After developing a deep friendship two women Beverly and Alice loose touch after collage. Beverly’s life has fallen apart after being kidnapped tortured and rescued by a mysterious and reclusive hero. Beverly needing an out let. Beverly pulls up the last email address she has for the one person who would understand Alice. She begins to send daily accounts of what happens to her thru her every day life. When it goes unanswered. Thinking the email is an unused account she begins to write her thoughts deepest secrets and desires. Unaware the past is going to come crashing in to her present at any moment and change everything.

A thin malnourished man removes his OPH [Online Port Helmet] , a revolutionary device that lets people access Genesys as well as the online web. He stands up weakly and stretches his body. This man's name is Leon White IGN White. The mastermind of the Excalibur incident.

He walks around a crappy house that he can barely call home. Ever since his mother died in an accident five years ago, the burden of taking care of his family falls entirely down to him. He has twin ten year old sisters and a ONE year old baby brother. Because of their young age White is forced to stay home to look after them, unable to go out and look for a proper job. If not for Genesys his family would not be able to survive this long.

Leon noticed a baby boy crawling all over the floor playing with a dirty truck toy left unattended, seeing this he can't help but feel irritated.

"Ems, Val why did you leave Jack alone on the floor?"  With a hint of hatred in his eyes he picked up the baby.

A cute voice in distress responded "Sorry bro, Dad started acting up again."

"Is he ok? I'll be right there" Carrying baby Jack, he rushed towards the only room in the house.

On the other side of the door there are two identical girls trying their best to hold down a man.

The man looks like a mummy with only his skin and bone left visible. Without the tubes sticking out on him to keep him alive, he will be dead within an hour.

This man is Leon White father. Ever since their mother died his father became depressed. Back  then he thought that it would only be temporary and eventually his father will recover but as the time goes by he only got worse.

Everytime he sees his father and all the cuts in his wrist. Leon didn't feel any anger or hate toward him. He didn't blame him for his mistake or the way he gave up on them. He only felt pain that he cannot do anything to help him.

Giving baby Jack to Ems he asked them to leave the room "Go take care of Jack I'll handle dad"

After his sibling gets out of the room, he walks up to his struggling father and puts him in a sleeperhold slowly draining oxygen in his lungs "Calm down dad, calm down, It's me Leon. Please, that's enough ".

"Wahaaaaa!" The man ignores Leon and continues to struggle. With pain in his eyes Leon put more pressure in his hand and not long after the man passed out due to lack of oxygen..

Leon tucked him to bed and reinforced his restraint to prevent him from taking his life. "Sorry dad, I'll promise I'll find a way to help you so please for us, don't give up on life."

…..

"Is dad ok?" Asked Val with concern in her eyes..

Leon looked at his sister, having no idea what to answer. Luckily Ems comes out from the kitchen and approaches him and Val.

"Bro, we're already out of milk for Jack, maybe I can use mine" Ems said looking at her flat chest with a dejected look.

White immediately understood what she was implying. He caress her hair and jokingly said  "hehehe if you look at them to much they will shrink"

Ems pouted "Stupid brother when they got bigger, you will not be allowed to touch them." 

"Hahaha" White laughed. 'why would I want to touch my own sister's breast, I'm not a freak'

For a ten year old kid to think of something like breastfeeding a baby because of lack of money. He feels like he failed his duty as an older brother. 

"Don't worry I scored big this time.I will buy milk later and maybe some meat"

Hearing the word meat, Val immediately rushed toward Leon and hugged him. "Yeahhhey meat"

Feeling something soft touch his leg. Leon look down 

'Bigger is better' he thought

Ems noticed his brother's eyes said angrily "Glutton". 

Val retaliating looks at her and put out her tongue "Bleh"

…...

Not remembering how long since he let his family eat meat Leon bought a feast but Immediately regretted it when he saw his empty wallet.

'I really need to earn big this time'

He put on his Online Port betting all on the [Dark Excalibur] he obtained. 'Let see if I hit the jackpot' 

"What the f*ck?" Immediately after going online he was bombarded by hundreds of emails. 

[Infodesk@Pantheon.com]

Hi MacMoney247, this is a recruiter from [Pantheon] are you interested in joining our guild? You will immediately be treated as an Internal member upon joining enjoying its benefit including it's generous salary. If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me, I assure you Pantheon will not disappoint you.

[wearethebest@warzgod.com]

Warzgod invites you. MacMoney247 to join our ranks you will immediately be treated as a commander. Enjoying its benefits. Money, women, subordinate, name what you want and you get it. So MoacMoney247 are you ready to enlist?

The society guild invites you.
The love farming guild invites you.
The fishing society invites you
N.E.S.O [Nerd Society] invites you 

"What do these guilds want with me? To go as far as offering me a high salary. I remember screwing with a bunch of them in the past on more than one occasion, especially Patheon who even put a bounty on my head. 'If they figured out that I'm White I'm pretty sure they all be sending me death threats instead.'

Leon thought of surprising Pantheon with his secret identity but immediately tossed the idea aside.

One will not die if he didn't seek death.

Scrolling further down he sees a bunch of random people sending him a bunch of stupid nonsense. 

[Bigyouknowwhat @mail.com]
Marry me MacMoney 247

[Yourbestfriend @mail.com]
Yow! best friend lets hang. Tell me where you are and I'll be there.

[Givemesomemoney @mail.com]
Show me the money.

[Yousectretadmirer @mail.com]
I like you oppa. 

[KKbangbang@ mail.com]
I want to make your baby senpai.

"Is the internet on pot or something? When did I become a celebrity" He was about to close his email when he spotted a particular Email. Subject Im James THE HEAD OF OPERATION of Neo.

'Why would someone in Genesys want to contact me? They're not going to delete my account were they?' Thinking of his recent exploit, Leon started to get nervous.

[JamesEzrael@ mail.com]

Hi Mr.MacMoney247, this is James THE HEAD OF OPERATION of Neo. The reason I contact you is not for business reasons but more personal. This got nothing to do with Neo. I James THE HEAD OF OPERATION of Neo wants to buy your Dark Excalibur. I'm willing to pay 50,000,000 USD. 

Thanks and Regards.
JamesEzrael 
HEAD OF OPERATION of Neo

[Ps. Prize is still negotiable. Waiting for your reply.]

After reading the email Leon breathed a sigh of relief. 'This guy is nothing but a troll. 50,000,000 USD who is he kidding if I have that kind of money I would not be working for the rest of my life. His email even looks fake as hell' Leon thought quickly closing his email.

He then opened Genesys official trading platform wanting to see if his item would sell for a decent price. All depend on this if this turns out to be a bus he was screwed. 

When he saw the price on the screen, he was stunned "one, two, three, four, five, six,seven, eight zero. Is this real?" Leon pinch himself trying to check if he was dreaming..

"Ouch! Hahahahaha I'm not dreaming. This is real. Hahaha I'm rich" Leon laughed frantically with tears running through his face.

[Dark Excalibur] Bid 100,000,000 USD.

Comment
AgentSky-*Shock Emoji* Is the world going to end, it's only a game Item? 
Artas - Paging! Paging I got a wooden sword it's only 1billion dollars. Get it now!.
C137- Lol For one above go eat your wooden sword no one will buy it.
Morthy- For the one above, Idiot that's only a joke.  
Jerry- Moderator paging ban the two above me flooding the comment section. MacMoney I will power level you. I'm a level 50 warrior [Destroyer51]. Only for 25,000 USD.
Summer- For the one above me stop flaunting your account you noob. I'll kill you back to Level one. I'm level 51 Summer365.
Beth[Moderator]- If you all not stop flooding the comment section you will be banned for life, you poor kids….. Call me Mr.MacMoney I'm good at warming beds.
C137- ….
Jerry- ….
Summer- ….


'I finally did it mom, we can start being a family again ' For the whole night that day Leon's eyes never left the screen of his OPH. He was scared that if he turned his eyes for one second everything would vanish.

The meat feast he bought is all eaten by his sister. They all were worried about him as he doesn't move or respond no matter how many times they called him. If not for them seeing him breathing they would've already called an ambulance.

Finally it was midnight, His Item had finally been sold. 

12:00 Am

[Dark Excalibur] 101,520,000 USD sold

[Congratulations, your Item has been sold to PrinceofLight for 101,520,000 USD as the deal type is a Personal Transaction please arrange a time and place to finalize the transaction. Genesys I.G name Buyer:Eric Seller:White. 

