Starbound: A Space Odyssey

John entered in the Terrene Protectorate's HQ and was greeted with a classic greek style reception hall.

Huge pillars made of marble in both sides, with a singular red carpet going all the way towards the reception desk.

It really matched the status of the organization, such enormous and grandiose building.

John decided to take a look at one of the sides of the hall, so, he turned to his right.

At the wall, John saw various paintings hanging on the wall.

All of those paintings had only one person in there, and all of them had only one thing in common, they were all Grand Protectors in the past.

With just a quick glance, anyone would realize that all the Grand Protectors were Humans.

Not even a single non-Human in sight, at least not until John got closer to end of the paintings.

The 24th Grand Protector, the first non-Human on top of all.

John stared at the painting that showed a lime green Hylotl with old features and wisdom in his eyes.

As the first non-Human, he surely suffered a lot, but he nonetheless prevailed and pushed the Terrene Protectorate even further.

He was also the one that started to send even more Protectors beyond the Frontier to explore.

It was all because of him the Terrene Protectorate went through a huge reformation and growth in a short span of time.

His name was Sumeragi Ryuji, but people often call him Ryuji the Great.

After he stepped down, there haven't been a single non-Human yet to become a Grand Protector.

The next 2 Grand Protectors didn't actually do something different to make people remember them.

As for the 27th Grand Protector, there was something interesting about her.

Her name was Esther Bright.

People remember her because she was the first Grand Protector to resign her seat before her death or until she got too old to work as a Grand Protector.

She barely kept herself in the position for more than 15 years, which was low compared to most Grand Protectors that kept in their position for almost 30 years.

The sudden resignation caught everyone but the Elder Council by surprise. It created a lot of rumors and conspiracy theories about why she gave up and disappeared as soon as she left Earth.

But she didn't left the seat vacant, as she convinced the Elder Council to give her position to a relatively young Protector, the youngest ever, Leda Portia, a 33 years old Protector.

Five years after Esther Bright, Leda Portia continued as a Grand Protector and proved herself to be capable even though she was young.

Compared to the other paintings, Leda's one really stands out as it pictured someone clearly younger than everyone else.

Although she was 38 years, right now, she has full white hair. She's a kind and gentle-looking middle-aged woman with a faint opressive aura around her.

John stared a little more at the Leda Portia's painting, which was the last one in the wall, before walking away.

Even though John always dreamed to be a Protector, he never had lofty dreams of becoming a Grand Protector.

He knew that, compared to others, he was simply too dull and not special in any way.

In his class, he could be considered one of the best, but he was just at the 36th rank in the overall grades.

He could get high in the overall grade just because he was ranked 1st in tests of survival, just because of his abnormal adaptability.

In other tests, John was pretty much above average, at least.

On the other hand, Aoi, the yellow Hylotl from previously, was very high in the ranks, 9th place.

She was a genius in medicine and chemistry, while also having top tier grades in all the other tests.

Compared to the geniuses, he was very average.

All he has was fruit of hard work and determination.

To achieve his dreams, he almost never took time off and neither rest. He was always working hard and improving himself in everything he could.

John looked at the auditorium's double doors in the distance. They were still closed with some Protectors acting as guards at the outside.

It would take some time until they ceremony begin, so, John decided to walk around the Terrene Protectorate's HQ.

...

John was walking down a certain hallway whilst admiring the paintings in the wall when he heard someone call him, "Hey, John..."

Hearing that voice caused John's lips to twitch, [Why is him...?] He cursed inwardly.

Before John could react, an arm dropped over his shoulder in a friendly manner.

"What's up?" The person asked with a wide smile plastered over his face.

John looked at young man that was acting all friendly with him by putting his arm over his shoulder.

The Human young man was 18 years old, he wasn't handsome, but could be considered to be good-looking. With a combination of white skin, silky brown hair and yellow eyes, he became rather popular in their class.

"Good morning, Cael." John greeted him.

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Cael flashed a wide smile when he heard John, "What's this? You, actually greeting me? Am I dreaming right now?"

John rolled his eyes, "It's not like I never greeted you."

"Yep, but every time you did, you always had that not so friendly face which clearly said 'leave me alone, you prick'." Cael tried to poke at John's cheek but his hand was slapped away.

John glared at Cael.

"What?" Cael innocently looked at John's eyes.

John's eyes narrowed as he looked at the arm over his shoulder.

"Ah..." Cael realized what he did and immediately took his arm out, "I forgot you dislike to publicly display our love-"

*Bam*

Cael dropped on the floor without having the chance to finish speaking.

"Ouch..." Cael rubbed his cheek that was completely red with a fist mark on it, "Your punches really hurt."

John started to walk away without sparing a glance at Cael that fell on the ground.

Seeing the angry John fleeing made Carl's lips blossom in a smile.

He hurriedly stood up and ran to caught up with John, "Wait for me!!!!"