He spent all those minutes putting every mistake he made in that interaction in his long term memory. Every little thing, however minor it was, if he, for example, reacted too slow or did a wrong movement, he memorised it all and used it to try and better himself. Now that he understood the problem, he needed to work on it. And the main problem he encountered is his knowledge of combat. Well, in all honesty what he lacked most isn't knowledge, it was more of experience, but that is not some thing that he can get easily or without risking death.
After he arrived at GPA 32, he started to head the south of it, right now he was located in the western station, and it would take him 30 minutes walking to arrive at his destination.
However, instead of reflecting upon his mistakes this time, he decided to analyse his surroundings and how he could have used them to his advantage better.
A PBV is very similar to an old vehicle from England, they referred to it as a 'double decker bus, right? However it wasn't that similar, only the frame has a similar looking shape. Its at least 4 times bigger, made of pure iron in case of emergencies and could hold up to a maximum of 200 people. The seats were made of a comfortable but cheap material and could be folded to give a proper clean to the PBV. The windows are large and hard to break, perhaps on par with bullet glass. And the two most prominent changes are: there was no driver, this whole tank of a unit, this whole rammer, this whole 2 tonne vehicle, was left in the hands of auto pilot. Now make no mistake, the AI is very reliable in this time, but something about that just bugged Albecht. And the other difference was that there weren't any stairs, in fact, if people wanted to get to the second floor then they would hop on a platform that discreetly signed to show hazards, and the platform would start to hover and get the people on it to the second floor. By far the coolest thing ever. And the last difference was that it didn't ride on tires, instead it was directly connected to the ground and it only moved in the line it was provided. There is usually 4 PBVs, north east south and west, they all covered most areas within their lines, and wherever else that they weren't close, was a maximum of a 20 min walk. Each line has at least 50 PBVs so that people don't have to wait forever for the next PBV.
Whilst all this was considered, Albecht had arrived at his destination.
And he saw was a large uneven field of rubbles from destroyed houses, streets, shops, schools, buildings in general. The bleak sky can be finally seen, it was as if about to let hell rain down, a deep orange colour mixed with a dark sad shade of grey was everywhere in the clouds that blocked the blue sky and in the edge of the horizon, there sat the falling sun, reminding him of GPA 32. In reality, the sky that people of official PA's see is fake, its like a dome of happiness in there, they are all ignorant to the true troubles of the world. He could use those girls as an example, why would they even engage with that dude, someone who is that much bigger than them.
Anyway he isn't here to be bothering with others problems.
He has brought himself here to see his family for the last time for a week. Usually he comes here everyday, but he wants to take this test with all of his power and time put into it, he wants to pass. No, he needs to pass. Not for Miss. Crimson of course.
Amidst all the rubble, one particular spot stood out. It was densely populated by blood red roses, ones you would expect to seen in the mouth of a hot guy trying to impress a girl.
This was Amie's favourite flower and flower colour. Amie is his mother, Albecht one and only. The one that always looked out for him, the one that always made egg omelets for him. The one who would cry more than him when he would get hurt. The irreplaceable one.
Not far off, there lie another grave, his father. In reality, Albecht never got to meet him, although he heard from his mother that he was a very cheerful guy that always played with an infant Albecht and would cry harder than him when Albecht was a baby. Or that time where he nearly dropped Albecht as a baby and was depressed and traumatised for a whole month, he wouldn't even come near him to try to keep him safe. He would talk about how his son would one day become this great hero who solves the food problems for the poor and always look out for others and what not. That was Albechts hero and his name was Garus.
His feelings slowly started to overflow and some tears left his eye sockets.
Below both these graves stood two more. One of which belonged to his younger sister. Interestingly, he had never made sure she has died, since he woke up in a hospital one day and remembered everything months later. Then he came himself, recovered the mutilated bodies of his parents and buried them.
He remembers his sister, Aspen, as a young cheeky little girl that always got her hands in any mess she could. Shed paint the walls of the broken house with whatever pen she would find in his school bag or, or she would put flour in Albecht's shoes and prank him. Or that other time where they were playing on the tree, competing who can head the tree more times.
All these memories and the dagger he was currently holding finally made him burst out crying loud, which was quickly followed by an ocean worthy amount of rain. His ears were begging for mercy in midst of such loud thunders. He couldn't withhold himself any more. He let it all out, all of it. All the little thing that made him sad, anxious, scared, annoyed and even all the happy emotions. No emotions had place in his bottle before a week full of suffering.
'Mum… I miss you so much, remember when you would discipline me when I would not do my homework? He he…. Or when I would play dangerous games with Aspen, I remember you would scream "Khalid, get your ahh down from there before you get hurt." Yes I do remember my real name, the name Dad gave me. The name that apparently means 'the sword of justice'. I always remember that soft touch of your hands, every time I feel down, all I need to do is think about the good times we had together and I will feel better. Those lively brown hair that always were in a bun tied with that ribbon I got you for your 34th birthday and that cheerful smile you always wore, those fragile hands that were always used for the benefit of me and Aspen. The skinny body you got as a consequence of starving yourself for us to eat. The great stories you told us every night, about how that hero fought those unfathomably large monsters and the supporter was always there to cover his back. Or about that time when the hero and his supporter stumbled upon a large castle that lacked any colours whatsoever, that building that looked like a large ink stain on the world.'
he stopped for a brief moment and sat on his all fours in front of his fathers grave and continued 'Oh dad, how I wish I remember you, no matter where I look I cant find anything about you, mum said you worked for the government but no official records of you exist somehow, almost as if they are hiding it, and after the exchange with GM I am more sure of this theory, the question that I am missing is 'why?' but worry not father, I will turn this god forsaken world around in order to find at least one picture of you, my one and only hero.' Following this he stood up one last time and went to Aspen's grave and followed- 'Sister, no matter how much I look for you just seem to have disappeared. As if you never existed, but I know, even though I am the only one who knows, I know. I will make sure this shitty world is burned to bits when I find out what happened to you, and they better have nothing to do with it. I swear upon my name as Garus and Amie's son that I will find out where you are or what happened to you.'
And as he finished his vow, he looked towards the right of his sisters grave, there it stood, his own, however, he started to dig it with his hands. No shovel, no support just him. And with that he shouted at the top of his lungs – 'I, HEREBY VOW, THAT FROM THIS MOMENT, I, KHALID, THE SWORD OF JUSTICE, SHALL TRY HIS HARDEST AND FLIP THIS FORSAKEN WORLD SO I ENSURE THAT MY FAMILY CAN REST IN PEACE IN HEAVEN AND SHALL NOT BE DISTURBED BY ANYONE.'
And as he was digging, he found it, the box his mum had given him and she said 'You will know when you are ready to open this so put it where you want.'
He touches upon the lid of the chest and is impressed by the outer design, it was carved in such a way that the wood had a wooden braid surrounding the bottom part of the lid, and had slithers of gold in there, this absolutely astonished Khalid as they were usually starving for food, yet his mum managed to give him this treasure. The underpart was the same as the top, except instead of being a half cylinder it was a cuboid.
Finally he opens it and dives his hand into the shadow of the box. He feels something liquid and takes his hand out and he notices he has ink all over his finger and becomes puzzled. He quickly takes out the rest of things in the chest and he sees hes given an ink pen, an ink container that is a very deep black colour and a notebook.
He opens the note book and is even more puzzled, there were many strange characters in the book and he was baffled. Nothing he saw made sense, but for some reason they seemed to scratch his brain a little.
Maybe he did know these weird symbols?