Birds chirped between the fragrance emitted by the flowers in the morning, and golden rays of light shone on an old entrance board of a dilapidated building, highlighting the words 'Stone Bull Orphanage'.
As per its name, it was an orphanage in the Stone Bull Community of the True Fate Country in the South Continent. In fact, it was the only orphanage in the entire Stone Bull Community.
What was a Community you ask?
When the Peace Era started, the concept of combining villages to provide equal amenities in accordance with communist philosophies was forwarded. Thus, people in a community were all one unit, with each of them given the same facilities from the government. Thus, the poor could live in houses, even though they were just ugly boxes, while those who'd succeed in their lives could become independent from the government's support, and build their own 'dream home'.
The Stone Bull Community also had a pretty interesting origin. Apparently, when the first True Master traveled to this place for enlightenment, he sculpted a stone bull for three days straight. Thus, in memory of Bharat Maurya, the First True Master, the Community was named as 'Stone Bull'.
Alas, this stone bull was currently eating dust at the entrance of the Community Hall.
Param stood in front of a mirror which was near his bed in the common room and smirked as he stared at his reflection while rubbing his jaw in satisfaction.
The mirror reflected a face with short black hair, curved eyebrows which almost met in the center, clear eyes and an average face with a well-defined jawline.
The clothes on his body followed the typical design of the South Continent, which were based on the clothes of the Martial Artists. Instead of a normal shirt with buttons at the front, the two sides of his shirt enveloped each other, ending at the bottom left where he could button his shirt. However, the shirt was designed such that he'd still have two pockets on each side, and also another at his left breast.
His pants were loose yet stylish, and over his feet were sports shoes which could be used in all terrains. Although this was the common attire of youngsters of this world, the youth with his unique charm looked quite… common.
Below the mirror was a small table, over which lied an academic report card, showing a loud ninety-four percent over it.
Now that he had completed his mandatory education, like others, it was time for him to decide his future path.
He took out a poster and again confirmed the address written over it. The poster was a notice of a general test of aptitude for Martial Arts.
Since the end of the Global Civil War Era and the inception of the Peace Era, the world had excessively focused on developing martial arts.
Taking a small sack with him, Param walked out of the orphanage. The Community was a small place, and the places were interconnected with each other using many trams which traveled from west to east and north to south. The Stone Bull Orphanage lied at the extreme west, and he had to travel to the test center which was to the east.
The tram was a small train which ran on electricity inside a city, and was even more popular as a public transport than the public buses. Param climbed into one and bought a ticket for twenty Peace, which was the currency of those lands under the Peacekeeping Alliance.
Twenty minutes later he reached his stop and hopped down. Taking out the poster again, the re-read the address and searched. Soon he reached a large government building and he walked in.
Asking around, he was guided by someone inside, where he submitted his academic documents and filled the necessary forms for the test. The aptitude test was sponsored by the government, so he didn't need to pay for it.
Soon he was bombarded with various tests which almost made him dizzy.
The tests were actually pretty easy, the only difficulty being that a student needed at least 85% in their academic exams. This was followed by medical exams, where they measured a person's vitality using various tests.
MRI Test for neural activity.
X-Ray Test for bone structure.
ECG Test for heart activity.
Blood Test for genetic diseases and behavior.
Psychological Tests
Test for force and technique behind his punches and kicks
Problem Solving
IQ Tests
Etc.
Param thought he'd almost lost his soul after the strenuous tests. The only silver lining was that all of these expensive tests were absolutely free of cost.
For an orphan like him, who only received a small monthly allowance from the government, it was extremely important!
By the time the tests ended it was dinner time, and he'd have to wait for a few days for the results to arrive. He quickly hopped onto a tram and watched the scenery as the tram slowly traveled.
After the Warring Era which was followed by the Global Civil War Era, the non-renewable resources on this parallel Earth had been completely depleted, and now almost everything ran on electricity.
The Stone Bull Community didn't have many rich people, and the roads were filled with majority of the people who rode on bicycles and electric bikes. Electric cars were fewer in numbers, and it wasn't something that common people here could afford.
At this moment Param became distracted, and pondered as he gazed outside, watching the new yet familiar surroundings.
It had been sixteen years since Param had been reborn into this world. Sixteen years, and he still had no answers to many questions.
Why did a nuclear explosion suddenly take place in the city in his previous world? How was he reborn in a parallel Earth? Did God really exist? If he did, what sort of existence was it? If he didn't, was reincarnation was also some natural law of the world?
He'd long since stopped thinking about these ridiculous questions- questions with no hope of an answer.
Time passed, and he soon returned to the orphanage.
Although the orphanage had a curfew time, the manager of the orphanage, Mrs. Purple, knew that it was his test today so he was let off this time.
It was time for dinner.