Chapter 345: 343: Medal of Honour

Madam Mary entered the auditorium through the door near the back of the stage, silence ensuing upon her entry. She slowly climbed up the dais, sporting a mild hunchback. Seeing her arrival, Jyorta and Haesha straightened their backs, attentive while expressions of expectation flashed on their faces.

Madam Mary faced everyone, looking around as she glanced at the expressions of every student, speaking with a tone of gratitude, "Marble City follows a system of merit where beneficial actions are rewarded while harmful actions are punished."

"When Rhachis Ancestor Parasite attacked Marble City, as our Ancestors were busy defending against its attacks, every soldier, whether active or retired had to swiftly head towards the walls to reinforce it." Her expression was calm, her emotions placid.

Madam Mary recalled the scenes she had witnessed, gazing at the young faces of the students before her, "We were pressed for time. Even a single instance of delay might weaken our defences, and if Rhachis Ancestor Parasite's attacks were to impact Marble City in that interval…we would have lost tens of Sectors from the shockwaves alone. So, we had to immediately leave behind all our work and head to reinforce the walls."

She continued while looking at the ashen expression of the students, "At any given time, numerous dangerous experiments are conducted throughout Marble City. Soldiers returning from the Wilds and undergoing treatment after the Essence of frenzy had seeped into their bodies in large amounts, and the Frenzy Beasts stored in the military academies for your training, everything was left unattended. It resulted in a disaster that caused too many human casualties, innocent children that were playing in their homes were exposed to such horrors."

Many students silently shed their tears, the scenes they had witnessed making them clench their teeth in hatred, at their helplessness, at their late arrival, at the scenes of carnage the children had suffered.

Haesha sobbed, the incident she and Esina had witnessed haunting her. Jyorta rubbed her back, consoling her as his eyes turned red, nerves popping on his neck in anger.

'Rewards,' He closed his eyes, the eyelids trembling at his thoughts. He fished out his handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to Haesha. Haesha nodded and grabbed hold of it, not using it as she continued to sob. She barely craned her head, seeing Madam Mary continue to speak.

"We knew of the horrors we had left behind, from our positions beneath the barrier in the sky, we saw them slowly permeate, helpless to intervene." She pointed at Jyorta, motioning for him to walk towards the dais, "On time, Jyorta Bone rode a River Whale and showed exceptional skill, giving us hope. The moment I entrusted him with the mission, he swiftly carried it out and rallied everyone."

Jyorta climbed the dais with a sullen mood, his prior thoughts of the rewards no longer in his mind, fully occupied with the regret of the children he had been unable to save. As he walked on the dais under the guidance of Madam Mary, Madam Rizenne appeared, holding a medallion, presenting it to Jyorta.

"To show appreciation for his efforts, Central Command has decided to offer him the Medal of Honour." Madam Mary said, watching Jyorta receive the medallion, his expression lacking any traces of joy.

"You should be proud of your service to Marble City in times of need, Jyorta Bone," Madam Mary said, the words affecting his mood, clearing up his vexed feelings. She then faced everyone, "Central Command will honour everyone who had participated in the rescue efforts."

Her voice boomed, followed by an inconspicuous wave of psychic energy, subtly affecting everyone, steadily bringing their emotional states back to normal, "Other than that, Central Command has given you a choice for a reward."

Upon her words, two suits of armour appeared, geared for male and female respectively. It was a fully enclosed unit, covering from head to toe without any gaps. The base material seemed to have been made from a jelly-like fibre, flexible like rubber but tougher than steel.

Covering it was an extra layer of protection, like exoskeletal muscles, looking tougher than the base material, only leaving the joints. On the chest part was a gelatinous circle, transparent in nature. Embedded within was a Quill, its feathers segmented into two.

It was a Refined Relic, obtained when a Wave Controller had consumed a Cleansement Fruit. The Quill shone with a resplendent radiance, dimming after a couple of seconds as the radiance circulated through the armour, lighting up the ends of each exoskeletal muscle strand.

The students sensed a dense aura condensed within the armour, enough to be on par with a Developer. It seemed strangely sentient, judging by the aura and energy circulating within it. The students gawked in astonishment, watching the armour in a daze. They hadn't witnessed something of that calibre ever.

