"Pay me now," the taxi driver said as he parked the taxi at the curb, a stone's throw from the monolithic entrance of RD University. He had been grumbling all through the drive, his annoyance palpable.

"Your Payment," Mr. Valen spoke as he finally paid the taxi driver with an extra tip of 100 Val, watching as the expression on his face transitioned from one of annoyance to a wide smile.

In the next moment, the taxi driver stepped out of the vehicle and ran towards the back, heaving both of Mr. Valen's luggage from the truck.

"My thanks," Mr. Valen nodded at the man, watching him search his pockets as though he had lost something.

"Haha," the Taxi driver suddenly laughed. "Me Jeff, call me anytime good customer, call me anytime," he handed him a white card.

Hearing those words, Mr. Valen nodded, taking one final look at the thick-necked taxi driver, his grey shirt and black pants, and his oily, unkempt hairstyle before walking away.

There was a long, very long queue at the entrance for new students, and so he joined it without a word, his gaze brushing past the guard's head to toe in tactical gear up front.

'I do not remember security being this tight the last time I was here,' he thought at this sight, noting how older students were allowed to pass through after a simple scan, not having to wait in line like him.

He stood for almost an hour, and when it was his turn, one of the guards with a bored demeanor gestured for him to come forward.

The guard's other hand pointed to a conveyor belt leading into what looked like an X-ray machine, "All bags and personal items for screening," he intoned, his voice grim.

Hearing those words, Mr. Valen placed his two boxes on the belt, noting the items he had put inside: clothes, his laptop and USB drive, some toiletries, and a few mundane books (the bare essentials for a student).

"Arms out, please," the guard spoke as he began searching Mr. Valen's form, repeatedly patting his body through his clothes.

After that, the guard ran a wand over him, causing Mr. Valen to let out a breath, 'At least it's almost over.'

"Beep!"

The wand suddenly beeped, as though to protest that thought, prompting Mr. Valen to quickly put his hand in his pocket. "It's just a pen," he said, his voice flat as he pulled out a pen.

The guard, in response to Mr. Valen's words, took the pen and examined it, a weighty, solid object that was undeniably a pen. 'Here I thought I was about to see some action,' he shrugged, placing the pen in a tray beside him before finishing the scan.

Finding nothing else, he nodded toward the checkpoint station, his tone heavy, "All students must register portable computers, high-capacity external drives, or any other unapproved electronics. You'll also need to fill out a declaration form. There's a stall outside the gate for left luggage if you have anything to declare or need to store something."

"Okay," Mr. Valen nodded, his eyes trailing to the stall where another line had already begun to form, prompting him to collect his boxes and his pen.

Walking over, he discovered that he was the fifth person in line, forcing him to wait once more, and when it was his turn, his eyes fell upon a temporary-looking booth, with a student worker sitting inside.

"Here," the student worker (a guy half-absorbed by his phone) handed him a clipboard with the form he had to fill out, prompting Mr. Valen to use his own pen to fill in his details.

He then handed both cardboard boxes to this student, who tagged them and placed them aside, "They'll be brought to your dorm in a few hours," he spoke, nodding at him to leave.

Mr. Valen was finally able to enter the main campus after an hour and a half of waiting in line and being checked.

"This place..." Mr. Valen muttered as he looked around, his eyes taking in the scenery.

Even though he had seen it before the campus, the scale of it still amazed him (a city within a city).

Gleaming white lecture halls stood beside ancient, ivy-covered buildings swarming with students from all over the alliance.

"Badump!"

Mr. Valen then stood still for a moment and took a deep breath, his heart skipping a beat as he took note of the dark auras emanating from some of the students that weaved past him.

'But no avatars,' Mr. Valen let out a breath, his hunger flaring slightly at the thought of an avatar.

In that moment, the shadowy humanoid materialized before him and raised two fingers, wiggling them slightly before disappearing.

It had done the same thing yesterday, with the sole difference being that it raised one finger instead of two; unfortunately, Mr. Valen did not care.

