Soft music drifted gently through the spacious lounge.
Do you remember the time…
When we fell in love…
We were young and innocent back then…
Michael Jackson’s Remember the Time flowed quietly from the lounge speakers, it’s familiar melody blending with the low murmur.
Dylan sat comfortably in one of the leather chairs legs crossed, absent-mindedly flipping through a travel magazine.
Without noticing his surroundings he quietly sang along.
“Do you remember the time…”
He turned another page.
“When we fell in love…”
Another page.
“Do you remember the time…”
A few nearby passengers glanced in his direction.
Not because he was loud, quite the opposite, his voice barely rose above the music.
He simply looked…
Comfortable, Relaxed.
As though he’d forgotten anyone else existed.
Several women waiting near the reception dest exchanged amused glances.
One of them covered a small smile with her hand.
“… He’s kind of cute.”
“I know, right? His eyes are really pretty.”
Their voice were little more than whispers.
Dylan remained completely oblivious.
But their constant stares and murmurs made him uncomfortable.
A little.
He turned his head toward them.
“Are they gossiping about me?” he muttered.
“Do I look that bad?”
One of the girls smiled at him.
He blinked, caught off guard, then looked back down at his magazine.
“Whatever,” he muttered, and kept reading.
He flipped another page and paused on an ad for the Skyrunner Model-X22S, a sleek, ultra-luxurious flying car.
“That’s a sweet looking ride,” he muttered, tracing a finger over the image.
“Maybe I should get one.”
Then he saw the price.
“Never mind,” He then slowly closed the magazine, “…These magazines somehow managed to make travelling boring.” With absolutely zero hesitation.
He tossed it back onto the glass coffee table.
Thump.
The other magazines shifted slightly beneath it.
“…I tried.” He leaned further into the sofa before letting out a quiet sigh, his emerald eyes wandered across the enormous lounge.
The Teleportation Hub never truly became quiet.
Business executives hurried through the terminal while discussing contracts over holographic phones.
Families carrying oversized luggage searched for departure gates.
Groups of Awakeners stood together near the security checkpoints, their weapons sealed inside specialised storage cases approved for teleportation travel.
Several Bureau officers patrolled the building with practiced ease.
Even a pair of dwarven engineers argued loudly beside one of the massive mana generators, gesturing animatedly toward a complicated blueprint that Dylan wisely decided not to question.
The entire building hummed with orderly activity.
It reminded him more of an international airport than anything else.
Except, instead of airplanes.
Humanity now travelled through space itself.
“Teleportation Hub…” Dylan murmured.
“The Teleportation Hub is one of the greatest achievements of the Bureau.” He paused.
“Well, officially. In reality, humanity hadn’t developed teleportation at all.”
“The technology arrived with the Visitors specifically, dwarves from a fallen world.”
Back when the Dungeon Emergence had thrown the world into chaos, humanity hadn’t merely gained mana.
They had gained allies.
Some Visitors chose to settle peacefully on Earth, bringing with them centuries sometimes millennia of knowledge humanity simply didn’t possess.
The dwarves had been among the most influential.
After years of cooperation and countless diplomatic negotiations, humanity had eventually signed a formal treaty with the Dwarven Kingdom, now nestled deep within the Carpathians.
In return for resources, territory, and political cooperation, the dwarves had shared one of their greatest inventions.
Mass Teleportation Technology.
A single long-distance teleport normally cost around $4,800-$6,000.
The father the destination, the higher the price climbed.
Not exactly the sort of transport and ordinary person would casually afford.
Fortunately, along with his recent very much legal money, he got a discount for being a student at Nexus Academy
“Nexus Academy students receive almost ridiculous discounts.” Dylan smiled to himself.
“My ticket practically feels sponsored.”.
Considering the academy’s reputation it wasn’t particularly suprising.
If the world’s most prestigious institution expected students from every corner of the planet to attend.
Charging every freshman thousands of dollars just to arrive would’ve been spectacularly counterproductive.
“… I’ll happily accept the discount.” Dylan said sheepishly.
Growing up, Dylan never turned down a freebie.
If someone offered him a discount, he took it graciously.
Just then…
A pleasant chime echoed throughout the lounge.
Ding!!!
The conservations gradually quieter.
A calm female voice filled the terminal.
