"Old Man! I've got an idea!".
The sudden appearance of Alleluia caused the old graying man to nearly fall off his chair. The Professor almost dropped the ancient scroll he was reading, to which he had roughly estimated was at least 50,000 years old.
The older man let out a sigh of relief and gently placed this scroll in a box on his desk before turning around to look at his student.
"What was this about an idea?", he said.
It was unusual for Alleluia to come barging into the History Department within knocking or even speaking first. He knew that his student was currently studying Ancient Life Techniques so perhaps he made a breakthrough in his research.
Modern Life Techniques were crude and only explored the physical aspects of becoming a Knight. The mental aspect, the one that developed the strength of the mind which guided the Life Power in the body was usually left out, causing the Life Technique to become that of a lesser quality.
Ancient Life Techniques, were those that were considered perfect by researchers and scientists, as it cultivated the mind and body in perfect harmony. Most of the time it performed perfectly, with no chance of deviation allowing the Knight to perform better, and cultivate better as well.
Alleluia, who was practicing the [Vigorous Thunder, Flowing Water] Life Technique, was also an Ancient Life Technique.
The fourteen year old merely gave his teacher a large smile as he placed his hands on the old man's bony shoulders. He had to be careful of his strength when dealing with others, double so when dealing with the old or sick.
"I have an idea! About how I can make a living as a Knight, and explore the rest of the Smoky Cloud Continent!".
The Professor tilted his head slightly in confusion, obviously not expecting this answer from Alleluia.
The young boy's eyes shined as his smile grew even further.
"I could join a mercenary company! They handle missions from both the normal civilians, and the various sections in the military! There are branches all over the Smoky Cloud Continent, and on top of that, they even handle explorations into the Wilderness! Even some of the sections of the world that haven't been mapped out yet! Think of all the Life Techniques just sitting out there!".
Alleluia's voice rung out with a self-righteous intent. Mercenaries were very common throughout the world, taking on jobs that were either too small for the military to handle, or even been hired to help escort squads in and out of combat zones. Many mercenary companies didn't even have a single Knight within them and only consisted of peak level mortals.
However some, the top-tier mercenary companies had Knights. They were usually small, and only looked towards the upper class for specialized jobs normal people couldn't do.
This included mapping out sections of the Wilderness and exploring ancient ruins. Some Knights even preferred to take on jobs against underground organizations by wiping out hidden branches in cities that the authorities didn't want to deal with directly.
They were essentially guns for hire, but were treated a lot better than just a run-of-the-mill handyman.
The Professor seemed to catch Alleluia's drift and nodded while rubbing his beard.
"Hmm.... A mercenary company. Although it sounds logical I can't imagine why you wouldn't join the military? Sure the former comes with a lot more freedom, but the latter comes with precious resources that mercenary companies just can't handle. I understand that exploring is something that you've always wanted to do, but wouldn't it be better to stay here in Lake Rail City? I could ask the Fleet Admiral or General Smirnov for a placement in the-".
Alleluia let go of his teachers shoulders and sighed. It seems that even his teacher wanted him to stay in Lake Rail City....
The fourteen year old just patted his teacher on the arm and waved him off as he walked out of the History Department.
"Sorry for bothering you Professor. That scroll looks pretty interesting, you should get back to it. I'll see you tomorrow".
The wry smile on his face betrayed his emotions and Alleluia walked out of the school with a small bag slung over his shoulder. He had left school early after his mood dipped down when the Professor told him to stay in Lake Rail City and he walked towards the beachfront to his usual hangout with Grise and Ruto.
The fatty and the string bean used to splurge their change in the arcade, but the pretty boy always opted to sit down on the beach instead of listening to the loud EDM music while hearing the screams and shouts of other teens.
His mind was filled with thoughts of exploring and the endless possibilities contained with the wilderness and all of its treasure. He never once thought of one key detail that eluded him until now.
".... How does one join a mercenary company?".
Alleluia let out a deep breath as he laid down on the sandy beaches of Lake Rail City, the endless sound of waves churning and wind billowing could be heard all throughout the waterfront. The distant voices coming from the shops and stands near the beach could be heard and Alleluia's mind couldn't help but think back to the endless sea of red that he dreamed off several nights ago.
