As drizzles fell from the sky. John Lemon opened his baggy eyes; Drowsily he watched the drops of rain drifted on the cracked window. Silently, John sat and yawned, gathered some will to move his body before he began to take a towel, walking to the bathroom as he watched numerous sleeping face, seemed so uncaring as the boys were snoring on the rows of weathered bed.
Cleaning his body as he quietly watched the water flowed into the drain, thinking whether or not he would miss his home. Lost in his own thought, the next thing John knew he already wore trousers that reached down to all the way down and partially covered his leather chelsea boots, all of which were coloured jet-black, paired with long, thinly crisscrossed socks and a regular belt coloured black. A black night long sleeved shirt was somewhat messily hanging over his trousers and covered with a classic jacket. A red tie hung loosely in the middle of his half unbuttoned black jacket, with golden badge embedded on the right shoulder side.
The drizzle turned to rain. Sometimes, John imagined what if he was the rain, or the wind, or the cloud itself. Free to come anytime he wanted, free to move anywhere he wanted and free to shape whatever he wanted.
Then he heard a shuffling a short distance away, then the door at the middle that separated the boy's chamber and the dining room snapped open.
“John!” Lilac Sweet said, sticking her head into the room, showing off her big round face and dark brown eyes. “Hurry up! We need to arrive earlier than the others!"
...But it's raining outside. John thought, wondering about how they could arrive early.
"Geez, what's wrong with your tie?" Lilac said, moving closer toward John and repaired his tie.
Lilac was a girl that never cared about her fashion nor her hair. But this morning, she wore the same uniform as John but her's was neat. Even though her untreated wavy long light brown hair loosely hung on her back, The shirt neatly tucked in, the jacket perfectly buttoned with the red tie perfectly rested between her chest.
"There you go." Lilac said, tightening John's tie. "By the way, Mother is calling us."
John nodded, scrambling out of the old yet comforting room. He brushed past Lilac and walked out of the trap door, moving into a run-down dining room. Their dining room was one of the multi-function room that served as the kitchen, pantry, storage, lobby and living room.
“There you are!” Mother lifted a wooden bowl and jabbed it toward his face. “Eat this fast! the Cart almost arrives.”
Cart was a moving carriage fueled by Orbz, it was one of the urchin dreams to be able to ride Cart. But John didn’t let emotion show in his eyes. He simply took the bowl, sitting on the mended stool, eating it while watching Mother's sincerity grin.
"Ah, right!" Mother slightly shouted, then put her wrinkled small hand into her red patched purse and threw two cloth pouches into the table. Cring, cring was the sound of bronze coin hitting against each other. "Take it, it's your pocket money."
Lilac shook her head, shoving the pouch away and said. "Keep it for the other kid Mother, me and John can manage with just one."
John nodded, slowly taking the other pouch.
"Hah! Then don't come crying asking for more." Mother grumbled, and without hesitation took the pouch and put it back into her purse.
As the two kids were watching their mother, pouting like a child and continuously refilling their bowl of food until a loud horn pierced through the holes of their homes.
"Ah! that's your ride, hurry up and go! I don't want to pay any extra charges!" Mother hissed, taking the bowl away from them and washing it while humming the song she always hummed. With a wry smile, John excused himself and bowed at her back, followed by Lilac.
Without saying any word, John took their things, left through the weary front door with Lilac trailing behind him. And lucky for them, the rain suddenly stopped a second after they opened the door. With somewhat gladly feeling, John and Lilac sat on the open cargo from the Pickup Cart.
The Cart wildly shook and started to move, driving them away from the old orphanage.
***
Five hours later they reached the train station at half past nine, 30 minutes earlier before the appointment time. And like them, there were hundreds of kids wearing the same uniform as them, already waiting long before their ride, the massive Cart that was able to pull dozens of carriage or the train came. But there was one major thing that differentiates them with the other kids.
Some were looking smug, holding down their weapon as their parent surrounding them. Some were afraid, barely able to stand straight as their parent trying to cheer them up. Some were crying, hugging both of their parents. Some were seen anxious, didn't want their parent to embarrass them. And a few were standing still, waiting for the train with no one else waiting at their side.
John glanced at Lilac, her expression darkened as the drops of water accumulated from the corner of her eyes. With a sigh, using his thumb he wiped the tears out of her eye. "You're ugly if you cry."
As the tears stopped dripping from the corner of her eyes, she replied John with an elbow strike directed right at his stomach.
"G...gorilla." John groaned, crouching while holding his stomach in pain.
"It's your own fault. Listen! Rule number 1! Never said a woman is ugly." Lilac said, raising her index finger with frowned eyebrows.
At the same time, a tall man, dressed in a white shirt overlaid by a dark blue vest with engraved gold buttons. The black suit coat was long, full of emblems, and he wore a matching black hat. His fingers sparkled with rings, contained with Orbz, and a thin sword tied at his waist. With two men, dressed in formal red valet's clothing stood behind John. "Stop joking around Trainee."
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Startled with his sudden appearance, everyone including John straightened their back, giving the salute to the man, also known as Ingram the Blue.
But with a deep sigh, the two men beside Ingram scowled. "Trainee! Get out from Master Ingram path." Shouted the right one.
...Then why don't you just turn around? If someone could scan his thought, John story would be ended right here, right now. But lucky for him, no one would bother to scan the mind of an orphan. Silently, John bowed his head and moved out of Ingram's path.
And then, it started. As Ingram entered the train, one by one the kids followed him from behind, including John and Lilac.
