Chapter 19: Ch 19 – Orientation

“Alright, the Mantle is technically one big place, but it's still heavily divided between the three civilizations. This is where most of the competition stems from. With all the competitions every year and even the battles going on between our militaries, there is always a lot of tension. Just keep that in mind when looking for your place. Like here.”

Anthony pointed Issac toward a certain area of the auditorium. 

This place located within the 50 mile tall castle was itself a few square miles large, and it had no roof over it, allowing everyone to fly directly into it from above. 

There, Issac could see a huge stage and stadium seating, though many people opted to either sit within their mechs or park their flying cars in the air and watch from there. 

But without question, there were three distinct sections. 

The humans. 

The Aatrix. 

The Zandran. 

These three races sat divided, the tension between them obvious. Though, Issac immediately noticed that the Zandran seemed to sit opposed to both Humanity and Aatrix. On the contrary, Issac could actually see some intermingling between humans and Aatrix. 

This division reflected the state of galactic relations between the three races. 

Also, Issac had picked up on what he figured were popular opinions from his parents and Anthony’s father when they interacted with Asphodel. They, who were military, didn’t regard the Aatrix with hostility. On the other hand, the Zandran seemed to be sworn enemies with them. 

But the Mantle was a place for these three civilizations to not just compete, but interact with each other. It was one of the only places in the entire galaxy with neutrality sponsored and enforced by all three civilizations. Issac would no doubt come into contact with a Zandran at some point. And he felt a bit of excitement thinking about when it would happen. 

Anthony brought them down into the human area, parking in the air above and looking down upon the stadium. 

There were both a large and small amount of students here at the Mantle. Every year, 1 thousand students came from each of the three civilizations. And over the course of 10 years, these people would comprise a generation until they next decade started. 

30 thousand was a massive number considering that the same amount didn’t leave every year. There technically wasn’t a time limit on your stay as this place was basically a huge over glorified think tank. 

So every year, 30 thousand new people would arrive and take up residence for years to come. 

Considering how many trillions of people there were throughout the galaxy, 30 thousand people was an infinitely small amount. They were the utmost geniuses. But in this small place, 30 thousand people vying for the top spots created massive amounts of pressure. 

Seeing all the people around him, Issac was beginning to feel this pressure, especially since he had jumped straight into the top 100 of his generation. 

More people flooded into the area, and music was played that echoed through the skies. It filled everyone's ears with a beautiful melody. 

The woman who sang down on the floor was surrounded by a stage that let out displays of lasers and lights. She was an Aatrix. 

Nifty nudged Issac, handing him his pair of holographic glasses. Putting them on, Issac was able to see the identity of the singer. 

Apparently she was a galactic celebrity. She was renowned for her perfect voice, but of course, there were many like her throughout the galaxy. 

What made her especially amazing was her power. 

It was the ability to control not just sound, but all forms of oscillation. 

This allowed her to amplify her voice in complex ways, making it louder, deeper, or stronger. And in combat, by manipulating the frequency of her oscillatory powers, she could destroy materials and nullify other powers. 

Add that to her beauty, and it was no wonder she had a following numbering over a trillion. By singing to entire planets at a time with planetary concerts, she garnered massive fame. 

“Wow. She’s pretty famous.”

“That’s your reaction to seeing a galactic celebrity live?”

Anthony chuckled at Issac’s anticlimactic words. 

The performance went on for several minutes as everyone gathered. And finally, when the song came to a close, the girl waved. 

“Welcome Echelons of the Mantle! My name is Travela, and today, I’m here to kick off the start of a new year!”

“Whoo!!”

Issac could hear cheers rage through the skies. Through his glasses, he could clearly see Travela as she smiled so brilliantly and excitedly. 

“Thank you! From all corners of the galaxy have gathered the smartest technicians and the most powerful Echelons! Every single one of you has something to bring, ambitions to fulfill, and no matter what, a bright future ahead of you. To come here means you now stand at the top of your civilization! 

“Over the millenia before us, our ancestors rose from the primitive valleys and mountains of the cosmic specks of dust we call our home worlds. They fought against nature, and they survived. Then, they rose to conquer it. And when that wasn’t enough, they took to the stars, and they conquered the night sky that we used to merely fantasize!

