The blinds from a young man’s room were wide open. The bright light from the artificial sun shined through the window, waking up the young man who was still slumbering.
As if clockwork, he woke up with a vigor that could only be described as overwhelming. Despite clearly being a man in his teens, the aura he gave off was oppressive. The kind that made it hard for others to interact with him easily.
Reaching out to pull himself up, he walked towards the mirror in his bedroom. Combing his hair with his bare hands, he noticed something by the corner of his eye. A splatter of blood still lingering from yesterday’s battle.
Rubbing it off with his bare hands, he went down. With such a humble abode, it didn’t take long for Arin to arrive downstairs. Despite having a prestigious background, his family had decided to live quite modestly.
A simple two-story house situated above a mountain. The heights of which were so tall that no one else dared live in the same area. However, that wasn’t the only reason why they didn’t do so.
“You’re already 19, if you still haven’t managed to end things properly then that’s on you.” Kian was fixing something up in the kitchen. He entered the dining room with a large platter in his hands.
“Is it…” Arin’s questioning tone seemed to have been leading Kian into answering the question with a predetermined answer. The scent of a very familiar meal caused Arin to immediately change his tune.
It was as if the iron-stench atmosphere last night didn’t even occur. For someone to be so cold-hearted that they would so easily ignore the conflict last night, they could only have a screw loose.
“Call it a reward. It’s your favorite, Lamb Roast…” Kian sighed then slightly smiled right after, despite how troublesome Arin was, he was still family. He just couldn’t help but spoil his only son.
“Thanks, Dad.” Arin immediately dug right in. If those who had seen him the night before saw Arin’s current expression, they would’ve immediately lost it. Never in their wildest dreams would they have ever assumed that this monster could create a face like this.
The face of an innocent child.
The cost of lamb was astronomically high due to how difficult it was to acquire. Adding on the fact that it was even rarer than non-dried meat due to preservation methods, to be able to get this showcased just how influential Kian was.
Life had gotten quite difficult this past few years. More so than it had been. To live this carefree was already a luxury.
Arin finished his meal and went to the side room. He wore the uniform that his father set up for him last night. The firm uniform perfectly matched his measurements. Moving his limbs around, he had found that this didn’t limit his mobility at all.
“Remember, you can be brutal, but you can’t take it too far.” Kian turned off the stove, as he went out to the door, and took his coat from the hanger by the side. “Times are changing.”
“Territorial?” Arin examined his uniform while casually asking something.
Kian sighed, “It’s not your fight… yet. Keep your head down and let me deal with everything for the time being. You haven’t even become a proper Solver yet.”
“That’s…” Arin had been doing well, he had polished his body to the point where it was already strong enough to deal with most enemies. “I understand. Anything else I need to know?”
“Watch out for a lad called Fiona. She’s got a Rating of 563 letting her become a Bind Solver so early on.” Kian fixed up his clothing as he looked in the mirror. He finally left Arin alone to his own devices as he looked at the clock right beside him. “I need to be going. Don’t forget your allowance on the counter.”
Kian entered his car, revving up the engine before quickly taking off. Despite living in such an odd place, the roads were all paved solely for the purpose of his use. The slope might be steep but it wasn’t anything that Kian was all too worried about.
“Got it.”
563… I remember that in the past they called it IQ. A relic of an ancient civilization.
“7:02 AM, I’ve got time. The assembly starts at 8:00 AM.” He immediately ran outside his door, slamming it wide open as he gazed at the City of Sin.
His house was situated at the very top of a mountain just outside the city, leaving him essentially to live in the middle of nowhere. He had no neighbors, nor did he have anyone bothering him unwarrantedly. Although he questioned it when he was younger, as he learned more about the City of Sin, he understood just why his father decided to live on the outskirts.
Even though it seemed so far out of society, it wasn’t all that bad. His house had proper plumbing and electricity, which was more than enough to live comfortably with. Even then if he wanted to enter the city, there was a nearby train station which he could take.
