PROLOGUE

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“The public is wonderfully tolerant. It forgives everything except genius.”

-Oscar Wilde

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An oddity, this girl. Who wears glasses and carries books these days? Technology has advanced, laser treatment is cheap. No one uses books anymore. Her eyes look straight ahead as she walk, not looking anywhere in particular. As she passed by, she became the topic of everyone's conversations.

"Here she comes."

"That genius? She's pretty."

"Don't even think about it, she's way out of our league. A girl like her would not have time for people like us."

"Hey, a man can at least dream. But you're right I suppose.."

The girl they mentioned is Sarah Brant, a role-model student. Fair skinned, long black hair tied up in a neat bun and wearing glasses, she has the aura of a librarian. She holds her books close to her chest, as if she were hugging a beloved teddy bear, presumably heading to class.

It was last year that she was labeled genius. Sarah, who is always quiet, never asked any questions in class. Yet her score for the examination was the highest in the university's history. She got full possible mark in every paper. The lecturers were baffled, since she was never seen to actively participate in class. The whole student body was in an uproar, as the difference between the first and second place is huge. Some accused her of cheating.

Over time, people started to pay more attention to her. Lecturers started asking her lots of questions during class, to which she answers them all perfectly. Skeptics who thought she was cheating were silenced. Since then, the name Sarah Brant is synonym to genius.

"She's lucky to be born a genius. We normal people have to struggle just to pass the exam."

"Yeah, and since that game came out, my hope of graduating seems to be getting smaller."

"Tell me about it. I haven't study at home all week."

The game they mentioned was Royal Road. A VRMMORPG, Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, which was released around 4 months ago. The number of players increased in an astounding rate as the popularity rises. Even though it is released less than half a year ago, there is no one who has not heard of the game. The game even has its own separate TV channel, magazines.

The girl heard their conversation but did nothing. Despite her appearance, she is rather timid. Unless asked first, she rarely speaks at all. There is a hint of sadness and loneliness in her eyes, one that no one noticed. Not even herself.

******

It’s a fine morning in the training hall.

Line upon lines of straw dummies and stacks of wooden swords is the trademark of the training hall. Many beginners came here to test out their skills, and train themselves to prepare for the world ahead of them. Simply put, it is a place of high importance for aspiring warriors and adventurers. Of course, the one overseeing such an important place must be a seasoned veteran with lots of experiences under their belt.

For this particular training hall, the one in charge is Instructor Graham. He is a former knight of the Kingdom of Haven, and once commanded an army thousand man strong in a skirmish against orcs invasion. He rescued princesses, slain a beast 10 time his size using his bare hands, many stories of his achievements resounded throughout the kingdom. Thirty three years in service, he finally retired after losing his right leg in an ambush. Having seen and experienced many things in his life, he thought that life as an instructor of a training hall will be dull.

He thought.

This particular morning, he was proven wrong. Something intriguing is happening in his training hall. A beginner, based on her clothing, was already hitting the straw dummies when he arrived. What makes this scenario peculiar in the instructor's eyes was not the fact that she is hitting the straw dummy violently, nor was it because she arrived earlier than he did.

It was because she was mumbling things every time she hits the dummy.

Curious, Instructor Graham approaches silently from behind to hear what she was mumbling about. Having a wooden peg where the left foot supposed to be and a walking stick for support, it would appear impossible to walk without making any noise. However, it was not the case for Instructor Graham, as he skillfully shifts his center of gravity to remove any noise during walking. While it may be hard on his old body, it is far from impossible.

*Whack!!

*Whack!!

*Whack!!

"What do they know??!"

She grunts with each blow to the dummy. Her technique was quite contrary to her appearance. Her sword handling is rough. Graham thought to himself, that she handles the sword like the way a warrior handles a mace. Both weapons utilize swinging in attack, but with different purpose altogether. This girl, the way she hits the dummy is as if she wanted to crush the dummy instead of slashing it. Graham decides to observe a bit longer.

*Whack!!

*Whack!!

"Those people just blame others for their own incompetence!!"

*Whack!!

*WHACK!!

"They didn't even bother to get to know me at all!!"

*WHACK!!

*WHACK!!

It seems like she is using the dummy for stress relief. Not very uncommon though, some people do use the training hall to pent out their anger. Having his curiosity satisfied, Instructor Graham Simply walk away with his walking stick. Since he does not intend to sneak this time, his wooden leg and his walking stick made noises on the wooden floor as he walked away.

*Thunk*

*REPLACE wood on wood action sound effect here* (No pun intended, what were you thinking?)

The girl turns 180 degrees, realizing she was eavesdropped. Her long golden hair, fashioned as a ponytail flew beautifully as her head turns. A trail of sweat follows the path her hair traveled. Her face was red, probably embarrassed. Her body froze as she inspects the source of the noise. The hilt of her wooden sword clenched tightly.

Her complexion returns to normal as she saw Graham's face. A sigh of relief was heard, and ignored. She turns herself back facing the dummy and continues to hit it again, this time more graceful and in silence. Her pace slowed, but the power in her blows does not.

Everyone have their own problems, thought Graham. It is not his place to intrude. However, he felt bad sneaking up on her. It was rather rude of him, and he intends to make up for it. He unpacks his bag and brought out a flask, cups, breads and a jar of honey. Clearing his throat, he spoke out.

"Would you like to join me for breakfast?"

The girl halts her sword mid swing, followed by a quick scan of the training hall. There are only two people in the place currently. She smiled and nodded. The girl put down the wooden sword gently, wiped her sweat in an orderly manner, dusted off her clothing before finally heading towards the other person. She sat facing the instructor, gave a small bow and said thanks.

The instructor introduced himself, as courtesy dictates. He might be retired, but he is still a knight at heart.

"I am the instructor of this training hall. People address me simply as Instructor Graham. I apologize for sneaking up on you, I was simply curious."

The girl just smiled in response.

“Sera.”

She paused.

“My name here is Sera.”

The table was filled with silence as both of them began spreading honey on their bread. Instructor Graham pours out tea and served it to Sera. Even though Graham was known as a man of few words, this silence was quite uncomfortable for him. He simply thought that Sera were still mad at him for sneaking up on her.

After a while, Sera broke the silence.

"I forgive you, but please do not tell anyone."

Graham pauses for a while before responding.

"Do not worry, I will not."

It was a breakfast in silence. No more words were uttered. Just as they finish their meals, a group of people entered the training hall. Sera stood and with a small bow, her lips parted.

"Thank You."

With that, she left.

Graham, still in his seat, was confused.

'Women. There is no way you can understand them, no matter how much knowledge or experience you have in your life.' He thought.

'That bread was supposed to be my lunch..'

******

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Quote:All hail the Chicken Overlord!

Credits to Nobody8 and blueshadows13 for proofreading this prologue. If there is still some mistake, then it's my fault. Flame me if you want, chickens are delicious when roasted.

Also thanks to the people in chat, for giving opinion and feed backs. May the Chicken Goddess blessings guide you true.