Xi Wei and Aiden sat together on the sofa in the hovercar. The view outside the windows quickly changed from showing the bustling cityscape of the capital planet to the boundless ocean of outer space. The Royal Guard had left the capital planet, and was on its way to the Andromeda galaxy.
The Andromeda galaxy wasn’t far from the Cepheus solar system. They only had to leap once through hyperspace to get there. In the afternoon, Xi Wei and Aiden smoothly arrived at their destination, the planet Logia of the Andromeda Galaxy. The scenery here was completely different from the concrete jungles of the capital planet, and their congested, intercrossing midair highways. Here, there was a feeling of seclusion, and the streets were sparse with cars and pedestrians. They saw Ellen Academy’s red skyscrapers up ahead, the most iconic landmarks in all of Logia.
Since alphas couldn’t enter the school, Craig could only drop the two boys off at a safe area outside the school gate. He said quietly, “I’ll have some beta guards take you in. I’ll wait outside. After you register and check into your dorm rooms, send me a message.”
Xi Wei said, “General, you don’t need to wait, you can just go back. We won’t have any problems registering. The school will send robots to take us through the process.”
Just as he was saying this, a little robot with a cute design came out to greet them. It turned its head and scanned the two boys’ pupils. “Xi Wei and Aiden, welcome to Ellen Academy. The registration area for new students is this way, please follow me.”
As it said this, it turned and started towards the school.
Aiden was silent for a moment, then turned his head and said seriously: “I’m going to go register, you should head back.”
Craig went over to him and said gently, “Take care of yourself at school. If anybody dares to bully you, just contact me through the smartwatch I gave you.”
Aiden couldn’t help but smile. “Okay, I know.”
Parents always worried that their kids would be bullied at school, but actually, Aiden and Xi Wei had already grown up and were well able to protect themselves. And at an all-omega school, they trusted they wouldn’t meet the likes of Joen, who had stirred up trouble for them back at St. Paul Academy.
After a pause, Aiden said seriously: “About my dad...I’ll have to ask you to watch over him.”
His son had actually entrusted Craig with his dad’s care. It seemed that he wasn’t at ease leaving his impulsive, nouveau riche dad to his own devices. Seeing his son’s serious gaze, Craig felt his heart soften. He reached out and stroked his hair, saying, “Rest assured, I’ll protect him well.”
At this, Aiden nodded, then turned and followed Xi Wei into the school.
Not until the two boys’ silhouettes disappeared from his line of sight did Craig take the Royal Guard and turn for home.
Xi Wei and Aiden followed the little robot to the registration area, which was crowded with omega students. The girls wore their hair long, had vivid big eyes, and fair, tender skin. The boys were also delicate of feature, and looked good-natured. Everyone seemed to be getting along well, chatting as they lined up to undergo the physical exam. Xi Wei looked around the room, and couldn’t help but heave a sigh in his heart: Sure enough, he still liked omegas the best! The omega girls here were all so beautiful, it would be great if he could take one of them home for a wife.
If Klaire knew what Xi Wei was thinking, he’d probably want to cry.
He was only thinking it, though. He couldn’t say something like that out loud. If he told his father he wanted to marry an omega girl, his father would probably die of a heart attack.
Ellen College’s physical exam for new students was very meticulous. The robots had to measure each student’s height, weight, bone growth and pheromone level in order to assess the status of their physical development. From this, they could determine the approximate timing of their first heat after they reached maturity. Among these various measurements, there was one that was of especially high importance—the omega pheromone level. The robot that had taken half a day to draw Xi Wei’s blood sample suddenly started flashing a red light. “Warning! Warning! Pheromone level at zero!”
The omega boys and girls around them turned their heads in unison to look at him.
Most fourteen-year-old omegas would be producing some amount of pheromones. Those who matured earlier, like Aiden, might reach a level of 5.0; those who matured later would still reach about 3.0. Xi Wei, on the other hand, actually had a level of 0—that was too farfetched.
Everyone looked at him as if he were a circus sideshow. There were even some omegas who whispered, “It couldn’t be that he’s a beta who was assigned the wrong dynamic at birth, right?”
“Yeah, how could it be zero?”
Xi Wei, though, was quite happy. This was evidence that he was maturing later than most omegas. Right now, his pheromone level was still at zero; who could say but that he might not have his first heat before he turned twenty. This was really too great for words.
Secretly delighted on the inside, Xi Wei put on an innocent face. He said to the teacher in charge of the physical exam, “Do you think this is because my physical development is delayed?”
The teacher awkwardly recorded down the data and said, “Yes, it’s probably a genetic inheritance of the royal family. When your Uncle Berg entered school and underwent the physical exam, his pheromone level was also at zero. So his first heat came much later than other omegas, in his twenties.”
Xi Wei suddenly recalled that Uncle Berg had married at twenty-two. A first heat coming that late was rarely seen among all the omegas in the empire. Could it be that he had really inherited the genes of the royal family, and that would also happen to him?
