1 Fated Encounter
漢
It had to be known that mankind, as a whole, tend to detest the unknown.
Perhaps it was fueled by fear. Confusion. The fact that they were unused to this new element made them stay away from it.
This principle, unfortunately, was applied to Louis Fraser to the max.
Born to two irresponsible individuals, he was exposed to the cruel, harsh side of reality as soon as he was born.
From when his identity as the sole 'Classless' individual was exposed.
Classes were like genders. Upon birth, one would be assigned a 'Class' through simple examinations, no matter how miniscule its effects were. Having one proved that you were part of the crowd.
But what if there was someone who didn't possess such a Class?
When examined, Louis Fraser didn't show any reaction to the machine that was supposed to show them his Class.
Sadly, it wasn't that the machine was broken. His parents, being severely in denial, went around the country to test their child multiple times, but the result always came out to be empty.
Refusing to give up, they went the extra mile and brought the case up to authorities, wanting to prove that their child was not the first- and later found out to be the only case of a Classless human being.
Every single effort went to waste.
There was a lot of heat and speculation surrounding his identity at first. Mainstream media broadcasted his condition, but none spoke of him, the innocent baby, in a good light.
No one wanted him. Not even his parents.
They detested him for giving them a bad stigma. The ones to give birth to the 'cursed' baby.
Even worse, his appearance was not at all similar to his parents. He had whitish silver hair, and a pair of turquoise eyes that creeped one out.
Features that none of his biological parents had, bringing the charges of infidelity to the surface.
Mrs. Fraser swore to the heavens that she had done no such thing. The loving couple that was happy and harmonious right before Louis' birth, slowly began to break apart.
His existence was hated by everyone without him doing anything.
Countless times, he asked out loud.
What did he do wrong?
And yet, no one answered his cries.
Louis Fraser, the poor child had to suck it all up by himself.
___
His parents were trashy, heartless people, but out of fear of being charged with the crime of child abandonment, they raised Louis up until the age of five before they left for good.
Even then, in those five years, Louis lived a miserable life.
Being fed leftovers that you wouldn't even give to stray animals, told to sleep outside the house in a cage, beaten up whenever they felt like it- the list of crimes continued on and on.
Their neighbors must've noticed the clear signs of child abuse, but none of them reported it to the authorities. None of them stepped up to protect the child because they equally didn't want him there.
When the Fraser couple left the town not bringing their child with them, everybody heaved a sigh of relief. With that, their ears wouldn't have to hear Louis' pained cries anymore.
That child wouldn't be able to survive by himself, they thought.
Finally, that child would be gone for good.
Some even criticized the Fraser couple for taking so long to make this decision. Louis was hated that much.
____
Louis retreated to the mountains enshrouding the upper regions of the town two days after being abandoned. People came to raid his house and chase him out, wanting him to die for good.
Although this would also be considered a crime punishable by law, no one bothered to care about that since it was Louis.
Since it was Louis, anything you did to him was justified.
Since it was Louis.
Thankfully, Louis had a good head. His innate ability to adapt to his surroundings was quite high.
At first, he struggled with everything. Getting food, finding a place to sleep, fending off wild beasts, and so on.
Thankfully, the mountain he resided in was not that hostile. Ferocious beasts couldn't be found there, so as long as Louis was careful enough, he could live on.
Within a few months, he had single-handedly increased his quality of life to the point where he wished he had done this earlier.
Leaving his parents instead of the opposite would be quite satisfying.
Adjusting to the mountain areas and getting familiar with the wildlife there, he was now able to sustain himself.
He was able to survive, even as a small child. It was an admirable feat.
Although there were several times he suffered serious illnesses due to food poisoning and such, none of them was enough to kill him. He gritted his teeth, got back on his feet, and continued forth.
Before long, days turned into months, months into years, and eventually, Louis celebrated what he thought was his eighteenth birthday.
Yes, he didn't know his exact birth date, nor did he have a calendar to pinpoint it in the first place, but what he had was a rough estimation of years.
With the four seasons coming and passing thirteen times, it was safe to say that thirteen years had passed.
And now, he was eighteen.
He made a makeshift candle using a thin wood branch coated by leaves. Lighting it up, he looked at it for a few seconds before putting it out without making a wish.
The skies were filled with fireworks.
Because he didn't know when to celebrate his birthday, he decided on the new years' just because he could see this spectacle unfolding before him every single time.
He treated it like a birthday gift. The skies were illuminated with all of these sparkly explosives.
Enjoying the view, he sighed as he feasted on the roasted boar he had caught earlier.
The mountain life was actually quite joyous for him.
Even though he had no human contact, he was still able to feast because of his hunting skills. He even had a pet rabbit who he forcefully captured and sometimes played with.
He had no problems continuing this kind of life forever.
However, what he didn't know was that the gears of fate already began turning without him knowing about it. The start of a new beginning.
"Hm?" While intently watching the firework display, he noticed one strange light carving the skies in high speed.
"That's.. not a firework, right?" Louis squinted to look at the falling shiny object that was getting closer and closer to him in a worrying speed.
It looked like a shooting star, but instead of being far away, it was absurdly near to him.
"Wait, is it actually coming here?! What the-"
It didn't seem like good news.
Louis got up from his seat and began running away. He had a bad feeling about this. Out of all the places, why would the object fall on his mountain?!
"Wait, is it actually following me?!" Louis ran even faster.
The object was as agile as a lithe animal. It swerved through the thick trees and caught up to wherever Louis ran to.
His heartbeat escalated madly as he tried his hardest to run away before making a fatal mistake: tripping over a branch.
"Shit.." He winced in pain after falling down.
He glanced at the object that was still passionately heading towards him in disbelief before closing his eyes and accepting his fate.
Bam!
A loud noise ensued, following by a yelp of pain from poor Louis.
The fallen object turned out to be a sword. One that glimmered with a faint blue light.