Warning: The buy and sell contract is already established. If the deal is not finalized within one week Neo Corporation will proceed to take legal action]


"101,520,000  USD a whole 100 million dollar"  That day will be marked as one of the happiest days of Leon's life. The day his life completely changed. 


..... 

Leon White is a poor man with no mother and a father with suicidal tendency. Despite his young age he has to provide for a family with two younger sisters and a baby, all while drowning in debt.

Despite doing everything for money they're still barely getting by. With no money to send his sister to school or even give his family a proper meal he and his family has no choice but to live like rats. 

But due to using underhanded means in the game called [Genesys] he manage to obtained the legendary sword Excalibur forever changing his life.

He walked up to the dance floor, filled with confidence. He knew he was better than everyone who had danced so far, by a huge margin.

He will make the recruiter unable to shift his gaze away from him.

He looked at his instructor.

He gave him a thumbs up, and said something without using his voice,

"Fighting!"

He smiled a bit and then took a suitable starting position.

The instructor turned on the music.

Jaemin stroked up the sleeves of his light blue blousse, went through his fine black hair with his hands and did the first few moves of the routine.

He recalled every move he was supposed to do in his head and executed them perfectly. You could see that he put his entire soul, his entire being into this dance. 

That state that he had entered earlier, he had entered it again. But it was different this time, but he couldn't explain what exactly was different. It felt very strange, like when something unfamiliar in his body that had hidden itself, was finally showing itself.

He looked at the students, they couldn't help but stare in utter amazement. The instructor was looking at him in a similar way, but he was also smiling. 

He was happy for Jaemin.

But most importantly...

The scout was....

He was watching attentively.

He hadn't noticed the scout looking at him so intensely, but he also hadn't noticed something else during that time. A few notifications from the system had actually appeared.

[ Ding! ]

[ Training requirements met! ]

[ Skill: Dancing +1 ]

[ Ding! ]

[ Ding! ]

[ Ding! ] 

[ Ding! ]
....
....
....
....

He had the feeling he was dancing better, and better the longer he continued. He also had an idea of doing something cool to end the dance....

A backflip. That should truly catch some attention. He could already hear everyone screaming: "OHHHHHHHH"

The last part of the song started, he kept on dancing. 

Everyone was enjoying his performance, a few students' mouths were hanging open. The instructor was still smiling and the scout's eyes had apparently gotten wider.

The music stopped.

Jaemin stopped dancing, and jumped backwards, ultimately performing a perfectly executed backflip, which created a successful ending of his dance.

The instructor instantly started clapping, the students eventually followed along. 

The scout clapped as well, while unable to hide his smile.

Screams and whistles emerged from the crowd.

Jaemin was moved.

This was why people wanted to become famous. At least, he knew he wanted to become famous because of this.

Even though the 'crowd' was small, he still felt emotional. 

He also couldn't help but look at that black clothed man.

Their eyes met, and the scout smiled.

He also correspondingly smiled.

He quicky went to his seat located beside the instructor.

"You did great, you're basically already on the level of the majority k-pop idols. You could probably become the main dancer of any group after a few months of training as a trainee. I'm sure the scout noticed this as well."

"And what was that flip at the end? Trying to look cool? Such a show-off!" 

"Hahaha, thanks hyung."

"I'll talk with the scout a bit, hehehe."

Jaemin was excited, he really wanted to know if he got scouted or not.

The instructor was happingly chatting with the also widely smiling scout. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could still see from the movement of his lips that his name had come out of the scout's mouth.

"Oh my god, please tell me it's true, please tell me he is interested in me."

And right at that moment...

"Min-jae, come here for a second!"

The instructor was grinning, the corners of his mouth basically reached his ears at this point.

"Hey there, you're Kim Min-jae right?"

"That's correct, may I ask what you have called me for?"

He also did a 90 degree bow to show his respect.

"Haha, what a polite young man. I'm An Gong-young, a recruiter from JYP Entertainment."

While he said this, he gave him his business card that had the exact same information on it as he said. Along with a phone number and an email.

"I think you're quite the amazing dancer. And your looks are one of the best- no, they are the best i've seen so far, you have all the necesarry qualities and the potential to become a successful idol in my opnion."

"Are you maybe interested in coming to the audition?"

YES! YES PLEASE!

HE DID IT! HE FINALLY DID IT!

1 ~ HE GOT SCOUTED! HE GOT *SEE FAR* SCOUTED!!

He still had to pass the second audition, but that was a piece of cake. He only had to sing something, and maybe even dance a bit. The hardest thing though, was to get noticed. His visuals were actually even better than those who got scouted randomly in the streets, but that had never happened to him.

Truly unlucky.

But he got scouted in the end anyway, that's what matters.

He already knew what he was going to answer, of course, he said:

"Yes!"

"Then let's go!"

The scout seemed extremely satisfied by his response, so he quickly discussed some things about being a k-pop idol. He talked about being a trainee, how his daily life would look like, how he would debut etc. He basically let him view JYP in a different light, a good light.

You couldn't hear any negative things about being a trainee at JYP at all.

A bit unrealistic, but he didn't care.

The instructor waved at him.

And he and the scout got out of the building, and got in his car. It was a gray hyundai that looked quite expensive. They went right to his parents' home to ask to audition.

It didn't take that long, his dance academy was only six miles away from is home. Jaemin rushed out of the car and knocked on the door. The scout followed him, though a bit slower.

His mother opened up the door.

"Jaemin, there you are a- who is this man?"

"Hello there Miss, I'm a scout from JYP Entertainment, I believe your son is extremely fit to become an idol, he can even audition today, he just needs your permission."

His mother looked shocked, she eventually asked the scout and himself to come in. They sat down in the living room where his dad also sat. His dad looked confused at first, but his mom explained what was going on. They were discussing quite loudly about it.

They both eventually quieted down, and listened to the words the scout had to say.

Jaemin also said that this is what he truly wanted to do, he also promised to not drop out of school, so that he still had a back up plan if he failed.

After a long talk, they eventually agreed.

Jaemin couldn't hide his excitement.

The scout said he could audition whenever, even today if he wanted.

And what did Jaemin want? 

To audition as fast as possible!

Today it is!

They quickly said their goodbyes and got into the car once again.

They drove for quite a long time, in that time the scout basically explained everything you had to know about the audition.

If summarised, most of the time people had to sing for one minute, and it coud be a song of their choice. Dance for thirty seconds on a random chosen dance and then you will know in about two weeks if you passed the audition.

"We're here."

Jaemin looked out of the window, and saw a large building.

On it were the letters: JYP

He had arrived.

Time to audition!



Title: Scouted!




(Current Status)

========================

[ Kim Min-jae ]

[ Male ]

- Attributes -

Body Fitness: 20 (10)

WIllpower: 20 (10)

Flexibility: 21 (10)

Intelligence: 21 (10)

Health: 20 (10)

Appearance: MAX (10)

Available attribute points: 0

- Skills -

Dancing: 40 (10)

Acting: 12 (10)

Singing: 35 (10)

Available skill points: 0

========================


-----
1 ~ See far sounds like the korean word for f%#$

Kim Min-jae always dreamed of becoming a K-pop idol. He tried everything: taking acting and dance classes, becoming better at singing and rapping etc.

He had been a trainee, but got eliminated in one of the yearly evalutions.

Why?

He wasn't good at anything a k-pop idol should be good at. The only reason why he became a trainee is because he never gave up on his training.

One night, he looked up to the stars.

"Give me a chance to fulfill all my dreams"

"What a perfectly timed ability!" someone from the crowd shouted.

Celeste looked back at the large screen that was showing a replay of Li Ming's attempt at the second stage. This time, the replay was shown in slow motion. The analysts and recruiters were all admiring The Dawn's incredible performance from every angle that the replay was shown. 

Because of the replay system set up by the Leo Corporation, it was possible to view replays from any angle you wanted. this made it far easier for anyone watching a replay to watch their game play and learn from mistakes. It was also commonly used to make "Highlight Montage " type videos for Y*utube. 

"As you can see here, he perfectly calculated the angle and speed at which the crystal chandelier would drop, as well as how much damage it would do!" one of the analysts exclaimed, "Everything was so well calculated! Whoever this 'Dawn' character is, he must be at least a top 0.1% player! Given a bit of training, he will definitely be a world class god tier player!"

