Chapter 1 - Shi Lang.

Metropia, the capital of the federation. Year 2021B.

The earth has now become the federation. There was just one government, one military, and no borders. Humanity has come a long way from a time where people discriminated against each other based on their ethnicity or color.

It was said that only in times of peril did people come together. Such a time came when a terrible virus hit humanity with a death toll that changed the way of life known to people. Only with combined effort did the people survive. From that time, humanity entered a phase where they dissolved all the borders and pooled in the resources and efforts to get a better life.

The efforts led them to scale the starry sky. Gradually, they colonized every planet in the solar system. They terra-formed it to make it liveable according to human standards. On the other hand, they also developed a genetic serum to help the human body get past the norms. The result was a generation and civilization that were far stronger than its predecessors.

At such a prosperous age, a boy was shuttling through the heavily crowded sidewalks. The boy was a teenager, with handsome features. He was almost two meters tall with slightly longer hair jumping on his forehead as he ran with a bag slung over his shoulders. The boy was dressed in black pants, white shirt, paired with a maroon blazer and tie. He had black shoes tied on his feet.

On the left chest pocket, there was an insignia. The crest was of two swords diagonally intersecting each other. At the bottom of the crest, a few words were also inscribed. They said Federation Star Academy.

This was the most prestigious school in the whole world. The boy was a weak-looking scholar. A student in the university tech department. He was rushing to his class at the moment because he was late. This was the second time he was late for the class. The reason was that he overslept. He mumbled to himself, "Shit, missed it again. Ms. Rosa will eat you raw and she will not even spit out your bones."

He was rushing to the school and had to get on the monorail from his place to the school. He lived on the outskirts of the capital, and it took him an hour to get to the school from here, despite the speed of monorails. His parents were both ordinary people with basic day jobs. Despite the rush, they still miss stuff by a few minutes and that makes things messy for them all.

Shi Lang stood in front of the monorail station as he watched his ride to school vanish from his eyes. He sighed and sat down on a bench nearby, waiting for the next monorail to come in. He fished out a pen click device from his pocket and clicked on the side of it. The device projected a holographic screen in the void. He looked at the date and mumbled, "A few days more."

His eyes flashed with a mysterious glint. He blinked and his eyes returned to normal as he skimmed the screen. After a few minutes, he sighed and said, "Another planet is conquered, oh, I mean allied. Terran reporters surely know how to justify things."

After eons, humans have evolved, and they have become Terrans. The efficiency of the race had increased to a level where everyone was born superhuman. However, it was not the limit. The strength they all had could be increased by practice and external means.

The strength barriers were divided into nine stars. After breaking through the third-star level, humans all acquired special abilities. These abilities were divided into three ranks, low, medium, and high. These ranks decide what level can one rise to in the future.

Shi Lang sat on the bench, lost in thoughts when a monorail entered the station. The boy hurriedly stood up and boarded the rail with a lot of other people. The rail was truly the sonic monorail. This vehicle used electromagnetism to run at speeds almost close to that of the sound. During the commute, Shi Lang stood in a corner with his eyes closed and head down.

This was his daily routine. A mechanical voice sounded, "Next Stop, Federation Star Academy. Thank you for joining us."

Shi Lang opened his eyes, and as the automated doors opened, he stepped out. He did not pay mind to the things in his surroundings and moved to quickly tag his card with the exit gate and rush to his class. He only had three minutes to cover a distance of two kilometers.

He strapped his bag on both shoulders as he rushed through the crowd. As soon as he tagged his wristwatch at the exit gate, he ran. The speed was faster than the normal people, but still a lot slower than the few other students beside him. He was not the only one late.

Shi Lang was a one-star Terran. If he could not get to the level of a three-star within two months, then his schooling will end and he will not be able to join the federation military. That was his only way to ensure a better life for his parents and to see the rest of the world. He did not want to be limited to the earth and become a frog at the bottom of the well.

Generally, he was not strong enough to even be a student of this place and neither was he wealthy. The reason he was allowed to study here was that he made it to the top of the scholarship exam initiated by the academy. As these thoughts ran through his mind, the boy increased speed, and finally, he entered the technology department building.

He climbed the stairs to not delay one second of elevator calling time and climbed to the second floor where his class was held. As soon as he reached the class gates, he froze. A mature woman stood there gazing at him with an indifferent gaze.. She asked, "Student Lang. What is the time?"