"Alex, what are you doing here?"
A tall woman wearing a purple skirt and stockings stood above a boy who was lying under the tree' shade.
The boy opened his eyes. He looked like a thirteen-year-old boy, wearing a blue and green shirt and grey pants.
"Purple!"
When he opened his eyes, he saw a shocking scene and subconsciously spoke.
"Purple? What purple...."
At first, the woman seemed confused until she lowered her head and found herself standing above him.
Her face turned crimson, but looking at the boy, she didn't feel much.
She stepped back and snorted.
"Are you just going to waste your time here? Will you ever take this thing seriously? You are at the bottom of the class."
"If your talent isn't enough, at least try to work hard to make up for it. Why do I always find you skipping your class?"
Hearing that, the boy named Alex slowly rose to his feet and patted his clothes as he spoke.
"But Miss Taylor, no matter how hard I try, I will still be at the bottom of the class."
"If hard work mattered so much, humanity would've wiped out those monsters a long time ago."
Taylor folded her hands and said.
"But if what those monsters also put as much hard work as humans, wouldn't that equalize the situation?"
"Your friends are training, but you are not. They are improving, but you are not. You are wasting your life, Alex."
"As your teacher, I feel bad about this. I won't scold you every time, but I hope you realize how important strength is before you lose someone."
Alex emotionlessly interrupted her.
"I'm an orphan."
Taylor's expression froze. She stammered for a moment and said.
"But, you still need to train. At least, to avenge them."
"My parents died because of a rare disease."
Alex replied.
This time, Taylor almost fell on her knees. Finally, she waved her hand and said.
"I give up. I hope you realize the importance of strength before you regret it."
Saying so, she walked away, feeling gloomy and helpless.
Alex placed both of his hands behind his head and said.
'The problem is that no amount of understanding can replace the importance of strength. In this world, people are selfish and strength is important.'
He shook his head.
His name was Alex Grant. He was a fourteen-year-old and lived alone for four years.
At the age of ten, he lost his parents.
The boy had an early awakening, causing his spirit to shatter. When a new soul absorbed the memories and replaced the old soul, he became Ken Grant.
Normally, people would awaken at the age of fourteen. He awakened four years ago, making his awakening unstable and weak.
So, when he awakened, his Soul Tree turned out to be a sapling. He tried to change it.
Hoping hard work would help him with his Soul Tree, but after four years, he gave up.
No amount of training was enough.
Normally, Soul Tree had an ability to absorb the natural energy from the surroundings.
But since his Soul Tree was just a sapling. It couldn't absorb enough energy to help him improve after a certain point.
His soul tree couldn't awaken any kind of ability.
Without the ability, he couldn't fight monsters, spirits, ghosts, and aliens.
This was like a domino effect. Once one piece had fallen, every other piece was falling.
Because of this, Alex had completely given up.
Now, he was just waiting to be sent to a mandatory war zone and die.
'Now that I am awake, I should visit my class.'
Alex thought to himself and walked up to his class. His academy had several buildings.
His class was in the third building.
Fifth Floor, Third Class;
Upon reaching his class, he opened the door and walked in. His presence was either ignored by others.
Bullying was normal in the class. But while his Soul Tree was a sapling, it had absorbed natural energy for four years.
That was enough to put him at Third Rank.
Only the best of this class had reached First Rank. After all, unlike him, he only awakened their Soul Tree this month.
So, he couldn't be bullied, nor did he like talking to others. He went to the last desk and sat down.
He placed his arms on top of the bag and fell asleep.
"Mr. Alex!"
A loud noise woke him from his sleep. When he raised his head, he saw a man standing in front of him.
"Sir Principal, Hello!"
Alex was surprised, but he quickly greeted him.
The principal was a short man with a bald head and wore a blue shirt and a navy coat. He stood in front of the class before glaring at Alex.
Then, he spoke.
"Everyone, I have some bad news for you."
"All of you are required to enter the war zone tomorrow!"
When they heard that, their expressions were in absolute disbelief. One of them, a girl, stood up and shouted.
"Sir, this shouldn't happen. It's against the law to send a first-year awakener to the war zone."
The principal expressionlessly replied.
"That is, if the Human Aid Organization still exists after the recent invasion. We are not only facing Exotic Beasts, Ghost, Spirit, but also a new race."
"Because of this, we are in urgent need of awakeners on the battlefield."
Hearing this, the class went into a frenzy.
"How can this? They are sending us to die."
"I haven't awakened my first ability."
"I will die. I will die."
"I am a bit excited. I heard we can improve faster in the war zone."
The sound of this class was influencing other classes as well.
The principal saw the fear in the eyes of most, joy in the eyes of some, and a complete lack of emotion in the eyes of one.
At this moment, the door of their class was suddenly opened as Taylor entered the room and shouted.
"Sir, is it true that they are sending my class to the war zone?"
The principal nodded at Taylor and said.
"Yes!"
"This is absurd."
Taylor angrily flared her strength, releasing a suffocating atmosphere inside the room.
Even Alex was struggling to breathe.
"Taylor!"
The principal shouted with narrowed eyes.
The next moment, Taylor realized her mistake and immediately called back her strength
She turned around towards her student and apologized.
"I'm sorry, students! I got too emotional and hurt you."
The students were truly scared. Some were even afraid of looking into her eyes. The only one who was slightly excited was Alex.
When Taylor saw this, she felt a bit relieved.
Then, she turned around and spoke to the principal.
"Sir, if you are going to send them, you need to make sure they get proper equipment. Not all of them can economically support good equipment!"
Hearing that, the principal nodded.
"That is the least we can do. Although it is not our business, we can later ask for compensation from the HAO."
"And, since we will be sending you much tomorrow, there will be no selection match for you guys. Only one of you has reached First Rank."
"And another one has reached Third Rank. While Alex might not have awakened his ability, his strength is still the strongest in this class."
"Until Ravi reaches Second Rank, Alex will be the Captain of your group."
"I object!"
Alex raised his hand and stood up.
"I am going there to die. I don't want to be responsible for their death."
When his words reached the ears of others, they were stunned.
Although they had heard about suicide, this was the first time they had seen this kind of situation.
Taylor clenched her fist. When she became the teacher of this class and the head teacher, she noticed something unusual about Alex.
At first, she didn't know what it was.
Until she got to know him better and saw that look in his eyes.
The look that some of her comrades had when they knew they were gonna die in the battle.
It was a look of those who had accepted their death.
She desperately tried to change his thoughts, but nothing worked.
Alex had fully accepted his death.
The principal was also surprised at his words, but he had seen a lot of students, some even more surprising than Alex.
He recovered quite quickly and said.
"That being said, it doesn't change the fact that you are the strongest among them. If you want to die, you can at least sacrifice yourself for them."
"Though, boy, I hope you reconsider your thoughts. This is secret information since it hasn't been confirmed yet."
"But there is a possibility of those with early awakening to recover under the second awakening."
"There have only been two cases. So, I can't guarantee it. But if you survive this, I firmly believe you can awaken for the second time."
"And, if you take the role of the Captain, you will get pretty good benefits."