Jun looked toward the middle of the room where a hologram displayed an interview between two people, a gorgeous woman with auburn hair and an honest looking man.
The man scratched his head and smiled.
“Thanks for having me.”
“Now, Kahl, we have so many burning questions about you and PSI World. But before we start off, I’m sure the entire world wants to thank you for everything that you’ve done so far!”
The woman gave a small bow towards Kahl, who hurriedly waved his hand.
“No, no need for that! I’m just doing my part.”
The woman smiled and continued.
“Please give a small introduction for those in the audience who are unaware of the father of PSI World.”
The man laughed lightly before explaining.
“Well, I’m a veteran of PSI World, also known as the Purification System Initiative.”
Kahl clasped his hands together in front.
“As a veteran I know that it’s fraught with danger. It was natural for me to help others by capturing personal moments in PSI World and sharing tips and tricks, at least ones that everyone should know. This promotes the safety of those entering, as well as saving new PSI users some initial heartache in their personal pursuits.”
The woman clapped softly and smiled sweetly.
“What you do is very commendable. It’s my understanding that many of your videos and work are now being circulated into the current educational system? What are your thoughts on that? Will you be receiving payment for your contributions?”
“I don’t care about payment or anything like that. All of these videos and tips are free, and they always will be. For me it’s about helping everyone, and if the videos are helping young people around the world prepare for their entry into PSI World, how could I say no?”
He shrugged and the woman once more spoke up.
“Such an honorable act. I know for sure many people would have wanted to sell that knowledge for an immense profit. So what made you begin recording videos and guides for the public?”
“That… I have two young and beautiful daughters you see. I’m always thinking about them every day that I spend in Psi World.”
Kahl grimaced briefly.
“One day, I messed up pretty badly. I couldn’t help but think to myself ‘if only I knew before,’ and ever since that moment I started recording things for my daughters. After a while, I realized that more people could benefit from this kind of help and seeing that I’m always helping everyone around me anyway, I decided to release all the information publicly.”
The woman shook her head with a big smile plastered over her face.
“You truly are the father of PSI World.”
Khal chuckled and shook his head.
“I don’t even know who made that name up. Everyone just started commenting on the videos and the name stuck.”
Both of them laughed for a moment before continuing the interview.
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In the other room…
“How is he holding up Miss Candor?”
An anxious voice called out.
“He says that school is too loud and doesn’t want to be there. We’ll have to teach him at home, if it’s okay with you, Elder Sugo.”
A man could be seen on the screen. His once lush black hair was now streaked with grey lines. It was as if he had aged considerably in the span of five years.
This man was Lucius Sugo, Jun’s maternal grandfather.
“Too loud? Kids are always loud. I guess I wouldn’t be able to stand it either, so I suppose it’s understandable.”
He grumbled before continuing.
“But you know what I’m really asking, how is he handling what we discussed?”
Lisa Candor pursed her lips in thought.
Only a few days passed since Elder Sugo and Elder Einstoldt explained to Jun the circumstances of his birth. They both felt that it was only right to tell him the truth early on, about the death of his parents.
Lisa shook her head and replied.
“Truthfully, I don’t know. He seems unchanged, but this could be a temporary state. He might reflect on this more as he grows older and matures, but right now it seems as if he is okay and is still diligent in his studies.”
Lucius let out a sigh.
“I want to thank you, Lisa, and your husband Sahves, for taking Jun in. I know this isn’t the first time I’ve thanked you, and it won’t be the last either.”
“Elder Sugo, it is our honor to take on this responsibility, especially after everything that Mia and Tyras have done for us.”
The call ended shortly after, leaving behind a lone beauty in a dimly lit room.
It’s too loud?
She shook her head and exited the room. These were just quirks that would resolve themselves given some time.
“Auntie, I finished these.”
Lisa was greeted by a small boy pointing to the projection on the walls.
“Oh! Very nice! You did your homework so quickly!”
She walked over and swiftly inspected each of the glyphs and diagrams. In this day and age, it was standard education for the elites of society to understand the basics of creating formations and the fundamentals of mana.
