Suta POV

Finally leaving that god-forsaken cathedral. The sweeping cool outdoor air brushed past him. Suta shielded his gaze from the overbearing golden sunlight bathing down from above. The outdoor sun sat at the pinnacle of the azure heavens deep above. He basked briefly in the splendor of the scorching jewel.

Somehow he felt as close to the sun here as he had ever felt in his entire life.

'This heat feels overbearing, so hot and humid. How is everyone not bothered by this.'

Despite his memory loss, that thought didn't seem far-fetched for some reason. He had been outside for less than a minute and already found it hard to breathe, his drab clothes clung unnaturally to his slender frame and his breaths were slightly laboring despite only being outside for a few minutes

Suta glanced around, noting how the others seemed unaffected by the oppressive heat as if they possessed some internal cooling mechanism in their bodies. In his quest for respite away from the harsh conditions, he noticed a line of sleek black carriages arranged in near-perfect formation along a dusty road, cutting through the rigid sandy terrain. Beyond the dust road, Suta saw numerous rolling hills and tall forests. He saw a shimmering purple mountain when he narrowed his gaze beyond the horizon.

The disheveled and sickly-looking individuals were hurrying into these elegant carriages, a sight Shoba found peculiar, especially given the circumstances.

Before boarding, Suta briefly counted five of these vehicles, each drawn by a pair of robust-looking horses with heavy well-groomed coats. The transition from their departure from the temple to boarding the carriages happened swiftly, a clear sign that the organizers were eager to send them all back to wherever it was they had come from.

"Hobbleton,"

Suta reminded himself, recalling the name mentioned by that man with a dandy mustache. It seemed to be a place for the less fortunate, evident from the stark differences in clothing and appearance of the large group Suta mixed with. And he also noticed he was by far one of the youngest here.

'We are the poor, and they are the rich that much I can tell.' He thought rubbing the tip of his nose in deep thought remembering the silk-wearing youths with snobby faces.

After a while he heaved a heavy sigh, scratching his head in mild frustration. His body's reactions to random thoughts puzzled him as if deep down he understood his annoyance at being poor, yet his memories did not explain why that was. Suta exhaled deeply before stretching his limbs, certain he needed a lengthy rest after basking in so long around these crazed and swirling thoughts.

Leaning gently against the carriage door, the warm outdoor sun bathed him in liquid gold, magically making his brown skin shimmer. He traced the tiny black hairs along his arm, lost in thought about what awaited him at their destination. He hoped Hobbleton would offer more answers than questions.

'I've woken up in a foreign world with no memories? suffice to say something has caused this, something bigger than what I could imagine. Also, I most certainly have memories of another world, its vague, but I know things. Things which I'm assured I won't find here...'

To distract himself, Suta turned his attention to the scenery outside.

Beyond their carriage stretched a sea of majestic greenery, with clusters of forest entrances and tall trees crowned with dense foliage. Occasionally, they passed through winding roads cut through the forests, Suta spotted unusual feathered creatures in the treetops and a large-eyed, blue-furred creature that watched Suta curiously before retreating into the shadows.

"Beautiful," Suta whispered beneath his breath, this place truly was quite spectacular to see. The sole thing he was assured of was that. His whisper wasn't as quiet as he would've liked, evidenced by a soft chortle he quickly heard in response from his right-hand side.

Turning a little, Suta finally took a closer look at his travel companions. Until now, his mind had been so preoccupied that he had ignored them completely.

Seated opposite to him sat a tall, broad-shouldered, and silver-haired elder. He wore eagle-shaped grey eyes flecked with gold in them, the clear irises so still he first thought the fellow was blind, his expression was vacant and his build was rather firm and sturdy, like a seasoned knight Suta thought watching him. Next to him, sat a young man with short, tawny wavy hair, his beige tunic sat in grime and soot, but Suta noticed the smooth and cleanliness of his two hands. The fellow was humming to himself, in fact he had been since the start of their departure as though this was the pleasant journey ever.

And then finally the source of the chortle—a robust-looking man with brown shaggy hair, wearing ragged clothes and a sleeveless tunic that revealed coarse arm hair. His eyes, slightly bloodshot and forever narrowed it seemed, hinted at weariness, and a demeanor far from friendly.

