The Stargazer Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1: Avalon

  Chapter 2: UNEA

  Chapter 3: Awakening

  Chapter 4: A completely different path

  Chapter 5: Stargazer

  Chapter 6: History class

  Chapter 7: Xale

  Chapter 8: Fresher’s party and an opportunity to earn credits

  Chapter 9: The event

  Chapter 10: Easy money

  Chapter 11: Meeting her again

  Chapter 12: Aila

  Chapter 13: Magic lecture

  Chapter 14: Joining a club

  Chapter 15: Bulk purchase

  Chapter 16: Personal space

  Chapter 17: Weekend

  Chapter 18: Conflict at the beach

  Chapter 19: Punishment

  Chapter 20: Source of water

  Chapter 21: The forest

  Chapter 22: Ancient crown

  Chapter 23: Competition

  Chapter 24: The first gold badge

  Chapter 25: End of the group stage

  Chapter 26: First battle

  Chapter 27: Sonya Kress

  Chapter 28: Invitation from the Director of Studies

  Chapter 29: C-192

  Chapter 30: Sharing his secret

  Chapter 31: Going to Loha

  Chapter 32: Rogue mages

  Chapter 33: Close matches

  Chapter 34: Dual casting

  Chapter 35: Extreme spell

  Chapter 36: Returning to the academy

  Chapter 37: Friends

  Chapter 38: A second stargazer

  Chapter 39: Re-entering the cultivation box

  Chapter 40: Expanding the Space

  Chapter 41: Date

  Chapter 42: Gym

  Chapter 43: Arrested

  Chapter 44: Motive

  Chapter 45: Judgment

  Chapter 46: Escape

  Chapter 47: Hidden threat

  Chapter 48: Arrival at Maputo

  Chapter 49: Bigger fish than expected

  Chapter 50: Slaves

  Chapter 51: Going to Japan

  Chapter 52: Becoming rich

  Chapter 53: Gathering resources

  Chapter 54: The new space

  Chapter 55: Going back to Maputo

  Chapter 56: A smooth ride

  Chapter 57: Epilogue

  Star Constellations

  Prologue

  "Alexander! Take good care of yourself. You don't have to worry about anything at home. Study well and come back when you can. I've packed a few sandwiches in case you are hungry, you'll find them in your suitcase."

  "I will do my best, mom! Take care of yourself too. Don't work too hard and don't hesitate to ask the neighbors for help! I'll be back very soon and will bring you a big surprise. Just wait for me!" exclaimed Alexander. He closed his eyes as his mother warmly held him in her embrace. Anne was trying her best to not show her weak side but no matter how hard she tried, tears slowly started to roll down her cheeks. It has always been hard for a mother to watch their children finally leave the nest to start their own life.

  "Go! You are already late! Remember to send me a message every day. I know that it will be hard but don't give up! Go, I am counting on you!"

  Alexander nodded. He quickly turned around to avoid showing his tears to his mother. "I will! Wait for me, mom."

  He quickly waved at his mom before jumping into the bus. The bus faintly trembled and soon hit the road. From his seat, he looked at the shrinking figure of his mother before turning his attention toward the only other passenger of the bus.

  "Good, welcome on board. I am Instructor Keno. Nice to meet you, Alexander Vagras."

  Alexander nodded. The emotional time was over; he needed to focus on his present task.

  "First of all, congratulations on getting admitted to the Earth Academy. It is remarkable for someone from such a recluse area to pass our test! I just want to give you these documents for you to study while we travel. If there is anything you want to ask, don't hesitate," said Instructor Keno while lending a thick set of notes to Alexander.

  The latter respectfully accepted the documents. On the cover, a Phoenix could be seen circling around planet Earth; it was the emblem of the Earth Academy, representing the hope of humanity. It was to go to that place to study that he had to leave behind his parents.

  The Earth Academy was a relatively new institution built a decade ago by the United Nations. Officially, the Earth Academy had the same standing as any of the world's best universities. The only difference was that instead of teaching the well-known subjects like Economy, Engineering, and Medicine, it taught its students magic!

  It was an international institution and people all over the world could apply to it like any other regular universities. However, only the cream of the top was allowed there, every year, only ten thousand applicants were admitted, and Alexander was one of the lucky few selected.

  "We'll travel by bus for four hours before arriving at the harbor. Take your time and study well. The rules of the academy are strict; there will be severe consequences if you break even just one of them. You better be prepared," said Instructor Keno before moving away from Alexander to give him some space. It was not the first time he was dispatched to escort the Academy's students; he knew very well that it was better to give them some space as they had just left their family.

  As for Alexander, he completely ignored the instructor, leaned back and closed eyes. The documents he was supposed to study have already been forgotten.

