Nervously, Garen went up. He put his hands onto the first stone, and it lit up! It even seemed a brighter yellow hue than the others.
Visibly, Garen's expression eased up as his lips curled up too. Then, he put his hand onto the other stone.
!
A pale blue light radiated from the stone, instantly causing the expression of the woman instructor to break up. Her face had lit up but her eyes held a complicated expression.
Jealousy? Longing?
That was what Cylius was able to read from her eyes.
Then, the woman gestured for Garen to come to her side. Then, she didn't even look at Cylius as she said "Next."
Cylius inhaled a deep breath, and exhaled out.
After preparing himself both mentally and physically, he went up to the first stone, and concentrated his mind before touching the first stone. If he was right, all the physical training he had done should've improved his chance of lighting up this first stone, usually called the Talent Stone.
The talent stones were rare, and supposedly they could only be acquired from planets that had been inhabited by monsters for a long time. There were many types of it, and this first stone was the most common one, called the Common Talent Stone.
Usually, it would just measure the digestion ability of genes for the human that touched it. The greater the light, the better the digestion talent was.
Feeling the stone's hard and cold surface, Cylius felt no heat as the stone gradually lit up. It continued getting brighter and brighter, as it reached the level of Garen's stone.
Looking at the woman, Cylius saw a slight nod.
'Onto the next one' he thought before he once again concentrated his mind and touched the second stone. All of the people except Garen didn't have the second stone light up when they touched it.
This should be the second most common talent stone, the Natural Talent Stone, to test for natural genes inside the person.
Garen was surprisingly special. Having a natural gene meant his future was boundless. What kind of special he was, Cylius didn't know. Maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all.
...
Touching the second stone, an inexplicable feeling was born within Cylius; suddenly feeling as if something deep within him had awakened. Something that had been dormant for long.
'It awakened! I do have a natural gene!!' Cylius' eyes lit up, and he turned to the woman, only to see an even deeper level of contradicting emotions within her eyes. Blankly, she also called Cylius to her side and then said an inexplicable word - "%%()#*@."
Instantly, two doors had opened, and each of the two group, the untalented, and the talented along with Garen and Cylius had went to their respective doors.
As the door opened up, so did the tunnel behind it.
As the woman had intended for them to go in, their group of 13 did as she said. After some time passed after they had entered the tunnel, Cylius heard footsteps, indicating that there were another group of people near them.
And indeed, just a while later, they had encountered another group of orphans.
Cylius didn't know any of them. In fact, he only knew a handful of orphans that could be counted on two hands. They weren't noteworthy enough for him to remember.
However, it seemed like a person from this group seemed to know him as she looked at him in a strange light. It wasn't in a good light, it was as if she was staring at a weirdo. Well, it didn't bother him one bit.
She might have just been one of those common orphans in the orphanage that had neither the guts nor the ability to make it to the top.
Well, not that he was proud that he had been remembered by others. It was just an annoying matter altogether. All because of a single accident that happened.
It wasn't much of a sunny day when the accident happened. The sky was dark when the officials gave them the free time they had exactly been waiting for.
So according to plan, he went out to the trash dump and was lucky enough to find a gun. But when he did, a group consisting of six children suddenly came out and demanded that he give the gun to him. Of course, he didn't follow their order instead, he retaliated.
He shot down four of them quickly. It was just as if it was natural to him. He just shot and the bullets hit their target. It was easy with his sharp vision not to mention that they were clumped together, making them an easy target.
After at least four of them were killed, they suddenly realized their situation and tried to escape. One girl and one boy. They seemed to be close friends.
Well, he had the chance but he didn't let them survive.
He shot them in the back of their heads.
At the time, he didn't think of anything. It was just a normal occurrence in the trash dump. Orphans would die every once in a while and this time wasn't anything special either.
Besides, it was self-defense. They threatened to kill him if he didn't give the gun to them. They probably thought he didn't know how to use it.
Poor children didn't even manage to use the gun they had in their pockets. Maybe fear had just overtaken them.
He didn't think anything of the situation but unfortunately, other orphans had caught him in the act. Then, they spread a rumor about how he was cold-blooded and such. In the end, the rumor grew to become even larger in the end, describing how he would kill anyone that displeased him a bit.
But he didn't have any choice. If he had given the gun to them, they would've probably killed him.
...
Soon, their group also met the other eight groups. In total there were about twenty five, six or so people. If judged by the initial hundred people, one person every four people got through the same route as them.
When they came to the end of the tunnel, a lounge appeared before them.
Behind it, a man was sitting on a chair reading a book. It was a rare sight as almost everything had turned digital nowadays. Well, he might have just liked the feeling of real paper books too.
The man didn't say anything. Instead, he just reached out his hand and lifted his finger which resulted in a series of tokens floating into the air and shooting towards them.
Every person in the group got it just that his and Garen's were especially more luxurious than the others.
The man didn't spare a glance towards them as he pointed towards a direction.
