After their brief meeting at the bar, Milliette Visoki never spoke to Eli again. Even when they passed each other at school, they simply nodded without exchanging words.
Despite the growing distance with Milliette, Eli started to hit it off with Jadeson Tanqour. Although Jadeson wasn't too proud of having Eli as his desk-mate, he was at least willing to converse with the new guy and sometimes even hang out with him.
One day, the class leader, Chantelle Hermes, approached the two and said, "The school Skyrocket team will be training at noon. I want you two to help out with the water bottles."
Before the boys could respond, Chantelle turned and walked away.
Jadeson muttered under his breath, "Whatever, she treats Van Halen like a god and us like dogs!"
He turned to see Eli's silence, which Jadeson took as agreement.
"You're too nice to her. One day you'll regret it!"
Eli pretended not to hear his friend's complaint and remained silent.
"So, I guess this is your first time going to space," Jadeson said.
"I thought it was simulated space."
"Why do you have to put it like that? There's no fun if you say it like that."
"Maybe the next thing you'll say is, and I quote, 'According to the Acordia Coalition Constitution Section 119A, pages 5-6: Games and sports are not to be performed in space. And according to the same section, pages 13-15, teenagers below the age of 20 are prohibited from space travel and can only be granted access to use a teleportation station if they ever want to travel to another planet.'"
"I'm not a nerd," Eli said with a wry smile.
"The Acordia Coalition Constitution is like a valtish patterned flower—the more you eat, the more it sucks."
Skyrocket was a popular sport among youngsters, performed in simulated space. It consists of twelve players on each side in a hybrid rocket, with a projected line dividing the playing field into two for each team. The game rules are simple: after every minute, a glowing ring appears on either side. One side has to defend while a member from the other side drives through the ring, scoring 5 points. The rings then open on the other side. The game has two halves, each 45 minutes long.
After lunch, they arrived at the game arena. Most seats were already taken by girls. The substitute players were the first to enter the arena, but no one paid attention to them. However, once Van Halen showed up, the entire stadium was filled with cheers and screams.
"Why the hype?"
Even though Eli knew Van Halen was the girls' idol, he was taken aback by their feverish enthusiasm.
"There goes the hotshot," Jadeson sighed. "I've already seen more than four of his admirers who are at least as pretty as our class leader. But he's not interested in any of them."
Eli shook his head and sighed.
Surrounded by girls, it was evident that both Van Halen and Oliver Garth were popular among them.
"Do you see that tall one? He's Oliver Garth, captain of the school team. He's quite a character."
Jadeson pointed to Oliver Garth and said, "His dad is the CEO of Garth Grand Hotel. It's said that even the cheapest meal at the hotel costs at least five thousand Credits. Someone ticked him off once, and he ended up dropping out of the Academy with a broken leg. And guess what happened to our Captain Oliver? Nothing."
Jadeson spoke with a mixture of envy and loathing in his voice. "When will I be like him? That would be awesome."
He shot Eli a sidelong glance and then sighed in resignation. "Forget it. What am I thinking? We and Oliver Garth live in two different worlds."
Eli smiled and said nothing.
The training quickly turned into Van Halen's solo performance. Every time the glowing ring appeared on the opposite side, he easily piloted his hybrid rocket, zig-zagged through the opponent's defense, and scored. Each time that happened, the arena was filled with girls' screams.
The training session ended with an overwhelming victory of 90 to 30. Van Halen alone earned 45 points out of that 90.
Seeing the game had ended, Chantelle Hermes hurried to Van Halen and handed him a bottle of iced water. Then she took out a soft, warm towel and dried Van Halen's sweaty forehead.
Meanwhile, Van Halen remained aloof and didn't speak a word to her.
"Jadeson, Eli, what are you two staring at? The other players need water!" Chantelle gave the two boys on the sideline a stern look and then said hotly.
"Let's go." Eli patted Jadeson's shoulder and lifted the cooler by his feet.
"Thank you." Oliver Garth took the drink before he got a chance to see who handed it to him. When he did, he was surprised to see it was Eli. A hundred different emotions ranging from shock to embarrassment roiled inside the team captain, each appearing on his face for only a fraction of a second.
"What's going on?" the player next to Oliver Garth nudged him.
"Ah, nothing," Oliver Garth said awkwardly.
"Long time no see," Eli nodded to him.
"Yeah, no kidding." Oliver Garth didn't want to chat with Eli as he was still grappling with chaotic emotions.
Eli wasted no time on him either. After handing out the drinks, he quickly left with Jadeson.
It wasn't until Eli had disappeared from the court that Oliver Garth heaved a deep sigh of relief as fear flickered in his eyes.
"Isn't that the new transfer student?" Van Halen asked Oliver Garth while sipping his drink.
"Do you know him?" Oliver Garth asked curiously.
"His name is Eli Dengare Baxter, a new student in our class. I really have nothing to say about him. I asked him to come help with the water," Chantelle said lightly.
In her eyes, Eli was not nearly as attractive as Van Halen and Oliver Garth. If she weren't the class leader, which obligated her to know every classmate, she would never waste a single breath on him.
Oliver Garth scowled and was about to say something but thought better of it. After all, what had happened at the KTV was an embarrassment. He didn't want to be a laughing stock.
Unbeknownst to all of them, Eli could hear their conversation due to his enhanced hearing, and he was not impressed by Chantelle's ungracious remarks.
Time flew by, and before Eli knew it, two weeks had passed.
This evening, like many before it, Eli sat cross-legged on the rooftop of his house, juggling a single conquest key. He had the conquest key in his possession but wasn't in a rush to use it, possibly due to the Academy stress from the test period and his job at Della Tavern.
The Conquest Key was glowed with a gleaming blue hue, signifying its Rare rank, Eli was really bitter for he earned just one conquest key in two weeks.
"Hopefully, I'll make use of it tomorrow."
The next day, Eli received a call, and to his surprise, it was from Vulcan Tanheln.
Vulcan Tanheln invited him to the Ouroubis Vip Hotel at noon, saying he wanted to apologize in person.
After giving the invitation some thought, Eli agreed to go.
Eli was far from oblivious. He understood that Vulcan Tanheln's call was either a summons for battle or a request for assistance. Determined to bolster his strength, even if only slightly, Eli resolved to shake off his recent lethargy and prepare for the challenge ahead.