Chapter 174: Malfunction

Michael almost missed the landing of the Dekalos-Class spaceship. Fortunately, he returned just in time.

It had already slowed down and the inertia generator was deactivated a few minutes later.

Michael had to sit on the safety chair when he stepped out of the Runic Gate. Afterward, he looked out of the small window in his cabin to witness the spaceship entering Kelta's exosphere. The Dekalos-Class spaceship entered the atmosphere and shot down to the planet's blue sapphire-like surface like a meteor.

Bright sparks ignited all over the spaceship's metal surface as the engines worked against Kelta's inertia to slow down their descent to the ground.

The Dekalos-Class spaceship trembled wildly as multiple forces impacted heavily on it, but it kept descending, slowly finding its way to the spaceship harbor that seemed to grow larger as their distance decreased.

Michael observed the planet's surface with the same interest as he watched their descent. Both were fascinating to watch.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long before they reached the harbor.

The spaceship harbor was humongous, even larger than the spaceship harbor in Elyra. It easily towered above all spaceships docked in the docking bay and reached deep underground as well.

Soon, the spaceship trembled one last time before it stopped moving altogether. They reached the ground, where the staff went through a safety checklist before the crew was allowed to open the gates to the docking bay.

[Dear passengers, it was an honor to bring the newest generation of mankind's pillars to Kelta. My crew and I are grateful, and we hope that everyone enjoyed the trip to Kelta as much as we did. My name is Captain Morane, and I hope to be of service in the future as well. Don't hesitate to travel through space with Morane Enterprises. Thank you very much!]

The captain's voice echoed through the speakers across the spaceship.

Once the Captain finished his short speech, a series of notifications rang through Michael's crystal watch.

[Suitable network system has been found. Connection to Starnet has been established!]

[Welcome to Kelta, the first human-occupied planet in the Lumina Stellar System. Have a nice stay!]

[Crystal watch of freshman student Michael Fang has been detected. In the following attached files, you will find the schedule of the next three days, the facilities you can use with your current rank, the place and room number of your accommodation, and much more!]

[Remark: The Real Combat assessment will determine the first rankings. The ranking cannot be challenged in the first week of your arrival.]

[Remark 2: The Rankings' daily rewards are doubled in the first month of your arrival. Please give your best to continue obtaining the rewards you deserve!]

Following the notifications, one of the files opened. It was his schedule.

Only three days were filled with appointments. The rest was still empty.

Today, all students would have to gather in the open auditorium where the Dean would hold a short speech.

It was scheduled to start in less than two hours. Michael's first reaction was that time was tight, but that didn't seem to be a problem.

Apparently, the spaceship from Elyra was the last to arrive.

Tomorrow and the day after the second aptitude assessment would be held and concluded.

It would be much fiercer than before, considering that the Ranking would be established, and the daily rewards doubled now that the freshmen from all planets finally gathered at the Academy.

The rewards were also announced in the files. They were quite high and included better cabins, Saphire Points, Named Summoning Scrolls, and much more.

However, Michael was not really interested in any of that right now.

'Whatever'

He opened the crystal watch and immediately accessed Starnet messengers.

There was no need to rush outside, so Michael rather messaged his brother.

However, a deep frown appeared on his face when he saw that his brother hadn't sent a single message over the last 30 days.

'He knows that I couldn't connect to Starnet messengers during the trip. His focus was probably on his territory and the conquest of the Primedival Pyramid!' Michael told himself to calm his nerves.

He wrote a short message to his brother, informing him about his arrival at the Academy, and sent it over. Once Danny returned from the Origin Expanse, he would know that Michael arrived on Kelta without any issues.

Afterward, Michael retrieved the small Lord Card that was connected to Danny's Lord ID.

Michael wanted to ease his worries by looking at the intact Lord Card. However, he quickly realized that something was wrong.

Michael's heart skipped a beat as he looked at the card that kept changing colors.

Did it break on his flight to Kelta, or did something happen to Danny?!

Michael felt a lump in his throat as he left his cabin.

He walked outside without diverting his eyes from the Lord Card for a single moment.

That was also why he never realized that someone appeared behind him.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but you cannot look at the Lord ID copy of other people in Kelta. The distance between the Solar System and the Lumina Stellar System is too far to transfer details such as the remnants and status of War Runes. The Origin technology requires too much energy for such a negligible piece of information. Sorry, Michael," A young, and sonorous, yet somewhat distant voice reached his ear from behind,

Michael turned around startled, just to be faced with Annabelle Claire.

They had never talked with each other before and only fought once during the Real Combat assessment in Elyra.

Michael kept looking at Annabelle in confusion, who seemed to notice something.

"Your name was Michael, or am I remembering wrong? If -..." She said, just to stop as Michael interjected.

"No, you remember correctly. My name is Michael Fang," Michael said hurriedly.

He was still confused by her statement, but his heart was more at ease after hearing her explanation.

She glanced shortly at him without a change in expression. Her eyes moved to the malfunctioning Lord ID and her voice softened.

"If you have any worries, you can just message the authorities and ask for more information. Or go to your teachers and ask them to make a request to the supercomputer in Elyra. They'll forward the information you want after confirming your identity and your relationship to the Lord ID of the person you're looking for. It is a little bit annoying, but it reduces the costs drastically in exchange for little additional work."

Michael felt much better and he put the Lord Card away. If it was useless to look at the card, he might as well not pay any attention to it.

"Seems like you advanced," Michael said after he thanked Annabelle for easing his mind.

They weren't even friends, so Michael considered it a big deal that Annabelle noticed his worry, and that she shared important information with him.

In fact, weren't they competitors right now?

"That's only natural," Annabelle said, showing Michael her War Rune. It advanced to the 1st Tier and reached the same refinement degree as Michael's War Rune had attained.

"I will defeat you next time we fight!" She announced in a determined voice before she stepped ahead.

Annabelle left the spaceship and disappeared from Michael's sight.

Michael left the spaceship as well. He stepped onto the docking bay where a small robot welcomed him.

[My name is Robbie, the robot. Please allow me to scan your ID and irises before I guide you to the shuttle buses!]

Michael smiled weakly at the sight of the child-sized robot.

Nonetheless, he retrieved his Lord ID and allowed the robot to scan both his ID and irises.

[Scan has been completed. Welcome student Michael Fang. Follow me, please!]

Michael followed Robbie for the next 5 minutes until they arrived in a large hall where only one more shuttle bus was waiting.

The others had already departed.

'Am I the last to arrive?' He wondered, glad to be proven wrong as a few more students arrived shortly after him.

They entered the shuttle bus, in which more than 100 freshmen were already waiting for them.

None of them paid much attention to the latecomers. They continued to mind their own business, which was mostly to analyze the strongest opponents - using the videos that had been provided by the Saphirelake Military Academy.

Michael found an empty seat in the back and sat down.

"Seems like you cannot run away from me," He murmured when he realized who sat on the seat next to him.

It was Annabelle Claire, who looked at him indifferently.

"Running away? Me? Stop being delusional."