06. The Cube

The Cube.

The only government-recognized, approved and funded facility responsible for training several generations of Hunters.

The Cube had a strong backing since it was like a child that was nurtured by the United Government and has produced several Hunters since its inception.

I didn't get to know much about this place in my past life as I had just breezed through my Hunters' Program without putting much thought into it.

Truth is, I didn't remotely like anything that was similar to a school and so I couldn't wait to graduate from the Cube back then. 

Thus, I didn't really care what happened to me as long as I kept my grades above average or at the pass score at best and I could graduate.

…Mayhaps, that was a mistake in itself even.

Now that I know so much, I can say that the way my life had turned out then was owed to the Cube, to an extent.

Had I not come here, then I wouldn't have run into that bastard.

Had I not revealed my Skill here, then Terrence wouldn't have suddenly developed even an ounce of interest in my person.

An intense feeling of sentimentality and familiarity washed over me as I looked at the place, my eyes pacing with a side-to-side motion as I stared at the many different yet familiar structures, fields, hallways, rooms et cetera.

The Cube was simply ginormous.

There were several hundred young people like myself who had been brought into the Cube this morning as part of the New Recruit Program, N.R.P for short.

The N.R.P usually took two batches of students in a year, the second batch usually lesser and comprising people who weren't considered but eventually showed even the slightest of skill and potential to be given a chance to fight against odds that were not in their favour from the beginning.

There were only two ways of gaining entrance into the N.R.P. 

It was either by recommendation or by actually gaining admission and paying the school fees. 

If one came through the former like I and Cassandra had done, they would simply study under the scholarship program.

We walked into a large hall led by three Instructors of the Cube like flocks of sheep moving mindlessly behind their shepherds and yet trusting the shepherds' lead.

This hall was square-shaped and generously spacious with metallic walls surrounding its four corners.

"It's so hot in here," said a red-headed boy who was just a few steps in front of me as he struggled to loosen the buttons of his shirt collars.

Tiny beads of sweat started to gather on my forehead as well and when I looked around for a bit, I noticed that it had not just been me alone.

Pretty much everyone was feeling the heat inside the hall.

In my heart and mind, I asked the same question I asked in my previous life and never got an answer to.

'Why the fuck are the walls made of metal?'

The sun was scorching down on the outside world and now we were trapped inside this hall. If my memory served me right and everything happened as I remembered them, we would be here for about three hours.

Three freaking hours, eek! Three hours of boiling inside this place!

I might as well melt.

"It's so hot in here," Cassandra complained as she wiped her forearm across her face.

Agony and distress was evident in her eyes. 

She was not comfortable with the heat at all. 

With how profusely her sweat pores were pouring oceans of sweat from her face, she was having it worse than all of us.

As I watched her, my eyes slightly dilated with shock from realising something that I had known.

I had a light-bulb moment and smiled.

Cassandra and I will awaken our skills soon and as I saw how uncomfortable she was with the heat, it all made sense.

It had to do with the Skill she would soon have.

Tsk, tsk. Very interesting!

Elated at this knowledge of mine, I unknowingly chuckled, causing her to threaten me with a wicked glare since she falsely assumed that I was laughing at her.

"What's so funny, Lux?" she snapped at me while using her hands to fan herself.

I chuckled a second time and shook my head. "Oh, it's nothing. Don't sweat it."

"Luxane!!" she went rabid at my unintentional pun of words.

I immediately turned frontward and pointed in that same direction. "The Instructors are about to speak to us, Cassie."

Thanks to that, the conversation died out and I escaped the awkwardness, and possible smacking, that would have followed had we prolonged the talk.

The oldest Instructor of the three stepped forward and cleared his throat loudly.

…Instructor German Barns.

German Barns was the strongest Hunter in the room currently. 

At this time I believe he was at the Peak of the Copper Stage of Essence Cultivation.

That alone already placed him above the average hunter. 

His well-built physique was more than enough to enforce order and demand attention to his person even before he spoke.

German scratched his grey beard lightly and cleared his throat again, his eyes ransacking the entire hall before had finally spoken a word.

"Welcome, young hunters," he said, his voice easily reaching those of us who were at the back of the crowd. 

"Welcome to the Cube, where the journey of heroism begins."

His voice was deep and motivating, causing little flame sparkles of passion to kindle inside the bellies of the young people that surrounded me.

Well, it was not surprising. German Barns was, after all, a leader and to be able to sway people was only one of the gifts he had to possess.

Little did these young ones know how dangerous the life of a hunter was. 

A hunter might be undoubtedly stronger and richer than a normal human being but a hunter's lifespan was lesser than theirs. 

This was simply because of the kind of life that hunters led. 

It was a life full of adventures, dangerous quests, riches, betrayals and many more.