Chapter 5: The First Day of a New Life

On a dirt road in the middle of nowhere dust swirled angrily in the wake of a heavy prison transport. There was but a single passenger, but he was guarded by no less than four well-armed and armored police officers.

Scott leaned heavily against the interior of the up-armored prison bus, his eyes closed. The trip had been a long one, but it would soon be over. If anyone were to ask him, he would readily admit that he was nervous about his future prospects.

He had nearly drifted off to sleep when the rapid fire staccato of the roof mounted machine gun thundered through the air. His eyes snapped open, but none of the people transporting him seemed to be concerned. It was a common occurrence, but despite the four times that it had happened before, Scott never adjusted to it during the ride. The gunner had seen a threat and had dealt with it accordingly.

Roughly a half hour later they reached their destination. Scott was unceremoniously made to exit the vehicle. He stood in place for a moment and gazed up at the foreboding edifice that he would call home for the next six months. High above his current location at the foot of the mountain looming overhead, there was a certain temple.

"Don't cause trouble." said the only male officer Scott had met to date. The black haired man looked a bit like a beetle with a mustache due to the large aviator style sunglasses that he wore.

"I'll be good." said Scott sarcastically.

The officer nodded at him then bade a pink haired enforcer to drive back to the city. In truth they were not particularly far from Olde, but Scott was to be on house arrest at the Henrik family estate for the six months that he would be on employment probation. He would only be allowed to leave the grounds if he had a legitimate escort.

Scott took in the sight of the stairs that he had to climb. The temple was quite a good distance away beyond several sets of stairs. Supposedly it was part of some spiritual pilgrimage, but he considered it to be a welcome pain in the ass. Walking up to the temple might have annoyed some people, but it certainly beat being stuck in a prison cell.

No belongings to speak of, Scott began his lengthy journey toward the next phase of his life. He counted well over a hundred steps before he reached the first plateau and had to cross a short grassy plain. He did not bother to count the next set of steps.

It was said that there were over three thousand stair-steps on the journey to the temple. Scott believed it. By the time he arrived, he was ready to be done with stairs for a while.

The temple grounds were beautiful, serene even. There was a small water fall fountain in one part of the yard, a large statue of a woman with a winged helmet holding a sword aloft overhead and what looked an open air gymnasium in the back ground. There were mature cherry trees planted strategically around the area, their blossoms a vibrant shade of pink. In the far right corner there appeared to be a large house behind a stone wall.

"This is a temple?" he asked lightly. Scott continued down the stone paved path and soon saw a few more sights. There was a pond near the water fall, and after closer inspection he noticed brightly colored gold fish swimming lazily about.

It was quite the lovely place, but he had not come to sight-see. Scott needed to introduce himself to the Henrik family.

As he approached the turn off to the house behind the wall, he heard the sound of something being struck. Curious, and a little apprehensive, Scott turned toward the place that looked a bit like a gym. He saw a fleeting image of the shadow someone moving before he heard the striking sound once more.

Scott went around to the back of the gym and saw a girl wearing a simple looking red robe jump into the air and launch a solid kick toward a thick mat strapped to a large tree. He stood silently and watcher her for a few minutes. She was so focused on kicking the mat's ass that she did not notice his presence for quite a while. Once she did, she turned to him with a face flush from her heavy exertion. "Sorry, the temple's closed for the season."

"Ah, sorry. I'm not here to visit. My name is Scott, and—" he began. She cut him off quickly after he spoke his name. "Oh, you're that guy." Her eyes narrowed and she snorted.

He quirked an eyebrow, but didn't ask for a clarification. Instead he asked, "It's nice to meet you, I guess? Where can I find Grandpa Henrik?"

She snorted. "Look. My grandfather has a good heart and likes to take in strays, but don't get comfortable here."

Scott decided that he did not like this girl very much, but he could not blame her for her attitude. He was a criminal in the eyes of the people of this world. She obviously did not like a convict wandering around her house. Who would? "I'll keep that in mind."

