Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Tryston POV
"Where am I?"
I turn my head left and right, wandering around the enclosed cavern I seemed to be in. Bro what the fuck. The cavern contained strange crystals along the walls which lit it surprisingly well. I start walking into the depths of the cave, thinking I am probably in a dream. I walk for what seems like hours before I finally arrive at what appears to be a statue of a… holy shit a dragon kin statue? I looked at it in awe as I had never seen such a beautifully crafted statue before. Dude Joe and Ben would kill to see this. Being in an orphanage makes everything seem cooler. I run my hands up and down the statue inspecting it. As I'm inspecting it with hardly contained awe, I hear a click.
CLICK
CLICK
CLICK
I feel sudden chills roll up my body and I turn around just in time to see a dragon kin lop off my head.
Well I'll be damned.
I wake with a start, sweat pouring out of my body like I just went for a swim. Holy mother of chicken and sauce, I just died. Why the fuck did that feel so real? I shiver and roll out of bed. Right into the warm embrace of nothing. Shit I'm on the top bunk.
THUMP
"Ughhhhh." I groan and roll to my back to see Ben standing over me, grinning wickedly.
"Morning sunshine, sleep well?" Ben asks.
"Actually I had the weirdest dream."
"When?"
"Last night idio-"
"Did I ask?" I stare at Ben as he stares at me, his wicked grin now replaced with a blank stare, as if it should be obvious that he didn't ask.
"You mother fucker." I say as I scramble to get up as he takes off laughing. I chase him out of the room, entering a hallway that was dimly lit, due to the fact of the orphanage being located in the poorest place on the continent, Morningside Village.
"Ben get back here you bitch!" The only response I got was laughter. I sigh and jog to a stop. That curly haired bastard. I roamed down the hall, waking up the rest of the children in the orphanage, which came to a whopping 10, including me, Joe, and Ben, for breakfast. Sister Hansel will probably have breakfast ready any minute now anyway. As if she read my thoughts I hear a call from downstairs.
"Breakfast is ready children!" I take off as soon as I hear those words.
"Quick pin Tryston down before he eats it all again!" I hear a yell from the back and speed up, trying to get to the food before anyone could stop me. I see shadow out of the corner of my eye and I drop down into a slide as I see a half dwarf go sailing over me and into a closet which one of the younger kids had opened up and then closed after Joe's diving entrance. I laugh and get back to my feet mid slide and keep running for the kitchen.
"That won't work again Joe!" I yell behind me as he groans due to being stuck in a closet. I give a thumbs up to my little helper, a demon named Keenan who was laughing all while Joe was yelling at him to let him out. Typically demons were heavily discriminated against as they have been a recurring enemy over centuries of history in wars over territory. But Keenan was only 5 and he hadn't killed anyone so I can't hate him for doing what his ancestors did.
"Thanks Keenan!" I see a salute from the little demon right before I turn the corner and head into the kitchen but come to a screeching halt due to the obstacle in front of the table filled with oh so delicious food.
"Ben move man I'm starving."
"Bro. You know how this goes."
"It was only one time though." I whine. Ben scoffs.
"Yeah, one time every day for the past 10 years fat ass." I shrug nonchalantly.
"Y'all were just too slow. I mean, allowing me to eat all the food once a day for 10 years is crazy."
"Kill yourself." I take off running at Ben as he lowers his center of gravity. Ready to take me on, he dives at me and as he does I hurdle over him, ripping a nasty fart as I pass his face.
"Saved you a treat my love!" I call over my shoulder as I land in the kitchen and snag a donut from the table, eating it while he gags and coughs.
"What the fuck did you have for dinner you bastard?"
"I didn't eat remember."
"What do you mean?"
"You locked me in the very closet Joe resides in for the night because I ate all the lunch food bitch."
"Oh yeah that's right." Ben nods in agreement, remembering what is probably the darkest moment in the history of mankind. Me screaming racial slurs from a closet while they enjoyed a meal that should have been mine.
"Demon." I mutter, while he laughs at the memory. Keenan pokes his head around the corner, as if hearing me. I toss him a donut as according to our deal and he grins and laughs and plops his skinny ass down on the floor to eat it while the rest of the children come filing out to eat. Unfortunately for them it was all already gone.
