บท 2: Accidents

'This child indeed has an Aether Core and is now brimming with energy. However, I can't determine the Gift he received and its rank just by this.' The Elder thought with a frown.

'At this moment, this child should have received a gift now.'

The Elder gazed deeply at Kopi but was then distracted by a sudden thought before he saw his ambiguous expression.

'It seems he does not have an affinity with an Ice Element. What a pity… A pity. What did I even expect, though?'

The Elder shook his head as he unclasped Kopi's hand and said, "You should go now. The sun is setting. Your family may be looking for you."

"Ah!" Kopi jolted awake. "I will be off now. See you tomorrow, Elder Isolde!"

He hurriedly stood up and dashed to the door.

The Elder sighed; glancing at Kopi's back, he shook his head and thought, 'It will be the last.

It was fun, little Kopi.'

He smiled and was reminiscent of when Kopi was still an innocent child, knocking on his door and bringing him food.

The child seemed to be concerned and curious about him, so he opened the door and chatted inside.

'It was fun while it lasted…'

***

"What was that?" Kopi asked himself, running to the street with a quivering body and elated face. "Did I really receive a Gift? Did I finally have it?

Yoo-hoo!"

He shouted aloud, attracting the displeasure of people passing by at him. However, does he have the time to care for them? Now that he has received great news!

Kopi was over the moon as he ran through the streets and finally entered an area that seemed to be a slum.

Unlike the modern house of Isolde, the place was in between a shanty town and slums.

A single house was the home of many families.

Houses were sticking to each other, lacking private space.

Bony physiques of people were a norm here, while almost every man was upper-naked, and their filthy bodies rarely had the time to wash it.

Their foul stench was even acceptable to their wives.

Meanwhile, women were gathering together and talking to each other. All day long, they do nothing but gossip about their neighborhood's misfortune, so even when social media were not famous here, they were updated by other people's lives.

Meanwhile, kids were playing with each other with a variety of games that were supposed to die down after the Apocalypse but were still pretty famous here.

Among the kids, it seemed only Kopi had the desire to go to school.

"Kopi, you brat!" One of the upper-naked men in his thirties shouted after he saw Kopi.

He instantly attracted others' attention, especially the women who quickly diverted their topic about him and gossiped about the events of his Father's humiliation.

"W-What?" Kopi was startled and was already thinking of not involving them.

After all, there was liquor and two glasses of cups on the wooden table. Whenever he passed by them, they would invite him to drink a shot.

When he did…

His stomach would whirl, and the urge to vomit emerged.

He learned his lesson by then.

"Drink a single cup first!" The man grabbed the cup with wine inside, filling more than half of it, scaring Kopi's wits.

Instantly, Kopi rejected by shaking his head, and the man was disappointed. A thought of forcing Kopi to drink appeared, but it was instantly drowned when he recalled something.

"Oh, right. Your brother has been shouting earlier for help. He was so annoying."

"H-Help…"

A voice Kopi was familiar with resounded in his ears.

He was stunned as the man continued, "Oh! Here he is again. Quick and shut him up!"

Kopi ignored him as he hurried to return home.

While he was at it, he swept his eyes to the neighborhood, but aside from their annoyed expression whenever his brother called for help, they did not act to help him.

He clenched his fist tightly and gritted his teeth, attempting to restrain the thought of berating them.

His brother's hoarse voice continued to reverberate, leaving a deep scar in Kopi's heart.

The croaky noise his brother resonated with brought wonder of how long he kept shouting.

'They really ignored him, how despicable!'

Kopi could not hold his curse in his thoughts whenever he saw his neighborhood acting like nothing happened.

They seemed to not have the intention of helping his brother.

Just checking would have been appreciated, but there was not a single soul who tried.

Kopi held his grudge until he finally arrived at his house.

The ramshackle house was where he grew up.

He was more than familiar with it.

Of course, others' houses were not any better than theirs.

"J-Jerry! I'm here!" Kopi shouted as he rushed to his brother, crawling to the soil with tears.

"B-Brother!" Jerry's hoarse voice yelled as he gazed at his brother with bleary eyes.

His gaunt hand tried to reach out to his brother, who quickly grabbed it.