Since they were situated at the very peak of a mountain, the edge of the peak was within walking distance. Basking in the morning light, he started running and jumped off the cliff that was directly in front of their house. The whole time, he had a casual expression on his face.
As he was freefalling, his hair started to rise up due to the air rushing past him. And as he had done numerous times before, he reached out his hand, grabbing onto the dirt right beside him and he used it as leverage to slowly go down the mountain.
Kian saw Arin parkour the very first thing in the morning, “That rascal, always taking the fun route.” He left with a smile on his face as he continued on to drive in his own car. The road to their house was spiraling up a very tall mountain.
As Arin finally descended down the towering mountain, he dug his hands deep into the steep slope, slowing down his fall. A straight rough line appeared by the slope as Arin easily unembedded his hands.
He straightened up his posture and ran into the city. Since his house was situated just right outside the city, he had to either join up with his father, riding down the mountain in his car or he could do it his own way, scaling down this treacherous mountain by himself, purely relying on his physical attributes.
There weren’t any guards protecting the city’s perimeters because there was no need to, the city was the entirety of humanity’s dwelling in the first layer. Running as fast as he could, Arin managed to see a steam train running to the stop he was at. The steam train’s route just barely passes through the edge of the city, perfect for Arin’s commute to the academy.
“Just in the nick of time.” Arin felt his pockets when he realized something was wrong. He tried to feel his pockets one more time and confirmed that he messed up.
‘Also don’t forget to get your allowance by the counter.’ Kian’s words echoed through his mind.
“I forgot..” Arin looked right behind him as he saw the towering mountain that he scaled down on. If he came back to take his allowance, he wouldn’t make it in time. “Then again, so what?”
Left with no other choice, Arin casually jumped over the steel fence that was blocking people’s entry. A few guards saw Arin do so and blew their whistles. Although the city itself didn’t have guards, private property such as businesses and establishments had their own private army that they could order around.
Arin didn’t even worry about getting caught since he was sure that he was faster than anyone who was stationed there. And as he expected, the steam strain was about to go off when he immediately jumped on it, riding it for free.
A few guards talked amongst themselves as Arin leisurely stood at the top of the steam train, enjoying the view of the entire city. It was constructed in a way that there were multiple layers for multiple districts, going up and down the districts made it accessible and flexible in how one went from one place to another. The districts seemed to have been layered on top of each other as different forms of travel were introduced. Arin enjoyed his time watching how the city lived and breathed.
“That kid! Damn-“
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“You shouldn’t probably say that out loud. You must be new here since you don’t know who he is.”
“Who’s he?”
“That’s Arin Theo, Kian Theo’s adopted son. If he ever comes here again, just don’t bother too much. Just act like you’re trying to stop him.”
“Kian… Theo? That ‘Kian Theo?’ The psychopathic Solver?” This guard felt a severe chill down his spine. The notoriety that came with that very name echoed throughout the city.
“Now we got that cleared up, go back to your post. It’s too early in the morning to be worrying about this.”
The guards that clumped up in order to ‘apprehend’ Arin split up one more time to guard their respective stations. They kept their silence about the entire situation yet oddly enough for most of them, they were happy that all Arin did was hitch a ride.
Arin smelled and tasted the bitter smoke of the steam train’s engine streaming past him. His school uniform had the shade of charcoal, and his skin was now slightly shaded a tone darker. Despite this, Arin didn’t mind it as he continued on to watch the massive city that he was entering.
All of a sudden, a massive explosion occurred as a distant ‘pop’ could be heard. Arin closely looked at this small commotion and noticed that it was another daily occurrence in the city. Small figures ran away from the explosion while other numerous figures followed right behind them.
“It wouldn’t be the City of Sin if everything was normal. What a great start to a boring day!” Arin wrapped his legs on the train’s ledges and set his arms free, letting them be dragged away from the strong winds. He was sitting on top of the steam train’s rooftop, hitching a ride for free. He could just go inside without anyone bothering him, but he would miss out on seeing the city from an even better perspective.
