'It feels good to kill your slave masters.'
That was the thought Genesis had asked his gritty palms gripped onto the handle of a frigid steel blade. His dark skin was a culmination of blood and dried blood. One of the perks of staging a mutiny.
"Being drenched in blood is good as long you hate that person enough."
That was Genesis's favourite quote. And it definitely applies to his scenario. He had just gone through war with a small section of the Morality. Because he wanted to escape being a deplorable slave but mostly because he never wanted to forget his mother's last words.
"...no matter what."
He took his sword out of his former master. He looked around. A wasteland. Nothing but ruin. Ash was littered all around. Their former homes were burnt to the ground. The farms they works on were now trampled and scrambled.
The logo of the Morality was crossed out in paint and torn. But they never took it down to show that they never forgot what they did to them. Genesis limped over to the hospital which was the only part of camp slave that hadn't been destroyed.
The reason why was that the lead doctor had helped stage the mutiny. He arrived in the "hospital" which was really just a band of tents.
"Genesis, I knew you were good as a slave but as the leader of the 21st mutiny your even better."
"Guildford, If I knew you talked this much I would have slain you along with master."
Guildford was also born in a Free Zone. He and Genesis were the only ones who took their first breath in one. He had black and blonde hair which was neatly kept to the side. He also had circular glasses that made his seem like someone who questioned the very nature of things.
He wore the same clothing that a doctor would where before the Folds and was the only reason Genesis knew what "modern" doctors looked back then. He was also the reason why Genesis knew which points to strike to defeat your opponent. And which points to mutilate to disgrace your opponent.
Genesis spoke to the head doctor as he cleaned his wounds and patched his cuts with bandages. Guildford's voice always sounded intrigued even whilst dealing with suffering after killing all his friends.
Genesis had gone sleepless for weeks now. He was trained to be able to do that. He needed to able to it to kill his masters. Some of the wounds he had gotten by now were infected but he didn't care about that now.
Victory. He had officially staged a perfect mutiny and he was so glad with himself. Freeing the oppressed really didn't matter to him all he needed to do was listen to his dearly departed mother.
"Hey, Genesis stop brooding and help me burn the bodies!"
He knew it was going to come. The voice of his only and best friend Lautaro. His voice was a loud one, it always sounded enthusiastic but his joy always brought Genesis from going to out of hand. He broke his mother's rule but Genesis was fine with that.
Lautaro originally had luminant yellow hair, Genesis still somehow remembered from when they were younger. Overtime dirt began to stick to his hair like cobweb, it became like a bee's body. Genesis had never seen a bee before so he didn't even know if they existed or not. Lautaro also had a knack to forget that the sun existed.
One thing Lautaro also had akin to bees was his eyes. His left eye was as black as Genesis's and his right shone as radiantly as he sun he forgot existed.
He wore a leather chestplate with some metal plating underneath, along with leather rags as leggings and a knee guard with spikes of metal. He wore the same thing as Genesis. His skin was tan, Genesis always remembered it slightly lighter but due to Lautaro's lack of caring that the sun existed it became more tan.
From a young age Lautaro was fascinated by Genesis and he did not know why. There were countless others more spectacular than him yet Lautaro clung to his side like a moth to a flame, but unlike a flame Genesis produced darkness.
The fascination first began with stares of awe, Genesis was talented being a slave. So Lautaro became just as good, Genesis wore leather with metal plating. So did Lautaro. Eventually Genesis began to reciprocate the fascination and copied Lautaro as well. But they were not lovers. No, Genesis had eyes for someone else.
He climbed over the hill of charred wood and ash and saw a great big fire. He saw many of his comrades lifting the dead into the fires. He was glad that his mutiny had worked. After 73 years of the Morality's slave camps countless others attempted to overthrow their foolish law. Yet, none of them were like Genesis, none of them succeeded.
His was the 21st. He gave the credibility of his victory to his great leadership and incredibly tactical planning. Not many died. The only ones who did were the ones Genesis expected to die. They were unfortunate, being born weak was the worst thing you could be.
Genesis sat on the hill, leaning on the hilt of his silver coloured blade he watched bodies burn. He smiled, not a crazed smile a satisfied one.
"Being born in a Free Zone does things to your mind."
Those were the excuses they gave Genesis. As to why he was lacking empathy in every manner Genesis had a few ideas why. But none were concrete so he just didn't care.
He received a tap on the shoulder. Genesis sprung into action, bringing his blade out of the ground swiftly. He cut through the air like they were bodies, his blade hit solid steel as it was blocked. He looked at the person he tried to kill. It was Jae.
Jae was of Asian descent which was the strongest continent the Morality included. But where you were from didn't matter here, if you weren't born royalty where you were from didn't matter you'd still be sent to a slave camp.
He had keen eyes with a muscular body. He was the one Genesis sacrificed the most to save. Not because he had any connections to him nor out of obligations or respect. It was because his last mutiny was the reason they even won. Because of the way the Morality's slave camps worked a back to back mutiny could overthrow them easily. The only thing that stopped them was fear.