In any case, Xi Wei was very satisfied with the results of this examination.
Xi Wei and Aiden got their dorm room assignments. After he settled in, Xi Wei video called Klaire, telling him he was safe and sound. He took a picture of the bed he had made for the two cats and sent it to him.
When Klaire saw the fuzzy black and white cats on his screen, curled up in the soft blanket Xi Wei had spread out for them, he couldn’t help but smile. “If you’ve settled in, then rest early. School’s about to start for us too. In the future, let’s video call each other often.”
Xi Wei hung up, then tidied up the dormitory with Aiden. Then they went out to explore the campus.
The scenery here was very beautiful. Everywhere they looked there were rock gardens and water features, and the air was clean and refreshing. Omega upperclassmen would often walk by them, looking elegant and refined. Xi Wei’s eyes were almost dazzled.
But when he thought that these students, once they graduated and came of age, would be married off to strangers by the association, he felt some discontent.
Ellen Academy officially opened on the 30th of August. At the opening ceremony, the principal, who was a woman with curly blond hair, gave a short speech, then handed the students over to their respective homeroom teachers.
Ellen Academy’s student population didn’t lose in size to St. Paul Academy. It gathered together omegas from every galaxy of the Empire. Just Xi Wei’s year alone was divided among more than fifty classes. In total, there were more than 2,000 omega students.
When all of these omegas were gathered together, they looked like a huge crowd. But in reality, the empire had so many galaxies and planets, that in its population of several billion, the tens of thousands of omegas were very few. Because of this, they were seen as extraordinarily precious.
Xi Wei and Aiden were in the same class. Their homeroom teacher was called Ivan, a gentle, cultured man who wore a pair of elegant silver glasses. He said he was a beta who had been teaching at this school for more than a decade. This year he was thirty-five, and as of yet he was unmarried.
The students were all shocked. Mr. Ivan looked so young, about twenty-five or twenty-six. They completely couldn’t tell he was already thirty-five years old.
Under the surprised eyes of his students, Ivan smiled slightly and said, “No matter which school on which planet you came from, from today on, the way you’ll be taught will be quite different from what you’re used to. I know that before, you learned a lot of grammar, mathematics and other theoretical subjects. Although Ellen Academy also teaches these subjects, they’ll be reduced to one class a week, and the exams on them won’t be too difficult. Here, the subject of main importance will be health class. As omegas, you need to clearly understand the workings of your own bodies, and the process of marking. Only then can you protect yourselves.”
When he came to the subject of marking, the children’s faces turned a little embarrassed.
Ivan continued, “In the future, I’ll be teaching health. The tests for this subject are a bit challenging, but it's essential that you pass. Do you hear me?”
Their teacher’s voice was so gentle, the students immediately replied in unison: “We hear you!”
Ivan smiled. “Good. Tomorrow morning, after you finish eating breakfast, come to this classroom at ten o’clock. I’ll be waiting for you so we can start our first class. Don’t be late.”
Xi Wei felt pretty good. This school actually started classes at ten; in the future, he’d be able to sleep in.
The next morning at 9:10, Aiden woke up Xi Wei and the two had breakfast. Then they walked side by side to the classroom.
Mr. Ivan had long since been waiting there. When he saw them, he looked at them gently and said, “Are you two Aiden and Xi Wei?”
The two boys were amazed at their teacher’s faculty of memory. They looked at him and nodded.
Ivan smiled and reached out to pat their shoulders. “Go in and take your seats, class is about to start.”
Meeting this kind of gentle, cultured teacher, whose voice made you feel like you were being washed by the spring breeze, was really a piece of good luck.
It was a shame that the very first class made Xi Wei feel a strong urge to skip school!
This was because Mr. Ivan started a movie on the screen, and said in a mild voice, “In our first class, we’ll learn about the process of marking.”
Then he pressed play, and they began watching an educational film about the physiological process of an alpha marking an omega.
Xi Wei: “...”
What could be better than gathering a class full of people together to look at porn?! What’s more, the film showed a male omega being pressed beneath an alpha who was doing this and that to him. The fine hairs on the back of Xi Wei’s neck stood up, and he felt like he was about to to go blind.
“Oh, ooh, ah, ah…” Moans sounded throughout the room. It was more than Xi Wei could bear, so he decisively closed his eyes and plugged his ears.
If every day at Ellen Academy was going to be like this, Xi Wei felt that by the end of these four years, he’ll have gone mad for sure!
The idea of sex education wasn’t the problem. People always had to be informed about their own bodies. When Xi Wei had gone to high school in his first life, he had also learned about how sperm was produced, and how fertilized eggs would develop. This was information explaining the origin of human life, and students weren’t particularly opposed to learning about it in health class.
