Final Hours Till the Draw of Fate Pt.3
K-8, Madar Star System. 36 Imperial Generation, Year 67,827
Caleb watches the red stone of K-8 flashing through the surface crawler's window until the view slowly solidifies into a clear metal 10-meter-tall by 8-meter-wide tunnel entrance to the underground of K-8. The lone entrance is stationed on a platform surrounded by a vast space of crimson barren rock and the black emptiness of the outer solar system.
Caleb unbuckles as the transport comes to a halt, causing him to float slightly above his seat. He then proceeds to turn his body, grabbing the nearest support beam to steady himself in zero gravity, giving a final glare at Jensen during the process.
"I wonder if the fool has remembered the way into the testing site in the academy or if he has forgotten that, too."
Jensen, pretending to be offended by what Caleb said, puts his hand on his chest and makes an exaggerated gasp, which horribly comes through over the comms, making everyone feel like their ears were attacked.
"Me? A fool? "What gives?" follows up the torturous gasp from Jenson's mouth as he also proceeds to unbuckle and float stationary with the help of a support bar.
Lizzy's hand, now free from Caleb's, gives a good smack to the back of Jensen's head. In a giggling voice, Lizzy adds to Caleb's insult.
"I'm also curious if you remembered where the testing location is."
"Fear not, young lady; I shall prove that my memory is indeed intact."
Jenson proceeds to grab Lizzy's hand and effortlessly pulls her down the aisle using the support bars, knowing Lizzy is unable to offer much resistance in zero gravity. His laughter at the sudden kidnapping rings infectiously over the group's comm, bringing a needed smile to everyone's face.
Caleb, left alone with a free-floating Nola, gives her a helpless look before slowly gliding down the metal aisle of the transport. He is not in a rush to catch up; he knows the two friends will be waiting outside for them on the platform. Nola floats a meter or two behind him, letting him dictate the pace while they move through the transport. Floating past the cultivator section of the transport, that's barely filled, they fall in line with other unknowns about to get off at the stop for the academy surface entrance. They approach one of the many exit hatches on the surface crawler, where a similar set of metal stairs is in front of Caleb. With smooth movements trained through daily repetitiveness, he puts his boot on the top riser, the vertical part between two steps, and pushes downwards. Using the momentum generated, Caleb touches down on a white and light gray square-pattern platform. Once down on the platform, he takes several steps towards his friends on the right, joining them to wait for Nola.
It isn't a long wait, with Nola being right behind Caleb, following him down the stairs, repeating similar movements to Caleb's. She joins the three friends waiting on the platform before they head to the checkpoint they need to go through to enter the underground academy.
Lizzy leads the way toward the entrance to the academy, which is an old, red double door entryway that is half open, showing wear from constant use. It's the largest mark of human activity in 1000 meters and desperately needs to be replaced soon. Traditionally, the door is replaced every few years; however, this hasn't happened recently due to the absence of void beast attacks.
The group of four, with Lizzy in front, gets in line behind other unknowns about to enter the academy, with Jensen in particular looking incredibly bored.
"Foot traffic is never this bad normally; it will take forever at this rate to get inside."
"Stop complaining Jensen, and what happened to you showing the group the way into the Academy?"
Jensen shrugs his shoulders in response, causing Caleb to roll his eyes at Jensen's shamelessness. Jensen wasn't wrong about the line; it's double the traditional size that it normally is in the morning, likely due to not a single person daring to show up late. Every unknown is nervous about the ritual, especially the ones from the surface, for if they are found lacking in cultivation talent, they will no longer be able to live on the surface. Unless a parent is in the middle to upper body refinement stage, that unknown now mortal will likely be sent down to the mines for the rest of their lives or until a parent becomes strong enough to bring them back to the surface.
The group of four moves along with the line for almost 10 minutes until it's their turn to go through the checkpoint. The purpose of the checkpoint is to verify everyone's identities before allowing them entrance into the academy.
Going first is Jensen, who switched spots in line with Lizzy in desperation to get rid of his boredom. Standing underneath a soul presence talisman, Jensen is finally allowed to proceed through the checkpoint once the talisman flashes once and only once. Any more than a single flash might be a hint that an unknown is under the soul control of someone else. This is a standard procedure at any entrance to the underground on the asteroid; it's one of the Acker family's precautions against potential enemies. The extensive security checks on the surfaces add to the credibility of the rumor going around that the Acker family struck it rich with K-8 and are worried about losing the asteroid to rival families in the solar system.
