Northern stood in front of his wardrobe. When he opened the right door, it revealed an in- built mirror on the other side.
He stared at himself for a long time, grooming his hair and smoothing out every single rumple on the ensemble.
Apart from being a part-time student, Northern was in the non-combative part of the academy. They were known for wearing black instead of the usual academy white.
Like every other student, they wore a white V-neck inner shirt with black pants and could choose between knee-high boots or fine, sleek shoes. Northern opted for the latter-a set of boots he had acquired in South Drywall and worn to Arcadia.
These boots had marched through blood-soaked ground and remained sturdy; this was Northern's only reason for not wearing the new pairs of shoes that came with the uniform.
Instead of black stripes on the sides of the trousers, theirs had blue. A black jacket was worn over the V-neck ancient-style inner shirt.
Their uniform, Northern considered, was peculiar. It had a confusing blend of ancient eastern dressing and modernity.
It could have been a coincidence, or he was not the first person from Earth to come to Ul'Trael. He had often thought about this since the day he heard of his father's last name.
But he had always instantly shoved such thoughts to the back of his mind-those were not the times to concern himself with such matters.
And even now, he was not concerned. Yet, he didn't mind finding out. Since the academy was a repository of knowledge, he would be on the lookout for this information.
On the jacket, he could choose to use a belt at its waist or let it fly around his body. Lastly was his school badge.
Northern walked over to the table, his feet kicking the nylon packaging. He looked at the bronze metal on the table and picked it up.
Since he was in a non-combative school, he did not receive a ranked badge.
Ranked badges were divided into three colors: bronze, silver, and gold.
The ranks of one's soul or class of talent had nothing to do with how the ranked badges were distributed. They were based solely on entrance examination performance.
There was no hierarchy among non-combative students, so they automatically received a bronze badge, placing them at the weakest point.
Of course, should there be any need for a student to prove they were not weak, they always had their identity card from either a private or public citadel.
But this badge alone subjected students to an instantaneous societal classification that could either break or make them.
Northern took another deep look at the badge. It had his name inscribed upon it.
He called the name with pride and fixed the badge on his chest.
Then he went back to the front of the wardrobe, gently pulling out the door and checking himself one last time.
The length of his hair had been cut to just above eye level and then tinted black and blue.
The black and blue hue of his hair gave him a very unique and flawlessly handsome edge. His eyes were sharp and narrow.
His blue eyeballs looked like an incomprehensible ocean of suppressed darkness, held within the swift and unreadable glance of a young, pretty boy.
Northern raised a corner of his lips, touching his chin slightly.
"Crap, I might fall in love with myself at this rate. Who'd have thought black hair fits me better than white? Or is it because of the tint at the edges and roots?"
Northern squinted his eyes and meticulously checked as he thought aloud.
He eventually shrugged and turned away, grabbing the bottomless cross bag.
It had gone through a thorough washing, and after all it had been through, the bag had regained its plush brown leather look.
Northern wore it across his torso and walked out of his room, throwing one last glance at his luxurious cubicle before locking the door and strutting down the hallway.
While walking, Northern met several other students, many of whom wore white rather than black. In fact, he looked like the only person from this dormitory who belonged to the non- combative school.
People worked in pairs of two, three, and four and threw glances at him.
The girls blushed and whispered among themselves. The guys glared at him with
Northern, however, did not care enough to look at anyone twice. The only one he was looking for was anyone wearing black, because this place was too gigantic for him to find the non- combative school on his own.
Northern finally reached outside the gate. He stood and watched everyone walk towards the right like a flock of scattered ships.
Then he turned his head to the left and was about to open Chaos Eyes to stretch his vision's distance limit but stopped midway.
"Wow. Cool. You detected me."
Northern turned around, disgust wrinkling his nose. He was silent for a second before responding, his tone dripping with irritation.
"Most people can't. It's not because of lack in abilities. It's because of my low essence," the boy standing in front of Northern blabbed.
The boy had short, slightly messy silver-blonde hair, with a few loose strands running over the goggles he wore on his forehead.
He had a cheerful and confident demeanor, smiling brightly with a relaxed posture as he spouted his entire life's secrets to Northern in barely two seconds of meeting.
"I was born with a low essence talent. I have a cool, amazing talent that makes me able to produce lightning, but because of my low essence, I can't even generate enough lightning to power an illuminant. Hahahaha. It's so funny, I know, right?"
Northern, with utter confusion squeezing his facial features, looked at the boy from head to feet and feet to head.
He was clothed in a high-necked shirt layered under leather straps and a harness, giving him a rugged and adventurous look.
A silver dog tag hung around his neck. His rolled-up sleeves revealed muscular forearms, showing he was accustomed to labor.
A black jacket was tied around his waist, adding a casual vibe, and a small tool peeked out from the utility belt he was wearing.
"Who are you supposed to be?" Northern inquired with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh, bollocks. I didn't even introduce myself. I thought I could sneak up on you when I saw
that you were wearing black. I used to sneak up on so many people, you know, and many people would not even realize that I was there. If I wanted to be a thief, I bet I'd be a prominent one. Haha, that was just a joke."
He paused, chuckling a bit, staring down at Northern with his sharp green almond-shaped eyes. He looked stupid and intelligent at the same time-a little difficult to put into words.
Like a generally dumb person, but tremendously intellectual in a certain area, perhaps even a
Northern shook his head. 'Nah, this one is just talkative.'