Elixir of Awakening (1)

Chapter 7 – Elixir of Awakening (1)

Ring~ Ring~!!

Already?

It was morning already?

6:30 a.m. to be precise.

Ring~ Ring~!!

I heard the call of my alarm clock quite clearly but I still chose to wallow in denial of what it meant. I munched on an empty mouth and cleaned saliva from my lips.

I turned from different positions into new ones on the bed until the alarm clock repeated its blaring five minutes later.

"Fine!!" I yelled into my pillow.

Slam~

Gringgg~

The alarm stopped immediately with a slap to its head.

Finally, some peace.

I turned around and looked at the ceiling, breathing noisily as I considered whether I should turn up for today's class or not.

It was not a choice that I had the power to make but I still had to try and see if I could.

Classes were mandatory unless in special cases like sickness etc, and this meant that I had to go for one this morning..

I turned to my right side and there he was—Bright Holden—sleeping soundly like a baby without any problems in his life.

Well, that drift into paradise was about to be cut short by me. After all, he was the reason I couldn't sleep well during the early hours of this morning, thanks to his noisy behaviour.

I got up from my slumber and of course, I put Bright in a similar situation as he awakened from his sleep likewise.

In a couple of minutes, I was done and I headed out, leaving Bright to lock up after he left.

Similar to yesterday's arrangement, we were expected to gather within the same hall again for what German Barns was going to do today.

Today was important, too important for any recruit to miss it for any reason.

In my past life, a handful of recruits did miss out today and trust me when I say that they continued to lag behind even after we had graduated.

Today was the day that Instructor German would give us a catalyst to help us awaken. The so-called Elixir of Awakening, a simple name that gave all the information one needed about the potion.

The Elixir of Awakening was no ordinary potion or substance. It was special and for us to be gifted with it, it was indeed a privilege.

Ranked as a Gold Grade Item, the Elixir was developed after years of study of Dungeons and Monsters as well as the very energy that had mixed with our modern world—Essence.

Simply put, the Elixir was a soldier-creating potion sort of. The chance of awakening a normal person was about 75%. Even if everyone wouldn't be awakened by it, there was still a high effective percentage.

The production and effectiveness of the Elixir was a massive success and remained one of humanity's greatest discoveries since the emergence of the Dungeons.

Today, every one of us will receive the Elixir of Awakening but not all of us will awaken within the expected time. After the 5-day time limit expired, those who remained normal despite consuming the Elixir were sent out of the Cube.

Chances were that they would never awaken again.

Luckily for me, I didn't have that to bother about since I awakened on the first day of taking the Elixir.

Taking a moderate length of walk from the dorm to the hall in the companion of my thoughts and memories, I reached the place and showed my cube in card form to the Instructors that stood at the entrance.

Glancing at my name, they cross-checked my information on their tablet to ensure that they matched before letting me in.

"Lucas Enstar," said one of them as he scrolled over the screen of the gadget.

Hearing my name called like that caused me to feel a sting in my heart. Of course, the Cube knew everything about my background as far back as my days in the orphanage—the Children of Enstar.

It was expected that they would register me as 'Lucas Enstar' and not Luke, since the former easily met the requirement of a first name and a family name.

I felt that sting in my chest because I had dropped that family name. I had denounced any—and everything that had to do with the Enstar Family.

My history as a Child of Enstar, or a Hornet, was something I did not want to remember anymore. It was bygone and I intended to keep it that way.

I was finally free of them and I wished to enjoy that freedom to its fullest.

Nonetheless, my wishes didn't matter and I would have to endure some time of bearing that name once again, at least until I graduate from this facility.

Grudgingly, I sighed and then answered. "Yes. That's correct," I said, feeling a retch inside of me as I acknowledged the 'Enstar' name.

"You can go in," he instructed before looking forward. "Next."

Showing my respect and obedience, I gave a slight bow and proceeded inside.

I stepped into the hall with a metallic wall and a tad frigid with the temperature of the place decreasing by the second.

I smiled and looked toward the set stage, my eyes hitting straight at the Hunter with red hair and a bandana around his head.

He was responsible for the coolness of the hall but no one knew this among the recruits except me. How he acted out his natural behaviour made him even more unsuspecting.

Of course, German and the other Hunters on the stage did since they knew his ability.

As more recruits entered, their faces lightened up. They had expected a hot, uncomfortable atmosphere, so meeting a cold one that provided some convenience amid the hot weather was something to smile about.

The Instructors waited until we were inside the hall and it was shut. A brief moment of silence followed and after that, we began to mumble amongst ourselves, wondering what was happening since none of them cared to address us.

"Alright, you brats!" the red-haired Hunter blared us out.

For somehow with the kind of ability that he had, Eric Marvice had an extremely opposite personality to that.

"Listen up, twats!" he rained more insults on us. "I know that German here would be lovey-dovey with you all in my absence yesterday but…tsk, tsk, that's different today. This is the Cube and there's no time to dilly-dally!"

Most of the recruits froze; rooted to the spot with fear and shock at how much energy this Hunter exuded.

Loud gulps of air were very audible around him. Some even placed their hands on their chest and muttered inaudible words to themselves.

"Ahem," Eric cleared his throat and beat his chest. "I am Eric Marvice, your Deputy Head Instructor. Got that twat!"

"Yes!" we chorused.

"It's 'yes, sir' to you fodder!" the Hunter snapped at us.

"Y-Yes, sir!"

While all this happened, my eyes remained on the most important man in the whole—German Barns.

German was in charge of the Elixirs. Only he was given the authority to dispense it and right now, he was clothed in mild disappointment with a tinge of shame from his deputy's extroverted personality.

German lowered his head slightly and massaged his forehead, patiently waiting for when Eric Marvice would be done with the stage so he could come on.

Five minutes passed.

Eric was still firing us with insults until the Head Instructors came to our rescue.

"Alright, thank you very much, Eric," German said out loudly, taking the stand as he walked toward the podium.

In his hand was a small glass bottle, the length of a human finger, with a golden cover and inside this glass bottle was a purple fluid.

Seeing the purple fluid, I cringed. Cold shivers immediately raced down my body as I recalled the horrid taste of that liquid.

I massaged my tongue with the roof of my mouth to numb the autonomic response I triggered with that memory.

I cringed again.

"Hello to you all," German greeted us and we responded likewise.

He raised the glass bottle in his hands, revealing it for all to see.

"Can anyone tell me what this is?" he asked.

The recruits that surrounded me began to look to each other for possible answers or hints, so they could hazard a guess. However, the fact remained that none of them had seen the Elixir of Awakening or knew what the content of the glass bottle was except me.

German's question was one which only I knew the answer to among my mates.

—––

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading up to this point!

Dazzle me with your comments/power stones! Keke.

They really help! ~wink~