He found that practicing the [Vigorous Thunder, Flowing Water] was a lot smoother after that dream, although nothing else worth mentioning changed as he practiced. The life essence within his first Life Passage seemed a lot more fluid that the stagnant rock that it had been before, and that he roughly estimated it would take at least 2 months to become a Knight.
That was after the strange dream. Before it, he believed it would take at least another year before he could reach Knighthood.
This was the main reason why he couldn't help but remember that dream. It actually increased his cultivation speed after using the red liquid as a catalyst.
He sighed,
"I guess that I'll find out next time I ever dream about that place. If it had such a drastic effect on my cultivation speed, then it must be related to the-".
"Let go of her you creep!", an accented, high-pitched voice echoed across the beachfront. Most passerby's turned to see who let out such a voice but instantly turned their heads and continued walking or going about their own business as soon as they saw you the cause of the scream was.
Even Alleluia turned his head slightly to see who wanted to interrupt his thought process and his eyes widened, then narrowed slightly as he let out another deep breath.
A group of beautiful girls getting harassed by some well-known thugs in the area? Didn't that seem a little bit cliche, he thought.
He peered with one eye the dozen or so young men dressed extravagantly, acting outrageously as the heavy scent of alcohol filled his sensitive nostrils. He had seen this group of idiots acting out once before, but they quickly scurried away once they found out that Alleluia had the potential to become a Knight.
".... Even ants know that their is a pecking order in the world.... and these guys are even worse than that".
He had heard one of them, the leader, Martin Schrodinger, had a father that was a member of the Lake Rail City government. Something about the Committee of Public Safety or something or rather. Using that status he messed around a couple times, once even getting into a fight which left the other party hospitalized. Apparently he had stabbed the other party and got off due to his fathers connections.
Alleluia showed a disgusted look on his face.
"Useless people like that, is what make me hate the current system we live in".
Power was the only defining strength in this world. And in this world, power equaled Knights. Those who were Knights, or had the backing of Knights were the strong, and those without, were not. It wasn't an unusual thought in this era.
As he said once before, the strong have always ruled over the weak, just the definition of what "strong" is has changed over the years.
Alleluia's pitch black eyes seemed to take on a different shade as all the light vanished from his obsidian like eyes. Suddenly, the memory of a bottomless abyss rose up from the depths of his mind. A pair of scarlet irises replaced Alleluia's black ones.
A cold aura came from behind Martin Schrodinger, and a sudden drop in temperature caused him to turn around with an arrogant and drunk look on his face.
"Huh? Someone behind me? Well who the hell thinks that they can tell me what to do? I'm Martin f**cking Schrodinger-".
His domineering facade shattered and he instantly sobered up as he unconsciously took a step back. Even in his semi-drunken state, he could still accurately make decisions. And his current decision was-.
"A-a-Alleluia! What a pleasant surprise! I was just telling my friends here all about-".
"Were not your friends you creep! You kept following us from the department store! You said you wouldn't stop until we gave you our names!".
A small bead of sweat appeared on the older boy's face as his eyes constantly darted between Alleluia and the group of girls. It was just his luck that he ran into one of the few people he couldn't possibly abuse his authority over...
The tension was so thick that one could cut through it with a knife. Luckily, one of the boys behind Martin raised his cellphone to his ear and shouted out.
"Oh? You need us back right now? I'll be sure to tell him. Martin! You dad wants you back home! Says that its an emergency!".
The degenerate rich second-generation nodded gratefully to his subordinate and they walked with an unforeseen vigor towards the flashy car parked on the side of the road. Before most of the girls could even speak, both Alleluia and Martin had already started walking away.
The fourteen year old would've kept walking, but the sound of a voice getting closer and closer caused him to turn around, and a group of girls with curious looks on their faces could be seen.
The one in the middle, who was speaking out and defending the rest of the group extended her hand towards Alleluia with a grateful look on her face.
"Thank you for that. I thought that things might've escalated if any of us took physical action. I'm Ha-Rin. Lee Ha-Rin. What's your name".
He eyed the hand of the taller girl for a moment, noting that each of them had a wide variety of expressions on their faces. The most common one was curiosity, but the second most common one was gratitude.
Taking the extended had with his own he shook it halfheartedly although still with a firm grasp.
"I'm Alleluia. Just Alleluia".