CHAPTER 150: THE PURPOSE OF STELLARIS

The Purpose of Stellaris

"Is everything okay?" Ellie asked Osho curiously when she saw his gaze get fixed on something. However, when she followed his gaze, she didn’t see anything, confusing her.

Osho slowly shook his head...

"I thought I saw someone." He answered simply, but he gave her a look that said he’d explain it to her later.

As the group proceeded, Mateo and Veronica decided that it was the best time for them to bring them up to speed concerning some aspects of the school.

"So, what exactly do you guys know about Stellaris?" Veronica asked as she spun on Indo’s head, facing the group completely as the T. Rex navigated through the campus/city on its own, clearly having done this numerous times.

"That it was established by a group of Legendary Rank Beast Tamers in a hidden realm they found?" Osho offered.

"That’s true, but do you know anything else?" She asked again, and the group all shared looks before shaking their heads slowly.

"Hm. Thought so. We tend to be somewhat secretive, so don’t feel embarrassed for not knowing." She let out an easy smile. Mateo seemed content to let her do the talking as he simply sat down.

"Stellaris was indeed established by a group of Legends. The why, though, is a bit more complicated than that." She started.

"You see, this is something you will learn more about as you start attending lectures, but when Mana descended on Azure Star, there was quite a bit more than just beasts appearing. Through interesting means, beings from other worlds also got access to our world. Some were nice, some... not so much." She explained.

The group nodded along. This was sort of common knowledge? They knew that they weren’t alone in the universe, but to be honest, information on beings from other worlds was so scarce that people tended not to think about them. They were often only seen in higher-ranking Citadels anyway.

"Back then, things were... chaotic, to say the least," Veronica continued, still balanced cross-legged on Indo’s head, like the giant dinosaur was a park bench. "Legendary Tamers were rare, but they were also the only ones strong enough to keep certain problems contained. The beasts were bad enough, but when these ’visitors’ started showing up, the entire power balance was under threat of being tipped over." Hearing this, the group frowned.

"To be clear, these visitors are... aliens?" Ellie asked clarifyingly, and Veronica offered a thin smile.

"Let’s call them ’guests from elsewhere.’ You’ll learn more in time. The point is, they weren’t all hostile, but they weren’t all friendly either. And a lot of them didn’t understand, or just particularly care about the way humans did things." She tapped her heel against Indo’s skull, and the creature let out a light huff but showed no explicit irritation.

"The Legends who founded Stellaris decided that Azure Star needed a place that could do two things at once. Train the most promising tamers as quickly and effectively as possible, and give certain outsiders a controlled way to interact with humanity without turning our Citadels upside down." At this, Kurt tilted his head.

"So it’s a school and a diplomatic zone?"

"Spot on," She said, pleased at him catching on. "A bridge between worlds, literally and figuratively. Students here aren’t just competing with each other, though, that’s a huge part too. But they’re also learning to... let’s say deal with different perspectives. Some of those perspectives wear suits, others have claws. Sometimes, it’s both." Hearing this, the group had different expressions.

"... Sounds complicated." Sam said while scratching her cheek.

"Honey, everyone thought it was a concoction for disaster." Veronica laughed out loud. "Some still think it is. But Stellaris worked. Instead of waiting for random meetings–or fights–to decide if someone was friendly or needed to get wiped off the map, the founders created a neutral ground. A place where humans and ’others’ could actually talk, trade, negotiate, or spar in a setting that wasn’t going to destroy another major landmass." Hearing this, everyone nodded in understanding.

"Wait, what do you mean ’another’ major landmass?" Osho asked with suspicion.

"What do you think happened to the island Australia was located on?" She scoffed, and the group shivered. History said that it was due to a high-level beast...

Regardless, Veronica spread her arms at the campus around them.

"Regardless. Yes, it’s a college, but it’s also a proving ground, a marketplace, a research hub, and when needed, a fortress." She finished with a wink, and the group fell silent as they digested her words. It was... a lot.

"So... will we have these ’others’ as our fellow students?" Osho finally asked carefully.