Tears began to emerge in Kopi's eyes as he asked his brother with a quivering voice, "W-What happened? Why are you shouting?"

Jerry looked at his brother with half-opened eyes and an emaciated face and stuttered, "F-Father…"

His voice was too rough, as though it was difficult for him to even continue speaking.

Kopi was aware of it and quickly replied, "I-It's okay now. I am here. Let's go check Father's condition, okay?"

Jerry nodded.

Kopi looked for the wheelchair his Father created for Jerry with teary eyes and gently lifted his brother with his arms, slowly heading in it.

The door was opened as Kopi placed Jerry slowly and as gently as he could.

He peeked inside and saw his Father rested on the floor like a cadaver.

He shouted in reflex.

"FATHER!!"

When he perceived his brother was fine in the wheelchair, he did not hesitate to dash to his Father and kneeled before him.

His Father rested on the floor sideways, facing his back to Kopi.

At first, Kopi had the urge to flip his Father to face him, but realizing he was too rash, he decided to adjust.

He revolved around his Father's body and was shocked when he saw the dried blood on his Father's forehead.

His soul almost leaped out of his body as he tried to check his Father's condition.

'He seemed to have fainted.' He concluded after confirming his nose was still exhaling.

He let out a sigh of relief as he lifted his Father gently and placed him on the only bed of the ramshackle house.

After he was finished, he scrutinized the house and thought with a sour expression, 'This house will not last once the rain appears above.'

To be honest, their house was not the same as before.

His Father's salary was sufficient to provide for their food. While his Mother's salary was a bit higher, for it helped renovate the house and provided their clothes, electricity, and water bills.

However, a year ago, his Mother suddenly stopped sending money, and they have had no contact with her ever since.

He was even complaining to his Father that his Mother must have another family, but his Father was adamant that something must have happened or their Mother had a reason for doing so.

There was not a single day his Father was worried over his Mother's condition, even though a year had passed.

With his Father now barely even able to supply their food at least twice a day, it was difficult for them to maintain, much less improve, their house.

While Kopi was lost in thought, his brother's voice startled him awake.

"B-Brother…"

"Y-Yes! Coming!"

Kopi bolted outside and saw his brother. He subconsciously scrutinized his brother's appearance.

His sleeveless white shirt was soiled and full of craters. His skeletal framework turned conspicuous, expressing how malnourished he was.

Tears started to form in his eyes, but he restrained from weeping.

'A man should not cry…'

It was the words that were engraved deeply from his heart. The word that his Father advised when he always cried ever since he was a child.

"B-Brother…" Jerry called after sensing his brother was in a daze.

Kopi awoke and quickly dashed to his brother in a wooden wheelchair.

He arrived at his back and started to move the wheelchair to enter the house.

"Is Father alright?" Jerry asked.

"He is. He is only unconscious."

Jerry heaved a sigh of relief.

Once they entered, Jerry could not help but raise a question, "Brother, why did our neighborhood ignore my plea? Did they forget how much they owe us?"

Kopi trembled when Jerry mentioned the second question. He clutched the wheelchair's push handle tightly, with his gaunt face twisted into a rage.

He replied, "I was also maddened when they ignored you. Heh. My Father should have not held pity on them and given them some money our Mother had sent. I really loathe their existence for how shameless they are!

Before, they liked to curry favor with us and always showed how warm-hearted they were, but now… looked at them. They even told me to shut you up!"

"Really?" Jerry was surprised.

Kopi instantly replied, "Yes!"

Kopi dropped his bag and his polo-white shirt now stained with sweat and soil to the fragile wooden table, locked the wheelchair's wheels, and sat in the chair beside it.

He took a long exhale, seemingly carrying all the weights he bore and closed his eyes.

Then, he thought of something and asked his brother.

"Oh yeah, what happened to Father?"

"Ah!" Jerry was startled awake as he almost dozed off.

He had been worn out of a long hour of shouting earlier.

Kopi noticed it and was guilt-stricken when he interrupted his rest.

"What happened to Father? Oh, right! Father was already unconscious when some group of scary people, wearing the same uniform Father wore, suddenly arrived while they carried our Father.

They rammed open the door and threw Father inside."

"W-What?!" Kopi howled in shock.