Registration

Morning approached swiftly, truly time waits for no man. Letting out a few yawns, Roy got up from his bed and stretched his arms sideways. From the looks of it, his roomates were still asleep.

It was 7:30am and the registration period for the entrance exams into the Heroes Odyssey lasted till noon.

"If I'm ever going to make it on time before the deadline, I'm going to have to get there as early as 9." Roy concluded, although there were a few like his friends who had no desires to become heroes, many aspired to become heroes with laughable reasons such as they looked cool.

That left a huge problem for him, now that the registration ended today, it meant the crowd at the academy would be huge.

Wasting no time, he quickly had his bath and brushed his teeth as his personal hygiene as a commoner was mandatory. He slipped into a white t-shirt and cladded himself with a pitch black trousers and boots. He summed it up with a black long-sleeved jacket with it's length long enough to reach his ankle.

"Alright, I'll have breakfast when I get back." He thought, still feeling filled up with the two plate of chicken wings he had the previous night.

He headed straight for the entrance to the orphanage.

"And where do you think you're going this early in the morning?" His hand relaxed on the door knob as big mom's voice caught him completely off guard.

Big mom was unable to sleep well the previous night realizing her biggest fears were actualizing. The children she so loved and cared for were once again becoming victims of this endless bloodshed.

"There's something I have to do." Roy said plainly, avoiding the need to waste anymore time.

"What's going on with you Roy? These past few months you've been acting strangely and it's starting to scare me, now I find out you were involved in the battle between those heroes and villains. Please tell me what's going on." Big mom pleaded, heavily concerned for his safety and mental well-being.

Unknown to big mom and the rest of the kids in the orphanage, Roy observed the carnage brought about by the endless fighting in the kingdom, carnage especially in the commoners neighborhood that could have been prevented under the assumption the nobles and royals actually cared about them.

All these months observing, he finally snapped after watching the young boy he tried saving die right in front of him. At that moment, his life took a drastic turn.

Roy approached big mom, being 6 foot tall at his age, he was bigger than her. He placed his right hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her and smiled.

"You don't need to worry about anything, you want to know what's going on? Yes I was caught up in their fight, but I was only trying to save a young boy from being separated from his parents." He said, partially telling her the truth.

"Well did you? Did you save the boy?" She asked curiously.

Roy remained silent, his eyes dimming in regret. It became obvious that he was unable to save the boy. "No, I couldn't save him." He responded, lifting his hand from her shoulder and walking towards the entrance.

"Oh my God." Big mom proclaimed, placing her two hands over her mouth as she sobbed softly, realizing that it could have been him. Although, she had no knowledge that he actually died trying to save him.

"But that's where it ends." With a fiery determination in his eyes, he opened the door but before he could walk out, big mom pulled a big stunt.

"I want you to promise me Roy." She blurted out immediately.

"Huh? Promise you what?" Roy said, not liking where this was going.

"Promise me that you won't ever involve yourself in anything concerning those nobles and royals." Most villains originated from the noble section of the kingdom, Roy was the only commoner who had awakened a Soul-Core so far.

"I can't lose any of you just as I lost my son, promise me Roy." She said firmly, determined not to let him leave till he grants her wish.

Roy sighed softly, this was definitely a plan changer. "I promise." He said, crossing his fingers behind his back before leaving the orphanage.

As he left the streets and headed towards the Heroes Odyssey, he squeezed his two fists tightly, recalling all the events that had transpired during his observations.

"I'm sorry big mom." He said, now recalling all the events that led to this very moment. "But in order to protect you all, and save humanity from this cycle of bloodshed, this is one promise I have to break."

The Heroes Odyssey was quite far from where the orphanage was situated. The location of the Orphanage was at the edge of the kingdom, namely the Nikuru district. A small town flooded with peasants as the royals would put it.

The orphanage had it's ups and downs, Roy had no money for transport due to conservation reasons so as a result, he had to go there on foot. It took him an hour and thirty minutes just to reach Azarock and an extra thirty minutes to reach the Heroes Odyssey.

"Whew, finally." He declared, his legs completely exhausted from all that walking he just went through.

"Whoa." He was taken aback by the magnificent structure that was the Heroes Odyssey.The grand entrance is marked by a sweeping staircase, flanked by marble statues of legendary figures. Ivy creeps up the walls, intertwining with ornate wrought-iron balconies. A large fountain sits in the courtyard, its waters sparkling under the sun, surrounded by vibrant flowerbeds meticulously arranged in geometric patterns. The symbol of the academy [HO] was erected by gold at the top center of the building.

It was 9:25am currently and as he anticipated, the crowd was much. However, he managed to push through and fought through the crowd at the entrance of the academy.

"Finally I made it." He said panting softly right in front of the registration center. Two ladies stood behind a nicely furnished gold desk which was shielded by a huge golden umbrella to protect them from the sunlight.

"My name is Roy Hiroto and I'd like to apply for the entrance exams." He proclaimed.