After the martial class, the school was over for the day. All the students went out of the indoor stadium excited. They all thought about the prospect of them being martial artists. Ben exited with the group. His group of friends included 4 people, Saarsh, Jim, Roshin and Rais. They were students who came from middle class of the society. All of them were very serious about their studies and wanted to support their families. They hung out together for some time discussing and bantering about. All of them were speculating about what kind of affinities they will have. That affinity will decide the future path they will take. After spending some time they went to their homes. They had to take four different routes to their houses. So, they all went on to different stations to board trains.
The train will wait for about 5 minutes in the stop. So, Ben started to drift in his own thoughts.
' It is really convenient that the train schedule have been changed and I have one every 30 minutes now. They said it travels at about 1000 KM/Sec. That has enabled us to have our house in the other end of the city. Father told me that this system is only 20 years old. I can't imagine a life at school without this train system. Man am I getting old. Musing like an old man.
I have come to this stage. As much as my parents say not to have negative thoughts, I need to think about the worst possible scenario as well. If at all I do not have the capability to wield the meridian seed, I will have a lot of work to do. The only way forward in that scenario would be to be confined to some small scale company in a very small role. Or if I have capability, I can start a business. With my father's rank as a mid level Noble , I can start it easily. In the future I can expand it using my connections and money. I could start a food stall or a restaurant. Nah, that is what regular people would do. I need to start a company that can supply to some niche fields. Like the beast master industry. But now it is dominated by that giant corporation. I forgot his name , but one person tried to start a business in a very small subfield in that but was absorbed by that corporate. God knows what unscrupulous means they used. Well, that is that. The probability of that happening is very less.
My only option is to have the implantation done by the government. That is the economically viable option. I have heard that there is a sophisticated lending process that will help the person concerned. My parents were able to undergo the procedure and could raise a family after all. Also, this a democracy and they do want people to strengthen the nation. From these I can deduce that the procedure that is conducted by government is good and the chance of anything going wrong is less than 10%. But there are no absolutes in this world. So long as my affinity is not something that is complicated, the process and the resources required will not be expensive. I still don't understand what the problem with students understanding what the powers of a martial artists and the mechanism behind it. There is no need for the intricacies. It is strict to the point where a high ranking official was removed immediately from the military and the defense minister had to resign, because of him. My parents or elders don't speak a word about it as though it is a taboo subject. Aah… Who knows what it is. Let me worry about it when that time comes.
Another thing I have to think about is the organization I need to be part of. As much as I hate him, what teacher Mahaansh said is to be considered. Any way the military service is mandatory. So it is better to get it over with quickly. The attractive salary and perks are in private companies and corporates. But they don't hire if directly until and unless you have a meridian seed that is immensely useful to them. The other way is to work in the military for some time and then with that experience get in private companies. The military is not bad per say. But it is too strict for me. Well, whether I will end up in military which is mainly for combat will still depend on my affinity and meridians.
That said, I really would like to visit the other two planets. If I join UMA, that will be possible. I heard that United Marthya Alliance conduct their training in all three planets, to expose the cadets to the myriad conditions of these planets. But they only select the best. I don't think I will qualify for that. Their written exam itself is tough. In addition to that there is a 4 year course for military training. I heard that it is like hell.
It is not like the military training of this country is any lax. The Gyagar military is the 4th strongest in the Marthya nations in Terra planet. The Gyagar nation also has settlements in other planets. I wonder if I can go there if I join the military training. But what I also heard that the various techniques and core combat arts are taught only to those people who remain in the army after the mandatory 2 years. Well, that is understandable. The perks and salary are also not so bad. My cousin brother still works in the military. Although Joe is not in active combat, he is still stronger than my father. He is also close to the threshold of be becoming a Martial Lord. If it happens, he will be the first in our family. Man how cool is that.
Another thing I don't understand is about the affinities. I know the elemental affinities and affinity with light. I also can understand affinities with animals also to an extend. But beast masters are a big question. The concept of human beings mutating their pets without any external help with their aura alone is difficult to understand, but it still has some logic into it. What I don't understand is the affinities with various concepts and metaphysical elements. God knows how they work. One of the profitable professions is that of artificers and alchemists. They make a ton of money just with their existence alone. They are treated as national treasures and are the given considerable privileges. Thinking about all this is , I really do want some cool affinity.'
While Ben was thinking about all these, the announcement for his station came. He soon exited the train and started to walk towards his house. His house was in the outskirts of the city, away from its buzz. The number of trains from the city to the part where his house was located was less. It sometimes caused him inconveniences. But now it changed to an extent. Because of the greenery he really liked this place. He started to walk towards his house. His sister would be there. His father and mother must be working at their office and won't be back till night. As a senior school student his class time and after class work was much higher than his sister. Today he had more work to do because it was a weekend. He soon reached his house. He called his sister to see if she was there and began to make something for himself to eat. His sister often cooked the food for the night, and he would help her with the dishes. He was extremely bad at cooking. So, he often cooked for him only and that too in small amounts. After that he went up to his room to complete his work.