Galaxy's First Ruler

Gulp!

All around, a dry and hoarse gulping sound kept coming out.

The teacher had just spoken when the entire spaceship lifted, as silently as the silence among the Dreamers. There were almost no vibrations, and the entire experience can be summed up as floating into the air.

The teacher let her mouth shut for a few moments, and as the bus-like spaceship reached the heights of the sky, she continued.

"I am Siwan Cecil, an outer Planetary teacher from the Nation of Innovation, Knowledge, and Eternity. The same organization for which you all are here. This planet is reserved for selecting PS, or Peripheral Students. There are many such planets, and there are many like me within each of them. That means for the next three days I will oversee all your actions and tasks."

'Peripheral Students?!'

Aldrich repeated these two words quite a few times in his mind.

He could find no other meaning than the literal meaning implied by the words. It was just a fancy way of saying that this Baron Siwan was an outer teacher from N.I.K.E. and this was a selection process for outer students.

'The fuck?! What was the Queen thinking by sending me here? Tch!'

The annoyance shown by Aldrich was reasonable. A being like Aldrich could surpass boundaries if given access to all N.I.K.E. scrolls. From what Aldrich had read, Queen Eluned reigned supreme over this organization even though she was a member of the Royal House.

'Did something happen while I was in the Shadow World?'

Aldrich could find no explanation for this senseless decision. His presence here had indeed brought him out of the reach of high Ranked Dreamers, but it would cause a huge waste of time.

Aldrich asked many questions to himself, trying to make any sense out of it. But it seemed even he had underestimated the gravity of the chain of events that had taken place after the things that had happened on Rosalia.

Baron Siwan, uncaring of Aldrich's baffled looks, kept speaking out.

"This planet is of the size of a general Barren Earth's moon. Except for the 10-kilometer radius around the candidates' dormitory, which we have just left behind, it is nothing but wilderness. The planet is full of mythical beasts handpicked by N.I.K.E. and many indigenous beasts, too."

At the mention of mythical beasts, Aldrich felt a wave of anticipation washing over many Dreamers' hearts. Most of these Dreamers weren't nobles, and there was an elated expression on their faces. But Aldrich could feel no such emotion in Meuric's heart. There were many drops of sweats on Meuric's forehead, and Aldrich couldn't help but let out a smile seeing them.

Aldrich could do many tasks simultaneously. As he noticed these changes, Siwan's words kept coming to his ears.

"To clear the preliminary round of this selection, each Dreamer is required to do two things. First, one must attain the Summon Skill by making a contract with any beast as per one's likeness. Heh! If you can, that is. Those who already have a summon, consider your tasks half done."

'So that's why those who didn't have any summoned creatures were making long faces… Hmm…'

Aldrich remembered the scene not from long ago and contemplated. He didn't forget that he was among this class of Dreamers, too, who didn't have any Summon Skill. Except for his two Class-specific Skills and Shared Vision, all Skills had vanished as the result of Sacrifice.

"Second, there are many Artificial Mana cores spread throughout the Wilderness. The great minds of N.I.K.E. had imbued those Mana cores with the pure attributes using pure Mana-based creatures. Yes, that means, if you have a mythical beast having water-based Skills, it would be easy to find those water-based Mana cores. And…"

Before Baron Siwan could let out another word, one of the Common Ranked Dreamers raised her hand. As the Dreamer got Siwan's permission, she spoke out.

"But… Mm… Teacher, isn't it easier to just use our Perception to find those Mana Cores?"

-Yes…

-That's right…

As the girl asked, a few others also buzzed up with an agreement.

Hehehe!

Baron Siwan let out a giggle, hearing these reasonable words. She took her eyes off the girl and spoke out.

"Well… I was saving it for last. But now that you have asked, let me tell you she is right. It is indeed easier to use Perception to find the Mana cores. So… you can't use it. No Dreamer is allowed to use Perception once landing on the ground. And if you were to use it…"

Tap-Tap!!!

Baron Siwan brought her left hand up and tapped the watch she had twice.

"… then I will know, resulting in immediate disqualification."

'This…'

Aldrich stared blankly at Baron Siwan's watch. He could barely use any Perception, to begin with, and now she took away that little advantage he had.

'This gonna be troublesome.'

Some things had no roundabout way. Aldrich also knew some things didn't have shortcuts. He took a deep breath and saw Baron Siwan's face becoming grave, losing her playful smile.

"Now we have Dreamers spanning Common and Rare Ranks. To make the selection fair, we have put both Common and Rare Ranked Cores. The exact instructions will be in the scroll, which will be given to you later. At the end of the three days, one must reach the exact location marked on the maps. And we will select the three Dreamers having the most Mana cores for the next round. Is that simple enough?"

The atmosphere within the passenger compartment was soothing. But a chill ran over many hearts as they sensed Siwan's tone becoming heavier and heavier. As Nellie stood up and threw many FIRs, which landed right in everyone's laps, Baron Siwan finished her speech.

"Remember… you will be on your own down there. You can trust no one other than your summoned creature. All things are valid outside the premise of this spaceship. And if you were to die here, I promise you, other than your mother, no one will miss you. Consider these the last peaceful moments of your lives. So…"

Baron Siwan almost gazed into the soul of Dreamers and asked.

"… Are you ready?"