Chapter 1: Chapter 01: sword and gun
Prologue
Anger, hatred...
Sadness, loneliness...
Loneliness not so much on the one hand.
I had no place in this world, I had no one to show me something that I was capable of doing...
Now, an opportunity arises before my eyes. No, not only before my eyes. The shiver I feel in every hair on my body, the ecstasy I feel in every layer of my skin
But why this doubt? It was what I had always wanted.
Even more, with the price I just paid...
No, with the price I was made to pay.
-Do you accept?
I stand up, and using the sleeves of my jacket, I wipe my face before answering with a mischievous smile:
-Yes. I count on you to make me the worst kind of monster possible.
Thus, a journey towards hell itself on earth has just begun.
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Chapter 01: Sword and Gun
The last two years have been a tremendous failure.
In a world where the manipulation of technology is a basic activity for any human being, I am a failure in this world. Even my body is relatively weaker than anyone my age.
It is probably some disease from birth, even though no doctor has diagnosed anything abnormal in the various tests I have had.
-Keyner, a-
I can't even do research or mechanics, although I have no problem spending my life in a laboratory handling reagents. I'm actually pretty good at chemistry.
-Keyner, lev-
But still, I would like to understand how we manage to deal with monsters and even mages for so long, given the greatness of the world.
In that instant, my thoughts were interrupted by an immense need to catch my breath, as someone landed a kick on my chest while I was still in bed.
-UUF...
-When someone is talking to you, answer them. I know you were awake, annoying boy.
Catching my breath, I leap onto my own bed to try to stand up, but forget that I am tall enough to hit my head on the ceiling of my room in doing so.
-AII.
-That must have been enough to oxygenate the brain, I imagine.
Jack, you bastard!
My complaints are interrupted by Jack, who tosses me a bun wrapped in a paper towel.
-It's your favorite, isn't it?
The person who woke me up in such a delicate way was Jack Eldryn, a great childhood friend. We are the same age, 17. He is a little taller than me, at 6'2", besides having beige skin and normal body stature, subtly more built than mine for some reasons. As well as an inverted triangular face, accompanied by a mildly cheeky look.
He sits down on a chair that was next to the closet in my room, adjusting his dark blue pants with zigzagging lines that start from the front left pocket and run down the entire pant leg.
-You came earlier than usual...
-Don't talk with such a depressed tone. Today is a day you should be a little more eccentric.
He says this tossing back his silver hair, almost shoulder length.
-It's just that I wasn't ready to get out of bed yet. We'll talk in a few minutes, I'm going to take a shower.
I spend about 15 minutes in my shower, thinking about several things. The main one, no doubt, was the entrance exam for the AWA, the anti-wizards army, a force with the objective of protecting the citizens of Tecmetriun from Wizards, beasts, and terrorists.
As I take my shower, I look at my reflection in a nearby mirror. I see that I had a good night's sleep, as there were no dark circles under my dark skin, which looked like the result of a tan. My brown eyes also arrived, washing away while I am in the shower.
Although I have already failed twice in the very first phase of the entrance exam, the combat exam, I suppose things will be different now. The time that I have spent training - the time that I have spent training.
-How long is the little flower going to spend in this shower?
I hear Jack's voice from my room, with an impatient tone.
Five minutes later I emerge from the bathroom in a bathrobe and begin to change for the exam.
It was a similar outfit to the one Jack was wearing at the time, except that my gray blouse had no zig zag stripes that went from the sleeves to meet a symbol on my chest, which was three circles, with one below the other two, where there was a downward triangle inscribed inside each circle, which represented a rank within the AWA. Not to mention that my size doesn't match Jack's, who, being a military man, is a bit more built.
-Keyner.
-HELLO? Go ahead.
I answer as I open my closet.
-Why do you want to join the AWA?
-In fact, I don't think I really have any reason to go in there. I can't even control my own cell phone, my physical conditioning is different than other people's, and I don't take that much pleasure in fighting.
-Ok ok, calm down. Everything you've told me so far is true, even the part about not having any pleasure in fighting. That's already pushing it.
I finish putting on my shoes and head for a closet near my bed.
What do you mean by that?
Jack catches me off guard and holds my head with one arm, rubbing his right fist hard against my head.
-As ridiculous as you try to look because of these limitations, it doesn't fool me. In sword and pistol combat techniques, you can overcome even the monster that is Commander Ketley.
-Are you talking about Naila?
I get out of the uncomfortable position I was in and apply an elbow to Jack's abdomen, making him back up and sit on the bed.
-She's the one. Did you train together? Because I remember that your style is similar somehow.
-No. Have you forgotten that my master doesn't like an audience at training sessions? So much so that I never took any of you.