“Now here we stand, the descendants of those legends who gave their lives for progress. We are the ones they hoped to elevate with their life’s work! And before us all lies the endless future!

“So from today forth, let us all face the tribulations before us with valiance! Let us succeed those hopes, those endless dreams, and bring forth the next prosperous era! Because if it is to be done, let it be done here! In the greatest center of progress the universe has ever seen!

“Take up the Mantle of Greatness!

“For Millennia!”

“For Millennia!”

“For Millennia!”

Chants rang out that shook the moon. The passion behind every voice was so great, so resounding, that Issac got goosebumps across his body. 

For Millenia.

That was the motto of the Mantle. As the sole neutral institute between the three civilizations and the single greatest center of research and development, the founders placed all their hopes on its longevity. So long as it could stand the test of time, it would become the greatest beacon of unity and hope in the galaxy. 

And now, 13 generations have passed through, each separated by 10 years. That was 130 years that it had continued to stand tall. 

Its neutrality didn’t fall even in the face of wars. Through all political disputes, through all tribulations that faced each civilization, it continued to stand as the foundation of progress and hope that things would become better than they were. 

Because if the Mantle fell, it would shatter all forms of unity throughout the galaxy. 

The cheers didn’t stop for several minutes. In fact, they only got louder as the thousands of mechs flying through the air began launching fireworks and great displays of lasers. 

Feeling the excitement of her audience, Travela jumped with overflowing excitement.

“I officially announce the beginning of Mantle Year 137!”

“Whoo!!”

The cheers raised another octave. 

Issac couldn’t help himself as he was swept away by the atmosphere, letting out his own cry of excitement.

……

…

“Alright, I’ll come visit later today. We need to discuss your mech. Just let me know when you’re out of classes.”

“Sure.”

Issac nodded as Anthony dropped him off. 

He had flown to another portion of the castle, the place that acted as the campus for the Mantle’s students. 

It was formally called the Progenium Futura, translating to Progenitor of the Future. 

Every classroom and development center was located or stemmed from this place and was what signified the core institution of the Mantle. 

Issac had orientation for each of his four classes. 

First, he had his class on Dark Theory. This was perhaps the most straightforward class. 

The classroom itself was a large room resembling an auditorium. Issac was one of the first in this place, and he took a random seat near the back of the stadium seating alongside Nifty who sat on his lap.

In front of his seat was a large table that had its own embedded computer within, the surface flickering before creating a hologram. 

Pleasantly surprised, he played around with it as more people walked in. 

And in a turn of events, Issac was tapped on the shoulder. 

The culprit took a seat next to him with a wide smile on her face. 

“Hey!”

“Oh! So we’re in the same class, huh?”

“I know! What a coincidence.”

Asphodel giggled, almost mischievously, making Issac think something was up. 

He narrowed his eyes. 

“What’d you do?”

“Nothing, nothing. Well, at least now I get to pick your brain every morning. Oh, and look at this.”

Suddenly, she brought up her terminal, tapping a few screens and swiping it. 

In his glasses, Issac saw an encrypted message. For this, Nifty already had a protocol. 

You are reading story Echelon at novel35.com

What appeared in his vision upon opening the message was a blueprint. It was empty, totally void of descriptive elements that might indicate what it was. 

But in Issac’s mind, he became aware of all the in depth information behind each component of the blueprint. This way, nobody would be able to decipher what it was he was looking at through his glasses alone. 

“Hey.”

Asphodel suddenly called while he observed the blueprint. 

When he turned back to her, she tapped her temple with her finger. 

“Are you okay with an direct line?”

“Sure. Nifty, let her in.”

The cat’s eyes flickered with his command, and suddenly, Issac could feel another data stream open within his implant. It was mediated by Nifty, protected by all its hacking and cyber attack defenses. 

Once the line was stable and secure, Asphodel smiled, her voice echoing in his head. 

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“So, I worked with some of the components on our conversion core. They were primarily to rectify some issues when attempting to actually produce it. Primarily, I had trouble with your filter and our bridge for the infusion tech.”

“You tried to produce it?”

“In my lab, yes. I’ve got some personal production facilities. Nothing large scale, but enough for conversion cores.”

“Oh, cool.”

