Outside the Orientation Shrine where the new batch of students was previously gifted their enrolment package in the form of a Digital Feather, Gnihzur and Kwaserah tarried to discuss a few details. The others were already scattered across the ineffable vastness of Crowjun Soul Academy, exploring all its wonders and glory.

Gnihzur inspected the Digital Feather he had grasped in his left hand. It represented the form of 2 white cylindrical rings. The inner ring was broader, more like a button while the outer ring encased it like a halo. “Kwaserah, how do you use this? It doesn’t look like any feather to me.”

“Is this your first Digital Feather?” As she asked this question, Kwaserah thought that Gnihzur must be some ancient troglodyte. “You’re not going to see the feathery semblance until you activate it. Here, let me show you. It requires Mental Quanta to operate.”

Directing her Digital Feather towards the left side of her head (about 2 inches apart) Kwaserah lightly tapped the inner ring. [Swoosh!] Various tiny streaks of white light penetrated her head and encased her left brain hemisphere briefly. The streaks of light shot back out of her head and into the centre of the device. Shortly, a 6 inch long digitized framework of a radiant feather was formed near her ear, which was fracturing and reconstructing continuously into spectral glass elements.

Kwaserah pointed to her device. “See, this is the Digital Feather.” She passed her hand through it. “You don’t have to worry about obstruction with physical objects. It is made from finer particles of light that can reform almost instantly. Go ahead and try yours on.”

“Ok…” Gnihzur mimicked Kwaserah's earlier action and activated his Digital Feather. “Wow!” He became amazed by what he was seeing. An almost transparent interface was being fed directly into his brain. As he looked around, his eyes beheld sacred geometric patterns that comprised the objects in his environment. He was messing around with a few more core features of his Digital Feather. The Live 3rd Dimensional Map of Crowjun Soul Academy had him grossly entranced.

Perceiving the joy on Gnihzur’s face, Kwaserah decided to leave him to it. “I’ll be off then. See you around Gnihzur.”

“Hey, wait!” Gnihzur called out to Kwaserah who was already soaring through the air 20-metres ahead of him. Catching up to her, he asked, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to my nest to wash up then maybe later unpack some of my stuff.”

“Oh…” Gnihzur felt a weird thumping in his heart when he thought about Kwaserah leaving his side. Before she flew off completely to tend to her business, he inquired, “What number nest did they give you?”

“Number 3k12.”

“Mine is number 3k13!” Gnihzur seemed elated. “That means that we’re right next to each other. Is it a coincidence or is it fate?”

Kwaserah smiled, knowing what Gnihzur was thinking about. “Dream on, lover boy!” [Whoosh!] She flew off towards the Residential Rekishda Tree extremely fast. Even Gnihzur couldn’t keep track of her movements on his Live 3rd Dimensional Map.

Finding himself alone in the expansive academy of over 300,000 students, Gnihzur decided to find a comfortable place where he could further familiarize himself with his Digital Feather. Due to the Live 3rd Dimensional Map of Crowjun Soul Academy, he wasn’t all that eager to explore its vast grounds in person just yet. Thinking about his luggage which he lost during the Rouge Doves raid on the Crowtrain, Gnihzur wanted to reunite with his belonging. Thus, he followed Kwaserah’s air trail and flew onwards towards the Residential Rekishda Tree.

“Wow, this tree is even bigger up close. I wonder how long it took for a tree to grow this big.”

Gnihzur was simply amazed by the vastness of the Residential Rekishda Tree coupled with its ethereal design and busy decorum. Myriads of crows were engaged in various activities surrounding the Residential Rekishda Tree. Some were playing outside in the majestic baths supplied with freshwater flowing from the multifarious xylems of the tree’s huge trunk. Others were busy going in and coming out of the main tree branches. The scene was spectacular to any visual hypersensitive individual.

Along the way to the main trunk, Gnihzur flew by enlivened crows engaged in sensitive conversations. He came across stylish vehicles being driven on the Rekishda wood jadeite pavements. This wasn’t the only means of transport. Gnihzur discovered floating Jellyfish Carriages carrying groups of crows in large quantities to and fro from the Residential Rekishda tree. Their speed and agility throughout the air were something impressive.

“This academy is so cool.” Following the direction of his Digital Feather, Gnihzur landed in front of one of the main entrances leading to the inner sap of the Residential Rekishda Tree. His sharp talons traversed through verdant blue silver grass that swished against his feet excitedly. As they brushed against him, he felt a surge of calmness flowing into him.

Gnihzur followed the guided path to the inner sap of the Residential Rekishda Tree. Its interior was as vast and impressive as its exterior. Many vertical and crisscrossing stem-plates were pronounced all around. The large translucent phloem connected to every branch served as a transporter to direct individuals to their designated Nest-Fruit.