"Of course. Why do you think this campus is so big? You thought it was just humans and their beasts?" Veronica giggled.

"It houses a LOT of different beings, and who knows, maybe you will make friends with non-humans." She said cheekily, then her smile slowly faded as she regarded Osho.

"Also, word of advice, don’t tell anyone what potential your beast has besides the ones assigned to you." She said, her voice suddenly very serious, taking the group by surprise. However, Osho had a vague idea as to why she was saying this.

At that moment, Mateo snapped his fingers and space shimmered around them as suddenly, all external sounds were cut off, making everyone frown as she regarded Osho.

"It goes without saying, that Legendary Rank Beast Tamers are a considerable annoyance to the not-so-nice ’others’ who still don’t look at us quite favorably. So chances are that if your existence gets revealed too early, you will be deemed as a threat that needs to be nipped in the bud. If anyone asks, say you possess Grandmaster Rank potential like your friends. Understood?" Her voice was grave, completely unlike the cheerful playfulness from before.

"... Yes." Osho nodded, understanding pretty clearly.

As she said, in the early days, Legendary Tamers were the ones who handled these ’visitors’ the most. Meaning they were strong enough to put up a fight, but also strong enough to be deemed a problem, and most people preferred to handle problems before they got too big.

Osho had a feeling these ’others’ were the same.

"Great, we’re on the same page." Veronica returned to her cheerful self so quickly it was weird.

The bubble surrounding the group also vanished, allowing external sounds to come in once more.

"Now, any more questions?" She asked, and they were silent for a moment before Ellie spoke.

"I feel like this is obvious, but I still want to know. Why are so many rules being bent for us? I don’t know just how complicated or long academic years are, but with how long we’ve been out of the loop, our coming in is certainly going to throw off numerous things, right? Also, won’t we draw a lot of attention when we appear seemingly out of nowhere?" Irene questioned.

"All valid questions. And to summarize, thank your lucky stars that you guys are both talented and unlucky. You’re right, under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t have been allowed admission even if you met the prerequisites normally. But it goes without saying, outstanding individuals just naturally happen to bend the rules around them. Moreover, the predicament that befell your Citadel is... complicated, to say the least, and it’s one of those situations where no matter how stubborn the upper brass is, punishing you guys for something so utterly out of your control is just that ridiculous." Veronica replied calmly.

"I see." Irene nodded to herself. Then Ellie also spoke up.

"Not concerning this topic we just went over, but how exactly does the college work for us? As in, will we be attending lectures like everyone else or is everything specialized? Is there something like a specialized currency? How will our accommodations work? What about the lessons and lectures we missed? Will our lectures bleed into the next semester due to how late we were? What about interacting with other students? Is that mandatory? How many lecturers will know our identities? The accommodations assigned to us, are they under constant observation? How close will they be to each other?" Ellie fired questions rapidly, and Veronica raised a brow.

"Hm, inquisitive one, aren’t you?" She giggled, and Ellie was about to say something that was undoubtedly snarky when Veronica continued.

"To answer your questions.

She cleared her throat.

"Lectures? Yes, you’ll attend the core courses like everyone else. Specialized training? Also yes, you’ll get mentors assigned to fast-track what you missed."

"As for currency, Stellaris uses merit points, the same as most high-ranking colleges. You earn them through classes, research, competitions... even missions. Granted, I’m sure you already know that your group was granted basically infinite resources within reason."

"Accommodations? Private, well-furnished, close together, and suits the needs of you and your beast. They’re monitored for security, but no one’s breathing down your neck unless you give them a reason to."

"Missed lessons won’t delay your graduation. You’ll have supplemental modules and exams to catch up. We don’t make prodigies sit around twiddling their thumbs."

"Interaction with other students? Encouraged, not forced. But keep in mind, connections are half the point of this place. Don’t make enemies for fun. Unless you can handle it that is."

"Who knows your identities? Only a handful of senior staff, your assigned mentors, and us. Most people just know you’re new students who came late due to strange circumstances."

She winked at Ellie. "That answer everything, or do you want me to draw diagrams too?"