3. Inside
Rhode awoke to a blinding bright light, in deep tense pain he sat up from a white bed to look through a window to see something he had only dreamed of, he was watching the sun rise from what had the height of a mountain, the sun slowly rose to bring light to the rest of the area, rhode was looking over the inside of the inner protected walls of the citadel the sight almost took his breathe away then the pain actually took his breath away as he fell to the ground he heard a calm voice as he was catching his breathe again '8 broken ribs, a cracked sternum, fractures in 8 different bones including the skull, a concussion and a very serious case of whiplash, most people are usually dead especially if they are a prehuman fighting any type of monster, you are very lucky we got you into the ICU ward when we did' rhode didn't recognize this man but he looked closely to see this small fragile man was the behemoth that beat the monster to death with his bare hands the man laughed 'ive forgotten what the look of shock its been along time ive shifted and fought any creatures especially a high ranked patchwork ghoul' rhode was shocked he had heard of ghouls and even seen them roaming the graveyards but never had he heard of this creature before, 'before i explain any further ill introduce myself, my name is Dr. Robert jekyll top doctor and researcher in the citadel and beastiary teacher of the Helsing academy, you young master are extremely lucky to be alive but incredibly dumb to even face against any creature without knowing how to fight or defend yourself' rhode looked down in embarrassment and ashamed of himself, 'but you have heart and smile when facing death Alrhsye loves that in a student and has decided to take you in as his student and talk of adoption' rhode was in shock ' just yesterday i was scum of the citadel now today im in the ICU with top care from the hero of the new world' Dr. jekyll laughed ' young master its been nearly 14 days since you were brought to the ICU', the trash-litter orphanage is it safe how is everyone rhode was red faced holding back tears, a familiar voice came as the entrance door swung open, 'your family is safe and the settlement has been upgraded with new walls lights and defence systems personally handled by me, I need to properly introduce my self I'm alrhyse van helsing me and my associate rescued you and your family 2 weeks ago from an S ranking creature known as a patchwork ghoul most people and hunters flee from the sight of one of these creatures, yet you willingly fought it and even smiled in its face as death was literally banging at your door yet you still fought, why?' before alrhyse could even sit down and get comfortable rhode answered, 'for my family they are all I have if they died i would be all alone, if i died they would be sad but still have each other to look after i fight because i can' astounded by these words grinning ear to ear alrhyse stood up and offered rhode something not even dreams could make up, 'i want to adopt you and have you attend my academy and join the ranks of legends', rhode couldn't believe what he was hearing it was to good to be true before he said yes he had 2 conditions for the offer, 1. i keep my last name edge its the family that raised me and cared for me and 2. any school allowance, food, or essential items given to me i want them to go to the trash-litter orphanage for my siblings and aunty dimmity, Alrhyse eyes glimming with excitement agreed faster then anyone expected he had never met such a selfless person before especially for a prehuman, as they started to leave rhode asked for one more thing, a mask his mask was destroyed in the fight, alrhyse agreed and sent all the orders in for rhode and got all the necessary arrangements made for his integration into the academy, 'one month from today you will enter the academy you will be in the first year entrance class i expect you to be healed and able by then, no son of mine will be slow and unable to stand up to a measly S rank beast' giving rhode a wink and grin as saying these words ' now get some rest while you can only one prehuman has ever graduated from my academy and you know him personally he's your older sibling Gritz you have a lot to live up to he was beyond everyone's expectations i need you to be better then that' rhode learnt a lot from gritz he was 5 years older then the rest of us and often helped and trained rhode in survival skills he got his name gritz because aunty dimmity found him in a demolished corn farm and he had only eaten rotten corn husks for however long he had been there for, when he got accepted into the academy he cut all communications with us and we haven't seen or heard from him in years i hope to see him again to ask why he abandoned the trash-litter orphanage.