Suta turned to the man next to him who wore an ugly smirk as he spoke to him. Blinking a few times in wait for his dialogue.

"Think this place is beautiful?" His voice was rough sounding, like grated paper

"Ha! What's lovely about this place, eh? Is it being forced to fight someone else's wars we had no hand in causing? Or watching kids starve to death on the streets? Or perhaps maybe being carted away across the damn planes against our will to partake in some kind of awakening ceremony we had no business with. Pfft—dreams are for the fortunate. And we, kid, are the unfortunate ones."

Suta wasn't sure what to quite to say to that.

'That's quite the dark poetry there old man.' He first thought.

'Sigh let me guess, I've managed to secure the one carriage filled with the crazies.'

"By the gods old man hahaha, do you ever have anything kind to say? We get it, you hate everything about anything. The Royals ruined your life, blah, blah. Change the record a little." Suta followed the voice, belonging to the young man seated opposite from the rough-talking fellow beside him, a slightly handsome face, with pleasant features and a slim build.

"Why you little—" growled the hairy-armed fellow beside him in response

"Hey, don't shoot the messenger. I'm merely saying what everyone else is probably thinking." The younger-looking fellow turned toward the old man seated beside him for some support.

"Ain't that right, old fogey?"

Suta suddenly became attentively aware at this point concerning the mysteriously quiet old man, who hadn't uttered a single word since their journey had started.

However, the old man remained tight-lipped in response to the question. Instead, a subtle yawn lazily escaped from his mouth, he twisted his neck from side to side, but then he decided to place an empty gaze upon Suta in particular. Beneath his expressionless look, Suta naturally felt uncomfortable so he shifted awkwardly against the firm seat beneath him. Trying to divert his attention elsewhere.

'Why's he staring so much, he better not be weird. I've had enough of weird for one morning.'

Much to his dismay, the silent elder leaned in closer, almost as though he read his mind. A startled Suta was forced into swaying back against the carriage seat. He wasn't quite sure what he was expecting, but he was dutifully surprised by what he did see next.

The silent elder held out his open palm towards him. A brilliant sparkle of white particles appeared, with sparkling tiny glimmers of a glass-like substance beginning to form.

What started as a full circle quickly transformed into a very recognizable shape of a...

' A badge?' Suta muttered to himself. Observing what was some kind of badge, slowly materializing into existence. The moment those glittering lights faded, Suta found himself staring at a palm-sized chrome badge bizarrely hovering like magic just above the elder's outstretched hand. In the back of his mind, he had somewhat expected to encounter strange moments like this; his memory was still a hazy fog, and the awakening ceremony had already taught him that this world wasn't as normal as it first seemed.

Still, he couldn't help sitting there a little surprised in seeing the display of magic before his very eyes.

'Was this even magic? 'He questioned himself, considering it was rather instant.

The elder seemed to move the badge closer toward Suta, which stroked the boys intrigue and thus allowed him to see what was written against it.

To Suta's surprise, it resembled something out of a role-playing game.

Name: { Hidden }

‎ Age: 68

‎ Race: Human

‎ Rank: B

‎ Skillset: Silver Swordsman Stance, Swift Blade, Assassin's Grin, Silent Lament, Cut, Bloody Spill, Savaging Howl, {Hidden}, {Hidden}, {Hidden}, {Hidden}, {Hidden}

‎ Affinity : Silver Wind

‎ Curse of Annihilation : Dread of Silence

Status : { Hidden }‎

‎

‎"Dread of silence... C-curse of what?" Suta muttered deeply lost at what he was reading.

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His bewildered gaze lifted to meet the old man's vacant gaze, he felt a chilling force almost penetrating his mind the moment they locked eyes, as if those empty eyes could see right through his questioning thoughts, in response the elder merely gawked at him with those immovable chilling eyes for a little while longer.

There was something untold shared between them both within that very moment, a cold chill running subtly against the nape of Suta's neck told him everything he needed to know about this silent elder. And a single thought surfaced across his mind soon enough.

