Lost Origins: SS Ranked Awakening-Chapter 49: Offer

’what is it this time?’ Kieran thought.

The possibility of him getting a message from someone other than the camp was close to zero, and ever since their last conversation, he hadn’t talked with the only people who might even think of sending him a message; Ruby and Jake.

The possibility of the message being from the camp was even lower. The camps usually send notices and messages at the same time which usually resulted in a simultaneous beep sound coming from the watches of the recruits in an area, but Kieran didn’t hear any thing like that from the other recruits besides him, both of higher years and those in the same year with him.

Going through all those possibilities just because of a beep sound hinted at what kind of person Kieran was.

He tended to overthink things and really hated surprises and unexpected situations. Unexpected situations could prove to be fatal and because of that, he developed the habit of forming around different scenarios for each situation he was in.

Seeing that overthinking it wasn’t getting him anywhere, he finally decided to check his watch to see what it was all about.

’Hmm?’

Kieran thought, reading the strange message.

The message came from the same channel as the one he had gotten the order not to go help Ruby and the rest during the mission. He had identified the channel as a military channel previously.

His deduction was right, but it wasn’t the same channel he got messages and notices from the camp. It was different, but he didn’t quite get it.

In the message was a location and a time, stating that there was a particular person waiting for him and that the person would leave if he didn’t arrive there at the specified time which was 10 minutes from the current time.

Curious, Kieran decided to go, hoping that he would at least get to see the face of the person who had ordered him to abandon the rest of the group during the mission.

Kieran arrived at the location with a strange expression on his face. It was the sport complex where they usually had their combat class, it had been a long while since the last class and he hadn’t practiced his with his weapon since the mission ended.

Making a mental note to resume his practice, Kieran forcefully suppressed his overthinking tendency and stepped into the complex, the recruit at the counter didn’t stop him, as if he had been made aware of his impending arrival.

Following the directions from the message, he arrived in front of a plain door like the others in the complex. Checking the time, he saw that he was three minutes earlier and so, he decided to just to stand right in front of the door, not stepping in.

Five minutes passed and he didn’t see anyone coming into the hallway which meant whoever wanted to see him was probably inside already. He purposefully let a minute extra pass by to see if anyone would step out before stepping in when that was equally dashed.

Closing the door behind him, the room was enveloped in total darkness, but before he could say a word or turn back to leave, a wide screen from the other end of the room lit up, casing a bit of light into the room.

The screen was divided into several sections with each section showing several clips from their combat classes and the tests before then. There was even a clip showing his fight with the 6 beasts in the control centre of the first outpost they had attacked during the mission.

Despite all this, Kieran’s gaze was focused on illuminated figure of a man who sat down with his back facing towards him as he presumably watched the scenes on the screen.

"Why exactly did you do that?"

The man asked, pointing to a part of the screen that showed Kieran’s actions after he received the message to abandon Ruby and the rest.

Kieran stared at the man’s back with an expression that was concealed by the darkness of the room, before answering with a single line.

"Do I need a reason to? She is a friend, I don’t have a lot of those."

"Hehe!"

Something must have been funny in what he said because the ma laughed a little before saying,

"Fair enough! Risking all the possible punishment and the possibility that you could have died before the camp’s reinforcement reached you. The concept of friendship must have significant meaning to you!"

He said before turning around, revealing a face that proved Kieran’s guess right the moment he stepped into the room right.

The man sitting in front of him had a black mask and long hair that he had long grown accustomed to and deep down he felt feelings of respect towards the person in front of him, but all that vanished the moment it became clear that he was the person behind the message he had received.

The instructor in front of him felt different from the other times Kieran had seen him. He usually had a lazy aura around him like he had just woken up from a nap, but that was nowhere to be seen as he stared at him.

At that moment all Kieran could feel was nothing, he could feel the seasoned aura of a soldier that had gone through struggles like the one he felt on the other soldiers of the camp, but beyond that was nothing! An eerie sense of stillness that made him feel uncomfortable.

Usually he could feel more from the soldiers of the camp, like an aura they constantly suppressed.

In front of him was nothing like that, it even felt like he put up the aura of a soldier so he wouldn’t creep Kieran out.

Standing from the chair, he slowly made his way to Kieran’s front and asked another random question.

"What’s my name, kid?"

