Wow, this place looks luxurious—it's insane! I raise my eyebrow in awe.
Woah, look! A dwarf and an acromegalith duo. They're like night and day, yet they're friends. What an unusual pair. As I continue walking past the gate, I notice that most of the warriors here are middle-aged, probably veterans.
I can't help but feel a little shy being the minority.
The number of prodigies from each humanoid race can be counted on one hand. But prodigies are just prodigies—these warriors are likely extremely powerful as well.
And I will make sure,
(Flashback started)
"Hurry! Evacuate as fast as possible! Inform the warriors while I hold them back!"
to destroy all the evil creatures and monsters,
"Don't underestimate me, you fool! Just because I've retired and I'm pregnant DOESN'T MEAN I WILL ALLOW YOU TO HURT THE INNOCENT!"
every single one of them,
Gasp "Arg!" Mother took a blow to the face from one of the monsters.
"I must… make sure my baby is okay… God, when will the warriors arrive?!"
To their demise,
"Mama?! MAMA!"
"Egh… Eh? Oh… eheh…" she smiled weakly before collapsing, but luckily, the scout ranger caught her just in time.
I rushed toward her, my aunt reaching out to hold me back but failing.
"Mama!?!"
"Miss, what happened?! Where's everyone? Where are the warriors?!"
"Don't panic. Let's bring your mother inside first."
"Haip!…"
But,
"The warriors weren't able to come. They said they had a huge threat to deal with. Your mother overclocked herself to defeat most of the monsters. Luckily, the scout rangers were there to help. Otherwise…"
(Flashbacks ended)
Not even a single warrior came? Well… I suppose they had to deal with a bigger threat.
Prodigies are merely the potential one. Anything can happen. However, prodigies are seen as the symbol of a New Light of Hope, chosen ones filled with infinite possibilities. That's why I want to, and I will, become the greatest.
Speaking of that, where are the other prodigies or past prodigies from the human race? There's no way I'm the only one here.
Just as I ponder this, I hear a young man's voice calling out from the south.
"Hey! You! Over here!"
I turn my head, straighten my posture, and raise my eyebrows.
Oh, it's them! There they are! A bald man calls out to me from afar.
I sprint toward them as their group continues walking. Once I catch up, I ask whether they're the human's prodigies or past prodigies.
"Yep! We were the 'regular prodigies' in the past! Oh man, the rumors are true. You really do look like a kid. A little shorter than us, too."
Oh, rumors, huh? We continue walking, and I inhale deeply before responding.
"Rumors? You mean the news? Yeah... Right now, I'm only 165 cm, but I'll grow taller later on!"
"Oh. No wonder, then. Well, to be honest, most of us here are just of average and above average height. I'm 173 cm, and that guy with the purple helmet over there is the tallest at 180cm."
"But we've already stopped growing. I guess we're young-old enough to get married already."
Huh? That means they're in their late twenties, then. Hold on—I'm the only teenager?!
"Yes, you're the only teenager. Crazy, right?"
Wait… Did he just read my mind, or am I tweaking?
Hold on—if they're in their twenties, then he's already balding?! That's insane—
"You know new kid? Sometimes, people secretly call me 'Young Baldy.' Like, I know, I know. It's a little too fast for me to lose my hair, goddamn."
Holy cow. He's a young baldy and he can read minds— I better shut up 100%.
—
Inside the central hall of the base camp, all the warriors, including us, enter in an orderly manner. Before that, each group must verify their identity. It takes a few minutes for our turn. I'm standing last in line behind this Bald Man, while the rest of my group is up front. Behind me, another group waits for their turn.
As each group moves forward one by one, Bald Man strikes up a conversation with me.
With his left arm holding his backpack, he tilts his head down slightly, his gaze fixed on me with curiosity. Then, he asks,
"Yo, kid. You got me thinking. You're really, really young—why?"
Standing still, I hear his question and instinctively react. I open my mouth, turn my head toward him, and answer,
"Eh? Oh, I mean, I was chosen."
"Uhuh? Did they force you?"
"No, no… They kind of pressured me into coming here, but it wasn't forced. I came willingly."
Bald Man raises an eyebrow, clearly unsatisfied with my answer. He shifts his gaze to our right, where countless warriors of various races stand.