"Indeed!" another analyst agreed, "From the way he makes his decisions, he seems to be a but a teenager. If a strong team were to groom him for a year or two, he would definitely become a revolutionary player for Legends Rise!"

"Well then, it looks like we'll be fighting to recruit him then!" a recruiter wearing a blue and white jacket declared.

The other recruiters could only laugh as they sighed inwardly. They knew that this man, although currently acting as a recruiter, was actually the team owner of the Los Angeles Emperors! This team was well know for buying up young talents to groom. This was the team that invested the most money in their players more than any team in the entire world! This team enjoyed crushing the entire North American region, but had very little international success. 

Because of this, many of the recruiters there were also feeling pity for "The Dawn". If he did accept the recruitment of the Los Angeles Emperors, he may never reach his full potential on the international stage. Of course, "The Dawn" could also bring about a new era for the Emperors, but it was highly unlikely as the Emperors were known to spoil their players a little too much. Without having sufficient coaching staff to keep the team together, the team played more as a group of talented individuals instead of as a team.

This wasn't to say that they had too little coaches, but it had to do with the skill level of these coaches as well as the mindset of most North American players. Most North American players were headstrong and often butted heads with their coaches. They believed that since they played the game, they should know more about the game than their coaches when it came to a micro level such as their mechanics*. They would listen when it came to anything team related, but it was in their culture that they valued the individual over the team. Without completely changing the culture, it would be impossible for them to attain international success.

Suddenly, golden words had emerged on the screen. It read: "STAGE 3: VICTORY!"

This truly stunned the crowd! Normally, the message would read "STAGE 3: COMPLETE", but this time, it said Victory! What did this mean?

The analysts were stunned as well. This was a new record! Not only that, but a near impossible one to accomplish! Although the stage was said to have an infinite number of AI, it really only had 3 copies of each of the team's star players as well as a couple of old veteran god tier players! Knowing this, they knew that "The Dawn" had successfully cleared all 1000 AI units! Despite the AI being at 25% of the original players's abilities, this was still a groundbreaking achievement as it proved that Li Ming had the tenacity to endure long fights, even if he was the last one standing!

At this moment, each of the recruiters pulled out their phones and attempted to reach their superiors. They knew that they could not let this potential god tier player player escape from their 
hands, even if it meant competing against the Los Angeles Emperors' deep pockets.

The Emperor's acting recruiter, Recna211, noticed Celeste staring at the stage with his jaw agape.

"Yo! If it isn't Celeste! Why don't you call "The Dawn" over?" he stated through his microphone, "I'm sure we'd all like to speak with him!"

Celeste panicked! Being called out like this by such a prominent figure meant that he had no choice but to follow along with the instructions! Especially with all the recruiter staring at him intently the same way a pack of wolves would eye an injured deer. He could only dash over to the booth to escort Li Ming to the stage.

Truly, he was unlucky. Had he stayed in the booth, he would have been able to watch the performance Live, giving him the chance to contact his superiors first to contract Li Ming. But now it was too late. He had no time to do so, and he could only send out a text message to the team's current captain, roughly covering what had happened. He knew that when he went back to the organization, he would surely receive a harsh lecture! Even his status as one of the original players wouldn't save him from this!

While running to the booth, we could hear Recna211 deliver a frightening declaration:

"Alright, why don't we start the bidding?" the man sneered, "I'll start by declaring my price as One Million US Dollars per year, with an additional bonus per victory depending on his performance!"

This statement made every single mouth in the area open as if they were trying to consume the air through their mouths. That was and entire million dollars! That was the same price offered to most Championship winners! "The Dawn" was but a new player, not even confirmed to be a top 0.1% player yet, but he had still been offered this frightening amount! 

The recruiter's faces turned dark. With their superiors on the phone with them finally understanding the situation, the recruiters knew that the player bidding war was about to begin!

Tang Li Ming's life has been full of half-hearted attempts and failures. Although he performed flawlessly in class and his homework, when it came time to execute, he wouldn't be able to.

After receiving news that it would be unlikely for him to move on to college, he decides to run away from home. He uses his remaining savings from his part time job to fly to the California in the United States to see his favorite team compete in the one thing he actually enjoyed: Legends Rise.

The story follows his adventures as he matures throughout his life and career as a professional gamer.

You can contact me through twitch.tv/snipetress or on my discord!

Not wanting another repeat of his attempted murder Cain immediately activated his Menacing Presence skill as he walked into the bar. 
When he walked in the bar everyone felt a sudden chill down their spines. 

As he glided across the bar he was given a wide berth because of his intimidating armor and presence. Sitting down at the bar Cain waited patiently for the recruiter to arrive.

"C-can I get you anything?" The bartender stuttered as he stood in front of the masked stranger.

"No."

Once he got this simple answer, the bartender ran away like a bat out of hell. Smiling under his mask, Cain slightly reduced his dark presence so it only affected the people that came near him.

Keeping a constant watch over the entire bar, Cain kept a lookout for the recruiter. As he expanded his senses around the bar he soon found his attention shifting over to a particular busty woman that was dancing. 

Finding this far more enjoyable than waiting for the recruiter, Cain enjoyed the show while he seemed as if he was only looking off into space.

"New armor I see, it looks good on you."

Cain regrettably broke his concentration from the hot girl to see that the recruiter was finally here.

"How did you know it was me?" Cain questioned curiously.

"Who else would be wearing a scary-ass helmet and has everyone sitting 10 seats away," he asked rhetorically. 

Cain looked around and was surprised by how effective his Menacing Presence was. The entire section of the bar where he sat was completely voided of all people.

"What can I say, I'm friendly," Cain joked as the man sat down.

"Haha. Didn't think you were a joker," the man laughed then ordered a drink from the bar, "But let's get down to business."

"How does one join the Bounty Hunter guild?" Cain curiously asked.

"We usually search for talent throughout the galaxy. We're a tightly knitted group but unlike the Black Sun we, are not criminals."

"Bounty Hunters. How is that not being a criminal?" Cain said in disbelief.

"Simple, we provide a service to our customers and for a price, we can do whatever they wish if it's within reason of course," the man grinned," A perfectly legal transaction of services."

"What's the catch?" Cain asked immediately.

"I knew you weren't just a scary faceless grunt," the man said as he downed another shot.

"Much like any other guild, we'll give you some training, the gear, and a list of clients that will need your services. You make a name for yourself, and the Guild also benefits. If you're not worth our investment, then we'll kill you or sell you into slavery to make a profit," the man explained," so what do you say?"

Cain already knew that he was walking into a den of killers but he was prepared to make a name for himself, even if it had to be written with blood.

"Where do I sign?"

"That's funny, kid. But we don't sign contracts," the man suddenly stood up and smirked, "we take souls."

Motioning Cain to follow him, the man walked out of the bar and Cain quickly trailed after him. 

As the Cain and the man finally left the bar everyone there let out a collective sigh of relief as the dark presence was finally gone.

"Where are we going?" Cain questioned while walking beside the man," I never did get your name by the way."

"You can call me Ric," the man introduced himself without breaking stride," And we're heading to a branch the guild owns here on Coruscant."

"That seems a little close having a branch in the capital of the Republic," Cain commented.

"We spread ourselves for all of our clients, " Ric explained," Plus they would never even know we're under their noses. They hardly care for the people on the lower levels to look for us."

"You seem fine with just sharing all this information with me. Why?" Cain questioned," What if I tell the authorities?"

Suddenly, Ric stopped walking and turned to look at Cain, then smirked.

"Do you really think I wouldn't have back up with me? Just waiting to take you out if you do happen to even flinch wrong."

Suddenly sensing danger, Cain looked down to see that there were two red dots on his body. One aimed for his slightly less protected neck, and the other at his heart. Cain without any hesitation activated his Force Sense and helmet's zoom function.

Tracing the trajectory of the lasers, Cain soon found where both of the snipers were camping. One was hidden in a nearly invisible hovercar and the other was standing on the ledge of a building. Both snipers were garbed in black cloaks so Cain couldn't tell their species or gender.

"So don't try anything funny, kid."

"I could kill you before they even take the shot." Cain threatened as he began to enhance his body with the Force.

"Then I guess we'll just have to see who dies first, won't we?" Ric fearlessly grinned at Cain.

After glaring at him for a second, Cain eventually relaxed his body but still remained alert. He knew that if they truly wanted to kill him, then they would have tried already.

