The next morning, I stood in front of the mirror, taking one final look at myself.
I wore a white shirt under a navy blue jacket, paired with blue jeans and white shoes. After making sure everything was in place, I picked up my luggage and headed downstairs.
Grandma was waiting in the living room.
"Here," she said, stepping forward and placing a necklace around my neck.
"This was something your mother made for your father. It's one of the few things I was able to salvage from that place."
I looked down at the necklace, my fingers tracing the cracks running along the pendant. It was a blue infinity symbol, worn with time, with the letters J and C, my parents initials, engraved on each loop.
Grandma studied my face for a moment before a soft smile appeared.
"Alright, you can go now. Make sure you return to me safely."
I looked at her, the only family I had left in this world. First, she lost her husband, then her son and daughter-in-law. I couldn't begin to comprehend the pain she must feel every day.
Stepping forward, I hugged her gently.
"I love you, Grandma. I'll miss you. I'll come back safe and stronger."
She held me close for a moment before whispering.
"Grandma loves you too, Billion. And I will wait for your return."
I stepped back, gave her a slight bow, then picked up my luggage. Without another word, I walked out of the house.
Even as I reached the car, I could feel her eyes on my back.
The driver loaded my bags, and soon, we were on the road, heading straight for the academy.
It was time to begin a new chapter of my life.
***
The drive didn't take long, and soon, we arrived at the academy gates. I grabbed my luggage and made my way toward the assembly ground.
At the front, a few instructors were stationed behind a set of tables, taking inventory of the students' belongings. I handed over my luggage, watching as they quickly noted it down, then moved toward the growing crowd of recruits.
It was early—6:30 in the morning—and the sun was barely peeking over the horizon.
I scanned the area, spotting clusters of my batchmates standing around, some talking, others waiting in silence. My eyes searched for Steve, but he was nowhere to be found.
Letting out a small sigh, I moved to a quieter corner, standing with my hands in my pockets as I waited for the others to arrive.
The crowd gradually thickened as more recruits streamed in, and just as I was about to check my status out of boredom, I finally spotted Steve walking through the gates in his usual laid back lazy attitude.
He looked around, and as soon as he spotted me, he walked over.
"At least today, you should have arrived early," I said.
"I'm early. There's still five minutes left," he shot back.
Without giving me a chance to argue, he changed the topic.
"Anyway, any idea what happens next?"
"Yeah, Grandma told me, 'We'll be picked, then mixed, units will be fixed, and then hell will be released.'"
Steve rolled his eyes.
"Great. That sounds reassuring. So, did you figure out your talent?"
"I did."
"And?"
"It's great. I'll show you later."
He narrowed his eyes but didn't push further. I knew he'd bug me about it eventually.
And soon, a whistle was blown, and we began arranging ourselves in rank order.
Daniel stood in front of us, a bundle of files in his hands.
"Alright, no need to waste any more time. Your luggage has been collected and will be sent to your assigned barracks. Now, here's what's going to happen, you'll be sent to the Probation Central Hub (PCB) in the capital. That will be your reporting headquarters for the next year."
He raised the files slightly.
"There will be personnel ready to receive you. You'll need to take your file and hand it over to them. These contain personal feedback from Avenue Academy, consider them your make-or-break records. And yes, we make them public, so everyone will know when you've been marked red for messing up or green for doing great."
His eyes scanned the crowd before continuing.
"The reason for making your records public is simple—to build confidence and awareness among your comrades. Like it or not, that's how the Empire operates. Your units have already been decided and updated based on whether you awakened or not."
I stiffened.
Already decided? I thought we'd go through training first, some kind of assessment, and then get assigned.
"So, I wish you all luck," Daniel continued.
"How you perform during probation will also reflect on the records of our academy, so give it your best. Oh, and I've applied for PCB too, so maybe we'll see each other there."
Damn. I'd have to deal with him there too. Not that I had anything personal against the guy, but our ideologies didn't exactly mix well.
We were directed into another hall of the academy, where a middle-aged man in sunglasses stood at the front, casually drinking a smoothie.
Daniel handed out our files before introducing him.
"This here is Mr. Rodriguez. He'll be responsible for transporting you all to PCB. His Class is related to teleportation."
Teleportation? Now that was interesting. As far as I knew, it was a rare Class, highly valuable in the army. The only downside? It provided zero direct combat benefits, making it more of a support role.
Rodriguez didn't say a word. He just nodded, slurping his drink. Then, with a wave of his hand, a glowing blue circle surrounded us.
And then…..nothing.
My vision darkened for a second before everything snapped back into place.
We were standing in a massive hall, far bigger than anything I had seen before. The walls stretched at least 50 meters high, and the space extended endlessly on either side. Around us, hundreds of recruits were scattered, all young boys and girls like us.
We were inside the PCB.
Above us, enormous chandeliers hung, casting a soft glow over the hall. I saw all my batchmates with me, but no sign of Rodriguez or Daniel.
Then, a voice rang out.
"Welcome to the PCB, students from Avenue Academy."
I turned to see a woman in a blazer and tight pants standing at the front. She smiled as she spoke.
"I'd like you all to proceed to the counters behind me and submit your files to the Recorders. Now, hurry up, other academy students will be arriving soon."
Not wasting time, I stepped forward, passing by her and approaching one of the counters.
"Hi there, here's my file," I said, handing it over.
The woman behind the counter smiled, took the file, and opened the first page. A thin beam of blue light emerged from her eyes, sweeping across the document like a projector scanner. As she flipped through the pages, the light traced each one, glowing briefly before fading.
I stared, my jaw hanging open.
"Are you kidding me?" I blurted out.
She glanced up at me, then chuckled.
"Yeah, I get that reaction a lot. I have a Class called Recorder, as the name suggests, we keep and update records."
"Wow, that's so cool," I said.
"Thank you… Billion? That's quite a unique name."
I rubbed the back of my head.
"Yeah… my dad kind of liked big numbers. Thankfully, my mom stopped him at Billion, otherwise, I'd have ended up with something ridiculous like Trillion or Googol."
She laughed at that, finishing her scan before stamping something on the file.
"Alright, you're good to go. Welcome to PCB."
She pulled out a small black metal card, and her eyes glowed once again as words began imprinting themselves onto its surface. Once finished, she flipped it over and stamped it with the Empire's emblem, a glittering thunderbolt. Finally, she handed it to me.
"Here, this will be your identity card for the coming year."
I took the card and examined the details written on it.
[Identity Card]
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Name: Billion Ironhart
Age: 17
Academy: Avenue Academy
City: Cairo
Rank: PB_02000
Department: Elite Unit 02
Status: Alive
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'Elite Unit 02?'