For some reason, the guy who trained me in pistol handling asked me not to comment or to comment as little as possible about my training with anyone. Strange as it was, there was no problem, because he was a friend of my parents, so I trusted him a lot.
-Well, do you already know who will be your examiner this year?
Jack asks me as he places my pillow on a chair and then sits down.
-No. Should I have any idea?
I say this, as I put on a jacket that catches Jack's eye.
-My dear Keyner Blake and his black coat... I was wondering if it was really you, it took so long to put it on.
-My dear Jack Eldryn, you know how special this coat is for me.
Jack Eldryn, my best friend. I met him at school 8 years ago, when I was isolated in a class while the class was manipulating the systems of some toys, while I ate a snack, since even today I can't manipulate technology. He came up to me drooling over some cookies he had made, which were really all he talked about.
My bad morning mood ends, and I give Jack a smile, adjusting my coat. It was a simple jacket, black in color, with thin horizontal white stripes all over the jacket. Simple as it was, it was the jacket my friends gave me for my birthday three years ago.
-So, while we go to the training room, explain to me why I should know who is going to be my examiner.
My house was a normal, medium-sized model with 1 floor, where my bedroom, the study room, the library and my parents' personal laboratory were. It was crafted in the colors dark gray and white.
Houses today are made of crapol, an artificial resin that could take the form and function of any building material, from mortar to finishes. Its original coloring is an icy white, but it was altered as needed.
We went downstairs, and turned in the corridor to the right of the living room, entering a place that looked like a garden, but had some refrigerators, a swimming pool, a barbecue grill and a mini training arena.
-Good, it's going to be Caius.
Caius Fort, one of my friends and an AWA first class officer, which meant that he had the capacity to be an examiner for the first phase of admission.
Jack uses his hands to comb his hair that covered his forehead, keeping a hairstyle that threw his hair to the left side, being in harmony with his oval face. He commented that he thought the brown of my eyes was beautiful, but I envied the combination of his silver hair and green eyes.
-I didn't expect that one.
Before I could finish my speech, a figure quickly appears before me and attacks me with a sword. If I hadn't had mine, I probably would have lost both my eyes in that instant.
When I realized, the figure in front of me was carrying a scarlet cutlass sword and a white pistol with a triple but very short barrel. I could also see a purple triangle inside a red circle. The symbol that only the AWA arsenal could carry.
I immediately take off my jacket and next to that, three circular devices a little smaller than the palm of my hand, One of them I throw into the air, while I squeeze the other two, causing them to alter and expand into two gray-bladed swords.
With the two swords, I strike an X-shaped blow at the person who attacked me, which causes him to retreat. This gave me time to couple one sword to the other, forming a kind of two-bladed rectangular sword separated by the handle. As I finished attaching the swords, the last device I had thrown into the air dropped into my hand, becoming a pistol.
The fact that I cannot manipulate technology ends up making me use less practical equipment. But I can defend myself, so I have to spend my energy on fighting instead of complaining.
I throw my pistol into the air after taking a shot. The shot was blocked by the AWA member's sword, distraction enough for me to rotate my body separating my swords and deliver a blow aimed at my enemy's head.
As if expecting this blow, I was thrown backwards by a shot that collided with my sword. I had to use a similar move to block an attack that was aimed at my chest, causing me to step back and take my pistol back and throw one of my swords.
The blow was completely useless, as my sword was thrown upwards. Or at least that's what everyone but me there thought. Using one of my gloves that I had, I remotely controlled my sword so that it swung at the soldier.
Although blocked, my attack was effective in gaining me a small advantage. I fired a shot into the ground, raising a smoke screen over the entire ground.
-But what is it-
I fired a sequence of shots that were easily intercepted. The soldier fires a shot into the ground, creating an air current ending my smoke screen, which was too late, as my sword was already towards the soldier's helmet.
It would be a perfect strike, but I am a person with a weaker body and I was facing someone who manipulated technology. It was not impossible for my attack to be avoided, but the soldier's helmet was already gone.
-I thought you were really going to die before the test.
With the helmet broken, it is revealed that it was a girl.
-And I thought Jack would be the only one coming to the house today, naja.
-Call me a naja again and I'll shoot your head off.
The girl spoke with an irritated tone. No wonder, since it was a convenient pun on the girl's name.
She was a girl about my age, about 1.60 meters tall. But given her outfit, she was not someone to be underestimated.
Wearing an outfit with the same design as Jack's, only differing in the amount of circles and triangles on her chest, which were 4 of each, indicating her position as a captain of the AWA.
Possessing wavy dark brown hair, a round and somewhat cute face, and a somewhat sharp eye, the person who attacked me was Naila Ketley, my best friend.
