***

"Ah, we're finally back home!"

Anderson glanced down towards Len.

"Since you're gonna be staying with me from now on, let me show you where everything is!"

Anderson walked forward and faced towards the room with the TV in it. Len approached his side.

"As you already know, this is the TV room, where I watch TV and play games, you can use it whenever you feel bored."

He swiveled around, walking towards a door across from the TV room and opened it.

"Here is the bathroom! Right now only cold water comes out of the shower, but it works, and so does the toilet, even though it may seem bad at first, you'll get used to it."

He slammed the door shut and walked towards the bedroom.

"Again, you already know what this room is for, but there is also a mini kitchen in here as well."

Across from the mattress, there was a small white fridge next to a countertop with an electric stove on top of it. Underneath the countertop was a cabinet where Anderson kept his pans and dishes. Anderson walked over towards the fridge and opened it. The fridge was empty aside from a carton of orange juice in the door.

"The fridge is empty right now, but thanks to you kid it'll be full pretty soon."

He slammed the fridge shut and looked toward Len.

"There is also no sink in here so, I usually just use the one in the bathroom to clean everything."

Anderson walked out of the room and turned slightly towards len.

"Well that's pretty much all there is to my house, I know it's not big, but it's suitable for a small kid like you."

Len just looked at him.

Now, how about we go test the new console out, I want to show you some games I enjoy playing."

The two walked back into the room with the TV in it, Anderson went behind the TV, and unplugged the old console from the bottom outlet, throwing it on the ground. He put the new console in the place where the old one used to sit and plugged it into the outlet, and then back into the TV. He reached down and next to the TV stand was a stack of discs, all with different names on them. He picked the top one up, the disc read 'Hero of the Light.' He stood back up, the disc in hand, he first turned on the TV and then the console. He opened up a tray on top of the console and inserted the disk.

The TV slowly faded into a blue sky, white words surrounded by a slim black stroke appeared directly in the center of the screen, "Hero of the Light."

"See, look at that kid isn't this cool."

Len looked up at the TV and a man with blonde hair stood there, grasping a sword in his right hand as if he was about to attack. Anderson picked up the controller from the ground and handed it to Len. He pointed towards a green button on the right side of the controller.

"You see that green button?"

Len gazed down at the controller, looking to where Anderson's finger was hovering, seeing a button just underneath.

"yeah."

"Go ahead, and press it."

He pushed down on the button, and the screen suddenly flashed black, slowly fading into a map.

"Now press that same button again."

The screen flashed black again, it slowly faded into a colorful screen, showing a man and two monsters directly in front of him.

"You see this little circular stick thing? This allows you to move, and that green button you pressed before is the attack button, allowing you to attack the enemies in front of you."

Len pushed the circular stick up, and the man approached one of the green monsters, he pressed the green button, and the man swung his sword, killing the monster instantly.

"Looks like you're getting the hang up it kid! If you press the other buttons, they cause the hero to do different things, so you should experiment and have some fun alright?"

Len nodded.

"You can stay here for now, I still have to find a school for you, so I'll be on the mattress if you need anything."

Anderson walked out of the room, and grabbed a bag that was just outside the door. He walked back into the bedroom and opened up the bag taking out a laptop. He dropped down onto the mattress, then slowly opened the laptop.

***

Anderson walked back into the TV room and Len was still playing the game.

"How's the game?"

Len turned around, staring at him, Anderson averted his attention over towards the screen, admiring the blonde man with shiny new golden armor.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"Wow you're already halfway through!?"

"yeah."

"I think you should take a break for a little."

"okay."

He slowly left the controller on the ground and stood up quickly, causing him to feel dizzy.

"Anyways we're going to leave here soon, I enrolled you into a school that an old buddy of mine runs, and he said he will personally look over all the details regarding enrollment. He told us to meet him and the principal at the school. There they will get you a uniform and put you in a class so you can start tomorrow."

Len nodded.

Anderson walked over to the TV and picked up the controller.

"Here, let me save the game for you."

He pressed a button in the middle of the controller. A menu popped and pressing down on the stick, he went to where it said 'SAVE,' and hit a button. He waited a few seconds, then shut off the console, then the TV.

"Alright, do you need to do anything before we go?"

Len shook his head.

"Alright let's go on out."

The two headed outside and headed in the opposite direction of the office building. They turned a corner and reached a bus stop where they sat down and waited…

Across the street lay a row of tall buildings. Directly across from the bus stop stood a red building with black tinted windows. Two shadowy figures suddenly appeared on top, dressed head to toe in black. One of them had binoculars up to their eyes, looking over the bus stop where Anderson and Len sat.

"Is that the kid?" One asked.

"Yep, the same one from the footage we got. There's a man with him though."

"Here, let me take a look."

The figure handed over the binoculars. And the other peered through them.

"I see, that's one of the men we saw investigating Doc's operating room."

"So he's with the NPA?"

"Yes, the NPA is probably looking over the kid, and based on what we saw, the kid is a threat to us. If the NPA has that kid around, then we will have to operate more efficiently in the near future."

