I enter into my new home and it is super nice. Everything is all sleek and fancy looking, yet still maintains a bit of the cozy home feeling. A far cry from my old place back at school, that's for sure.

  The common room is quite reasonable. It consists of a small table with five seats, a full kitchen as well as two couches and an armchair. There is a nice amount of space for activities. One might even call it spacious, but not excessively so.

  “Just wait, if you like this space, you’re gonna love the bedrooms.” Liv says, “Boys are over there, and girls over there.” She points to two doors on either side of the room, each clearly labeled so as to prevent any possible confusion. “A study, balcony and small gym through that door.” She points to a door marked ‘recreation.’ She then proceeds to practically melt into the couch, her duties fulfilled.

  I walk through the door labeled ‘boys’ and am presented with two doors. One has my name on it and the other is labeled ‘Stephen Ingram.’ It seems there are only two of us boys, which must mean there are three girls, considering the fact that there are five seats at the table. That makes five cadets in each squadron.

  I enter my room and my jaw drops for like the third time today. It's big. A large queen sized bed decorated in very comfy looking silver sheets takes up about a third of the room. Beside it is a small desk with an interface, should I wish to hardwire into the net. I even have a small sofa in the corner, barely big enough for two people. There is also a large walk-in closet, with space for tons of clothes, armor or weapons.

  Also, there is a private bathroom. I enter inside and it's almost as large as the bedroom. About half of it is taken up by a fairly sizeable bathtub – more like a pool to be honest. There is a large shower stall as well as a super duper high tech toilet.

  But that is not all, I also have another room, a private storage room of sorts. The walls are covered in shelves and even a storage terminal, capable of storing large quantities of an item using the power of the system. It can even manage things that are physically in the room, for easy sorting and access of items. Also, sitting on a shelf is my box of belongings, Tien had it delivered for me.

  These Dragon Guard folks really go all out, even for their cadets. I can't imagine what a full guard’s room looks like, let alone a high ranking officer.

  I take my stuff and head back into the room, carefully unpacking it. I set the picture of my parents on my desk. Then I set my seven accolades near it, creating a bit of a shrine to show them all my accomplishments – accolades from strategy competitions mostly.

  I leave my room and head back into the common room, Liv is still a puddle on the couch and just ignores me. I ignore her as well and head into the ‘recreation’ area. First, I check out the gym.

  It is not empty. Rather in one of the gravity weight chambers is a bulky guy with black hair. He has no shirt on and I can see his muscles ripple and sweat practically streams off his body. In fact, I think he has muscles on his muscles. This must be Stephen, I quickly pull up his entry and give it a look.

  Stephen Ingram [Lvl 0 Commander / Lvl 0 Sniper / No Dragon Bonded]

  Rank: 0

  Relation to you: Commander/Squadmate

  Squadron: Asteria

  Age: 18 years

  Height: 178 centimeters

  Hair Color: Black

  Background: Enrolled in the Deveran Command School at age eight, the youngest to ever test into the program. He went on to graduate at the top of the class, with the highest scores anyone has ever seen. He has accumulated thirty seven accolades across many fields – both academic and combat. His best talents lie primarily in leadership, dragon combat theory, military strategy and marksmanship. It is said that he has only one flaw, and that is his complete inability to fight in melee.

  Favourite Book: Therain’s Account of the Great Shattering (5th edition)

  This guy is a beast. There is no other way to put it. Top of his class, of the history of his school even. A born leader it seems, and not bad with a gun either. It's no wonder he is our commander.

  I walk over to the chamber and he notices me, motioning for me to wait a moment. I notice that on the display it says the weight is set at 350kg – which isn't the highest lift ever, but is insane for an eighteen year old cadet. I can do maybe 70kg on a good day, this guy is in a whole different league. I bet he is gonna attract all the ladies.

  He finishes his exercise and then deactivates the machine, stepping out and wiping his sweat with his towel.

  “Hallo there, you must be Makarious, right? Nice to meet you, I am Stephen, you may call me Stephen.” He speaks calmly and cooly, his voice soothing but also motivating. A leader for sure. No clue what he is on about with his name though, maybe he just doesn't like nicknames.

  “That would be me, you can call me Maka. Also like, you're buff.” I blurt out the last part without thinking, and immediately regret it.

  “Ha, that I am. You lift much?”

  “Maybe seventy on a good day. I'm more about speed.”

  “Thats not that bad realistically. We can work with that I suppose. Guess your scout path makes sense, that one must be all about speed. Well, welcome to the Asteria Squadron, I am sure we will do many great things together.” He offers his hand, and I shake it.

  I’ve never really thought about my paths and what they mean. But now that I think about it, my quick thinking has allowed me to win many strategy competitions. Combine that with my speed and scout really does make sense. Maybe the mage part comes from me being a nerd.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  I can't wait to bury my face in some magic books. I wonder what sorts of spells I'll be able to learn, or create. Hopefully some big explosions, that would be awesome.

  “Pleasure to be here. The bedrooms alone are worth it!”

  “You might take back that statement once we get into our first classes. I hear they are rough, to put it gently.” He smiles at me, as though I am unaware of what I have signed up for. Which compared to him, and his clearly decently well off sponsor, I probably am completely unaware. “I think Moxie is still in the study, probably buried in some book. I doubt she has looked up once since she got here and hid herself away in there. Do be nice to her, please.”

  “Thanks for the good tip. I guess I shall go disturb the bookworm now, very nicely of course. Nice meeting ‘ya.” Stephen waves at me and then goes back to his weightlifting.