the month leading up to the entrance class rhode trained and exercise daily hebuilt a lot of muscle mass surprising all the doctors and nurses when he came in he was a pale barely breath skinny corpse looking boy now a week before the class he was twice the size in weight had colour in his face and even grew in height, having food water and a soft bed really affects the body dramatically, rhode felt uncomfortable with the stares he was getting from the female nurses and doctors he thought it was out of disgust but in reality they couldn't believe this muscular scarred body belonged to a 13 year old boy was an impressive sight to be seen, the day before the entrance class a parcel addressed to master rhode was waiting on his bed, in it contained 3 black and red academy uniforms, 3 pairs of shoes a framed photo of the orphanage and a weird looking out fit, it was like a light armoured leather hunting combats he had only seen mercenaries wear clothes like this but the mercenaries outfit didn't come close to this quality, a letter fell from the framed photo, 'we all love and miss you, we are all backing you and supporting you no matter what happens come visit when you can we are still waiting on passes into the inner cities takes alot for them to process with all your siblings and supporters haha well you better go and make us proud and ring out the halls with the trash-litter orphanage name, lots of love aunty dimmity and the kittens.' rhode smiled while tears streamed from his face, he tried on the academy uniform, a nurse doing her rounds came in to check on rhode, what she seen made her blush she had never seen rhode without his mask on she was shocked that the boy had handsome features, rhode quickly put the mask on and asked the nurse to please knock before entering he then asked her to leave then locked the door as she left, the nurse was shocked that the young boy had such a ugly complex against himself, rhode calming himself down finished packing his items preparing for tomorrows big day, a day that has only ever been a dream was actually happening to him, he was scared and nervous but extremely excited to attend the academy and become a fighter and protector for his family and settlement.
The big day has arrived in his new uniform and ready alrhyse and dr. jekyll arrived at the hospital to escort rhode to his new school for his entrance class, the walked rhode to what looked like a giant box with wheels, rhode had seen wrecks and relics that looked like it but this was a working one 'its called a vehicle they were very common before the release of the box everyone had one, now they are an uncommon sight due to how expensive they are to make and repair they are run on a new type of fuel source one the dwarvern masters created now hope in we can't be late for the entrance class' rhode climbed in and couldn't believe his eyes it was big and comfortable and nicer then his room in the hospital, 'before we get out i want you to have this its better then that simple face cover now, alrhyse handed rhode a brand new mask it was made out of some type of strong material but extremely light, 'its a wolf mask the native animal of the area is a grey wolf its also our school ensignia i know you like cats but its apart of your uniform and school so wear it with pride and honour' rhode put the mask on it had built in air purifyers, view modifiers and lights built in this mask was worth more then his home maybe even the entire settlement, the trio drove in the vehicle for what seemed like hours but it was just rhodes anxiety setting in but then the academy came into view a massive building built around what seemed to be a big circular building, 'that is the Helsing academy what you will be attending after you pass the entrance class' rhode couldn't believe it, it was even more amazing then the stories he had heard but something confused rhode they drove straight past the school andmain gates and kept going towards an exit of the inner city, rhode was starting to worry alrhyse noticed rhode looking around, 'the entrance class is held in a secure zone outside of the citadel, you have to pass this class to have a chance at Helsing academy so bring your A game and be ready only the best are considered for my academy' rhode felt more at ease knowing he wasn't being dropped back out in the outer limits.
not much time passed before something came into view, a huge walled area surrounded by swampland and thick shrubbery, for rhode it was amazing to see another inhabited zone outside the citadel, as they neared the structure a group of people were seen standing around what looked like a podium rhode went to ask Alrhyse but his face was sweating and pale 'i guess we are a little late to the opening ceremony I think I'm gonna be in trouble for' for someone with his outstanding strength and ranking he acted like a teenager with no worries in a world that was filled to the brim with them and he was the solution to them.
Alrhyse, Dr. jekyll and rhode arrived with glares being daggered at them, rhode hadn't even been accepted into the academy yet and was already the most hated boy of the class, there were about 30 students all waiting to hear from the headmaster who shamefully walked to the podium who was also getting glares from the family of the children who was waiting on him, alrhyse finally made it to the podium and welcomed the potential new students 'welcome to the entrance class students this is your first steps towards greatness and adventure beyond your wildest expectations, beyond these walls is the Silver quill swamp this area is owned by the helsing academy and maintained by one of its teachers and the swamps Alpha creature so you don't have to be worried about any nasties that shouldn't be here attacking you, but in saying that this swamp is filled with dangerous and deadly creatures who will try to kill you, your task is to survive 14 days in the swamp and to then find the exit, this sounds hard but you will be put into groups of 5 to boost your chances only 20 students will be accepted so good luck, please stand in line and be ready to be assigned to a group its by luck drawn out of a hat' rhode stood at the back of the line as the students one by one took a number from the hat finally rhodes turn he drew a number, 6 was his number he looked around and seen a group at the back it had 3 boys and a girl rhode was nervous he had never been in a group before that wasn't his family he's never been apart of anything before, 'this is your group for the class please protect and support each other to the very end get ready children your hunters life starts now.'