"Those two are our best fighters in our academy." A man with a pair of spectacles resting on his nose bridge pointed at a screen where two 16-year-olds lay on the ground while inhaling and exhaling in quick bursts. Both were covered in bruises and cuts, yet that seemed to be the least of the crowd's worries as they could be seen roaring out in cheers.
While spectacles were no longer needed since there was technology that far exceeded the use of glasses, many people wore them for fashion.
"They are pretty impressive, I have to say. Now all they have to do is have a good awakening." A bald man nodded in satisfaction.
"That boy, Zack, was it? I believe he is from the Glade family, so we might as well try to accept him now in hopes that he would come with us before the other academies try to snatch him." A white-haired man with a skinny physique suggested.
"I agree. His awakening is bound to be exceptional since he is from that family, but what about the other boy?" A dark-skinned man with bulging muscles and a skin-fade for a hairstyle, asked. His voice was deep and intimidating, but his expression only showed kindness and compassion.
"I believe that the other boy is beyond exceptional." The first man spoke despite being a teacher in Lloyd and Zack's academy.
"Why do you say so?" Asked the bald man, something that caused the teacher to curl up his lips into a prideful smile.
Turning around, he pointed at the screen again, but instead of it showing CCTV live footage, it showed a video of a young and petite boy standing alongside several other students in front of an adult who was clearly teaching them.
On the side of the screen flashed a few documents, which the recruiters looked at curiously, yet they stayed silent.
A few seconds later, they watched a 5-minute clip of a black-haired boy struggling to perform a few exercises.
"As you can see, this boy is the son of two generals, one being a 3-star general, and the other being a 4-star general in the army. Both his parents are exceptional, and despite them clearly not having taught their child anything about combat even after reaching the age of 11, his battle prowess has reached the level where he can rival even the likes of Zack, who have been cultivated from an extremely young age to become battle machines." The teacher explained, causing several recruiters to nod in understanding and agreement.
"You are right. We should recruit this boy even if he gets a mediocre awakening. His battle potential is high, and while it doesn't seem like he will get a mighty awakening, we know that awakenings aren't everything when it comes to strength." The bulky man with dark skin suggested while glancing at the others who could not help but reminisce on 'that' man's power.
***
Hours seemed to pass in the blink of an eye as both Zack and Lloyd were healed back to their peak states. Healers were not common in this world, but when one appeared, they would become very sought after. However, since Lloyd's school was one of the most prestigious schools in the country, it was only expected that it would have at least one healer at stand-by at all times.
Dressing up, both Lloyd and Zack left the school and met up with a few of Zack's friends. While Lloyd was not one to enjoy socializing with others, he didn't mind Zack due to their similar thinking and hobbies. It wasn't that he thought everyone else was too stupid or 'lower' than him, it was simply that he disliked socializing as a whole and always chose to stay away from it, yet today, due to Zack's begging, he had been dragged into a restaurant alongside some of Zack's friends.
They spent some of their final days as high school students eating, and despite Lloyd being a huge foody, today, he felt a slight lump in his heart that only began to weigh him down more and more as the minutes passed.
He thought that it was just a feeling that everyone got when they felt their high school lives slipping away while slowly being thrown into the lives of adults, but he couldn't have been more wrong.
Zack and the rest of his friends began to drink, but Lloyd was adamant about not drinking, his reason being, "I like having the ability to think normally."
Seeing that his friend started to black out, Lloyd sighed and took Zack home despite it being very hard to do so. Drinking for people under the age of 18 was prohibited, but since Zack came from an influential family, this did not affect him.
As Lloyd walked down the streets and started to move closer to the wealthy neighborhoods, he saw a white car come in his direction, making him widen his eye before beginning to wave fanatically towards the driver.
As the car stopped right next to the two of them, one of the windows lowered itself, and a familiar face entered Lloyd's eyes.
"Uncle Rubert! Good thing you are here! Can you take Zack back home for me, please? He's completely blacked out, and I don't have any sobering pills on me." Lloyd asked.