"What should we do?"

"First let's report back to the Lieutenant, don't you agree?"

"Yep."

"Alright then, let's return."

***

Anderson and Len arrived in front of the school. Outside against the stone wall, there was a giant black plaque embedded with golden letters, "Vantage Academy for the Talented."

Len glanced over at the sign, and a confused look appeared on his face.

"Welcome to your school, the principal is expecting us, so let's head inside."

Len looked back towards Anderson and nodded.

The two entered the building, drifting towards a set of stairs which led to the second floor. Climbing up, they reached the second floor and instantly turned left. Down the hall an old man stood wearing a gray suit and blue tie, waiting for them right next to an open door. They approached the man who soon nodded at them as they came closer.

"Come on in." The man said.

They entered the room, three chairs were arranged in the room, with a beige wooden table in front of them.

"Take a seat."

The man entered the room behind them, closing the door. Anderson and Len sat down and so did the man, directly across from them.

"So this kid is Len, Len Brighton?"

Anderson opened his mouth.

"Correct"

"And you are? The man asked.

"I'm Anderson Brighton, I'm sure Pline talked about me."

The man looked down towards a white mug that sat on the table in front of him.

"He did… so, might I ask if this child is your son?"

"No he is not, I'm just his guardian right now."

"I would assume so since you two look nothing alike."

The man picked up the mug from the table and took a sip of a liquid, he set it back down.

The man suddenly stood up.

"Mr. Pline explained to me that this kid had extraordinary talent. So what might be his talent?"

"Well, I'm not sure just yet, but I know he has one."

"You know we only accept children who are talented in some field, how can you say he is talented if you can't prove it?"

Anderson hesitated.

"I think he is talented somewhere physically."

"Hmm, how so?"

He hesitated again.

"He's talented in combat… I think."

"Combat ehhh? Then why don't we test it out."

"Huh?"

The man walked over towards the empty space between the door and where they were sitting.

"Kid, you stand up as well, and make sure to stand in front of me," he said.

Len looked at the man and stood up, moving in front of the man.

"Thank you."

Suddenly, the man picked up his right leg, sending it towards Len's face. His leg approached Len rapidly, making contact. Len was sent into the door head first. His head slammed against the door, causing him to fall on his front. He began to bleed from his nose, and his face became a crimson like color.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"

Anderson's face turned red. The man faced him.

"Talented? I think not! It's best for you to leave while you can."

The man turned around, Len slowly stumbled up.

"w-wait."

The man's eyes widened, he quickly turned back around.

"You endured that?"

Len's nose slowly stopped bleeding, his face slowly faded back to a pale color. The man approached Len, looking straight into his face. He started to laugh.

"Kid, you sure are interesting!"

He approached Anderson who was standing up. He reached his right hand out in front of him.

"I acknowledge this kid. He seems quite interesting."

Anderson stared at the man. He reached his right hand, out grabbing his hand, they both started shaking them. Suddenly, a man with brown hair entered the room carrying a plastic bag with a blue uniform inside. The man looked over towards the principal then at Anderson.

"It seems like you've been acknowledged by Mr. Roe here, Anderson."

"Pline, why are you so late?" Mr. Roe asked.

"Don't ask, anyways I have a question for you Anderson, Mr. Roe didn't do anything out of line again did he?"

Principal Roe stared into Anderson's eyes and smiled.

"Uh, no. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"So he did do something. Anyways I have the kid's uniform, you said he was a size small correct?"

"Yes."

Pline approached Len, who stood by the door.

"Why are you over here?"

Principle Roe. directed his eyes towards Len and started smiling again.

"n-no reason."

"Okayyy… Anyways, here's your uniform!"

He handed Len the bag and as he looked down at it, he began to admire its royal blue color and gold lined pockets. Pline gazed towards Mr. Roe.

"Have you told him about the schedule yet?"

"No sir."

Pline walked over to a desk that was behind where Anderson was standing. He opened the top left drawer and scourged through it, pulling out a piece of paper.

"This paper includes the schedule for each day, so make sure to remember it."

He handed the paper to Anderson.

"You'll be in class 2A kid, you understand?"

Len nodded.

"You two can follow me."

He gestured to Anderson and Len to follow him. He led the two down the hall away from the principal's office and approaching a set of classrooms.

"This class here will be your class, you can't enter right now since class is in session, but tomorrow you'll be able to, that's when you will be officially enrolled."

"You hear that Len, tomorrow is your first day, so we will need to get you some materials on the way home."

"okay."

Pline interrupted the two.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that, the school covers them."

Anderson grinned.

"Really? Nice!"

"Yes we do, so don't worry about preparing anything other than yourself for class Len."

"O-okay."

Pline turned around.

"Alright you should head home now, tomorrow is going to be an interesting day for you, so make sure you rest up beforehand."

The two began walking towards the exit of the building.

"So kid, what did you think?"

"I think I like it."

A small light appeared in Len's eyes. Anderson smiled.

"That's good to hear, make sure you rest up when we get back, I don't want you getting too overwhelmed by the experience."

"Alright."

***