1 Prologue

"You are a talent, Haru."

Talent used to mean something one is incredibly good at, something not everyone can do. It still applies today. However, the concept of talent has become more... confined. Just because you can draw well wouldn't make you talented nowadays, neither does dancing or playing sports or singing.

Take Haru for example, he can manipulate electricity. Nothing big, just small flickers to fix household wires and power small lamps. Well all human beings use electricity to conduct signals inside the body, but Haru takes it a ten steps further- that's talent. But it doesn't mean Haru can teach it to someone else. As said, talent is confined to an individual most of the time. One is born with it, like a mutation. Except that mutation was a thing of the past, so much of the population is has it that we now prefer to call it a talent.

"Where are we going?"

"To an avenue where kids like you can nurture your talents."

This is the Academy. Academy for the Talented. The current world is in the midst of endless wars and suffering brought by people who abuse talents and privileges. Because of this, the country has been very diligent in collecting talented children and nourishing them to become useful members of the society... which is mostly soldiers. Since many of them come from poor families, these children are left with no choice but to comply for the benefits the kingdom gives them and their families.

Haru is from a family of mechanics, he's the oldest of seven children, all boys. He witnessed two younger brothers die of hunger, one killed by a despicable criminal, one killed by a guard from some wealthy family, and has waited for years for his dad to come back home from war. His dad wasn't a soldier, he's not a talent either, he's pure mechanic who was tempted by the soldier salary. Haru heard that the kingdom still provides for the families left even when a soldier dies. When his mom discovered than Haru is a talent, she was desperate to hide him. They can earn more with his talents without putting him in danger at war. He's just ten years old and his mom has helplessly watched her kids die before. She wasn't going to put Haru in danger too.

But she made a mistake.

It's not the kingdom that had their eyes on Haru, it was the underground criminals, certain noble people, and enemy kingdoms that has heard of the boy whose talent is electricity. A random man, probably paid, triggered Haru by stabbing his five year old brother while acting like a costumer. Haru had just awakened his talent that time. He was so anguished that he awakened another talent.

The bad people who heard the rumor about him were right, he's a valuable ally. Lightning is one of the legendary talents known in the world. It was so rare and powerful that he's turned the eyes of everyone onto him. As if the person who paid the random man to test Haru's talent had it all calculated, Haru accidentally killed his mother and last remaining brother during the first big lightning he has ever summoned. The sky dimmed and the clouds opened to a thick lightning bolt that toasted four homes and twenty people in an instant. That's what the people who had their eyes on him wanted, that he's left alone. So that it's easy to take him. He doesn't even know who hired the man anyway. He's ten, poor and easy to fool. However, he was immediately surrounded by his own countries soldiers and labelled a heinous criminal at such a young age. For two years, he has lived in castle prison.

Haru is twelve now, and he's only getting explanation right now when he's gotten to the age where he can enter the academy under special case. He's still a criminal until he turns 17, if he agrees to be a kingdom knight by then. Skinny, sooty, and pathetic Haru just nods at it. He's hungry, he would do anything for good food. He was mad. If they give him a reason to freely kill, then by all means he would take it.

"Nurture my ass."

By the way, I'm Haru and that was me five months ago.