This was considered rude by the orphans as they acted quite displeased. After all, this man wasn't radiating any dangerous aura like the robed man from earlier so they had automatically labeled him as a weak target to pick on.
"Hey, old man! Are you fucking deaf. Oi, look at me, you think you're someone mighty huh. If you don't then I'll fucking shoot you" said a kid who apparently owned a gun.
With his gun, he might have been able to rule in the orphanage he was in but here, it was a different story altogether.
The old man who had insults coming towards him suddenly turned to look towards the group. As soon as his eyes met, Cylius knew that he was someone to not be provoked.
Then after that, the old man turned to look towards the boy who had insulted him. Upon having their eyes met, the boy froze in fear just like prey would in front of its natural predator.
Before anyone knew, the boy had already been lit up with fire. He was getting burned alive. However, it wasn't him that got incinerated. Instead, it was his belongings. From his clothes to his hair. He was just bare naked now.
But strangely, his body wasn't affected by the fire. It just stayed white as it was without any burn marks or anything.
But in the next second, everything changed.
"AAAAAAAAAAHH" an ear-piercing cry came out but this cry wasn't heard by them. It seemed like a certain barrier was limiting his speech from the outer world, making him nothing but a mute to them.
But still, through the barrier, they seemed to have the illusion of hearing the boy's painful cry seeing that his mouth had opened to the extreme. He was sure that the boy's jaw muscles had already been torn apart.
From the barrier, they could see the boy's slow death, with each layer of his skin and muscle slowly getting incinerated into flames.
Not even a minute later, the boy was no longer to be found.
The gun was no exception, leaving nothing behind.
No burnt marks on the floor either.
Realizing his situation, Cylius suddenly pulled up his gun and shot at the man that had just been accompanying the boy. The boy just stood there, shocked to his core.
And not just a second later, a bullet had come drilling into his head.
Then, Cylius bowed down to the old man. He was obviously picking sides with the old man. He was quite clever so he had chosen to kill the friend of the boy that just died due to the old man.
Seeing him do this, not much expression was on the old man's face. In fact, it stayed blank the whole time. But it was obvious that he had been pleased with Cylius' actions as he threw a card at him, one that was even more luxurious.
Cylius knowing that it might really be a good thing caught the card before it fell to the ground. He didn't know its use but if he dropped it he could really enrage the old man.
Just now did the others around him also reacted to the situation and also bowed to the old man with sweat dripping down their cheeks. But this time the old man didn't care about the others as he continued reading his book. The group didn't feel offended this time as they continued on their way to the direction the old man pointed.
After going to the direction for some time, they reached the place. There was an elevator there with a miniature robot beside it. After looking at them and their clothes the robot said "Thirteenth floor" with a mechanic voice.
The elevator was large, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it was a house on its own. The thing was, there was a writing that said "7H elevator miniature version".
There was a series of holographic buttons in front of them. The highest was the fiftieth floor while their destination was the thirteenth floor.
They pressed the thirteenth floor and nothing happened, they didn't feel anything but through the glass, they could see the elevator moving up steadily. Soon the doors to the elevator opened up with a number thirteen on top of the door.
They had reached the thirteenth floor.
They walked out and another robot was waiting for them there. "The number on your room card would display your room number. There are three main sections, A, B and C. At the back of your room card there will be the section you belong in.
If its C on the back of your card you will go this way, if its B, this way and if its A, you will go this way. The treatment would get better in ascending order. After walking for a while you will see doors with numbers on top of it."
"That will match the numbers you have on your card. If it's the same number, then that will be your temporary room until reaching the destination. You can unlock the room by pressing the card onto the identification section, other than that there is no way to unlock the door. If you have any more questions, please ask the room's AI." the robot explained to them.
When Cylius looked at his section it was a B, when he glanced at others it was a C. The second stone must've influenced this decision considering it. His perception ability shouldn't have been known since the woman didn't seem to know anyone among their group.
The only reason left was that the result of the second stone must've influenced it, but it may be that the woman was acting.
If the 'second stone influencing the result' guess was right, Garen should also get the B grade section. Seeing Garen' card number, it really was B. Moreover, the number on it was right above of his number.
Thinking this, his mood instantly soured. That could possibly mean that they would be stationed together with Garen bothering him at any time.
He wouldn't allow that to happen though, the robot said that only the owner's cards could access the room, if he locks it up that extroverted person wouldn't be able to bother with him.
Garen bothered him a lot on the journey, it would be great if he could just sew his mouth shut.
"Hey friend why you have to be so cold man, at least look at me. We're friends right, don't you think so. Recently, I heard a rumor about you. It says that you are some cold blooded person that kills upon sight. Is that true? Well no mind because you will still be my friend"
"Shut up"
"I have a gun right here. You see it?" saying this, he pulled out a handgun from his pocket.
Then, he waved it in front of Garen, just like how a person would do in front of children in order to make them grab towards it.
Seeing the gun, Garen retreated a few steps before pulling out a thing from his pocket.