Kieran just stared at him blankly, realizing that they had never gotten to know the name of the instructor, this just made the shroud of mystery on him thicker.

"Hmm..... Do you know what your ability is?"

He asked Kieran another random question which only made him more confused.

Despite his efforts to keep it a secret, Kieran didn’t find it strange that the instructor in front of him knew about it, they must have developed ways to check for things like that.

’What the hell is he getting at!’ Kieran thought before speaking out,

"Get to the point!"

His voice holding no hint of respect it would when talking to a soldier.

"Ah! I’m sorry, you can’t really blame me though, I have a little mental issue hehe. Let me restart this!" He tried to clarify only to make Kieran feel more confused.

"First off, I had no intention to hurt your friends when I sent you the message. That was a little test of mine and you passed quite well." He said in a more composed manner.

"I’ve been watching you, it would be better to say that I have been watching all of you, but you managed to catch my eye so I made a bet with myself. That bet is why we are both here right now."

He explained to Kieran.

Kieran just stared at him, his mind having gone into conclusion that it was useless to try to understand the man in front of him, maybe he was just mad like he said earlier.

"So, what is it to want?"

Kieran questioned.

"I want to help you!" he replied, raising his arms to the side like he was some kind of saviour.

"I don’t remember asking for it though"

Kieran stated, his facial expression hardening.

"Hehehe, but you will need it though! The second phase is....different an its going to hit people like you the hardest. I’ve watched you for a while now and I have to say, your progress is insanely good and you have potential, but you would get crushed before you could unleash that potential. I’m offering to prevent that!"

The instructor n front of him said in a dead serious tone.

"I see, but ill pass on the offer!"

Kieran turned him down for the second time.

"Alright! When the time comes though and you’re about to get crushed, you can send a message through the same line I used to get to you!"

The instructor said, surprisingly not pushing any further.

Kieran simply looked at his eyes which were concealed beneath his long hair before turning to leave the room. Before he left, the instructor said one last thing.

"August! My name!"

After he left, August made his way back to the chair and continued watching the scenes playing on the screen, his thoughts a complete mystery.

.....

Back at Crane city, Lucian, the detective just stepped out of the city lord’s manor after having a conversation with him. As for how it went, one could not tell from his facial expressions unlike William, the chief of the city’s security corps.

RING! RING!!

Before he went far, his cell phone rang and he picked it up to hear the voice of the chief at the other end.

"How did it go!" the chief asked, his voice still tense.

"Okay!" the detective replied continuing n his steps.

"What do you mean by ok–" the chief tried to ask, but was cut off by the detective before he could complete his question.

SMASH!!

A cell phone was smashed to bits in the office of the chief as he ran his hand through his head in anger.

"Bastards!" he muttered in anger

Meanwhile, the person on the receiving end of the curse had make his way out of the city down to a smaller one just a few miles away from Crane city.

"I hate places like this, yet I end up finding myself in them."

The detective muttered stepping down from his hover car, lighting a cigarette with the tip of his finger while looking at the sight in front of him.

In front of him was a ghetto slightly better than the slums of the cities. Places like this were usually filled with people who couldn’t keep up with the chaos in the cities or for those who needed to do some shady businesses away from the constant watch of the governing body of the city.

All they had to do was to pay the cities nearby some tribute for them to turn a blind eye to most of their deeds, a more appropriate way to call it would be a protection fee as the officials did.

Scrunching his face up and stepping into the dirt filled smoke filled place, Lucian navigated his way in the ghetto. His dress and demeanour gaining him suspicious looks from the residents of the ghetto, while some gave him looks of hostility. He ignored these looks as he made his walked with a destination in mind.

The looks of from some filthy scumbags couldn’t faze him, he wouldn’t be there if he didn’t need to be there, after all.

After walking for a few minutes, he came to a stop in front of an open garage with several workers who stopped moving upon noticing his presence.

"You’re not welcome, leave!"

The statement came from someone who was working on a hovercar at the far end of the garage.

"I don’t want to be here either!"

Lucian said, hitting off the ash on his cigarette butt.

"Then leave, go back to where you came from!"

Another one of the workers said, walking imposingly with sparks of electricity being generated from his hands.

"First, I pollute my lungs with the filthy air of this place and now I have to dirty my hands as well?" Lucian muttered, throwing the cigarette to the side.