To help these children, the government decided to pay for the living expenses of those whose parents contributed greatly in the war.
The government provided them with the bare minimum of food expenses, and a 10-meter by 10-meter apartment.Erix Miller was an orphan living alone in the apartment provided by the government. When the war started 9 years ago, his parents were conscripted and never returned.4 years into the war, a government official told him that both of his parents died on the battlefield.At that moment, Erix's eyes turned sad and lifeless. Written all over his face was the sorrow of the tragedy caused by the war.The news was just too much to bear for the 9 years old child. He simply couldn't accept his parent's death.He had no other relatives alive so now that even his parents were gone too, he was completely alone in this world.Luckily for Erix, the world government offered to take care of his living expenses and accommodation.The deal was for the government to take care of his expenses while he was still in middle school and after he was old enough he would be sent off to military school.When the Sulckers invaded humanity from beyond space, humanity couldn't defend itself.Humans were too weak, whereas the Sulckers were fearsome beasts in humanoid forms. They were like animals but a hundred times more intelligent and dangerous.They had advanced technology, even more advanced than what the humans had.As a result of their overpowering aspects, in just a single day, a large portion of earth was destroyed.Humans couldn't even fight back because their war machinery that was coming near the monster's flying fortress was disabled instantly as though they were hacked.Even nuclear bombs didn't manage to do anything because each time they sent one, it was just being transported somewhere.Where? No one knew. The coordinates were unknown.Thankfully for the human race though, some people and families came out from the shadows with strong abilities. They were called 'Nobles'. These were the elites that awakened their mana beforehand and therefore, yielded strong abilities.Some of them controlled natural elements such as air, fire, and water, whereas others were doing different but great things too.Some of these people shared their knowledge with the others while the rest refused, deeming their abilities to be too precious; referring themselves as 'Original Nobles'.But who could blame them? One swift motion of their hand and an entire city could be reduced to dust.With the assistance of these people, humanity managed to fight these monsters until a treaty of non-attack was signed between both races.Humanity mourned not too long over the death of their loved ones because they gained something valuable; abilities.Those abilities were then passed down to the younger generations. And as time passed by after the war, a new system of life came into place.A system where the powerful were at the top of the food chain.And Erix was at the bottom of this food chain. A system where humans were graded in ranks. The Illusion of 'all humans are equal' disappeared after the war. Humans were graded from [F] to [SSS] rank. The [F] rank was considered the weakest while [SSS] was the strongest and highest rank.Orphans were regarded as garbage after the war. They were poor, however, they didn't have any influence.And most of it all, they had no ability.Why?Because ability costs money. A lot of money. As the most common one was expensive for orphans like Erix to acquire.However, since Erix was regarded as garbage in this society, he was frequently bullied.Because of this, he was isolated and ignored all his life.In school, he was constantly bullied and beaten up by his peers.He had no ability nor a means of acquiring one, so his peers see him as a suitable target to prey on.The teachers at his school turned a blind eye to his situation.He lived his life in loneliness and pain. No day has passed without getting bullied in some sort. If it wasn't at school, it would be outside."Hey, Erix, I told you last time that the amount will double from now on. C'mon, transfer 60 points to my watch this minute." The boy commanded as he stretched out his hand to Erik.Today, Erix was returning from his lunch break when he came across that boy. The boy frequently steals from him."Bu-..""Shut up, who told you to speak, huh?" Erix tried to speak but the boy waved his hand and water splashed him.The boy went forward to empty the whole point Erix had on his watch."If you had just shut up and obeyed, this wouldn't have happened." The boy sneered at him before walking away.There were a lot of people in the corridor since it was lunch break, and they all witnessed what happened. And as if it was a daily occurrence for Erix, they all began to laugh uncontrollably.He was just a level one without any ability, after all, so why would they care about how trash would be treated?The teachers that were walking in the hallway passed by the soaked Erix without even bothering to stop. They barely glanced for a second before walking away...This was the cruel world Erix has been in ever since his parents died.However, after completely being soaked, Erix didn't move for a long time.A lot of students approached Erix to help him but after beholding the number on his wristwatch, they all went away.Sometime later, the bell rang indicating that lunch break was over and that it was time for students to go to take their last few lessons before dismissal.However, Erix didn't move anywhere. He just stood there facing down with tears flowing down his face.'But why?' He thought. 