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“Did you really finish all of these just now? Or did you perhaps finish earlier in class?”
She turned to the boy with a raised eyebrow, only to find him turning away with a guilty look.
“Teacher kept repeating the same things… so I did some of these in class.”
She clicked her tongue.
“Tsk, tsk, it’s important to listen to your teacher. I guess it doesn’t matter so much anymore since you won’t be going back for a while… but you won’t be home schooled forever! You’ll have to try again next year, and every year after that. Remember the deal?”
“At least one week at the start of the new year.”
Lisa smiled once she heard the boy’s mumble.
“Seeing that all of this is done…”
She looked around the room.
“Auntie, what’s that big island over there?”
He pointed out the window down towards an enormous floating island that easily dwarfed the surrounding islands. Stationed around the island’s surface was a large circular wall, and from their altitude it was easy to see a vast collection of buildings that came in a variety of sizes and designs.
“Oh? That’s Etherius, the capital city of the entire Ancestral Plane. All the world’s greatest powers have representation there. We can visit someday if you’d like. Do you see that tall building in the center?”
She pointed to a colossal pillar looking structure in the center of the island. Glowing runes were etched into the sides of the building that were visible even from their current distance.
“That’s where Uncle Sahves works.”
She neglected to mention that Etherius was also one of the most restricted cities within the entire Ancestral Plane. Only those that met the required status could even think about approaching the floating behemoth.
“Ooohh… wow.”
Although his reaction sounded like one of surprise and excitement, for some odd reason Lisa was able to detect something else.
The way he spoke seemed… hollow?
She couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was that was itching the back of her mind, but at the same time she decided not to read too far into it. After all, he was only a five-year-old boy, it was only natural for him to not have a full understanding of things.
The island passed by quickly, as did the rest of the trip.
Soon enough they approached another massive island surrounded by an enormous circular barrier. The barrier pulsed with an erratic blue light like an electric cocoon.
Surrounding the barrier were many lines of swift moving cloudsplitters that were either entering or exiting the island. From a distance, the vast amount of cloudsplitters looked like a stream of tiny ants marching back towards the colony.
“Wel-come to… An-dro-meda Res-i-den-tial Is-land.”
A banner of flashing lights glowed across the top of the cloudsplitter’s inner wall.
“Mmm. Andromeda Residential Island is how you pronounce it.”
Lisa ruffled his hair and glanced out the window.
“Alright we’re almost home. Go and get your stuff together.”
They soared through the island’s airspace, passing a multitude of sprawling metropolises that hosted towering buildings and winding roads.
It wasn’t easy to be able to afford a living in the skies, and it was even more difficult to actually own property on these floating islands. Most people could only afford a simple unit within these monolithic structures due to the ratio of these buildings compared to the smaller buildings.
Only those with both an enormous amount of wealth and status would earn the privilege of owning property.
After passing over a small forest, the cloudsplitter settled into a small clearing beside a quaint and sizeable home.
“Finally we’re home!”
The boy said excitedly as he bolted out of the door.
“Yo!”
Jun was greeted by a lanky adolescent with brown hair and hazel eyes. His gentle smile and upwardly curved eyebrows displayed his amusement. His very posture exuded confidence.
“Hey big brother.”
Jun waved back at him and grinned.
Out of all the people he ever met, this teen in front of him was the quietest of all. That wasn’t to say he was physically quiet, but rather his thoughts were as silent as the depths of the ocean.
“Merdan how’s your progress in the tutorial?”
Lisa called out from behind Jun.
Merdan was Lisa and Sahves’ biological son, who was currently eleven years old, and he recently started his own journey into the popular PSI World.
“Hey mom, it’s not bad. Perhaps I might be going through the missions too quickly, but everyone is super helpful and kind!”
That’s just how he his, always so positive.
Jun thought to himself and smirked.
Merdan was the classic example of a star child. He excelled at everything he did, whether it was school, sports, combat, and now even PSI World. Not only that, but he was even quite handsome at such a young age.