"Lead the way," Cain finally gesturing for Ric to continue walking but made sure to keep track of the two sniper's presence.

"Knew you'd see it my way." Ric grinned as he roughly slapped Cain on his back.

Walking deeper into the depths of Coruscant, Cain could see that the number of people in the crowds increased. There were tons of different species in the underworld of Coruscant. But the deeper you went the more haggard and sinister the people became.

"Here we are, Bounty Hunter central!" Ric gestured towards a beaten-down small building that looked on the verge of collapsing.

"It looks like crap," Cain bluntly mumbled.

"Wait till you see the inside," Ric led Cain into the small building and exclaimed, "isn't she a beaut."

The inside was somehow even worse than the outside. In the building, there was a small dingy bar that was manned by a large Trandoshan. The bar was almost completely empty except for a few people that seemed to be sleeping on the floor.

Without care, Ric stepped up to the bar where the large Trandoshan stood.

"Heya doing Crol!" he said to the Trandoshan bartender.

"Eh-not bad," Crol replied then nodded his head towards Cain," Is that the new recruit?" 

"Yup. I found him all by himself desperately seeking guidance. Looking for a handsomely strong, but gentle hand to lead him," Ric said dramatically as he clutched his heart," And who better than me to help?"

"Sorry you had to deal with him, his parents dropped him a few times as an infant," Crol said to Cain, completely ignoring Ric.

"Nice to meet you," Cain greeted the surprisingly friendly Trandoshan.

"You too. Do you got a name? I know this idiot probably didn't even ask for yours."

Thinking to himself for a second, Cain decided that a fake name would be best for now.

"Loki."

"Hmm..nice name but can we hurry this up, Tula's already expecting me," Ric said impatiently.

"She was on a warpath last time you were late, go on in," Crol then reached under the bar and flipped a switch.

Suddenly the wall beside the bar slid open to reveal a hallway. Everyone in the bar seemed unbothered by the new feature in the room.

Walking forward Ric passed through the hallway without another word.

"See you soon, kid," Crol called to Cain as he followed Ric," Hope you don't die too soon."

Cain ignored Crol and continued to follow Ric through the hallway. The hallway was completely bare of everything, and the only thing in sight was another closed door.

Walking to the other door, Ric stopped and turned around.

"Once you walk through here your officially a Bounty Hunter," Ric said seriously," There is no going back."

"I was born ready."

Ric smirked at Cain's response and went to open the door," Let's hope you can keep that confidence."

Ric then placed his palm against a screen next to the door causing it to swiftly slide open. Looking through the door curiously, Cain saw that there seemed to a giant underground facility. 

Just when he was about to walking forward Cain suddenly saw something flying towards Ric's head.

With the reflexes he sharpened from surviving against Yoda, Cain snatched the object out of the air just before it nailed Ric in the face.

"Where the hell have you been! I expected your dumbass to be here 3 rotations ago."

Glancing away from the metal pipe that he just caught, Cain looked up to a beautiful female Chiss glaring at Ric. 

"W-well you see Tula..," Ric nervously trailed off, but then he suddenly remembered Cain was here," I got us a new recruit!"

Tula turned her glare from Ric to the masked figure standing next to him. With his armor, featureless mask, and overall menacing presence. Cain made quite an impressive figure.

Tula immediately raised her eyebrow," Hmm..a Mandalorian didn't know you guys were still fighters." 

Cain decided to keep silent and let everyone assume he was a Mandalorian, it might even help his reputation.

"Don't worry about him he's just shy," Ric tried to lean against Cain but he stumbled when Cain dodged.

"So he wants to join the guild," Tula began to slowly circle Cain while eyeing him up and down," Is he qualified?"

"Yes, he is," Cain spoke for himself.

"And he can speak," Tula said mockingly," But can he fight?"

Without any warning, Tula ran forward and attacked Cain from behind.

Already sensing her intentions, Cain spun around and met the Chiss head-on. Not even phased by this, Tula unleashed a swift spin kick towards Cain's midriff.

Blocking the kick with his elbow, Cain suddenly dropped to the floor and tried to sweep Tula's leg from under her. Anticipating this already Tula then jumped into the air and tried to stomp on Cain.

Rolling away from the strike, Cain flipped to his feet and prepared to engage again. Taking initiative, Tula rushed forward and threw a haymaker.

Shifting his body to avoid the attack, Cain got into Tula's personal space and the body checked her while throwing out another punch.

Although unprepared for this Tula still recovered and grappled Cain's arm. Pulling him to the floor she quickly got on top of him. Spinning over him Tula pulled a knife from behind her back and pinned Cain to the floor.

Grinning victorious Tula held the knife against Cain's throat, "And here I thought you Mandalorian's were legendary warriors," She said mockingly.

"Still better than you."

Unprepared for him to say anything, Tula suddenly felt something on her abdomen. She quickly looked down to see that Cain was holding a pistol against her stomach.

"Well aren't you full of surprises," Tula while still staring down at Cain as she still sat on top of him.

Cain and Tula continued to stare at each other for a while until they were finally interrupted by Ric clearing his throat.

"Ahem-...if you guys are done can we go or...," Ric mumbled awkwardly to Cain and Tula as they were still on top of each other.

Smirking, Tula slowly at a agonizing speed stood up from off of Cain. Sad and happy to watch her get up, Cain looked up to see that she staring at him with a devious smile.

"Welcome to the Guild."

After appearing before an omnipotent being, Cain was sent to another universe with a gift from this god.

Waking up in the middle of a forest, Cain found himself completely alone, but for some reason he was a little kid again. 

Freaking out in the forest, Cain began seeing floating words everywhere he looked, and A weird Gungan kept chasing him.

[Note: I do not own Star Wars. This story was in no way written for personal gains. The Characters and Star Wars belong solely to Walt Disney Company, and I have made no money from this.]

Ben decided to go hunting to level up Ava and get some money to spend on himself. He decided to join a hunting party to see how they worked and to protect the rookies. Duke was still with Grayson's group hunting and training the rookies.

Ben walked down the street, the vendors and stores were in full force and actually had customers in them. 

'Looks like they took my words seriously.' Ben was glad to see this, it would increase the economy and the city took a cut from every transaction made. Ben greedily watched the city's treasury grow. 

At the gates of the city there was a large group of people gathered around a short bearded man with a large battle axe. 

"Listen up! The new City Lord has passed a law that all citizens must be level 30 by the end of the month! Each hunting party is taking a group of people to level up! Anyone who wants to level up can come up and grab a weapon, we will be hunting goblins this morning. Follow us if you want to safely level up, the Bloody Axe hunting party!" the bearded man yelled at the surrounding people. A pile of common weapons were on the ground. 

Ben walked up to the bearded man, "Mind if I join your group this morning?" 

Bearded man looked up at Ben, his eyes widened in shock, "O-of course! It would be our honour City Lord." he gave a small bow as he fumbled over his words. 

"Call me Ben." smiling towards the bearded man. 

"I'm Jim." he said. 

Whispers surrounded them as they conversed. 

"He's the City Lord!?" 

"He's a kid!?" 

"Look at his tattoo! It's so lifelike!" 

Ben decided to address them directly, "Hello everyone, I'm Ben, Ava and I will be joining you today for this hunt." Lifting his left arm Ava appeared in all her glory. 

"Woooah!" 

"Look how beautiful that bird is!" 

"Her name is Ava? Does she have intelligence?" 

Ben spoke to Ava through their soul connection, 'Do you want to say something to them?'

Ava nodded her head, "I'm Ava." she simply said in her beautiful voice. 

 "S-she spoke?" 

"W-whaaaat?!" 

Ben jumped on Ava's back and flew high above the group and flew over the wall and into the wilderness. Ben had asked Ava if he could ride on her back as she flew and she agreed. 

He loved the feeling of flying, the wind in his face and the wide open land. It was truly a freeing feeling. The trees were thick and Ben was hardly able to see the land with the exception of a lake here or there. 

'There's a group of trolls 1km north of us.' Ava said. 

"Well let's go." Ben spoke a little excited. 

Ava let out a loud cry before heading north. 

… 

Cloey walked around the mansion accompanied by Lily. 

Cloey and Lily both felt restless after Ben's speech yesterday and couldn't sit still. 

"Do you want to go shopping?" Cloey asked Lily. 

"Is it safe?" Lily asked a little fearful. She was abducted last time she was tried to shop. 

