The glowing picture on the wall shifted.
Instructor Vane tapped her finger against the black stone desk. The giant yellow sun moved to the far edge of the screen. The frozen outer worlds vanished completely. The hologram zoomed in on the middle of the solar system.
Twenty small, colored spheres floated in the air.
"We do not live alone in the habitable zone," Instructor Vane said. Her cold voice echoed in the quiet lecture hall. "There are exactly twenty planets in this central belt. They are all inhabited by humans. They are all heavily fortified."
Jin stared at the twenty glowing spheres. He sat very still in his chair at the back of the room.
He knew the universe was big. But seeing it drawn out in clean, bright lines made the reality much heavier. On Earth, he managed cargo ships across a few oceans. Here, he was looking at an ocean of stars.
"These twenty planets are divided into five distinct territories," Instructor Vane explained. "There are four massive empires. And there is one independent academy. Us."
She pointed a long finger at the center of the glowing map. Four green planets pulsed softly in the middle of the projection.
"The Genesis Zenith Academy controls these four central worlds," she stated proudly. "We are not a kingdom. We do not have an emperor. But we have absolute control over this space. We use these planets for massive training grounds, beast breeding habitats, and resource extraction. It is completely neutral territory."
She dragged her finger to the left side of the screen. Four new planets lit up. They glowed a deep, blood red.
"To our immediate galactic left sits the Apex Empire," Vane said. "They control four planets. They are ruled by bloodlines that heavily splice their bodies with apex predator DNA. Dragons, vampires, and deep-earth titans. It is a brutal, violent society built entirely on physical strength."
Jin kept his face completely blank. He looked at the four red dots.
He used to think his siblings were fighting over one throne on Chimeria. He was wrong. The prize was much larger. Kaelen and Vanya were tearing the family apart to gain absolute control over four entire planets. It was a staggering amount of land and human lives.
Instructor Vane moved her finger to the right side of the screen. Four planets lit up in a harsh, bright silver light.
"To our right is the Cyberork Empire," she continued. "They also hold four worlds. They do not rely on beast mutations. They rely on cold metal. They cut away their own flesh and replace it with heavy iron, steel, and raw Aether-engines. They are completely ruthless. If you take a mercenary contract near their borders, be prepared to fight men who cannot feel pain."
Jin nodded slowly. He committed the name to memory. Flesh versus metal. It was a clear, simple divide in power.
Instructor Vane pointed past the red dots of the Apex Empire. She highlighted four more planets on the far left edge of the map. They glowed a murky, dark blue.
"Past the Apex borders lies the Crab Empire," she said. She did not smile at the strange name. She was completely serious. "Do not let the name fool you into a false sense of security. They are water worlds. Massive, deep oceans. The humans there splice with deep-sea terrors. They grow thick, indestructible carapaces and razor-sharp claws. They crush imperial warships like empty tin cans."
She took a slow breath. She pointed to the final four planets at the very edge of the central belt. They flashed erratically. They glowed a sickly, dirty brown.
"And finally, the Castout Empire," Vane said. Her sharp face tightened with deep disgust. "The last four planets. They belong to nobody, and they belong to everybody. It is a dying mess."
She crossed her arms over her dark red uniform.
"The Castout Empire has no true ruler," she explained bluntly. "It is a massive, endless war zone. Criminals, exiled nobles, and rogue mercenary guilds flee there to escape the laws of the other empires. They fight constantly over scrap metal and dirty water. Millions die there every year. It is a meat grinder."
She looked up at the tiered seats. She stared directly at the poor students standing in the back.
"Many of you will fail in this Academy," Vane said coldly. "When you fail, you will be expelled. You will not be allowed to return to your home empires in shame. You will likely end up in the Castout worlds, fighting in the mud for a piece of stale bread. Remember that when you think about skipping your morning training."
The threat hung heavy in the lecture hall. The arrogant rich kids in the front row stayed quiet. The poor kids in the back looked terrified.
"The map is drawn in blood," Instructor Vane finished. She tapped the black stone desk. The massive holographic screen vanished instantly. The room felt suddenly empty and dark.
"You now know the borders," she announced. "Class is over. Your next block is practical combat. Get to the training arenas. Do not be late."
She turned around and walked out the side door. She did not wait to answer any questions.