"You'll keep it in mind...?" The raven haired girl made a dismissive gesture. "Are you dense? You're not wanted here."

"Could have fooled me." said Scott. Grandpa Henrik, he had no other name for the man at the moment, was his employment sponsor. That sort of decision was not made by accident.

"Listen, you..." began the girl angrily. It was her turn to be cut off, however. The cheerful voice of an older man called out.

"Reina, that's enough. He was invited here."

"Grandpa..." she said, obvious annoyance in her tone.

The older man waved her off. "Reina, not now. See to our new boarder's needs." He turned to Scott. We'll discuss things in a few hours. Till then, feel free to settle in and make yourself comfortable.

Angry at her dismissal, Reina glared at her grandfather for a moment. Over time her expression softened. "Fine..." She glanced over to Scott. "Come on jail bird. I'll show you to your new cage."

"Oh, is it gilded? I do so hope that it's gilded." said Scott lightly. This was an attitude he could appreciate. The girl barely knew him, but she hated him. It was like being back at home, except she was better looking than most of the people who had reacted like this toward him.

Grandpa Henrik laughed a little as they walked away. Rather, he laughed as his granddaughter stalked away and their new boarder made random commentary.

Once they were out of sight, Grandpa walked back to the house and made a call on the family vid-phone. A man who appeared to be in his early thirties answered. He had a mustache, an angular face, and wore a polished breastplate that gave him the appearance of an ancient knight. "Hey dad." said Grandpa Henrik.

The much younger man seeming man on the other side of the conversation smiled slightly. "Hello, my boy. To what do I owe the pleasure of my only son calling me?"

Grandpa shook his head then waved his father off. "I'm just letting you know that our new potential recruit has arrived."

"Excellent news, indeed. What did you think of him?"

The older man, in appearance, nodded. "He seems decent enough. My granddaughter made a scene, of course."

"Of course. Reina's a sweet girl, though." said the younger, but older man.

A nod of the head was Grandpa's first response. He let the words of his father linger in the air for a moment before he said something else. "We got the test results back."

The man on screen changed his demeanor immediately. "What did they say?"

Grandpa closed his eyes then shook his head. "A year at most, probably sooner."

The man on the other side of the screen nodded his head then closed his eyes as well. It was distressing news, and the second worst possible outcome.

While Grandpa spoke to his much younger looking father, Reina led the jail bird to his gilded cage. Along the way she did not speak, though that silence spoke volumes as far as Scott was concerned.

He was led to the far side of the gym and then to a small building beyond. It was made of brick and had its own little stone path that led to the main one. "This is where our groundskeeper would stay if we still had one. It's yours till grandpa comes to his senses."

Scott kept his own council for a moment. It would be useless to argue with her since the only real outcome from that would be an escalation of her dislike. That could ultimately lead to his return to prison.

The room inside was a split-level affair. There was a reasonably large main room on the first level, and a bedroom on the second. The furnishings were a bit bare. He had only a chair, a table, and on the second level there was a small bed.

"There's a bathroom with a shower through that door. You'll take your meals with us at the house, please take your shoes off at the door when you..." She gritted her teeth briefly then huffed out, "come into the house."

"I appreciate it." said Scott with a nod of his head.

She sent him an angry glare then shook her head. "Whatever. Like I said, don't get comfortable here."

"Noted." Scott provided her with a smile that caused her to show signs of extreme irritation. Before she could speak again, he continued his line of thought. "What now?"

An exasperated sigh escaped her lips. "Stay here. I'll come get you when it's time for lunch."

"Alright. See you then." said Scott amicably. His cheerfulness caused her expression to darken once more. She trembled briefly for a second then spun around on her heels and stalked toward the door. Almost as an afterthought she called back over her shoulder, "If I catch you staring at my ass or anything, I'll kick yours."

"Why would I stare at it?" The thought had not even crossed his mind, to be honest. Reina was a pretty girl, but she was not exactly blessed with the sort of body type that Cerene had. Cerene could be compared to the letter eight, if someone wanted to be crude about it. If anything the girl who stood so angrily before him looked a bit like a red robed lower case letter 'I'.

