After searching through his memories, Noa found the exit and left the academy building.
'Everything looks just like I remembered.'
His recollections from Earth and Velrox were mixed, reminding him of every important detail he needed to know.
The blue sky, surrounding greenery, and busy road showed similarities between the two worlds.
Velrox was almost at the same technological pace.
The planet worked under the same rules and moral structure, but the apocalypse had changed how society worked.
'Here she is.'
Noa was the first to detect Aeris and sped in her direction.
His sister noticed him as well and ran to him with a concerned look on her face.
"Are you okay? You aren't hurt, right?" she asked, her voice soft yet emphatic.
"I am good. See, I am doing great. You should congratulate me. I awakened, and now we have an Ember in our family," Noa stated proudly, anticipating her surprise and delight.
Instead, all he got was a tight hug, enveloping his firm body with her frail hands.
Aeris didn't cheer because he became an Ember, nor was she happy that he could change their lives.
All she cared about was his well-being, and seeing that her younger brother was healthy and unharmed, an enormous boulder of worry was lifted from her mind.
Noa felt her desperate happiness and hugged her back, enjoying the warmth he had lacked in his past life.
"My talent is high. I'll make your struggles and sacrifices go away. You don't have to suffer anymore. I'm going to make money and protect you and the little ones," he stated, which sounded like a promise to her and the previous Noa.
Aeris grinned at his words but flicked his forehead.
"Stop acting tough and let's go. Seren and Sylas are waiting for us."
"But I have to go through the registration procedure. You can go, and I will be back before you know it," he said, shooing her away.
Lowering her brows and massaging her temples, Aeris took out her phone, dialed a number, and spoke in a low tone.
"Seren, your brother is doing good. He awakened but still needs my help with something. Can you please look after Sylas and call for takeout? We won't be late, but I don't want you to starve."
She called home.
Seren was the older twin.
She was way more responsible than Sylas and agreed immediately.
"Congratulate that loser for me," she said cheerfully and hung up.
Noa heard her and smirked.
"Then we should go as soon as possible. We don't want them to wait for us."
Speaking to Aeris, he took the lead and hailed a taxi.
His destination was Velrox Association, and even though it had countless branches across the world, Noa had never seen it up close.
The journey lasted only ten minutes.
Arriving before the soaring building, both of them were bathed in its towering atmosphere.
"Let's go in," he said after noting the architecture.
His excitement didn't allow him to linger, and he wanted to register as quickly as possible.
It was something he had dreamed of for over a decade.
Finally, his seemingly unreal wish was about to be fulfilled.
Walking into the building, Aeris stood beside him, and the first thing he noticed was how busy the association looked.
'It makes sense. Today is the official awakening day,' he thought.
He also noted guards talking about hunting the so-called Deviation, as their curiosity and determination were stimulated.
New Embers flocked to every branch as everyone wanted to register.
Thankfully, the process didn't take too much time.
"Noa Osborn!"
His name was called, and even though there was slight awkwardness to this surname, Noa neared the table.
"Congrats on your awakening."
The young lady greeted him cheerfully, offering him and Aeris a seat.
Noa nodded, thanking the receptionist.
"I need to see your student ID to make you a new one. This stage is quick and will register you as an Evolved in our database."
"Sure," Noa said, giving her his silver ID card.
"Are you willing to disclose your talent rank and skills? The association and government would offer you a handsome monthly salary," the woman offered.
Aeris was silent, darting her eyes with interest, but upon hearing the question, she immediately glanced at Noa, speaking to him with her eyes.
'She wants me to reject it,' Noa observed his sister.
"Can you tell me what amount of money we are talking about?" he still asked.
The receptionist didn't seem surprised and answered right away.
"$4,000 for E rank, and it triples with each rank. But there is another procedure if talent surpasses A rank. Of course, each grade also increases the amount, and if you work for the association, the amount of money you can make will skyrocket as well."
'What a tempting offer,' Noa pondered after seeing Aeris's unaffected expression.
Then he promptly declined the offer and waited for his new ID.
Arriving two minutes later, the black-colored card had his grade and class written on it.
There was nothing more than that, and before the registration was completed, the woman explained.
"You get a brand-new bank account, and every transaction within the association will be protected."
Noa nodded once again and asked, touching the hidden orbs in his pouch.
"I want to sell something. Where should I go?"
His question startled the stoic woman and Aeris.
It was unusual for freshly awakened Embers to have loot to sell, but it wasn't totally unheard of, as some talented Evolved could take down a few monsters and gain orbs to sell.
As the woman was explaining the path to the marketplace on the second floor, Noa noticed a familiar presence entering the building.
'Fuck. Why here?'
Cursing his luck, Noa saw Klaus strolling through the association, ignoring the long lines.
Noa wasn't afraid of him, but he didn't want to deal with this asshole while Aeris was still with him.
'The game only focuses on Arthur, and I didn't know this shitface would show up.'
Soon, as the boy closed the distance, something unexpected happened—the first and major deviation from the game, causing various screams all over the street.
The Scar emerged, spawning monsters into the real world instead of the Abyss.
It was a canon event from the game.
But Scars should have appeared a year later, not this early into the story, as it would alter the entire world.