Rubert was the Glade family's personal butler, and despite looking seemingly fragile, he was as strong if not a little stronger than the current family head.
"Young Lloyd, it seems like we are meeting more often nowadays." Rubert chuckled and appeared right in front of him.
"Well, uncle Rubert, that is because Zack is blacking out more often. I'm sure that you guys have some kind of GPS on him, so I'm surprised that I hadn't seen you sooner." Lloyd replied nonchalantly
"As sharp as ever I see!" Rubert laughed aloud before throwing Zack into the hovering limo behind him.
"I didn't come sooner because I had a bit of business with Master Glade, but now that we have resolved our problem, I will have to take Master Zack back to the Glade planet instead of taking him back to his mansion. He has a few things to settle with his father before getting ready for the awakening ceremony." Rubert explained, causing Lloyd to nod in understanding.
"I'll see you later then, Uncle Rubert!" Lloyd waved before beginning to walk away, yet despite Rubert wanting to ask if Lloyd wanted a ride, he already knew the answer he would receive.
Letting out a repressed sigh, Rubert entered the hovering limo and shot into the air at break-neck speeds, and once he reached outside the atmosphere, the limo's engines began to work themselves into overdrive, and space began to fluctuate in front of the car.
Suddenly, a tear in space appeared, and the car entered through it, flying through a tunnel that was known to humans as the 'Void Tunnel.'
Back on planet Deroxa, Lloyd could be seen dashing through the night, and after 30 minutes of him running at extraordinary speeds, he finally slowed down and halted his movements.
Pushing the gate in front of him, it slowly opened, and he quickly found himself walking past a few 100x100 meter grasslands before finally appearing before the front door of what would have been considered a mansion in ancient times.
Opening the door, he walked into the house and announced, "I'm home!"
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as a figure blurred and appeared in front of him before barging him to the ground and grabbing him by the collar.
"Lloyd! We were so worried!" A girl, barely a few years younger than Lloyd, shouted while constantly pulling and shoving onto his collar.
"I'm fine, Alice. No need to worry" Lloyd waved his hands in surrender.
"Little bro, you're back?" Asked another girl who walked out of the kitchen with her hand holding her phone and a pair of earbuds in her ears.
While technology had advanced by miles, many old designs stayed the same due to no other suitable design matching the new trend. Many people started to dress the way people before the descent of mana used to dress as it was a part of the new wave of fashion that also suited some of the desires of the older generations.
As the girl on top of Lloyd took a whiff of his scent, she sent a cold glare toward him, one that sent a shiver down his spine.
"Have you been partying with girls?" As the other girl heard those words, she also looked a Lloyd with an icy glare, but the atmosphere quickly lightened after another figure walked into Lloyd's line of sight.
"Hey, mom. A little help here?" Lloyd asked and received a soft chuckle from his mother.
After the incident, they all relaxed and started to chat about random things that were on their minds, but after a while, Lloyd realized that his father was not around and quickly excused himself to sleep, not wanting to miss out on his big day that was now, less than 12 hours away.
Going to his room, he completed his usual routine, fell onto his bed, and relaxed all his muscles.
Struggling to get the blanket over him, he further sunk into the soft material of his mattress, and eventually, he closed his eyes and fell asleep...
Or at least his body did.
As his vision faded to black, he could see a slight shimmer of violet light in the distant dark void, but instead of ignoring it like he usually would have done, he felt as if his gut instinct was telling him to grab it.
He felt his consciousness grow closer and closer to it by the second before finally, his palms appeared out of thin air before clasping them over a purple crystal and encapsulating them with his hands.
"The Void Walker has been chosen."
"Let the Void Walk commence."
A robotic voice entered his ears, and in the next second, a bright purple light overshadowed the darkness, and before he could understand what had truly happened, he found himself appearing in a strange place devoid of light yet, at the same time, somehow filled to the brim with it.
"Welcome to the Void, entity Lloyd Elrod... We have been waiting for you."
