Chapter 2

Two years passed as quickly as the fleeting life of a fly. Many things happened, some bad, some good.

After spending some time with Damon, I quickly learned that he's not that bad. He's kind, gentle, and quite honestly, a big softy. The way he talks and acts is just creepy, but he's a good man.

He built this orphanage after his wife left him because he was infertile, so he couldn't have a child with her. He treats every child in the orphanage like they are his son and daughters. He fed me milk on a bottle on his own every day in every time I needed sustenance. He would let me eat some baby food that's made by the shop nearby, and he said that It's quite expensive but he would do anything to let me grow up into a good person.

I was the black sheep of the orphanage, never really communicating with the children here because I was too busy reading children's books to grow my knowledge. From time to time, the tutorial bot would help me understand some things and when he gets too annoyed at me, he'll just go away for a few days.

The other children never really bothered me because Damon said so. They respect him a lot since he is their father-figure.

I came to learn of this world's history when I asked Damon for this world's history, but since I was a little gremlin for knowledge, he gave me the book of the entire history of this world. I haven't even finished it yet since the day he gave me the book, 3 weeks ago. It's the thickest book I have ever seen, easily taller and larger than me.

There are four large continents in the world, they were named based on their respective national strengths. The Bronze Continent, Silver Continent, Golden Continent, and the Platinum Continent.

The Bronze Continent is where I am currently, on the far side of the countryside. It's not that poor, but not that rich either. Though, it's barely holding its economy due to the selfish people in this land.

The people of the Bronze Continent had become individualistic, never trusting other people. From time to time, they would build civilizations like villages, towns, cities, and kingdoms. But there is no trading system here, unlike the other continents. The Bronze Continent has 2 countries that have been divided for some time, around five centuries ago due to some conflict.

The two sides have been at war since the time they were divided because they have different ideals. The side that I'm on is the Albion Empire, and the opposing side is the Sunlight Empire.

The Albion Empire's ideology is "let's conquer stuff and kill anyone that gets in our way". They basically want to rule the world but the Sunlight Empire is stopping them due to the consequences that will happen; getting gangbanged by the other three continents. Anyway, enough jokes. The Sunlight Empire's ideology is that all beings must be respected and that they must stay as pacifists. The two empires are equal based on their military strength and agriculture.

And now comes the exciting stuff; the magical abilities that most soldiers have.

Anyone, with enough talent, can become amazing people, but that's not the same in the military. You need a certain amount of mana, the life force of any beings in the world, inside your body to be qualified to become a soldier. Once you become a soldier for the military you will gain enough money to support 5 families a year with your monthly pay from the military.

I wanted to become a soldier since they sound so amazing, but Damon denied that because he said that the life of a soldier is a tough one. Damon knows this because he was once a soldier, too. I was shocked to know that at the time. That's why the tutorial bot told me he was stronger than the average person, he used to be a soldier.

Anyway, I didn't learn the irrelevant things, like learning a person's history. I just wanted to know the world a bit so I could be prepared for the future.

(Scene Change)

"C'mon, pass me the ball!"

"No, I don't want to! Bleeeh!"

"I'll use my super-duper power beam on you that I learned from the storytime yesterday!"

"Hehehe, I also learned the super-duper power beam last night! You stand no chance against me!"

"Nani!?" (Note: Just a joke, you don't have to take it seriously)

I sighed, closing the book I was reading. The children here are loud and too annoying. I just want my very own private room and be able to read all the books I want every moment I could.

I sat at the dinner table with many of my fellow orphans. I had already finished my food and was waiting for the older children to finish eating so that they could take my plate and clean it.

The older children in the orphanage take care of the cleaning, and everything related to that word. The younger children just mostly play around and stuff. I want to help the older children; it's just that Damon forbade me to because I'm still too young. He said that there are knives and other dangerously sharp objects in the kitchen, where they wash the dishes, And I could also slip and fall when I try using the mop.

I know he's just exaggerating them so that I won't do any of the cleaning parts, but he has the best intention for me in his heart, so I didn't pay it any more attention. I just fascinated myself with the world created by the books I read.

Books are like art paintings. They are created to breathe life in a world unlike ours.  Books, in my opinion, are the best creation of mankind.

I left the dining hall and quickly went into our shared bedroom, where 5 other kids sleep with me every night. I mostly spend the rest of the day in this room, except when Damon calls me to eat or do other things, like bathing.

The bedroom has six cabinets, each with our name tag on them. Two mattresses were attached at the corner of the room so that we could all sleep together and develop bonds. The mattresses were covered with sky blue sheets with pillows at the top end, then some thick blankets for each of us, so that we wouldn't freeze at night. It's really cold at night in this part of the countryside.

I felt thankful to Damon for doing this for us. He bought thick blankets each for all of us. While this might not be that big of a deal for some, these kinds of blankets are expensive. Incredibly so.

The currency in this world is specially made notes. Like the name of the four continents, the notes are divided into four names also, Bronze Notes, Silver Notes, Golden Notes, and Platinum Notes. 1000 Bronze Notes are 1 Silver Note, 1000 Silver Notes are 1 Golden Note, and 1000 Golden Notes are 1 Platinum Notes.

100 bronze notes can feed an entire family for a month if they spend it right. These blankets cost Damon 5 Silver Notes, imagine the amount of family that could feed for an entire month. Each child in this orphanage has one of these blankets, and there are 40 of us. There are currently 12 children at the age of 2 to 12 in the orphanage, and there 28 children that are at the ages of 13 to 17.

(Note: For convenience sake, I will just use BN=Bronze Note, SN=Silver Note, GN=Golden Note, and Platinum Note=PN)

5*40=200 SN.

That's a lot… a whole freaking lot. Anyone could buy a house with that kind of money, and Damon just spent that for us. While this is kind of a dumb move, he just wants the best for us. I respect him for that, for all of the things he's done for the children here and me. I was wrong for suspecting him to be the bad guy the first time I met him.

As I was thinking while reading my book, a boy, 4 years older than me, entered the room with a bright smile. He has a patch of bright red hair, contrasting to my dim black hair, yellow eyes, tanned skin, and he wore some simple shorts and a white t-shirt. He's quite tall for his age, maybe around 4'7 in height.

"Auguste, do you know where I can find Mr. Damon?" He asked, still full smiles.

His name is Flame, he's the kind of child that would pester you until you do what he asked you to do. He's usually a happy child, dumb but still happy. He's kind of air-headed. He has an older sister named Flare, who's, in contrast to her name, a very cold individual. Both of them are like fire and ice, that's why they are each other's weakness. Melt ice with fire and the water, which was previously the ice, would burn the fire out.

Flare is 16 years old. It was said that her parents abandoned the two of them on the streets when Flame was born. Damon had asked who her parents were but Flare would refuse to answer because of some… circumstance. I don't get her story either, but, generally, I don't care about them.

I turned away from the book I'm reading and smiled, "Damon said that he's going to the marketplace for a bit to buy some ingredients for tonight's supper. He'll be back soon, don't worry."

Flame scratched the back of his head, his smile turning into a frown, and said, "My older sister, she's like hot, super hot."

What.