VL) Chapter 1 Part 5 (Patreon)

“I see… I will have to look into it. I will be sure the people there do not end up living the way you had to.” Nina’s eyes were back to looking at me with pity which made me once more want to punch her.

“You can do as you please. Not that it will change much. You people on the higher tiers have created a world where crime pays. Just the other day, I saw a grown man steal trash bags from little kids. Hell, I thought about it a few times, too. Survival of the fittest, I think that is what the old books called it.” I never did end up stealing from little kids but that was how things worked sometimes. Those who could not defend what they got were starved to death. I saw quite a few people being tossed out of the barrier. I bet the world outside is littered with dead bodies.

“Anyway, so umm… this whole system thing. What is it exactly? I only know I can think of a skill it will activate.” I did not care much about this woman’s money troubles. I only cared about what I was going to be doing from now on.

“Well... where to begin? Let me start off by repeating myself. We have been fighting the viruses that have appeared since the fall. They come through tears in the boundary where the fairies live. What their purposes are, we do not know. We only know that the fairies appear, give a person a system, and that person is able to grow in what is called levels and rise their strength to gain new skills.

“You will learn more about this in the Royal Academy.” Nina just dropped some kind of bomb on me. What the hell was this Royal Academy crap?

“Umm… You want me to go to school?” I couldn’t help but question my own ears. I had never even been to school. Through the books I found, I taught myself how to read and write, do math, and some history. It was not easy, but besides that, I am a bit on the stupid side… I know how to survive, and that is about it.

“Yes. Do not worry about anything. I will be giving you a crash course before you go to school. It’s a school for players so most of the classes are only on this subject. You will learn how to properly use your system, how to fight, and how to deal with certain situations. Viruses are humanity’s biggest threat so there is a lot to go over. Most of which will be hard to go over with out the right facilities. I will be helping you with the basics such as math, history of humanity, and other classes most get schooled on in from a young age. I am not sure how much you know, so we will need to see. We have a month before the academy opens. But do not worry, everyone at this academy is at least sixteen and older.” Nina was making it sound grand, but I couldn’t help but feel a little pressured. I mean, I was going to have to deal with these higher-tiered bastards who would probably look down on me.

I may be on the stupid side but I am not so stupid to not know how tier two and three humans see me. Case in point the fact that they some how knew I was given a system, knocked me out, and were planning to use me as some kind of live stock. Not my cup of tea to be honest. “Um… If I do not go to this academy does that mean no food?”

“Huh?” Nina looked at me in confusion before saying: “If you go to the academy, you will get even better food.”

“Oh?” My eyes lit up slightly. “Like how much better?” I asked. Okay, so I might be easily bought, but food is… life’s elixir. But now that I think about it, it’s a good thing that the people of tier one did not have much food, so using it to bribe people was impossible, not to mention they would not have real food anyway.

“It’s like a hundred times better,” Nina replied with a smile. That smile that said, I know how to reign you in. This made me purse my lips. I am still wondering if I should hit her or not.

“Then I will go…” I replied giving in. I had no choice. If the food is hundreds of times better I had no choice but to go.

“Good! You will be joining with my daughter, Elara. You will be meeting her soon.” Nina dropped another bomb. I thought I was going to get a new place all to myself.

I guess, seeing my confusion, Nina added: “Until you are registered and ready to go out on your own, you will be staying with me. Don’t worry; you will still get everything I stated before. But I will be paying your salary out of pocket until then, just minus the apartment until you have finished at the academy. I know coming from tier one will be hard since many people will look down on you, but I promise with me around and my daughter as backup, no one will dare do anything too extreme. We can’t stop everything, but we can at least keep people from trying to cause you harm.”

“I see… that’s fine.” I really can’t say anything when she puts it like that. I was not losing out and basically gaining more than anything else. But I do wonder when I will be able to eat real food. I haven’t eaten since the other day. My stomach is really starting to hurt. At the same time though I am a little worried. What if real food doesn’t sit well with me and I get another stomach ache? Well… I guess it will be worth it.

“Oh right. I never did get your name. I told you mine but I never got to hear yours.” Nina looked at me with a questioning gaze. I just tilted my head for a second while I thought about it before answering: “Alicia Mason”