Cloey grabbed her hand, "No one would dare touch you and if they did it will be the last thing they do. I promise." Cloey knew that Lily would forever be scarred by what happened to her and the only thing they could do was slowly wait for her to heal. 

"I will go with you my dear if that would help." 

Cathy approached them with a loving look on her face. 

"It's fine Mrs. Arnott, no need to impose on you." Lily said respectfully. 

"It's fine dear. I have somewhere to go anyway. Let's go together." Cathy said cheerfully. 

The three of them left the mansion and headed towards the main street. The street was packed as usual but there was something different happened. 

"Flame Warrior Colton is recruiting for warrior's! Apply here! Good pay and will provide equipment!" 
 
"Ranger James is recruiting for scout like classes! Good pay!" 

"The beautiful Mage, Shenelle is recruiting mages for her army division! Learn from the best mage in the city! Good pay and spells provided!" 

"The miracle healer, Lilith is recruiting healers. Come join!" 

"Holy Knight Lane is looking for valiant warrior's! Equipement is provided and the pay is high!" 

People were shouting all over the streets recruiting. Each recruiter had a crowd signing up and asking questions. 

"Looks like Ben's army might actually happen." Cathy smiled at the sight of the recruiters. She knew that this was part of Ben's plan to strengthen the city and the sight of it starting to take form made her happy. 

Cathy walked up to the healer recruit, "I'd like to apply for the healing division." 

"What is your class miss?" the female recruiter asked. 

"Healer." Cathy replied. 

"Please fill out the sheet. The first batch of recruits will meet tomorrow at Lilith's compound at 1PM." the recruiter said. 

"Thank you." Cathy replied handing the filled out sheet back to her and joined Cloey and Lily again. 

"Mrs. Arnott you plan on joining the army?" Cloey asked surprised. 

"Yes. It's the only way I can help my son." she gave a small smile. 

… 

*Slash*

A troll's head fell to the ground and the body sooned followed. Ben looked over at the remaining troll. 

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" 

It screamed as black flames covered its body, burning it alive. Ava hovered close by watching as the troll died. The ground was covered in headless trolls and burnt corpses. 

Ben checked out Ava's stats panel. 

Ava Lvl 32
Dark Phoenix (Divine Beast) 
Element: Black Hell Flame
Mana: 555/631
Vitality (VIT): 152 
Strength (STR): 75 
Dexterity (DEX): 75 
Agility (AGI): 164 
Intelligence (INT): 221 
Wisdom (WIS): 220 
Loyalty- 65%
Skills-
Shape Shifter 
Rebirth 
Fire Spells 


'10 levels in less than an hour? Now that's power leveling!'

Ava was leveling like crazy and becoming stronger and stronger. Her stats already eclipsed the most powerful mage in the city. 

"Ben there is a pack of wolves ahead of us. Should we attack it?" Ava asked. 

'Her senses are incredible, way above mine.' Ben thought, he couldn't sense these wolves or the trolls in the first place. 

"Let's go meet them first." Ben said, walking in the direction of the wolves. Maybe it was because of his class but he didn't want to slaughter beast with intelligence. For the monsters he couldn't care but the beast he felt he had a connection to them. 

The pack sensed his presence early and retreated back to a large cave. They seemed to sense Ben's strength because none of them challenged him or attacked. At the mouth of the cave over 100 wolves stood growling at him. These wolves had red fur with black marking on theirs sides. They stood around 1.5m tall and 3m long. 

The pack leader emerged from the cave, it stood around 2m tall and 4m long, around the same size as Duke. It's fur was a deep shade of red and the markings on its side were complex. 

'What do you want human?' a feminine voice entered Ben's head. 

"Oh so you can talk, good. That makes things easier." Ben spoke loudly for her to hear. 

'I'm waiting human.' her voice sounded annoyed. 

"I want to enter an agreement with your pack." Ben spoke bluntly. 

'What's the agreement?' she asked mildly curious. 

"Your pack will help my people scout the area. You can report your findings to a man named James. He will meet you at the human city's gate that is straight south of here in 2 days. In return, my people won't hunt or kill any of your pack members and if you find yourselves in trouble you can contact us and I will come assist you." Ben knew that the most important thing he needed was information. He trusted Deke would set up a powerful intelligence inside the city but he needed information outside the city as well. 

This is vital if he wanted to defend from threats and he believed this wolf pack could greatly assist James and his scouts.

'What do you want us scouting?' she asked. 

"Anything and everything. I need to know what is around the city. The man James is training people to do this job but he will need your help." Ben hoped that James was the right man for this job. 

'If we are to agree, first you must beat me in combat.' her voice was filled with battle intent as she stared Ben down. 

"Sucker for punishment, eh?" Ben chuckled as he readied his fist, his swords wouldn't be needed. 

Eve- Red Forest Wolf Leader 
Lvl 51

…

A Supreme Being is unsatisfied with Earth's evolutionary progress and decides interfere, throwing the planet into hell. 

Follow Bennett as he tries to not only survive,  but thrive in this familiar yet different world.

"Haha....don't make me laugh kid, what kind of idiotic question is that?" The military recruiter stared at Aker like he was looking at an idiot.

After Leland finished registering it was Aker's turn to sign up for the military. As Aker had been talking to Leland, he was still considering in the back of his mind the option to try and forgo the "errand boy" status and become a fighter right away. The more Aker thought about it the more he came to the conclusion that it wouldn't hurt anything to ask about it.

If the military recruiter told him it was impossible, he would just need to spend his time as a puer nuntius like everyone else, no harm no foul in asking.

As each person signed up for the military at this particular recruiting center they were called into a small room, so Aker wasn't able to see the recruiter before stepping in. As Aker cleared the corner and walked in now that Leland was done, he was startled by the man sitting before him. Aker had thought that all people who were in the military would be killing machines, they would carry an aura of death and destruction and be in fantastic battle shape.

The man before Aker was extremely overweight and he carried the aura of a miser and weasel. His eyes were shifty, his lips were crooked and if Aker stared close enough, he could almost swear there were imprints in the desk from the man holding his hands out and accepting bribes.

As Aker walked up the man looked Aker over and instantly observed Aker's cheap clothes as well as his aura that screamed "I've never seen money!" and immediately decided Aker wasn't someone worth paying attention to.

"ID" the overweight and greedy recruiter called out not even bothering to look at Aker while talking to him. He was clearly irritated as he waited for Aker to drop his ID down.

'What are the odds that I would have two back to back street beggar's worth nothing. If you don't have the money you should steal it before coming in here. Don't they know the way this works? How do they think people get assigned to those famous divisions as a puer nuntius, do they think it's just through random luck? That last kid even had the audacity to ask about getting assigned to the Kill Kings division. Which puer nuntius wouldn't pay exorbitantly to serve that group? Not to mention what they would earn and learn, just their future in the military when they join the Kill Kings would already be paved.' The recruiter would leave the best slots for the puer nuntius open to those kids who had the money to afford joining the best military groups.

Aker who had tossed down his ID and was waiting for the military recruiter who seemed to be distracted decided now would be a good time to ask about bypassing the puer nuntius and joining the fighting right away.

"Senior, I would like to know if there is any way to join the military now as a fighter instead of having to spend my time as a puer nuntius?" Aker who was neither humble nor disrespectful asked the military recruiter.

The military recruiter didn't bother looking up as he continued to fill out the paper work. Aker waited a moment and decided to try a different approach, "Senior, if there is a test or some other way that I can prove my capability I would be willing to submit to it, is there truly no way to not join the battle right away?"

After the second time Aker asked the question the recruiter was obviously irritated as he mocked Aker laughing while calling his question idiotic.

"So does that mean there isn't a way?" Aker seemed to ignore the irritation of the military recruiter as well as the fact that he had called Aker's question idiotic. As far as Aker was concerned, he didn't say "no" yet.

"Whether there is or isn't it has nothing to do with you. For a beggar from the streets there is only one place you can go, The Frail Fighter squad. Based on your background you should fit right in with that group. Now leave, I have other appointments to take care of and I've already spent too much time on you." The overweight recruiter slid the documents over to Aker without looking up. In fact, the entire time Aker was in the room the recruiter only looked up the single time.

"What's your name?" Aker's cold voice surprised the man. The entire time Aker had been talking prior to this he had seemed affable, but suddenly the overweight recruiter felt a chill, 'how could a snot nose brat give off such a feeling?' he couldn't help but wonder to himself. 

