Galaxy's First Ruler

Huuu!!! Shuuu!!!

The howling wind slammed on Aldrich's face, making it difficult for him to see the vast panoramic view of the world beneath him.

His arms were half outstretched, and at the height of over 12000 ft, the world seemed bigger than it actually was. There was no backpack on him, showing the lack of any parachute. And the sun's piercing light felt like needles without goggles.

But Aldrich was no ordinary man, nor were the others. They were Dreamers. And even though a drop from this height could kill them ten times over, it wouldn't happen unless they contacted the ground.

Just a few minutes ago, Baron Siwan had made them jump out of the spaceship, one by one. They were already made to go through the instruction scroll within their individual FIR once. Aldrich wasn't unfamiliar with FIR. He already had one, and of even better quality, hidden under the false images created by the cuff link.

According to the instructions, they would be dropped randomly around the checkpoint. The drop zone would vary between 300 to 500 km away from the checkpoint, and no one would know each other's positions because of them being jumping separately. It was a well-thought-out procedure, and it wasn't like the N.I.K.E. was conducting such a selection for the first time.

Aldrich kept losing height, and the silhouette of the spaceship kept getting away from him. The next candidate won't come before his landing, which would be known by Baron Siwan through the watch on her hand. The instruction scroll said that Siwan would have the exact location of all candidates, but Aldrich highly doubted this point.

'330… Hmm, It isn't a big or a small number.'

Aldrich thought as he came out of the thin, blurry clouds. The total number of candidates, Common and Rare Ranked together, was 330. And out of these 330 Dreamers, only three would get selected. Even though it was clear that the Dreamer having the most Mana cores would be the winner, Aldrich could see the cruelty hidden behind the facts.

3000…

1200…

400…

200…

Aldrich was like a meteorite, about to result in a damped thump before losing his life. But just as he reached a height of 200 ft above the ground, a blue cube appeared in his hands. This was a general cube given to all Dreamers in their FIR. It didn't have any mystical Runic symbols, as it seemed more of a machine and less magical. The only thing that made it stand out was the insignia of N.I.K.E. and a rod having two draconian wings.

'Here we go…'

Aldrich had many ways to land on the ground without wasting such a sophisticated piece of technology to study later. But he had to make sure that Baron Siwan wasn't monitoring her in real-time. Based on his rank, and the fact that he hadn't taken out a summoned creature after jumping out, he must use this cube called Anti-Gravity Draconian Wings.

A fresh smell of wet ground entered his nostrils, and wasting no further moment, Aldrich crushed the blue cube in his hands.

Crunchsss!!!

It was like crushing a box made of clay, but instead of getting stuck to Aldrich's hands, the cube got broken into sand-like particles. These particles, like an apparition, appeared on Aldrich's back. And in the next moment, humongous dragon-like blue wings materialized there. Without Aldrich's will, the wings flapped, creating winds more powerful than a jet engine.

Flap! Flappp!!!

Whooooo!!!

Despite the sudden loss of momentum, Aldrich didn't feel any jerk. It was as if the creators had already considered all things, and they had already accounted for all situations. As Aldrich's shoes touched the ground, a smile came upon Aldrich's face. Only things at this level could interest him. If all scholars within N.I.K.E. were so meticulous about their inventions, then he could take advantage of these facts.

The huge wings on Aldrich's backs, sensing his landing, disintegrated in the same blue sand particles. But they didn't stay for long in that state. The moment they fell on the slightly muddy ground, these particles vaporized. Aldrich wanted to take a sample, but he had an even better idea.

'There are many who will not use their cubes. The flying-type creatures sure are helpful in these cases… haha…'

Aldrich took a deep breath of air and looked around, inspecting his surroundings. Despite the sunset being an hour away, it was almost dusk within the jungle. All around Aldrich there were towering trees, making only a portion of sunlight fall through them. The air was humid, and the noise of countless birds and diurnal beasts was permeating through it like an unseen river.

Aldrich didn't move from his spot, not even one step. He just stood there like a statue. After an hour of listening to the jungle music, and as it was getting darker, Aldrich took a scroll out of the Rare level FIR given to all Dreamers.

Aldrich unfurled the scroll, and instead of words, a 3-D map materialised like a hologram over it. On the hologram, two points were flashing, one red and the other blue. Blue showed Aldrich's current position, and the red was for the checkpoint. At the corner of the hologram, the shortest distance between these two points was flashing in blue, too.

"Hmm… 460 km…'

Aside from these things, and a detailed outline of the terrain in green, there wasn't anything on this hologram. There was no way to tell the location of Mana cores, and no information on the possible presence of the magical beasts. The general info was that there were ten thousand Common and three thousand Rare Mana Cores spread in a 300 km radius around the checkpoint.

But Aldrich knew that both the tasks of getting a magical beast and gathering Mana cores were irrelevant. The unknown and unsaid task that Dreamers needed to do, to survive, and to win this cruel selection, was something entirely else.

Aldrich thought as he glared at the red color of the checkpoint, which showcased danger as far as the colors go, wasn't random.

'Normally, the first to reach there will be the ultimate winner…'

Aldrich was thinking this when a scream rang out, making Aldrich snap his head up.

AHHHHHH!!!