▪︎ Life is not a competition with others, but a life you live yourself ▪︎
Devlin's eyes slowly opened, but he suddenly rolled over and started coughing so loudly that it woke those around up.
Sky was the nearest and went to check on him, "Here, drink this." He held a cup, but Devlin accidentally pushed it away in his cough.
A look of annoyance flashed past Sky's face briefly, seeing the contents of the cup poured out.
Marcus was slowly walking out, feeling dazed at what happened. He saw Devlin coughing and saw the colour of the water. His face darkened, and he quickly sprinted towards Devlin.
"You've finally woken up," He stared at Sky while saying that, both of them glaring at each other, "We will be heading back to our base soon, so eat up some stuff we have cooking.." He said while squatting down beside him.
Devlin, who had finished coughing, slowly sat up and said, "Thanks.." He held his chest, "I owe everyone one.
"No problem! It's the duty of our squad to rescue anyone who needs it!" Sky said with a grin, "And Marcus, since when did the captain issued a return order?"
Marcus patted Devlin's shoulder, "I will bring him back."
"You won't be able to rank up if you leave the squad on your own accord." Sky reminded, but to Marcus, it sounded more of a threat.
Marcus lightly bit his tongue and didn't reply, standing up and left to his tent.
// "You don't have a good ability, so let your brother shine!" // He remembered what he was told, and from then on, everything revolved around his brother, Sky.
'Just because of an ability, you were overlooked?' Elvie asked, staying a distance from him in case Devlin saw.
"My family was traditional. Abilities are what they look at. But no longer. I don't give a crap on what they said." Marcus said when he entered his tent.
'Such a fast change of mind, no?' It entered the tent, watching Marcus packing everything else.
"The fire had always been burning silently, and your words were the ones to let the flame have a sound." He explained while zipping up his bag, "You didn't shut me down."
'I hope you consider my request.' It said while walking away.
Reaching Devlin, Elvie squatted down, meeting Devlin eye to eye.
[ Had a good dream?.. ]
Devlin rubbed his face while muttering, "I wish...."
He quickly tried to find the notebook on him, pulled it out, and it was still intact and not burned, 'Woah, what's the material used?'
"Agh, my stomach hurts.." Devlin finally acknowledged his rumbling stomach.
He slowly got up, and almost fall from the pain all over his body, 'Damn shit fuck Ow!' He cursed in his mind as he slowly made his way over to the fire.
A few other soldiers wearing their casual military shirts sat around the flame.
They were chatting and he overheard it when he was near them.
"Maybe we should overthrow the captain." One of them muttered.
"If only it was that easy.. " Another sighed, "Bribery runs deep."
The first one cursed under his breath, while the rest sighed after hearing that too.
When Devlin reached nearer, one of them gave up his seat for him while another helped him to one of their breakfast serving. Devlin thanked them and slowly ate the bread.
The soldiers were excited about a new potential member and started explaining more about how Cerevauz works.
Devlin was happy about the new information since by the time he went to Cerevauz, everything was different.
A soldier with short bright yellow hair and beard started the explanation, "There's many high tech in the city. But those more high end techs is only available to a select few. Like systems with stats measurement."
Another soldier beside Devlin nodded, the soldier had a blue cap on and said, "They also had many surviving books from decades ago. Some of those books were saved from the era of chaos."
"Woah.." Devlin commented, while munching on a piece of bread, "So Cerevauz can be known as the neutral city? While Blizwall is governed by the strongest, and Datsoco is governed by bloodline?"
"While the wasteland is governed by chaos," The first soldier nodded, "Yep. I came from Datsoco because of my so-called bloodline. I don't wish to serve those people just because of their bloodline." He said with venom towards the end, "Those bastards will one day ruin their own kingdom."
"Easy there." The soldier beside him patted him, "It's in the past now."
The first soldier nodded, "Ah right, name's Lan." He told Devlin, "What's yours kid?"
"Li." Devlin replied while finishing his bread.
The second soldier patted the left side of his chest and said, "Call me Yakov."
"And I'm Sam." The third soldier chuckled while rubbing the back of his head, "Quite the basic name huh?"
"Don't say that." The soldier who gave up his seat for Devlin slapped Sam's head, "Your name is alright. At least it isn't something named like Dell."
"True.." Sam shrugged, and pointed at the soldier, "His name is Teo."
Teo raised a fist towards Devlin, "Nice meeting you Li."
Devlin fist pumped him, and nodded, "Same here."
"What do you plan to do when you get to Cerevauz?" Teo asked, "I suggest you not to join any government related stuff. Be an independent company."
"He's still a kid." Sam said, "He's probably gonna attend the academy."
The four started discussing what Devlin will do once he reached Cerevauz which left him baffled.
Devlin coughed to get everyone's attention and asked, "Does anyone know someone who goes by the name, Ink?"
Teo and Yakov suddenly went silent, leading the two to keep quiet too.
Teo glanced at Yakov who shrugged, they seemed to be having a mental conversation.
Teo sighed and stared at Devlin, "Come on." He gently hit Devlin head and lead the way.
Lan and Sam looked at Yakov hoping for an answer, but Yakov just shrugged like he didn't know what happened either.
When they reached Teo tent, Teo went and pressed a button. Covering the tent with a layer of sound proofed coating.
"How did you know of Ink?" Teo asked.
Devlin took out the glove he placed inside his shirt, and passed to Teo.
Teo took the glove and examined it.
"It's definitely their product.." He mumbled.
"Who is Ink?" Devlin asked, "How did you even know I'm asking about a person and not that ancient product?"
Teo shrugged while taking a seat, sitting a distance away from Devlin, "Since you've shown that you know Ink, and had the invitation. Would you accept it?"
"What's Ink even about?" Devlin didn't know what he was about to get himself into, feeling nervous