A female voice softly speaks through the speakers:
"Do you want bazookas as big as mine? Then-"
A loud knocking interrupts the advertisement. A young man, half-buried under his blanket, slowly stands up. His raven-black hair contrasts starkly with his golden, glowing eyes.
The female's voice, coming from the TV, gets overshadowed by an old, grumpy one:
"Lumen Eldareth!"
He slowly stumbles toward the door. His steps are slow, it is early in the morning. He cracks the door open just enough to avoid the ugly sight of his landlady's wrinkled face. Instead, he comes face to face with a tall, broad man in a military uniform. Lumen carefully asks:
"How can I help you?"
The officer's disdainful glance sweeps over Lumen and his equally messy room. His voice is deep, he says:
"Congratulations, you have been drafted. Report to the nearby training facility within 6 hours."
Lumen responds:
"Thanks, but I have to refuse."
Lumen tries to shut the door, but the officer blocks it with his heavy foot. His eyes narrow as he slightly leans in.
"Resisting the military is punishable by execution."
He looks at the tablet in his hand and adds:
"According to our database, you have already awakened. What rank are you?"
Lumen briefly glances to his side and says:
"No, I'm not an awakened. This must be some kind of mistake."
The officer's face gets darker, and his expression hardens. Lumen feels a slight rise in Essence around him.
'Dammit, hopefully, he has no way o-'
His thought process gets interrupted by the officer's stern voice.
"Why do you think the military sends me? My Stigma tells me if people lie, and in your case, I didn't even need it to figure that out."
He further adds:
"I don't actually care about your rank. See you in 6 hours."
With that, he leaves the hallway of Lumen's Apartment and heads toward the elevator. His landlady still stands next to the door. His voice is scratchy:
"You still have to pay rent for the full month."
'Ahh... great,' Lumen thinks. He is quite a cynical person.
"I hope you drop dead before that."
He closes the door before she can retaliate anything, and drops back onto his sofa. He feels miserable, first the whole thing with Aureth and now this.
'God, why does it have to be me? Wait! Don't answer that...'
The Stigma, symbolized by the intricate pattern on his lift arm, faintly glows, but luckily nothing happens. He thinks about just leaving town, or maybe even the continent, but the security imposed by the EU makes that pretty much impossible.
'I could fly, but then some General would probably hunt me down...'
So he has only one choice: go to the Army and live a quiet life. He just has to find a decent team, which is mostly stationed in the back. He has no desire to fight any Abyssal Creatures.
"Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it."
It is the voice of... someone annoying. The mark on Lumen's left arm glows faintly, even casting a shadow in his dark room.
"Your last prophecy said that I was going to die while eating something horrible. And look at me, I'm still alive after eating at Arby's!"
The voice in his head keeps quiet, not revealing any other cryptic revelations. He gets up from the sofa and packs his bangs. He is ready to leave.
'The rent was far too expensive anyway...'
***
Lumen walks through the streets, leaving the apartment complex behind. The atmosphere is heavy, and conversations are mostly quiet. He is in deep thought:
'Seems like the military visited other people as well. They either want to invade the US or a major outbreak happened.'
He sees multiple families on their doorsteps, mothers hugging their sons, and fathers attempting to mask their unease with stoic expressions.
A nearby luxury restaurant still selling real meat has its advertisements turned off. Instead, the screens display a new report. The speakers crackle, and the newscaster speaks:
"Reports indicate a Category 1 Essence Storm in Chinatown. We recommend all registered citizens from that district to immediately evacuate."
Lumen notices the subtle distinction between registered and unregistered citizens but doesn't think too much about it. In the last decade or so, it has become normal to use unregistered citizens strategically as canon fodder.
Most of the unregistered citizens are also unawakened. So, the military hopes that they will be compatible and absorb enough of the Storm's rampaging Essence.
Since essence storms are created by energy leaking from the Abyss to Earth, they can only be closed by absorbing that energy. In the case of mundane humans, the Essence is used to awaken them, which takes a lot of Essence to do.
He looks at the large industrial hall in front of him. Compared to the buildings around it, it looks really outdated. But this is indeed the military training academy of Brussels.
Lumen spots a group of young people, just like him, standing in front of a heavily guarded gate. A few older men in military uniform stand beside it. One of them is the officer who knocked on his door. His expression is still grim.
"Hey, haha, I know that girl!"
'Shut up! You annoying... god.'
Lumen knows who is meant. A striking girl with white-blond hair and ice-blue eyes. She is wearing a military uniform, similar to the one of the officers standing guard. But he sits a lot tighter, revealing her well-shaped body. She wears a blue coat on top of the uniform, but it is not closed, giving Lumen a better view.
Perhaps his view is too good. The sharp eyes of the girl lock onto him. She walks a few meters toward him and says:
"Stop ogling me like that!"
Lumen's brows furrow slightly. He asks:
"Ogling, really? What, are you like 50 years old?"
She grinds her teeth while glaring at him. Then she responds:
"Weirdo!"
She kicks him in his balls, turning around toward the rest of the group. Most of them laugh at Lumen, except a boy with brown hair and crimson-red eyes; he keeps glancing at him as if trying to figure him out.
'His gaze gives me the creeps.'
They wait a few more minutes while everyone gathers in front of one tall man. Lumen is genuinely impressed with him.
'He hasn't said anything, but just the vibes he gives off are enough to make everyone gather around him.'
He lays his tablet away, instead starting his speech:
"My name is Kael. I am the officer in charge of this military camp, meaning everyone, including you, is under my authority."
He takes a brief pause, making sure that everyone listens to him. He continues:
"Your next 6 months will be gruesome; they will most likely be the hardest thing that you will ever do. But the important part is that you will do it. I will make sure of that."
He crosses his arms, adding:
"Everyone gathered here is already awakened. We will teach you how to fight, survive, and use your Stigma properly. I will give you a quick demonstration of mine."
He extends his right arm. Lumen can feel Essence gathering in the air around him. He quietly murmurs:
"Looks like someone needs to compensate."
A few recruits laugh, but most ignore him; the girl looks at him, annoyed. If Kael notices anything, he doesn't show it.
Gray sparks begin to form in the air above the recruits. The sparks dance like wild, tiny lights. The air grows heavier, and some recruits shift uneasily, staring in disbelief. The scene looks breathtaking, like stars in the night sky, even though it is only afternoon.
He closes his fingers into a wrist, and the Gray sparks turn into a golden spectacle. The glow captivates the recruits, but not for long. The Golden Sparks explode with a loud force. They are far above them, but the shockwave still knocks some recruits off their feet. A dazzling light engulfs the area.
Fine soot stains some of the recruit's faces as the smoke clears. A heavy silence follows, broken only by the coughs of those inhaling the dusty air. Kael laughs dryly and speaks even louder than before:
"That is my Stigma, Ashbrand."