“Attention, passengers.”
“Teleportation Gate Seven to Aurora Isle will begin boarding shortly.”
“All passengers travelling to Aurora Isle are requested to proceed to the departure checkpoint.”
Dylan slowly stood, a small smile appeared on his face.
“…Looks like it’s finally time
He slung his backpack over one shoulder before making his way toward Departure Gate Seven.
The terminal had already begun filling with students.
Some wore expensive custom-made combat uniforms.
Others carried oversized luggage filled with enough belongings to survive a year without returning home.
Parents fussed over their children one last time.
Friends exchanged excited conversations.
A few Awakeners stood quietly by themselves, watching everything with calm expressions.
“… Going to school again,” Dylan muttered with a deep sigh.
A Bureau officer scanned his identification.
“Student ID confirmed.”
“Nexus Academy. First Year.”
“Please proceed.”
Dylan stepped through the security barrier.
Beyond it stood something resembling a gigantic circular doorway nearly fifteen metres tall.
Except, the centre wasn’t empty.
Countless silver rings rotated slowly around a sphere of pale-blue mana suspended in mid-air.
Runes glowed across the surrounding framework.
Mana generators hidden beneath the floor hummed with immense power.
“So that’s a Long-Range Teleportation Gate.”
Even after writing about them seeing one in person was another matter entirely.
The air itself seemed to distort around the gate.
Like reality had been folded inward.
A staff member smiled politely.
“First time?”
“…Is it that obvious?”
“You’ve been staring at it for almost a minute.”
“…Fair.”
She gestured towards the platform.
“Stand in the centre.”
“When the countdown finishes…”
“Don’t resist.”
“Resisting teleportation usually makes the nausea worse.”
“…Usually?”
She smiled.
“You’ll understand.”
That somehow wasn’t reassuring.
Dylan stepped into the centre.
Several dozen passengers gathered beside him.
The silver rings accelerated.
Mana flooded the chamber.
The humming deepened until it vibrated through his chest.
A mechanical voice echoed throughout the gate.
“Destination confirmed.”
“Aurora Isle.”
“Teleportation commencing.”
“Three.”
“Two.”
“One.”
Light swallowed everything.
There was no sensation of movement.
No wind.
No acceleration.
For one impossible instant, It felt as though his body had ceased existing altogether.
Then Reality returned.
Cold air brushed against his face, birdsong echoed somewhere nearby.
The familiar scent of the ocean drifted upon a gentle breeze.
Dylan slowly opened his eyes, he stood within another enormous terminal.
Large glass walls stretched from floor to ceiling.
Beyond them an endless blue sky unfolded before him.
White clouds drifted lazily overhead.
Far in the distance, enormous flocks of birds wheeled gracefully across the horizon.
Sunlight reflected off countless glass buildings beyond the terminal, while patches of emerald forests blended seamlessly with modern city districts.
“…Beautiful.”
Then his stomach lurched.
“…Oh no.”
His face turned slightly pale.
The world tilted.
“I think…”
He swallowed hard.
“…I’m going to…”
Before the sentence finished…
A small glass vial appeared in front of him.
“Drink.”
Dylan looked up.
Standing beside him was an elderly man dressed in an ordinary grey coat.
His silver hair had been neatly combed back.
Kind wrinkles surrounded calm blue eyes.
Looking extremely handsome despite his age, if anything he looked like a divine being in disguise.
His voice commanding.
“…First teleportation?”
Dylan accepted the vial.
“…Yeah.”
The old man chuckled.
“I thought so.”
“The first one always feels like your stomach stayed behind.”
Dylan uncorked the potion and drank it.
A cool sensation spread through his body almost instantly.
Within seconds the nausea disappeared.
“…Much better.”
“Thank you.”
The old man simply smiled.
“No need.”
His eyes drifted toward the badge attached to Dylan’s backpack.
“Nexus Academy, a freshman?”
“Yeah, first year.” Dylan said, nodding.
The old man’s smile widened.
“Then”
“Welcome to Aurora Isle. I hope your time here changes your life.”
With that he simply continued walking into the crowd.
Dylan watched him disappear amongst hundreds of travellers.
A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“…Still the same.”
Marcus Marrow, Chairman of Nexus Academy, an SS-Grade Hunter.
