"Alright boy," Meitre said as she tossed the other crystal into the cauldron. "Your turn."

"Nah I'm good." Zeigel backed away from the cauldron, staring at it with eyes full of fear.

"Oh it's not that bad Zeigel. The pain goes away once your arm is out, and you get a cool new bracer." Saliza encouraged. "All you have to do is stick your arm in what feels like lava for a couple seconds."

"I am not sticking my arm in lava! Isn't there another less painful way to do this?"

Meitre rolled her eyes and grabbed Zeigel's arm faster than he could react. She dunked his arm into the cauldron and held him in place as he thrashed about while letting out a loud, agonizing shriek.

"You're going to become a vanguard so start getting used to pain." She said with a stern voice.

Once the process was complete, Meitre released her grip, causing Zeigel to tumble backwards. On his arm was the vanguard bracer, and next to him was Saliza laughing her head off.

"Hahahahaha! Oh man! You're such a baby!"

"Shut the fuck up asshole!"

"Enough already, we're heading back down now." Meitre said as she pulled the two into her arms and began rushing back downstairs, this time at a significantly slower pace.

"No need to talk, just listen." She said as she descended the stairs. "You two are probably quite mischievous, so please, start behaving yourselves and don't cause Reizo any problems, he has enough of it in his life already. Furthermore, there are strict rules that vanguards have to abide by, so don't be stupid and break any of them or you'll be charged with a hefty fine, unless of course you commit something very serious that resulted in the loss of innocent lives, and if that were to happen,"

In a much more serious tone, she continues, "You will be hunted down and killed without mercy."

Once they reached the lobby, Meitre set the two down in front of the receptionist.

"Reizo will teach you how to use your bracers tomorrow. For now, clean yourselves up and get some rest." Meitre said before rushing back up the stairs.

Zeigel turned to Saliza looking a little nervous. "That felt kind of threatening don't you think?"

"Not really. She just told us not to do anything bad." Saliza said, not caring about what Meitre said.

"So, you two got your bracers now huh?" Jae asked.

"Yup! We're bonafide vanguards now! Check it!" Saliza proudly flashed her bracer.

"Congrats! I bet you two must be very excited."

"Just thrilled." Zeigel said in a deadpan voice.

"Here, catch!" Jae tossed them each a key with the tag '7-05' on it. "These are the keys to your room, enjoy!"

Finally, I can rest!

The two thanked Jae before running off to find their room.

"Come on slowpoke, we're almost there!" Saliza was a few floors above Zeigel who was struggling to keep up. Once he reached the fifth floor, he had to stop to catch his breath.

Ugh, I should've walked up slowly instead of running up the stairs. Why did my room have to be at level seven?

"Wow, you are really out of shape." Saliza teased. Zeigel who was too out of breath to say anything replied by giving her the bird.

Upon reaching the seventh floor, Zeigel slowly dragged himself to the other end of the floor where his room is located. The door was already open and he could hear Saliza calling for him from inside.

"Zeigel you gotta come check this out! This place is awesome!"

Zeigel peeked his head into the room and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was better than what he had expected.

I thought our rooms would look like a college dorm, but instead I'm getting an apartment! AND THERE'S AIR CONDITIONERS HERE? SCORE!

Ignoring his fatigue, Zeigel continued to explore the new place he'll be living in.

There's a kitchen complete with a stove and a fridge! A clean bathroom with a functioning toilet! A laundry room with a washing machine! The bedroom looks pretty good too, with the exception of the oversized cockroach on top of that bed.

There were two bunk beds in the room and Saliza was already on the top bunk of one of them.

"Can you believe it Zeigel? We get this place all to ourselves!"

"Yeah, this is way better than what I expected." Zeigel said as he threw himself onto the bed.

Still, I'd rather be in my actual home, but this'll do for the time being.

"I'm gonna take a nap now so don't bother me until I wake up or I'll bash you with a chair."

"Okey dokey mister grouchy."

Ignoring the awful nickname, Zeigel tucked himself into bed and dozed off.