'Why do I need to endure all this suffering and torture? You guys left with a motherfucking necklace that ain't doing any shit for me? Why?! Why?!'He thought multiple times of throwing away the necklace, but he somehow managed to hold back.It was the only thing he had left from his parents, so he needed to act wisely with it, not emotion-based actions.He has suffered a lot in school. Not a single day has passed without receiving any sort of bullying yet he managed to endure.He had managed to hold on for a long time, but today, just one day before school ended and military school began, he broke.He was fed up and couldn't contain any of the shit in him anymore. However, instead of heading to class, he decided to retire to his apartment.Once he exited the school building, a strong gust of wind came upon him.At first, he thought it was someone with wind ability trying to bully him but then he found out it was just nature.'Seems nature itself is a bully,' He muttered to himself.It was about a ten-minute walk from the school to his apartment.It was pretty quick usually since he would most times run to his apartment to avoid being bullied by street kids.But today, even though there weren't any kids in the street, he was just too tired to run.He didn't know if it was because of the water the boy had sprinkled him with, or the heavy wind that was making him feel cold to no end, or both, but he didn't have the strength to run."At this point, I think I'm gonna catch a cold," Erix said to himself. "How nice, just a day before I go to military school," Erix muttered in sarcasm.Once he was in front of his apartment building he immediately entered it. It was getting cold outside so he ran up the stairs without stopping until he finally got to his room.He wasted no time in changing his clothes and instead, he fell on his bed. He tucked himself under the bed quilt and began sleeping. He was freezing from outside so to keep his body warm, he closely hugged his leg.Though before he slept, he took his pale-looking necklace between his hands."Mom, dad, I don't know if you're hearing me right now but I want to inform you guys that by tomorrow I will be leaving for military school. Please, make my fate change there. I beg you," Erix asked whoever could hear him with his necklace in his hand.After saying that, he fell asleep.Sometime later, something happened, and since Erix was fast asleep, he didn't see it happen.The necklace suddenly started to emit a blinding radiance as it rose and began hovering in the air. The glow from the necklace made Erix's room emptier with the stuff in it, even illuminating him under the bed quilt.It shook uncontrollably while hovering in the air until the shaking finally died down. And gradually, the necklace started to dissipate into tiny red particles until it completely disappear into thin air.[Congratulation, you have been granted the 'Demon System']
Unknowingly for Erix, he slept the whole day. He had come home yesterday by 4:30 and had slept till 9:00 am. He was so tired and worn out that he didn't even recall what happened yesterday. "Why does my head hurt so much?" Eric winced in pain, while holding his aching head. He was feeling sick, probably because he had caught a cold from the boy's water ability and the heavy wind outside, but he didn't have anything now. It was as if what happened yesterday was a lie and that today was the start of a totally new life. However, to start his life in a new way as he thought, he decided to take a shower. It was 9 am already and the military was supposed to come pick him up by 10 am. So he had only an hour to prepare before their arrival. He didn't have to take his luggage with him since the military will be providing them everything, and since they would be in uniform there, they didn't need clothes either. Quickly entering the small bathroom, he didn't take shower at once. He first t
As the both of them walked towards the military vehicle, Erix noticed there was a huge height difference between them. He was only 1.65 meters, and so was quite small for a seventeen years old boy. As for the military man, he was probably 1.96 meters in height or more.Erix was quite stressed. It was something that was going to happen soon, a totally new life, so he was scared of the unknown. And as usual, he put his hands on the necklace.However, this time, only what he felt was his shirt's collar, not the inheritance from his parents."What! Where is it?!" Erix shouted and was ready to run back even though he knew it was impossible."We don't have time for that kid. Follow me now or you stay here. Your choice.""Si-" Erix wanted to plead further but beholding the overbearing look on the man's face, he reluctantly agreed and continued walking.'This is strange though.' Erix thought while walking.'Now that I think about it, I haven't seen it since this morning. Nor in the bathroom
