After yesterday’s incident with the summoner who “requested” everyone to show up at the central hall along with Tokuda’s odd dream. People have formed factions to find the missing pieces the summoner spoke of. Many people were set on trying to escape this “Trapped World”, so the only logical solution was forming groups and seeking for the fragments.

“Join the Silver Vanguard!”

“We welcome everyone! Join us, the Crimson Talon!”

Tokuda arrived at the central hall due to the commotion. He wondered if he should join a faction to help his goal, but became sceptical about the whole idea of joining one.

I don’t mind joining a faction… but the thing is that I don’t trust anyone. Anyone could backstab me anytime; it’s not like we have multiple lives here. The rules of life still apply here as if we were still on Earth living our normal lives.

He walked towards the stands for the factions. Many were enlisting by filling out typewritten paperwork. It had looked like some of the technology from Earth had come to this place as well, but a mystery was untold, how did they get the stuff so fast? Tokuda kept it in the back of his head while looking at the other stands.

Hm… I shouldn’t pick one off the bat. I need to focus on picking one that will fit with my standards.

“P-Please join the ember guard.” A younger lady around Tokuda’s age asks with a shy demeanor. Many people weren’t paying any attention to them due to the fact that they didn’t have a lot of members. It had only four members. Their funds were low. Most other factions offered to pay for your gear and weapons.

Tokuda glanced at the stand and thought that it wouldn’t hurt to be with a small group of people rather than a huge one. Naturally, people would try aiming for the bigger faction due to the fact that everyone would want to be in it. But, Tokuda thought differently, he thought that maybe they would be more trustworthy and better to be with.

He walks over to the stand that has Ember Guard written on the sign in bold characters. However, Tokuda couldn’t understand the lettering, he tried really hard to try understanding but couldn’t. Something he picked up while he had been walking to the Central Hall is that many signs have different languages. For instance, the one he is looking at is English. But, the language everyone spoke was the same, everyone spoke the same language. Tokuda was ready to ask to join the faction but felt a bit hesitant as he got nervous. He scratched his chin and cleared his throat, he walked up to the table that had a woman sitting, waiting for someone to ask to join.

“Hey, I’ll join your faction.”

The woman glanced up to see Tokuda and made her face light up. She was happy that someone finally paid attention to their faction.

“Y-You will?!”

Tokuda grinned while responding. “Yeah. I’ll give it a shot; how do I join?”

“Here, fill out the paperwork; after that, you will officially join our faction.”

Tokuda grabs the paperwork from the younger lady and examines it, focusing on each line of text.

They want my name, age, nationality, and power trait? I don’t have a power trait... so what must I put down?

He grabs a pen made of ink and writes down the information needed on the paperwork.

Tokuda Hajime... fifteen years old... Japanese... and no power traits. I wonder if they’ll accept me even though I don’t have this power trait thing…

He walks back to the stand he had received the paperwork from and hands the paper to the young lady.

“Here, I’m finished.”

“Ah! I’ll let my friend Kamau interview you; he said he was actually interested in what you’re capable of.”

Crap. If they see my answer, I’m toast.

***

“So... you have no power trait?”

“Um... I don’t.”

Tokuda nervously smirked while he repeatedly tapped his foot on the ground up and down while he was sitting on a hand-made chair.

Tap… Tap… Tap…

Tokuda gulped as he awaited the final decision…

Damn it... I’m certain that I will face rejection.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The man who was speaking to Tokuda was named Kamau. He was known in the faction as the head captain. The one who leads whenever they head to combat. He’s taller than Tokuda by a lot; if speaking specifics, he’s around the six-foot area of height. He was born from African parents and raised in Nigeria. His looks frightened most people in school back when he was kid, so he had almost no social skills, still in the Central Hall people will still give him odd glares.

“It’s fine by me; I received my trait this morning shortly after fighting the wild beasts out in the wild forest region.”

Tokuda felt confused about the whole trait ordeal; he had no idea how it worked or how one could even achieve it. Only if there was an explanation from the Summoner explaining what a power trait was…

“Hey... Kamau was it?”

“Yeah, that’s my name. What’s up?”

Tokuda looked down at his feet. Then, he asked what he thought was an embarrassing question in his head. He didn’t want to ask about it but he didn’t really have a strong idea of what it was…

“W-What is a power trait?”

“Gawh.” Kamau sighs while shaking his head.

“I’m guessing you didn’t check out the booklets explaining everything?”

“Wait… What booklet?”

Kamau grabbed an object from a table behind him that he used to make coffee. He pulls out a book that looks miniature in his hand. “This... it’s the booklet that explains everything about the magic here.”

Tokuda was shocked to discover that something like that even existed. He never knew until then that reading the book shown in front of him would solve most of his wonders. Kamau throws the book into Tokuda’s chest with a careful motion while Tokuda tries to grab it.