Another explosion occurred right under Arin, this time it was more evident as the train was hovering over the commotion without stopping. The shockwave of the blast affected a few people as a few screams were cut short by it. A few stray bullets were shot right below Arin, hitting the train yet for some reason it was completely unharmed. This was due to the high-quality materials that this steam train and its tracks were made out of.
The train slowly moved down, integrating itself deeper into the affected district. From this point, Arin could see it even more clearly, it was about two rival gangs fighting it out for the territory. Although Arin wasn’t too concerned with his safety, he was still vigilant in case something unexpected were to ever happen.
Even more sounds of gunshots could be heard from the distance, followed by pained cries. Arin bopped his head accordingly to the sound of human suffering, basking in its brutality, “Mm…” Although a few stray bullets passed by him, he dodged it with extreme ease. Seeing how much chaos the city is in on a daily basis was Arin’s favorite pastime.
From the corner of Arin’s eye, he saw a familiar branch of Solvers that worked around in this district. Their clear blue suits and red maroon pants were their signature dress code as they worked around this somewhat troublesome district. Soon enough, as expected, the Solvers wiped out the two rival gangs using pure unadulterated violence against them. Using unique Fragments to their advantage, the Solvers easily disposed of the troublemakers. It was a dog-eat-dog world out here, without strength, there was no way you could survive a single day.
This small fun scene passed by soon enough as the following districts that Arin saw were part of the more prestigious districts, those with wealth and power resided within these districts using whatever connection they had to stay here. The ‘fun’ that he was looking out for was disappearing like mist, what was left for him to do was to be bored for the rest of the day. This area was far too safe for his liking.
Soon enough, the great, grand Seal Academy was within his sights. This was one of the highest-ranked academies within the City of Sin. Although Arin’s father, Kian, was an extremely reputable person within the City of Sin, his connections could only get so far, causing him to settle for the 8th-best academy. As much as Arin knew about the world, there was one problem he had with his father’s decision. The academy he was going to was the most corrupt, the most vile, the most unsafe academy there was. This academy prided itself on having its students prey on each other, forcing each other to strive for themselves, making them realize that the world was much crueler than they would ever expect.
Arin was completely all for how the academy worked yet what he had gripes with was the fact that in the end, it was still an academy. There was nothing his father couldn’t teach him that the academy could. As for building up connections, he could let his skills do the talking.
Jumping off the steam train, Arin landed perfectly on the ground as a nearby guard saw him jump off.
“Hey, kid! Show me your ticket!” This guard came up to Arin holding his baton. This was the first time he had seen someone blatantly ignore the rules in this area. People usually just paid for the fare and abided by the rules as the trouble associated with going against it wasn’t worth it.
“Don’t have one.” Arin shrugged his shoulders and started walking away.
“You know the rules, right?” The guard gripped the baton tightly and raised it up high, immediately swinging down hard aiming to hit Arin’s head. He was going to make sure that the kid in front of him learned his lesson.
Far too many troublemakers have been hitching a ride for free nowadays. Although this didn’t affect the business too much, the prestige of this transportation system was losing its value. From time to time, it was good to show an example.
“I sure do.” Arin smiled maliciously. He glared at the man coming at him and decided that his morning was getting better and better.
Arin sighed and grabbed onto the guard’s wrist, clenching so hard that it broke. With one hand, he threw the guard in front of him into the ground. The guard visibly shook as his chest was heaving up and down, trying to gather his breath.
Arin patted his chest, removing some of the smog covering his uniform. At this point, the guard on the ground looked up at Arin and saw his uniform signifying that he was from Seal Academy. He could only blame his luck as his dirty uniform made him mistook Arin as a nobody.
Now that an example was set, the other guards could only turn a blind eye to what happened. People who were admitted to Seal Academy were the worst of the worst that the city had to offer, which in turn, produced the most skilled Solvers that the city has seen. By tapping into the students’ innate desires, they would be even more motivated than others to pursue greatness.