  I leave the gym, but not before I see Stephen crank the machine up to 400kg. I head into the study which is just across the hall. Surely enough, there is a small girl sitting at one of the desks, surrounded by piles of data books. She has shoulder-length red hair and wears a pair of glasses, which must be a stylistic choice.

  Moxie Spark [Lvl 0 Medic / Lvl 0 Mage / No Dragon Bonded]

  Rank: 0

  Relation to you: Squadmate

  Squadron: Asteria

  Age: 18 years

  Height: 144 centimeters

  Hair Color: Red

  Background: Enrolled in the Wisteria School for Promising Youth at age four. She excelled instantly, topping the charts and even surpassing all of the upperclassmen. She ended up graduating ten years early at eight years old. She then went into university education and has received seven graduate degrees in fields ranging from quantum biotechnology to social science. She has managed to receive five accolades for some of her research papers, despite avoiding anything even remotely considered a competition.

  Favourite Subject: Human Psychology

  Geez, this girl makes me feel weird for calling myself a nerd. Like, I am a normal person compared to her, and it's not even close. Like seriously, seven degrees at age eighteen?

  “Hello there, whatcha reading?”

  Moxie jumps up, knocking over a few data books. She holds one out between us, as if to act a shield.

  “Woah, I aint gonna hurt you.”

  She seems to realize who I am and drops her data pad. She nods affirmatively. Then, she shows me the book that is on the screen, Triven’s ten maxims on how to socialize.

  “Ooh, that's a good one. ‘The art of conversation is that of reflection’, right?” I say, reciting one of the better phrases in the book.

  She seems to hesitate for a moment, but then in a very quiet voice, she speaks. “Y..ou read iiit?” Her speech is very broken, and she seems to struggle quite a lot. Perhaps she is like, super reclusive and never speaks or something.

  “Yeah, it was decent, though her maxim about the nature of humans being to lie is something that I don't really agree with.”

  “Me. Too.” A big smile appears on her face.

  I take a seat next to her and we discuss some of our favourite books for a while. She is far more of a generalist, so she tells me about lots of books I've never heard of. Meanwhile, she has read every book I can think to mention. It's quite humbling.

  Unfortunately, our book-talk is interrupted by Liv, who barges into the room. “Fellas, it seems our last squadmate is about to arrive. Quick, come get introduced. Our Evaluations are in two hours and I’ve heard we don't want to walk in without knowing each other." She exits without waiting for us to respond.

  Moxie looks quite anxious. So, I give her a pat on the head, gently.

  She jumps back and gives me a weird look.

  “Sorry.”

  “It. is fine?” She says, seemingly unsure about her own answer.

  “Come on, let's go meet our new squadmate.”

  Moxie and I head into the common room where Stephen and Liv are staring, openmouthed at our last squadmate.

  She stands just inside the doorway, awkwardly looking around. The reason why Stephen and Liv are staring is pretty obvious. She has long white hair, and her eyes are blue. These things indicate that she is a part of the upper stratum.

  But damn is she beautiful. Something about the way she carries herself is just so cool and calm. It's awesome. She is wearing some fancy uniform unlike anything I've ever seen before, must be from some super duper fancy school. And it looks absolutely stunning on her.

  Moxie grabs my sleeve and sort of hides behind me a bit.

  I check the new girl’s entry.

  Violet Sharpe [Lvl 0 Front-liner / Lvl 0 Fencer / No Dragon Bonded]

  Rank: 0

  Relation to you: Squadmate

  Squadron: Asteria

  Age: 18 years

  Height: 175 centimeters

  Hair Color: White

  Background: After years of political and societal pushback, she enrolled in the Travernium School for Prodigies at age fourteen. She instantly reached the top of her class, towering above everyone else. She has received forty two accolades, every single one in a combat related field. Her top fields are fencing and three dimensional movement. Even at such a young age, she is commonly regarded as one of the best fencers of this era.

  Favourite phrase: “Why the fuck should I tell you my favourite thing?”

  Well, I better not get on her bad side. I might just end up with a blade running through my gut before I can even blink.

  I step forward and extend my hand out to her. “Nice to meet you, you can call me Maka. I look forward to training with you.” I smile, hoping to break her awkwardness.

  She extends her hand slightly, before retracting it, then extending it again and finally shakes my hand. “Nice to meet you. You might be interesting to train with. You can call me Violet. Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I have a few things I wish to put away.” Her voice is beautiful too, though it's shockingly soft and light, considering her combat abilities.

  Violet walks towards her room. But, before turning the knob she turns back and looks me right in the eye, her blue eyes meeting my red ones. Then she smiles briefly before turning back around and disappearing into her room.

  I think I nearly die from that single look. But through some miracle, I survive and regain my composure. I look at the rest of my squadmates, they are still staring at the door, expressions of confusion, or in Liv’s case, hatred, on their faces.

  I can’t blame them. A member of the upper stratum showing up as our squadmate is about as shocking as it can get. After all, those of the upper stratum simply cannot bond with dragons. Seems like we have a bit of an oddity on our case.

  Though, now that I think about it, all of us are quite bizarre. Stephen is too good to be true. Liv is our tank that cannot move in combat. Moxie is brilliant, but has trouble communicating that brilliance. Then there is me, the guy who sucks at anything aside from strategy, being fast, and my fascination with anything related to The Dragon Guard. So realistically, Violet and her oddly colored hair and eyes will fit right in.

  Though I might need to convince the rest of my squadmates of that last part.

  “So, what exactly are these evaluations?” I say, breaking their frozen status and everyone starts moving again, the shock passing.

  Next Chapter: The Evaluation

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