“Here, give it a quick read.”

Tokuda thanked Kamau, then proceeded to read it at that moment.

My World is the title, huh? Makes sense due to the fact that he declared that he made this world, by the summoner of this world.

He flipped page after page until he eventually got to the end of the booklet that Kamau gave him. Tokuda summarized the entire booklet into his head to get a better understanding of how the entire power system works.

So... In short, Ren is a type of energy. It can form by mixing two things. One is the Natural Energy in the human body. The other is Will Energy from the soul and the will to fight.

The choice between Mesu or Tesu depends entirely on your power traits. Mesu is a magic power trait, meaning you, the Ren Wielder, can only use magic abilities. Tesu is a sword power trait; you can only use blades. But the similarity between both is that you can infuse Ren Energy into both traits. These traits are always randomized; you can’t pick one. The way to achieve one of these traits is by actually using the method to make Ren Energy in combat. Meaning, it has to be a moment of the slightest survival in combat for it to fully awaken.

But, as soon as Tokuda was about to wrap up reading the book, he noticed some key details that were left out. What about the Skill Tree and leveling-up systems? Why wasn’t that included? He thought there could be a reason that the “Skill Tree” and other aspects like the leveling-up feature he has wasn’t spoken about…

“I should go tell Kamau that I’m finished.”

“Hey, Kamau!”

Kamau looked behind and saw Tokuda waving and calling his name from afar.

“I’m coming!”

Kamau was surprised at how fast Tokuda read the book. It took him some time to understand the whole concept, but he just treated it as child’s play.

“Hey, so you read the entire thing?”

“Mhm. I read it all... I know how to get my power trait.”

“Ah, I see. You’ve been accepted into the Ember Guard. The meeting is tomorrow; be sure to be here at eight o’clock sharp.”

Tokuda was filled with excitement. He was ready for his life to start kicking off with his newfound group.

I feared I couldn’t join their faction or any group. I had no magic in me.

“Kamau? I have a question!”

Kamau looked back to see Tokuda shouting his name. “Yeah, what’s up?” Tokuda caught up to Kamau and asked him a question that would spark his interest in being able to obtain magic.

“Say, could you show me some magic?”

Kamau put his hand behind his head. “Sorry Kid, but the thing is... I can’t cast magic spells like the ones in those fictional stories.”

“Wait... that could only mean you’re a Tesu user?!”

Kamau grinned. “Yeah. I can only use magic within a blade that’s infused with Ren inside it.” As he spoke, he pointed towards a big sword that was black and had clean edges. It also had a gem in the handle.

Tokuda was amazed at how big the sword was; he inspected it and saw the gem on the handle.

“Hey Kamau, what’s this shiny gem inside it?”

“It’s a gem that activates the sword; every Tesu User holds this gem with care. Meaning if it were to be destroyed, or even taken out, it’ll make the user incapable of fighting.”

“So, if you were to fight and that gem was broken, you would die?”

“Yes... that one thing is our disadvantage as Tesu Users. The one thing we Tesu Users fear of ever happening during a fight to the death.”

Tokuda gulped as he thought of the aftermath if that gem were to be taken.

I can’t imagine dying like that. But... Seeing your comrade die in action by just a little simple move of taking that gem is worse.

“Tokuda... you good?”

He snapped back into reality after zoning out to the distance.

“O-Oh, yeah I was just zoning out. Sorry, Kamau, but I’m going to be getting something to eat at this café I saw on the way.”

Kamau grinned. “Alright, just stay safe out there since you don’t have magic in you. I’ve heard there’s already been people slaughtering each other.”

“Okay! Thanks for letting me be a part of your guys faction! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Kamau watches as Tokuda takes off toward the main street. He walks towards the younger lady at the stand and sits down on a log.

***

“Hey Akane, I think we found a good kid.”

Akane looked back toward Kamau with a confused facial expression.

“What do you mean?”

Kamau sighed.

“That kid Tokuda... he just gave me a really good vibe talking to him. He also seems like a nice kid... which is the bad part.”

“The bad part?”

Kamau looked worried. “I just have a feeling he’s going to have trouble fighting people like him. Will he struggle to kill a human, even if they killed many people?”

Akane looks Kamau in the eye with a serious face. “We’ll help Tokuda. He’ll be a strong man alongside us. He will be a member of the Ember Guard.”

“Damn Akane... you haven’t cared for someone dearly since that one time back in junior high; it’s kind of funny.”

“It’s not funny! That was when we were both much younger.”

“Akane, you’re letting out your ugly side.”

Akane dashes at Kamau and uppercuts him. He flies up towards the main street. “Take that, Kamau!”

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