The next day, Drew submitted his letter of resignation to the Employment Office at Star. To no one's surprise, it was expected that Drew would have done this sooner or later, after all, he was still young and had a lot of potential to become a Genetic Warrior. Leaving the office, Drew headed to the soup kitchen with a filing box. It was time to say goodbye.
"You're leaving now?" Rika asked leaning against the door of the soup kitchen.
Drew nodded.
"I already submitted my letter of resignation. They gave me a box and told me to gather up my things before leaving."
Rika began to move from the wall.
"We're gonna miss you. You better pass the entrance exam in six months!" She smirked slapping Drew on his back.
"I can't guarantee that but I'll do my best."
Thrusting a thumb into his chest, Rika laughed.
"That's the spirit! Come, Kevin and I will help you pack your things up."
Drew smiled.
"Alright."
Half an hour later, Drew came out of the soup kitchen with his box. There wasn't much in it except for his uniform, a couple of images of him and the kitchen staff, and some farewell gifts from the staff. Placing the lid on the box, Drew was about to take his leave when suddenly, a large hand grabbed his shoulder. It was Kevin.
"So what's your plan for these next few months?"
"I'm heading off to my new foster family. I was originally under Uncle Winter's care but that happened and apparently one of Uncle Winter's friends decided to take me under his wing. I'm still a minor after all." Drew replied.
"Why didn't he do that earlier?"
"It's a very long and complicated reason." Drew laughed.
"Well, I hope your new family treats you well. Don't want them to be abusive."
"Thanks for caring but I think they'll be okay."
Kevin grinned, his sharp canines gleaming in the sunlight.
"Kid, you better make it into Star in the next six months. We're all counting on you."
"Don't worry," Drew reassured holding out a fist, "I will."
"You better," Kevin chuckled fist-bumping him, "you represent this soup kitchen."
Turning his back to Kevin, Drew walked away. He was walking away from his old family, the ones that cared for him over the past six months. The memories he shared with them, the things he learned from them, the warmth he felt with them, he was leaving it to begin a new chapter in his life. One story ends another one begins. He swore to himself that he would make them proud. Rika. Kevin. Uncle Winter. His parents. He would not let any of them down. Their wishes, their hopes, their dreams, all of them rested on his shoulders.
>>>
Drew returned to his room. He gathered all his belongings: the futon, the coffee table, the lamp, the Buddha box, the supercomputer... everything went inside the compressed armory except the leather pouch with the compressed armory, his father's hat, and the silver cuff earring. Drew put the earring on first, it fits quite well on his right ear and within seconds, he felt his Otrio capacity double. Next, he buckled on the leather pouch, its longer strap going around his waist while its short strap wrapped around his right leg. Finally, he picked up his father's messenger hat and put it on. He was ready to go. With a final jerk and twist, Drew left his room that resided on the sixth floor.
>>>
The address that Uncle Winter gave him was about a 20-minute air train commute from Star. Glass Road was located on the outskirts of Ozwarth. It was both its own district and street that divided the city from the slums. In Ozwarth, it's known as the poorest district in the city containing many second-hand shops. Drew expected that Mr. Ryhard lived somewhere closer to the heart of the city since he is a military veteran but he guessed that he wanted to lay low after that whole conflict sixteen years ago.
Scanning his Orion card, a kind of transit card for air train, at the gate, Drew automatically purchased a two Kala trip to Glass Road Station from Star Academy Station. In Ozwarth, the air train was the most efficient way to get around the city. No matter if you were rich or poor, a ride on the air train was always affordable. The air train is a hovering train that serves as Ozwarth's main transportation. The air train can take a person from one end of the city to the other within 40 minutes. Plus, it has stations at every district. Drew rarely uses the air train since he lived only a few blocks away from Star but now, it seems like he would be using it more frequently. Walking down the flight of stairs, Drew checked the clock. It was ten o'clock and rush hour had just ended. It was also the exact time the air train would arrive at Star Academy Station. Standing at the platform, Drew watched as the air train arrived. It was a long white hovering vessel with ten cars that were painted with blue stripes. On one of the windows of the car, there was an image of a pale skinned black-haired guy with purple eyes holding a sword that was half drawn from its gold outlined sheath, its silver blade giving off a feeling of slight intimidation. He wore a black light-suit of armor with a long black tail that outlined his perfect figure yet made him look like an action figure. Swirling effects of Dark Otrio surrounding the guy made the image seem more dynamic. To the left of the image, there were some words: 'Star Military Academies Earth Campus Genius Class Student: Nicholas Goujian'.
