It was just another day as usual for Simon Joseph Travis as he finished putting on his uniform. Or, at least, it would have been just another average day if he had not been about to do what he was going to. He, along with only a handful of others from his nation, had been selected by the Necrograd University for the Gifted as prospective students. While a small university by most standards, only having roughly 2,000 students at any given moment, it was by far the most exclusive and prestigious place of higher education in the whole of the Greater Darksol Empire.

The selection process was beyond rigorous, and even if you passed with flying colors you might still be refused due to past actions and behavior. What made it all the more sought after as a school was that, rather than having its students pay a small expense to enroll and a small expense to take each class, the Necrograd University for the Gifted was entirely free. Likewise, dorms and basic amenities were paid for by the state as well, and while you still had to pay for cafeteria meals, almost everything else was completely free to use. So, not only would graduating from this school nearly give you a free pass for any job you wanted, it also was a godsend for those without the wealth needed to take care of normal college expenses.

And this, this wonderful day, was the day he finally became a member of this most desired of schools. All his life he and his family had barely scraped by, all of their excess funds going to supporting his education, a thing no one in his family had ever experienced. He alone of his five brothers and three sisters was given the privilege of getting taught to read, write, do arithmetic and learn the basics of alchemy. After the regime change, he and his siblings were all put in school, where he excelled.

Being the brightest of his siblings gave him the edge he needed to go above and beyond, but even as he worked a part time job to make ends meet before taking the GED he had lived in poverty. This was not because the jobs paid poorly, but because, like the good son he was, he had sent a sizable chunk of each check back home to help his family. Even after Darksol took over and sweeping changes were made, his siblings still drained the family of their wealth. He was, of all of his siblings, the most mature, the smartest and by far the most dutiful. All his brothers and sisters had yet to grow up, despite being of age already.

But after all that suffering, all that hard work and dedication, he had finally been accepted to a school that was practically free and effectively guaranteed a good, high-paying job; he was one step closer to his dream.

As he walked down the hall leading from his dorm to the university proper, he could not help but wonder how his family was taking the news. Well, he knew his siblings would smell more money they could mooch off of him and he expected his parents would be even more proud of him, but aside from that, he wasn’t too sure.

…

Sitting in the auditorium, Simon tapped his foot nervously. Every chair was full, and the induction speech was nearly finished, but he was still very nervous. Each student would be assigned a Tier once they fully entered the university, a status that could be raised or lowered over the course of the student’s time in the university. If you reached the highest tier through hard work and determination, you were eligible for rewards. However, if you ever reached the lowest tier you would be promptly expelled and forbidden from entering the school again.

Simon had worked his ass off to get here, but he and everyone else here was anxious that they did not work hard enough. If he was in the lower tiers, he would be forced to pay for more things than usual, but if he was higher up, he would not only be able to only pay for a few things, he would even be given the possibility to potentially get cash prizes among other things. As the commencement speech ended and the new students, himself included, made their way to the large board that had their names and tiers on them, Simon held his breath. He first looked in the lower tiers, but his name was not there. He looked higher, and then higher still, but he did not see his name. Had they decided he wasn’t good enough?

Dejected, he turned and tried to leave, only to be stopped by an old enemy.

“What the fucking hell kind of sleazy trick did you pull, asshole?”

Looking up, Simon saw a person he had not expected to see. It was the old schoolyard bully who had apparently not gotten the memo that he was a grown adult and had to act like one.

“I don’t know what you mean, Rupert.”

Rupert pointed to the listings, causing Simon to turn around. He scanned the listings again and found his name in the highest tier.

“You cheated! How can you be top tier when I’m only in the lower three?! I’m better than you in every way, dickwad!”

Rupert continued to hiss and spit while Simon felt a massive weight leave his chest. He had not just made it into the highest tier, he was in the top tier, just below a handful of others. As he stood in shock, he was turned around and almost got a fist to the face. Thankfully, his time dealing with Rupert had paid off, and he was barely able to dodge in time.

“Hold still, you little shit!” Rupert screamed as he loosed a flurry of blows, all of which missed by various margins.

Simon refused to fight back, but he did dodge and weave like a professional. He had put time in training with a professional street fighter so he could stand up to Rupert back when he was a kid, and all his training had paid off. Even as he had grown older, he still had trained as he refused to let a single bit of himself get rusty.

Simon noticed that the crowd had parted and a few stern-looking men were watching with a look of annoyance. Simon smiled and stopped dodging, which let Rupert grab him and start the beatdown. Simon knew how to roll with the punches, but he did not have to wait for long before Rupert was pulled away by the annoyed men and tossed down the hall.

“Who started it?” one of them asked with an angry stare that swept the crowd. “Before you try and lie, just know that we have ways of knowing truth from fiction, so don’t bother trying to deceive us.”

A few hands in the crowd pointed to Rupert as he got back up and tried to land a sucker punch to the back of one of the men, only for that man to deliver a mule kick that sprawled Rupert out on the floor before the bully’s blow could connect.

“Both of you are to come with us.”

And with that, both of them were dragged away.

…

Simon sat in a room with one of the men across the table from him. Simon was terrified that getting into this fight meant expulsion. Rupert’s family had connections and he would likely get away scot free while he would not. A few minutes passed in absolute silence before the man got up and left, switching places with a woman.

“Don’t worry.” she said. “You aren’t in trouble, which is more than I can say for your aggressor.”

She offered Simon a cup of ice water, which he accepted.

“As you were not the one who started this and you tried to avoid causing harm, you are getting off without even a mention in your academic record. The other one, on the other hand, is being expelled for his conduct and we are opening an inquiry with the state to find out how he managed to get entry to the university. Based on his record, even with his academic achievements, which were not that much by the way, he should have been ineligible for entry, let alone consideration. The only way that he could have got in is either if someone slipped up or there was corruption, both of which are intolerable.”

The woman passed Simon a sheet of paper.

“I am asking you to sign this document that details the events that transpired. If they match what you remember, simply sign there and we can wrap this up.”

Simon held the paper and read through it. It all matched his recollection of the events, but one thing was concerning.

“So, even though I fought him, I am not getting reprimanded?”

“You did not fight him. He fought you and you tried to avoid it. Even if you had fought back, he was the one responsible for that and was not even supposed to be here at all given our stringent standards. You are not the aggressor, just the victim, so why would we punish you for self-defense, avoiding combat or trying to deescalate the situation? This school has standards, and while it would be easier to simply punish you both that would only make us look bad and deprive us of valuable talent. People like him don’t deserve to have the option to drag others down with them, it’s why the state forbade the standard ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy in favor of a better version.”

Simon looked at the paper in his hands, took a pen and signed it. Handing it back to the woman, he and she got up from their seats and shook hands.

“I apologize for your first day here being what it was. You will find that we have absolutely no intention of letting this event slip under the rug. I hope you find our school to be better than this day made it seem to be, and good luck on your classes.”

With that, Simon stepped out of the room and felt a sense of relief. For the first time in what felt like eternity, there was fairness and justice for him regarding Rupert. Smiling and feeling as though the sun was shining on him, Simon almost skipped down the hallways as he realized that the new regime had done right by him and likely by many others.