Gnihzur followed the directions being fed to him via his Digital Feather and made his way over to a Phloem Lift which had the destination of his branch nest. Upon entering the Phloem Lift he ran into an acquainted crimson feathered crow who wanted to eat his heart out.

“Watch where you are going, dipshit!” The hothead Drazil gave Gnihzur a spanking with his beak. “Uh, it’s this guy again. He’s trouble.” Thought Gnihzur. After apologizing for bumping into Drazil, Gnihzur prayed for the Phloem Lift to reach its destination quicker.

[Halt!] Seconds later, the Phloem Lift came to a sudden stop at the upper part of the Residential Rekishda Tree. Gnihzur hurriedly stepped outside the Phloem Lift into the particular branch where he would later discover his nest. Looking back at Drazil, Gnihzur heard him say:

“Stop staring at me, shit stain! You’re lucky that I’m busy right now, otherwise, I would have kicked your sorry a…” [Swoosh!] The Phloem Lift shot off before Drazil could finish cursing Gnihzur.

“That crow’s mouth really needs some washing out along with his temper.” Gnihzur directed his attention back to the guide of his Digital Feather. “Now that I’m in Branch-3k I just need to locate nest number 3k13.”

Gnihzur greeted the many crows he ventured past on his search for Nest-Fruit number 3k13. Not all of them took kindly to his friendly greeting. He received the repulsive glare of a few crows. Not letting their disdainful glances bother him, Gnihzur located his nest.

“This is it.” Gnihzur found the alternate branch leading to his nest. It was being blocked by dark-red gunk which represented the sealed entrance. Only an individual with correct clearance could abate the gunk and enter. If someone else tried to gain entry then they would immediately get swallowed by the gunk and get sent to a detention facility. This happened a few times to some crows who tagged the wrong code for their Nest-Fruit.

Gnihzur made sure to carefully input his tag-code into the gunk’s interface. [Swoosh!] He installed it correctly. The gunk split open for a time and allowed Gnihzur to pass through.

[Step! Step! Step!] While walking through the branch corridor which led to his Nest-Fruit, Gnihzur looked outside the lateral window panes and observed the external scenery.

Each Nest-Fruit produced by the Residential Rekishda Tree was directly tethered to a particular branch. Sometimes these branches were sporadic and inverted. To remedy the issue of ill-equilibrium, the interior of the branches produced Gravity Plants which stabilized the balance.

As he walked ahead, Gnihzur identified a bunch of Gravity Plants growing out of the branch corridor. He passed his hand through their leaflets and felt no noticeable difference in his weight. “I thought my arm would get heavier. I guess these Gravity Plants aren’t so simple.”

[Step! Step! Step!]

After a short tread across the branch corridor, Gnihzur finally arrived inside his nest. The interior was more dynamic and expansive than it appeared to be when viewed externally. This was due to the rear dimensional framework which comprised each Nest-Fruits.

Gnihzur’s nest had 3 floors with veneer decorations. A private washroom was present on the 1st floor, it received its freshwater source from the main xylems. Also on the 1st floor were various decorations of comfort; an array of leaf sofas; a carpeted floor; a wooden workbench; a kitchen for cooking self-meal; and a bedroom situated on a raised platform. The bed was crafted from an interwoven cotton, thin wooden strips and a bundle of large leaves that held radiant liquid inside. The green liquid had healing properties to soothe the individual that lay on it.

The 2nd floor had tall empty shelves forming an arc around the nest. Many tables and chairs were neatly aligned beside each shelf. The 3rd floor was an empty meditative space with a bird decoration painted on the floor. It was designed to allow pure radiance inside the nest from the Axis Spheres surrounding the Nest-Fruit. The Axis Spheres captured the radiant environmental and sun energies and converted them into finer photonic particles that can aid in enhancing Krowqui as well as energize the Rekishda Tree.

“Wow, I can get used to this. My last nest was nothing compared to this luxury.” Gnihzur became bemused; drunken with beauty. It was a sudden transmission that came through his Digital Feather that awoke him from his amazed stupor.

“Hello, am I speaking to nest number 3k13 resident, Gnihzur Costar?”

“Yes, this is me. Ahm, who are you?”

The mysterious voice responded, “I’m a member of the academy’s supporting staff who was instructed to recover your belongings. I’m just calling to inform you that it has been loaded and is now ready to be transported to your Delivery Circle Address.”

Gnihzur had no idea how to activate his Delivery Circle. “Could you please elaborate?”

The voice responded, “If you wish to know more about the Deliver Circle and how you can utilize its potential to make your stay here at Crowjun Soul Academy more comfortable, you will find the necessary information stored in the lower right corner of your Digital Feather’s interface. I hope you have a wonderful experience at our academy. I bid you goodbye.” [Beep!] The transmission was cut off abruptly.

“Oh…” Gnihzur decided to learn more about his Digital Feather upon realizing how important it was to his stay at Crowjun Soul Academy.