It was easy for someone to get lost in a place like this, but because of the tour he had received before, he at least knew where the student union was.

And so he turned towards the distraction of that building, but sensed someone running towards his side, 'I could easily avoid it, but-' he stood still.

"Bam!"

Someone collided into Mr. Valen, a lady, the impact sending a bunch of pamphlets into the air with most of them spilling on the paved walkway.

He looked down at the cause of this situation and spotted a girl with straight hair as black as ink, staggering slightly as she looked at him with scrunching brows, her face twisted in irritation.

"Hey! Are you blind? You stepped right into my path," she growled, her voice cutting through the ambient noise and chattering students.

'How would a nonchalant youth respond?' Mr. Valen thought as he observed the seething lady, his gaze unsettling in its stillness.

In that moment, he suddenly bent down and began gathering the scattered flyers on the ground, further ignoring the girl.

His silence seemed to infuriate her further, her words sharp as she spoke, "Well? Aren't you going to fucking apologize? Do you know who I am?"

She was once again ignored, as the person she was speaking to spared her less than a glance.

The situation was already beginning to form a small, curious bubble around them.

'A cheerleader, huh?' Mr. Valen thought as he observed one of the pamphlets on the floor, his shoulders shrugging slightly.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!" the cheerleader suddenly demanded, stepping closer to Mr. Valen. "Is this how you start your time at RD? By being an inconsiderate clod?"

Finally, with all the pamphlets neatly packed into a heap, Mr. Valen stood up, leaving them on the floor for her to pick up. He then turned to her, meeting her furious gaze for the first time.

'What?' the cheerleader trembled at the gaze of this large man, inadvertently taking a step back.

His dark eyes seemed to absorb the light around them, spinning like vortexes, offering nothing back but a cold nothingness.

It was then that the lady noticed the gaze of the people around them, staring at her like she was some kind of crazy attention seeker. 'He dares embarrass me like this!' she seethed, and turned back towards the source of her embarrassment, her eyes narrowing as she spoke, "I will get you back for this."

Unfortunately, Mr. Valen did not really care, as without a word, he turned and walked away, heading towards the student union building.

The girl was left speechless, her mouth slightly agape at such a display of disrespect, 'that clod,' she thought, balling her fist slightly, 'no, no, he's a new student so he doesn't know how things work around here, I'll teach him,' she thought, a vengeful smile blooming on her lips.

'I might as well have been walking in the castle of infinity,' Mr. Valen thought as he moved, his eyes twitching as he saw how much distance he had covered.

He looked around and saw some of the students using bicycles and golf carts to commute because of how far everything was.

"Whoosh!"

He suddenly broke into a sprint, his form weaving past surprised students who could not see his face clearly. Fortunately, Mr. Valen made sure to regulate his speed so as not to draw attention to himself.

Reaching the student union building (another large luxurious building), he navigated to the front desk where another student worker was fielding questions.

'Another line?' Mr. Valen thought in faint annoyance, his lips twitching as he moved towards it.

After waiting for about 30 minutes, it was finally his turn and Mr. Valen wasted no time, "I need to find my assigned dormitory," he spoke, his tone even.

At his words, the worker, (a young man with glasses) typed on a computer, his voice as even as his as he asked, "Full Name?"

"Valen Von King."

'The fuck kinda name is that?' the student thought as his eyes scanned the screen. "Ah," he suddenly exclaimed, his eyes trailing back to Mr. Valen, handing him a key card, "There's a note here, stating that Professor Albright wants to see you before you get settled."

"Okay," Mr. Valen nodded, receiving the key card before asking, "Where is his office located?"

The student at those words pulled out a glossy, tri-fold map of the campus and pointed at a building not too far from the research quadrant.

But with the size of this place, Mr. Valen knew that notion was only a dream.

Taking the map, Mr. Valen nodded at the student, thanking him before taking his leave.

The journey was a long walk across campus, and after he walked past fancy lecture halls and old libraries, even losing his way a few times, he finally made it to one of the administrative buildings, the one he was looking for.

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