Chapter 1
09/13/ 2024
Soul Planet, Han Federation, Radiance City, District 9.
Inside a small apartment room.
A young man is sitting on his bed while seemingly on concentrated deep thinking. He is Ivan Porsche, 18 years old, and lives alone. His parents died when he was 15 years old, leaving behind a small sum of inheritance, bank account savings, and ownership of the small apartment he lives in.
He has no other relatives, and was a social recluse. Aside from maintaining his daily lifestyle, he has no other things to do. He is actually waiting for the awakening of his Soul Ability.
This is the world of Soul Ability Users. His parents were also Soul ability Users, and both of them passed away while going on a high-risk mission outside the city. The world outside the city is extremely dangerous, monsters and beasts run rampant, including unpredictable dangers that are beyond human understanding. But with danger comes opportunity, and thus many people still try their luck in exploring outside the cities.
Soul Ability Users awaken their powers at ages 17-18. There is no fixed process to awakening, one can only wait until the time comes for it to naturally happen.
And today is such a day for Ivan Porsche.
He is currently studying the nature of his Soul Ability.
[Soul Ability: Apostle Selection Lvl.1]
[Description: Select a living creature to be your Apostle. The Apostle will have absolute faith in the caster of this ability. The said Apostle will also gain a unique power that will be randomly specified. There is a limit to the number of Apostles that can be selected in each level. To select more Apostles, level up the Soul Ability Level.]
[Level One: Four Seasons Apostle]
[Details: You can select four apostles corresponding to the Four Seasons, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn.]
The more Ivan reads and analyzes his ability, the more solemn his facial expression becomes.
"This is troublesome."
He can't help but think that way. No matter which way he looks at it, this is definitely an Enslavement type Soul Ability. It may not be the most dangerous Soul Ability out there, but if people found out that he has Enslavement type Soul Ability, they will definitely stay far away from him. Under any circumstances, he must keep his Soul Ability confidential, no one must know about it. And that's what makes it troublesome.
As an independent individual, he must look for a job soon so that he could support himself, pay bills, and improve his lifestyle. In this world of Soul Ability Users, to get a job, one requirement is to get a certificate from the government that verifies his Soul Ability. It is a certificate that will contain complete information about his Soul Ability verified by the Han Federation Government Office.
But since his Soul Ability is the infamous Enslavement type ability, getting a job through employment is out of the picture. Even minimum wage jobs nowadays require certifications and other related documents, but Ivan is not willing to reveal his ability at all. The risk outweigh the benefits by too much. He can only think of other ways.
"Should I just hunt outside the city just like my parents did?"
Combat type Soul Ability Users usually have another option other than employment. That is, self-employed adventuring. Hunting for monsters, searching for magical treasures, rare materials, etc. This option is usually taken by individuals with strong survival abilities, preferably by Combat type Soul Ability Users. Due to the high risk nature of this job, the survival rate is around 30%, most people who chose this line of job are dead people by now.
His parents were actually not self-employed adventurers. They were members of Radiance Organization, a faction inside Radiance City composed mainly of Combat type Soul Ability Users, like-minded individuals who band together for a common purpose and shared interests. Aside from Radiance Organization, there are a few other factions inside the Radiance City. For example, Nightingale Group which is an intelligence agency, Soulbright Palace which is a business conglomerate, Torchlight Temple which is a religious group, and Sky Castle which is a secretive mysterious organization. These are a few of the top factions in the Radiance City, and most of them have connections with other cities under the Han Federation. There are also many other weaker factions, and any of these factions were once what Ivan planned to get a job with.
Unfortunately, now with this [Apostle Selection] Soul Ability, he doesn't intend to follow his initial plans. Although these factions may indeed hire him due to his Enslavement type ability, he doesn't want to take the risk. If he reveal his ability, he might attract the attention of those big shots in the city. He doesn't need that kind of attention. It would be more beneficial for him to keep a low-profile and improve quietly.
"Maybe I should develop my ability first and think about money-making later."
His Soul Ability [Apostle Selection] needs a living creature for him to enslave. Certainly, one of the best options could be humans. Intelligent, capable of communication, and most importantly, humans have Soul Abilities. Including the additional unique power given to Apostles, humans would be a suitable choice. Unfortunately, if he use the Soul Ability [Apostle Selection] on a citizen of Han Federation, he would be charged with breaking the Han Federation Act. No.0904 or the Anti-Human Enslavement Law of the government. If he was caught, he would be sentenced to 50 years of imprisonment and a fine of 7 million Han Dollars.
The Han Federation is a government that condemns human slavery. If Ivan uses his ability on a Han Federation Citizen, he would be considered a criminal and get arrested once discovered. So he can only think of other options for now.
The next option Ivan could think of is domestic pets. Cats, dogs, birds, fish, etc. These are normal animals which can be tamed and would be a doable option for [Apostle Selection]. But then Ivan immediately rejected this notion. Without a doubt, this option would result to a weaker Apostle. Ivan can't afford to be too casual with his choices because there is a limit to his Soul Ability. He doesn't want to cut off his future potential. If possible, he'd prefer the best option he could get.
The next option he could think of would be magical pets, beasts, monsters, and other non-human races. Unfortunately, majority of these remain unobtainable for now. Most of these creatures can only be found outside the city. Except for a few magical pets and beasts. There are factions in Radiance City which specializes in the buy and sell of magical pets and beasts. One of such faction is the Creo Beast Park.
Ivan checked his remaining balance on his bank account. He still had 11,197 Han Dollars. This is what is left from his parents inheritance. He has been spending the money from his parents inheritance since they passed away, from daily necessities to High School tuition fees, electric bills, and many other miscellaneous expenses. Throughout the three years, Ivan was focused on his High School studies and now he finally graduated just a week ago.
His remaining money is just enough to buy the cheapest magical pets for sale on Creo Beast Park and other similar stores. He immediately got on his PC and entered the shopping website of Creo Beast Park. He plans to purchase online. Going personally to buy would cost more due to the transportation fare being more expensive than delivery services.