Vale placed his hands in the pockets of his doctor's coat. He was already getting used to his new look. Derrick and him stared off at each other, Vale far from intimidated.
"What was that magic, Cadet Luckwish?" Sergeant Derrick, who had a scar on his left cheek, had the face of a polished warrior.
Projecting an immense sadness for Derrick's emotional capabilities, Vale had already looked into his mind but couldn't quite conquer it yet. But he tried, almost without thinking. "You shouldn't yell at your son so much. There are better ways to go about things." Vale retorted with sass, despising the way he raised his child.
More furious than a lion who just had his entire pack slain, Derrick overreacted and balled his fists. "Who the hell do you think you are? Leaning in, his scarred face didn't intimidate Vale one bit. If anything, the outburst of emotion reminded him of an immature ape, walking around acting off instinct, pivoting towards brawn rather than brains.
Though he wasn't fearful, Vale didn't know what to call this change. "Why am I not scared of him… this entire shift in personality is… confusing. Is this what they call a prideful conscious?" Coming to senses, Vale remembered his mission and quickly spoke an excuse. "You're right. Sorry sir. I have mental issues and tend to get carried away. This magic has its duality, you know?" All kinds of abilities were revealing themselves to Vale. He was never a smooth talker, but today was somehow different.
Derrick relaxed, making sense of it. He may have been a raging father, but he still loved his boy. Just didn't show it how he should've. Tough love he called it.
Announcing to the rest of the cadets, he canceled the rest of the captain's matches. "I have some urgent matters to attend to, we'll pick this back up tomorrow. Your winner and first platoon captain is Vale Luckman."
Vale snarked at the remark. "Fuck that. I'm not being some captain for a bunch of sociopaths just like the other dude. Plus, I'm aiming higher than what you think..." Vale thought, already knowing the control scheme Sergeant Derrick was planning. He was going to try and use him as a controlled asset, which in Vale's case, would be an affront to his value to the empire.
Vale's newly evolved brain was adapting to the situation, already creating an idea to become a higher ranking officer. He read up on psychics back on earth, and at first glance, he thought them to be only superstitions.
While he still believed this to be true, Vale's system defied reality and gave him a one of kind magical system, and if used correctly, he could decide the outcomes of wars just by gathering intel as an informant.
In the vast universe, magic defines absolute strength. Its overbearing power rivals technology in destructive capabilities, and often, magic can take on the form of machine or armor as seen with Vale's doctors coat. People often refer to magic as the anomaly to reality, a priceless gift from the gods.
Using magic, one can destroy planets, drain stars with a mere attraction of their open palm, and even evade light speed death lasers.
Che, the energy of magic and what allows whimsical abilities to exist is a product of the natural mind. Magic units, the universal neuronic material that measured and dictated the structuring of magic existed as building modules to how magic is formed. The spectrum of what magic what magic is capable of goes on in an endless chain of themes, ending where the conscious condition gave in. New types of magic are recorded daily, some of them breaking the laws of the universe.
Elemental magic was the basic form, almost everyone was able to wild it. But where it became unique was when it evolved psychologically by the mutation of Mana Units.
Natural born talent wasn't a concern in the universe, but instead, magic manifested based on how expansive someone mind was.
These were just a few of the profound understandings Vale understood back where he first unlocked his magic.
Figuring out his plan, he saw a few loose ends but decided to deal with those when he arrived there. Derrick had turned around, preparing a dramatic wave from his waist upwards.
He did exactly that. Waving, Derrick opened up a white portal. "Follow me, Cadet. You'll be speaking to President Zeral to decide your future in the Zeral Empire.
"It would be my honor." Following Derrick to the portal, Vale wasn't intending on letting them have the upper hand. The Sargant was long gone, and Vale looked back at the unconscious Zach, thinking while making his way near the gate. "Is looking into someone's mind like that, and understanding it thoroughly, really safe?"
He pondered it for a second, and then lost care as he realized the mental evolution he was going through. "Bit by bit, I'm changing and becoming more confident. Maybe I was meant for this, and I was just living in the wrong world."
Vale traversed through the magical portal, and as he made it through, it disappeared around him. Looking around, Vale conducted he was in some sort of Citadel, and these were the hallways. There were many doors and pathways, and he secretly thought that if Derrick wasn't guiding him, he'd get lost in a matter of minutes. The halls were painted a simple stripe patterned red and white, which were the Zeral Empires flagged colors.
The Nation Of Zeral had three continents under their control, and in this earth-like planet, they've been a thriving tier two civilization for hundreds of years, with great ties to the galactic federation. Sadly, it operated much like a dictatorship, but sugar coated to make it seem less like a tyrannical society and instead, a place where the strong and rich survived and the weak were left to eat farmed potatoes. The technology was advanced in the main cities, but where the internet wasn't being supported, poverty lived like they were cavemen with cheap modern homes, having minimal electricity to secure a roof under their heads and a stove to cook the few meals they had throughout the week.
If the nation wasn't going to fall apart by a war, it was soon going to suffer devastating losses. Either way you look at it, Zeral was doomed to fail soon enough. The problem was, the higher class didn't care.
Vale knew this vaguely from analyzing Zach's memories, and was prepared for the worst when meeting the leader of this defective nation. "I have to remember my prominence in this place… If I play my cards right, I could have a huge salary, eating the best foods this nation has to offer." Salivating for a moment, he realized he hadn't eaten in a while.
Ruminating some more, Vale was trying to muster up a plan to advance himself. "The second part of his tutorial mission indicated I just had to become a higher up. If that means lying, then lying and saying I'll assist them would be easy until I can figure out a worthwhile plan. No way I'm becoming a spy for these nutjobs." His thoughts ended when he thought of the reward he might receive for becoming a higher ranked officer. Vale finally had time to check out his new magical coat that appeared in the midst of his talents activating.
Then, Vale looked at his coat that draped down to his lower thighs. "I'm glad I got something to separate me from everyone else. I won't lie, this really does finish off the whole psychologist look."
"Hey system, show me the details of the my new coat. I'm so curious."
[You're catching on quickly. Just order the system around like its your property. I have feelings too, you know.]
Disgusted slightly, he was becoming disturbed at the growing personality of the system. Quickly, Vale tried deescalating whatever was happening.
"Please."
[One of the few accessories made by the system is a magical doctors coat.]
[Coat Of Pathy]
[Item Grade: Universe-Defying]
[This doctor's coat makes you look like a real psychologist. Keeping up a professional appearance matters. You should know, this isn't a normal piece of clothing. The fabric is made of a priceless material that is impervious to all attacks. Bullets will fall, swords will collide, and lasers will bounce off your coat. But don't go thinking you're indestructible, they can still target your neck and head!]
"This is really useless... If they want to backstab me they can just aim at my skull, and then I'm really dead."