Kai woke up at 6 am the next morning. Then he went for a jog. School only starts at 8 am and his mother would serve breakfast at 10 minutes past 7. So he could run for an hour then take a shower and be ready for breakfast. So Kai did just that, he went for a jog then he showered and sat down for breakfast. Breakfast this morning was pancakes. His mom said she had altered the recipe and added a few of her supplements into the batter to make the perfect breakfast. Kai also drank one of his mom's special energy smoothies. Despite the number of medicines and supplements in the smoothie, it tasted great. Kai was currently drinking what his mom liked to call "power-punch."
After drinking the power-punch Kai left for school. He had a friend he met yesterday waiting for him at the gate. Together they went to school. After school, Kai came home, he had lunch then completed his homework. After that, he had trained for 3 hours. Then he tabulated his results and got his last pill from his mom. Afterwards, he went to bed. This cycle continued for a week. After the three hours after school training, Kai tabulated his results. He saw that even after a week of extra training his results were garbage. By now the supplements his peers were drinking were taking effect and they were getting stronger. On the other hand, Kai too was getting stronger but it was not the effect of the pills he was drinking but rather because of hard work. Kai worked harder than anyone when he trained at school and when he trained after school. Of his friends, nobody did after-school training. They found it hard just to bare the training the school provided.
A month later, Kai realized that he was falling behind his peers and no matter how hard he trained. Or how much he pushed himself he was making no headway. He started at 10 out of 2000. Now he fell to number 1352. After two months Kai fell to 1500. His friends abandoned him too. They were all in the top 20 and they could no longer associate themselves with him. They were afraid his lack of talent would rub off on them.
Being abandoned by his friends made Kai feel he needed to train harder so he upped the intensity of his training. But it eventually got way too much for a 6-year-old body to handle. So he passed out during the second hour of his after-school training. Because he had passed out the Genome watch Kai was wearing sent out a distress signal to his parents at work. They immediately left their practices and came home to the lab where they found their sons unconscious body on the floor. Zack Adler ran to his son and then picked him up and tucked him into his bed.
"Our son is over-working himself. Look at these results. The number of hours he is putting into training. It's no wonder he passed out. I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner."
"Do you think he is training so hard because of that call from the school?" Brianna Adler said.
"Definitely, I noticed Kai's mood decline round about the time the school called me telling me that Kai had dropped from number 10 to 1352. How dare they tell me my son has no talent and I must send him to a normal passer school."
"It can't be helped, honey. By now all the children's supplements have kicked in where our sons have not. The supplements we are giving him are not aiding him in strength like the rest. Instead, ours only promotes a healthy strong body. The pills Kai is drinking are designing his body so that it can grow to be big and strong. So it's setting the foundation so to speak. The other children's pills are already doing strength building despite their bodies not being in peak condition. So it's obvious our child will not be able to compete with them. Once his foundation is complete we will switch from foundation building to strength building then our son will be number one."
"That's only in another 7 years. Do you think Kai can handle being labelled mediocre for that long? We can't have him overwork himself the whole time."
"We can't have him quit his afternoon training either because he is discouraged. It's the crucial element in setting his foundation straight."
"Then what do you suggest we do? You said he is still too young to tell him this is the desired effect. I understand that if he goes and tells someone else it could be bad for us. Sure they will laugh at him now and mock our pills. But when he becomes stronger they will want to know how we created it. Possibly rip the formula off of us. We can't let that happen, we have been perfecting this formula for years."
"I think we just have to believe in our son. We have to keep believing that he will not give up. That even though his results keep getting worse, even though he is nothing compared to his peers right now. He will not give up and he will continue to persevere no matter how much it hurts." She said combing her hands through Kai's hair.
.....
Kai continued to go to school despite all the ridicule and bullying he was receiving from his fellow students.
"Your parents are rich. You are probably getting Excellent to Epic grade supplements unlike us who have to stick with the school's standard Common grade supplements. Despite that, you are number 1800. Such a waste! You should give your supplements to me."
"It hurts my soul to see you try so hard in practice." The kid shook his head, "No one trains harder than you despite that you are still dead last. You are talentless. You should leave surpasser school. When you awaken you will probably only ever reach Amateur Rank Rank 3 if you are lucky. They make about 5000 guros a month. Dad says the cost of a one bedroom apartment is about 4000 guros a month. You will be depending on your parents forever. I guess you can afford to though."
"You are trash. Hard work only beats talent when talent doesn't work. You, on the other hand, have no talent, so no matter how hard you work you will never amount to anything."
The boys and girls closed Kai in a circle and threw their snide remarks at him. They laughed amongst one another after someone completed their sentence. This continued until Kai couldn't take anymore. Kai fell to the ground and began sobbing. When they saw him crying they scattered. They did not want to get into trouble for bullying. One boy stayed behind and told Kai, "You better not tell anyone who was bullying you. If you do I will make your life miserable. You think this is bad. Think again." After he was done threatening Kai, he ran away to his friends that were waiting for him.
"Let's get out of here idiot. Why did you still need to talk to him? We already bullied him enough." His friends said that as they ran off together.
Kai continued to sob until a teacher came walking by and asked what was wrong. Kai told him that nothing was wrong. But nearby witnesses told the teacher what had happened. The teacher immediately went to the principal's office and Kai's parents were called in.
"Mister and Misses Adler, Kai is being bullied every single day and today he could not handle it anymore. As a result, he broke done in the middle of the school's passageway. Now you have made it perfectly clear that you are not going to take Kai out of this school. We appreciate all the generous donations you have been giving. But something needs to happen. I suggest that you dig deeper into your pockets and upgrade Kai's pill from Excellent to Epic or Mystique. With his talent, I don't know how much it will do but something needs to be done." The principal said to Misses and Mister Adler who sitting on the opposite end of the desk.
"Thank you for your consideration. But our son will be fine. He is strong." Mister Adler said with his chin up.
Misses Adler didn't say anything but it was clear that she agreed with her husband.
Nerves began twitching on his forehead, ' How can I convince these two to invest more into their son? If people of their stature buy the Epic or Mystique grade supplements our school created. They will be rolling off the shelves. I can't have the child bullied any further than this even if they are reluctant to take their child out of surpasser school. Eventually, they will maybe even transfer him to another school. I can't have that... Think, think... Ah, I've got nothing.'
"Okay, then that is all I can say. You can take your son home now. But think long and hard about upgrading his supplements it would only serve to benefit your son."
Miss Adler revealed a friendly smile as she left the office. Once she was gone, "It will only serve to benefit your son." Brianna said in a tone similar to the principals. "Oh, please, I could smell his sales pitch the second it left his mouth. And it smells foul."
Laughing hysterically, "You can't blame him from trying."
"What are you laughing about? Our child got bullied today."
"I know, I just love how you get when you get angry. It's so cute."
Blushing she said, "Shut up."
...
Kai was sitting in the tv room watching his favourite show. This show was a live reality show about the lives of the royalty. He was watching on their 60-inch 10K 4D tv. He was completely transfixed by the show because he had forgotten how much he missed it. He had been training nonstop so he did not have time for things like tv. After an hour of watching Kai turned the tv off. He was in good spirits again. After seeing the lives of the royalty and the strength they possessed, the fire in his soul reignited. But he knew as much as it was fun to watch them that was not how he was going to become them. The only way to become stronger was to train. Sure he was not making any headway but something inside him knew that if he just continued to push. One day there would be a breakthrough but he would miss it if he gave up. With the resolve in his eyes, Kai wanted to go train again. But before he could leave the tv room his parents came in and sat him down on a white couch.
"Kai we know what happened at school. Do you want to talk about it?" Brianna Adler said with her hand on Kai's shoulder.
"No, I'm okay now," Kai said while smiling towards his mother.
"Are you sure puppy? Because you can always talk to me when you are hurting."
"No, seriously I am okay. Yes, at first being labelled as trash really hurt. I have been training harder than everybody, yet despite my best efforts, instead of gradually doing better, my rank keeps increasing. I knew this and I was dealing with it silently. However, having all that rehashed in my face and in front of everyone. It got to me and I caved for a bit. But after watching The Royals, my passion to be King has reignited. And this time I will not falter, that would be a disgrace to my dreams."
Brianna Adler didn't say anything after that. She just grabbed her son and held him tightly then she said, "Good boy. Keep training, keep preserving and believing in you. One day your hard work will be visible for all to see. When that happens remember how you felt when you were at the bottom. Don't ever get complacent. Always strive for better results."
After speaking to his parents Kai went to go and train then he received his pill from his mom and went to sleep.
....
7 years later Kai was now 13 years old and was about to attend his first day at Drauton S High School. In his navy blue school uniform, he walked down the stairs. Kai had done a lot of growing. He was currently 175cm tall. He had a strong frame. His bones were dense. His shoulders were big. Despite this, he had full mobility. As if his body had grown in the perfect form to optimise strength and agility. Standing tall he greeted his mother and father while his mother served breakfast. Brianna Adler was still absolutely breathtaking despite being 47 years of age. Her body was still full of collagen giving the impression that she was in her late 20's.
Kai ate his breakfast every morning at 7:10. He was no stranger to this set-up. As this was the case every morning. After thanking his mother for breakfast, Kai was about to leave to start the first day of high school. That is when his mom stopped him.
"Kai wait!"
Kai stopped in response to his mother's call. Then he looked at her waiting for her response.
"Throw away those pills you have in your bag. They are now useless to you. Take these; there are instructions on when to take them and what to do afterwards. I have also changed the nature of your shake." She threw a bag of pills to her son.
Kai caught the pills and put them in his bag. Then he took the old ones out and placed them on the counter. Kai double checked to see if he had the right pills in his bag. Once he was 100% certain that they were the new ones. He put his bag on his shoulders and left for school.
Kai got to school. He was now walking through the front gate. It was a new experience for him. Primary school was a nightmare. Everywhere he went, he got bullied. His mom had told him that it would not be the same in high school. But that was all she said. Kai wondered where she got the confidence to say that. He thought maybe his mom just believed in him or she was just trying to raise his spirits. However, that wasn't necessary as Kai's resolve was already burning brighter than ever.
As Kai walked into the school's premises, he heard the all too familiar words being mumbled around him.
"Look there, it's the trash."
"I would have thought he would have given up on becoming a Zolma Hunter and gone to normal school."
"Does he still have that crappy dream of becoming King." They laughed at the thought
"Him a King. I've never heard of a King at Amateur rank."
The boys continued to laugh, "My dad said he graduated primary school rank 1050 out of 2000; even though his physique and strength was strong enough to label him a surpasser. His results were below average. They couldn't understand how someone who took Excellent grade supplements daily had such bad results. They were akin to someone from Strera Academy who took Poor grade supplements daily."
"Strera Academy doesn't hand out poor grade supplements."
"I know, I'm referring to the talent level. If they drank Poor grade they would be on the same level as us who drink Common grade. But our top 1000 all drank Rare grade supplements. So, of course, our results beat him out the water."
Kai heard them gossiping but he just revealed a friendly smile and walked past them. They were surprised at his reaction and then they changed the subject and spoke about the news on the Royalty show.
As Kai was walking through the school's corridor, he heard someone call out to him.
"Hey, you're Kai Adler, right?"
Kai scanned the guy from top to bottom and then ignored him. He was not keen on admitting who he was lest this guy starts teasing him too. However, the guy was persistent so he ran up to Kai then touched his shoulder, "You are Kai Adler, right?"
Feeling his grip on his shoulder Kai decided that he would just admit it was him. If he had words for him afterwards then he would just hear it out. It was not as if he wasn't used to it, "Yes, I am Kai Adler." He said reluctantly.
Jumping up and down with excitement, "Sweet! I finally found you. I heard you want to be King. My goal is also to become King too. Hopefully, we don't awaken the same element. This way one day we both can be King. When I heard that there was someone else in Drauton that was striving to become King and brave enough to make his goals public. I knew I had to see you. I too have proclaimed my goals to the world and because of it, I am not too popular despite being number three in the entrance test. They say because we going to Drauton and not Keshos or Strera we do not stand a chance. Well, statistically I see where they coming from but let's be the exception to that rule. They call us losers but little do they know we are Kings."
He said the last bit on his tippy toes and with his arm wrapped around Kia's neck smiling from ear to ear, "Us Kings in waiting got to stick close together."