What had once been peaceful forests lying outside of the city, now lay bustling with vehicles and people, moving equipment and materials closer to the glowing Gate that has spawned in the middle of the trees. The resulting formation had leveled out the area and removed quite a few of the obstacles in the way, but the effort of paving a proper road and removing the debris would still take some time.

“Alright, so this is a Red Gate. You do know the classifications of Gate’s, right?” Ariana asked, looking at her brother while they walked down the side of the road. They could have taken a car, but this was more important.

Cain looked at his feet, staring at the weights attached to them for a second before responding.

“If I remember the news right, aren’t they classified in the order of rainbow colors? Red being the lowest, up to indigo or violet at the top?” Cain said, slightly unsure of his answer. There probably would have been questions about this during the registration process he would have had to answer, but since he was fast tracked through the entire process, he would never really know.

“Correct. But you forgot white Gates as well, which are below red. So, this is technically a level two Gate we are dealing with. Perfect for training for the Academy and new Association members, but not difficult enough to kill most people.”

“Huh, interesting. So, you are saying that you are going use this as a tortu.... training ground for me?” Cain asked, coughing slightly to attempt to cover up his poor choice of words. Luckily for him, Ariana was only half paying attention to what he was saying.

“Hm? Training? No, most likely not. You’re going in with a small group to experience some different aspects of Gate exploration. I’m going to be outside, trying to figure out why this popped up so randomly. And as the Head of Defense, I also need to make sure that we are ready in case anything pops out that you guys miss.”

“Got it. So, can I take the weights off since we are about to enter? I’d like to at least acclimate myself to not wearing them before we go in,” Cain asked, his hand twitching to remove the infernal devices. Waving her hand in agreement, he suppressed a shout of joy, and unstrapped the weights. Sighing in relief as he took a step unburned, he called out to the System, picking them up off the ground.

“Open Inventory”

Inventory Opened.

Weights Stored.

Total Slots: 50/150

Would you like to retrieve items? Y/N

“No,” Cain responded, stretching and closing the window. Due to Ariana’s advice, he had stockpiled a few resources that might be hard to come by, such as fresh water and canned food. No one had any idea how long they would be in the Gate, or even if it was remotely hospitable to humans, so it never hurt to be prepared.

“Alright, follow me,” Ariana said, walking up to the bizarre attempt at a registration and check in gate the Association had tried to form on such a short notice. Given that they were in a forest, it seemed like someone had just used an ability to block off every entry point between the trees except for one spot, wide enough to let equipment through. Flashing her I.D. badge at the clerk, she waved Cain over, and had him present his badge as well.

Once they were waved through, Ariana turned to Cain, and put a hand on his shoulder. “I have to go to the Command Station, so this is as far as we can go together right now. You will be meeting your group shortly, so go ahead and explore right now.”

With that, Cain watched his sister wander off and stared around at the multitude of people. Weirdly enough, there wasn’t a tinge of a headache this time, unlike what had happened at the Association Headquarters when he was getting ready to receive his system. Moving out of the middle of the entry way though, he leaned against the newly constructed wall and sat down, patiently watching.

“Um... excuse me, are you here for the beginner’s group as well?” A shy voice asked, barely audible among the loud noises and shouting that surrounded Cain.

“I am. You can feel free to wait here with me, I don’t bite. Often,” he replied, turning to stare at the owner of the voice.

A young girl stood there, pointedly looking away from Cain and avoiding eye contact. She was grabbing the hem of her shirt and twisting it slightly, quite obviously unnerved by the entire situation. On her hand though was a three-point star, meaning she was at least a higher rating than probably the others that would be showing up for the group. The outfit itself looked formal, and the badge pinned to the chest told Cain that it was the official uniform of the Academy. At least he wouldn’t look horrendous in white and blue, although he hated wearing white.

“Thank you,” she said, sitting down hurriedly and still avoiding eye contact.

“Not a problem. My name is Cain Darkgleam. And you are...?” he asked, turning his gaze away. The second he did that, he could feel eyes upon him, and knew exactly where they came from.

‘Such a shy girl.’

“I’m Maya Mccann,” she replied, her unease stretching around the area. Even to Cain’s untrained eyes, he could see the foot traffic around them slowly shift outwards, giving them a larger berth than initially. From the people's faces walking, it seemed to be an unconscious action.

‘Interesting. So, she would be considered an aura user? I wonder what other kind of effects she could use,’ Cain pondered, opening his mouth and muttering under his breath.

“Observe.”

Name: Maya Mccann

Rating: Three Stars

Age: 17

Title: Student

‘Student, huh? That means she is from the Academy,’ Cain thought, opening his mouth to say something before he was interrupted.

“Will all of the new recruits here for the beginner’s group please assemble at the main Gate entrance? I repeat. Will all new recruits report to the main entrance. Thank you.”

Standing up, Cain sighed. Further questions would have to wait for now, but he had a feeling that there would be plenty of time to get to know Maya later. Holding out his hand, he took delight in seeing the surprise on her face before she quickly looked away.

“I already said I don’t bite. Now come on, they are waiting for us,” he said, smiling innocently. This was going to be so much fun, if she reacted like this every time they made eye contact.

“Thank you...” she said softly, grabbing his hand and allowing him to help her up off the ground.

“Not a problem. And since we are going to be part of the same group, and I plan on entering the Academy the next time they hold the entrance exam, I hope that we can become good friends,” Cain said, giving off a sincere smile before heading towards the gathering crowd in front of the Gate, slowly pulling her along with him.