Chapter 1: King
It was a hot day, much like the rest. The sun arched the sky without any clouds to be seen. Below all that was a large city situated in what seemed like a desert oasis. Large buildings and even pyramids were situated beautifully inside the city. From a bird's-eye view, it was a remarkable sight, no different from an ancient work of art.
Within the city, there was a large building standing wider than the rest. Within this building lived more than 200 people. Most of them were young children abandoned by their parents.
What else could this building be if not an orphanage?
Like most orphanages, this one had many rooms and places to stay. One of such rooms was the teaching room, where many young and impressionable minds were taught what to expect in the future. On this day, an important lesson was learned. So many of the young boys in the orphanage were in the classroom.
Although their chlothes were far from the most fashioned nor were they the cleanest, they did look much better than what some people outside would wear.
Among these young children, there was a young boy by the name of Alio. The boy had dark brown skin with much darker black hair. His hair was very long and reached as far as his back. But this was a common look among all the boys in the class. The only difference about this Alio was that he chose to keep his hair tied in a rattail around his neck.
Other than that, this young boy looked no different from every other boy in the room. But contrary to his ordinary appearance, this boy had a secret.
He was not from this world.
After he was hit by a truck in his previous world seven years ago, he was reborn as a child. It didn't take long for his growing years to realize that he was no longer in his original world, as this world looked more like ancient Egypt than what he grew up in. This was why, when he was told about this world, he looked more shocked than anybody else.
"In this world, there are men and women," the teacher explained. "Each has their own use and specialties in society. Women are the protectors and providers of the family, while men give women the power they need to do so."
'Is this some sort of gender-bending world?' Alio was confused. Up until now, he has never actually seen a fully grown man or a young girl, so he had no idea this was how it worked outside.
One of the young boys suddenly raised a hand.
"Mam, what's a woman?"
The boys asked innocently. But his question was not unfounded. As far as he can remember, there have only been two different types of people: children and adults. There has been no other difference.
"I am a woman," the teacher answered. She then went over to the board and wrote the four words, woman and man. Below those two were boys and girls.
"All of you are currently boys, but when you all grow up, you will be men."
"Then what is a girl? I've never seen one before."
"A girl is what a woman is before she is grown up. I will explain in detail some other time, but today I am going to explain to you the main difference between the two, man and woman," she said while circling the two words.
"The most important thing you must understand is the relationship and difference that men and women have. The main difference is the power that each gender has. I have said before that women are protectors and providers. How do you think they will do so?"
She then pointed at Alio.
The boy then answered simply, "Magic?"
After living seven years in this world, he had already seen and understood quite a few things about some things. Often times, he has seen the teachers and caretaker of the orphanage use magical powers for convenience. Although it rarely happened, it didn't escape the notice of his observant eyes.
"Close, but it's not magic, but super abilities instead. These abilities have a wide range of possibilities. Clavoyarance, super strength, teleportation, or even rule-setting The women who are the protectors have all these powers."
Alio suddenly furrowed his brows. He quickly raised his hand and asked frantically, "Mam, when you say women, does that mean that the men don't have all these powers?"
"Of course not." And with those words, all of Alios dreams to get superpowers and go on an overpowered streak were stumped.
"Because it is men who give these powers to women. Depending on what type of talent the man has, whomever he beds with will get the type of power his talent states. So don't be sad that you can't get superpowers. Because if your talent is great, you can have a whole harem of women protecting you!"
"What's a harem?"
The lecture continued, but from then on out, Alio was distracted by his own thoughts.
'Damn it, what kind of bullshit is this? I've managed to luckily reincarnate into a world where superpowers exist with my memories still intact, but I can't have any of them. This is bullshit!'
He gritted his teeth in anger.
'How am I supposed to take my rightful place as king if I don't have any power of my own?'
The thing is, other than his secret of being a reincarnated being from another world, Alio has another secret.
He was a prince.
Or rather, he was when he first reincarnated in this world. Only his status was taken away from him, and he was left alone at the doorstep of this orphanage. Any other baby would never have known that, but he was a fully thinking being, so he was able to recognize and remember what happened then.
'Fine then, so what if the power is not my own? In this life, I'll never settle for second best. I'll rise up and be the king I am supposed to be!"
With that silent yet resounding resolve, the orphan set a high goal for himself. As for whether he shall achieve this goal or not, time shall do well to tell this tale.
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