One of humanity’s strongest defenders.
Throughout the world people knew him by another name.
Marcus Marrow, The Ironblooded Sovereign, not because he was cruel or unstable.
But because whenever humanity faced overwhelming odds…
Marcus laughed.
The stronger the enemy…
The louder he laughed.
There were stories of him charging headfirst into Dungeon Catastrophes while grinning like he’d just won the lottery.
Many questioned his sanity.
None questioned his strength.
“…Nice to see you’re still giving freshmen motion sickness medicine.”
Dylan smiled faintly remembering how his readers loved him.
His gaze lifted once more toward Aurora Isle.
The city sparkled beneath the afternoon sun, It somehow felt alive.
Before he could admire it any longer—
“LAST BATCH OF NEXUS FRESHMEN!”
A booming voice thundered through the terminal.
“IF YOU’RE HEADING TO THE ACADEMY, GET YOUR LAZY ASSES OVER HERE!”
Every head turned.
Dylan closed his eyes.
“…There he is.”
Standing beside an enormous hovering bus was a broad-shouldered man wearing a Nexus Academy uniform.
Even without a microphone his voice somehow reached every corner of the terminal.
Jose Quagmire, an A-Rank Hunter.
Bus driver, caretaker, logistics officer.
Depending on what the plot required that week.
“…Loudmouth bastard.”
Dylan muttered under his breath.
Jose pointed toward him.
“YOU!”
“ARE YOU COMING OR ARE YOU PLANNING TO GRADUATE FROM THE TERMINAL?”
“…Coming.”
He climbed aboard.
The doors slid shut.
Without the slightest vibration the enormous bus lifted silently into the air.
Aurora Isle stretched endlessly beyond the windows.
Despite its name calling it an island felt almost misleading, it covered an area nearly twice the size of France.
Home to more than eighty million people.
A fully developed nation built atop one of humanity’s greatest achievements.
Twenty years earlier…
The Pacific Ocean Ridges had undergone terraformation which led to the birth of several new territories reducing the water mass and increasing the land pass.
And one of those landmasses is now known as Aurora Isle, build by the Bureau of Authority to train young Awakened from across the planet.
The land became the foundational place for Nexus Academy, the first and most prestigious academy of all.
Today, syscrapers rose beside forests.
Dungeon research centres stood next to residential districts.
Mana reactors powered entire cities.
People reached Aurora Isle in only two ways.
The Teleportation Hub Or The Hyper Loop.
“Hyperloop…” Dylan muttered, “An immense underwater railway connecting the island to several nations across the globe.”
It was build using foremost Technology and by the help of the Visitors.
An engineering Marvel.
Eventually, the scenery changed.
Towering defensive walls appeared ahead.
Beyond them lay Nexus Academy.
The gates opened automatically.
The bus entered.
“…Wow.”
Even Dylan found himself speechless.
Calling it an academy hardly seemed accurate, it resembled an independent city.
Wide tree-lined roads crossed enormous districts.
Beautiful parks spread across the campus, one so vast it resembled a genuine forest.
Surveillance drones patrolled the skies.
Security robots stood beside intersections.
Armed guards watched every entrance.
Towering statues honoured legendary Hunters whose sacrifices had protected humanity through its darkest years.
Every building combined elegant modern architecture with intricate mana engineering.
Technology and Magic, perfectly intertwined.
The bus continued deeper into the campus before gradually slowing.
A graceful complex of towering residential buildings came into view.
Above the entrance, elegant silver letters read—
Stellae Minimae.
The Dormitory for First-Year Students.
The bus came to a smooth stop.
Students began filing out one after another.
Near the entrance, several academy staff members distributed identification cards.
When Dylan’s turn arrived, a woman scanned his information before handing him a sleek black student ID.
He glanced down.
Nexus Academy
Student: Dylan Harrow
First Year
Freshman Rank: 886 / 1500
Dylan blinked.
“…Eight hundred and eighty-six?”
His eyebrows rose.
“So the original Dylan was actually a pretty good student.” He slipped the card into his pocket before lifting his gaze.
“That’s actually surprising, i really thought i have to climb from last rank.”
“…Now starts the real show.” He murmured glancing the enormous dormitory towered above him, dozens of storeys disappearing into the evening sky.
A new chapter of his life was about to begin.