Life As A Neophyte
Phesx Caolia was helped into a similar room of a smaller size after several minutes of walking. The doors opened sideways this time. Beni carried the young boy over his shoulder, surprising 3 people at the same time.
One was behind a counter, checking a robotic arm for all Phesx Caolia cared and could see, with pain and blurriness still clouding his eyesight. The other 2 came out of what seemed a like backroom, or a bathroom. A brown young woman peeked out, topless, with a sweaty, exhausted young man behind her. He was white, with a salad-like brown afro, and quite young. The woman was a beauty, but she looked at Phesx Caolia like her duty called.
“Get on with him, he’s still got to meet other people.” Beni said to the pair before the young woman nodded and went back into the room. Beni bashed everything away from another counter, with the parts of weaponry on it all falling to the floor.
“Eeh, Instructor, those are my thi-” The young man said, coming out with a towel covering his lower body, and his sweaty and wet top uncovered. Beni interrupted the young man with just words, not bothering to look. “Shut it and get her things out. Do you need to knot your towel?”
“No,” the young man shook his head and went to yet another counter, this time smaller and with medicinal scent Phesx Caolia was used to. However, he only recognized a small portion of the scent. Watching the young man bring medicinal boxes, Phesx Caolia murmured, feeling dizzy still. “Mm, no- I… allergic, to some… mm…”
“Take his file out,” Beni and the young man frowned before the former said. The latter nodded and went to another counter’s computer with a very thin screen and with his fingers tapping on the counter.
“I’m here,” the young woman from earlier came out wearing a sleeveless white shirt and no bra. Beni looked at her, “What took you so long?!”
The young woman ignored it and walked to Phesx as Beni talked to her. Just then, the young man frowned and stood up at once, baffled and feeling… insulted?
“We can’t use the majority of the things here! What the fuck is he?! His body only works with colored medicine. How did he even survive these conditions?!” The young man said, looking at the screen. Beni looked at the young woman.
“Let me see,” she stopped checking Phesx Caolia and went to the young man. “Get out, Waleks, you’re no medic.”
Waleks stepped away with a wronged face, but the young woman shook her head dismissively when she read the screen. Returning, she opened the medical boxes while saying, “He can be treated without problem. What does he have? Internal?”
“Breath. Exercising. He used it wrongly, and more than he should without knowing how to.” Beni said, gesturing to Phesx’s left wrist. The medic frowned, checking on the injury as Phesx Caolia had the strange sensation of worms entering through his skin, penetrating yet harmless.
“How long is he here?” The other person behind the counter, a beautiful red-headed young woman asked, intrigued to join in at last. Beni looked at her and his expression became soothed, clearly different than with the other 2.
“Less than an hour…” Beni’s words caused the 3 to frown. Then, looking at Phesx’s delusional state, they stared with disgust. The medic spoke, grabbing his left hand, “So he’s that guy. Didn’t know he was coming here. I got this. He’ll be sober in half an hour at most.”
“I can administer breath recuperation.” The red-haired walked around the counter. The medic nodded, with Beni stepping away. “Thank you.”
“No problem, Instructor.” The red-haired replied before grabbing Phesx Caolia’s left wrist. The medic grabbed 3 red syringes and stabbed them below his palm. Leaving them hanging, she picked a green and yellow syringe before tearing his shirt apart after sliding the jacket away.
“Oooh, he was indeed in Preut. I bet he had more fun than most.” The medic revealed the numerous scars, but those on his right side only peeked before she injected him in the lower belly and left lung. The medic frowned when she shot Phesx at his lung, but returned to his wrist.
Injecting him the contents of the 3 syringes, slowly and at the same time, Phesx’s lips filled with saliva as he reacted, instinctively making ‘pu’ sounds nonstop from them. Beni stood at the side, leaning his back on a wall with resting eyes.
Phesx Caolia felt his body improving as he felt cold things open up his left wrist, but only for a few seconds before he felt the sensation of a string stitching him up. The feeling was semi-gone, but he knew it well. His eyes also gained some more clarity.
Phesx saw a blurry face with red hair, his eyes moved around a bit, scrutinizing her. She moved after opening her eyes and stared at the other face near him. He heard the red-haired speak as her blurred face moved, “I thought you say he’d be lucid in 30 minutes.”
“Want to hit his head to make sure?” The other female voice responded. Phesx Caolia sighed, exhaling from his mouth. Even though he was like this right now, he didn’t feel injustice or that this place was bad. On the contrary… it had to be good.
