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Chapter 2: Heading back home

As Remy turned back on the highway, he glanced at the clock on his screen, next to the GPS and sighed to himself, “It is already 9 PM, huh… If is thread at 170km/h then I'll get back at around 2 or 3 AM. This is why I hate rush jobs like these.”

He started accelerating and soon the speedometer showed 150km/h. He started threading between cars and when larger distances between cars appeared, he started accelerating again. At some point in time, there weren't a lot of cars on the road anymore so he could just accelerate and cruise along the road.

This rush job came as a request from Alex. This world was roughly split into 4 major powers: Brugis Empire, United Front, Northern States and Lertu Alliance. Of the four, two were alliances between various countries while two were big countries, that expanded their territories vastly during the war.

Remy was born in country belonging to the United Front called Eltor. He grew up in a small village called Atsor. The village was near the front lines so it turned into a slaughter house when Burgis Empire started advancing in United Fronts direction. Alex, the man who took in Remy after he lost everything, was the captain of the strongest martial arts squad at the time belonging to Surdo, a member of the United Front.

In this world, people could use Qi to enhance their bodies to increase it's durability, speed, strength and reaction time but that did not make them invincible or bulletproof. Martial artists excelled at close combat so they were strongest in a city warfare. In the military, cultivating was a part of basic training but to specialize in it, you needed to be part of a school.

Schools just taught people a certain style but there was a condition to be part of a school. You needed to start training in the school from little, starting at 18 or so, when you joined the army, was just not going to cut it. Alex was the last person, who practiced Dragon Martial Style.

It was a fighting style that was passed down from generation to generation but Alex's wife suffered an injury to her womb when she was pregnant preventing her from having children When Alex first brought Remy home, his wife didn't accept him. Gradually, over the time she opened up to him and accepted him as a son.

In Surdo, the laws regarding motorcycles were pretty lax, depending on how powerful the engine was, the age limit rose. For a standard bike, that went 50 km/h, you could make a license at the age of 10. The bike Remy owned, however maxed out at 210 km/h. Legally you needed to be at least 18 to make a license for it but due to Remy's courier profession, he pulled some strings to get a “government permission” to get a license earlier.

A downside to that however were these sudden jobs transporting confidential parts to top grade military laboratories. He had made a deal with the government that during school time, he needed to get a head notice and they agreed to it but currently it wasn't school time yet. As he sped along the highway, he closed in on Hiososi.

Hisosi was the city he was currently living in, it was one of the major cities of Surdo. Surdo was a country that had it's eastern back against the sea, in the south it had an ally country Eltor and the north and west were also backed by allies. Currently the war between the 4 major powers had come to a standstill. Aside the occasional border skirmishes there were no major battles.

This “temporary peace” had developed to a tightrope equilibrium. One wrong move on anyone's side was all that it would take ignite the flames again from embers. As such all the powers were currently in the middle of developing new weapons before their enemies did. The borders were also under tight guard from enemies.

Even trade between countries was heavily restricted and merchants who wanted to bring in goods were thoroughly checked before being let over the border. After speeding on the highway like a madman, Remy could see Hisosi already from afar, he glanced at the clock and noticed that it was already 1.30 AM. He gently shook his head and was just glad that he was registered as a government courier.

As a government courier, you had your vehicles number plate in the law enforcement database and they would not fine you for going over the speed limit. Although, they didn't mind you speeding when you weren't carrying something for the government it needed to have a limit.

You couldn't always drive 120km/h in the middle of a city so you could go to the store from home or viceversa. If you didn't start abusing the privilege, they wouldn't revoke it. When he reached the city, he didn't ride over the speed limit anymore. After 15 minutes had passed, he stopped in an alley next to a bar named “Sleeping Dragon”.

The bar was still open and he walked in through the back door. When he walked in from the back door, he took off his helmet and jacket and hung them on the hanger on a wall. Suddenly a man with gray hair walked in from a door that lead to the front end of the bar.

He looked at Remy and smiled, “Hey, you are back earlier than I expected. I thought you would come back in an hour or two. So how did this job go?” Remy looked at the man and just smiled, “Yea, it went well Alex. The package was delivered on time but I had to call in a lot of favours from other jobs to get there in one piece. Seems like they have a leak somewhere.”

Alex just looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, “Well, I will inform them of it and you should get some sleep. The opening ceremony is at 11 AM tomorrow.” Remy nodded at the man and started heading upstairs to lay down on the couch in the rest room.

“Ohh yea, I almost forgot. A teenage girl about your age answered the add for a part time position and is currently doing a good job in the front. I learned that she will go to the same school as you, so mind giving her a lift in the morning?”

Remy looked at Alex in surprise and asked, “A girl my age? What about her parents? It is currently nearly 2AM, how are they not throwing a fit?” Alex lowered his gaze as he said in a soft voice, “Seems like she is also a war orphan but the orphanage she was in, was closed down in the beginning of summer. She had been accepted to school already so she tries to juggle the job and school by herself.”

Remy also lowered his gaze, war orphans were not a rare sight. Most got on the bad side of the law though, as they blamed the government for fucking up their lives. It was actually rare to see a war orphan try to diligently go to school and live by him/herself.

“Yea okey, I don't mind giving her a lift since the destination is the same anyways but where is she staying?” Alex smiled when he heard Remy would help her out. He looked at Remy and said, “She will currently stay on the other couch upstairs. She blatantly refused me when I offered her to live at my place. Maybe you will have better luck.”

“So you want me to take her in and let her live at my place?” Remy frowned when he heard that. He was currently living on his own in an apartment he bought with the money he earned from his Courier jobs and his job as a bartender here. He didn't want to be a burden to Alex and his wife any longer than he had to. The apartment wasn't big but it wasn't small either. It had a bedroom, guest bedroom, living room, kitchen and a bathroom.

“Yea, you have similar pasts and maybe she will accept your help. She is just like you, she doesn't trust anyone and tries to do everything herself. In her case, there hasn't been anyone to help her out like me and Erica were there for you.” Alex thought for a second before saying, “Yea, I will let her stay only if she agrees.”

He was currently betting on the fact that she didn't trust anyone and she wouldn't accept. Remy owed Alex a lot for taking him in all those years back, so he wanted to help him out when he could. He didn't mind taking her in as long as she followed his rules in the apartment. Nevertheless he was hoping that she would be stubborn enough to not accept it.

Remy actually understood why Alex was so pushy with things like these. He felt sorry for the children whose lives were destroyed by the war and wanted to help them as much as he could. He even regularly made donations to orphanages to help them maintain themselves and give the children the best education and lifestyle it could. They talked a bit more on when Remy had to leave for school and a few things about the delivery before Remy decided to head upstairs to sleep on the couch there.

The reason he was staying in the resting room instead of his apartment was that it would be quicker to go to school from here than his apartment and truth be told, he was tired as hell. When he laid down on the couch he fell asleep quite shortly.

When he fell asleep, he saw a dream. In the dream, he was having happily dinner with his family when suddenly soldiers burst in from the door. This was a reoccurring nightmare of the day his world got turned upside down. It was then that he did not trust anyone anymore.

It took Alex years to creep into Alex's heart as a person he could trust. On the outside, he always had a smile on his face and was very sociable but on the inside, he was covered in a layer of ice. He never trusted anyone, he was always on guard towards every person he had contact with and he never let anyone become close to him again.

What he feared most was having a loving family again only to lose it again. When the dream ended, he abruptly opened his eyes and sat up. He was drenched in cold sweat., he glanced at the clock and saw that it was only 7.56 in the morning.