  'It has only been a week since I've been back and it's already time for me to leave mom... I hope everything will go well this time...'

  Chapter 1: Avalon

  Instructor Keno stretched his arms as he looked into the distance. The landscape has completely changed. More than four hours have passed since the start of the journey; by now, Instructor Keno already had a short nap and even ate some snacks by himself.

  'I wonder how the kid is doing? We are going to arrive soon, let's take a look at him' thought Instructor Keno

  He slowly cracked his finger joints as he took one last look at the city. Within those four hours, the bus slowly made its way through the rural areas and eventually reached the coastline. In just a few more minutes, the bus will finally reach its destination: the coastal city of Anathem.

  Instructor Keno glanced at Alexander. As soon as his eyes landed on the young man, the instructor narrowed his eyes; he instantly felt triggered. "Hmmp, in the five years I have been picking those kids, it is the first time I see someone like that. How can he be so relaxed to the point that he even fell asleep?"

  "Hey, kid! Wake up, we are about to arrive," exclaimed Instructor Keno. At the same time, he lightly nudged Alexander.

  The latter jumped on his feet and looked around him. "Huh? Where are we?"

  "Kid, you've been sleeping for a while. I don't know if you've got guts or are just lazy. Anyway, just prepare yourself, we'll soon be arriving at Anathem. Make sure you know the rules by then," said Instructor Keno while frowning. He has already noticed the document on the seat next to Alexander; it was still clean and undamaged as if it just came out of the printer. Either Alexander was very careful when reading books or he simply did not touch it at all and Instructor Keno was willing to bet on the latter.

  Alexander looked through the window and saw the large city in the distance, "Ohh, Anathem... That's where we'll board the cruiser. Thanks for waking me up."

  "..." Instructor Keno did not know how to react to the student's indifference. Without saying a word, he returned to his own seat. Whenever the student was ready for the academy or not had nothing to do with him; his job was only to pick the student and bring them there.

  'People us
ed to complain about millennials but this generation is even worse than that. No respect at all,' thought Instructor Keno.

  Alexander yawned as he scratched his head. The journey had been long. His muscles were already sore. Although the bus was a private one and was very well equipped, sleeping in the sitting position was still rather uncomfortable.

  'Anathem... It has been a while since I've been there...'

  ...

  The bus soon stopped at the private area of the harbor where hundreds of other buses were already stationed.

  "Alright, follow me!" declared Instructor Keno.

  Alexander wordlessly stood up and walked behind him. He dully looked around him and smiled to himself. He remembered how he was so excited and amazed the first time he came here. But that was ten years ago and at that time, he was just a random country bumpkin going on a crazy adventure.

  The pair quickly made its way toward the one and only ship on the dock: the Avalon, one of the private cruisers of the Earth Academy.

  They wordlessly walked up the platform and soon boarded the cruiser. The cruiser was a rather luxurious one. If he did not know better, Alexander would think he had just boarded a yacht.

  Instructor Keno quietly brought him to one of the cabins and lightly knocked on the door. "After this, my job will be done. Good luck kid, I hope you'll like your stay with us."

  Before Alexander could answer, a loud roar came from the cabin, "Who is it!?"

  "It's Keno. I have brought with me Alexander Vagras."

  The door of the cabin was wildly opened, revealing an aged man with a tired expression. Large dark circles could be seen right under his eyes; his uniform was messy, and a few sleep marks were clearly present all over his face.

  With one look, Alexander could tell that the man was rather irritated. 'He probably just ended his shift.'

  The man nodded to Keno and turned his attention to Alexander. "So you are the latecomer. All your friends are already there, we can finally depart. Just one more day and we would have been late. Why did you have to live so far away... Why did they have to restrict the budget so much..."

  As he complained, the man quickly scanned his messy working table and picked up something. "Here, your room card. Since you've read the introductory documents, you should know where to find your room. The journey will last for a whole week. During that time, you are free to do whatever you want as long as you don't cause any trouble! Questions?"

  The man spoke rapidly and did not bother to hide his mood. He handed a white card to Alexander as he said the final word, but he did not release his grip yet. Instead, he stared at Alexander with an expression that clearly warned him that the correct answer was no.

  "No, am good," answered Alexander.

  "Good, good, in that case, you are free to go." The man's expression instantly got better, and he quickly let go of the room card. The next second, the cabin's door was slammed closed with a loud "Bang".

  ...

  As the man has said, the trip lasted for exactly one week. It turned out that the tired man was, in fact, the captain of the cruiser. Despite the unsightly first look that Alexander had on him, the captain was a very competent man. During the last few days, he had been under a large amount of stress as he was running late on the schedule. It was not exactly Alexander's fault but as he was living the furthest from Anathem, bringing him here took a huge portion of his allocated time.

  As for Alexander, excluding his time at the canteen, he spent most of his time alone in his room. Many students were on board and were probably socializing, making friends before reaching the Earth Academy but Alexander was not interested in meeting anyone.

  His only company was his Personal Android Assistant, one of the perks of joining the Earth Academy. A personal assistant was a small robot designed to perform all sort of menial tasks such as cleaning the room of its owner and surf the internet, but it could also hold a conversation with a human.

  Alexander came from a small village but that did not stop him from being up to date with the technology. Besides, it was not the first time he was meeting the small robot and knew he could keep ownership of the robot until he left the academy.

  "Your name shall be Alpha. I am Alexander Vagras. Set a daily alarm at 8 pm and call it: Remember to call mom. Aside from this, do not disturb me for the rest of the trip," said Alexander as soon as he saw the robot. As he spoke, Alexander's face became emotional; he started remembering the events of his past life.

  "The alarm has been set," declared Alpha with a monotonic voice. The small robot beeped and swiftly returned to its original spot near the door.

  The rest of the trip was very peaceful for Alexander. He spent most of his time in bed and would occasionally jump to the desk to take a few notes. In his past life, Alexander might have been very excited and eager to meet the other students but this time, it was different.

  Yes. Alexander was someone who traveled back in time. He did not know how he achieved such a feat, but he would not complain about it. On his death bed, as all his mana has been exhausted, Alexander closed his eyes and waited for him to pass away but to his surprise, he found himself back at home, back on Earth.

  He did not believe he really traveled back in time. His first thoughts were: "Did I read too many novels? Or maybe that's what paradise looks like?" However, he soon confirmed that he indeed came back and maintained all the memories of his past life.

  The jump in time brought Alexander a few days before he was supposed to meet with Instructor Keno and during these days, Alexander spent all his time with his mother. His family was the owner of a large hydroponic farm. Most of the work was performed by an automated system but there was still a lot of work that required actual human intervention. As he was going to leave his mother for a long period of time, Alexander tried to get as much work done as possible to alleviate his mother's workload.

  Alexander was exhausted after doing so much work but fortunately, the one-week trip on the Avalon was more than enough to recover. During that time, Alexander tried his best to remember the important events of his past life and tried to derive an appropriate path for him. Every time he would think of something, he would not hesitate to note it down but unfortunately, Alexander's memory was not omnipotent.

  He did not even remember what he ate yesterday; how was he supposed to remember events that took place a decade ago? Although he did not remember much of his school life, the one thing Alexander remembered very well was magic!

  Chapter 2: UNEA

  At the end of the week, Alexander was lying on his bed, watching some movies on the holographic screen when suddenly, an announcement was made:

  "Hello? Hello! This is the captain speaking. All students are to immediately gather on the deck. We are about to arrive at our destination. Please leave behind your luggage, everything will be taken care of by our staff."

  The loud rough voice of the captain resonated through Alexander's room.

  "Geez, he could have at least put a ringtone or something before. There is no need to shout when making an announcement. At least, the journey is finally over!"

  Alexander grabbed the jacket folded on his desk and carelessly put it on. It was the only uniform of the academy. Everything he would need from now on would be provided by the academy, including his clothes but fortunately, the academy was not strict and the only compulsory piece of clothing during any school-related events was that jacket.

  "Alright, let's have a look outside."

  ...

  On the deck, several rows of students were perfectly aligned, facing a group of stern instructors. Alexander stood calmly among his peers and stared at the distance. He knew why they were called there. In just a few minutes, the Earth Academy would come into view.

  "Everyone, this is what you have all been waiting for. Only a select few would have the opportunity to ever witness what you are about to see. From now on, you are officially students of the academy. Regardless of what happens, even if you fail the induction,
you will spend the next three years of your lives as our students. I wish you the best of luck."

  When he finished speaking, the lead instructor slightly turned to his right and stared at in the distance. Instinctively, many students followed his line of sight and could not help but widen their eyes.

  "Wow! How is that possible?"

  "How did this island suddenly appear?"

  Compared to his fellow students, Alexander was not impressed. "Probably an illusion array that hides anything within a certain radius. Very effective against humans but not against the Xals..." said Alexander to himself.

  In his past life, Alexander definitely stood among those clueless students witnessing the power of magic for the first time. It was not every day that one could see a giant island suddenly appear in the middle of the ocean but with magic, it was an easy task.

  The island was massive and was, in fact, an artificial one. Despite its harmless appearance, the island was actually one of the most powerful military bases of humanity. It was one of the few infrastructures placed directly under the command of the UN. When all of humanity actually pooled their resources together, they could without a doubt achieve incredible feats and this island was one of the rare fruits of human collaboration.