Nick left the hall, saying goodbye to a couple of people.
Over the last year, he got to know a few of them on a surface level.
They had talked from time to time, but they had never truly been friends.
Whenever any of them asked Nick about his personal life or his beliefs, he avoided the topic.
Nick was not the biggest fan of making actual connections.
Every connection he made didn't work out.
However, as long as some distance remained between them, Nick could work together with them without any problems occurring.
After leaving the hall, he already noticed the supervisor.
This supervisor was one of two people responsible for the first level of the trainee program.
The supervisor nodded at Nick, and they walked down one of the hallways.
"Did you say your goodbyes?" the supervisor asked.
"I did," Nick answered.
"How do you feel?"
"As always."
The supervisor nodded. "I get it. It's probably nothing special to you."
Nick didn't answer.
The two of them approached the door at the end of the hallway, and the supervisor's Barrier shone for a moment.
The door opened, and Nick saw the corridor behind it.
It looked like any other corridor.
White and bereft of anything of note.
However, Nick hadn't been here before, which made this corridor just a slight bit special to him.
The two of them walked over to a door, and the supervisor knocked politely.
A moment later, the door opened, and the two entered.
"Here is Nick Dusk, Aductress," he spoke politely.
The green-haired and serious woman looked up from a sheet of paper she was reading and looked at Nick.
"Dismissed," she spoke without looking at the supervisor.
"Good luck," the supervisor mouthed with a little smirk to Nick before turning around and leaving.
The door behind Nick closed.
Silence.
The Aductress just looked at Nick with a serious expression.
"Are you proud of your achievements?" she asked in a neutral voice.
"No," Nick answered evenly.
"Why not?" she asked as if she had expected the answer. "Breaking the point record seems like something most people would be proud of."
"Because it's meaningless to me," Nick said. "I am not a trainee. I already led an entire city for five years."
"I don't need practice in a school. Points and grades are meaningless to my situation."
The Aductress looked at Nick with a neutral expression.
Nick couldn't be sure what she was thinking about.
"What have you learned over the last year?" she asked suddenly.
"I learned a lot about academia," Nick answered.
Silence.
"And?" the Aductress asked expectantly.
"That's it," Nick said.
The Aductress frowned.
"What about teamplay and unity?" she asked.
"I already knew that," Nick answered.
The Aductress looked at Nick with a strict frown.
Usually, she would believe this to be baseless arrogance by a spoiled youngster.
However, she knew about Nick's background.
In his case, this might as well be true.
"Luckily for you, the second part of the training is different from the first," she said after a bit. "Has your supervisor told you about the second part yet?"
"No," Nick answered. "He told me you would tell me everything I needed to know."
The Aductress nodded once.
"The second part of the trainee program is for gathering experience in the outside world. You will join a team of four and will be put under a tutor. The tutor will act as the supervisor of your squad. They will not directly partake in missions, but they will be nearby to oversee everything."
"Your group of four is supposed to work on its own to complete different missions. Some missions are artificial, with artificial Specters and artificial rebels. Some missions are genuine."
"Most of the time, you will not be told if the mission is genuine or artificial, and in these cases, you are supposed to treat the mission as genuine. Sometimes, you will be told. That will mostly happen when your targets are humans."
When the Aductress spoke that last line, she looked at Nick closely.
Nick didn't show any reactions.
Almost all trainees showed nervousness or fear when the Aductress told them that they were supposed to kill humans in some missions.
Yet, Nick didn't bat an eye.
Just based on that, the Aductress could tell that Nick had killed many people before.
"You will not be on missions every day," she continued. "The vast majority of the time, you will be stationed in a stronghold or a city. During these times, you are technically free to do whatever you want, but it is expected of you to maximize your success rate in any potential future mission by training with your teammates."
"Access to Specters will be granted, and you are expected to advance at the fastest possible pace during your training."
"The second stage of the trainee program will continue until you are a Specialist."
"Do you understand?" she asked.
Nick nodded.
"Are there any other trainees that you know and would like on your team?"
Nick thought a little bit about that question.
"Cynthia Mason, Mendor Orlen, and Steve Werkling," Nick said, remembering the three trainees he had met during his first two weeks.
Nick remembered them specifically because they had all successfully worked with at least one level four Specter.
Additionally, they also had similar advancement dates.
Lastly, their knowledge was also specialized in different fields, and on top of that, they had different weapons and different fighting styles.
Although, it was important to note that Cynthia and Mendor were just average when it came to Battle-Strength.
But that wouldn't be so important since Nick would take care of most of the battles on his own.
They were more useful for their unique abilities, scouting, information gathering, and support.
A squad needed to do more than just fight.
"I've had requests from them too," the Aductress said. "They also named you when I asked them."
"It's not uncommon for a squad to form during the first part of the program. In general, we support the existence of these squads."
"Starting at the second part of the program, we are interested in the success of your missions and want you to succeed as many times as possible. Fostering a natural squad, like yours, is a good investment."
"In another month, the last member of your squad will advance. At that point, I will create your squad and assign a tutor. Until then, you are free to talk with the other trainees and work with the local Specters."
The Aductress pulled out a silver box and put it on the table.
"These are your belongings. Only your Barrier has access to them. Nothing should be missing," she said.
Nick opened the box and checked through the contents.
Everything was here.
His old Barrier.
His uniform.
Everything.
"For now, I want you to hold onto your trainee uniform," the Aductress ordered. "Walking around in your Liaison uniform will make it difficult for my staff to properly work with you."
Naturally, the Aductress was afraid of any potential rule exceptions Nick might gain due to his rank as Liaison.
After all, he technically outranked the tutor since the tutors had the same level of authority as a Governor.
"Otherwise, you may use whatever you own. You also are allowed to keep your current Barrier, but you are not required to use it anymore. Your own Barrier should have all the permissions you need and more."
Nick pocketed his belongings and exchanged his Barriers.
His actual Barrier was much better than his trainee Barrier.
Nick was also glad that he finally had access to his Space Bag again.
The next moment, the Aductress put a booklet onto the table. "This is a guide to the second part of the trainee program. Read it as soon as you have an opportunity. You will find everything you need to know in there."
"Thank you," Nick said as he grabbed the booklet.
"Dismissed," the Aductress said.
Nick nodded once and left the office.
That was it.
Nick found himself alone in an unknown hallway.
There was nobody there to escort him anywhere.
This alone demonstrated the difference between trainees of different levels.
Trainees of the first level were not allowed to roam around randomly, and they were not allowed to leave their trainee area.
Yet, trainees of the second level were technically not confined anywhere.
These trainees had already proven that they were talented and that their mindset suited Aegis.
One could say that trainees of the first level were applicants, while trainees of the second level were actual trainees.
They actually belonged to Aegis now.
Nick opened the guide and read through it as soon as he left the Aductress's office.
'Sure enough, the rules are no longer strict. In fact, they're quite basic,' he thought.
This guide was a lot shorter than the one for first-level trainees since there were far fewer restrictions.
Near the end of the guide, Nick found a map of most of Aegis' headquarters.
He also saw where he had to go next.
There was an area for second-level trainees.