Decision to Attend a Military Academy
1021 Words
Jax stared at the menu, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he kept his voice low.
“I’ve heard that in the Central Star Domain… you’d have to add another zero to these prices.”
In the end, we agonized over the menu for what felt like forever, and still clenched our teeth and ordered the cheapest options.
One thermostatically grown vegetable salad, one charcoal-grilled star-beast steak, one protein-synth omelet, one seaweed clear soup, plus three standard carbon-based staple sets.
That was it. Five hundred and twenty Pulse—plus another eighty for the tip.
I stared at the bill and went completely still for a second.
“Six hundred?” I muttered. “Half a day ago, I only had a hundred in my pocket.”
Sera, on the other hand, was perfectly calm. She speared a leaf of greens with her fork and ate as she spoke,
“Natural food is shipped in from agricultural planets. It’s hard to grow and expensive to transport, so of course it costs more.”
She glanced up at me and smiled.
“Still, we’re lucky. This place is relatively close to us.”
“If we were in the Central Star Domain—ordinary people wouldn’t even get to see this stuff.”
Jax nodded vigorously, eyes fixed on the kitchen as if he could burn a hole through the door with his stare.
The food arrived soon after. They were just the most ordinary dishes, yet they stirred something in me.
Back on Blue Planet, my father could turn the simplest ingredients into the most delicious meals. Thinking back on those days, it suddenly felt like years had passed.
These past few years, I’ve been hunting alien beasts on Y-926, never once giving up on finding my father—but I’ve been stuck here, unable to leave.
The three of us started eating almost at the same time.
No one spoke. There was only the clink of cutlery against plates.
After we’d eaten our fill, the tension drained from our bodies, and the mood lightened.
Naturally, the conversation drifted to the future.
“Jax and I are saving up to apply to a military academy,” Sera said, idly stirring the free glass of water with her straw. Her tone wasn’t particularly excited, but her eyes were clearly lit up.
“A military academy?” I looked up at her.
Now I was interested.
“Yeah!” She nodded, her voice turning serious. “They cover food and housing, and you get a living stipend. If your grades are good, there are scholarships—and after graduation, you go straight into the military.”
She paused, then added,
“For people like us, it’s one of the few ways to change our fate.”
Jax chimed in quietly from the side,
“You get to eat your fill. And have a decent job.”
I couldn’t help glancing at him. His goal was simple—but unwavering.
I lowered my head and thought for a couple of seconds.
A military academy meant protection—less chance of being picked up and taken away on a whim.
A few faces flashed through my mind.
Good. This place sounded like it was practically tailor-made as a safe haven for me.
I opened my terminal immediately and started looking things up. Sera and Jax leaned in as well, adding details as I scrolled.
There were five top-tier military academies in the Federation.
I went through them one by one.
Astra Prime Academy
Located in the core of the Central Star Domain. A gathering place for prodigies, with absurdly high entry requirements—minimum B-grade mental strength. Tuition starts at one million Pulse per year, and they place extreme emphasis on lineage and background.
Commoners and the broke need not apply.
I swiped past it without hesitation.
Helios War College
The orthodox training system under direct military authority. Tuition: 800,000 Pulse.
Next.
Orion Tactical Institute
Known for having over ten thousand school regulations. Seriously? That’s insane.
Tuition starts at 500,000.
I swiped on, expressionless.
“Not for me.”
Even if it were free, I wouldn’t go.
Nova Frontier Academy
Located on the front lines. Extreme environment, brutal training—survival comes first.
After reading the description, I silently tagged it as best admired from afar.
Next.
Ironblood Legion School
Located on Noctara. Economically underdeveloped, consistently ranks at the bottom in inter-academy competitions—but has low entry requirements, and tuition is only 200,000 Pulse.
“This one…” I hadn’t even finished speaking.
Sera was already nodding. “That’s the one Jax and I are aiming for.”
Ironblood Legion School.
Didn’t sound gentle in the slightest.
I stared at the name on the screen—Ironblood Legion School. The more I looked at it, the better it felt.
Low threshold. “Relatively cheap” tuition. Remote location.
Wasn’t this the perfect hiding place for me?
“Oh, right,” Sera suddenly turned to me. “Ash, what’s your mental strength? Ironblood has the lowest requirement—you can apply as long as you’re at D-grade.”
I fell silent for a second. To be honest, I’d never actually had it tested.
These past days on Null Terra—hunting, running for my life, fighting—after every encounter, I could clearly feel my mental strength increasing.
And then there was my “hammer.” At the beginning, it really was just a crude thing cobbled together from ordinary crystal. But now it could fire energy beams.
Even I didn’t fully understand how it had changed.
I scratched my head, putting on a slightly embarrassed look.
“Haven’t tested it yet… but I think I should be around D-grade.”
Sera studied me for a moment, her expression a little complicated, but she quickly smiled again.
“Then once we’ve saved enough, we’ll apply together!”
I nodded, but she frowned again.
“Still… we’re running out of time. There’s less than three months left before this year’s application deadline.”
She sighed.
“Two hundred thousand Pulse in three months… that’s really hard.”
- Writer
