Alex had already forgotten the incident at customs, as he was entirely focused on observing the landscape flashing past his eyes in a blur.
'I could have arrived twice as fast if I had just ran...'
It was in times like this that he realised he was no longer ordinary. As a D tier awakened, he would already be considered an elite, but when his Mutant class status was factored in as well, it was brought up a whole other level.
'I wonder how strong the other students are now after 6 months.'
He was D- rank, while Mira was half way through E+ rank, both of them being Mutant class.
But they weren't able to test each other out ever since they came back from the Primordial Expanse, as they would have risked destroying their whole transport ship if they fought on there...
He knew they were stronger than average, as they had achieved joint first place in the entrance examination.
But that was just the examination for their star system.
There were hundreds of thousands of other star systems littered throughout the galaxy, all with students who had achieved first place in their own exams with their own strength.
This meant that they potentially had hundreds of thousands of competitors, all vying for resources to improve themselves.
As the transport bus pulled up to the grand gates of Capital Prime city, Alex and Mira were struck by awe at the sheer scale of the place. The gates were massive, ornate structures that towered for hundreds of metres above them. Beyond the gates they could see the sprawling city, which extended on for miles on end.
They had both seen some pretty impressive feats of engineering in both this universe and the Primordial Expanse, but this was a different vibe.
They disembarked the bus and joined the throng of students heading towards the registration area.
The lines were long, filled with students from all over the galaxy, each one a rival in the fight for resources. Alex and Mira moved to their respective lines and queued up obediently like the rest of the students.
Clearly there must be some strict punishments in place for these thousands of hot headed students to all wait quietly for their turn without causing a ruckus, and Alex didn't to be the one setting an example for them.
In front of him stood a completely underwhelming looking house, probably only big enough to fit a single bedroom, a small bathroom and a kitchen.
This was the complete opposite of what he was expecting.
"You're telling me I got first place in my exam, got accepted into the best uni in the federation, yet this is all they give me?"
Alex felt like he had been scammed.
Rowan never mentioned anything like this. Nor did Professor Will.
"Surprised? You must be new here."
A voice chimed in from the side, taking away Alex's attention from the small, shabby house.
The person who spoke was a young male around his age, quite good looking. He was probably a ladies man.
Contrary to Alex's bland and cheap clothing, his seemed quite expensive.
"Awakened universities are nothing like those universities normal people attend. Dorms here are allocated based on your strength, and your ranking in your year. Everyone starts out with a house like this one," The young man said, pointing at Alex's dorm, then continued.
"But when the rankings open, those who can prove their worth and strength will naturally take a spot amongst the top 10,000 and gain the right to better housing. It's just another method to drive competition between the students, as your claim to a dorm can be taken away just as quickly as you can gain it."
Alex listened to the information this stranger was giving him, and couldn't help but feel thankful.
"Thanks for the info," Alex said, extending his hand." I'm Alex, by the way. Nice to meet you."
Alex thought this guy was another new student who had arrived earlier than him, who was just trying to introduce himself to the other students in his dorm.
But what happened next, he would have never expected...