"Goodbye, Uncle." Tregear waved goodbye to Arno, then turned and walked through the school gates without looking back.
Arno felt exhausted. Was it true that love fades over time? He sighed, opened his light screen to write his internship application report, and walked toward the senior section of the Ultra Academy.
"Whoa! Arno got the top rank in the entire grade by a galaxy-wide margin again!" A group of Ultras exclaimed as they looked at the leaderboard, where Arno had left the second-place finisher trailing by several galaxies.
"Did you see that! The top student in the grade is my buddy!" Rogia threw one arm around another Ultra's neck while pointing proudly at the name of the top-ranking Ultra on the scoreboard.
"Hey! The top student is here!" some Ultra shouted.
The moment Arno stepped his left foot into the classroom, a mob of Ultras swarmed around him in a tight 360-degree circle with no blind spots. From that day on, Arno formed the habit of stepping through doors with his right foot.
"Wh... what is it?" Afflicted with selective social anxiety, Arno asked weakly, facing the group of Ultras whose eye-lamps were glowing brightly.
"Arno, you're the top student in the grade again this test!"
"Is... is... that so?"
"Arno, how do you study monsterology?"
"By... by... looking at it and studying?"
"Arno, please carry us!" ...
A crowd of Ultras chattered around Arno, making him feel as though his Ultra soul was no longer his own.
"What are you all doing gathered at the classroom door? If you keep making noise, your homework gets doubled!" A voice like a demon's rang out, and the Ultras surrounding Arno instantly scattered in all directions.
After learning about Earth's systems, the Land of Light decided that several of them were quite good and adopted them. In particular, the teaching model of the current Ultra Academy was completely copied from schools on Earth.
"Arno, come to my office for a moment."
"Yes, sir."
***
"Arno, Hikari wants you to start your internship at the Science and Technology Bureau ahead of schedule. What do you think?" Xium gently looked at the half-grown silver-and-blue Ultra before him. Arno possessed extraordinary intelligence and exceptional talent for beam techniques, and Xium did not want his future to be restricted.
"Don't worry, Teacher Xium. I know what I'm doing. Here is my internship application report." Arno sent the application report to Xium and flashed a confident smile at him. Because of Belial's revenge, many young Ultras had become orphans. Thanks to his sister Alhi and Treka, these seniors had shown him extra care, and he had to admit he was deeply touched.
"As long as you know what you're doing, go report for duty."
"Yes, sir."
***
Science and Technology Bureau
"Hey! What are you doing here?" Loss stopped Arno. Everyone else rushing around in white lab coats was a blue Ultra, making Arno the only striking silver-and-blue one.
"I'm here to report for duty." Arno took out the laboratory access card that Teacher Hikari had given him yesterday.
"Ah, you're the new one! The elevator is over there. Go to the top floor and find Chief Hikari." Holding a stack of documents in one hand, Loss freed up the other to point Arno toward the elevator.
"Thank you."
"No problem, I've got to get back to work."
***
*Knock, knock, knock.* Arno knocked on Hikari's office door.
"Come in."
"Teacher Hikari."
"You're here? Let's go, I'll take you to your laboratory." Seeing that Arno had arrived, Hikari immediately dropped the work in his hands and said to Arno. *Oh yeah! I can slack off from work for a bit!* ヾ(^▽^*)))
Hikari led Arno toward the laboratory. Watching Arno stroke his chin in deep thought, he wondered whether he should groom an Ultra to work overtime in his place. This Arno had a lot of potential! Great brain, top grades, and a perfect fit for working overtime! Furthermore, he was Treka's younger brother, and most importantly, he was young and easy to... *cough, cough*... reason with (hoodwink).
"We're here. Insert your access card." Hikari led Arno to a door.
Arno took out his access card and inserted it into the slot on the door. With a "click," the door opened.
"Alright, this laboratory is yours from now on. Familiarize yourself with the equipment first. The equipment here is a bit more complicated than the school's, and from now on, you'll need to write reports when developing gadgets," Hikari instructed.
"Yes, Chief Hikari."
"Call me brother."
"Huh?" Arno looked bewildered.
"Arno, you have immense potential. If you're willing to become my student, I will do my utmost to train you." Hikari placed both hands solemnly on Arno's shoulders, looking him dead in the eye as he asked with unusual seriousness and determination. After all, this was his handpicked successor!
Arno looked up at Hikari, whose gaze was incomparably earnest, and stammered in reply, "I... I... am willing."
Hearing this answer, Hikari wore a look of utter satisfaction and encouraged him, "Splendid! I believe that with your talent and hard work, you'll definitely be able to develop even more powerful and practical gadget equipment in the near future! Now, off to work with you!"
Before Arno could even react or finish speaking, Hikari shoved him bodily into the laboratory. Once he finally managed to steady himself, Arno couldn't help shaking his head and muttering to himself, "Huh? Why do I feel like I just got scammed? Oh well, I might as well get well acquainted with all the equipment and instruments here first, and upgrade my access card while I'm at it."
As everyone knew, it was an open secret across the entire Land of Light that the various gadgets invented and manufactured by Hikari were constantly being stolen.
***
"Tregear, what's wrong?" After familiarizing himself with the equipment, Arno realized it was time to pick up Tregear, and upon seeing the young Ultra, he noticed he looked troubled.
"It's nothing." Holding Arno's hand, Tregear kept his head down and didn't say a word.
"Tregear, Uncle has good news for you."
"What good news?" Tregear asked, looking up.
"I've joined the Science and Technology Bureau."
"Really? Congratulations, Uncle." Tregear offered a supportive congratulations.
"Tregear, did something happen?" Arno picked Tregear up and asked gently.
"It's nothing," Tregear said, burying his face in Arno's shoulder and speaking in a muffled voice.
"Alright. If anything's the matter, remember to tell Uncle. Uncle is always behind you."
"Mm."
Arno held Tregear and walked slowly home, the light of the Plasma Spark shining upon them, looking extraordinarily beautiful.