After about twenty minutes of waiting, all nervous about how the test would go and at the same time a bit happy that his strength was no longer the same, at least not until he was exposed to sunlight again, he heard an announcement. "All recruits have arrived. Everyone, please head to the test area that corresponds to your group number." During the twenty minutes of waiting, each line was appointed as a group. So like this, Erix's group became the 8th group since they were the 8th in line if numbered from the left. Everyone was confused when they heard the announcement. They were currently in a foggy environment, so there was no way they would be able to find their way anywhere around there. Erix also had the same thought. However, they weren't able to linger on the thought for long, because their surroundings suddenly started to change. From the once foggy grey land, it turned into an ash-colored wasteland. The new arena was brightly lit up, unlike the foggy ground. There was
Erix paled in nervousness the very moment he heard his name. He started moving towards the test area with Shota tailing him closely, and with two other students behind his back. One was a black-haired boy who looked quite grumpy, and a girl with a cold expression. The girl had long red hair tied up into a ponytail that went down her waist. She wore an expensive-looking black dress with a long nape that covered her back. From her actions and expression, she seemed like the strong, talented, and confident rich type. She was really pretty compared to most girls, which even further boosted her ego. The test they needed to do was in this order; Strength, Agility, and lastly, Reflex. "Okay, you four, follow me," Leo said the moment the group arrived in the test area and the group compiled. He took them a little further into the field, though not away from the whole group. They followed Leo until they were standing not too far from multiple machines. Leo stopped suddenly and did a
In this type of society, those who didn't have abilities were seen as disposable people. They were at the bottom of the food chain and were frequently bullied by the strong. So when Leo said Erix didn't have any ability, the reaction of the group was mixed. Some had a disgusted look while some showed no visible reaction at all. Erix gulped down his saliva and stepped forward towards the test arena with a slightly lowered face to avoid seeing the look on other people's faces. However, even with his head low, he could still hear sneer sounds coming from the students standing not too far from their group. "Who the hell is this filthy trash?." "I think maybe he is one of those kids that became orphans after the war." "I won't be surprised if he scores below 50 points, haha." Ambry also began to laugh and trash-talk Erix. He was already doing it before, but for fear that he might be someone with strong ability, he managed to hold back. But now that he knew he didn't have any abili
Going through a teleportal was something strange for someone like Erix. This was the first time he had gone through an actual teleportal. It wasn't like the one he took when he was on the bus. The process wasn't painful, instead, he felt dizzy once he came to the other side. It was as if his body was decomposing and recomposing itself immediately after. The academy was situated at the center of a special city where those in the military could live. Like this, they could be able to do other stuff that wasn't fight-related, other things like running convenience stores and health care operations. The war was quite traumatizing for a lot of people so many wished to have a somewhat peaceful and normal life where they wouldn't have to bother about their safety. Because of this, the city was built to be large to accommodate such people. But before he could admire the futuristic city a little more, Erix needed to catch up with his group. They had already walked a lot when he was dayd
They both left the school and entered the city. It was a lot bigger than Erix's old city. The buildings there were at least 3 times the size of a normal building in his place and the street was a lot more crowded. As they explored the city, Erix noticed Shota was always looking around the place in shock like something he once knew but had changed. 'Wait, he said he knew the city more. How come? Has he been here before?' Erix thought. "Wow, this place has gotten a lot more developed than last time," Shota finally said, eyes still roaming the whole place. "Ehmm, if I may ask, how come you have been here before? I never knew some students managed to come here before now." Erix asked, even though he wasn't sure Shota would reply... Shota didn't answer immediately, he first let out a deep long breath before saying. "Trust me, I really hate babbling about my family's name but I will say they were the reason I was here in the past. My family is one of the powerful low-key Original no
Having heard the boy, the first thing Erix did was to check his level. His prior worries evolved into fear when he realized the boy was a level 4. The boy had blonde hair that fell past his collarbone. His blue eyes looked completely void with terrible black bags under them. He had a pair of headphones hung around his neck. "Hi, there? Why were you standing out there for so long?...... Anyway, I'm Ronin Shin, but you can call me Rin, and nice to meet you." Rin said as he pulled out his hand for a shake. Erix quickly accepted the handshake. He didn't want to make a bad first impression. Who knows, the boy might bully him more if he does. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry, please enter." Rin apologized as soon as he realized his wrongdoing. He quickly stepped aside to let Erix in. For the second time that day, Erix was shocked beyond measure. He had a mixed reaction. One was surprised and the other was amused. 'What the f**k is wrong with the high levels here? First was Shota and