Issac raised his brows surprisedly. With her own production equipment, she could develop her own secret tech, such as the illegal conversion core that they had developed together. 

After coming here, Issac was beginning to understand how not okay it was to have done what he did with her, but he was more so surprised that she actually went through with it anyway. 

After all, it wasn’t her first year at the Mantle, so she knew even better than he did. 

So not only did she trust him, but she had her own resources that could let her act on it without risk. 

This also meant that Issac could develop it if she let him use her equipment.

Asphodel smiled. 

“I plan to build two, but if we can continue to improve this, then I’ll hold off.”

“Or, we can standardize its design so we can simply swap components.”

“Some parts can be standardized, but not all. After all, junctions bring their own risks that we would need to factor in.”

“True.”

Issac nodded, and at that moment, he heard a shout. 

“Good morning class!”

A human woman walked in, standing at the front of the auditorium. She was the professor.

Issac and Asphodel stopped their conversation for a moment. 

“Allow me to brief you on what will happen in this classroom for the next year.”

Unlike most of the other classes, Dark Theory was almost entirely hands off. There were very few projects and it was almost entirely just lecturing. 

This was also when Issac learned a few things about attaining advanced knowledge. 

Prestige was used to buy certain knowledges, and many of those knowledges were the blueprints for various techs. Some examples included conversion cores for Tactical or Strategic Catastrophy Echelons. Naturally, the more powerful the tech, the more prestige it took to unlock. 

On the other hand, theoretical knowledge could be approached in two different ways. 

One, you could buy more specific sets of knowledge for a price. For example, Issac’s mother developed the Avarice Equations. These equations could be bought for a hefty sum of Prestige. 

On the other hand, one could buy their way into a class that taught higher levels of Dark Theory. This naturally meant broader knowledge. 

So what people would do is spend the year accumulating enough Presitge to buy certain classes for the next year. 

The class Issac was in now was a class that taught the introductory knowledge for Dark Theory at a Level 3 classification. Anything more, and he would need to buy it with prestige. 

But these classes also gave out their own prestige that could be put toward the next class. Though this alone couldn’t buy the next class, so it required one to make contributions and earn more. 

Thankfully, Issac could take both avenues of working missions while taking classes. This would give him enough Prestige to continue growing. 

After that, the professor outlined her method of teaching. Hearing it, Issac realized that he would have to work hard if he planned on taking missions during the year. The teachings weren’t very accommodating to long term absences. 

But it was nothing that couldn’t be handled. And with that, orientation for Dark Theory was over. 

“Alright, come on.”

Asphodel pulled him out when class was over, the two walking out before everyone. 

Issac spoke. 

“My next class is for conversion cores.”

“I know.”

“And you have the same class?”

“I do.”

“...What’d you do?”

“Nothing.”

She giggled as they jumped on a train that moved people within the Progenium. 

Like that, the two rode to their next class which was located within a large warehouse. 

The place was loaded with desks and production equipment. 

Suddenly, Asphodel spoke through their direct line. 

“Everything you input into these machines is tracked and monitored by the Mantle. I suggest you don’t elude to any tech you shouldn’t know. In fact, don’t put anything down that isn’t specifically for or from what we’re being taught.”

“Alright.”

Issac smiled at the helpful advice. They really were partners in crime right now. 

“Okay class! Listen up!”

When everyone arrived, the Aatrix professor went through his orientation. 

Unlike Dark Theory, there would be several large projects through the year. They would require everyone to learn the functions behind conversion cores, design them, and produce them. Basically, they would learn to build them from the ground up. 

This knowledge was essential if one wanted to work on mechs and be a technician, so Issac looked forward to it. After all, he didn’t have the broad knowledge that he should despite knowing a lot about the subject. 

After a couple hours, they were let go. This was where Asphodel and Issac finally split. 

“I got class for quantum mechanics.”

“I got class for emission weapons. You have Hardlight after?”

“Yes, then I’m done.”

“Okay. I’ll stop by afterward.”

“Anthony will also be over. We’re going to be talking about building my mech.”

“Then I’ll definitely be there. I’m probably more knowledgeable. Plus, I know some people who can hook you up.”

“Is that right?”

Issac grinned. 

“I look forward to it.”

“You should. See you!”

“See you.”

With that, the two branched off. 

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