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Zeigel woke up a few hours later. He stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes before getting out of bed.

That was a nice and refreshing nap. It looks like it's still afternoon. I think I'll go check out that anime I've been wanting to watch for awhile now.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

He looked around the room and frowned.

Ah, so that wasn't a nightmare then.

He plopped back onto his bed and groaned.

I wonder what time it is now.

His stomach growled and he pulled himself back up.

Time for lunch. Reizo gave me some money earlier, I wonder if it's enough for a meal?

He took out the crumpled notes from his pocket and began counting them.

Let's see here, he gave me a hundred dollars in total. Not sure if that's a lot in this world but hopefully I can get a meal out of this. I'm starving. If I have plenty left over then I'll get some new clothes and proper footwear. I can't be wearing slippers everywhere I go.

Zeigel glanced down at his grey slippers that had been dirtied after walking through a forest.

Thank god I was wearing these before I fell into that portal.

When he stepped into the living room, he spotted Saliza without her mask slurping on a large blue spiny claw. Large chicken bones with tiny bits of meat were sitting in a big container on the table she was seated at.

"Where did you get that?" Zeigel asked, startling Saliza who was too fixated on her food to notice him. She tossed the claw aside and quickly slapped her mask onto her face.

"Ah! Zeigel! Did you just see my face you perv?"

Unfortunately for Zeigel, he couldn't tell if seeing her face was in fact perverted in her culture or if she was just being dramatic and stupid. It was most likely the latter.

Ignoring her question, he repeated his own question. "Where did you get all that food?"

"Oh, there's this restaurant called Vangourmet that's giving out a free meal to people who joined the vanguards."

Oh hell yeah! Free food!

Zeigel remembered seeing the restaurant. It was located near the headquarters and had a large, bright, flashy sign that made it hard to miss. He could even see it out the window.

Zeigel reached for the door handle but Saliza pulled him back before he could turn it.

"Wait!" Saliza shouted as she tugged on his arm. "Did you really see my face?"

"Yeah, I saw your face, big whoop." Zeigel said with annoyance clear in his voice.

"Zeigel this is really important," Saliza said sounding more serious. "Since you saw my face, that means you know my secret right?"

"What secret?"

Saliza paused. "So you don't know my secret?" She cautiously asked.

"How the hell am I supposed to learn your secret just by seeing a punchable face?"

"Okay, so you don't know about it. But you can't show anyone else my face, got it?"

"I don't have a picture of your face, how would I even show people how you look like?"

"Well obviously, after witnessing the most gorgeous face you've ever seen, you're gonna end up drawing portraits of my face and show them off to people."

Zeigel gave her an exasperated look and yanked his arm away from her.

"You're a delusional moron." He said as he left.

As he made his way to the restaurant, he couldn't help but wonder why Saliza didn't want anyone to see her face.

There's nothing special about her face, not even a distinctive feature like my heterochromia. She's homeless too, so I'm guessing she might be a runaway, but if she is then where did she come from? Is she an important figure somewhere? God I hope this doesn't cause my any problems in the future.

It only took him a few minutes to reach Vangourmet. The heavenly aroma that wafted out of the restaurant made his stomach grumble even more.

"Welcomed to Vangourmet!" A bearded burly man wearing an apron and gloves behind the counter gave him a hearty greeting. "You must be Saliza's friend."

"How did you know?"

"She told me she joined the vanguards alongside a guy with funky eyes. That's you isn't it?"

"Please don't refer to me as 'funky eyes', my name's Zeigel." He said with a hint of a annoyance in his voice.

"You got it, Zeigel. Now, you're here for the free meal aren't you?" The man placed a menu on the counter. "As a welcome bonus for joining the vanguards, the first meal's free." The man smiled at Zeigel.

Zeigel's eyes were immediately caught by one of the pictures on the menu. It was a meal called 'Warrior's Vitality' that consisted of three steaks, fries, and meatballs.

"I'll have this one." Zeigel pointed at the picture.

"You sure?" The man raised an eyebrow.