The first few carriages were already packed with Trainees, some hanging out with their friend, some fighting over seats, some showing off their equipment, some rich looking Trainees were driving away the not so rich one, and Trainees like him, pressed on through the crowd until they found an empty compartment near the end of the train, completely free from the so-called nobles.
With the last look, John found an empty compartment and managed to take it both for him and Lilac. As they sat near the windows, they could see other kids family member, waving their hand to send off their child.
Then the train began to move with the clamorous sound of an Orbz being burned resounding throughout the station, by the time the sound was gone, all they could see were houses flashing by from the window.
"Hey, John!! Take a look at that building!!" Lilac said with her face pressed against the glass, aweing when she saw a building made of the dark glass towering against the sky.
"Hm." John replied with his chin rested on his palm.
And then they entered the grassy plain. "John! John! Look at that!! Woah~ So weird!" Lilac Said, pulling John's arm and pointing her finger to the hideous avian creature with the body of an emaciated rooster, the wings of a bat, and a long, scaly tail, Cockatrice running away from the lion head with its long dark mane, with five hind legs directly connected to its head.
"Hm?" John tilted his head, by the time he tried to see what happen, the already moved away from the said weirdness.
And then the train continued its path, leaving the grassy plain behind and less than an hour, the train already reached the capital of Neo-Asia. But what welcomed them was another line of administration in the immigration centre.
"Your ID?" Asked the receptionist, physically, there was little difference between his clothes and the noble clothes.
John handed him his ID card, the receptionist only sighed. "Seriously, another G-rank civilian."
And personality wise, he wasn't that much difference to the so-called noble either. "...Whatever, just show me your weapon and your status."
Inwardly sighed, John showed the receptionist his dagger, the only thing that was special about his dagger. It just an ordinary dagger with one empty Orbz slot and already chipped with some rust on the base. But for John, it was a special one as this was the only weapon he could afford to buy.
Snorted, the receptionist didn't even check his dagger. "Whatever just show me your status."
John Lemon
Level: 1
Health: 54
Energy: 35
Strength: 5
Physical: 6
Agility: 8 + 2
Dexterity: 6 + 2
Magic: 2 + 1
Spirit: 5
Influence: 4 + 1
Sense: 3
---------------
Effort: 5.
Throwing Weapon Mastery Lvl 1, Stealth Lvl 1, Dagger Mastery Lvl 1, Acrobatic Lvl 1, Spellcasting Lvl 1.
---------------
Follower(s): 1
Favorite(s): 1
The receptionist only glared and frowned at John's screen. Clicking his tongue, silently he inputted John's data into the database and shoving him away from the line.
Standing on the side, John patiently waited for Lilac and the next instruction while wondered about the receptionist attitude.
Was it jealousy? As far as John knew, his Individual Value wasn't that good, indeed his Physical, Agility, and Dexterity were above averages for someone in level one, but it wasn't high or special enough to make someone jealous of it.
My effort? or... John thought as he watched Lilac handed over her weary wooden bow to the receptionist.
Indeed, there were two ways to raise someone status. First was what they called Individual Value. It based on the system’s initial impression of our body capacity when we born. And the value would grow bigger with each Level we gained.
The second was Effort Value. It based on our current natural gifts and disposition. One could only raise their Effort by repeatedly developing and breaking their own body limit. Surely, it was rare for a G-rank kid to be able to have five effort value. Usually, those numbers would only be gained by the nobles kids, but having five Effort wasn't something that enviable either. In fact, most of the nobles kids would have five to eight by the time they entered the Academy.
Or it is because of my Gift?
The last method was Gift Value. Gift's nature indeed was an abstract and mysterious Value from the other. Some believe it was the ancestral spirit or higher being, giving you the blessing and following your journey. But whatever Gift was, One thing that John knew; it would give someone a skill.
One Favorite meant John had one skill he could use without Orbz, basically a gift. Whilst one Follower meant John had another bonus point in his status.
And with a big yawn, John's thought went back to the orphanage, wondering what the kids did right now, what they would eat for the lunch or did some kid failed to steal an apple.
But by the time he snapped back into the reality, he saw Lilac, with a bow hung on her back, looking annoyed and stomping her way while grumbling about something. "Something happens?" John asked.
Walking next to John's side, she turned around, pouting and sticking her tongue out, directing it to another receptionist.
With a wry smile, somewhat knowing what happened to her. "Should we buy a new one?" John said, looking at Lilac's bow.
Lilac's eyes turned stary when she heard John's word. But she stopped and shook her head. "-Ahem- Nope, It's our money, I can manage with this one." Said Lilac.
Shrugging his shoulder, patiently they waited for the next instruction and once again they rode another Cart, this time it was a big Cart, smaller than the train but big enough to bring fifty people in a single ride.
And after few more hours of ride, watching the metal building that towered against the sky becoming smaller. And as they could see the largest mountain on Earth pierced through the clouds, Mt. Everest. They arrived at the twelve solid, square towers dominated the skyline of this massive building and were connected by towering, thick walls made of silverish metal.
It was the Humanity Protection Academy, an Academy established as a safeguard in the event that an emergency would occur to humanity, either it was monster's attack or the danger from inside and outside the continent. The fifteenth years old kids throughout the whole continent were required to complete an obligatory three-year military service before they could be considered as an adult and could legally take a job.
As the bus stopped, with a deep sigh John stepped down from the bus, entered the academy and got welcomed by the long speech from the so-called general.