Aren slowly walked out of the smoke, taking in the destruction around him.
Buildings were wrecked, windows shattered,roads were cracked apart.
"Where did he go?" Aren muttered looking around.
Guess I need to change places now...
After walking down the silent, empty road, Aren came across a group occultists who were searching for survivors.
"Hey are you ok kid? You look rough." One of them asked.
"Yeah..."
He replied.
"Any injuries?"
Aren hesitated.
"Just my hand. It's a bit bruised." Aren nervously said.
Probably from slamming into that thing...
A woman called Silna stepped forward.
"Then come here- I will treat it." She said.
Aren shook his head "nah, it's alright. Can you just show me the way out of this city?"
The group exchanged glances.
"Well if you say so." The head of the group Marlo replied
"Hey Silna, you said that you wanted to leave so..."
"Go with this boy and show him the way ." Marlo said.
Silna frowned," But Marlo..."
Marlo stopped her mid sentence "no buts, you were exhausted from our mission so just leave with that boy and take some rest, we will handle"
Hesitated for a second but then she agreed and split with Aren.
"I almost forgot! There was a blonde-haired boy with me before but he disappeared." Aren said.
"Alright we will try to find him, don't worry!"
Marlo replied.
Silna and Aren walked slowly down the road.
This boy…
I can sense it…
He's an occultist.
Silna narrowed her eyes.
Suddenly, Aren stopped.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Silna asked.
Aren exhaled.
"You probably already figured it out… that I'm an occultist."
Silna froze.
He's sharp…
Then she chuckled.
"So who are you, kid?" she asked.
"You don't seem like you're from around here."
"Yeah… I'm not."
"Name's Aren Milen."
"And what brings you here?"
"I came for the Yeager Exam."
Silna stopped walking.
"The Yeager Exam?"
She looked at him carefully.
"You're serious?"
"…Why?"
Aren scratched the back of his head.
"Mainly for the Yeager Pass.It lets me travel the world for free."
"travel the world for free" she murmured.
Silna stared at him… then sighed.
"That's your reason?"
"Do you even know what kind of exam that is?"
"Yeah yeah." Aren shrugged it off.
"So..."
"How did you became an Occultist? Passed down or by the eclipse that occurred ten years ago?" She asked, intrigued.
Aren froze,
"By the eclipse that occurred ten years ago."
"I think..." He murmured.
Silna laughed, "you think?" She said.
They reached the border of the city.
People here and there, Ambulances were taking injured people, survivors from the city reporting the scene, a whole news telecast was happening, more occultists walking into the city for rescues.
The whole place was busy.
"Alright Aren." She exhaled.
"This is the outer most part of the city. I will be going home from here, so see ya." Silna said and left.
Aren waited in a bus stop.
Suddenly a taxi pulled up to him.
Aren's eyes narrowed, confused.
The front window slid down.
"Thank god your ok!" The driver shouted.
Aren blinked... Then recognized him.
"Oh it's you!"
The driver scratched his head.
"Yeah... I kinda left you in a middle of a disaster back there"
"Sorry about that"
Aren shrugged it off.
"You got me here alive. That's enough."
The driver let out a small laugh.
"Heh... you are a weird kid."
He leaned over and pushed the door open.
"Get in, I'll take you wherever you need."
Aren hesitated for a moment... Then stepped inside.
The clouds turned pink, birds started to flew back to their nest, street lights were turned on, as the sun began resting.
The taxi came to a stop in front of a motel.
"Here this place should work."
"You're lucky too- prices are down because of that creature earlier." The taxi driver said.
Aren stepped out, " thank you for your help, sir."
He searched his pocket and pulled a universal coin.
"As you know... I dont have any currency from this country so take this."
"Hey! Hey!"
The driver grinned,stopping him.
" Kid... The universal coin you gave me before was already enough."
"If you want a ride just call me."
The two of them exchanged their numbers and Aren went inside the motel.
After successfully getting the key, he went inside, keeping his belongings aside and taking a quick bath.
A few minutes later, he layed on his bed... Staring at the ceiling.
"So it's tomorrow is it."
Aren closed his eyes.
The Yeager Exam.