She snorted again then tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Your kind always do."

"Ah, the mystery is solved." said Scott, before nodding his head. He had wondered why she had been behaving like this toward him.

Reina snorted once more then said, "Whatever." before she stalked out of the door. Scott could hear her muttering agitatedly as she walked away.

He shut the door then said. "What a nice girl." A wry smirk of amusement crossed his lips briefly. Afterward he wandered around his room for a time. It was a good amount of space, really. Though, the bed was a bit small for his purposes. After exploration came to an end, he hopped onto his new bed then closed his eyes for a nap. It had been a while since he'd had this much space to himself. While it had only been a few weeks, the prison cell was not a fond memory for him.

Lunchtime came around before he knew it. Reina came to fetch him with yet another annoyed expression on her face. Scott idly wondered if that was simply her natural appearance. She was not a bad looking girl by any stretch of the imagination, but that constant scowl did take away something from her appearance.

At her insistence, he took his shoes off outside the house and stepped into a set of house slippers. Not long after, they were in a small kitchen where Grandpa already awaited their arrival. "Welcome, welcome, come have a meal with us."

Scott thanked him for his kind offer. Reina muttered a little, no surprise there, and everyone sat down to eat.

Lunch consisted of a rice and meat dish that tasted a bit like sesame chicken. Scott loved it, as was obvious as he quickly devoured his meal. Grandpa noticed his appetite and smiled. "You like it, huh?"

"It's great. Thanks." said Scott after swallowing the last of his portion. Grandpa bade him get some more, so he dug in with gusto.

"No need to thank me. Reina made it."

Scott turned to her then smiled. "Thank you. It's really good."

Reina snorted a little. "I didn't make it for you, but thanks."

Grandpa gave her a sideways glance. "Strange. I don't recall you making this in quite a while."

The girl gave him a look that would have given a lesser man a heart attack. "I made it not too long ago."

"It's been almost a year, I think." remarked her grandfather.

"Whatever." said Reina with a frown. "I just felt like it, today. Don't make it sound like something that it's not."

Grandpa laughed cheerfully at his granddaughter and she rolled her eyes in response. Scott took in the sight of the family scene and smiled a little. Reina's bitchy attitude aside, they did seem like nice people.

***

There were many difficult things for someone to deal with in their life. One of the most difficult situations was a need to return to a place where humiliation and pain had occurred. In the case of Cerene, that place was an assuming collection of buildings on the east side of Olde.

Soft pink lips parted in a sigh as she gazed at the double doors that led into her high school. She had weekend battle harem classes to attend, but she had also received permission from Scott to attend to her normal education. It was a rare thing for a demon to be allowed to attend public school, but it did happen.

Cerene clenched her fists briefly then willed her wings away. She would need to keep them hidden when on campus. "I can do this..."

Today she wore a pretty pink jacket over a white buttoned shirt, and a pair of jean shorts. It was a simple outfit, though it did show off her new feminine charms in a relatively modest manner.

She took a deep breath then walked up to the school and then through the double doors. She spoke with the woman at the desk just beyond the doors, someone installed in place to monitor visitors, then found her way over to the principal's office.

The principal, Mitt Danner was a balding older man with a nervous disposition, but a friendly smile. "Ah, so you're here. Are you ready to return to class today?"

Cerene nodded her head twice then offered a trepidatious smile. "Yeah. I believe so."

"Good. Good. I am glad to hear that your master approves of your continuing education. The paperwork is in order, so you can return to class at next period."

She nodded once more then bit her lower lip. "So, my first class will be math?"

"Ah, I believe so. The period will change soon, so you should get ready." said Principal Danner.

Cerene took a breath then stood up. It was time to get her life back. She walked out of the principal's office, and over to the main hallway. The bell rang just as she turned the corner that led toward her old locker. They had been assigned at the beginning of the school year, and no one else had transferred into the school. In a way, it was like returning to an old friend. In other ways it was confusing. The hallways, the lockers, the students spilling into the hall; it all seemed so strange now.