Since the first time after Aker walked into the office the recruiter raised his head and his eyes met Aker's who was glaring down at him. Suddenly the military recruiter felt tiny, as though he was a small ship in a vast ocean of stars.

This overweight recruiter was well known in certain circles as the man who could get the right kids into the right military squads. He was the go-to man for those affluent families who don't have the right background, in essence their family had the money but they don't have the right connections. For the kids of these types of family's this recruiter could get them into the competitive squads that would allow them to make the right connections for their future.

As this type of man, he detested the military in general and was a coward who would sell out his own wife and kids if he was in any danger. He was the type who liked to flaunt his connections and influence to threaten others but could not be threatened.

That's why when he heard Aker's question and his cold and bone chilling voice, he suddenly felt ashamed that he would be scared of some street kid.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Do you understand the difference between you and me? How dare some street trash ask for my name and try and intimidate me? Do you think I'm scared of you? Boy, it's you who should be afraid of me, if you understood my connections and the power I wielded you would be running out of here with your tail between your legs begging me to forgive you!" The overweight and weaselly recruiter yelled at Aker, his face turned red as he pointed and wagged his finger. As the words were coming out of his mouth, he tried to take an intimidating stance of standing while talking.

"You still haven't given me your name." Aker calmly pointed out, his eyes still trained on the military recruiter, the icy cold glare hadn't changed in the slightest throughout the recruiters attempt at intimidation.

"Edgar Davidson, let's see what you do with that, now get out of here." Edgar would remember this kid and if in the future he had an opportunity to make his life miserable he would certainly take advantage of it.

Aker having received the name of this recruiter turned and walked away without saying another word. Aker had anticipated that there would be no way for him to bypass the puer nuntius two years and as such it would have been no issue if the recruiter responded as such. There was simply no harm and no trouble in asking, however this recruiter ignored him, told him that it didn't matter if there was a way to bypass puer nuntius, called his question idiotic and tossed him out of the office without bothering to answer a simple question that would affect Aker for the next two years.

As Aker walked out of the office and was distracted by his thoughts of Edgar, he heard someone calling out "Aker".

As Aker looked up, he saw Leland standing off to the side, it was clear he was waiting for him. As Aker approached Leland the anticipation was evident, he could barely contain himself "Which squad did you get assigned to?" Leland finally blurted out.

"I think he called it the Frail Fighter squad" Aker was still fuming over how unreasonable Edgar was so as he answered Leland's question he had a hint of frustration in his voice.

Leland who heard the frustration immediately correlated Aker's frustration to being assigned to the Frail Fighters squad. If he knew that Aker was upset due to a confrontation with the recruiter, he would be beside himself as picking a fight with someone like that could only result in misery.

"It's not a big deal whether were assigned to the King Kill squad or the Frail Fighter squad, essentially our duties will be the same either way. I'm also assigned to the Frail Fighter squad so I'm excited to be in the same squad with you. If you do a good enough job you'll be recognized and have the opportunity to work for the commander of the Frail Fighter squad or maybe even higher just the same. I was upset at first too but as I thought about it, being assigned to this group should be good too, at least we won't have to compete with all of those kids with the backgrounds."

Aker who realized that Leland was excited about being in the same squad thought to himself 'There is no sense in getting angry about this right now. There is nothing I can do now except for focus on advancing and remembering him in the future.'

Aker who after dealing with the pressure and the inability to get revenge on the people who ran The Pit for so many years was able to put down this small conflict. Unknown to Aker, his ability to stay calm and recover his mind is a mindset that many from the older generation work hard to create. Not that he didn't still get upset, obviously he was just upset by that recruiter. The goal is not to become emotionless; the goal is to be able to control those emotions and let them go without letting them ruin you. 

As Aker and Leland walked towards their new squad, they both talked about their backgrounds and why they were joining the military. No one had provided Aker with a story so he arbitrarily made it up as they walked. He described growing up on earth, however he twisted some of the details. He used the knowledge he had of how the universe worked and replaced the simple, quiet and peaceful life on earth with a few stories of suffering and loss using his time in The Pit as a reference so it wouldn't be a lie.

Hearing the story Leland nodded his head in understanding, as Aker spoke Leland looked to Aker as if he was looking at a kindred spirit.

After Aker finished talking about his background Leland described how his parents were killed in a raid by the Nefarious Four five years ago. Leland was moved from his remote city on a remote planet to here to be raised by his uncle. Unfortunately, after living with his uncle for only a year his uncle got sick and passed away. After his uncle passed away people swooped in and took all of his possessions and the small house they lived in. As Leland didn't have any other relatives to live with, he was forced out onto the streets to fend for himself.

"Really the reason I want to join the military so badly though is so that I can meet the young master from Venicular Planet Lance Vilmore who killed the Nefarious Four. The Nefarious Four killed my family and destroyed my life causing me to live like a dog, if I can just shake the hand of the person who killed them, I would be eternally grateful." The determination in Leland's voice could be felt and it was no lesser than Aker's determination as he spoke about getting revenge on the people from The Pit.

"How does joining the military help you meet the young master from the Venicular Planet?"

"I heard that after the impossible feat of defeating the Nefarious Four he was offered a commission in the war. He agreed to join the military if he was made a General and given his own Division to command. Ever since news spread that he had formed his own Division it has become one of the most famous and sought-after Divisions in the entire military. There are countless people whose lives were destroyed by the Nefarious Four and as such having the opportunity to serve the man who brought them their justice would be their highest honor. I'll work hard and earn merits and hopefully in the future I can join his Division and get an opportunity to thank him in person."

As Aker heard the story, he didn't think anything of the Nefarious Four that Leland was describing. Aker was unaware that the four pirates he killed while defending Vance was the Nefarious Four that Leland was describing. To Aker the four pirates he killed were just disgusting pirates that deserved to die, he never asked any questions about them and no one bothered to explain to Aker who the pirate group was.

Since that was the case Aker looked to Leland as a person who could understand his struggle and hopes and replied back "Then let's do what we have to do to get what we both want!"

Aker and Leland were transported over to the the military compound via a shuttle, a trip that took almost a full day. After getting out of the shuttle they were greeted by the murderous eyes of the installation guards, the guards watched them closely as they approached. The guards had to be cognizant of their surroundings as this installation was at the front lines of the war for this planet and the people from the Fenlon Empire would attack the gate from time to time. The guards upon seeing their paperwork only snickered to themselves especially when they saw who had assigned them to the squad.

"Head that way, when you see the buildings that are barely standing, you'll know you made it to the right area." One of the guards instructed the two of them as he shook his head.

Both Aker and Leland were impressed by the military compound they saw as they walked in the direction the guard pointed out. Aker couldn't help but be ecstatic as he walked along, everywhere he looked he could see countless fighters practicing with each other, it got his blood boiling. 
After spending seven months in daily fighting practice with Vance and Cap Aker began to look forward to that time. Even this morning he was lamenting that he didn't get to have his morning battle with Vance before heading off to the recruitment center. 

Leland didn't seem to care about the fighters at all, he was more interested in how nice the buildings were. Everywhere Leland looked the fighters were wearing similar robes, he didn't see a single person out of place or single person with worn down and tattered clothing.

Aker couldn't help but remark at how well organized it all was, every building and every facility seemed to be symmetrical and with purpose. For Aker this was his first time seeing an entire area so well thought out.

After walking for nearly an hour they noticed that the buildings began resembling shacks more than they did the buildings they had seen earlier. 

The environment appeared dead, whereas earlier it was overflowing with greenery, vitality, and the flowers and trees gave off a feeling of strength and life. As Aker stared out at the current scene, he couldn't see a single blade of grass or a single green bush, only dust blew in the air. 

If Aker had to bet, he would gamble that the world had turned its back on this specific plot of land so that it could focus on the rest of the world. This plot of land that became the sacrifice for all other land...This plot of land would be his new home.

Growing up with just his mom 8 year old Yuto just finished celebrating his birthday. 

Suddenly he was kidnapped, experimented on, and forced to fight for his life with no explanation. 

In order to get revenge and in order to survive, Yuto changes his name, abandoning fear and hope.

With a new name and left for dead in The Pit he must fight his way out. 

Why was he kidnapped and experimented on?

Why was he thrown into The Pit to die?