All of them look to be at least adult or above twenty-five years old.
I furrow my brows, following his gaze, unsure of what he's thinking.
Then he turned back to me, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
Smirk.
"Why?"
Hearing that, I hesitated for a second.
"Wha-... Why?"
"I want to make the monsters, the evils goes extinct."
He opened his eyes.
"Evil? Monsters?"
My eyes lit up a little, and I raised my hand to my chest, clenching it into a fist.
"YES! I want to banish them from existence."
His right eyebrow lifted slightly as he crossed his arms below his chest.
"Is that really the only reason?"
I stopped for a moment and looked down. Should I say it?
I could because— Bald Man seems like a cool guy.
"By killing monsters, I can protect my family..."
Bald Man looked at me, his expression softening slightly.
"You can do that without participating in the war, though."
"I—I want to fulfill my promise. To be the greatest..."
"You can be the greatest even without forcing yourself into wars."
I was flabbergasted, speechless.
Bald Man then placed his palm on my shoulder.
"But! I'm no one to judge or decide. There must be a reason for you."
"However, you do know the fact that you're sacrificing your childhood and teenage years. That's supposed to be the best time of your life—playing with friends, maybe finding a girlfriend, or even just enjoying the night sky without worry.
"I always hear children say they want to become a warrior and go to the battlefield to look cool. But in reality, those who love war have never actually experienced it."
Bald Man... He looked saddened. I was still processing his words.
He does have a point. Then, out of nowhere, a question lingered in my mind.
"Bald Man, why did you join the warriors?"
Bald Man's eyes widened in shock, his face filled with horror.
"B-Bald Man?!"
It took me a second.
OH, I MISSPOKE.
"SORRY! I didn't mean—"
Bald Man looked utterly defeated, despair filling his expression.
"I guess everyone calls me that... Even the new kid..." His voice wavered as if he were about to cry.
"EH?!—"
Then, suddenly, he lit up again, smirking mischievously.
"Ahaha, don't worry! I'm used to it. But why Bald Man, though?"
I thought for a second. A single raindrop landed on my head, and I'm alittle embarrased (minor blushing)
"Then... Bald— Bro, I guess?"
Bald Bro's expression changed instantly. He looked too happy—way too happy.
Before I could react, he hugged me tightly and lifted me into the air.
"BALD BRO? I AM YOUR BIG BROTHER? I'VE ALWAYS WANTED A LITTLE BROTHER—FINALLY!"
I was mortified. We were in a literal WAR CAMP, for god's sake. I could see others staring at us.
"HEY HEY! PUT ME DOWN! PUT ME DOWN!"
The rest of our group turned to look. The men sighed, while the women warriors giggled.
However, while Bald Bro was still lifting me, I heard whispers from the elves and dwarves.
"Why is there a kid here?"
"That's the TOP prodigy from the human race?! Damn, their quality has really gone downhill."
"How much you wanna bet the kid won't survive a single night in war? Lol."
Of course, I pretended I didn't hear them.
I've heard it all before.
Kids my age called me "show-off," "arrogant," "narcissistic."
People doubted me.
But I knew myself. And I always proved them wrong.
I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth.
However, after all of that, in the end they still 'closed their eyes'.
I am literally one of humanity's only hopes.
For us…
I have trained and fought for us…
BUT WHY?
WHY?
JUST BECAUSE I AM WAY STRONGER THAN THEM DOESN'T MEAN I'M INVINCIBLE.
DOESN'T MEAN I'M NOT RISKING MY LIFE.
I FOCUS ON TRAINING AND POWER, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I'M SHOWING OFF.
I ALWAYS WAITED FOR INVITATIONS, BUT NO ONE ASKED ME TO PLAY. NO ONE BOTHERED TO START A CONVERSATION WITH ME.
WHY ARE YOU ALL—?!
WHY—
"Kid? Hey, kid? Yo, kid, you there?"
Bald Bro slapped my face lightly multiple times, trying to wake me up.
I snapped back to reality, realizing I was already on the ground. It was our turn to identify ourselves. I was still in a bit of shock, to be honest.
