The young man''s demeanour shifted instantly. Instead of epting Alex''s handshake, he swatted Alex''s hand away with an arrogant look.
"Don''t get the wrong idea," he sneered. "I''m only here because the university requires me to be. If it weren''t for the fact I''m getting paid a few Prime points for doing this, we''d have never crossed paths. Don''t think for a second that we''re friends."
Alex blinked, taken aback by the sudden change in attitude. "Uh, okay I wasn''t expecting that."
The young man scoffed. "You''ll learn soon enough that in this ce, there''s no room for weakness or naivety. If you want to survive, you''ll need to toughen up. This ce is no different from the Primordial Expanse in that respect."
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Alex standing there feeling a mix of frustration and confusion.
He nced back at his dorm, the small, shabby house didn''t look so bad now that he knew everyone, regardless of status or strength, was assigned the same at the start of the year.
The information the young man provided was clear: everything in this university was aboutpetition. If he wanted better amodations, better resources, and any semnce offort, he would have to fight for it.
''Well, nothing new.'' Alex thought. ''I''ve fought through, much, much worse.''
He entered the small house and started to unpack his things. The interior was as unimpressive as the exterior, with just enough space for a bed, a small bathroom, and a kitchen.
It was clear this ce was designed to only be temporary, as any self respecting person would never willingly choose to live in a ce like this.
As he unpacked, hismunicator beeped again. He checked the message, which outlined the schedule for the next few days: orientation, preliminary strength assessments, and a detailed introduction to the ranking system.
''Three days until sses start,'' Alex reminded himself. ''Three days to prepare.''
***
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Mira was experiencing her own version of the dormitory reality. Her assigned house was equally underwhelming, but she took it in stride, as it was much better than what she used to live in before she became an Awakened.
She was also assigned a second year ''guide'' who exined to her the basics of university life. But contrary to Alex''s situation, Mira was the one acting cold on her end.
She unpacked her belongings and reviewed the same schedule Alex had received. The preliminary strength assessments would be crucial in determining their initial rankings.
The higher their rankings, the more resources they had ess too. Not to mention a better dorm…
***
The next day, the city was abuzz with activity. Students were exploring the grounds, training in designated areas, and preparing for the assessments.
Alex decided to take a walk around, familiarising himself with theyout of the city and observing thepetition.
asionally, he''d see some arrogant looking seniors picking on some new entrants, but he didn''t bother to do anything to stop it.
It was none of his business anyway.
But one thing was for sure.
''I''m stronger than all of these guys.''
He spotted various groups of students engaged in intense training sessions. Some were practisingbat techniques, while others honed their talents and elements. The atmosphere was electric, filled with a sense of purpose and fiercepetition.
But all Alex saw was a bunch of weaklings.
Although each one of them were first years like him, he hadn''t even spotted anyone stronger than E rank yet.
Nor could he tell if any of them were Mutants or higher sses, but from those he''d observed, there was only one Mutant ss, who openly unted his strength. He was also the highest rank of the bunch, E rank.
If it were Alex from say, 6 months ago, he''d be impressed with this guy''s strength.
But now, he could onlyugh at this guy''s strength.
Alex knew that he and Mira were stronger than everyone else during their entrance test, but he didn''t think that would also extend to the University too.
But then again, he''d only observed maybe less than 300 students so far, whichpared to the hundreds of thousands that were in the first year alone, was nothing.
However it did seem like he had overestimated his assessment of the students here.
He at least knew now that he was at least in the upper tier of first years in terms of strength.
As he walked, he noticed arge screen covering the skyscraper at the centre of the city from top to bottom.
On it, a long list of names were disyed.
Five rows of names to be exact, each one 10,000 names long.
The first four rows were designated to each year group, from first years to fourth years. Thest row was special though, as it ranked the strength of all of the students currently in the universitybined!
The first year''s list was currently empty, as the ranking hadn''t been established yet.
However the other four were quite active, and below the top 1000 students, there were frequent changes in name''s positions as students challenged each other.
''That''s where I need to be,'' Alex thought, determination burning in his eyes.
His eyes hovered on nothing but the spot in first ce.
On the overall rankings…
Back in his dorm, he reviewed the information packet on hismunicator more thoroughly.
The assessments would cover a range of skills:bat prowess, strategic thinking, elemental control, and talent assessment. Each category would contribute to his standing on the rankings.
''Achieving a high rank will be tougher than I thought…'' Alex thought.
As it turned out, the rankings weren''t as simple as they seemed.
''I''m confident about scoring high on thebat prowess section, but stuff like strategic thinking, elemental control etc, I have no clue where to even start…''
This system seemed rigged against the poorer students like Alex and Mira, as the upper ss students would have already received training in these areas before University even started, giving them a head start.