After a few minutes, with the young women ignoring him, Phesx Caolia rested his head on a cold surface. It was very uncomfortable, but he thought it would be good to make some modifications to weapons, or assemble one. Just then, another face appeared, this time from a white one from the middle to the top.
He looked down at Phesx, while the brown face seemed gone. Then, he looked at the redhead as she kept holding Phesx’s left wrist. Phesx could now feel the position his body was in, slowly gaining recognition.
The redhead turned her head slightly towards the young man and seemed to look at him, Phesx couldn’t tell for sure. Then, he heard her say in a casual, light tone, “Keep looking.”
The young man imperceptibly moved his neck backwards before looking elsewhere, where the other young woman probably was. The red-haired continued focusing on Phesx Caolia while the young man stepped backwards, out of his sight. Then, Phesx Caolia’s eyes went dark.
When the red-haired watched those wide open eyes finally close, she lifted her left eyebrow. The medic returned, staring daggers at the young man, before placing a skin partition screen on Phesx Caolia’s torso, almost undressing him fully.
… When Phesx Caolia opened his eyes again, he was alone with that red-haired face. Only, he could see her face now. He also felt all his body. It felt similar to when one’s limbs nearly grow numb, only to end up feeling ants dancing under one’s skin.
“Where’s the medic? And Instructor Beni?” Phesx Caolia sat up. A mantle covering his body fell to his lap, but the redhead kept focused on his wrist for a few more seconds. Then, as Phesx Caolia realized he only had boxers on, but they were torn apart from the right side, she looked up at him sharply. Standing up, she let go of his wrist and told him, “Beni’s outside. You don’t have to say his status and name when they aren’t present.”
“You heal fast. The ‘main’ Instructors will have fun playing with you,” she said before turning around and gesturing to his clothes on the floor. Phesx Caolia stepped down the counter and hurriedly wore his things.
She was beautiful. Freckled and porcelain white skin, and large, oval celeste eyes. Her hair was actually orange, but Phesx Caolia only saw red before. Maybe it was his memories playing pretend. Her lips were orange and rosy, looking tender but thorny, too.
“Thanks,” Phesx Caolia said, now fully dressed with his gloves on. The redhead returned to behind her counter and nodded at him. Phesx Caolia returned the gesture before walking to the door. He moved semi-fast, but as always, the door opened slowly.
“Hmph~.”
Phesx Caolia heard a humorous blow from a little someone’s nostrils. He didn’t dare look at her and just stared ahead. He could see Beni’s feet in front, facing the same direction as his, but he didn’t help with the door. After an awful lasting moment, Phesx Caolia walked outside.
“Come,” Beni said nothing else and just walked away, leading Phesx Caolia through another little adventure. Once they were on their way, Beni briefed Phesx Caolia of those people.
“That medic was the weapons craftsman’s medic. Don’t confused status with depravity. Those two are an annoying pair in the Artistas, always ‘playing around’. The one who treated you is someone with a more refined comprehension of what you barely had a taste of. She’s the weapons master. That guy is Waleks, and the lass is Pheli. They are Artistas, what you aspire to be.”
“I understand,” Phesx Caolia politely responded. He heard Beni grunt, but ignored it and continued walking.
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When they arrived at the next door, Beni unceremoniously stepped inside. This time, Phesx Caolia sunk his left cheek in while his tongue moved around. Then, as the door slowly opened fully, he spit blood on his right index and middle fingers. Spreading his blood on his closed eyelids, he stepped forward with confidence.
Opening his eyelids, Phesx Caolia blew from his nostrils as he still saw darkness, but this one slowly dissipated. However, he also succeeded. He felt his eyelids dusted. As the darkness went away, and his eyes welcomed the light, he wiped his eyelids.
Phesx’s fingertips had black dust mingled with his blood. It was too small, but they accumulated a lot on his eyelids. A brown hand presented him with a handkerchief. Phesx used it to clean himself before staring at the Instructor before him.
He had thick lips, short curly hair, regular height, and was very damn muscular. Phesx Caolia returned the handkerchief, which the Instructor threw away while introducing himself. “Instructor Bael. Beni told me of your inconvenience.”
“Indeed,” the Instructor grabbed his wrist and checked before rising both eyebrows. He looked up at Phesx’s face to continue, “I will take care of that body of yours. It will become useful to Riverlye when you become an Artista. Breathing will only become part of it. All you must care about here is building the instrument you’ll need the most for anything.”