It was a liquified nutrition.
"You know man... don't be so serious. I'll give you this liquid nutrition, how about it?" he said somewhat playfully.
Then seeing that Cylius wasn't going to accept it, he looked to be dejected as he muttered "But buddy, we have gone through so much together and you're already saying things like this..."
"..."
Cylius felt speechless. What have they gone through? He had just met this guy about three hours ago and without much context, he had already considered him as his friend. Did he find something special in him or what.Did he find something special in him or what.
It would've been nice if he actually also liked his personality but the thing was, he didn't like him at all.
No, none at all.
"Just scram"
He shook his head and fastened his pace. He knew that Garen faked his dejection. Just from looking at his eyes, he could see that 'fake pitiful' look. But he was also quite suspicious. Why would a random person suddenly get attached to him?
Did he lose some bet in his friend group?
Besides, if he did this to everyone, he really would've died in the orphanage many times over. There were many people like him who could really just shoot him and kill him just because he was annoying.
Unfortunately, he didn't really know what would happen to him if he killed Garen right here and now. He could also be killed along with Garen so he didn't want to risk it.
Since violence wasn't the answer here, he would have to find another way. So after contemplating for some time, he decided to just ignore him for the rest of the journey.
Ignoring him would definitely make him bored. He was sure of that and since he was a very energetic person he would eventually give up on him and go find another person to be his victim.
He really didn't want any relationship with Garen at all.
While they were arguing, they had already arrived at their destination. In front of Cylius was the room with a number '735'. It opened up with a card so no one except the owner could enter it.
After flashing his cards, he entered his room before closing his door shut. Poor Garen didn't even realize what situation he was in until ten seconds later.
Inside the apartment, nothing could be heard. Only quietness which could be peaceful sometimes and violent sometimes. It all changed on the user.
After entering his room, he calmly analyzed his situation.
If everything were to be counted from the beginning it would be when the spaceship delivered him to the orphanage.
At the time, he didn't know what to do so he just went along what the officials told. He was normally an average student. Well, 'he' 'was' an average student.
He did what they told and learned language and a bit of the history of the world.
It wasn't much, just ok for a normal human child.
Looking around the apartment, he saw a slightly bit luxurious room waiting for him. Tilting his head just a bit upwards, he suddenly flinched. The reason was that an unknown voice had suddenly greeted him.
"Welcome host. I'm the room's monitor and its respective AI. If you have anything to make me do you can ask the question at anytime."
Oh well, that is convenient. He had many doubts about this world so he was going to ask a lot of questions.
So he just nodded and first went to find the bedroom. The apartment consisted of one bedroom, one toilet and one living room. It wasn't much and could be said to be a normal apartment room of a hotel.
There, he sat down on the bed before slowly falling into the soft and warm bed.
It was an entirely new sensation compared to the cold and rough bed made out of iron at the orphanage so he enjoyed it while he can.
Now, here comes the questions.
"Are there any reminders for me?"
"Yes. First reminder - there will be a training project starting two days from now on. It is for the purpose of training orphans until they are suitable to carry the power of a gene. Second reminder - you have a card that Sir Derick gave. It is a C grade gene storage room card that allows you to pick one desired gene you want from there."
"Sir Derick?"
"Yes"
In case of safety, he didn't ask about sir derick again.
"How different are the genes in the C grade storage room compared to others"
"Genes are divided into five grades - Common, Uncommon, Eare, Sacred and Ancient. The C grade storage room stores Uncommon genes."
"How important are genes?"
"Genes are important for the future of mankind. It helps humans start out on the path of genes"
"What do you mean by 'start out on the path of genes'?"
"Humans are unable to cultivate spiritual energy and runes so they borrow the genes of monsters to help them"
"What does people who use geneticians called. You know, like sorcerers and such."
"Geneticians have six grades. It starts with the first and ends with the sixth. Lower grade geneticians can't absorb higher grade genes."
"A.I., tell me how much is the difference of a grade B room compared to a grade C room and did the lighting of the second stone matter in the room grade?"
"The difference is that the grade B room can be considered luxurious while the grade C room can be considered above average. For the exact difference, grade C room doesn't have any baths or any shower, the bed is smaller and doesn't have any living room."
"The technology there is slightly outdated and doesn't receive any meals right to the apartment. They use public showers and baths and yes the lighting of the second stone matter. It's a test to see if the examiner have any natural born unique genetics"
...
"Then for the last question, what is the training project?"
"The training project is the act of the trainees selecting their own genes and working to increase their gene power displaying percentage and also training the body. After that, the trainees will participate in a championship where there are rewards for the top ones."
'Then doesn't that mean I will have advantages over the other trainees by getting higher quality genes from the storage room from the start?'
The series of askin gand answering between him and the A.I. ended sooner than he thought. But within this short time, he now knew about the basic structure of the world which would definitely come in handy later on.
Well, this was good. A better start, a better future. If he could gain the top hand at the start, his development would be smoother and also faster than his peers.