>>>
Everyone in the Orion Alliance knows who Nicholas Goujian is. Born on Earth, the home of humans, Nicholas is a one in thousand-year genius with the Abilities [Eternal Night], a SSS-Ranked Ability, [Future Eye], an S-Ranked Ability, and [Critical Hit] another S-Ranked Ability. [Eternal Night] is a Domain Ability meaning this guy can create his own battlefield. Not only that, [Eternal Night] can sharply increase all allies' attack, defense, and speed. [Future Eye] allows the user to accurately predict the movements of a target within the next three seconds while [Critical Hit] increases the chances of the user to inflict heavy damage onto the target. Besides being born with broken Abilities, he was also blessed with godly Otrio talent in four Otrio Attributes: Dark, Earth, Water, and Wind. At age twelve, he managed to become a Mid F-Class Genetic Warrior and now, at the age of seventeen, he is a Mid-C Class Genetic Warrior who is ranked amongst the top 1000 Genetic Warriors in the Orion Alliance. Furthermore, he is also capable of taking on those who are Low-B Class Genetic Warriors. He's not a genius for nothing. He had been offered many opportunities to enter top Military Academies including the best Military Academy in the Orion Alliance, Nexos, but chose to enter Star. Today, he is Star's black diamond and their ticket into the Big Ten Military Academies, the top ten military academies in the Orion Alliance.
>>>
Embarking on the train, Drew checked the address once more to make sure he's not heading to the wrong place. Taking a closer look at the map, he found that Uncle Ryhard owns a small second-hand genetic medicine shop at the end of Glass Road. Second-hand genetic medicine shops are the equivalent to genetic medicine garbage disposals. Basically, when genetic medicines lose most of their effects, they are sent to these second-hand shops to be sold at cheaper prices. Drew had boughten most of his genetic medicines from these kinds of shops but even though the prices have been lowered by over eighty percent, they can still cost up to hundreds of Kalas.
The train was still full despite rush hour being over. There were no seats left so Drew had to stand for the duration of the ride. It was rather quiet so Drew decided to read some medical reports. Ever since he was young, Drew had taken an interest in genetic medicines especially the manufacturing process. The genetic medicine business is extremely profitable because there are very few individuals who have the talent for creating genetic medicines. Genetic medicines are not created by machines but by people called Alchemist, a term used to describe people who are able to refine the Otrio contained in cores, utilizing complex formulas and processes to concoct these magical medicines. Alchemists are highly valued no matter which planet one was one and even a low ranking Alchemist can gain the respect of powerful politicians/businessmen. Drew admired these people because they had more freedom, freedom from the constraints of the normal society.
Time flew, twenty minutes have passed and Drew had arrived at his stop. Glancing up, there was almost no one around him since Glass Road was the last stop for the air train as it sat on the outskirts of the city. Disembarking off the train, Drew exited the station to be greeted by the sound of silence (A/N: Hello darkness my old friend). There was virtually no paved road nor sidewalk only one beat up hovercar and few old men who were smoking. There were no traffic lights to signal stop or go. Broken alcohol bottles and other pieces of trash scattered the ground while the pungent smell of nearby garbage wafted into his nose. It wasn't called the poorest district in Ozwarth for nothing. A few blocks over, Drew could see some run-down shacks with metal roofs that were on the brink of collapse and a couple of kids wearing ragged garments. Drew could immediately tell that those were the slums.
They weren't kidding when they say this place looks miserable. Drew thought has he passed by each crumbling building on Glass Road.
As Drew walked, he attracted the gazes of some thugs hiding in the shadows between the buildings. Drew's heart began to beat faster.
Don't look back. Your destination is just up ahead. Don't look back. You're almost there.
Taking occasional peeks from the corner of his eye, Drew noticed some of the thugs following him, about three. They were Low F-Class Genetic Warriors. If they attacked Drew, Drew would have no problem dealing with them but that seemed to be unnecessary as Drew arrived at his destination. It was a rotten three-story cement building that had vines crawling its walls. The windows were covered in dust and some mud splatters could be seen. On a faded plaque covered by vines, it wrote 'Uncle's Medicine Shop'. Entering the building, Drew saw the thugs turn around and leave, one spitting on the ground in irritation.
I guess they're afraid of Uncle Ryhard. Drew smiled feeling a bit safer.