'This man... is dangerous.'

"Whoa! Chrome badge and an A-Rank to boot. Well, I'll be damned old-timer. Hahaha, that's pretty impressive," the younger-faced fellow beside him exclaimed excitingly

Unlike him, the hairy-armed brute seated next to Suta held a troubled expression as he stared blankly at the old man's hand.

"A Rank? * whistles * H-how the hell did they let you leave then?" the brute held a distrusting look as he asked the mute elder.

The old man ignored the noises and twisted his head to one side, smiling broadly toward the duo before returning his icy blue gaze to his front. More oddly enough, right into the eyes of the uncomfortable-seated Suta again.

'Ignoring his very unsettling stare and the need for me to run away shouting stranger danger. That was pretty cool how he did that, so those badges carry information against them. This is becoming way too much of a coincidence, did I get transmigrated into some type of game?'

That would explain a lot of the strange occurrences thus far

Or is this one long and disastrous dream I'm having? C rank? B Rank... S rank.'

Suta began cycling through these rankings he had been hearing about recently, wondering how strong the arrogant boy's power was compared to the old man. Strangely, he couldn't shake the feeling that the old man might be so dangerous that even the S rank boy would stand no chance against him.

'I guess it's just like most things. It's not the size of the hammer, but how you use it.' He found reason with the questions swirling around his thoughts

The silent old man suddenly drew his face closer to Suta's again. The boy instinctively recoiled away in horror then noticed the cheerful smile resurfacing against his face once more, which made him arch one of his brows in curiosity as he observed the clear fountain greyish eyes staring at him with this placidness that somehow told him he wasn't a threat to him.

'He doesn't seem that...d-dangerous now that I think about it, he's kind of friendly-looking when he smiles. But he needs to stop coming so close

Glancing downward, he saw that the old man was making a gesture with his hand as if trying to convey something. However, he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to see. Then the old man started pointing to his open palm and stretched his hand toward Suta.

Annoyingly enough, the elder refused to give up, repeating the same movements over and over again until the burly-shaped fellow beside him had grown tired of the spectacle.

"He wants to see your badge, kid. Stop torturing the poor sod and show him, for goodness sake," Suddenly, Suta felt like he had a lightbulb moment.

'Oh right, the badge thing he did. W-wait! Does he expect me to do that too? Sigh , this is like the mana thing all over again isn't it?

However, he found himself furrowing his brows in deep thought, trying to figure out how to conjure that badge just like the old man had done.

'Can I even do that? I don't remember receiving a badge. But maybe it happened before I lost my memories. Hmm, how weird, but...I guess it's worth a shot.'

‎ Eventually, he nervously held his hand out with his flat palm facing upwards, attempting to figure out what might trigger any response. After a while, an awkward silence ensued, and he turned towards the rough-talking brute beside him, his gaze resembling that of a naive child unsure of what to do next.

"By the Goddess, kid, where did they find you? Beneath a distant rock or something? Here, you focus a little bit of mana against your palm and think about summoning the badge. It's simple."

It sounded simple when it was put in such a way, but it still didn't make it any less difficult for someone who had no idea how to channel this strange thing called mana. Flashes of his embarrassment back at the cathedral started giving him a slight feeling of anxiety.

"Heh-eh-heh hey- kid don't overthink it" Chimed in the younger-looking man seated beside the elder.

"Some of us are indeed less fortunate than others. Look, try this...Close your eyes and think about what it feels like to feel the blood throughout your body. I know-I know, how is that even possible right? But how about this, if I asked you to try picturing what it feels like to feel your heart beating if you concentrated enough. I imagine you could do this. Well, channeling Mana works the same way.

Concentrate, listen to your heartbeat, find its rhythm, and then you should feel something else beside it.

Something somewhat dense, like a tiny stone. Focus on that feeling, and then follow what it does.

Try it and feel it, go on- give it a go."

Suta held his reservations on whether or not he could perform that, but he thought what the heck? He followed the advice and firmly closed his eyes. It took him a short while to find a steady breath amidst the numerous eyes he felt locked against him. After a short while, he could feel his heartbeat gently pulsing throughout his entire body. His warm rushing blood, moving through the countless channels writhing throughout his gut like thin tunnels.