He benefited greatly from the best of his parent’s genetics.
“That’s good to hear. Even though time goes twice as fast in the tutorial, be sure to properly spend time with your family. Don’t be like your father and constantly off world or in meetings!”
Merdan gave a helpless smile and shrugged.
“And be safe! For heaven’s sake. That place is very dangerous. Even though mishaps are not so common in the tutorial, they can still happen. I’m still against you starting so young. Tsk. I should speak with your father…”
She continued her tirade as she stormed off into the beautiful and sizeable house. Once Lisa was on a rant, it would be impossible to break her out of her trance.
“Well that settles that…”
Merdan raised an eyebrow in Lisa’s direction as she disappeared into the house.
“Brother, how did you enter PSI World already?”
Merdan looked down towards Jun, who was currently a little more than half his height.
“While normally you have to be 18 years old to enter PSI World, it’s actually common for teens to enter early as long as they have parent permission, although not this early. Actually I heard it’s becoming tradition for people to enter PSI World in their final year of school.”
“Why in their final year?”
Jun reached for Merdan’s hand, who lead him into the house.
“Most students are either 18 or turning 18 in their final year of school. So at the beginning of the school year, everyone will register with the PSI World Association at the same time. The ones who aren’t 18 yet still need to get their parent’s permission though.”
“Oohh... but why are they signing up together? Why not just sign up as soon as you turn 18?”
“Hmm.”
Merdan scratched his head with his free hand as they navigated their way to his room.
“I believe it started because of the tutorial. A user spends 100 days inside the tutorial world before choosing a world to adventure at. So let’s say you made some friends in school, wouldn’t you want to do the tutorial with them as a group?”
“Mm… but I don’t have any friends?”
Jun murmured quietly. Merdan could only chuckle to himself before replying.
“Just imagine if we were in school together, wouldn’t you want to do the tutorial with me?”
“Yea!”
“See? Just like that, but for other people. Alright that’s enough, let’s play some games before you sleep!”
“Yea!”
And just like that, the two brothers happily ignored the hysterical calls of their mother asking them to clean the house. A few hours quickly passed by before they called it quits.
It was late in the evening. For Jun that meant it was time for him to sleep, and for Merdan it was time to enter PSI World once more.
While it may appear that Merdan wasn’t getting any sleep, it turned out that whether someone slept in PSI World or in the Ancestral Plane didn’t matter as both were equally as good. This meant that if he slept for eight hours in the PSI World tutorial, it would be the same as completing eight hours of sleep in the span of only four hours.
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“Sweet dreams Little Jun.”
The light in the room dimmed as Lisa called out to him.
“Goodnight Auntie.”
Jun pulled his blanket over his head and turned onto his side. After a moment, he heard the door close shut.
He poked his head back out of the blankets and scanned to ensure no one was inside. Afterwards, he revealed a small tablet that he hid in his shirt.
He pressed play on the screen.
“Maelstrom and Ruin are facing off what is now classified as an EX-level existence!”
He skipped forward.
“This fight appears to have no clear winner, it must be said that our two heroes could really use the help.”
“That’s correct Gale, just where is the rest of the organization that is backing them? In a time of crisis like this, those in power shouldn’t be hiding behind their walls.”
“This has to be the saddest display of leadership we’ve seen…”
The voices continued back and forth as different clips played. Each clip was more gruesome than the previous as they showed the clear damage that the two heroes were taking.
Finally, towards the end…
“I repeat! The Queen of Ruin is down…”
“…Requesting assistance!”
Jun paused the video that displayed a man and woman shooting through the air. He could see the grim details of concern and determination on the man’s face, and within his arms he could make out a feeble woman missing an arm.
They were abandoned… by their own people. The association was supposed to help them. Everyone could have helped them.
Jun’s thoughts ran wild as he mentally recapped all the different commentary he heard and footage he had seen.
“And now they’re gone, and now I’m alone.”
He murmured to himself.
“It’s the world’s fault that I’m alone…”
His voice trailed off as his eyelids grew heavy, giving in to a deep sleep.