The sun was starting to rise over the horizon.
Its rays of warmth pierced the sky and reached the earth as the day grew clearer with each second that passed.
Meanwhile, at one of the dormitories of the Cube…
Room 434…
Ring~!! Ring~!!
'Already?' I thought, painfully realising that dawn had come as I turned around, ignoring the disturbing sound.
It was morning already.
6:30 a.m. to be precise and I was still in want for more time to sleep.
Ring~!! Ring~!!
The alarm clock blared again after a few minutes.
I heard the call of my alarm clock quite clearly but I still chose to wallow in denial of what it meant.
I munched on an empty mouth and cleaned saliva from my lips while sitting up first to stretch my arms, only to lie back down a second later.
The way my body moved restlessly on the bed, it was obvious I wanted to sleep more but my alarm clock wanted otherwise.
It continued to blare for another three minutes straight until I was frustrated and tired of it.
"Fine!!" I yelled into my pillow in anguish.
Bam~!!
Gringgg~!!
The alarm stopped immediately with a slap on its head.
'Finally, some peace.'
As I laid with my back on the bed and my eyes toward the ceiling, I heaved a sigh.
Inside of me, a feeling of conflict brewed as I considered if it was really necessary that I should turn up for any activity today or not.
Sadly, this was not a choice that I had the power to make but I still had to try and see if I could.
Classes and official gatherings were mandatory unless in special cases like sickness etc, and this meant that I had to go for one of these gatherings this morning.
On the bright side, today was a promising one and when I remembered that, a sparkle ignited inside me, giving me the motivation I needed to move forward.
I turned to my right side and there he was—Bright Holden—still on his bed, sleeping soundly while disregarding the noise from the alarm earlier, like a baby without any problems in his life.
Well, that drift into paradise was about to be cut short by me.
After all, he was the reason I couldn't sleep well during the early hours of this morning, thanks to his noisy behaviour.
I got up from the bed and of course, I put Bright in a similar situation as he was forced to awaken from his sleep too.
In a couple of minutes, I was done with preparations and I headed out, leaving Bright to lock up after he leaves since he decided to be a slow poke today.
'Only heavens know what he was up to for most of yesterday evening,' I thought as I spared him a glance before leaving.
Similar to yesterday's arrangement, we were expected to gather within the same hall again for what German Barns was going to do today.
Today was important, too important for any recruit or trainee to miss it for any reason.
In my past life, a handful of trainees had missed out from today's gathering and trust me when I say that most of them continued to lag behind even after we had graduated.
Today was the day that Instructor German Barns was going to give us a catalyst to help us awaken.
…The Elixir of Awakening.
The so-called Elixir of Awakening was a simple name that gave out the most important piece of information one needed to know about the potion.
I'm certain that you, reading this, already have an idea what I'm talking about.
Nonetheless, the Elixir of Awakening was no ordinary potion or substance.
It was special and for us to be gifted with this Gold Grade Tonic, especially this early in the game and for no meritorious reason per se, was indeed a privilege.
The Elixir was developed following several years of research on Dungeons and the Monsters that dwelled in them, as well as the studies done on the very energy that had mixed with our modern world—Essence.
Simply put, the Elixir was a soldier-making potion sort of.
The chance of awakening a normal person was roughly about sixty-five to seventy per cent on the average.
Even though everyone wouldn't be awakened by it, that was still a high effective percentage plus the potential it has with upcoming discoveries being made.
The production and effectiveness of the Elixir was a massive success and remained one of humanity's greatest discoveries since the emergence of the Dungeons.
Today, every one of us will be receiving the Elixir of Awakening but not all of us will awaken within the expected time.
After the five-day time limit expires, those who remain normal despite consuming the Elixir will be sent out of the Cube.
Chances were that they would never awaken again. Peradventure they did, there was still room for reconsideration.
However, the chance of this happening was just very much close to zero.
Luckily for me, I didn't have to worry about that since I awakened on the first day after taking the Elixir.
Taking a moderate length of walk from the dorm to the hall in the company of my thoughts and memories, I reached the place and showed my cube in card form to one of the instructors who stood at the entrance.
Glancing at my name, he cross-checked my information with the one listed out on the tablet in his hands to ensure that both matched before letting me in.
"Luxane Enstar," the instructor read out as he scrolled over the screen of the gadget.
Hearing my name called like that caused me to feel a sting in my heart.
Of course, the Cube knew everything about my background as far back as my days at the orphanage—the Children of Enstar.
It was expected that they would register me as Luxane Enstar and not Lux, which I preferred. Well, given that the former met the requirement of having a first name and also a family name, it was the natural best choice of the two names.
I felt that sting in my chest because I had dropped that family name.
I had denounced any and everything that had to do with the Enstar Family.