54 Capital Prime
"What's wrong? Should I not apply for it?" Alex was surprised by the sudden water spouting from Kyla's mouth.
Wiping the water away, she replied: "No! But you're really thinking of joining the number 1 Awakened University in the federation…"
'Even with his potential, that's still a high goal to reach!'
On the other side, Alex was still acting casual. He asked curiously, "Number 1 university? What's the big deal? I heard any university is good as long as you get a degree?"
Alex had read some stuff online about universities before, all the posts and forums he read about them said that as long as you get a degree with a high grade, then it doesn't matter which university you went to.
Employers will still hire you.
"WHAT'S THE BIG DEAL?? I don't know where you get your information from, but the rankings for universities across the whole federation is very competitive. You're most definitely getting normal universities and Awakened universities mixed up!"
Alex had only just stepped away from the below average life he had been living for the last 17 years since he was born, so he barely knew anything about the world of the awakened.
His entire education up till now had been around learning the life of miners and other common jobs in the colony. ARC didn't have any information related to awakened in their school curriculum.
"So what do I have to do to join Capital Prime Uni?" Alex was just more concerned with how he could go about enrolling there.
"Well for most universities, the process is pretty similar to what you just went through in the association. You do a few tests, receive your evaluation and wait for how your results rank against all the other applicants."
With the way she was speaking, Alex was waiting for the 'But-' to come in, and sure enough it did.
"But, for the top five universities the process is different. Applicants have to go through a much more dangerous test, they have to experience a real battle at a Floodgate!"
This time, Alex did know what Kyla was talking about for once.
But he wasn't happy with what he heard.
Floodgates were names given to something very sinister that arrived at the same time the Primordial Expanse did.
When these portals appear, they can never be closed.
This means that there is a constant flood of beasts coming to and from the Primordial Expanse wherever these portals form.
This is the reason for the name Floodgate.
Typically, these Floodgates can only be found on planets that have already been deserted by beasts during the initial wave of people who experienced Impending doom over a hundred years ago.
If a Floodgate were to form on a populated planet in this day and age, chances were that it would quickly fall into ruin and become one of these deserted planets.
That's how deadly these Floodgates are.
One of the most annoying things was that these Floodgates acted oppositely to how the Awakened's portals worked.
With portals that Awakened open, only those awakened themselves can use them. No beast or native, or even other Awakened can use it to travel to the federation or the Primordial Expanse.
But with Floodgates, only beasts can use them, and it worked both ways. No human could use them, whether they were from the Federation or a native, it didn't matter.
'Great, I just came back from a hellhole and now I have to enter another one if I want to meet up with Rowan again.'
"Maybe I just shouldn't apply then…" Alex mumbled to himself, thinking he could have a much easier life if he took it slow for a while before he re-entered the Primordial Expanse to increase his rank again.
"NO! Ahem, I mean no, you should still definitely apply!" Just as Alex had just about changed his mind, Kyla spoke up.
He glanced at her, not expecting her to have such a strong reaction.
Feeling the tense atmosphere, Kyla smiled and said, "The rewards for successfully enrolling in a top five university, especially Capital Prime, are well worth the risk you go through in the entrance test."
She paused for a second, then continued.
"Just think about your reward for telling us about your talent — the resources the universities offer are infinitely better compared to that."
Now, Alex was interested.
Before, he thought he might not need to go to a university to become strong.
With his Soulforge talent, he could do just fine for himself if he just continued his ventures into the Primordial Expanse.
But when he thought about the various techniques and weapons, resources that universities had to offer, he thought it might be better than his idea.
It was also the only way for him to access a vast amount of techniques, so that was another reason.
***
Kyla led Alex to the application centre for universities and said her farewell, for good this time.
Before she left, she suggested the two of them team up some time in the future for ventures into the primordial Expanse and Floodgates, and Alex agreed without much thought.
He had gotten to know her decently well over the last day, and he already had her number.
Ping!
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a notification on his brand new communicator.
[1 new message in inbox: Your reward has arrived!...]
A big smile filled his face before he closed his communicator.
'I'll check it another time.'
He had just walked into the application centre and had filled out his application form with where he wanted to enrol, he didn't have time to check the details of his first ever technique.
He handed his form to the receptionists at the counter, and they raised an eyebrow when they saw 'Capital Prime' as his university of choice.
'Another ambitious one. Reality will hit him soon enough.'
Alex didn't care for their obvious reactions, he just waited for them to tell him what he had to do next.
"Entrance tests for the top five start in a month — transport off world leaves in a week."
'Guess I have a week to kill…'
He couldn't remember the last time he had a week of free time.
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