Why's he looking at me like that? Oh I get it, It's because I'm choosing an expensive option isn't it? Well I don't care if that makes me look like a greedy person, I'm eating a nice juicy steak today.

Most of the options on the menu costed around three to five dollars, but the one Zeigel chose costed seven.

"I am very sure." Zeigel insisted while tapping on the picture.

"You must be a very excited to become a vanguard then. Very good!" The man laughed. "Are you having it here or to go?"

"I'll have it to go." Said Zeigel

I don't think I'll be able to finish it in one go. I'll save the leftovers in the fridge.

"All right then. One warrior's vitality coming up!" The man said before disappearing before Zeigel's eyes, surprising and confusing him.

He peeked over to counter to see where the man went, only for him to reappear in front of him holding a paper bag with his food.

"Whoa! What the hell?" Zeigel jumped back in surprise. "How did you do that?"

"I used to be a vanguard." The man explained. "In fact, I'm one of the lucky few who survived the great vanguard massacre."

"Oh, I see."

Great vanguard massacre? Oh wait, Saliza mentioned about people from Earth killing a lot of vanguards here. That must be what he's referring to.

The man continued in a voice filled with shame. "Unfortunately, after that event I just couldn't continue as a vanguard. I know I'm a coward for quitting, but I just can't continue being a vanguard, not after watching people much stronger than me getting slaughtered so easily. Even a man who I thought was invincible ended up getting slaughtered. I just can't go on after seeing all that."

The man placed a trembling hand on Zeigel's shoulder.

"Please, work hard and become strong enough to protect yourself and your friends."

"I will."

I won't. Like hell I'll give my life for this shitty world. I'm running away if I'm ever in danger.

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"Zeigel, you're back!" Saliza rushed towards him as soon as he opened the door. "You didn't show anyone my face did you?"

"Again, I don't have a picture of your face you idiot."

"What about your portraits of me?"

"What makes you think I'll draw portraits of your face you dumbass!" Zeigel snapped.

"Cuz I'm pretty."

"You look likes a horse's ass with eyes and a mouth!"

Saliza gasped. "You take that back! Also, what's a horse's ass?"

"Uh, nevermind. Forget what I said."

Zeigel set the two bags down on the table and swatted Saliza's hand away as she tries to reach inside the one with his food.

"The food is mine, don't touch."

"What's in the other bag?" Saliza asked.

"New clothes and shoes." Zeigel said, pulling out two dark coloured shirts and a pair of black sneakers.

"You bought me new clothes?" Saliza excitedly reached into the bag. Her hand was once again swatted away by Zeigel.

"They're all mine, go buy your own, they're not that expensive."

"But I don't have any money and my hoodie and shorts are all dirty. Can you buy me some new clothes just this once? Please..." Saliza begged.

"No."

"Pretty please..." Saliza took off her mask and began making puppy eyes.

Zeigel looked at her with contempt and took out the remaining money he had left.

"I have 90 dollars left. You can have it all." He said as he held out the money in front of Saliza.

"Really? You're the best!" Saliza reached out to take the money, but Zeigel pulled it back before she could grab it.

"But you nearly got me killed this morning so I'm charging you 90 dollars for reckless endangerment." He said with a smug grin as he shoved the money back into his pocket.

"Oh come on! You jerk!" Saliza complained.

"Hah! Cry about it!" Zeigel laughed.

Nothing like a little revenge before enjoying a big juicy steak.

Zeigel opened the container and took a big bite out of the steak. Instead of a nice delicious and beefy taste, Zeigel was instead met with a horrendously bitter taste that caused him to spit out the food. The steak wasn't juicy at all and it wasn't soft and had a crunch when Zeigel bit into it.

"What the hell is this?" Zeigel complained. "This isn't steak!"

Saliza popped her head up next to Zeigel to see what he was eating.

"Ew gross, why'd you pick that?"

"I thought it was steak!"

"Those funky eyes must be messing with your sight cause that's a vegetable." Saliza laughed.

"I hate this world so much." Zeigel grumbled to himself.