Ellen Academy’s health class, though, went into far too much detail. The process of marking had to be explained step by step, and when Mr. Ivan lectured on heat, he divided it into three stages. Marking was divided into two steps: the temporary marking, and the permanent marking. During the permanent marking, the alpha would forcefully open the omega’s uterine channel, and inject their sperm inside. That way, they could have a baby.
Listening to Mr. Ivan’s narration, Xi Wei really wanted to say one phrase: Fuck me!
Don’t talk about four years, after a period of just one week, Xi Wei couldn’t stand it anymore. He called his friend to complain: “Klaire, I’m about to collapse, this school’s health class actually puts on porn for us, and shows us the process of marking...now I really know what marking’s all about, damn, is this world crazy or isn’t it?!”
Klaire: “...”
Looking at Xi Wei who was spitting with rage, Klaire wanted to laugh but didn’t dare to. He coughed and rubbed his nose, and said, “It can’t be that you only just learned about the process of permanent marking, right?”
Xi Wei indignantly said, “Of course! When I was little, I secretly rifled through my father’s bookshelf. I saw one book that was an introduction to omega physiology, but the diagrams inside were so obscene that I threw it down without looking further into it. I didn’t know the details of the process at all. I only learned today that marking had a temporary and a permanent step to it. It’s divided into three stages, and you have to spend three days and three nights to open up some channel in the body, and then you’re pregnant! It’s really too awful!”
Klaire was silent for a moment, then softly consoled him: “It’s alright, don’t get upset. If you really don’t want to listen during class, you can just put your head down and go to sleep.”
—In any case, when the time for your marking comes, I can handle it. It’s fine if you don’t understand these matters.
As Klaire thought of this, his eyes grew ever more gentle. “During these four years, for the classes you don’t want to listen to, just sleep through them. Or you can wear earplugs and read by yourself. Ellen Academy’s tests aren’t that difficult anyway, and they let you graduate once you turn eighteen. When you get bored at night, you can look for me at the battle arena, and I’ll play a few rounds with you. How does that sound?”
Xi Wei took a deep breath, dropped his head in frustration and said, “I guess that’s all I can do.”
Klaire said, “In a bad mood? How about coming to the battle arena to vent a little?”
At this, Xi Wei’s spirits lifted a little. He smiled and said, “Alright, you log in first, I’ll be there in a minute.”
The empire’s network connected all of its galaxies, and provided ease of communication between the different regions. Although Xi Wei and Klaire were light-years apart, they could meet anytime on the internet. After the two logged on to the battle arena, Xi Wei quickly made a room, then entered the password and dragged Klaire in.
Klaire sent him a message, asking: “Will beating me up make you feel better?”
Xi Wei said, “It’s too boring to beat up strangers all the time, there’s so many noobs on here. It’s more fun to fight you.”
Klaire smiled and said, “Your mecha is a level higher than mine. How about I treat this like a boss fight?”
Xi Wei said, “No problem, let’s see whether you can beat this boss or whether this boss will slaughter you!”
The two soon started to battle. Some time ago, Xi Wei had used the points Klaire gave him to upgrade his mecha by a level. B-class mechas could carry out basic transformations. They could run on dry land, or grow wings and soar through the sky. Added onto Xi Wei’s innate ability in operating mecha, it made it very challenging for Klaire to avoid his attacks.
Klaire had decided to enter this boss fight because mecha piloting made up a large part of the entrance exam for military academies. He had to make the most of his time from now on and start training hard. Challenging Xi Wei’s higher-class mecha was a great help to his piloting abilities, and it also helped Xi Wei unwind when he felt moody, so this was really killing two birds with one stone.
Xi Wei relied on the oppressive power of his B-class mecha and beat down Klaire for ten straight rounds. After that, he felt a bit more relaxed. He smiled and said, “Thanks for keeping me company. I played until I felt pretty carefree just now.”
Klaire sent him a smiley emoji. “You still need to be polite with me?”
Xi Wei couldn’t help but feel a little moved. It was good to have a friend who knew him inside and out. When he was feeling anxious and irritable, Klaire kept him company, and his mood soon took a turn for the better. Xi Wei smiled and said, “The course load at St. Paul Academy must be heavy. You should go to bed soon, you have to get up early tomorrow.”
Klaire said, “Okay, you should sleep soon too. Goodnight.”
“I will. Goodnight!”
It was probably because he had used up a lot of energy fighting ten straight rounds with Klaire, but that night, after he took a bath, Xi Wei laid down in bed and fell asleep straightaway.
As he slept, he had a vague dream that the blue crystal necklace his uncle gave him glowing faintly, and a soft voice spoke in his ear: “Time has matched correctly. Environment has matched correctly. The AI has completed automatic activation. Completing match with the host’s mind… Matching successful.”
The glow dimmed, and Xi Wei dazedly touched the necklace at his throat. The crystal at its center seemed to be giving off a strange heat.
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