The continent of Junoa and the continent of Maris, each of them has fiefdoms, and each fiefdom has a villages and cities belonging to it.
Each fiefdom is under the management of a family appointed by the ruler of the continent, where things run and taxes are collected and presented to the treasury of the government, everything is clear and does not require a lot of intelligence to understand it.
But ...
Most important of all is what can be obtained from these fiefdoms, which are talents.
the Talents humans, are people with special abilities, whether magical, combat skills, or both, and this is something that the continents of Junoa and Maris need.
But for what purpose? Well, it's clear... if you look at the world map, where you'll find that both Junoa and Maris are shaped like a ball , each continent representing a half ball .
But the problem that calls for talents is not here, but what is on the north of the two continents, a separate continent very far away, separated from both Junoa and Maris by kilometers and kilometers of salt water filled with strange creatures.
The situation is fine as long as that unknown continent is far from the two main continents, but...
That continent has already sent some warm greetings, creatures that look like humans but aren't humans ... never! .
Fifty years have already passed, and this continent is sending many powerful and crazy creatures to both Junoa and Maris, these creatures are killing and devouring crops and animals... at least that was the situation just then.
For the last twenty years, the unknown continent has sent out the usual hordes of creatures, but this time their goal is... to kill and devour humans.
The situation on both continents worsened, fear and terror became prevalent among the people of both , young and old. At that time, special abilities were not important... but they became so, they became very, very important.
There have already been conflicts against these crazy creatures, after that situation was brought under control within a year and a half , a lot of people being killed already , both strong and weak.
The people of the two continents already realized that this peace they had obtained would not last for long, so… the rulers of the two continents decided to establish a place where people with strong talents would be developed and trained to combat this monstrous danger.
Then... Horizon Academy for Talents was opened, where talents with special abilities from gathered from all over the two continents, to be trained and educated to become the protective wall for the weak. The academy's slogan states... "Our victory is at the horizon, we see it at the dawn of the day when we become heroes."
The academy was built in two years using certain magic and professional builders, and in just four years extremely powerful talents emerged who fought valiantly until it became easy to live without feeling afraid of any sudden attack, these people hold the title of Guardians of the Horizon .
Because of these guards alone, Horizon Academy became so popular across the two continents that families even wished for a child with talent to be born in their care, so they could be proud of him and make money from him...
It is natural for parents to want their child to be someone they can be proud of, it is acceptable for parents to want their child to be successful so that he can bring them money, there is nothing wrong with that... but there is a dark side that has emerged because of this academy.
The Unknown Continent caused the emergence of Horizon Academy, and Horizon Academy caused the phenomenon of parents abandoning their children to emerge. As is known between the two continents, although magic is present everywhere, the chance for a person to possess it and stay with him until the age of ten is rare, and in the event that the child did not possess the ability since childhood... his family abandons him in the worst case, but the situation changed in the end where the matter became very normal.
- "Yes...that's me , my parents abandoned me when I was five."
Rico , a seventeen-year-old boy, was abandoned by his parents because he was born without ability or talent, born as a normal child.
- "You said they abandoned you at the age of five, right? How did you stay with them all this time if they had already decided to abandon you?"
- "No no… They did get rid of me, but they let me use the family name, after five years I was banned from using the family name." Rico replied as he bit into the pineapple pieces.
The young man Rico is talking to is named Finn. Finn has a slightly fat body and very short brown hair that almost looks bald, while Rico is slim and has black hair as well, but it is only a little long.
- "Rico... I still don't understand, can you explain it more simply?"
- "well ... look , when I was born... I had no ability or talent, so my father sent me to live with the village elder under the pretext that I needed to learn some things related to something I had already forgotten."
" I lived for five years with the village leader already, I learned to read, write and cook, imagine! I learned to cook! Anyway... after five years, I received news from the village leader that I lost my right to use my family name because I no longer had family anyway, and this was a sign that my family had officially abandoned me... that's all " Rico say .
- "Oh, that's it then," Fin said in response to Rico.
It was sad to hear something like that from the mouth of someone who ate so much, Rico looked like he had already lost interest in something like family.
- "Huh? You don't look at me with pity, do you? I'll kill you if that's the case." Rico said threatening Finn with the knife.
- "No, no, I'm not! I'm just thinking... Do you even have a dream or an ambition? People like you who have been abandoned by their families lose their passion for life and as you know.. "Most of them... do that thing." Fin said confused as he looked at the ground.
- "You mean suicide? I'm not stupid enough to do something so cowardly like that!!," Rico replied, frowning at Fin.
Fin was startled by Rico's sudden reaction, he was holding the knife in his hand so that struck fear in Finn's cowardly heart, but Rico quickly lowered the knife and his voice as well.
"As for my ambition, I have ambitions like any other human being, you fat bastard. I want to become a hero..." Rico said that, but he wasn't enthusiastic, unlike what is known about people who have the same dream.
- "But I still don't know how I can do it , I don't know how become a hero..."
- " Why do you dream of something you don't know how to achieve? Isn't that living in a fantasy? " Fin say to Rico .
Rico listened to Fin's words, his words made sense, why would you chase a dream that you can't even achieve?, to Rico... there was a reason for that, but what was the reason?
- "Having a dream, even if it is unachievable, is much better than committing suicide. At least I won't die like a coward who ran away because his family abandoned him." Rico said sarcastically and annoyed.
Suicides have already become common across both continents, due to parents abandoning their children. It can be said that the presence of the academy has had a negative as well as a positive impact.
The average number of suicides on both continents reached 2,100 suicides per year, and this is considered an extremely insane rate. Suicide was present even 100 years ago, before the monsters emerged from the unknown continent, but it multiplied greatly after that, without counting the suicides that were not documented.
- "To be a hero, you must join Horizon Academy, but you need talent or ability... and you don't hav-." Fin said in a slightly lower voice.
- "DAMN I ALREADY KNOW THAT!!" Rico shouted nervously and in a loud voice.
Fin realized that he had struck a chord in Rico's core, Rico really wanted to join Horizon Academy, but he was restricted from birth as he had no ability or talent, the look of annoyance and sadness could be seen on Rico's face who pretended to be tough.
Fin can't understand Rico's feelings, because Fin already has a talent, which is analysis and planning, so he will actually join Horizon Academy, while Rico won't be able to.
Rico was sitting on a medium rock, while Finn was sitting in front of him but on the grass below the rock, no one was near them so no one heard Rico's screams.
- "Go away , I want to be alone for a while…" Rico said in a tone that indicated he was annoyed.
Fin didn't say a single word to answer Rico, he just kept quiet and left, leaving Rico alone to talk to himself.
- "Damn bastard, fat, spherical, he thinks he's my friend… Does he pity me because I have no ability or talent? I'll kill him for sure," Riku mutters in a low voice as he taps the stone surface lightly with the tip of the knife.
The fact the fat, personalityless, and cowardly Fin has talent is enough to make Riku angry, but at the same time... Fin is the only person who gives Rico any importance. Across both continents, those who are abandoned by their families either become slaves or... outcasts. In Rico's case, he is an outcast because he prefers freedom to slavery.
Getting into Horizon Academy? It's just an impossible dream for a young man like Rico. He needs some kind of miracle for such a dream to come true. The problem is that Rico doesn't believe in miracles.
But ... when Rico was sitting on the rock in silence and despair, someone's voice was heard, coughing heavily as if he was taking his last breath. The voice was coming from behind, where there was a large group of trees. And shrubs.
"Huh? Is there someone there?" Rico slowly turned to see who the source of the voice was coming from.