Lizzy goes next with no troubles getting through; Caleb and Nola follow quickly right after. Together, they go through the doors, entering an open white room with over two dozen elevator shafts lining the walls. A crystal-clear stone elevator is dead center in the room; it's reserved only for high-level cultivators to use. Picking an empty rig, which is a miracle in this crowd, the group of four slide right in with plenty of space to move around in the cuboid.
Hoping to keep the space for themselves, Jensen smashes the 'close door button', causing the doors to close even though the elevator rig isn't close to full. Jensen then joins Nola in staring at the only side of the elevator that is made from glass, hoping that this morning's sight of Patina 1 will be breathtaking, as it can be seen from the cuboid once the elevator starts moving underground.
"Make sure you ionize your boots to the floor," Lizzy reminds everyone over comms. The magnetic attraction between the boots and the floor will stop anyone from crashing into the ceiling of the elevator once it starts to descend. After a few seconds of waiting, giving time for the occupants to ionize their boots, the compartment shoots downwards, testing the strength of the magnetized footwear on everyone's suits. Caleb turns to join Nola and Jensen, looking out the glass wall as the underground city appears in his vision.
Passing through 50 meters of solid red rock before being welcomed to the stunning sight of a city hanging upside down on the ceiling of a large, mined-out cavern. Slightly curved suspension walkways connect stone and metal spiral buildings together that dangle like stalactites, with some building tips reaching the surface of the 150-meter-tall by 300-meter-long cavern. The only other building structures are elongated rectangular prisms connecting mine tunnels and surface entrances to the buildings in the city, causing the city to appear as if it has been caught in a spiderweb. The cavern walls curved inwards, creating the feeling that the city is inside a red stone globe. Different colors of discarded metal line the inner spherical walls of the globe-shaped cavern, coloring the surface into a barely finished disco ball that will occasionally shimmer randomly when light sporadically hits the metal plates. These plates then illuminate the hanging city in erratic beams of colorful lights at different times of day.
"The Hollow's mirrors are reflecting purple and green onto the city; it's so beautiful," Nola chimes while pointing at the different shades she finds pretty. The Hollow is the nickname for the cavern in which Patina 1, one of the three underground cities on the K-8, was built inside of the asteroid. It's also the only city where the awaken ritual is done, likely due to the city's close proximity to the spaceport, the harbor for interstellar travel, and the fact that this city has the most cultivator activity. Patina 2 and 3 are mining cities, mortal cities built with the intended purpose of mining qi stones.
"You find anything purple pretty, Nola? After all, purple is the color of the rich," Jensen teases while watching the light show, being the only person showing slight distaste at the beautiful colors shining on the city.
"Which is why you hate the color, Jensen, as it reminds you of wealth you will never have," Nola shoots back.
Ignoring the shouting match that starts on the comms, Caleb focuses on the academy that just came into view of the rig as it flies down the elevator shaft. The red stone spiral structure, several stories in height, is not too far ahead and will be the place that determines whether his dream of exploring the solar system will stay alive. The rig slows down as the shaft connects to the third floor of the academy before coming to a calm halt. The doors open for the group of four to get off and join the congested crowd of unknowns that has formed at the gathering point of the elevators coming from the surface and the other two underground cities.
Jensen greets the scene with a look of despair on his face. "Shouldn't professors in charge of the academy have organized the crowd better? The ritual is held every year. How come the academy isn't more prepared?"
"Apparently, this is prepared, don't forget Jesnon, every unknown on K-8 is going to be at the academy today. Unknowns from mortal parents will be stepping into the academy for the first time today. It's much bigger than the small school mortal unknowns are used to; it's not surprising the halls are overcrowded when taking this into account."
"Lizzy is right Jensen. Plus, we no longer have to worry about time or missing the ritual as we made it to the academy; all that's left to do is wait until our names are called for the awakening. " Caleb calmly replies while trying to find a way out of this mess of people.
"Let's just head to a viewing room then. Viewing rooms are normally used to watch cultivators fight in the grand hall, but today they are being used as waiting rooms for unknowns who are going through the awakening today. Plus, on top of being able to see what will happen during the ritual, the results of the awakening will be easier to see in a viewing room."
Everyone agrees with Nola's suggestion, and they slowly make their way through the crowd to find an open viewing room.