The heavy silence in the room broke. Hundreds of chairs scraped against the wooden floor. Students stood up and started talking loudly. They pushed past each other, rushing toward the main doors.
Jin stood up. He slung his heavy canvas bag over his shoulder. He did not say a word. He just started walking down the wooden steps.
Luna sat in her chair. She did not move.
She stared blankly at the dark stone wall where the glowing map had just been. Her small hands gripped the edge of her wooden desk. Her knuckles were white.
She was completely frozen in a daze.
She grew up in a tiny dirt town on the edge of a hostile wasteland. She thought Cloud City was a massive, impossibly large place. But it was just a tiny speck of dust. There were twenty entire worlds out there. Oceans of fire. Men made of metal. Giant empires fighting across the black void of space.
The sheer scale of the universe melted her understanding of reality. It was too big. It made her feel completely insignificant. She felt like a single drop of water in a raging storm.
Jin reached the bottom of the stairs. He looked back.
He saw Luna sitting frozen in her chair. He did not walk back up to comfort her. He did not gently explain that everything would be okay. He did not have time to hold a hand.
"Luna," Jin said. His voice was not loud, but it cut through the noise of the departing students. "Move."
The cold, flat command snapped her out of her daze.
She blinked hard. She looked at Jin standing near the exit. She realized she was being left behind. She jumped out of her chair. She grabbed her thick silver book and hugged it tight against her chest.
She ran down the wooden steps. She chased after Jin's brown cloak.
Jin did not wait for her. He pushed through the heavy wooden doors and stepped out into the bright, crowded hallway.
The academy corridors were chaotic. Thousands of students were moving between classes. The air was thick with the smell of sweat, ozone, and nervous energy. Everyone was heading toward the massive combat arenas located in the center of the campus.
Jin walked fast. His dense, Level 4 muscles allowed him to weave through the dense crowd with easy precision. He kept his eyes looking straight ahead. He tracked the flow of traffic.
Luna pushed through the crowd behind him. She was smaller, and the larger students bumped into her shoulders, knocking her around.
"I am coming!" Luna called out, trying to keep up.
Jin reached the massive iron doors of the practical combat sector. The doors were propped wide open. The loud sounds of grunting, shouting, and heavy impacts echoed out from the dark tunnels ahead. It smelled heavily of crushed stone and fresh blood.
Jin stepped toward the entrance.
Suddenly, a boy burst out of a side corridor.
The boy was sprinting at full speed. He wore the standard black academy uniform, but it was torn at the elbow. He was looking over his shoulder, running blindly into the main flow of traffic.
He slammed directly into Jin.
It was a hard, violent collision. A normal mortal would have been knocked flat onto the stone floor. But Jin was not a weak mortal anymore. The coiled energy in his Foundation core engaged instantly. His legs locked into place like heavy iron pillars.
Jin did not fall. He barely even swayed.
The running boy bounced off Jin's chest. He stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet. He barely caught his balance before hitting the wall.
"Sorry!" the boy gasped quickly. He did not stop to look at Jin's face. He just yelled the apology, turned around, and kept sprinting down the crowded hallway until he disappeared into the sea of black uniforms.
Jin stood completely still in the middle of the corridor.
He did not brush his cloak off. He did not yell at the boy to watch where he was going. He just stared at the spot where the boy vanished.
His corporate paranoia flared to life instantly.
In a hostile environment, a random bump is almost never an accident. It is a classic misdirection tactic. A thief bumps into you on a crowded street to steal your wallet. An assassin bumps into you to slip a poisoned needle into your side.
Jin immediately brought his hands up. He patted his heavy canvas belt.
He felt the small, grey spatial pouch hanging securely by his side. The knot was still tight. The wealth was safe.
He ran his hands over his chest and ribs. He checked for small cuts or strange wet spots on his clothes. He felt nothing. There was no pain. There was no poison.
Luna finally caught up to him. She stopped, panting heavily.
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking at him checking his pockets.
"I am fine," Jin said flatly. He dropped his hands.
It was just a clumsy student running late. It was a meaningless accident.
But Jin logged the boy's face in his mind anyway. He remembered the torn black sleeve and the panicked look in the boy's eyes. In this Academy, you never throw away a piece of data.
"Let's go inside," Jin said. He turned and walked through the heavy iron doors. The lecture was over. It was time for the practical reality of the Genesis Zenith Academy.