Closing the door behind him, he was meet with an organized store layout and no people. Gene vials that have lost most of their luster sat in glass-covered steel boxes on wooden tables. Wooden herb drawers lined the walls of the shop giving it a refined atmosphere. A glass display case was placed beside a heavily protected cash register that fell right under the view of a small surveillance camera. Behind the cash register were two doors, one for storage while the other one opened to an ascending wooden staircase. Walking toward the cash register, his footsteps barely audible, Drew spotted a small silver bell behind a card: 'Ring for help'. As instructed, Drew rang the bell. Footsteps. Footsteps from above could be heard. Suddenly, a grumpy, yet familiar voice could be heard.
"Dammit," the voice grumbled as the sound of footsteps grew louder, "I told you punks to stop treating this place as your hang out spo-"
"Uncle Ryhard," Drew interrupted as the figure appeared wearing a greasy brown shop apron, "it's me Drew."
A face of joy instantly emerged onto the jolly Uncle's face.
"Oh!" he roared with happiness, "What brings you here, lad?"
Drew opened his pouch and revealed the compressed armory to Uncle Ryhard. Right away, his expression changed. He was serious.
"I see. So it finally arrived."
"How much do you know?" Drew asked in a firm tone.
"Everything except for when you would arrive." He answered.
"Should I wait here?" Drew asked pointing at the ground.
Uncle Ryhard shook his head and gestured to the staircase. "No, come on in. You're 'family' after all."
"Okay," he nodded.
Drew went up the staircase, the wooden boards creaking under his feet.
"Forgive me about the staircase," Uncle Ryhard chuckled, "the building is old."
"I can tell." Drew laughed facing Uncle Ryhard.
"Were almost there," Uncle Ryhard said pointing up, " I'll show you around."
Moments later, Drew and Uncle Ryhard were on the second floor. It was a rather large space that was furnished nicely. To the right of Drew, there was a living room with a three-person sofa and two one-person sofas encircling a holographic television and a glass coffee table. In front of Drew, was a full-sized kitchen equipped with a four-burner induction stove, a skinny refrigerator with a freezer, a marble countertop, and a full set of kitchen knives. In front of the kitchen, was the dining space with a long rectangular table that could seat eight with S-shaped plastic chairs on top of a fluffy why rug. Drew was impressed that despite the building's shabby appearance, the interior was actually quite modern.
"Everyone has that same look." Uncle Ryhard grinned then gestured, "Come on, I'll show you where your room is."
Drew followed Uncle Ryhard up another flight of creaky stairs to a hallway. This was the third floor. Walking through the hallway, Drew noticed that all the doors were shut and one of them had a sticker on it that says 'Do Not Disturb". Noticing his curiosity, Uncle Ryhard told him: "That's my son's room. He's the same age as you. Unfortunately, he hardly comes out of his room except for meals and the bathroom"
Not digging into the matter any further, Drew continued to walk behind Uncle Ryhard until they reached the end of the hallway where Drew was face to face with a door.
"This," Uncle Ryhard knocked on the white door, "is your room. It's mostly furnished but you may add what you wish. The bathroom is to your left and dinner will be served at six."
"Okay, is there anything else you want to tell me or is there anything I can do to help around?" Drew asked taking off his hat.
"You can get settled down and take it easy for the next few days. After all that's happened, you deserve it. I've got to go now, need to make a delivery to some other stores. I'll be back in a few hours."
"Alright. See you." Drew waved as he watched Uncle Ryhard disappear down the stairs.
With that, Drew twisted the doorknob and entered his new bedroom. It was a small rectangular room that was painted white possessing a twin-sized bed around 210cm long, a small wooden desk with no lamp, and a sliding door closet. In front of the desk, was a rectangular window that had a view of the city center out in the distance. It was simple. Drew mapped out the room in his mind and figured that he could fit the small coffee table from his previous living space so he took that out of the compressed armory first. Placing it on the ground, Drew found that he had enough space to easily maneuver around hit to his closet and his bed. Next, he took out the desk lamp, the supercomputer, an alarm clock, and the combat manuals and placed them on his desk. Finally, he took out some of his old bedsheets and placed it on his bed. After arranging these around his room, he felt satisfied and began to list the things he needed to complete his room.
"I'll need a small waste bin, a closet organizer, some hangers, a laundry bin, some stationaries. I think I can get most of these from Uncle Ryhard. I'll just ask him later. But some of these like the hangers or stationaries, maybe a mini shelf for my books, I'd have to order or go to the shop. I think I'll do that tomorrow."
Checking his clock, he saw that only a couple hours have passed.
"I think, I'll say hi to Uncle Ryhard's son now."
Leaving his room, Drew wandered over to his neighbor's door but was faced with hostility. An angry shout came from the other side.
"What do you want from me? I'm busy!"