“…” Phesx Caolia had nothing to say, so he just nodded. Instructor Bael looked at Beni and nodded. Beni sighed in relief. Then, he grabbed Phesx and brought him out, lowly murmuring, “It’s finally over. I’ll bring you back. You can go up and return to your bike on your own, I presume?”
“Mn,” Phesx nodded. Also feeling tired and wanting to get his apartment checked. On the way, neither spoke about a single thing. Phesx Caolia had things to think about, while Beni was Beni. Arriving at the elevator from before, Beni stopped Phesx Caolia and handed him a small pistol. It was the first time he saw a weapon in a non-police or soldier’s holster after Preut.
“Take it. It’s a gift from the ‘house’. Don’t worry about the price. You’ll do more money, enough to buy a dozen DLMs.” Beni said, still offering the small pistol. Phesx Caolia looked at his face before grabbing it. He held the small thing in his hands. It had single-action and automatic functions, and it had the largest magazine of 35 bullets. It was clearly modded.
“Th- of course,” Phesx Caolia lifted his head and wanted to thank Beni, hiding his first gun, albeit illegal, behind his back. But Beni was long gone. Phesx Caolia shook his head before entering the elevator. He looked at the buttons and hit the one that said main floor.
The doors slowly closed, as if to remember Phesx of his status here, with his face looking through the gaps. His shoulders felt tired, and not using boxers felt weird. When the elevator stopped, the doors immediately opened. Phesx Caolia saw the same guards from before in their positions. After walking past them, Phesx Caolia realized he could only discern their figures after accustoming his eyes and knowing where they were beforehand.
Phesx Caolia exited the building with ease, feeling the fresh cold of the night invade his senses. It felt amazing!
There was a group of young fellows around his bike. Phesx Caolia didn’t stop walking, calmly stepping towards his bike. When he came close enough to be seen by them, a person pointed at him, “Hey, he must be the owner!”
“Shit. So young. How filthy rich is his father?” Another person said, commenting. Then, they kept silent as one of them, seeming like the leader, walked around Phesx's Myertha’s rear and slowly landed his right hand on his hip.
Phesx Caolia slowed down. The other person gained courage as he laid his terms, “Unlock your shit, and give me the verification. You can leave after I bring all my sluts here for a ride. If you don’t like the id-”
Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang…!
Phesx Caolia lowered his presence, and in the same moment, his right hand grabbed his small pistol and aimed it at the person talking. 2 shots in the belly and another in the head, he dropped dead. As soon as the 3rd shot went out, Phesx aimed it to his right, where the second person still hadn’t processed the situation and died with the first shot in his head.
Another 2 on his shoulders, he danced a little before falling backwards. By then, Phesx could already hear shrieks in the near alleys. Then, the third and fourth person around his Myertha fell. Phesx Caolia’s narrowed eyes relaxed and opened when the 4th hooligan fell nape-first on the ground.
Whoosh, whoosh… tap, tap, tap, tap…
Phesx heard whooshing sounds before people rushed from the sides and behind him to the scene. They moved the corpses and cleaned whatever blood and saliva fell on his Myertha. One of them stopped a few meters on his right, turned his head, and nodded upwards at him.
It was a black young man, smirking from corner to corner at him. He had a long hood covering his body, but he had black hair and eyes, and seemed interested in his actions. As the other hooded people cleaned, the young man smiled, directly facing Phesx. “Not bad!”
With that, Phesx Caolia was left alone. He could only hear footsteps rang behind him as everyone disappeared, leaving him alone in the dark with his Myertha.
Phesx Caolia’s back muscles relaxed, and his arms went low as he hid his small pistol. He placed his helmet on and started his bike before thinking, ‘I didn’t waste bullets… But I don’t have any other magazine…’
Those 12 bullets were the usual for a small pistol, so Phesx would’ve been left with nothing else if it wasn’t modded. But he felt satisfied. After all, these hooligans were armed, at least one person was. That was all Phesx Caolia needed to act.
That sensation when he somehow broke something in his wrist was terrifying back then, but after mulling over it… He felt it could be useful. Phesx rushed to his apartment, though, he might very well lose it.
Even if that hooligan didn’t have a firearm and just wanted to scare him… Phesx was allowed to fear for his life, right?
Thus, a contented young boy went to his first apartment, the first in his life he obtained with ‘his own’ money. Of course, objectively speaking, no amount of credits he earned were going to be his. Although the same couldn’t be said about social points and honorary merit.
… Driving a couple of hours back, Phesx Caolia arrived at a poorer suburb, much more than where the Ruvas lived. He rapidly turned his bike off and stepped out, hurrying to a house that could be considered large, with a ‘garden’ of pavement and with no cars or any vehicle.