'Ok, concentrate, feel something...something dense...something besides my heart...w-wait...I can feel it. Is that...it's strange? It's like my heart beats but passes through this hard stone inside of my chest. It's more uncomfortable than anything, but I can feel it. Something else besides my heart.'

"Good! I think you've sensed it, haven't you? Now then, try and focus on that hard stone, think about what it would feel like if a warm current started to move away from the stone and into your body, try and picture it, first like waves spreading away from a core. Then slowly, very slowly begin to imagine each ripple connecting. Like thin strands of webs, almost forming into roots. Connecting the strange stone to the rest of your body. Once you've felt that, begin to picture a very thin ravine moving throughout your body, along your arms into the palm of your hand."

"H-hey don't you think that's a little much? You expect a newbie to grasp sensing Mana straight off the back...bloody lunatic" Bemoaned the brute beside him obviously feeling some type of way that his shouting had no effects.

"Ignore that interruption kid, some of us have no manners. But focus, stay focused on my words, and try to follow. Once you feel that warm feeling traveling from your gut into your palm, will the badge into existence."

Suta made the most uncomfortable face he could while focusing intently on the open space against his hand. He didn't have a single clue what this mana thing was, but amid his swirling thoughts, and the guidance of that helpful fellow, he started to feel something unusual moving through his arm.

It's like he can feel the flow of something other than blood through his veins, something cooler and more responsive to his thoughts... perhaps this is mana ?

Before he could ask the fellow another question, a series of crackling pops sounded, he opened a single eyelid and saw a gathering of bright dancing particles forming over his palm.

"Ahaha well would you take a look at that! We have ourselves an exceptionally quick learner." The young-faced fellow spoke with an earnest smile

"That's...pretty impressive kid, ya sure you aint done this beforehand?" The skeptical brute beside him asked.

'Ahaha, well, what do you know—I did it!'

A wave of excitement washed over him. This felt like he had accomplished something as basic as learning how to walk for the first time. Nonetheless, it was a triumph worthy of praise. Suta felt genuinely excited about accomplishing this. It's like he just performed a magic trick, although it would have been helpful if he figured this out during that awakening ceremony.

'What a strange world this is,' he reminded himself, patiently waiting for the conjured lights to complete the outline of the badge they were slowly forming. It was a little slower than the old man but he enjoyed watching the light show taking place

However, his eyes slightly narrowed unsure about what he was supposed to be looking at once the glittering particles started to fade.

First of all, unlike the chrome and rather regal-looking badge the old man conjured, Suta's badge wasn't chrome or regal looking at all, but rather a dark ghostly background with a smoky violet outline around it. There's also this unmistakable cloudy darkness simmering from it, the likes of which sent goosebumps crawling along his skin.

He's not the only one who noticed the abnormality of his badge, of course, feeling all the seated fellows draw a little closer towards him.

"Whoa, now that's something I've never seen before kid?" said the younger-faced fellow who was helpful before. He thumbed his chin whilst observing the badge a little deeply.

"Yeah, kid, what's your deal? Pretty strange badge if you ask me... and why are there a bunch of weird symbols around your abilities? Ya some kind of freak?" Remarked the rough-talking man beside him, who started to shift a little further away.

'Freak? He can talk with those hairy arms of his,' Suta scowled towards the man before shaking his head and refocusing on the badge he conjured. But what Suta couldn't deny was that his badge did seem rather... ominous. He peered closer at the contents formed on the badge itself, a slight surprise drew against his face once he began reading from it.

{ Name : Raito Suta }

‎ Ah, so that's my full name... Rai-to... S-u-ta... Suta, huh? Has a familiar ring to it.

‎ { Age: 16 }

‎ { Race: Human }

‎ { Rank : E }

‎ { Skillset : ????? }

‎ { Affinity : ??? ? }

{ Status : Memory partially sealed by divine grace }

Reading over the strange status, a wry smile birthed across his face.

'Well I'll be damned...M-maybe I am the problem.'