"Dude it's been literally like 30 seconds where, in the fuck, did the food go?" Joe comes around the corner groaning.
"Joe watch your language." I turn my head to see Sister Hansel behind me and I laugh while he coughs and apologizes. Ben sighs in defeat and stands up, dusting imaginary dust off him.
"Ben, you look like a retard doing that."
THWACK. I groan as Sister Hansel hits me in the head with a wooden rolling pin.
"Tryston you know better than to call Ben the r-word." Sister Hansel chastises as I rub the back of my head in pain.
"My bad Sister Hansel." Sister Hansel sighs as she hands out donuts that she had APPARENTLY hid from me to the children who munched on them happily.
"Did you three forget what day it is?" I look at her in confusion while Ben and Joe fight over the last donut as Keenan had snagged more than he should have, in which I smile and nod approvingly. Sister Hansel sighs.
"It's your awakening ceremony today along with Ben and Joe!" Sister Hansel exclaims and I brighten immediately, having forgotten that very important fact. Ben and Joe stop moving mid fight over the last donut as they watch Keenan snag and eat it in front of them, smiling in joy.
"What was that Sister Hansel?" Joe says, sighing in defeat while Ben glares daggers at Keenan muttering something about being just like me.
"Today is your awakening ceremony, remember?" Sister Hansel says with exasperation. Joe nods as if he knew all along.
"Dumbass."
THWACK.
"Sorry Sister Hansel.." I groan once again. Ben laughs at me while Sister Hansel sighs.
"You three haven't changed at all." I grin cheekily while Joe grumbles about how he wasn't a dumbass.
"I still remember the day you three arrived at the orphanage.." Sister Hansel says with a small smile.
***
Sister Hansel POV
17 years earlier
"Sister, can I have a snack? I'm hungry." I turn my head to see Julie, small for even a dwarf, stand there pulling on the bottom of my dress. I smile.
"Of course, here's a banana." She beams at me and waddles off while she munches on the banana, peel and all. I sigh wondering if she would ever lose that bad habit.
"Wahhhhhh." I turn my head sharply at the noise coming from the front doors. I walk slowly to the door, afraid it could be a trap of a bandit trying to lure me out to kill and rape me. That's what happened to the last sister who worked here supposedly and I was not having that happen to me. I slowly open the door and poke my head out expecting someone to grab me. Instead all I saw were three babies sitting there, one of them, a black curly haired human baby crying, another one, a brown haired half dwarf it appeared, sleeping peacefully and the last one, another black haired human baby, munching on a cookie, looking at me with curiosity. I saw three cards with their names on them and I read them aloud.
"Ben Ozymandias, Joe Bettendorf, and Tryston Nyuusen." I sigh. Seeing babies come to my orphanage like this was common, unfortunately.
"Status."
Hansel Stillwater
(Human) LV 38
Vitality (C) - 423
Arcane Energy (B) - 614
Strength (E) - 114
Endurance (F) - 41
Agility (D) - 276
Luck (E) - 2
Skills: Healing, Strength Boost, Drowsy
I look at my status and glance at the babies.
"Drowsy." I raise my hand and use my skill on Ben and he quiets down and slowly falls asleep. I pick the three of them up and bring them inside. Not knowing their future would hold struggles and glory.
***
Tryston POV
I look around the nearly abandoned town as me, Ben, and Joe walk to the location of our awakening ceremony.
"You know it's kind of crazy." I look at Joe as he stares ahead, clearly thinking about something.
"It's been 17 years since we got to the orphanage, and now we're walking to our awakening ceremony. Chasing down an opportunity. A way out. A way to finally escape this god forsaken place." Ben nods in agreement.
"Yeah. Honestly I don't know what I'd do if I got garbage stats… I need good stats. Good stats get you to the best academy on the continent. They get you status. They get you success. I want that."
"Yeah I do too," I say in agreement. "I want to get out of this shit hole and make money to help the orphanage prosper. So they don't go days missing a meal and-"
"Dude. We've missed a meal since you were five because your fat ass has to eat enough for a village to survive." Ben says, staring at me.
"...Like I was saying, so they don't go days missing a meal and they can sleep with actual blankets instead of newspapers and shit man." Joe nods in agreement.
"No matter what we stick together."
"Together."
