He searched Billy's pockets, and after getting his telegram got up from his body. At this moment the lackey arrived along with two people.
One of them was Mrs. Purple, the ultimate boss of the orphanage, while the other was Dhruva, who was Param's best friend and had now left the orphanage and was training as a police officer.
The lackey made a pitiful face, as if he was a commoner telling his misery to an aristocrat, and wonderful tales spouted out of his mouth of how they were bullied by Param and his gang. Mrs. Purple was familiar with these brats so she simply nodded and didn't pay attention to what he said, but when she saw Billy's face, she couldn't help but gasp.
Param knew he made a mistake and immediately apologized. Although Mrs. Purple was angry, she didn't make immediate judgments and knew what should be given priority.
Dhruva glanced at Param and while he remained silent he was inwardly shocked. After all, although the Param had a few fights with Billy, it was only casual and never this fierce.
Billy the Bully was treated, and Param was asked to leave the orphanage in the next few days.
Although it sounded extremely harsh, in fact this was something suggested by Param himself, just because of a telegram.
Speaking of telegrams, although the civilization of the world had been rebuilt, the effects of the Warring Era still troubled the present world. Now the atmosphere was filled with electromagnetic noise and produced difficulties in wireless communication. Thus, if one wanted to communicate at a long distance with each other, the majority of the people relied on telegrams. Of course, there were also telephones, but that was only the privilege of the rich folk.
Param read the telegram's cover, and his eyes shone as he read the sender:
'Leaping Frog Martial Club'.
Using the results of the martial arts aptitude test, the government had assigned various institutes to the applicants.
The Leaping Frog Martial Club was one of the two Martial Clubs along with the Soaring Crane Martial Dojo. However, after losing against the latter six times in a row the former could no longer grab onto its glory.
The Leaping Frog Martial Club was nothing but a thing of the past, and the youngsters of the Stone Bull Community only dreamt of having a chance to join the Soaring Crane- like the crane, soaring into the vast skies!
As to why Param still decided to join the beaten up Leaping Frog Martial Club? There was only one reason- Money!
With the hiking prestige of the Soaring Crane Martial Dojo, its annual fees had also 'soared' so to speak, and Param almost got a heart attack when he counted the zeroes. Compared to them, the Leaping Frog Martial Club was only short of kidnapping youngsters to stay in the competition.
A Martial Club and a Martial Dojo were virtually the same, except that a Martial Dojo was owned by non-Martial Artists and had no dorms for its students, while a Martial Club was more of a traditional organization.
Thus, the students of the Soaring Crane Martial Dojo had to stay in private hostels, which were very expensive, something which Param regarded as a deep sin! Adding to this were other costs which kept on bombarding the students. In short, only rich folks could become a 'soaring crane'.
With the pitiful amount he received from the government each month, he could only buy an area equal to single digit tiles in those private hostels!
Param read the telegram, which showed his Vitality Status, along with his rank and joining date.
Vitality: 200 / 1000 (192)
Rank: 72 (100)
Joining Date: XX/XX/315 P.E.
(Note from Author: P.E. is Peace Era)
The figures in the brackets were the cutoffs for the selection, meaning that the last passing person had a Vitality Status of 192, while his rank was 100. In short, only a hundred applicants were chosen by the Leaping Frog Martial Club, and this was despite their dire straits.
From this one could understand how hard it was to become a Martial Artist.
Actually, one didn't need to have a good physique to become a Martial Artist, as training for that included first healing the body. Thus, as long as you had the resources, even a bamboo thin person could become a Martial Artist. To become a Martial Artist one didn't need physical strength, but a strong willpower.
While Param was thinking such, a hand landed on his shoulder and the person asked.
"So, did you get selected?"
This was Dhruva, who was one of his friends at the orphanage who'd previously arrived. With black hair and brown eyes, he actually looked quite handsome, if not for his slightly fat belly and chubby face. He was also an orphan, and he had achieved his dream of becoming a police officer and spending his remaining life lazily.
Param nodded his head and casually passed the telegram. The other youth narrowed his eyes and kept blinking, as if he was hallucinating. On reading the contents of the telegram he slapped Param on his back with surprise.
"You really got selected!"
Dhruva looked at him with admiration. After all, being a Martial Artist in the Peacekeeping Reserve Force meant that one could enter a wide variety of occupations. Be it sports, police force, army or even acting, Martial Artists had pervaded many fields of work. As long as you were a level two Martial Warrior, you won't have to stress yourself over what you have to eat for today.
Dhruva's exclamation attracted the other kids of the orphanage, and they started another round of admirations. Some of them looked in admiration while some looked in envy. Param could understand their feelings. After all, Stone Bull Orphanage was a government institute, and only allowed those under eighteen to live. Once a kid reached eighteen years of age, he or she would have to leave.
Now that Param had been admitted in the Leaping Frog Martial Club, he could live in the club's dorms. Furthermore, even if he didn't achieve anything significant, he'd easily land a government job like the police, or army; or even a private job like a physical fitness trainer, or a bodyguard.
Some even tried to make a career in the entertainment industry or in sports. In short, as long as you join the Peacekeeping Reserve Force, your future was secure!