It did not take long for people to notice her. Since she had fled from her home, her body had completely finished its changes. Where once she had been seen as the prettiest girl in school after the changes started, she now looked like the sort of girl that would be impossible to believe in reality. Supernatural beauty was common among demons, but she was not among demons. She was among relatively ordinary high school students.

"Holy shit. Is that..." whispered one teen to his friend. Another girl made a snide remark about bottle blonds. Yet, another whisper mentioned the 'tits on that one.'

Cerene accepted it all with a gentle smile. Though, underneath that smile her stomach felt like it was twisting into a knot.

For a brief moment she thought that she had made a mistake in returning to this school. That sentiment evaporated like a fart on the breeze when a much desired voice cut through the chaos. "Hey, Cerene!"

Holly Johnson, Cerene's best friend pushed through the crowd of onlookers and gave her friend a hug. "Girl, I missed you."

A sigh of relief followed by a warm laugh was the angel's response. Holly was a fiery redhead who often dragged Cerene off to do random, sometimes crazy, things. They had been best friends since early childhood. If Holly was happy to see her, that was all that mattered. She had less than a year left in this school. Between her weekend classes, and possible summer school after the regular year ended, she had a chance to graduate with her class. With Holly here, it made the situation much more bearable.

Another whisper reached her ears, "Yeah, that's the slut. I hear she loves to wrestle." Ok, so maybe Holly being around made the situation slightly more bearable. Still, it was good to have something of her old life back.

***

The sound of a straw broom scraping across a stone walkway echoed through the air as Scott went about his chores. It was a warm day, not too humid and not hot enough to make him sweat as he worked. The duties that he had to perform at the shrine involved general maintenance for the most part, but there was also something else that he had to do between chores.

Grandpa called out to him and Scott nodded his head. It was time for the next part of his daily routine. He followed the older man into the gym, or rather the temple, and sat down on a bright red mat.

"Do you remember the breathing exercises that I showed you yesterday?" asked Grandpa.

"Yes, master." said Scott with a nod. During the normal part of the day he could simply address the older man by his name. However, when training in the temple he had to refer to him as master. It was not the relationship of master and slave, but of master and student.

"Good. You have finished your morning chores. Begin your breathing exercises, and continue them until it is time for lunch."

Scott followed the instructions he had been given and dutifully began his training. In truth, this training was why he had been taken in by the shrine in the first place. During his stay in prison it had been determined that he had a surprisingly large pool of mana for an untrained individual. Compared to an actual mage, he was mediocre at best, but several genetic markers in his blood work indicated that he could develop aptitude rapidly. It was a rare, but not unheard of phenomenon. There were people with great talent for magic who went undiscovered until well into their old age at times.

The exercises that Scott had to undertake involved breathing in and out slowly while focusing his mind on a single symbol. It was a bright red circle with a red diamond at the center. Whenever his concentration waned, he was to stop his exercises and pull on a rubber band set at his wrist. The minor pain was to remind him that he needed to pay attention. The entire thing ran on an honor system. No one would know if he chose not to punish himself for his lapse in concentration save for himself.

Since, it was a fairly easy way to pass his time, Scott saw no reason to cheat himself or the training. When his concentration faltered he snapped the rubber band and hissed a little. A few minutes later he was able to relax and concentrate once more. The rubber band snapped down frequently, as he could only maintain his focus for a few minutes at a time at best.

Time passed, lunch came and went, and he spent a few hours in the afternoon working on the upkeep of the temple grounds. The remainder of his evening was spent in meditation. His wrist was raw after a time, as his concentration lapsed frequently.

Three days came and went in this way. Reina would occasionally make a snarky comment about how he was unwanted. Grandpa would occasionally make a joke about how she made better meals recently. Scott would smile and try to fit in to the little social dynamic.

It was on the fourth day, the fifth day after his arrival, that something changed. Instead of breathing exercises, Scott was to go into town with Grandpa. They had to go to something called the Training Center, for some reason. Reina had gone back to the private school that she attended, as she was still a high school student. She had been on a four day holiday due to some minor school renovation project.