Even though it was ranked 8th, when it comes to nurturing the greatest talents, it was considered 1st. The overall ranking of the school took into account its safety, welfare, syllabus, faculties, strength, and overall aspects. Meanwhile, Seal Academy fully focused on creating monsters beyond common sense by making 1% of the student body their true protégés while the others were merely cannon fodder for the 1% to grow.
With Seal Academy’s focus on nurturing monsters, they were also very protective of them. As long as they didn’t go too far, with respect to their value, Seal Academy wouldn’t hesitate to pay any cost or settle any debt to make sure they get out of trouble.
Seeing Arin’s monstrous strength and brutal mindset, everyone could only give it up. This was the hallmark of a person who was destined to be one of the top students of Seal Academy. Seeing that the guard wasn’t killed they could only chop it up to bad luck.
Arin saw everyone back off and grinned, this was how it was supposed to be. He was strong enough that there should be little to no threat to him during his stay at Seal Academy. Even though it sounded great, Arin despised being cared for, he didn’t need anyone’s help, he had him and himself to rely on.
Walking for a while, he could see just how tender the district was. There was no trash, there were no suspicious people sitting by the alleyways, there wasn’t a sense of looming danger nor were there any guns or swords. This was as safe as one could be in the City of Sin, this kind of environment wouldn’t let him grow his skills.
“Tch, pathetic.” Arin walked by a family of three enjoying their morning walk. The father heard this and was about to reprimand Arin when he saw the malicious intent behind his eyes, he could only give it up and hide his son behind him. The feeling of fear made him unable to act. The mother was slightly startled as well at how ominous her future would be when she stared into Arin’s eyes, she also hugged her husband’s arm in fear.
Others also saw the commotion but when they realized that Arin was attending Seal Academy, they all shut their mouths. As safe as this place was, Seal Academy made it so that the living conditions of the district were almost unsafe despite being a noble district. Countless unsavory students come up with the clear intent of ruling the school yet every single time, they get suppressed by the students with noble heritage.
Seeing his path finally unhindered when they all figured out what kind of person Arin was, he couldn’t help but look down on everyone else here.
“Despite living in the City of Sin, everyone here’s too soft. The lower districts are much better than these wastes.” Arin recalled how terrifyingly extreme living in the lower districts was, constant fights, numerous gunshots screams for help, they all shaped a person’s character to one with a strong inclination to survival. The short ride on the train was more than enough to show how troublesome living in the lower districts was.
As Arin walked, he saw other people wearing the same uniform as him, with the small difference that they all wore clean, untattered uniforms, in comparison to his extremely messy look. Despite this, he didn’t care, he walked on forward. A few murmurs could be heard as everyone started to notice Arin’s attire.
He came up to see an old man sitting by the side of the entrance, not even moving a single inch. A small fight started when a guy bumped into another person, resulting in a fist fight but despite this, the old man still didn’t make a move.
After a while, a person not wearing the school’s uniform tried to enter the academy but was smacked away out of nowhere. He had broken the rules that were set in place.
This poor lad had the wind knocked out of him, he could barely breathe as he was completely bloody. Arin looked back at the old man and noticed that despite seemingly having not moved even once, his hand had a droplet of blood on it.
Arin saw how strong a gatekeeper of Seal Academy truly is and was slightly intrigued for once. Even the guard dog of this place was already a force to be reckoned with.
A few people conversed with one another, pitying how he had failed to follow along with proper etiquette. The murmurs got stronger as Arin came in closer. Despite wearing the proper uniform, he was extremely dirty in his appearance. This might be against the rules that had been set in place.
With a bright smile on his face, he entered the academy’s gate without fear. Arin took calm and steady steps the entire way, not even panicked at what the outcome would be. A few gasps of shock and a few mumblings of mockery filled the air yet when the old man looked at Arin, he closed his eyes once more.
Arin finally took his first step into Seal Academy.
“Maybe it won’t be so boring after all.”