Chapter 1After being discharged from the hospital, I began noticing weird activities around me. It"s only been a month since that horrific accident, but for some reason–nearly all of my wounds healed by now.
Right now, I"m out jogging around town. As usual, whenever people see me they always have to stop and stare.
It"s been like that my entire life. I have no issue with being tatted the t.i.tle most handsome man in Athens. In fact, I love that t.i.tle.
But even so, I hate the attention I get. Since turning twelve, I always hated getting unnecessary attention. Even at the age of nineteen! I still hate when people stop and stare.
I stop to rest, I had been jogging for nearly three hours now without a break.
Recently, it"s been rather hard for me to sweat or become exhausted. So lately I have been stopping myself for occasional breaks.
Besides my right, is the famous lake called goblin waters? It appeared around twenty or so years ago after a dungeon wall cracked open.
Luckily, there were only a few injured from this. As soldiers who were in Athens at the time came together to stop the monsters that poured through the dungeon cracks.
This only made Athens even more popular. Earning the third-highest tourist rates in the world.
"Are you tired!" A voice behind me said.
I turned around to see who it was, but to my surprise, it was my neighbor, "No it"s alright, I just wanted to take in the view here."
She was an elderly lady, she was the one who helped me and my sister move into the apartment next to her. In her hands was a cup of chamomile tea. She always wore a kimono to remind her of her heritage, and where she lived before the war started.
"Well— still have some tea. It should be refreshing for you!" She said, holding it out to me.
I grab the tea and sat down at the nearest bench around. And she followed, I didn"t ask why she was here.
She normally did things like this, so it didn"t really bother me.
All we do, however, is speaking about the world, and what I should do with my life.
She was very wise, she came from j.a.pan and was one of the first people to show signs of awakening.
Scientists all around the world were secretly experimenting with their civilians. Of course, this caused an uproar.
But when the h.e.l.lions began ma.s.sacring humans, everyone turned to the government for support.
Later on in her life, around three years after the h.e.l.lions declared war on humanity, she was brought to Athens for training.
And for some reason decided to never return home in j.a.pan.
"Are you going to join the soldiers a.s.sociation?" She asked me.
I looked at her in confusion, then said, "Why would I do that? I never awakened, to begin with."
She sighed. But I still don"t know why? Throughout childhood, you are put through a series of tests. From the ages of one to five is the best time to test someone to see if they are compatible with h.e.l.lion blood.
Some may still be compatible with it, so the government issues you to take at once again at the age of fourteen.
But I"ve been through three different tests and each time it was shown to me that I was incompatible with the blood.
"Abis! Something about you seems different since you were discharged from the hospital. Maybe you should get retested?"
I noticed something different about myself as well, but It should be almost impossible for me to have awakened.
My body completely rejects h.e.l.lion blood, and taking it may lead to my death. "…."
I stared, looking at the beautiful scenery in front of me. "It cost quite a bit of money to get retested at this age!" I told her.
"Don"t worry Abis, I"m sure that won"t be an issue!" She said smiling.
I laughed nervously, but when looking into her eyes I can"t say no. She was the one who helped raise me and my elder sister when our family disappeared.
I sighed and nodded my head in agreement, but how am I suppose to tell my sister about this.
After heading home. My sister was waiting for me at the door with a smile plastered onto her face.
"Abis, you got visitors!"
I walk up the stairs to my apartment, to see two men in suits standing behind her.
"h.e.l.lo, are you Abis Uzun?" One of the men asked me.
He was tall, far taller than me. He had a bald head and dark skin. He wore an all-black suit and kept his left hand tucked into his pocket.
The other was shorter than him, around my height in size but was extremely skinny compared to anyone else I"ve seen.
"We are with the Soldier a.s.sociation! And we are under the belief that you have already awakened." He told me.
The other one cut in to talk to his partner, "Are you sure this is the one that we are supposed to bring back. They said brown eyes, not gold!"
The tall one stopped him with a single hand gesture and nodded his head.
"His aura says it all!"
"Abis, are you willing to come with us!"
I take the time to think. Becoming a soldier is rather dangerous, but even if I happened to be a d-rank, the pay is still really good.
I look at Ivy, then back at them before giving my answer. With a sigh, I say, "Sure… I"ll become a soldier."
Their faces look rather happy and they take me out front to a car. First I ask if they could allow me to change clothes first, and they agreed.
Inside my closet, was only sportswear. Since all of my normal clothes were dirty I changed into charcoal grey shorts and a compression shirt that matched my shorts.
I also had some compression pants for under my shorts.
I head outside, my sister Ivy hands me a healthy bar to eat on while I drove to the soldiers a.s.sociation.
"Please safe!" She told me as I headed out the door.
In front of me was the limousine they had prepared for me. But even now, I still can"t figure out why they are treating me with such luxury.
Usually, if your rank is still not confirmed or is a low rank they treat you the same way they would treat anyone else.
Because unless you"re a high level right off the bat, they see you as any normal civilian.
"Get in, we"ll be taking you to the soldier a.s.sociation right away!"
I entered the back of the limousine, of course, I was a little suspicious of them when entering.
But when I saw what the inside looked like, I was actually amazed. I mean I"m this nineteen years old kid–
Who has never experienced anything this fancy in my entire life!
The seat were fluffy, with a bright red cover and tinted windows.
I turn back and wave at my sister one last time, I found this to be rather fancy even for me.
And wished to bring her along! But I"m sure that they wouldn"t listen to my request.
The two recruiters sat in a row in front of me, and when I closed the door the vehicle began moving.
I sat and absorbed the feeling of being in such a rich car. The interior was even bigger than expected. Being large enough to fit at least forty people at once.
"Did Ms. Asano send you?" That was my elderly neighbor.
"No! When she found out about trying to recruit you. She told us, that she would try her best to help us!"
Ms. Asano has a great influence on the soldier a.s.sociation. After her brave rescue mission two decades ago–
She became one of the most important figures in recent history.
Earning countless amounts of nicknames, some even I wish to gain someday.
She always told me that she saw some sort of potential hiding within me. Could this be what she meant?
The skinny, shorter one turned to me.
"Hey, kid! You want to earn some cool nicknames huh?"
My eyes widened. Not because he said something amazing, or that I saw something.
No, it was because of his question alone! I had said nothing about wanting a nickname and just thought it.
Could he be possibly reading my mind?
I mean there all sorts of cool abilities. But if he can read people"s minds, that would mean that I would have to be careful what to think.
"How did you know what I was thinking?"
"Its the matter of reading someone! Soon you"ll be enrolled in military training. That"s where you will learn to read people as I can!" He said bragging.
That was when I realized, usually, I would catch on to something like this quicker.
For some reason, I was in a car with two strangers. And I didn"t even know their names!
"Umm, may I ask for your names?"
The skinny turned back to me, "Why should we pretty boy! We might be your kidnappers!"
Of course, his comment was slightly unsettling. But I can tell that he was really bad at conveying jokes.
If that was one…
The tall and more mature one opened his mouth for the first time during this car ride.
"I"m Adam, and this is Lin! We are ranked among the best recruiters in the business. And it"s nice to meet you!"
He then turned to his right and hit Lin in the back of the head.
"Abis get comfortable! We will arrive at the a.s.sociation in half an hour!"