Wait, had it been that long? I thought there were four or five more people ahead of us. Did I just zone out for a few seconds? It was confusing, but I quickly pulled out my ID, and we entered the Center Hall.
My eyes widened, filled with stars of admiration.
The design, the facilities, the architecture!
It was so cool! So this was the Center Hall. It didn't look that big from the outside, but inside? Holy damn, it was humongous!
Bald Bro chuckled. "Ahaha, that was my reaction too when I first came here."
"First came here? Wait, has it always been this modern for decades?!"
Bald Bro scratched his head, looking unsure. "Well, kinda? Not sure, I can't remember."
I sighed, disappointed. "Ohhh…"
This was insane. This place looked like night and day compared to our residential area. If they could improve this place THIS MUCH, why was the rest of the country still so far behind?
Budget? Probably. Maybe they didn't see much value in developing the residential areas. But still, they should be improving the quality of life. It was hard to get clean water without risk. There were low-to-mid-threat monsters nearby. It wasn't a problem for me, but for the weaker ones?
I crossed my arms below my chest, deep in thought.
"Why? Still upset about before?" Bald Bro asked, glancing at me.
"What? Oh, no. It's something else."
He gave me a reassuring look. "Don't worry. Everything might just turn out okay."
I looked at Bald Bro. He didn't understand what I was thinking. That was fine.
Then the announcement echoed through the hall.
"Tonight, the composition of individual team groups will be determined by stats and requirements."
Oh? That was interesting. I thought the teams would be assigned randomly. So we'd be grouped based on complementary skills?
That meant our teams would include different races, each filling a necessary role. I hoped we got a proper mage—probably an elf, since they had the highest mana capacity. And an Acro? That would be awesome; knowing the weather conditions up there would give us an advantage. Dwarves were wise and smart, too.
I should get to my spot. It was about to begin.
All of us stood in our respective places—dozens of soldiers from various humanoid races.
Then, from the far end of the hall, a tall old man in a suit entered, flanked by two Tall and Buff Knight on each side.
He walked onto the stage.
His immense aura made the atmosphere dense. The presence of someone who had experienced countless battles yet still walked as if he had never fought a day in his life.
The aura of someone who could destroy an entire city with just a single command.
He placed the sheet on the cool-ass lectern shaped like a dragon. The microphone was on. His intimidating presence alone would make regular people faint from fear.
He brought his mouth closer to the microphone, and with a loud, heavy, and deep voice, he delivered a speech. A speech that, honestly, I could barely understand, nor did I want to hear. Right now, I just wanted to sit down.
After a while, he announced that the groups would be divided into multiple teams. Each team would consist of one person from each of the respective races present in the base camp.
A team of :
a normal human, an elvenkin, a dwarf, and an acromegalithian.
Since there were only 80 people here, that meant there would be a total of 20 teams for the South Base Camp.
Yes, there weren't many people. That's because most either couldn't fight or simply chose not to be part of the Warrior Army.
The executive began announcing the team rosters, one by one.
"I hope we don't team up with that weird human kid."
"Yeah, a kid, with the voice of a kid too. Obviously a death sentence."
" 'TOP Prodigy' they said. Top prodigy my ass."
I wanted to punch them in the face, to be honest. But I was afraid I might kill them—oops! Nah, it's just… it is what it is. Not everyone will be on my side. So I'll stay focused on my goal.
After a while, my name was finally announced, along with my team's.
A tall, buff acromegalithian—a whole fucking unit, damn.
Wait… that's the same dwarf who called me a kid earlier? The one who's literally shorter than me?
Ah, sh1t.
And, of course, the long-awaited, highly demanded… Old Elf-man.
He looked at me while bending his spine lower, maybe mocking my height.
"Yo. Long time no see."
My mood dipped for a moment.
"Yeah… on that guy's mama's soul over there, 'It's been long time no see.' "
(From the background) "Ah, yeah, WHAT? Guys, I need to go real quick. My mother fell down the stairs!"
Old Elf-man straightened his back, visibly towering over me (a 20cm difference is understandable).
He smirked.
"Hey hey, you should be grateful. I'm the only elf who accepted you," he said, his face showing an "eheh" type expression.