"So, what are we doing?" asked Scott as he followed Grandpa through the streets of Olde. It was his first time in town since he had been taken to the hospital. He had seen very little of it at the time due to the damage to his eyes. Olde seemed like a fairly ordinary place. It could have been any small city in America. Far more people walked or rode bikes than those who drove cars, but that could be for any number of reasons. There was little vehicle traffic, outside of the city buses, but plenty of foot and bicycle traffic.

"I need to take you for evaluation. I've told you this, already." said Grandpa cheerfully. He titled his head to the side and eyed a demon girl who walked past. She was a voluptuous woman in a cyan blue sweater and a leather miniskirt that caused her to jiggle when she wiggled.

Scott noticed the old fart's male gaze, and could not hide his smile. Nor could he blame them. The pipes might be rusty and full of dust, but they still worked apparently. That much became even more apparent when the old priest muttered, "I'd like to evaluate her for a while."

The Training Center was a building on the distant outskirts of town. There was a simple two story building surrounded by a high wall. As they approached, demons and human men grew greatly in number. Scott became a bit of a rubberneck as his head swiveled one way and then the other as he passed by people on the street. There were cat girls, dog girls, even a centaur, and one girl who looked like some sort of vampire with her pale skin and bright red eyes.

Inside the building, Grandpa led him first to a desk manned by a busty bunny girl who seemed quite sleepy at first. She perked up immediately when the older man mentioned that Scott was here for an evaluation. She waved at him then giggled softly while directing them over to a room down the hall. Inside the room there was a console style panel on a podium, and a rectangular square on the floor.

"Go stand in the rectangle. This part won't take long." said Grandpa.

Scott did as directed and waited for a few minutes while Grandpa fiddled with the buttons on the control panel. The old man eventually looked up and asked, "Ready."

He answered with a nod, and Grandpa fiddled with a few buttons on the panel. Soon a bright green light flare up from the floor beneath Scott. A sensation of intense pressure washed over the surprised man, but it did not last long enough to become uncomfortable. A crackling electrical sound echoed through the air not long before the light show died down.

Grandpa blinked then released a low whistle. "Not bad at all."

"What isn't?"

"Your mana pool of course." said Grandpa.

"Ok..." People kept mentioning his mana pool, but he was not sure what use it had at the moment. He did not know any spells or have access to any weird powers like the asshole Henry had used.

"Ok, he says. You're rated as having three hundred forty eight mana. An untrained person normally has between eighteen and twenty. Mage training to reach level one usually takes at least two years, though it becomes slightly easier afterward."

Scott nodded. "So, that's good then?"

Grandpa stared at him for a moment. "You are nearly halfway to level four in mana alone! Even though your other stats are rather average. You naturally have at level zero, what most mages can only get after three or four years of normal training."

"My stats? People mention them, but I never get to see what they are talking about."

"Ah, good point. Come over here. I'll show you." said Grandpa.

Curious, Scott walked over to the panel. He saw that there was actually a holographic screen of light hovering in the air just above the surface of the machine that he could not see from his previous location.

Status

Scott Fuller

Citizenship: Pending

Legal Status: Employment Probation (Sponsored)

Age: 24

Level: 0[50%]

Mana: 348 [3]

Vital Essence: 22 [0]

Muscular Density: 19 [0]

Flexibility: 18 [0]

Cellular Regeneration: 19 [0]

Structural Integrity: 20 [0]

Synaptic Response: 24 [0]

Attunement Resonance: 66 [0]

Magical Resistance: 37 [0]

Empathic Resonance: 213 [2]

[--]

"Ok, so.... These are my stats?" asked Scott. He stared at them for a moment while trying to decide what it all meant.

"Yes, your primary level is determined by the average of all your stat levels. At one hundred points, your stat is considered level one."

Grandpa took a breath and continued. "So, in the future when you see a monster or demon's information in a portable scanning device and it shows you their approximate level, you can have a general idea of the danger that you face."

