The Elusive Book Keeper

The buildings that were once a series of afterimages became clearer as the effect of the speed potion started to wear off. Zane stopped as he reached for his wristwatch. 

9:30 am

Hp: 107/110

Mp: 330/330

Zane smiled, twenty minutes had passed since he drank the low-level speed potion. The remaining distance was not much. It was time to get to work.

Zane began to jog while keeping his eyes out. The more he watched, the more he marvelled at the creativity of humans. He had seen a couple of students switch running. 

A student would carry his fellow student at his back after a while, the other student would take over.. This method was not bad, not only did it promote teamwork, but it also teaches the art of conversing energy.

'Found one'

A boy was sprawled on the pavement on the road. From where Zane was, he could see the boy's ċhėst go up and down at a rapid pace. Of course, this boy was not the only one lying on the floor but he was different. The point of difference was his shoes.

He had seen that pair of shoes in his wardrobe back at the Valois mansion. Since even the trash bin in his room was a limited edition, and his shoes are not far off. There was only one conclusion. That boy was very rich.

Zane jogged up to him and looked at him from above. Black eyes immediately opened and stared warily at him.

Zane smiled at the boy. His smile was warmer than the sun and as gentle as water.

"Fellow student, Are you alright?" He asked.

Zane froze, "You are right. That was a foolish question. Here." He stretched out his hand and dragged the boy into a sitting position.

His movement was a little forceful that the boy gave him a sharp look, however meeting the warm and gentle gaze, he concluded that it must be another awakened idiot that did not know how to control his strength.

He snorted with a little anger. At least he had strength.

"Fellow Student, you must be worn out. Here, take some." Zane opened his inventory and passed him a bottle of water and a bar of health recovering chocolate.

Cale was shocked but still accepted the water like he had met his saviour. After drinking a bit, he hesitated but still took the chocolate and ate it quickly. He could feel his strength recovering and he smiled.

This was torture, he was a mage of the fire element. At least the mages with wind can levitate themselves or something but he had no help. Should he burn his way through the no obstacle room, how embarrassing would that be. 

Thinking of embarrassment, his ċhėst felt even hotter. He had two older siblings in this college, two, not to mention the large brood of cousins, yet not a single one of them could tell him about this entrance test so he could be better prepared. He wondered whether they were watching somewhere and he felt angrier.

Zane felt the air get a little hotter, "Fellow student...."

Cale felt like these two words were particularly grating in his ears, "Fellow student this, fellow student that, Can't you call me anything else?" After shouting, he remembered that this was the student who just helped him and felt a little embarrassed, he rubbed the back of his head and said in a much lower tone, "My name is Cale Halle. Thanks for your help just now. I owe you one."

The guarded expression on Cale's face returned. It was at least ten times stronger this time. "I have two older siblings. Doing this is useless."

Zane was lost in thought for a while before he realized what Cale meant. His smile turned twisted and he got, "I can understand what Mr Halle means but that was never my intention. I still have to finish the race so I will be on my way." He did not wait for Cake to finish speaking or defend himself. 

They were going to be schoolmates for at least 2 years, there was no rush. All he had to do now was sow little seeds of karma.

And so Zane continued on his journey, helping the poor souls along the way. He listened to one vent, giving her a bottle of water to moisture her tongue. He allowed another to lean on his shoulder as he took rapid breaths of air. He finally reached the registration office and took a deep breath. He was really a good person. 

___ 

The registration building was large and was divided into four floors. However, the registration of the new students took place on the ground floor. Some students were resting while others had already started their registration. Holograms of the Speaker's speech were playing at different corners of the building.

The Alliance was the nation most similar to the previous nations before the Earth went online. It ran on a system of parliamentary democracy.  

The house of laws was divided into two, the house of heritage and the civil house. The number of votes held by the two factions was equal, however, the members of the civil house had to go through an election every six years.

As for the House of heritage, their votes were based on the contribution of the particular house to the Alliance. This is especially seen during the war. It was the war that lifted the Valois family to a top tier house with four votes.

Alex Wigo, the current speaker of the house of laws advocated education and resources to the youth. His slogan was that the youth was the future of tomorrow. Hence every year, he made a long speech.

"Everything in the future belongs to you! Glory...Wealth..."

His words were like throwing flames onto a barrel of explosives. He was continuously stimulating the already stimulated youth. The faces of many people listening were filled with unconcealed excitement. He could see an old man clenching his fist with burning eyes.

If Zane was not in public, he would have rolled his eyes so hard. 

"Good morning Sir, How can I start the registration process?" He asked politely to an older man sitting at the office desk.

The man did not bother to look up, "Your Exam number?"

"I did not take the Entrance Exam. I am one of the seeded students. My name is Zane Black Valois."

The man looked up, his blank expression turned into a warm smile. "You are one of the students on special enrollment. Can I have your CAT registration number?"

Zane called it out for him and watched him as he typed. One of Alex Wigo's schemes...goodwill was that the three top scholars in CAT received a scholarship to any university of their choice and were exempted from the Entrance Exams.

The man who was in charge of his registration saw his gaze and smiled. He then whispered, his face full of gossip, "Her name is Avery Millox. She got the second-highest score in the Entrance Exams and I heard she had a very amazing class. What am I saying? Mr Valois, your main class?"

"Sniper." He said, seeing the shocked look on the man's face. He gave an embarrassed smile.

The man did not comment. Who did not know that anything can happen during the choosing of a class?

"There are six departments in the University. Department of Combat, Department of Weapons and Armaments Technology, Department of Logistics and Support, Department of Research, Department of Health and Psychology, Department of Strategy and tactical operations. Each student must belong to one of these departments. You are allowed to take eight courses, however, 50% of the courses must be from your department." The man gave him a booklet that contained all the courses Amherst college offered and a selection form to fill in his courses.

Amherst college deserved to be the number one college, it offered over a hundred courses and there are just the basic level courses for freshmen.

It was a little difficult for Zane who was juggling a lot of things to choose from. He could see his enemy already- time. He had already changed his plans once today and he had to do it again. It was not a nice feeling.

In the end, he chose Basic Combat Sniping,  Firearms technology, Basic Herbology, Herbal Medicine in Healthcare, Introduction to Alchemy, The Chemistry of Alchemy, Essential First Aid Herbal remedies, Potion Brewing.

He submitted the form, collected his I.D card and badge before leaving.