Seeing their gazes, Madam Mary smiled, "Stingray Battle Armour; that's their name. It is an Artifact at the peak of Tier 3, and every armour possesses two Relics: The Quill, a Refined Relic obtained when a Wave Controller consumes a Cleansement Fruit, and the Extracted Relic with the Unranked Skill, Flight at the level of Tier 3 in it."

"The Unranked Skill, Flight allows the users of the Battle Armour to fly in the air. Though, their flight speed, aerial mobility, and flight efficiency would be largely inferior to those in possession of the Unranked Skill; it is still incredibly useful." She then unleashed her psychic arm, thinning its intensity before knocking on a Battle Armour.

Mild sparks were produced, repelling part of the psychic energy in her psychic arm, "The Quill has been embedded in such a way that its first psychic arm works in actively defending against any energy. It forms a barrier around the Battle Armour and is even capable of shielding 20 percent of a Ground Controller's psychic energy. The other psychic arm is wound around the inner surface of its limbs and help in movement. It increases your movement speeds to a fair extent, around 10 percent to a Developer at the peak of Tier 3."

"And," She smiled, "This is the reward Central Command is giving to each of you. After your respective Graduation Ceremony, we will train you in using the Battle Armour for the remainder of your stay here. When you graduate, you will gain ownership of them. If you don't wish to receive this Battle Armour, you can instead obtain 40,000 Credits unofficially. And that will be effective starting now."

The students got incredibly excited, their prospects looking bright. Everyone seated in the auditorium was at Tier 2, guaranteed to reach Tier 3 in the future, with some of them having a shot at Tier 4. And, possessing the Battle Armour boosted their strengths beyond their Tier, allowing them to enter the realm of Tier 3. This would boost their growth speed, also raising their survivability.

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Even though the energy expenditure to use its power would be incredibly high, but as long as they possessed sufficient energy, they could burst with formidable power. The presence of the Relic with the Unranked Skill, Flight in it allowed them the power of aerial mobility, greatly helping them.

Those among the students that were planning to exchange for the Unranked Skill, Flight decisively dropped the idea, no longer intending to do so. In exchange, they planned to use the saved-up Credits to exchange for items that would further boost their survivability.

As for the students like Ashten Coorg—spurred by the incident with the rescue—who had already obtained the Unranked Skill, Flight, they sighed, their desire for the Battle Armour lower than the others.

Madam Mary looked at Jyorta, "The first choice is yours, Jyorta Bone. What will you choose?"

Jyorta made eye contact with Madam Mary, speaking without hesitation, "I'll choose the Credits."

"Alright," Madam Mary nodded, "They will be credited to your balance within a minute but will not be reflected in the score displayed on the walls of the White Building every month."

"Thank you," Jyorta bowed towards Madam Mary and Madam Rizenne and returned to his seat.

Haesha spoke with curiosity, "Why did you choose the Credits?"

"When we graduate and be drafted for missions in the Wilds, Central Command will give us all Battle Armours, though largely inferior to the Stingray Battle Armour." He sighed, "Even then, as long as we accumulate contribution points, we can one day obtain superior battle Armours. But, the rewards in our military academy are harder to obtain when we graduate."

"I see," Haesha nodded.

"What are you planning to choose?" Jyorta inquired, watching Madam Mary call forth another student to the dais, to present him with the medallion and the reward.

"Credits," Haesha looked at the visage of Madam Mary, seemingly in thought as she said, "My decision is simple actually. With the 40,000 Credits, I'll obtain Regen today. To me, that is the most important."

She looked at Jyorta, "Regen has been my goal all along. I dare not obtain that Battle Armour and risk losing Regen."

"Besides," She smiled, "Battle Armours are less useful for us as compared to Warriors. We can defend ourselves with our psychic arms. And, from Tier 3 onwards, we Espers would become truly strong."

"Indeed," Jyorta nodded, "That was part of the reason that influenced my judgement. Also, 40,000 Credits is a big amount. We can exchange for items that would increase our overall strength."

Soon, it was Haesha's turn. She received her medallion and spoke of her choice of obtaining Credits, her body trembling with uncontrollable joy as Madam Mary nodded. What had once been an impossible goal had been achieved today, with ample time still left of her stay in the military academy.

'Thank you.' She looked at the medallion, peace filling her mind.

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