章 6: Alcove's Orphanage
Red silvery glowing eyes met his.
Beautiful, gorgeous eyes full of life, of curiosity…
But then they disappeared as they always did, as if frightened away. 'Please come back' he inwardly begged.
How long did Nex sleep? Long enough for his wounds to heal and his spirit to mend. After all, he had suffered many injuries crawling over to… wherever the hell this place was.
It's those eyes that brought him back and made him observe his surroundings.
The rough texture of cheap cloth, the smell of smoke, and the constant cries of children in the background. Nex's room was the size of a cupboard…no, a coffin.
Had he been buried alive?! As if he'd accept that!
— Bam! —
— Bam! —
— Bam! —
— SLAM! —
He finally slammed his way out, arriving in a new world.
It was a kitchen with countless cheeky little creatures running around. They were already circling him, pointing as one would at a freak.
"It's alive and walking!"
"Miss Midnight, he's up! Come see!"
That's when she came out: an angel with the body of a devilish temptress. She had huge clear whiteish eyes, her gaze as sharp as the dagger on her belt.
Midnight, was it? Dark hair and skin the color of moonlight. The little ones were already running to her as they jumped in excitement.
"Where am I?" Nex asked.
"The Alcove's Orphanage. Follow me."
She guided him toward a courtyard, a familiar reptilian punching a large-beetle-like corpse. Each of his strikes sent tremors in the air: pure physical power!
Nex opened his mouth, but the man spoke faster.
"Leave. You do not have the qualifications to be here. Midnight, escort him out. See you never, kid." The lizard grumbled, the woman already ushering Nex out.
"WAIT! I'm sick of it! Talentless, weak-looking, unworthy, screw you! Why the hell did you bother healing me?! I want to become stronger. Just point me in the right direction!"
The lizard gave a sad laugh as he utterly destroyed the target before him.
"The right direction? Right my scaly ass! Hahaha, as if there was such a thing! We're just puny mortals suffering, surviving their bloody best. Nothing's right here!"
"…."
"…."
"If there are no rights, what wrong would YOU do in my place?!" Nex asked.
"I'd bloody give up! You're weaker than a damn child!"
"Fine! We'll see about that, you bastard!"
"…."
Nex left half-fuming, half-enlightened. A second later, he was bolting into the orphanage's main room, the children looking his way.
"Clap!— Listen up, you all! That grumpy lizard said you're all stronger than me! Now, who wants to teach me!!" ~ Shameless mode activated
"W-whhaaa?! How weak's this uncle?!" One exclaimed.
"Very extremely terrifically utterly weak! Anyway, let's train together!" Nex grinned, hopeful.
The kids were so baffled that not a peep escaped them. A clear laugh resounded in the complete silence. "Pfft—" Midnight could not contain herself anymore.
As for the kids…
"No thanks! You're going to die soon anyway. Razark said so!"
He had even slandered him with the kids?! But it was fine: he still had a trump card. Nex suddenly started mumbling, seemingly having lost my mind…
"~ Once upon a time, there lived a young Necromancer who had for only companion a mighty wolf called Moon Moon. He…"
At first, they all scoffed at him, but they soon found themselves enraptured by the tale. How could one be so cool?! This wolf was the bestest!
Boys and girls had their ears wide open, just in time for Nex to hit them with a demonic technique as old as time itself: the mighty Cliffhanger!
"What comes next?!"
"Uncle, please tell us!!!"
Their eyes shone with desire. Got them!
"Sigh, sorry, but this dashing young man has to go. You see, I have to find myself a teacher. I'm trying to grow stronger and—" Nex baited them.
"I'll help!"
"Leave it to me!"
"Just tell us the rest of the story!"
Just like that his training soon began, with the kids giving it their all. They tried their best to copy the teachings they had received from Razark.
- Weight lifting
- Movement techniques
- Combat and reflex practice
- …
After every training session, Nex would feel utterly dead and hungry. Then he'd continue the heroic tale of Jack & Moon Moon over a meal of mutated purple potatoes. ~Evolver's Food apparently.
Nex had become the almighty storyteller!
In the background, a flabbergasted Midnight kept marveling at the stories. They were so effective against the children! It could even make them eat their Chaos Vegetables without a peep!
He used her interest to gather more info about the silvery red eyes, but it was a complete failure. The topic seemed taboo and he never saw them again either. Had he seen a ghost or something?!
Nex kept training…
It didn't take long for him to conclude that he really was weaker than the damn kids! Turns out the people in this world were extremely OP!
Even the seven-year-old kids all had physical stats around 8! His body of 16 points versus theirs of 24 was a massacre! It didn't take long for him to be battered badly.
He'd jokingly refer to his training as watering the plants….with his blood.
But even then, Nex kept asking them for more. Sure, losing was shameful, but not even having the strength to survive critters in the wild was even more so!
Scary Zombie Rats from before —> Not a big deal at all!
On the third day of his awakening, Nex finally realized just how crazy this world was. That day it rained blood, acidic blood. It could even kill careless powerhouses! Rule #2 Check the Weather.
The children helped barricade the place, even glancing at him strangely. "Uncle Nex, is it really your first time seeing rain?! So weird!" They innocently exclaimed.
Weird?! He was the weird one?! It was freaking raining blood! #Hellish Land #Crazy Common Sense
"You know, where I'm from, it only rains water and sometimes snow. Blood? Never!" As he exclaimed, they chuckled at the "story". As if such a paradise really existed!
A few days later, Nex was over it, resolved to only focus on his training.
As for the scary blood rain? It was better than cricket rain by far! His ears were still ringing from all the chirping!
He trained until he left some skin everywhere in the orphanage. But then he was finally ready!
"Johny, I challenge you!!" This cry came from the bottom of his heart. He was about to take his revenge.
"Pfft— You're gonna lose again: I'm not even the weakest here. Also, why would I even agree to it?"
Yes, he wasn't the weakest, but he was the most predictable. He was actually the only one Nex stood a chance against. As for convincing him, he had the perfect bait.
"Why? Side-story!"
"What?! Really?! You're on!!"
In the courtyard, a duel was about to begin. One for honor, self-improvement, but most importantly, side stories…
クリエイターの想い 
ClasslessAscension
ClasslessAscension Why did the old lizard even save me? Honestly, it's baffling. He was convinced I'd always remain weak and would die in a ditch. then why did he even bother?
Bloody Journey! 🩸🔥🐥
Weakest SSS-Rank —> Top of the world All for a simple dream...
-- 贈り物
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