Why after the experiments was he able to level up and see skills?

This is the story of a boy who in fighting to survive becomes something so much more.

Three chapters a week with the following release days:
Monday
Wednesday
Saturday or Sunday

The other patrons in the inn were momentarily surprised by the new arrivals, but turned back to their meals and drinks in short order – division recruiters suddenly appearing was par for the course during this time in Kingsville.
These people, however, were more than just division recruiters.
"Greetings and apologies for barging in so suddenly, Master Li. I am Kurt of Skyward."
One of them already took a mug of ale from the counter and took a swig before greeting the old man. 
"Long time no see, Master Li! You look as awesome as ever. Still remember your old friend Karim?" the commander of the Berserkers asked jauntily.
Three more awakeners gave the old master their greetings.
The five people who suddenly appeared all had something in common: Jake Smithson was on the top of their list after watching the final evaluation match. 
"If you are here for small talk, do it and then leave," the old man declared. "Having to deal with all of you will make my tea cold."
The reason for his sudden change in attitude was plain to see: it wasn't the leader of the Grand Duelists they were there for, it was for the young men seated opposite him.
'Even a blind man can see you're chafing at the bit to bring these young men with you… or make sure I won't recruit Jake.'
"How inhospitable," Kurt replied with mock distress. "We have not seen you for some time, and this is how you greet us?"
"If you are not here to chat, then what is your reason for being here?"
"We all panicked when we heard you were trying to poach our novice awakener," Kurt replied, his desire to recruit Jake plainly stated. 'If I can't have Jake, I can't let him join the Grand Duelists; if he does, then my plans to depose their division from the Ten Stars will suffer a tremendous setback.'
"Inhospitable?" the old man asked, "I'm not the one who is interrupting a conversation. If you wish to talk to the young man, at least wait until I have finished. Young people these days…"
"Not until he knows what's going on within your division," Kurt answered, a malicious smile on his face.
"What situation?"
"That's unfortunate, asking someone to join a division without knowing what's going on inside it," Kurt said, turning to Jake. "Wouldn't you like to know what's going on within the Grand Duelists right now?"
"Not really?" Jake answered, as he was coming around to asking the old man that question after the matter of the flasks of empowerment, "I don't even know what the Grand Duelists is like."
"That's to be expected," Kurt replied. "Well, then – the Grand Duelists is part of the Ten Stars, but they've been on a decline as of late. Internal schisms here and there, rumors of the division splitting into two, conflict within the division itself, not being able to devote any attention to external matters, such as recruiting…"
It was quite the bold statement, talking about the internal issues of another division, while in front of the man leading that division.
While Kurt was ranting, the old man returned to his tea, not paying attention to the things being said until he finished his cup… and then he answered.
"I see our reputation has taken quite the hit," the old man said, standing up after putting the cup of tea down, "that weaklings such as this fellow would be so brash as to say those things in front of me," the old man said with a laugh.
When he stopped laughing, the entire inn was suffused with the same chilling and ghastly presence that Jake and Liam recalled in the arena earlier.
"It would take me a blink of an eye to carve that slanderous tongue from your teeth," the old man replied, his voice dropping down to a deadly whisper as all pretense of him being a friendly old man had vanished. "Skyward, is it? I see nothing more than a row of gossiping housewives who can only talk about their neighbors and cannot keep their own house in order."
"I will not stand and let you insult my division when you cannot stop the schism within yours, old man," Kurt replied defiantly, bringing out his own presence in response – he was the adjutant leader, after all, and he would not stand by and allow his division to be called as such: collectively, Skywards could challenge the Grand Duelists for their place in the Ten Stars; Master Li, though, was a different matter altogether.
"I have been away for longer than I thought, it seems," the old man continued, "now all these upstarts are coming out of the woodwork. Tell me, do you think your insult is worth losing your life and puny division over?"
That was when the presence grew even more oppressive, freezing everyone within the inn.
But Kurt could not pull back; because this was where the attention of four particular divisions within Nohas stays, and this gesture would not go unnoticed.
Skyward's adjutant stepped back from an outdated figure.
The presence here was a lot different from the presence yesterday, and the awakeners with Skyward also stepped back.
It was here that Kurt revealed his own presence, revealing ten more men behind him.
"This was needed to be said," he declared, as the pride of both their divisions clashed. "After all, don't underestimate the name 'Skyward'!"
It would have been quite the statement from Kurt, if not for the fact that there were several of his subordinate awakeners standing in front of him.
"I see," the old man said, unafraid of the reinforcements Kurt was bringing in, "you seriously want to do this."
The standoff continued for a few more moments until a voice broke the mood of the inn.
"Ladies," the voice declared, "if you're going to start a pissing contest over who gets to recruit me, you might as well do it the right way."
Both of them turned to see Jake still seated on his chair, sipping the last of his cup of tea.
While this standoff was happening, Jake was beginning to think of an idea that would let him go to the division that would offer the most to him.
A fight breaking out wouldn't suit his purposes, which is why he called their attention.
"What do you mean?" an amused recruiter from another division asked him.
"We'll hold an auction," Jake replied. "The more, the merrier."
The presences died down and were replaced with confusion as the division recruiters couldn't make heads or tails of what just happened.
"Auction…?"
"What does he mean by that…?"
Instead of competing with each other, the recruiters from the other divisions began to ask one another what was going on, resulting in a rather odd sight if you were just at the inn to eat at the time.
"So, does that mean you will not come to the Grand Duelists?" the old man asked, just as confused as everyone.
"Well," Jake answered, "if there's a lot of people who want to buy the same thing, the only logical thing to do is to hold an auction, right? There are quite the number of divisions who would like to purchase my membership into their division."
Jake Smithson just put his division membership up for auction.
"What a load of crap," Karim responded, his hot temper only increased by the ale he just finished.
"Well, if you think it's a load of crap, there's the door," Jake answered nonchalantly. "What is it about this that makes you so angry?"
The answer left the division leader briefly silenced as he went into thought: after all, the novice awakener spoke the truth. 
If you don't like it, you can stay out of it: only those who want to participate will participate.
When the awakener named Karim couldn't answer, Jake wrapped up the encounter.
"Very well, I'll put something up in three hours, you guys can come back then."
One of the recruiters wanted to object, but since this was the awakener everyone wanted in their division, they had no choice but to do what he said.
"Sorry about that," Jake said to the old man once every other division recruiter had left. "I hope it didn't trouble you too much."
"No need to apologize," the old man replied. "Maybe this old man has to apologize himself, that was a very ill-mannered display earlier."
"If you want to make it up to me, show up in three hours, sir," Jake said with a smile, and the old man nodded.
"I will see you then," Master Li said, before he turned to leave the inn.
***
This evaluation of novice awakeners had many unprecedented events take place: first, the "greeting" was turned on its head, as a novice awakener had blasted through the ranks in the evaluation tournament, defeating one ringer and putting another on the ropes before a division intervened.
After the intervention, this novice awakener tried to attack the successor of Cheon-Ji-In, a Ten Stars division, and succeeded, if only with the kind of harsh language and threats that large divisions normally dismiss.
Jake Smithson is the type of awakener who was making waves ever since his arrival at Kingsville.
And now, he is holding an auction, and the prize is his membership to the winning division.
Jake and Liam spent the rest of those three hours spreading notice of the auction throughout Kingsville, to get as many divisions as they can to take part in the auction.
Making notices at inns where division recruiters were staying, paying messengers, and other matters were used to make the auction known.
The gist of those messages was thus: "if you want the membership of Jake Smithson the awakener, please head to the town square at 3 in the afternoon".
'It was a close thing, and I haven't been able to shop, but I'll try to enjoy this for now.'
And now, with 5 minutes left until the clock in the town square struck 3, fifteen division recruiters were seated in a spot in the town square Liam reserved earlier.
After the clock in the town struck 3, Jake stepped out on the stage.
"All right," he announced, "here's what the rules of this auction will be. We're not offering money here: you bid with what your division can offer me."
Some directors within the divisions also accompanied their recruiters, but their faces didn't look too good at this development.
'He's potentially the best novice awakener, but to auction off his talent? What's happening?'
'Despite Jake having all that promise… still can't go with this.'
It was unprecedented, the way a novice awakener had every division playing by his rules – and these directors didn't like it one bit.
Their thoughts were broken when someone raised his hand and shouted firmly: "I'll waive your apprentice status!"
Everyone turned to the sound of the voice to see Master Li, holding his hand up high, starting off the auction.
'Master Li, holding his hand up? Better follow suit.'
'Reputation won't feed us – let's do it. We need him, he was able to beat back that Force of Heaven.'
'Looks like I'll end up paying an arm and a leg for this guy…'
The leader of the Grand Duelists raised his hand and started the auction off, not minding the reputation of his division; there's no reason why others would do the same.
No one here has a better name and reputation than Master Li does.
"I'll raise you and give you both basic AND advanced footwork, the ones our division's Chosen can learn!" another recruiter shouted.
"That's weak sauce! I'll raise him that and add another sword to it!" a third recruiter added.
And while all this was ongoing, Jake remained seated, his expression impassive as the divisions began to wager better and better items and skills.
Showing his interest would give away his intentions, and would result in him being given less. By maintaining a calm facade, people will misinterpret his calm as disinterest, and start wagering more items and skills.
Jake ended up playing everyone in the auction like a bunch of fiddles.
"Fuck this, I'll bid my family's Sword Art! This is something even longer-tenured members would sell their mother's pelt to get!" a director yelled, being caught up in the auction fervor.
The director's family Sword Art? So far, nothing has been surprising in this auction, people betting items and skills to gain Jake's membership in their division.
"I'll raise you by my Impregnable Fortress!" Kurt declared, silencing the other auctioneers. 
It is perhaps the ring with the greatest defensive bonus, as its defensive capability grows just as its owner does; and it uses its owner's mana to automatically defend against attacks directed at its owner.
Also, it creates a shield of mana only when necessary, saving its owner mana expenditure.
Within Nohas, only a small number of rings like this exists: and Kurt used it as his wager.
"What?" another director asked. "Is he serious?"
Other officials were flummoxed, as now, they needed to put something better than the Impregnable Fortress ring from this point onward.
'Is he out of his goddamn mind?'
As Kurt saw his wager affect the other directors and recruiters, the ghost of a grin flew across his face, the only sign of his satisfaction at how things were going.
'This is the type of investment I am prepared to make, just so the Grand Duelists will not recruit Jake. Tell me, Master Li, how can you overcome this resolve?'
'It seems like a great item, this Impregnable Fortress. What is happening to the crowd? Why is no one wagering further?' Jake asked himself, confused. 'What kind of item is that, people are not bidding anymore?'
The announcement had silenced the crowd, and there was a lull in the auction proceedings.
'Looks like that old man is going to throw in the towel… but his eyes don't look like they've given up,' Jake thought as he expected Master Li to make a better offer, but since starting off with his initial bid, the old man remained silent. He's going to make a move soon.
The old man finally stood up, raised his hand, and with a clear voice, announced his bid.
"Disregard everything that has been offered: the skills I plan to teach you will be numerous enough. But that is not part of the two things I will guarantee you in my bid. The first is an Empowerment Pill, which I will grant to you in the name of my division, the Grand Duelists."
Jake mentally grinned, as the item he was expecting finally appeared.
'The Pill? Finally, this auction will have been worth the trouble!
But wait, didn't the old man say two things?'
Once the audience's reaction died down, the old man continued.
"I will also guarantee, that during the next event featuring Cheon-Ji-In, I will give you the right to compete not only against the ringers of that division, I will also give you the opportunity to face the heir of that division, the awakener named Timothy, as the highlight of that event! This I pledge in the name of the Grand Duelists, as part of the Ten Stars!"
The bidders turned from the old man to Jake.
Jake's mouth turned up into a smile.