He's definitely lying… right?—
Anyway, I decided to greet all my new teammates. Old Elf-man then extended his hand, offering a handshake.
But I looked at it with an "ehhh" face, clearly not trusting him.
"Huh? Wait, no, this time for real—"
I continued glaring at him, slowly backing away. LOL
"HEY, DAMN KID, I'M BEING REAL!" He lost his temper.
I closed my eyes, tilted my head slightly, and raised my hand to shoulder height with my palm open.
"Yeah yeah, totally legit, Mr. Old Elf-man."
"OLD?!?—… Kid, not even MY OWN SON calls me old yet—" "WHAT YOU GOT KID ALREADY?!? OH SOWWY UNCLE—"
"SHUT UP!"
Old Elf-man then ran his hand through his hair, slicking it back in an attempt to look like a gigachad. While posing like he's some greek god statue,
"Heh, fine, fine. If y'all want to call me old, then call me Elf-DADDY."
The rest of the teammates and I wore shocked and disgusted expressions.
"DAD F#CKING WHAT?! AH HELL NAH."
Old Elf-man looked away from us with an unsatisfied expression. "Tch."
After the quick meet-up and another speech, we were commanded to rest. However, we could take a walk or shower for a while.
I asked permission from our leader, the Acromegalithian, and walked through the surroundings, getting to know the area while relieving some stress.
Coincidentally, I met Bald Bro. He called me over to walk together. I mean, we had nothing else to do, so a short walk wouldn't hurt. He seemed to have something to bring up too.
While walking,
He took out a kaya bread and took a bite. While he was still chewing it, he mumbled,
"Yho kit, Ayam rili eksaitet. Yhou kno, I acshually hef a fyance-"
"Um… can you, you know... finish eating first so I can understand?"
He raised his eyebrows like "oh sorry" and gulped down the food.
"You know, kid. I'm currently really excited."
"Oh? Why?"
"I actually have a fiancé right now. This year, will be my last participation in this warriors and wars thingy. I'll be getting married," he said with a smile.
"Married? But you're still quite young… In a sense- Plus! you're a chosen 'regular prodigy' in the past too. Won't that be a waste?"
He looked at me with a genuine smile and then looked down, his face relaxing.
"I'm tired of war… I'm tired of fighting in these endless cycles. We're out here risking our lives, our health, our mental state, and most importantly, our hope."
I was invested in what he was saying, expecting it to be a new piece of wisdom for me.
"I want to really live, actually be alive. For the past decade, all we did was sleep, train, fight monsters, and repeat."
He shifted his seat position to be more open.
"Sometimes I think, are we humans or tools? Oh, don't get me wrong. It's an honor to be a warrior, to be strong and useful for the world."
"But... sometimes, we should take a time on trying to honor ourselves too. Being a warrior, I've always been far away from my family for the sake of protecting the country."
"The authorities need warriors, and we can't catch a breath. One time, I couldn't return home when my father had a fatal accident involving a monster's energy."
He paused for a second before continuing.
"He... He couldn't be saved since the injuries were too fatal for treatment, nor was an expert healer available to cast the required purifying and healing spells. Yeah, the expert healers, mainly the elves, were on the battlefield or stationed at war camps."
"Every family member was there except me. I couldn't do anything, unable to return due to restrictions by the commanders. My mother told me he was asking where am I and wanted to see me during his last moments. I- I just couldn't."
Without my knowledge, glasses of tears started forming in my eyes. "Can't do anything?"
"Eh, sorry, I went overboard-"
"EH YO! HEY, KID?"
He tried to wake me from my dazed state. I was flabbergasted, so I apologized. Bald Bro understood that there must be a reason why I nearly broke into tears.
"That's why, after this, I want to start truly living. I'm strong enough to protect my family. If danger escalates, we'll move somewhere safer, even if it's far away."
"Who cares about the authorities who barely acknowledge us anyway?"
I understood his words, but then he whispered to me,
"But please don't snitch, or I will be-" He made a hand gesture of cutting his neck.
At that moment, I chuckled at his reaction. He is likable, no wonder he has a fiancé hahaha.
I wanted to ask more about his story—how he met her, etc. It piqued my curiosity. However, we both understood it was time to rest, so we departed to each other's respective tents.