My arms and legs, tied to heavy chains, were resting on the cold, bloody floor. Behind me lay the statue of a devil that I know way too well, a look of contempt sculpted in its stone. In front of me was a refined desk not worthy of resting in such a dirty place.
It is filled with the gruesome memories of my past hours, and behind it rests a rusty door firmly sealed by some demonic force.
I tried to find rest by laying on the floor, but to no avail. The smell of my blood, the strain of the chains, and my conflicting emotions are enough to keep me afloat.
After an undetermined amount of time, the door slowly opened with the scream of its rust and the footsteps of my dear friend, Ku'mur. With leisure in his demeanor, and lightness in his whistling, he slowly approached until he faced me:
- How are you doing, esteemed guest of the Traitor's house?
With a smirk on my tired face, I answered:
- I'm doing great! The host's opening ceremony was... unforgettable!
Ku'mur looked at me with surprise and, in the next moment, told me:
- Didn't expect you to be that energetic after this morning's event! You have more stamina than your lover!
But before I could let out any form of protest, with a flick of his finger, the chains bounding me started slowly retracting into the statue behind me, forcing me to stand up. After regaining my balance, I coldly looked into my old friend's eyes and asked:
- What did you do to Liss?
With delectation, Ku'mur answered:
- Nothing much. I examined her flesh and, with great deception, realized that you tainted her with your sins. After all, you can't hide the biological characteristics of a caretaker. But no worries! We never planned on going any further. After all, a dead body loses all of its taste.
After what he said, I stopped hiding my anger, and bloodlust rapidly gathered around me. But before I could try anything, a shadow rapidly closed on me and grabbed me by the throat:
- My friend, don't be hasty: the party just started, and you are its star! You can't just ruin it like that! Let me help you with your mood.
At the same time, he shoved a pill in my mouth and forced me to chew it. With my body slowly losing its strength and the sight of Ku'mur cautiously taking a needle out of the desk, my consciousness slowly faded into darkness.
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I weakly stood up, with a tear slowly falling down my cheek. This nightmare affected me more than I expected: the pain felt so real, but the implication affected me the most.
I took a few minutes to calm down and realized that brother wasn't there. He's probably out there looking for the information we need, mainly when we get escorted to the capital city and what will happen to us.
The answer to the first question is obvious. The first order won't use portals because of their expensive operation: an airship will send us to Illadin in a few days.
For the second problem, I have a few guesses: maybe they will take us in and ask questions regarding the incident, but this scenario is unlikely. The second option would be to send us to a Refugee Center, where young people who lost their parents gather.
Those children, in the future, will either be adopted by a new family or join a knight order. Each option has its pros and cons: with a family, we have fewer resources but have complete freedom. By joining a knight order, we gain status, resources, and a guaranteed societal future, but we lose maneuverability.
Before I could think any further, brother entered the tent and told me that in three days, our escort would land in Ramor. He also informed me that the military planned on sending us to the Tremblay's RC, founded by general Ran of the same name.
After monologing with my brother for a few minutes, I looked into the Refugee Center that we'd stay in and dug up a few interesting pieces of information: this is a high-class RC, meaning that we have access to health care, training rooms, decent meals, and the families that adopt are, more often than not, of higher status.
The last bit is the most important because it means we can get all the advantages of being in a knight order without the disadvantages.
They gave us such preferential treatment for the sake of public opinion. What would happen if, for example, an army failed to protect a city, and two children who lost their parents due to that mistake ended up with sub-optimal living conditions?
They don't want to risk a possible public outrage. With such a trivial amount of survivors, it won't take a toll on their finances. Anyway, there are only advantages to being in a high-class RC, and it will make my plans a tad easier to put in place.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
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Our escort finally arrived and without any time wasted, we boarded the vessel. My sister and I took a seat on one of the sides, and when the ship took off, she used my shoulder as a pillow and fell asleep.
For the past few days, Mia looked at the information we needed: the different leaders, infrastructures, how the education system works, etc.
She compiled all the information into a document on her tablet and asked me to read it on the way to Illadin.
Three factions control the human domain: the First Order, the Monument, and Innovation, with an emperor at the lead of each one.
Tarus Morkov was the first emperor who unified humanity under one banner. He is in charge of all the armed forces and is the leading actor in the war against the pest. Recognizing his merits, the Alliance, an agglomeration linking all races against the demons, let humanity join its ranks. The First Order manages and maintains the fighting forces.