Knock, knock, knock.
Phesx Caolia hurriedly knocked on the door before a white old woman opened it. Her wrinkled face looked up at him. She was quite short, but her eyes showed how sharply she can sting. Phesx Caolia looked down and immediately begged, “Miss Roberta, I’m sorry for the time, I had to do some freelancer work before being free.”
“Humm!” The landlady wrinkled her nose and looked at Phesx like she was a truthseer. Phesx looked back before she shoved a 1-finger thick identification card into his hands. Then, she berated the shit out of him, “It’s late! My son has already returned from a party! What do you think you’re doing this late? Stop bothering me and go to your place!”
Slam!
Phesx Caolia got the door closed on his face, nearly hitting his nose. He didn’t move an inch. After a second, he turned and walked to the street in front of the house. There was a staircase leading to the roof of a pizzeria, whose walls were red bricks. Atop it was a small ‘cottage’ of metal and cement.
When going up the stairs, Phesx Caolia felt contented for some reason. He liked the place being away from anywhere else. His ‘house’ was located on the west end of the pizzeria’s rooftop. It had a smallish living room with an even smaller kitchen annexed to the side.
There was a bathroom and 2 rooms, although only 1 was for humans, with enough space to be considered an actual room, while the other would only let 2 people lie together. There was a closet, but it was tall, not wide, and it didn’t have much volume.
There was enough space for furniture that any contemporary civilian would want and need, to the basics and poor quality, but still. Nevertheless, that wasn’t something Phesx cared about. He had to ‘rest’ for 3 days a week at Riverlye, with those days being the last 2 days of the week and the first. He would attend the rest of the days.
Before going to sleep, Phesx Caolia took his pistol out and analyzed it. It was very well-worked. He remembered Beni’s words and the young man’s blurry face and the beauty’s orange-hared face surfaced in his mind. His eyes twinkled with some… ambition.
He smiled as he lied on the mattress-less bed frame. At least he had a bedsheet. He’d have to go out tomorrow early on and find a job or a few that would earn him good, be it too heavy-tasked or time-consuming, but that would only need him a couple of days a week.
. . .
The next day, Phesx went out to look for work, even asking the neighbors, but their delivery man’s and their cook’s wages were too small. On the other hand, they paid well for a repairman, and someone who could act as a guard for the weekends during the last hours of the evening and first of the night.
Being in a place as it is, they opened from late morning to early night, earning a lot, and being notorious enough for some ‘groups’ to eye them. Either way, being relatively close to the center of the city, and a PPO, Police Post Office, they wouldn’t be extorted. Still, some situations might arise.
Thus, with both jobs, and being paid by the days he would show up, Phesx Caolia secured 1,500 credits per week. It wasn’t a casual job, and not for everyone, especially the repairing stuff. The pizzeria wasn’t only notorious and received gold rains every day, they also invested lots in their house. They had second-hand high-end machinery and products.
Then, now at the outskirts of the city, Phesx found a job in the early mornings of the weekend and first days at a farmer’s moving of livestock. He just had to follow with another truck where he’d watch out for whenever any livestock fell, escaped, or someone wanted to steal it.
It was pretty common, it seemed. Nevertheless, that earned him 800 for the week. The farmer was an old fellow, too. He was quite masculine and quiet, which is how they both hit it on without saying too many words. Perfect.
At last, Phesx Caolia found a job in the city. It was small, and safe, but it could be… difficult. He had to carry boxes from one end of a tall building to another, which could amount to 300 kg worth of paper work and utilities, going up and down dozens of floors, and even underground.
He would be paid 1,200 credits for the 3 days, as he’d spent most of the day there after helping the farmer watch his livestock. Now, it was all calculated. As Phesx Caolia finished preparing his daily life for the next 5 months, it was the 2nd day of the week. His first day at Riverlye as an official Neophyte after he passed that ‘test’.
… Early in the morning, when the sky was still so dark it was just a late-late night, Phesx Caolia arrived with his Myertha decorating the streets of the center of Sargonde beautifully and lavishly. He stopped in front of the building before a young woman with headphones on beckoned to him in his bike.
Phesx Caolia followed her into the building’s front and to the side, where a well-hidden ramp going down led to an underground garage. It was painted so even if it was during the day, anyone passing or even walking directly nearby wouldn’t notice it isn’t just the ground but a ramp. Only with a strong flashlight and the right angle aiming down would one notice.
Thus, Phesx Caolia began his first day.
…