Silas stood at the ship’s main sector, the first place they had entered when they got on board.
A lollipop was tucked lightly to one side of his lips.
Asher stood behind him, his gaze observant and cold.
Alia stood to his right and Billie to his left.
They stared at the sight before them.
Several planets orbited a single massive white star in sync.
The planets were divided by proximity to the star.
Over a hundred thousand planets on the outer belt, just over a thousand on the second belt, exactly a hundred on the third, and one on the fourth.
That last one was the largest of all.
The spaceship flew through each belt with relative ease.
Within a few seconds, they were already close to the largest planet on the inner belt.
"Prepare for landing," Mark announced, his voice reverberating through the entire cabin.
Soon, the spaceship tilted, shooting downward as it broke through the planet’s atmosphere.
Silas’s eyes widened at the sight.
Before they could even land, the beauty of the planet had already begun to speak for itself.
The clouds were a dazzling silver. The sky itself was violet.
"This is beautiful," Silas muttered.
The rest could not help but nod in agreent.
The spaceship broke through the clouds, piercing them like a bullet.
The world beneath beca clearer.
The entire planet felt surreal, like sothing pulled straight from a fantasy.
Although they could not see it clearly yet, just the way everything was painted was enough to convey the beauty of the place.
At that mont, Levi walked in.
His steps were calm and regal.
"We will be staying here for three days. You might want to take everything you need since the ship will be unavailable until the day of departure," he said, stopping a few feet from the group. "Also, so people will take you to your residence when we land."
"What do we need?" Alia asked with a wry smile. "Everything was destroyed back on Veritas."
Levi did not acknowledge her words. He had already left before she could finish.
"Why not grab so lollipops and chocolates?" Silas asked, already running toward the kitchen.
...
The ship landed on a dock that appeared to have been cleared of everything else in preparation for their arrival.
The hatch opened with a soft hiss, revealing the floor below.
The dock was massive beyond comparison, larger than a city at first glance.
"Wow," Silas muttered as he walked down with slow cautious steps.
Asher followed behind, matching Silas step for step as though they shared one mind.
"What are you waiting for?" Silas asked, turning back to look at Billie and Alia.
They snapped out of their daze.
"Oh, sorry," Alia said, hurrying down the stairs.
Butlers and maids lined the path from the ship, each carrying themselves with an air of quiet pride.
Silas drew in a slow breath at the welco before him.
For soone like the governor of an entire sector to arrange such a scene just to welco one person was sothing else entirely.
Silas turned back instinctively.
He saw Alia and Billie walking down behind him.
But the main reason for such a spectacle was nowhere to be seen.
’To think she ignored such a grand welco entirely,’ Silas thought, shaking his head.
As they reached the ground, the ship’s doors folded inward, slamming shut before vanishing into thin air.
"Ditching us the mont we step off," Alia said, shaking her head.
"Please, this way," one of the butlers gestured to the left.
The assembled staff parted in sync, spreading like a gate opening.
Behind them sat a sleek blue car, hovering slightly above the ground.
It humd softly, golden lights tracing its edges.
Billie took the first step, her face stoic and emotionless.
A butler opened the door as she neared.
Silas and Alia followed.
"Welco, sirs," the driver greeted.
With a calm push, the engine ignited.
"Where is my guard?" Silas asked, noticing they had shut the door before Asher could enter.
"He is following in the escort vehicle," the driver replied with a gentle asured voice.
"Ohh," Silas exclaid before nodding.
The car glided forward with a smoothness that felt less like movent and more like the world was simply rearranging itself around them.
Alia pressed her face against the window.
The glass gave way and the beauty unfolded before them in full.
The streets were lined with trees that shimred from light that seed to live inside their leaves. Silver and gold.
Buildings rose on both sides, tall and elegant, their upper halves hidden behind the silver clouds.
Silas’s lollipop almost slipped from the corner of his mouth as he stared.
The people on the street moved with ease and elegance.
After all, each one had to be an elite among elites to even secure a place on the Orion Planet.
The car tilted to the right, ascending a subtle slope.
As it crested the hill, the view opened up all at once.
A palace.
No. That word was too small. Too deaning for a sight like this.
A landscape that sprawled across hundreds of miles at one sight.
Spires reached upward into the violet sky, each one capped with sothing that glowed faintly. Not white or gold. Sowhere between both, but still capturing the essence of both.
Gardens cascaded down the front in terraced waves, filled with silver flowers that swayed without any wind.
Silas pulled the lollipop from his mouth.
The car descended toward the entrance with the sa effortless calm it had carried since the dock. A wide path stretched ahead, flanked by more staff standing at perfect attention, utterly still, like decorations that had decided to beco people.
The car eased to a stop.
Five black cars sward in from behind, surrounding theirs almost instantly.
The door opened before they could move.
Silas was the first out this ti.
He put the lollipop back into his mouth, holding it with his lips.
"This is far grander than anything we had on Veritas," Silas said, looking around slowly.
"Obviously. It is a Sector planet for a reason," Alia said, tapping Silas on the head as she stepped out.
A red carpet stretched from that point all the way to the entrance of one of the spires.
Asher landed behind Silas, his steps not stirring so much as a grain of dust.
"Welco, sirs," another butler greeted.
But this one was different.
The way he carried himself, the composure, the allure that made the heart waver, even his outfit set him apart from the others. A striking white suit where everyone else wore black.
He walked ahead of them but still spoke without stopping or turning his head.
"This spire is the residential suite for all candidates of the Imperial Academy," he said. "There are over a million students in this place, each one having awakened with a talent of S grade or higher."
He paused for a mont, waiting as the maids ahead opened the doors.
They swung open, revealing the lavishly designed interior of the spire.
A chandelier bathed them in a surreal light that held them captive for a mont before they regained themselves.
"This will serve as the banquet hall tomorrow evening," the butler said calmly.
"Banquet? No one told us about that," Billie said, furrowing her brows.
"Not like they told us anything," Alia said with a slight chuckle.
"The banquet is an event arranged by the governor so that everyone can get acquainted," the butler explained.
"I don’t like the sound of this," Silas muttered with a smile.
"You don’t like people generally," Alia said with a smile.
The butler led them further toward a staircase.
It was long, seemingly endless.
Built from a glass that absorbed light rather than reflected it.
They walked up.
Soon they reached the first floor.
"Each floor contains a hundred thousand rooms."
"A hundred thousand? Isn’t that too many for such a small space?"
The butler smiled lightly.
"It is a great number, but thanks to the governor, who sacrificed one of his planes, we were able to achieve sothing of that scale," the butler said.
"What is a plane?" Silas asked with furrowed brows.
"You will learn in ti. Let us continue. Your room is on the highest floor."
Asher bent slightly, about to whisper sothing to Silas.
His body froze, as if struck by sothing that brought cold rather than force.
"He will know later," the butler said, turning back, his cold gaze locking onto Asher’s with a smile spreading across his lips.
Silas turned in confusion.
"We heard you already. Why are you repeating it?" He asked.
"My apologies. Pardon my manners," the butler said, facing forward again with a smile.
Silas shook his head subtly. ’Why does everyone act so strangely?’ He wondered.
But Asher was not the sa. His mind was in disarray, the shock of that mont still echoing through his entire existence.
They continued their ascent as the mont passed.
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