After Ina Eredit reached the Emperor class, humanity focused on creating a stable framework for its development. Be it academics, jobs, resources, health, or infrastructures, the arrival of a second emperor helped the creation of foundations for the future of humankind. To sum it up, Monument is present in many places in our communities and share a great deal of resemblance with the pre-collapse government.
The third and final emperor, Oran Dunamo, wanted to develop this now-stable society into a powerhouse. He started by creating guilds that group people with the same interests and skills that will focus on researching, developing, and innovating in their respective fields.
Because of his efforts, humankind will go through a technological revolution. With every discovery surrounding mana, new products appear, and technologies are improved, causing the standard of living to increase drastically over the following years.
The three leaders understand that they need each other for the sake of humanity, meaning they work hard to keep their relations intact.
For the infrastructure, I will keep it short: everything that we need is at our disposal. If we need something, we are either lucky, and it's free, or we need money.
All products related to basic needs, like food, water, and electricity, are owned by the three factions, and are reasonably cheap compared to the past. This is explained by their monopoly in fields like dungeon delving, mining, farming, and electricity generation. They own most of the resources they offer and make a lot of profits from the dungeons they hold, allowing them to give back the excess and forge a solid bond with the citizens.
So... what is the catch? How are they able to give so much with nothing in return? Well, in fact, they ask for something: work. Education is compelled and not a choice because they need many people to manage and run these services.
Speaking of education, let me give you a few insights into what it looks like. First, the education system is separated into three branches, each representing one of the major factions.
The Academies of Valor represent the First Order. You join them if you want to be part of the armed forces.
The Academies of Stability represent the Monument. You join them if you want to be part of the bureaucratie, or the specialized workforce.
The Academies of Prosperity represent Innovation. You join them if you want to be an artist, an engineer, or any research-related job.
If you followed closely until now, you probably thought about a problem...
Education is mandatory. You need an education to work, and you need to work to receive money and services... but what happens if you fail at school?
To put it bluntly... you can't live in one of the major cities.
When humanity managed to stabilize its foundations and started offering services to its people, it didn't want to waste resources on people who were not helpful to society.
They instated this system to instill fear into the idea of failure and push people to graduate. They wanted to be sure that every resource they gave was to someone who tried and managed to succeed.
I explained this to you for a simple reason: even with all this pressure, only 80% of people are graduating.
It means that school is hard. With all the help we get from technology, the incredible human resources we have at our disposal, and all the knowledge in the world at the tip of our fingers, twenty percent of people still don't graduate.
Education is a big part of my plan, so I want to ensure that you know what is coming.
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A few days later, and a few security checks, a ship from the First Order landed on one of the thousands of landing plots available. After a couple of minutes, both sides of the vessel opened, and the people aboard slowly got off. The people formed a few groups and walked toward the car they were assigned to, and soon after, all the vehicles departed.
The smallest group, formed of two children and a soldier, contrary to the rest, embarked in a luxurious car owned only by influential people. The black Frod took off, and the people aboard enjoyed a peaceful and enjoyable ride through the capital of the world, Illadin.
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I tried to follow my sister's excitement by looking with her at all the different shops, cafes, and grocery stores. Still, nothing looked interesting to me, so I closed my eyes and waited until we reached the Refugee Center.
After an hour, we arrived at our destination. Upon exiting the vehicle, I saw many people looking at us curiously. After all, only special people can own such a car.
When we entered the building, the clerk looked at us with a smile before shifting her attention toward the soldier behind us:
- Are they the ones we were waiting for?
Instead of answering, the soldier sent her the documents she needed. The lady took a few minutes to verify the validity of the files, and soon after, she called an attendant to escort us to our rooms.
The attendant told us to rest for today and that tomorrow they would hold a private meeting to explain the different rules, the schedule, and the privileges we have access to. They will also organize a small event, so we introduce ourselves to the people living here.
When he finished speaking, I entered my room, and Mia did the same. After observing for a while, I nodded to myself: The room is significantly larger than what I'm used to, and from what I can tell, every room is equipped with a small training area, a private bathroom, and a closet big enough for an entire family.
After looking around a bit more, I took a towel from one of the drawers and headed toward the training room. My sister already looked for a workout plan and sent it to me earlier. I want to start now: I only have a year and a half to prepare for the Academy of Valor.