The Stardust Base

The rising sun slowly painted the building in warm shades of orange and pink, as its gentle beams caressed the building and bathed it in a warm glow.

The rusty door of the building opened as Sergeant Lee emerged, followed by a nervous group of more than twenty people.

Kayden walked out of the building while yawning. Deep, dark circles under his eyes stood out on his face as if he had not slept much.

Well, that was exactly the case. Kayden had been cultivating until late at night, but it was definitely worth it.

If someone capable of seeing the nodes were to observe Kayden's body, he would find that ten of them were already unlocked.

'I can now begin to understand why some people will never be able to reach the next stage. Even when my talent is supposed to be exceptional, unlocking the tenth node took me the same time as the other five combined.' Kayden thought.

He wasn't wrong since every node unlocking takes more time than the previous one, and this is especially noticeable every ten nodes.

Outside the building, several staff members were performing various tasks.

Three large military green vans were waiting on the cracked road.

Three large military green vans were waiting on the cracked road, which had been repaired enough for normal driving.

"All right, get in the vans, I'll see you at the base." The sergeant said, getting into the jeep.

Following his orders, Kayden and the rest got into the vans, which had about ten seats each.

As Kayden sat down and buckled his seat belt, the van began to move.

There was an awkward atmosphere in the van as the others looked at the badges of Kayden and Audrey, who had gotten into the same van.

He could feel some of them casting judging glances at Audrey and him while whispering to each other.

After a while, a young guy tried to break the awkward silence, "Since we are going to be together in the future, how about we tell our names and what is our mana element?"

"I think it's a good idea," A middle-aged woman said.

"Me too," spoke a bald man who seemed to be in his thirties.

The young guy waited for the rest to answer but when he saw that they had no intention, he forced a nervous chuckle and said, "I will go first then. My name is Josh and my element is fire."

The middle-aged woman smoothed her pants and said, "I'm Sophie and my element is fire too."

"I'm Edward and mine is earth." The bald man continued.

"Lucas. Wind." A husky voice with a French accent said.

The other three were startled by the sudden response but quickly calmed down.

"What about you? Did the sergeant explain anything about our purpose at the base?" Josh asked, looking at Audrey.

She looked at him coldly before ignoring him and turning her head back to the window.

"Okay… I'll take that as a no…" Josh said, still stunned.

After Audrey's nonexistent response, the van became silent again, and this time to the end of the journey.

Half an hour later, the van pulled up in front of an enormous modern group of buildings.

Kayden was wondering what the buildings would look like on the inside when some shouts pulled him from his thoughts.

The young woman who had complained about some of them being able to unlock more nodes in less time was yelling at Will as he yelled back.

"Tell me! Tell me how you cheated!" She shouted, her eyes full of envy and madness.

"Cheating? It's not my fault you have no talent! You crazy fucking woman!" Will shouted back.

'He has a point,' Kayden thought funny, laughing inside.

They were about to start fighting when a firm voice was Heard.

"Enough! Alice, I think I already told you that there was no cheating in the test," Sergeant Lee said.

'Oh, so her name is Alice.'

"Are you doubting my word?" He asked in a threatening tone.

"No, Sergeant Lee." She nervously answered.

When Will was already smiling, the sergeant turned to him and warned with a stern voice, "And Will, this isn't a place where we are considerate of someone because of their age."

"Then what can I do if someone bothers me?" Will asked, still angry.

"If someone bothers you again you should either ignore them or file a formal complaint." The sergeant explained.

When everyone had gotten out of the vans, the sergeant looked at them and announced, "This is the Stardust base, one of the fifty bases that the government has created throughout the country."

"What is exactly the purpose of these bases, sir?" Josh asked.

"To promote the greatest talents in mana cultivation, creating a prosperous future for the country in this way. However, if you aren't good enough you'll be expelled." He said, causing many to look panicked.

'As expected from the cultivation society. The weak are buried, the strong rise up.' Kayden thought, seething with excitement to show the world that he, Kayden Hale, was someone to be feared.

"I will take you now to the one in charge of your training. Follow me." The sergeant uttered while he entered the base.

They entered the building, where a man in his forties was waiting for them.

Gray, short hair, was pulled back to reveal a strong, time-worn face. His gaze was sharp and his posture exuded authority.

"Welcome to the base, recruits. I am Captain Jake Lawson and I will be the one supervising your training in the future." He started saying.

Kayden listened to his words with a respectful look.

Since he started unlocking the nodes, he had become much stronger and he wasn't afraid to say that he could beat any other recruit with ease. Nevertheless, his instinct seemed to warn him that the captain was dangerous.

The captain continued, "Before we begin, I must warn you that you are not here to play games. That means you'll be pushed to your limits, both physically and mentally. If you can't handle that, you might as well leave now."

Many of them swallowed saliva when they heard the harshness of his words.

"However, if you are serious about becoming a powerful cultivator, then you are in the right place. This is not a place for the weak or the faint-hearted. Welcome to the Stardust base." He concluded.

"How can we be expelled? Didn't you say that we are the new future of the country?" Said a wavering voice.

"What's your name, recruit?" The captain asked after hearing the question.

"J-Josh Floyd."

"Ok, Josh. Listen to this carefully. When you talk to me, you will always address me as Captain, right?"

"Yes, Captain." He replied in a trembling voice.

"As for your question, do you think just a few have unlocked a node in half an hour? There are about four hundred in this base alone." He said, surprising everyone.

"But wasn't it hard to unlock the node within half an hour, Captain?" Josh questioned.

The captain laughed before asking, "It surely is, however, when you have a country with hundreds of millions of people, it becomes easier."

'He is right, even if something is difficult, when you have a huge amount of people it ends up being easy. This means that considering the endless size of the universe, there will be many with my talent or more.' Kayden realized.

This made him realize that, if he wanted to reach the top of the cultivation society, he couldn't rest for a moment.

While Kayden was thinking, the captain announced, "All right, for the first exercise, tomorrow you will be having a sparring session among yourselves. The best ones will be rewarded after the sparring ends."