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Chapter 3 - PULS THE NEW ERA CHAPTER 4

# Chapter 4 — The Academy Awakens

The carriage rattled away from the mines, sunlight and fresh air revealing a world beyond stone and hunger. Roy pressed his hand to the HUD on his wristband. The interface flickered—vitals, Luna balance, the silent outline of his integrated Dule Gun Fluxite.

Beside him, Jean adjusted her own wristband, the S-rank HUD casting a faint light over her silver hair. "You look nervous," she said, glancing sideways.

Roy shrugged, arms folded tight. "I'd rather face a tunnel collapse than nobles with too much Lunite." He meant it as a joke, but Jean didn't smile.

"Don't try to impress anyone," she replied. "This place—" She gestured out the window at white towers rising above stone walls. "—will eat you alive if you stand out for the wrong reasons. Stay sharp. Survive."

He nodded, gaze fixed on the Alien blue sky.

***

The Academy was a living machine. Towering battlements laced with Pulsarite veins overlooked courts crowded with new arrivals. Students' wrist HUDs sent off pulses of color as status updates and group challenges danced above the crowds. Real-time points, duel requests, and Luna offers shimmered in augmented overlays.

Roy hung back as teams formed. Laughing gunners loaded crystal bursts, swordsmen flashed Pulsarite blades, and trackers adjusted their HUDs to record every stat and advantage. Support users bartered buffs for Luna. Nobles moved with casual confidence, wristbands heavy with Fluxite and Luna reserves.

Kael, red-haired and wrapped in arrogance, locked eyes with Roy. "The mine sent us more dirt," he called, his voice carrying. "Careful, rookie. If you scuff the courts, we'll bill you."

A few snickers rippled. Roy stayed silent, finger flicking through his HUD's training tab. Jean's gaze met Kael's, cool as winter.

"We'll see who makes the leaderboard," she said.

Kael smirked, sending Roy a private telepathic dig—sharp and sudden. "Stay out of sight, mine-rat." The psychic tone was hot and dismissive, vanishing before Roy could react aloud.

***

Class routines began, relentless and precise:

- Every morning: elemental resonance drills. Students learned to expand their Puls reserves, breathing and meditation tracked by their HUDs.

- Classroom blocks: Pulsarite theory, history, strategy. Every stone's properties, every kingdom's wars—records streamed onto desks or wrist holograms.

- Combat training: dueling on the main green, HUDs logging every strike. Most students specialized in one element, integrating their single Fluxite with personal technique.

Roy's Dule Gun was hidden, its Fluxite flickering along two currents. When he focused, both Zephyros and Umbryon responded. The risk of short-circuiting his own mind was always there, but every session built his control.

One afternoon, while Jean sparred with Kael ("Try blocking with your blade, not your wallet!" she snapped), Roy found Lyra at the edge of the practice field.

"You read the room faster than anyone," she murmured, fixing his HUD with hers for a silent file transfer—a roster of rival teams.

Roy grinned. "Old habit. Mines didn't allow mistakes."

Kael's laughter rolled out, loud and performative. Others joined in, but Roy tuned it out, focusing on his team: Taro marking supplies, Kira calibrating shields, Lyra reading patterns in the crowd.

Luna was tight. Roy's HUD pinged with daily transaction logs—nutrition blocks, bandwidth minutes, a rare custom weapon schematic for practice. Every Luna counted.

***

The first real test came in the Polluted Fields.

Twelve teams fanned out, scores and locations tagged by their HUDs. Toxic mists rolled and Neutrons struck—real threats, real pain. Roy's squad worked in practiced silence, Lyra calling angles, Taro pulsing support, Kira blocking with her shield. Jean's commands came clear and spoken—"Left! Now! Push!"—while Roy danced between wind and shadow, letting the elements flow.

Kael's voice, taunting from the next field, carried through the haze: "Watch and learn, royals and rats!"

HUDs flickered as teams rose and fell, points cascading. But it was the sudden emergence of a Colossal Neutron—massive, armor-plated, eyes like red suns—that brought true chaos.

Jean shouted above the panic. "Stay close! Don't break formation!"

Roy felt his wristband burn. Fluxite rose—shadows swirling, wind roaring. Pressure built until he could barely breathe, but he let it come. Zephyros and Umbryon surged, Fluxite morphing into living armor and blades.

Jean caught his eye—silent approval, this time spoken. "Don't hold back. We need everything you have."

***

By mission's end, the team was battered but alive. Roy's HUD pulsed with new stats: Puls capacity, Luna earned, Fluxite bonds deepening.

Back in the barracks, with the world quiet and Kael's insults left behind for now, Roy let his HUD roll through data and finally closed his eyes.

He wasn't just a boy from the mines. He was a survivor, a dual—a secret burning brighter and deeper than even Fluxite's living dark.

And tomorrow, the Academy would remember.

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