"Right, because I have to become a trainer." said Scott thoughtfully. The government did not really give him much choice in the matter. Part of his employment probation was that he had to be trained to become a trainer of demons and hunter of monsters. As an illegal immigrant with a criminal record, he had few real job prospects otherwise unless he wanted to become a bandit or something. The deal struck with Grandpa was that Scott would do the general grounds keeping for the temple, and spend the rest of the time training. He also received room and board.

The older man laughed cheerfully. "It's a wonderful life, really. If you don't mind danger and being surrounded by pretty girls who want to please you."

"Well, that certainly does help the situation along." said Scott lightly.

The men shared a laugh together after that. Scott had a lot of training ahead of him. Grandpa revealed that he wanted to help him increase his mana level to four if it was possible before hard physical training began. When Scott asked about the reason, the older man explained an important aspect of how life worked.

"You should know, that proper stat development comes from your mana level. The best training techniques use your mana to enhance development and lower training time."

"How so?" asked Scott, intrigued by the idea of magical training regimens.

Grandpa rubbed his chin. "Well, take muscular density. That does a lot, but mostly it's sort of how strong you are. When we start training your body, I'll show you have to use your mana to infuse your muscles with power. Depending on how much mana you have at the time, the growth patter will increase greatly."

"How much faster?"

"Well, the reason for the level system is to show the general power of a person. If you have four hundred mana, then you'll have be able to drastically accelerate your growth several times in a single training session. Your attunement is the real key, though. It shows how much mana you can draw in at once."

Scott stared at the man, still hoping for an actual answer. He already knew the mana should allow him to train faster, but none of what he was told had explained how it did so.

Grandpa smiled at him. "Well, you have a muscular density of nineteen. Every point of mana that you can use to accelerate training equal to that amount will decrease training time."

He saw Scott's blank expression, so he continued. "If you can draw on your maximum mana capacity through your attunement, that would let you gain the same amount of training in one day that an average person gained in around three and a half days. Of course, you need enough vital essence to sustain your body while you train, but we'll just train that stat first when the time comes."

The younger man's eyes widened. "Ah. I see. So, the more mana I can infuse into whatever training I am doing, the faster my stats will grow." After he said it, another thought crossed his mind. "Does that mean that when my stats rise, my training time will increase since I'll need more mana to make up the difference?"

"Yes, that's how it works. Most people only have enough mana and developed attunement to half their training time at best. If your attunement and mana were both in the four hundred range, you could develop your muscular density twenty times faster. That won't happen anytime soon, though."

"Why not? I can't train my attunement that way?"

"You can, and do. That's part of the training I have given you. Your attunement was already fairly high for someone who was never trained. Focusing on the training symbol helps to develop your concentration."

"Ah so that's why I had to snap the rubber band when my concentration flagged." said Scott.

Grandpa grinned at him. "Of course. It's possible that by the time we have helped you reach four hundred mana, your attunement might have reached level one. For a while, every day of training will be like five days of training."

"Why not just have me train my other stats alongside my mana?"

Grandpa shook his head. "We could do that, but mana and attunement take a lot more time and effort to develop than most stats. A single hour of hard physical exercise while using enhancement methods can provide a consistent high-level of growth over the course of time."

"You can't use mana to enhance mana training." Grandpa pointed at the mana stat. "The higher it is before you start training, the longer you can experience highly accelerated growth. If you can keep attunement within the same range as your other stats, you can continued to grow at twice the normal rate, but that's still not as good."

He looked to Scott then said, "If we get you to level four in mana, it will allow you to train everything to at least level three overall before the six months of employment probation ends." He smiled a little then told the younger man, "If we don't train your mana first we might have to settle for level two, almost level three."

Scott was not certain what to say about that. It all made a strange sort of sense, but it was still odd. How did that light even determine his stats in the first place? What did each stat actually mean? What he had learned today merely reminded him that he still had a lot to learn about this world. It was both similar, and yet very different from the one he had come from. He had to adjust if he wanted to make a go of things in the new life granted to him.