1 Chapter 1 - What is life?

Jin opened his eyes to the sound of the large bell of the Kristos Basilica that resounded louder and louder, reverberating through the whole kingdom.

The bells kept ringing louder and louder, forcing Jin to stand up from his bed along with several of his comrades, all groaning in sheer discomfort due to the disturbing sound they had to endure each morning.

All of them were to start their duties as early as possible. They were to be awake as early as possible, as their work required it, whether they were to be appointed on missions or not.

No, they weren't the official military officials and soldiers of the kingdom, but special operatives tasked with crucial missions, mainly underground and covert, mostly to swiftly tackle matters too precise or classified for the official military to handle efficiently.

The underground covert operative organization was known as the Sukunaku, consisting of well-trained fighters and assassins who were forcefully abducted from rural communities by people who had a knack for sensing those with a deep level of darkness in them.

This parameter would somehow most accurately determine their potential for handling the heavy responsibilities of being an operative.

Most parents didn't resist once their children were abducted, as some of them saw it as an honor, but others simply saw it as a ticket to living a comfortable life, as families of operatives were given periodic supplies from the government as well as life insurance should their loved one die during an operation.

But that was assuming the person would survive the preliminary processes.

After the process of forceful recruitment, the children were transported to underground chambers where they were purposely underfed, malnourished, and abused as part of a brainwashing process that gave recruits a harder perspective on life and death.

The young children were forced into tournaments where they would have to kill their opponents for the grand prize of three square meals guaranteed for only a month, and to the children, that compared to the daily tokens they were receiving in the name of a meal was a very good deal.

These tournaments occurred quite frequently, so frequently that many theorized it was simply a way of reducing the population of potential operatives to a substantial minimum.

It was "survival of the fittest" orchestrated at its finest.

Just after that, the survivors of these several tournaments would then be sent to the wild forests just outside the Kingdom. The forests were riddled with fearsome legendary beasts and monsters, deadly natural occurrences, and dangerous foreigners and spies from the dreaded Empire.

These woods seemed to be built for killing people and were not the ideal place for teenagers to wander. The children would have to walk through the forest to the great canyon and climb through it to get to the other side.

The canyon was hundreds of feet deep and multiple times as wide, riddled with poisonous insects and plants, and filled with clouds of dust, making it difficult to navigate.

The operatives were expected to climb through poisonous twigs while fighting or evading poisonous insects through an almost endless sandstorm clouded with dust, and somehow make it through to the other side as survivors.

This was perhaps the biggest factor that drastically reduced the number of potential operatives to the number desired by the Sukunaku.

Then the survivors are taken in by officials on the other side for immediate recuperation and treatment, right before the official initiation ceremony that declares them full-fledged operatives of the organization.

Jin Hatake was one of the fifty final survivors of this gruesome process that granted the honor of being a full-fledged operative of The Sukunaku. Though to him, he was lucky even though the process was of course far from easy.

Like almost every recruit abducted from their families at a quite tender age into this kind of life, he had adjusted quite well to it and a few times even enjoyed it.

All the trials he had faced along with his comrades had given him a sense of pride and self-worth in a way, but he felt like he didn't have to experience the extreme pain he went through in his early teen years as a potential operative.

At times, the Sukunaku felt like something had taken everything from him. He had vague memories of his normal childhood before his abduction, and the fact that they were vague was what made him feel that way, as he felt like it wasn't forgotten but taken away.

These vague memories felt precious to him, for an unknown reason, or perhaps forgotten thanks to the harsh practices of the Sukunaku.

Whenever he asked about his family, he was simply told that the Sukunaku were his family, and if he pressed further, all he would get was a mild assurance that his old family was okay, as their needs were either supplied or subsidised by the government.

At times he would question his thought processes during missions, as he felt he was simply trained and equipped to think that way, and wonder what his philosophies would be like without the Sukunaku in his life.

The Sukunaku had become his home, with brothers and sisters that deeply mattered to him, especially his closest companions, whom he would give his life for if necessary.

All the hurdles he had overcome gave him a sense of pride and self-worth in a way, and he couldn't imagine life without it.

All these thoughts and memories swam across his mind as he sat in the large bathtub, staring at the slowly brightening sky filled with fading stars preparing themselves for sunrise.

It was the public bathroom reserved for male operatives, so some other operatives were present as well, cleaning themselves, but Jin was simply oblivious to their presence.

This was what happened pretty much every morning in the bathroom—he got so spaced out and lost in thought that existential questions plagued his mind.

Life as an operative was pretty much all he knew, and all he had apart from that were vague yet precious memories he couldn't put a finger on.

He wished to remember, know, and experience life without his obligations to the organization—the same organization he hated for taking those precious memories from him but respected as it granted him honor several could only hope for and gave him a glimpse of life with purpose.

"Heads up!" called out a familiar voice from behind as a familiar figure approached the tub, diving into the large water body like a canon ball.

The sudden shock from the impact brought him back to reality, albeit in an undesirable way, and it was exactly whom he thought it would be—his best friend and companion,

Ken Kazuo.

The bathtub seemed to be the only place where Ken was a lively person, but that didn't mean he was pleased with this.

"Ken, what the hell?" yelled Jin.

"Look who's asking?" He replied, "I should be asking you that question, Jin," he said, playfully jabbing his shoulder.

"You do this almost all the time," complained Ken as he swam to where he was, after giving high fives to other operatives that seemed impressed by his show of athleticism.

"I do what?" asked Jin.

"You space out whenever you're on your own, even in the midst of people, and it bugs me." "What is up with you?"

Jin took a deep breath as he combed his fingers through his hair.

"Nothing important, Ken," he simply replied, looking away from him into the large window, now looking a tad tighter thanks to the upcoming sunrise.

"Come on, Jin." "I know you," he called out, looking him in the eyes in such an intense way that made Jin turn away.

Ken understood what was going on and simply went from facing him to resting right beside him in the warm water. They both stared at the dark blue sky silently before Ken finally spoke up again.

"The world is a crazy place, isn't it?" "You see, while the Sukunaku as a place seems to have taken a lot from you and denied you the life you feel you desire, I would beg to differ."

"Why would you do that if you believe that's true?" asked Jin.

"Because if the history books have taught us anything, it would be the fragile and contradictory nature of the human heart." A poor person wishes for most of the things a rich person can afford, while a rich person wishes for power that cannot be attained, such as eternal life and infinite power. "The heart pushes us into chasing after goals that would lead to more goals after brief periods of fading satisfaction that ultimately never lead to freedom," replied Ken.

"Okay, so what are you implying?" asked Jin, as he hadn't gotten the point of Ken's speech, so he continued,

"Most people do not achieve much and choose to settle for less, but are treated by society as mediocre, cynical, and insignificant."

Living an average life is gradually becoming a dishonorable way of living, which is why every boy strives to become a knight of noble status and why most women work on themselves just to look presentable to noblemen in the hopes of being selected as their wives.

"The secular world cannot even define life in basic terms, let alone complex ones, as it pursues fame and glory while ignoring the elementary features that give it meaning."

Jin arched a brow in scepticism,

"Did you come up with that speech?"

"I guess so, why?" asked Ken, curious.

"Never mind, so I guess that is why you love being an operative?"

Ken nodded his head, giving the simple answer,

"Yes".

[Author's Note: I'm sorry the first chapter feels a lot like an info dump, but I chose this approach for the introduction, as incorporating it into the story felt very forced and unnatural. Please bear with me on this; from the next chapter on, the story will focus more on the characters and their motivations. [Thank you for giving this book a try by reading this far; I hope you enjoy it!]