[The memory of a teacher: Year 542]

He was a weird boy.

I remember the first time he was in class. He was quite a cheerful boy. He tried to make friends, even though generally nobody liked him for a reason I couldn’t find out. It didn’t bother him much though, as he kept on trying to make friends.

But one day… he just… disappeared... I thought he was absent, but then I realized that he WAS in class. Sitting his seat, saying nothing, ignoring the world, and just… reading…

He was there again, the next day.

And the next.

And the next.

Even until the last day of the year, he was never seen to speak to people, and he just ignored everyone, even when I tried to inquire the problem.

He simply stopped socializing. I was worried of him.

But as one of the teachers of 400 children, I couldn’t spare time to find out his problem. The year ended, and he disappeared, without coming to class the next year.

And before I knew it, the memory of him had been removed from me, and I couldn’t find this piece of memory no matter how hard I tried.

[The memory of his father’s friend: Year 544-546]

He was a weird boy.

His father died two years ago from an incurable disease, and while her mother cried beside him, he simply looked at the body silently. He didn’t cry, he didn’t display emotions, he simply looked.

After the funeral, I visited my friend’s wife, and the whole time I was in her house, I never saw the boy. When I inquired, she looked at me weird, as she thought for a bit, before telling me that he should be in the Library.

Sadly, the library was closed. He probably locked himself inside. I suppose I should go and find him later.

This time it was his mother.

He didn’t even turn up.

Where is he?

I ran over to the Library just close by, which was not locked this time, and entered the dark halls. I summoned a light orb, and walked around cautiously, recalling the previous times I came here, the Saint Haven’s General Library.

On usual days, it would be filled with people, but today, due to the owner’s death, it was closed. Or at least, it was supposed to be closed.

It didn’t take me long to find him though. Using my mana, I scanned the Library, and found him, under a blanket in the staff room. I half expected to find him quivering in fear, but then I pulled off the blanket, he was…

Reading…

Just reading…

[The boy: Year 546]

“…” I ignored the person who pulled off my blanket. It didn’t matter to me. As long as he didn’t take my book…

“HEY!” I shouted as the book disappeared, and with a loud bang, it was slammed on the table beside him.

“Your mother is gone.” He simply said, gritting his teeth, “Don’t tell me that you didn’t know.”

“…I see. I did know, I decided not to go.” I said sarcastically as I looked into his eyes.

After half a minute of glaring at me, he sighed and shook his head, “You didn’t know?”

“…” I didn’t bother answering.

“Fair enough.” He shrugged, and with a lightning fast motion, grabbed my collar and pulled me away from my sanctuary. I didn’t protest though, letting myself get dragged into the funeral, as the others stopped what they were doing and watched me.

I shook his hand off myself, as I walked towards my mom. There was little to be said. After a moment of silence, as I gave my silent prayers, I reached over and closed her eyes. “Good night.” Following that, I turned, and looked at the man who pulled me out, “So, am I done?”

“Not even close. Your father would me mad at me if he saw me ignoring your pitiful state.” Then he gave me a look of disdain, “Are you even aware of how bad you smell?”

I sniffed myself, “It’s definitely isn’t bad.”

He snorted, not even bothering to make further comments on how bad my hygiene is, “That’s why I’m going to take you in and train you to an acceptable level.” He declared.

And that’s how I became the Apprentice of the legendary gladiator, Drax.

[Memories of a boy in an orphanage: Year 547]

She was a weird girl.

She first joined us at the age of 4, and when we tried to speak to her, all she did was do a weird noise. Later that day, we found out that she couldn’t speak our language.

We were quite fine with that, after all, we get weird people all the time, like that cat boy last year, and we tried to play with her, but she was not interested in any of the games we play. Like, who hates playing hide and seek?

Eventually we got tired of her, and decided to ignore her, except Adam. He was always a bully, and he just realized that if the girl couldn’t speak Altean, he could bully her without her ratting out on the caretakers. Of course, we took no part in it, but there was little we could do, as he would bully us as well.

Now that I think of it, we really were crappy kids.

It lasted a few weeks, as he bullied her over and over, taking her candy and tripping her whenever he can.

And suddenly, one day, when he tried to forcefully take her sweets, she pulled out a mix of toys that was tied together. I recognized one if it, a hero toy that will swing his sword down when one pressed the button behind it, and she pressed it.

And before we could understand what happened, the bully was lying on the ground, crying and nursing his arm, which had a disgusting purple color.

[Memories of a certain Administrator of an orphanage: Year 546-547]

She was a weird girl.

She was found trapped in an abandoned workshop, her supposed parents, the many engineers, were dead when they found her, sitting on a table. She was quickly moved to the orphanage, as her ‘parents’ were taken care of by the corrupted guards. The workshop is now a brothel for the guards.

The girl never got along with the other children. Mainly due to her major problem.

She couldn’t speak Altean.

When we tried to speak to her, all she spoke was weird grinding noises and screeches. Even our best linguist couldn’t understand what she was speaking, as she did the same screeches over and over. We didn’t know her name, so we simply called her ‘girl’

It took us a year to teach her Altean, but by then, she was a social outcast, and nobody wanted to speak to her. Even with Altean, she never gave us her name, again, her name came in a short series of screeches.

She was sent to the office a few weeks later, supposedly, she had attacked a boy and bruised him badly. As she entered, I saw a weird contraption she was holding. As I pieced the clues together, she simply sat in front of me silently.

I think… I know someone that will be able to use her well.

[The girl: Year 547]

I was sent to the administrator

The kind woman said that I did something that I shouldn’t have done.

I wonder why though.

From what he did, I should have used a sharp rock.

It felt wrong though.

Why would THEY want me to kill him though?

Who were THEY?

Anyways, as I sat in front of the administrator, he was speaking to the air. I felt magic in the room, but I have no clue what magic it was.

He told me to wait, and so I did.

Soon, a woman violently pushed the door open, causing the administrator to sigh. He told me that I’ll be going with her, and she will train me.

“Who are you?” I asked curious, but I didn’t use Altean, instead, I asked with Code01, the most basic of machine language.

To both mine and the administrator, she replied, “My name is Elanor, I’ll be your master for the following years. Pack up and let’s go now!”

And after half an hour of running to pack my stuff, we finally left for her lab. That was how I became her apprentice.

At the end of each part, Dusk was 7 years old, while Shiina was 5, just for all of you to know when they started being taught.

With the revamp, I merged their two lines together, reducing the redundant parts! Also, I'll fix a few minor, and major, problems in this arc that will contradict what will happen in arc 1!

Yeah, I really did plan this badly.

This story was written after reading Mushoku Tensei, Arifureta and Shieldbro! I apologize if I accidentally added stuff that are too similar to these stories! As well as many others! It is likely to be unintentional, and I apologize upfront!

I will post a revamped chapter once per 2-4 days. For those who think that its too slow, no worries! My break is coming up next week! After a freakin exam!

Life sucks.

Again, if I made errors, or if there is anything you don't like, tell me!

Written by: 3-5-2015. 10.04, GMT+8.