As hostile as the attack seemed to be, it was only about training. She was not the only one to help me in combat training, but she was certainly my best help. Along with Jack, of course.
I head towards the refrigerator, to get ingredients to start preparing breakfast. My parents were out for work, apparently, so I was on my own.
Going through the refrigerator, I found vegetable stock, potatoes, vegetables and juices, but I knew something was missing.
-If you're looking for chocolate, I ate it all before you arrived.
-I'm surprised you didn't contract diabetes during this time.
-You're in no condition to say that, I'm sure.
The last comment was made by Jack, who, given his face, was hungry, waiting for me and Naila to stop attacking each other for something to eat.
An hour later, Naila and I left the house. Jack was so disappointed to see that I was making potato and tomato soup for breakfast that he decided to go early to the AWA headquarters where my exam was to be done, where he would buy something there.
I don't live near the commercial and activity center, requiring at least a forty minute walk to get to the AWA cadet base. The residential area was made up of houses with structures similar to mine, differing in color and external ornaments.
After a twenty minute walk we arrived in the central area of the city. Even though I am in the central area at least six times a week, I never tire of being impressed by the grandiosity that was Tecmetriun.
From where I stood, there were large buildings that I could not even estimate how many stories. Holographic projections at strategic points on the news, products and services were booming, so there was no visual or noise pollution. People moved around on foot, by bicycles, or on hover boards, so that nobody bumped into anybody.
There were also cars, these powered by fuels formed from biomass. Oil was no longer used as a source to obtain fuels, as a result of the construction of engines that did better with biomass.
All this was the result of the mysterious ability that humanity acquired to manipulate technology. This ability was considered normal nowadays, even though the cause of its emergence is unknown. That said, I intend to become a member of the AWA to better understand the manipulation of technology, and to unravel this mystery.
-By the way Keyner...
The silence is broken by Naila's voice, making me wake up from my thoughts and remember that I was with her.
-Say it.
-Why do you really want to join the AWA? Do you really want to patrol outside of Tecmetriun, kill monsters and wizards if necessary?
-Actually, I don't have the slightest interest in that.
At 16, which is the age I am now, you either join the AWA to be a patrol and security officer in and around Tecmetriun or you go into research and service, working in areas like medicine, industry, or even administration.
-Because I can't manipulate technology like all the rest of the population, I am dead weight in anything within the city. I just aim for the AWA hoping that somehow I could manipulate technology and then move on to the research sector.
-I'm sorry if I seem rude, but I imagine there are better ways for you to move into the research sector. But I'm surprised you don't want to be a soldier, you have good moves.
Our conversation was briefly interrupted by Naila herself, who made me stop at a store to buy more chocolate for her. This girl must have some kind of undiagnosed hypoglycemia, because it is not possible.
-I know that the second part of the test is to contact a code core. If I am not mistaken, it is a master circuit that can release dormant abilities to manipulate technology, among other things. Am I wrong?
-Not at all.
Naila puts her arm around my neck, giving me a smile with a touch of seriousness.
-Don't do all the training we've had for nothing, you idiot.
-You'll have to pay me back for all the chocolate I bought you last year, naja.
She takes her arm from around my neck, slapping my head and moving in the other direction.
-I have work, so I wish you good luck here. You know your opponent is going to be Caius, but he's not going to go easy on you just because you're friends.
This time, she looks at me with a serious gaze, maintaining a sharp gaze that for a second took my breath away. Jack used to tell me that in the AWA service, Naila had a ruthless look in her eyes that she had no pity for using on midshipmen and officers. I'm sure that was a good little demonstration of what he meant.
-Be calm. I know you hold back from killing me when we train, but it should be noticeable that I don't plan to fail this year.
I give this answer with a serious look, which was enough for Naila to give me a smile that showed she had confidence in me.
This is a future where humanity almost went into extinction, and by some miracle, managed to get back on its feet. Now humanity manages to manipulate technology to its advantage, and faces the wizards, a race that uses something called magic to control the laws of the world.
It is not clear what year it is, but we count 2300 years since the separation of humans and wizards around the globe, so the two races do not mix. I have no idea where the wizards actually meet, but it is somewhere in the vicinity of the borders of our city, Tecmetriun.
As a person who cannot manipulate technology, I don't have a place in the world. But I decided that today that would change.
I stop walking, until I find myself in front of a large, apparently military installation. Present in the west of the city, this facility was immense, with aircraft and battle chariots going out. From the outside, it was already possible to see the design worked in navy blue, with several pillars that stood in the courtyard in front of the main entrance, where it was possible to see some soldiers practicing their morning exercises.
-Time for a test.
I shake my fist, and enter the facility, already taking from my pockets the devices that were nothing more than my swords and pistols.
But the icing on the cake was still to come.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone