VARSITY 9 | BL

ELEVEN | TOMA

Sunday 4846.8.19

Wen stared at the hovercraft with wide eyes. Never did he expect to ride in such a pristine vehicle. He had seen students from Batches A-E arrive at school in hovercrafts, but never did he think that he would have the opportunity to ride in one so soon. The fact that Azari Preparatory High Academy had the means to send a hovercraft to transport each of its students to the interport where they would then be flown to the campus via private jet spoke to the academy's prestige and power.

"Be well, my loves," Lisa said to Wen and Lay as she hugged them farewell. The man who had emerged from the front passenger side of the hovercraft waited patiently as the mother bid her sons goodbye. "Stay safe and healthy, but most importantly, have fun and be happy."

"We will, Mother," Wen responded with a small smile as he hugged her once more.

"Thank you for everything," Lay said before bowing respectfully. He truly was grateful for all Lisa and her family had done for him over the past eleven months. He had celebrated his seventeenth birthday with them and helped care for Emmi and Hanna whom he now called his sisters. But most of all, they had given him a family and home that he could return to on any day at any time.

Lisa's eyes sparkled as she watched her sons board the hovercraft and looked on as the vehicle lifted into the air and entered the lower levels of inner-city air traffic before zooming away.

Wen and Lay looked out the window of the hovercraft with wide eyes as they flew over the city. The bird's eye view of Daeshin opened Wen's perspective of the city. Most of his life was spent going from his apartment to school or the cafe, so seeing the city he had grown up in from this height allowed Wen to finally understand how the different districts came together to form the city of Daeshin.

"My name is Jax Cram, and I will be your advisor while at Azari High," the man in the front passenger seat introduced, drawing Wen's attention from the window. The two students politely introduced themselves in turn before Jax explained their schedule for the day, "You will take Jet 2 to the campus where you will meet the principal in a short welcome speech before being shown to your rooms. An inaugural ceremony will take place just after dinner at 21:00 (9 pm), thus ending your day of welcome. Your first full day at Azari will allow you to explore the campus and training facilities to familiarize yourself with your home for the next year, and classes will start the following day."

Jax paused for a moment to allow Wen and Lay to interject with any questions they might have before continuing, "As your advisor, you will be seeing me quite often, so please remember my face for the next time you see me."

Wen raised his brow at Jax's statement. Weird, but whatever. Jax seemed like a nice person, but he was definitely a little odd. Nevertheless, Wen gave a good look at the man's side profile where he observed a sharp jaw and perfectly pruned brows with slicked-back blonde hair and green eyes. Okay, I guess I'll know what this weirdo looks like anytime he shows up.

Jax fell quiet after explaining what their first few days at Azari would be like and let the two students return to admiring the city.

The ride to the interport, a station where various means of transportation - such as airplanes, private jets, hovercrafts, and small spacecraft - docked, took about an hour due to heavy traffic. Since the interport was located on the edge of the great city, once the hovercraft left the heart of Daeshin, traffic lightened, and the ride was much smoother. The interport was a cylindrical building with eight branches stemming from it that each had five cylindrical docking bays with landing pads atop each of the bays.

Docking in bay BF-4, Wen and Lay were escorted out of the hovercraft and into the interport while their luggage was collected and shipped to their next flight. Following the representative from Azari, Wen and Lay were led up to the landing pads that served as the roof of Branch F.