Genesis never knew of such a trivial thing.
Jae wore the same armour as Genesis, in fact all the boys did. Jae invented it as it was the best amour to counter the Morality and Genesis pioneered it as he did what Jae couldn't, he won.
Jae's hair was shaved in preparation for execution and his nails were peeled. But that still didn't stop him from becoming the fear that the Morality tried to place on them. Luckily, Genesis had saved Jae before they blinded him.
Jae also brought along a gift. It was Head Master. The one who tortured Genesis tge most.
"As my gratitude for freeing me."
Jae's voice was deep, yet commanding.
"Thank you, Jae."
Genesis took the body of Head Master and walked down the hill and into the great big fire. He held Head Master by his collar looking into his stone cold eyes for the last time, he had to give credit where credit was due. Without Head Master's torture then Genesis would be dead. But on some days death seemed more appealing than living.
He tossed his body and walked away as he burned. Lautaro joined him as he walked up the hill, so did Jae. Genesis had already organized his team in a way that would benefit survival. Over the hill Genesis saw the rest of his squad.
The first one he saw was the tallest out of the girls. Sephina. Sephina had ebony hair that touched her shoulders. With thin leather armour, the reason she only wore leather was because she was a ranger and preferred to be able to move swiftly.
Sephina was the one who spoke the least out of all of them. Thus, not revealing her personality too much. She wasn't like Genesis, she felt emotion, she felt empathy. She cried and smiled. But she made Genesis sick.
She cared too much even though she showed never showed it. But it was dangerous, caring was dangerous. If you cared you hesitated, if you hesitated you died. And if Genesis died he wouldn't complete his mother's wish. Safe to say Sephina and Genesis did not match.
Then there was the disconnected one Hana. She never even tried to fit in. She never tried to be normal and Genesis respected that. It went against the reformation that the Morality wanted for them. Genesis liked that.
She had a sword just like the rest of them and she was scarily good with it. Maybe as a byproduct of her immense intelligence but she was nearly as talented as Genesis.
Finally, there was Noel. The girl Genesis had feelings for. But due to a substantial lack of empathy Genesis did not understand why she did not reciprocate.
Noel had a face that could rival gods. Her golden blonde hair and her green eyes were like the finest jade and the purest gold. Her skills with her weapon were unrivalled, she wasn't beaten as the rest of them because she performed so well as a slave.
But because of the difference in treatment between the slaves and Noel, she gained a superiority complex. But if need be Genesis could put her down. He had contingency plans for everyone, even Lautaro.
Being alone meant death so Noel put her superioty away and joined them. Genesis looked back just once, to all of his comrades. He felt angry at their decision. They could've been so much better if they just decided to follow him.
He turned away at the sight of the line of future bodies. They all had their swords, axes and arrows at their chest. Once he heard the noise of flesh tearing he knew that their decision was final, there was no coming back.
Noel and Genesis didn't shed a tear for the ones who got them this far. Noel because she wouldn't and Genesis because he couldn't. He only thought of himself never about anybody else.
"So are we going? I need to know what my Fold can do."
Noel said not sparing a moment of silence for the departed. Her tone told them everything they already knew. She didn't care, simply because she was above them.
Eventually, they made it to the border of the Free Zone. In sync, they stepped out. It took a while but Genesis was looking down at a white piece of paper.
Genesis could only see his hands. He was in a dark room but his eyes adjusted to the void that was his soul. Then he connected to his Fold.
[Folds:8]
[Fold Stage:Uninhibited]
[Royalty:None]
[Unfold Percentage:16%]
[Inventory Capacity:Minimal]
This was like striking gold. The most amount of Folds a person soul could have were 8. The strongest of the strongest had 8. His Fold Stage was something that could have been fixed through killing enough Origami Beasts.
Genesis never expected himself to be granted with Royalty or a Royalty title. Only those who complete great feats or people who are born as Royalty can gain Royalty.
Genesis wasn't worried about Unfolding. To Unfold would be to take away the truth of your soul, in order to gain more Inventory Capacity. Minimal was the least one could get, Maximum was the most. If he Unfolded he would gain more Inventory Capacity but there was a risk he'd die. Even if he didn't die the power of his Fold would reduce.
One thing he did notice that was strange was that his Fold had no description. He had paid attention in slave camp. His masters lied but not enough to make them fail. He was tense at first but relaxed later on.
He couldn't be held back from his soul for a moment longer. Head Master's lies could not hold him back from destroying the Morality. Nothing could.
"...no matter what."
Those words were like a code. His code to decimate anything that stood in his way. This was the first step.
He stopped looking at his Fold and used his nameless ability.
[You were born in a Free Zone. Your soul does not know you. Despite that your will has granted your soul great power. Great power your soul does not want you to wield. Your soul has betrayed you. Prove your worth! Kill an Origami Beast of the highest stage. Until then you are on Borrowed Time.]