Chereads / Rise of the Dodo empire / Chapter 12 - Aven

Chapter 12 - Aven

It's been 5 years since the disaster hit the Earth, at that time, the humans were in disarray and could only use weapons of mass destruction to defeat their enemies.

Fortunately, at that time, a new beacon of hope appeared to help them in their constant war against the monsters, the Dodo tutoring system, some people worship it as a deity while the majority exploit it to become stronger.

The system grant everyone above 17 years old the chance to fight the monsters and earn new powers never seen before.

No one knows what it is but since it is helping us, no one complained.

That is also how the first 'Slayers' compared, the slayers are people that for their personal reasons dedicate their lives to kill as much monsters that they can and becoming stronger with the help of the system.

The slayers are divided in Tiers form the system, the slayers from tier 1 to 4 are considered like normal people with a dangerous job, but this change from tier 5, slayers of tier 5 and higher are considered like walking calamities.

No one want to make an enemy out of them and no one try to put a collar on them, if someone try to do something like this, the consequences would be horrible.

The system would consider it as an action against him and would put a bounty on their head.

Meaning?

Every slayer on the planet would always know the target's location in real time, with the information that the system provide them and a juicy bounty over the target's head, it is easy to guess what the nearby slayers would do about it.

During the first years, unknown people with extraordinary powers compared all over the world in large scale battles, we call those people 'Ghosts' since no one actually know them or ever talked with them, they compare out of nowhere, they kill every monster around them and disappear with the same speed as they appeared.

The only widely known information about them is a message from the system that everyone receive if they try to use a skill or spell on them.

[User's target is an ally of the system, the system detected ill intentions from the user toward the target, the user should be ready to bear the consequences of becoming an enemy of the system, the system hope that the user will make the wiser decision before proceeding].

At first, when this message competed in internet, no one believed that it could be true, but when some slayers tried to use a simple investigation skill gifted from the system toward one of the ghosts, the truth emerged and it became an hot topic.

After this, no world shaking news appeared, the life on Earth proceeded… For the majority of the people.

Aven Blackwolf lived with his family and friends in the outskirts of Hope city, all the cities around Hope city were evacuated during the first year since the disaster, Aven and his family lived in one of those cities, they conducted an happy life in Hope city, they weren't worried about the monsters since they lived in a big city with around 2 millions of inhabitants.

Aven's life could be considered the average life of a student that study a lot only to reach other's expectations.

He never liked the school, during the first years he was bullied or simply ignored by his schoolmates, that changed when he met his trustworthy friends, thanks to his little group of friends and his girlfriend, he continued to study a lot in order to keep high grades without going insane and to better prepare himself for the future.

His future was limitless, he was considered a genius, everyone was sure that he would become famous or an important and respectable person.

This changed one year after his arrival at Hope city.

The 'until-now-considered-safe' city was attacked by a group of monsters that escaped from a gate that no one noticed.

The death count was unimaginable, more than four hundred thousands people died before the battle ended, from the surprise attack at the start, for the slow reaction of the authorities later, and for collateral damage during the battle lastly.

Around twenty percent of the inhabitants of Hope city died that day.

And his whole family, his friends and his girlfriend died too.

Rage reigned supreme in that period of his life, rage toward the monsters, rage toward the authorities, rage toward the slayers that didn't noticed the monsters before the attack, but more than everything else, he hated himself to be alive.

That day he survived only because he was at school doing an optional class of automatic systems.

He didn't have a home anymore. No more family, no more friends, he was alone.

One of his teachers hosted him for the duration of his studies, he even asked if Aven wished to be adopted, after all Aven was only 13 years old.

Aven didn't want to be adopted, he didn't want to turn page, you can call him stubborn, stupid or whatever creative insult you may imagine, he wouldn't change his mind, no matter what.

"I would gladly pass through hell for you", that is what he told his girlfriend the day that he fell in love for her.

He thought that unless they did something wrong or dangerous, he would have been able to live his own life, however the true hard life slapped his face so hard to make him fly to another world.

From that day, he didn't recognize the Earth as his homeworld anymore, he felt like a stranger in another world.

He almost became insane during the first days, horrible nightmares assaulted him in his dreams while he passed the days in this unknown world recalling hi happy memories about the past.

He couldn't bear it and tried to commit suicide.

At this moment, when he took the knife from the kitchen and made his decision taking a deep breath, a warm voice echoed in his head.

[Is this really what you want?

What do you think that Camille would say to you if she were to see you now?

Do you want to forgive those who brought your loved ones away from you so easily?]

When he heard those words, he thought to be finally became insane, but he didn't care and answered.

"I… am lost…"

[Search for your own way, don't listen to anyone and do what you need to do, if you don't recognize this world, you only need to conquer it and make it yours, if you don't want to forgive, just bear the pain and keep walking, don't forget who you are and walk a new road that only you can open]

Those words struck him like a train when he realized that those words were too convincing to coming from himself.

"... Who are you?"

[You can consider me a cursed object fated to watch those around it die one after the other without being able to change anything, you will thank me for my words the next time that we meet each others]

The voice disappeared as if he never heard her in first place.

Aven shaked his head and returned to his room, he needed to sleep, even if it meant to fight his usual nightmares.

Unexpectedly for him, he slept for the first time after the incident without a nightmare.