Jake Smithson was an ordinary man who lived an ordinary life and worked at an ordinary job... until he found himself on a fantasy world and tasked to fight off monsters.

While his old life revolved around one thing -- online shopping -- his way of life in this brave new world remained the same.

Despite his extraordinary circumstances... shopping, shopping never changes.

In a world so very different from his own, with his life turned upside down, he turns to the one thing he knows. Accompany Jake as he takes the first few steps on the journey of working and buying his way towards absolute power.

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Life was perfect.
Everything was going as well as it could have.
Trace was set to graduate university in a week if he could just pass one final test…

Those who passed the test graduated, while those who failed had a far worse fate: being drafted into the military.

When the military "recruiters" walked into the room wearing dress uniforms and wielding their batons, ready to retrieve those who hadn't met the bar, Trace thought there was no way he could be one of those people.

And yet, one of the recruiters walked down Trace's aisle. "Please don't be me, please don't be me," Trace muttered to himself as the recruiter walked further down the aisle, closer and closer to Trace.

He let out a silent gasp of relief as the recruiter took the student in front of him by the arm and dragged her out the door, with her struggling the whole way.

And then a different recruiter walked up the aisle, seeming to be staring straight at Trace.
He walked closer, and closer…

And then the moment Trace had been dreading.

"C'mon kid, you're coming with us," the recruiter said calmly, but with a trace of… regret?

"No… no no no… No!! There must be some kind of mistake!" Trace began panicking as he realized that it was actually happening, that this wasn't some wild dream.

"Sorry kid, there's no mistake. Just come with me willingly and you'll be fine… for now."
Trace despaired in silence for a few seconds, then slowly, in a depressed and downtrodden manner, stood up and followed the recruiter.
The classmates he would've called his friends just hours ago averted their eyes, avoiding eye contact with the students who had been pulled into the draft.

As Trace was walked out of the school along with many other students to an awaiting drop ship, his last glimpse of true freedom was of the huge blue sky.

When he got inside the drop ship, he was told to sit down next to another soldier, but unlike the recruiter, this one was armed with the standard issue marine pulse rifle.

Trace sat down in a daze, having not yet fully accepted his situation as reality.

Some of the non-dropout students were standing outside of the drop ship, watching the failures be drafted off to fight in a war that no one wanted to fight.

As he sat there, Trace overheard some of them talking amongst each other.

"Look, the dropouts are all getting drafted! I know a couple of them, but that's gotta be at least half of the graduating class!" One of them said to another.

"Well, I'll bet that this is a just more idiots. None of those dropouts will ever actually make a difference in this war," The other responded, smirking.

As Trace heard this, he felt his face redden in anger.

Suddenly coming to a halting stop, he decided there was only one thing he could do now:
Prove them wrong.
Win this war.

As these thoughts pounded through his head, the door to the drop ship began closing, as the last of the dropouts had entered the now packed drop ship bay. As the door closed, so did all hopes of escape and any small possibility that this was all a big mistake.

Without any windows, it was almost impossible to tell what was going on outside from within the bay, other than that they were taking off.
The drop ship groaned and creaked under the force of gravity, as the inertial dampeners fought to overcome the g-forces that would normally kill the passengers.

And then… quiet.

A couple people coughed, many cried.
But Trace just sat there, in total silence.
He remained that way for what felt like hours, until a soldier walked down the center of the bay with a bag of… somethings.

"Alright everyone, listen up! You're now in the Marine Corps! You're all marines so you better start acting like them. These things are your new food for every meal from now on. They are called meal bars, and you only get one a day, so don't waste it! Though knowing what kind of people you are, I won't be surprised if any of you idiots starve!"

The man began going down Trace's row, handing each person what looked like a cube roughly the size of two fists pressed together, shoved inside silvery tinfoil packaging.

When Trace got his, he immediately opened it, expecting food of some kind.

Instead, he was presented with some sort of shiny brown-blackish cube that was sticky to the touch.

Trace saw other around him eating them, so he cautiously took a bite. He immediately felt fully awake and energized, as if he had drunk a very large amount of caffeine.

"What the heck do they put in these things?!?" Trace questioned aloud.

"Beats me. I just know it's edible, it's food, and it tastes okay." The response came from the person sitting next to him.

After this, Trace went back into his dazed state of stillness, for at least another couple of hours. And then they arrived.

Standing up, the soldier closest to the bay doors said "Well, marines-to-be, welcome to your new home for the next 6 months. Training base Echo!"

He said with a dramatic flourish, sweeping his arms out to gesture outside as the bay door opened into a hangar, through which only a thin blue force field kept them from the total vacuum of an asteroid.
They had arrived.

In the far future, a young man named Trace is drafted into the marines. As he fights for his life, he discovers not only is he good at fighting, but he enjoys it. Will Trace survive and win the war? Or will he become yet another casualty, lying dead on the ground?

However, this story also contains a darker side... Trace has a secret so well kept, not even he knows about it...

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