25 First Time

The young man looked at each of the Trainees as he walked out. He especially scoffed at the one that had found him hiding in the corner of the room.

He walked out into the front porch and sat down with a frowning face.

Garry didn't mind the attitude, but he did ask the 6 to be prepared for it if the man decided to attack them or make a run for it.

Thankfully, the man remained docile for the most part as he gave away his information.

The man was a son that the old couple had when they were old. Their first daughter had died due to some disease that they couldn't get treated in time. As such, this was the only child they had who they relied upon for the most part.

He was in his early 30s and survived through the small works he did at the smithy. He wasn't married yet and that was partly because he never had any free time to find a woman, and partly because no one would want to marry him at all.

After all, the man was a Dull.

The man wasn't even a teenager the last time the census was taken and thus he didn't have to go to the Farm. However, now that he was old, he worried that he would definitely have to go.

That was the reason he had hidden. After all, if he were to be sent to the farm, he would be forced to bring his parents along to the farm, and that was something he did not wish to do at all.

The crawlers attacked two or three times a year, and once in a while they reached the farmhouses and killed whoever lived in them. The young man could accept if it was just him, but forcing such a life on his elderly parents was not something he wanted.

"Please, young man, can't you spare my son?" the old man knelt on his knees and joined his hands in request. "Please, if you send my son to the farm, there will be no one to take care of us. Please."

Stanley watched the father and felt bad for him. He especially felt bad for the mother that stood still with tears flowing down her eyes.

Garry felt bad as well, but there was nothing he could do. "I'm sorry," he said. "I cannot lie on the census. It is not a guarantee that any and all Dulls will be sent to the farms, so you might get lucky and not get sent."

The man nodded, but he didn't say anything. Garry asked the 6 behind him to search the house once more to make sure there was nobody else hiding.

They went back into the house and started searching for more people once again. As they were searching, Stanley suddenly felt something.

The feeling had come once again and with that feeling came the memories.

He took multiple deep breaths immediately to try and stop himself from even thinking about it. He tried to ignore what he was feeling. He concentrated on his own breathing, his own heartbeat, and slowly it worked.

'It happens to everyone, not just me,' he told himself. 'I will be fine.'

He concentrated on his breathing for a few more seconds before someone nudged him from behind. "Are you okay?" Freddy asked.

"Yes, I'm fine now," Stanley said. "Thank you." He gave a genuine smile to the man he barely knew. Today was the first time he had managed to control his feelings so well and he was rather happy about it.

This most likely meant that he was healing and if he was healing then soon—

A loud sound disturbed his thoughts as both he and Freddy were in the direction of the sound. "It came from outside," Freddy said and without stopping he ran out.

'Did the man start fighting?' Stanley wondered and followed Freddy outside as well. As soon as he appeared, he saw a standoff in the middle of the street.

There was a man with a knife that had blood on it that looked both angry and scared at the same time. In front of him was Garry who was holding out his sword.

Off to the side, another man was fighting a Defender with a thick, iron rod. He was swinging the rod at the Defender, which was causing the loud sounds they had been hearing.

"Drop the knife and no one will get hurt," Garry said softly.

"Yeah, like hell I will," the man shouted.

Stanley looked to the side of the porch and saw the old man and woman huddled in the corner with their son protecting them.

He quickly nudged the ones next to him. "Take them inside first," he said and moved.

The trainees took the civilians inside their houses and came back out. "First years, get to safety too," Freddy ordered. "If they start using powers, we could be in trouble."

The first years nodded and walked into the house as well. The 2nd years had a year's worth of fighting experience and thus could protect themselves if need be.

Garry and the man with a knife were at a standstill, with neither knowing what to do. Garry looked at the blood on the knife and was worried that someone was hurt and needed help.

While he wondered what he had to do, someone screamed and jumped from the backyard of the house in front of them. He held a metal rod as well and landed on the road with a thud.

He looked around and saw Garry next to him. As soon as he saw him, he went for the attack.

"Save him," Freddy said and shoved Stanley. Stanley stumbled forward and suddenly appeared in the middle of the road, right underneath the metal rod as it swung toward Garry.

He crossed his arm and put it up to block the rod. The attack hurt, but he could bear the pain.

"Sorry!" Freddy shouted from far away.

Only then did Stanley realize what had happened. He had been teleported directly into the middle of the fight.