Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

The opening ceremony of the interstellar era is quite similar to that of Earth. The principal of Xuan Gu First Military Academy, Principal Christian, also attended the event and gave a speech.

However, the leaders in this era are very concise when speaking, often keeping their remarks short and straightforward to respect others’ time.

Each year, a representative from the new students is chosen, and the Second Prince is undoubtedly the rightful choice, given his status and abilities.

When the school invited the Second Prince to the stage to speak as the new student representative, Mina-Olli let out a sigh of relief and glanced at the stern-faced Ruo Manni beside her, finding it somewhat amusing.

Mina-Olli had always thought that Ruo Manni was overly rational and calm, as if she were indifferent to everything except for her training. Despite getting along harmoniously with them, Mina-Olli felt that these people had no real impact on Ruo Manni, and nothing could rattle her composure.

Unexpectedly, the Second Prince managed to break through her facade. As she observed the anger flashing in Ruo Manni’s eyes, followed by her struggle to suppress it and adopt a blank expression, Mina-Olli felt a strange sensation; at that moment, she realized the real Ruo Manni.

Moreover, Mina-Olli was certain that Ruo Manni was not an ordinary commoner girl; no commoner would dare to confront a prince with such an attitude.

She whispered to her, “The Second Prince has always been like this; he’s very sharp-tongued towards those he doesn’t get along with. I’ve experienced it a few times myself, and sometimes I just want to knock him out. But we can’t, not just because he’s a prince; the Emperor and the First Prince wouldn’t care about such small matters, but the Queen would be a real headache…”

So, the Second Prince had also offended Mina-Olli, Ruo Manni understood immediately. She smiled warmly and said, “Fellow students, there will be many opportunities for collaboration in the future.”

Ruo Manni’s smile made people shiver a bit; it seemed that her fierce nature was indeed her true self. Mina-Olli instantly understood and returned a similar smile: “Yes.”

After the Second Prince took the stage, he completely transformed from the attitude he had in front of Ruo Manni and the others. He embodied the image of a young, accomplished elite.

His speech was also filled with encouraging words for the youth to strive for success, making him seem like a different person compared to how he spoke to Ruo Manni. Not only did the girls in the audience show admiration in their eyes, but the boys also looked at him with faces full of respect.

Indeed, in this efficient interstellar era, the welcome ceremony for new students wrapped up in less than an hour, and then the new students returned to their respective classes.

This year’s elite class had eleven students, led by an educational expert known as Master Li, and taught by the Level 7 martial artist, Instructor Dudley.

The new students in the elite class had already become very familiar with Instructor Dudley over the past two months of rigorous training. Although he was quite intimidating during training, he would occasionally joke with them afterward, so the boys didn’t feel scared of him when he was not in training mode.

However, they were not very familiar with Master Li. Under these circumstances, the students obediently followed behind their class mentor.

The elite class classroom is located on the top floor of the teaching building. Aside from the latest models of desks and chairs, the setup of the classroom is not much different from other classrooms; it’s just a regular classroom, lacking the extravagant atmosphere often depicted in novels about aristocrats.

“This year’s special class has eleven students, including two outstanding telekinetics, which I have never encountered during my teaching career. After discussing with Instructor Dudley, we have decided to divide you into two small teams, as per the previous rules. Team One will be led by classmate Hebrew Adam, with Ruo Manni as the vice-captain. Team Two will be led by classmate Hua Deli, with Dean Atchison as the vice-captain. The other seven students will be evenly distributed between the two teams.”

“Oh, and just to specify, classmate Ruo Manni is also a Level 3 Armorer, so Team One will have six members. Team Two can choose an Armorer from the Armoring Department to join your team, ensuring both teams have six members.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be up to us to choose our teams? Can’t I select my own team members from the new students?” Dean Atchison protested, somewhat dissatisfied.

Dean Atchison had already planned to form a team within the military academy, intending to use it as his foundation after graduation. He was unhappy about being made the vice-captain under Hua Deli; after all, they were in a competitive relationship.

“We are a collective, and during regular training and exercises, we operate by class units. Therefore, small teams are typically formed from members of your own class, and each small group must consist of at least five members. Since there are only eleven of you, you can form at most two groups,” Master Li explained patiently.

He then reassured Dean Atchison, “However, over the next four years, you will have many opportunities to participate in interschool competitions, such as the Youth Mecha Competition, where you will be free to form your own teams.”

Dean Atchison was still somewhat unhappy, knowing that a team requires time to gel. No matter how strong a team is, without repeated collaboration, it cannot unleash its full combat potential.

Dean looked at Ruo Manni. He had high hopes for both her and Su Forty-Three and agreed they would make good teammates. Therefore, he suggested to the class instructor, “Instructor, could you place me on Captain Adam’s team?”

Dean didn’t care much about the vice-captain position; being on the same team would allow him to work on tactics with Ruo Manni and Su Forty-Three.

“No, if that were the case, the two teams would be too unbalanced in strength, which is not conducive to competition. Without competition, there’s no progress,” Master Li bluntly refused.

With the instructor’s firm stance, Dean had nothing else to say. He didn’t want to be a troublemaker, so he had to hold back his feelings, but that didn’t mean he had given up.

In fact, everyone present knew that, based on strength, the ideal pairing should be the second prince with Mina-Olli, and Huadeli with Ruo Manni to balance the overall combat power of the two teams.

The problem was that Hua Deli and Mina-Olli were engaged; they couldn’t just break up the couple and team them with others.

Both the second prince and Ruo Manni were exceptional among this year’s new students, with both being early-stage Level 5 practitioners, far superior to their peers. The elite class boys had faced Ruo Manni in combat, and even Hua Deli couldn’t defeat her, let alone the more powerful second prince.

Having these two prodigies on the same team would make them unbeatable against the new students. Therefore, in order to balance the gap between the two teams as much as possible, Dean had no choice but to carefully select the other members of each team.

Indeed, Dean Atchison and Gao Haitao, whose combat abilities were only lower than Hua Deli’s, were placed in the second team. Meanwhile, the four students with lower combat abilities—Tino Venamoinen, Tamaki Kazia, and Sheila—were assigned to the first team, with only Su Forty-Three being slightly stronger, at the late Level 4.

As a newbie, Ruo Manni was not very clear about the concept of team formation. However, she understood that team dynamics during their school years could significantly impact their future. Therefore, when Dean Atchison invited Ruo Manni to join his team during the special training period, she accepted in her heart.