"Guys stop acting sentimental and shit." Ben says, staring at me and Joe. We shrug and arrive at the chapel, the location of the awakening ceremony. It was more packed than usual, due to the ceremony. We worked our way through the crowd to the front and sat down in the chairs designated for the people to be awakened and waited for the ceremony to start. I look around and see 4 other people besides me, Joe, and Ben sitting for the ceremony. Two look to be related, brother and sister perhaps, and they were elves. One was a pixie and she looked hella nervous and the last was… a demon. There was a noticeable empty space surrounding him as the crowd tried to avoid touching him, almost as if he was a plague or something. I sigh at the unfortunate show of discrimination and think about Keenan as I turn my attention back to the front. A woman walks out onto a stage with a crystal ball and a paper and stands up front, quieting the crowd's murmurs.
"Attention, Village of Morningside. Today will be the awakening ceremony. I have here the crystal ball in which they will be awakened through and the sheet of paper I hold contains a list of academies around the continent. Based on your potential I will allow you to pick an academy to attend. First up will be.. Lisa Hardwin." The lady went through the candidates naming off our very short list of participants in this awakening ceremony. No one got anything exceptional although the elf siblings did pretty decently, electing to be adventurers instead of picking an academy to attend.
"Next is.. Joe Bettendorf." Joe chuckles nervously and stands moving quickly to the stage only to trip and fall on the stairs.
"...HAHAHAHAHA," Me and Ben burst out laughing as Joe stands quickly, face red with embarrassment and hurries to the crystal globe.
"Place your hand on the crystal ball and on three say status." The woman instructs, not caring that he fell. Joe nods and rubs his hands together nervously.
"Status." A collective gasp runs through the crowd and the woman raises an eyebrow in surprise. Me and Ben start cheering as Joe stares at his status window in shock and excitement.
Joe Bettendorf
(Human/Dwarf) LV 1
Vitality (SSS) - 28
Arcane Energy (B)- 10
Strength (XR) - 57
Endurance (A) - 14
Agility (D) - 3
Luck (A) - 6
The woman immediately quiets the crowd and speaks to him urgently.
"Please elect to be at Willow Academy." The crowd gasps again. Willow Academy is the best academy on the continent and that is the exact place us three were aiming to attend. Joe immediately nods in acceptance.
"I'll go." The woman nods and directs him in a different direction then back to his seat and he's ushered off the stage in a rush.
"Alright next up is.. Ben Ozymandias." Ben sighs and stands up, muttering about how the fuck he was supposed to follow up and XR stat potential. XR is the rarest form of potential not to mention that Joe also had a SSS stat potential which was the second rarest potential. Joe has outstanding stats. Ben reaches the crystal ball and I hold my breath as he mutters.
"Status."
Ben Ozymandias
(Human/Demon) LV 1
Vitality (SS) - 21
Arcane Energy (A) - 13
Strength (A) - 12
Endurance (XR) - 54
Agility (A) - 12
Luck (C) - 4
Ben screams as he drops to one knee and he clutches the right side of his head as an object slowly protrudes out of it.
"Is that a horn?" Someone from the crowd murmurs and a collective gasp of shock goes through the crowd. I stare at his status in shock. Half demon? XR potential too?? SS in Vitality??? The woman gasps in shock and offers him the same offer as Joe but it didn't seem like Ben heard her as he was still on the ground gasping in pain. His black curly hair grew long and became highlighted with red and his irises in his eyes turned red as well and he suddenly screamed into the sky as if he just saw a ghost. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed, unconscious from the pain. His transformation complete. His skin was now dark, closer to black, but not pitch black like a demon and the crowd was in shock.
"Kill him!"
"A demon that strong shouldn't be allowed to live!" The crowd went wild, wanting Ben's death and I stood immediately glaring at them all.
"Shut the fuck up you assholes! You don't know Ben. He would never do something such as kill for fun. Maybe check your fucking attitude before you go asking for someone's death." I spat and the crowd quieted down murmuring and glaring at me. The woman nodded approvingly at me before urging me onto the stage.
"Tryston Nyuusen I assume?" I nod as I climb the stairs to the stage and walk up to the crystal ball. I placed my hand on the ball, my heart filled with expectation as my two best friends had just gotten their ticket out and I assumed I was next.
"Status."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone