’t cost any Credit to sign up for, a
Man Of Systems Chapter 16: Flame Bull and Frost Queen
The class spanned for four hours, at the end of which the professor dismissed them. Rael returned to his room, left with nothing else to do, carrying a batch of tonics with him while returning. The professor had given each student ten bottles to continue practicing for the night, asking them to assemble first thing in the morning the next day. Based on the progress, it seemed he needed almost a month to complete the course. But, that would mean he would run out of Credits. So, Rael wished to apply for other courses as well. Unfortunately, they were all part of the next step after the basics. So, unless he completed the basics, he would just be wasting his time there. So, he didn’t take any impulsive choices, returning to his room before sitting on his bed, ‘I should continue training my Flux.’ The Flux was how a soldier varied the Plasma’s temperature, moved it around their bodies, condensed
Man Of Systems Chapter 17: Temperature Index
Right on time, the professor entered the class, casually expanding his Flux to sense the Flux of others, surprised when he noticed Rael’s, ‘His Flux has become a lot stronger overnight.’ He then noticed the mental states of all students, noticing that they had worked hard, but had gotten ample sleep too. He then observed Rael, exhausted, looking on the verge of falling asleep, ‘I see, that makes a bit of sense too. He’s hardworking and also has talent.’ He then began to talk, “Everyone, show me the results of your training.” Hearing the professor’s voice, Rael closed his eyes, using his Flux to move his Plasma from his abdomen to the palm on his right, bringing it back to the abdomen as he next moved it to the palm on his left. In this manner, he moved it to every corner of his body. The professor noticed that Rael was able to move his Plasma a tad faster than the rest,
Man Of Systems Chapter 18: Pulse Refinement
“The techniques we use to increase our Plasma reserves and strengthen our body are known as Refinement Techniques.” The professor said, “The concept is simple. It’s similar to accumulating fat in our bodies by overeating. But in this process, what we are accumulating is Plasma instead.” “And, the strengthening of our body is even simpler to understand.” He smiled casually, continuing, “If your Plasma increases or decreases in temperature, your body is unable to endure beyond a certain point. But, as long as you don’t go overboard and continue to supply enough nutrients to your body, it would gradually adapt to the Plasma’s temperature extremities.” “Your body cells would evolve to withstand that temperature, automatically strengthening your body.” He said, “And, based on the type of Refinement Technique you practice, the stats growth of your body varies.” “Sir, I’ve heard many students mention stats all the time. W
Man Of Systems Chapter 19: Plasma Skills
102 Plasma; after reaching this point, Rael was automatically considered an E-Rank soldier. Though, this was only by the System. Officially, he was still an F-Rank soldier. He would have to head towards the Center for Observation and Regulation that was situated in one corner of the Blue Agate Academy and find out his Stats there. Once it was confirmed that his Plasma reserved had crossed 100, he would naturally be given the status as an E-Rank soldier. ‘But, I have yet to unlock the full potential of an F-Rank soldier.’ Thought Rael, observing his Temperature Index of 48. The limit capable of an F-Rank soldier was a Temperature Index of 108. So, he had a long way to go about that. It was not to mention his Stats were below 11 for all four primary attributes. So, he hadn’t attained the peak of the F-Rank. Also, he had yet to learn how to use his Plasma. So, he couldn’t be called a proper soldier yet.
Man Of Systems Chapter 20: Entering the Arena
[Range: 1-45 Metres] [Plasma Consumption: 5-25 Plasma/Second] [Temperature Range: (-87)-600 Degrees Celsius] [Force: 5956 Newton] Needle Swirl; that was the name of this Plasma Skill. Upon seeing it, Rael was first confused before becoming excited, eventually ending up in a dilemma as he looked through its stats. The limit of the Temperature Index for an E-Rank soldier was 540. But, this Plasma Skill had a working range of 687 Temperature Index, not to mention its Force exceeding the limit of E-Rank which was only at 5400 Newton. But at the end of the day, this was still an E-Rank Plasma Skill for a variety of reasons. Needle Swirl shaped the Plasma into a needle and unleashed it in the form of a long, spinning tube. And, depending on his desire, he could alter the Flux within it, allowing him to curve the needle-shaped tube as he pleased. This c
Man Of Systems Chapter 21: First Battle Using Plasma
The Arena consisted of multiple temple ruins from an ancient era. There were deity statues all around, broken, moss-covered. Other than the moss and the dense overgrowth of grass, there weren’t any other signs of life here.There were the occasional trees in the place, with some jutting out of the temple buildings. It was a sign of nature taking over the human encampment.At present, Rael was hiding within such a ruin, calming his thumping heart as he heard booming sounds resound around him. The Arena wasn’t too big, only spanning a length and breadth of 300 metres.So, even though the three students appeared far away from each other, they were still within targeting range to a certain extent.“Don’t lose your cool. Calm down…” Rael patted his chest, trying his best to calm himself as he closed his eyes, slowly actuating his Flux, activating Frictional Displacemen
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Chapter 43: Selection
“Chief, a Titan Zombie had arrived!”A scout ran into the settlement, shouting the moment he appeared before Rael’s house.“A Titan Zombie? Where?” Rael exited the house, asking in a hurry.“Follow me, Chief!” The scout said and took off into the air using Pulsor.Rael followed suit as upon seeing him, Xahn too followed them.…“A Titan Zombie…” Derisher flew into the air, heading towards the Titan Zombie as he noticed its eyes widen in surprise upon seeing him.“Freaking royal that had abandoned us…” Derisher grunted in anger and unsheathed his Agate Blade, holding it using his Needle Swirl as he slammed it into his opponent, surprised when it didn’t even scrape the opponent.A faint Plasma Barrier flickered on the skin of th
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Chapter 42: End of the Screening Test
“Chief, a Titan Zombie had arrived!” A scout ran into the settlement, shouting the moment he appeared before Rael’s house. “A Titan Zombie? Where?” Rael exited the house, asking in a hurry. “Follow me, Chief!” The scout said and took off into the air using Pulsor. Rael followed suit as upon seeing him, Xahn too followed them. … “A Titan Zombie…” Derisher flew into the air, heading towards the Titan Zombie as he noticed its eyes widen in surprise upon seeing him. “Freaking royal that had abandoned us…” Derisher grunted in anger and unsheathed his Agate Blade, holding it using his Needle Swirl as he slammed it into his opponent, surprised when it didn’t even scrape the opponent. A faint Plasma Barrier flickered on the skin of the Titan Zombie, protecting itself against the attack as it gazed at the figur
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Chapter 41: Against the Titan Zombie
The scouts continued to grow stronger as they battled more and more zombies. Moreover, they didn’t clash head on, for that would be suicide. It also wasn’t efficient. Humanity’s strongest suit was their innate intelligence. And hence, Rael had proposed to set up traps on the surface. First of them was a massive pit that was fifteen metres in height. Once the pit was created, it would be covered by a layer of rock pillars that they had forged through their Plasma. It would be neatly layered to prevent it from collapsing. And all of them would hinge on one unassuming pillar that actually bore all the stress of the trap floor. And, when the zombies moved over the trap, a scout would use the Needle Swirl to break this linchpin, causing the artificial floor to collapse. Once the zombies fell into the pit, the scouts would drop boulders upon them, killing the zombies safe and sound. There was no re
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Chapter 40: Human Invasion
“Everyone!” It was the evening of the next day as Rael stood on a platform, addressing the fifty recruit scouts that had received their Agate Child Stars, “You’ve just received the power of Plasma. In the following days, Captain Xahn would be drilling into you everything you need to learn as a scout.” “It might seem like we’re hurrying through things, and that is true.” Rael nodded, causing them to gaze at him in surprise, “And that’s because the concentration of the zombie radiation is visibly increasing with the passage of every day. Now that you’ve obtained the Agate Star, you too would be able to perceive the changes.” Standing at the side, Deriri listened to Rael’s words, feeling her heart thump in response, her mood heavy. Obviously, she too had noticed the difference. It was easy considering the rate of her Plasma replenishment was steadily increasing. She had timed it on the first day, wondering how much ti
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Chapter 39: Increasing Forces
“Let’s return,” Rael spoke after a minute. “But that…zombie…” One of the scouts in his team hesitated. “That’s not an opponent we can think of defeating.” Rael said, “Let’s not waste our time and deal with the rest of the zombies in this region.” “But, will it be possible to ever defeat it?” One of the scouts asked, gritting his teeth as he was still reeling from shock and fear of seeing the hill-sized zombie. “Yes,” Rael nodded confidently, “The size of the Agate Stars can be increased. I’ll need to manually refine more Agates into them. But it’s possible.” “So, once everyone in our settlement has the power, we’ll work on strengthening ourselves.” Rael nodded, “Over time, as we defeat more and more zombies, we would eventually be able to take on that zombie, given we save it as the last zombie that we face on the surface.” “Alright, hope we get t
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Chapter 38: Zombie Monarch
Five days had passed since Rael had arrived at the settlement, the underground city of Lereal. Currently, a group of seven were inside a house, gazing at the underground map that they had made in the past year through their numerous scouting. As it was a mining city, there were detailed maps about most of the tunnels in the region. But, the mining city had existed for more than a few centuries. So, a lot of routes were forgotten with time. And even if they had been recorded, they weren’t updated once they no longer served any purpose. The routes could have changed due to the intervention by the zombies. After the apocalypse struck, the scouts had been mapping out the routes constantly in the sample copies of maps they had and once they returned, they updated the main map. “The Red Gecko Brigand would proceed towards the waterfalls on the east while the Green Gecko Briga
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Chapter 37: Second Coming of Danger
Pulsor! Rael unleashed the Plasma Skill and leapt, continuously activating it as he flew through the air like an aircraft, making convoluted aerobics as he used the ability to its limit. Suddenly, he unleashed Needle Swirl, piercing its tip through a building wall as the tube part stretched taut, pulling him towards the wall. Rael unleashed Pulsor through his legs, accelerating as he arrived before the wall, but just when it seemed like he would slam into it, his other hand shot out a Needle Swirl on the opposite side, causing it to pierce through a large boulder as it shrunk in length instantly, pulling him accordingly. Dissipating the first Needle Swirl, Rael used the free palm to unleash Pulsor, preventing himself from slamming into the wall as he diverted his linear momentum into radial, making an arc in the air as the Needle Swirl remained firm, attached to the boulder.
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Chapter 36: Rael's Actions as Chief
“637 people…that’s our death count…” Derisher said with a heavy tone, watching the pile of bodies before them. Not every corpse was there, just the ones they could find. The rest of them were in the bellies of the zombies that had already been melted by the previous Chief. The atmosphere was heavy, the air of sadness, anger, and despair coagulating around them as Rael stood in the centre, gazing at the rows upon rows of corpses with darkened eyes. “Derisher…” He muttered, watching the people pile the bodies after the identities of the corpses had been tallied, “How many people lived on the surface before?” “Around thirty to forty million in our Empire at the very least. If you count the rest of the Empires, the number would become huge. So, I can’t give an accurate estimate.” Derisher said, watching Rael slowly walk towards the pile of corpses. “I see,” Rael muttered, g
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Chapter 35: Anger, Sorrow, and Indignation
“Hmm, the candidates are faring worse than I had expected.” A young boy that seemed around fifteen years old commented, standing on an elevated platform that was situated within the centre of a massive dome. And, embedded on the inner walls of the dome were TVs, each spanning 100 inches in size. There were thousands of such screens in the dome. And each screen showed the POV of the candidate in the screening trial. It displayed everything they were going through within their trials, also displaying the number of Agates they had accumulated. “It’s just the start, so that’s to be expected. Most would take time to adapt to the situation before showing their actual capabilities.” A girl nearby said calmly, “Personally, I’m quite curious about a few candidates myself. I’ve been watching them for the past couple of weeks.” “To think the picky Tina Vink has already picked a few of her members.” The
