Fai watched her go, a mix of complex emotions swirling inside him. Gratitude, yes, for her intervention, but also a raw ache of embarrassment .
The encounter had left him bruised and shaken, but it had also ignited a spark of determination.
He had defended his parents' memory, even if it meant taking a beating he couldn't win.
Sarah's words echoed in his mind,
"You're strong… but sometimes, strength is knowing when the odds are stacked against you, and how to survive."
He looked down at his bruised hands, then at the wooden sword.
He still had a week. A week to push himself harder than ever, to refine his reflexes, to discover if he truly had any hidden strength.
A week to prove, not just to Kael and his bullies, but to himself, that he wasn't weak.
He was, an orphan with nothing but his will, and he would make it to the Muted Association.
He had to, for his future, and for the desperate hope of a world where he could stand tall.
With a grimace, he adjusted the black patch over his eye, picked up his bag, and started walking towards the forest exit once more, limping slightly but with a renewed, unshakeable fire in his gaze.
The sun had dipped lower, painting the sky in fiery hues of orange and purple, casting long, stark shadows. He still had a long way to go, both to the gates and in his life.
The pain in Fai's ribs throbbed, a dull ache that resonated deeply with the humiliation of the recent encounter.
Yet, as he walked away from the clearing, a different kind of pain, sharper and more insidious, gnawed at him.
It was the familiar sting of helplessness, the realization that no matter how hard he trained, in this brutal world, connections were power, and he had none.
Sarah
She hadn't helped him because he was strong or because she saw him as an equal.
This world, after all, didn't care about the weak; it simply tolerated them until they were no longer useful, or until someone stronger decided to step on them.
He reached the edge of the forest just as the last slivers of sunlight bled from the sky, painting the western horizon in muted purples and fading oranges. The air grew cooler, and the chirping of crickets began to fill the quiet. Fai pushed through the familiar, creaking old gates that marked the forest's boundary, his steps heavy with exhaustion.
Beyond them lay the winding, unpaved path that led back to the gleaming edges of the city.
This was no ordinary urban sprawl. This was a testament to human ingenuity and the incredible impact of mutated abilities.
The city, known as Veridian, had risen from the ashes of the Great Cataclysm with astonishing speed. Its skyline was a breathtaking blend of repurposed pre-Cataclysm skyscrapers, now reinforced and clad in shining, reinforced alloys, alongside sleek, innovative new structures that seemed to defy conventional architecture.
Architects and builders with enhanced strength could lift massive girders, while those with precision manipulation abilities could forge intricate connections with breathtaking speed.
Materials were processed at superhuman rates, turning debris into usable components, and new, resilient synthetics were deployed with unprecedented efficiency.
Towering defensive walls, made of a dark, almost obsidian-like composite material—one of the strongest elements discovered during the war enclosed the city, rising seamlessly from the earth.
These weren't crude barricades but monumental feats of engineering, dotted with plasma turrets and energy shields that shimmered faintly, always on standby. Above them, interconnected sky-bridges hummed with quiet energy, linking the upper levels of buildings and providing rapid transit for Muted patrols. Automated drones, silent sentinels, drifted through the urban canyons, their sensors constantly sweeping for threats.
It was like one was in the furture ,
But Fai was unfased by this
His thoughts drifted back to his parents. He barely remembered their faces, only fleeting glimpses caught in the corner of his mind
He was too young when the creatures first attacked, too young to fully comprehend the terror that engulfed Earth.
He only knew the aftermath: the orphaned existence, the cold indifference of the state-run orphanages, and the constant, gnawing hunger .
The necklace around his neck, the small warrior figure nestled against his skin, was his only tangible link to them, a comfort and a burden.
He often wondered if they, too, were Muted, if they possessed the powers that now defined humanity's fighting chance. It was a question he had no one to ask, and no way to answer.
However, the very nature of his DNA, if formed from two mutated humans, suggested that it was only a matter of time before Fai too would undoubtedly unlock his own abilities.
As he finally reached the outskirts of Veridian, the city's sophisticated energy grid illuminated the streets, casting bright, clean light across polished durasteel pathways.
Patrols of older, battle-hardened Muted Hunters moved through the streets, their movements sharp and watchful, their enhanced abilities sometimes visible in their speed .
Everyone of them carried some form of weapon, from sleek energy pistols to traditional blades.
Even children, like Fai, carried the weight of the future, their lives defined by the assessment .
Fai's managed to reach his apartment, it was a small, dusty room on the third floor of an old apartment building, one of the few untouched by the grand reconstruction.
It was part of a section of the city primarily housing unassigned youths and grown orphans and houseless people stayed , a stark contrast to the gleaming towers elsewhere.
The air inside was stale, smelling faintly of damp stone.
He pushed open the creaking wooden door and stepped into the cramped space.
A thin, worn mattress lay in one corner, a few salvaged books stacked in another, and a single, flickering fluorescent bulb overhead cast a sickly yellow light. It was not even a good space , but it was his.
He shucked off his sweaty clothes, tossing them into a pile for later washing.
His body ached, he was feeling the aftermath of the attack.
He ran a hand over his bruised ribs, wincing. Kael's group clearly hadn't been holding back; their blows had been precise enough to send a brutal message, before the assessment.
Slumping onto his mattress, Fai stared blankly at the stained ceiling. One week. Seven days until the assessment that would decide his entire future. He closed his eyes, replaying the encounter, not just the physical pain, but the burning humiliation.
He hated feeling weak.
His hand instinctively went to the necklace, his fingers tracing the outline of the warrior figure. It gave him a small measure of comfort.
He knew the stories, the legends of those who awakened powerful mutations, abilities that turned the tide of battle, and even change the course of history. He had trained his body, pushed his limits beyond what others considered possible for an ordinary human. He had to believe in his self first if not how could he expect others to ?.
The assessment was just around the conner
would he make it ??