2 Ability day

The sound of hooves colliding with cobblestone and chattering between peasants was floating through the air as I slowly opened my eyes. I felt a dull pain in my right eye, and it was surprisingly tough to open. The sweet smell of newly baked bread entered my nostrils and I could hear the local church bells echo through the village. I lifted myself up from the lying position but flinched as I felt a bolt of pain jolt through my ribs. I let out a gasp as I dropped back into the soft hay bed and curled up, desperately trying to ease the pressure.

The door swung open and in entered Amber. Her beautiful hair and golden eyes always seemed to distract my mind as I for a split second forgot about the never-ending disturbance in my upper torso. All it resulted in was yet another gasp as I grabbed my side again.

"Arthur! Don't get up already, dummy!" She spouted at me and slapped my forehead before realizing my pain and quickly apologizing. The cold winter air had colored her cheeks red, but her lips were as smooth as ever.

We went on about how things were going and eventually a question popped up in my mind.

"How long was I out for?" But when I asked her, she fell silent. It was as if a taboo subject had entered our chat and for some reason, she didn't want to talk about it. This led on for a few seconds more, but eventually, she took a deep breath and stared me in the eyes.

"You have been out for more than a week, and Sister was more than worried! But that's not the worst part... The Orcs have progressed further up, and they say we are in danger of being raided. They have sent backup, but they might arrive too late."

I swear I heard my heart hit rock bottom as I sunk even lower in the stinging wheat. How could this be? The human kingdom was progressing so well in the war, and we were even pushing forth the last time I heard the news. But at that moment I realized why she had been so reluctant to answer.

If I had been out for a week and my birthday was the day after the assault, then ability day would be tomorrow! How could I ever miss the day 10-year-olds get their ability orbs!

"I know you think about tomorrow... But we might get raided by brutes, so Father David told us to stay inside most of the day." She muttered under her breath. Amber had already gotten her ability a few years prior, so she knew how excited I felt.

What she said was true, and I should probably have thought more about the possible danger, but this dream was one I had had for many years now, I would get an ability and work till I reach my limit, then join the army and save the world. Sister Maria had always told me that the ability I would get would be inferior to most others since we were so low in the hierarchy. But I still believed that if you worked hard enough, then anything is achievable.

We chatted for what felt like an eternity, but every moment was precious with this girl. However, in the end, my tiredness took over, and I let the exhaustion conquer my body as I dose off into a deep slumber, and dreamed about the grand things that would happen tomorrow.

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[11 hours later]

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The ever-burning sun penetrated the cracks in the wooden walls, making the entire room spotted with stars. It was a sight to behold, and the sunlight hit my eyes, making the whole point of having eyelids practically useless. I stretched my tight body and remembered why I was supposed to lie still in bed when the stingy pain hit my side. I made a grimace but thought about how my concussion had disappeared throughout the night and that sure made my mood skyrocket as I could now enjoy more company without getting a burning headache.

I looked to my side and saw a tiny note along with a bell, Sister or Father probably left it for a reason.

'Hey Arthur, When you wake up in the morning, you should just ring the bell and Sister will come running. We need you to look your best tonight after all.'

At the end was a little happy smiley that Father David always wrote in his notes. I rang the bell and felt like some royalty as I heard the soft steps power walking down the stairs.

Finally, she found her way to the squeaking door, and in came the Nun who still to this day felt like both a mother and sister for me. She was always taking great care of me, and even sometimes I swear she favored me over the other children in the orphanage. She had a warm and welcoming smile and brought me some ale to wet my otherwise dry mouth.

"We should hurry and get you ready for the evening". She said happily while trying to assist me up in a standing position. It was a bit of an awkward stance as I bend a bit in the side, trying to ease the pressure on my ribs.

Some time later and I was good to go, I had covered my feet in some leathery boots that felt warm and comforting. I admired the orphanage for giving me so many fine things, well to be fair I had missed my birthday. Once we left the building, everything overwhelmed me. The sudden icy wind that entered my nostrils ached all the way through, yet it made me feel more alive than I had felt the entire past week.

The snow was crunching beneath me, and even more snow was descending from the cloudy sky above. The usually busy streets had their visitors stolen by the yearly event which also meant that I could easily hear a commotion happening some corners away.

Soon enough Sister Maria and I made our way through the dense frosty weather and joined the rest of the orphanage in the cloud of locals.

After getting bombarded with questions about my well-being by friends, the entire town got hushed upon as the landlord came walking on a small stage, filled to the brim with confidence. He observed the village folk with sharp eyes, and I felt his stare land at me for just a second before beginning his speech.

"We gather here once again to celebrate a new generation of ability users! But before every 10-year-old gets their well-deserved ability, I will tell the story of our kingdom.

It may seem as if human supremacy has been forever, but that is far from the case. We were hunted, slaughtered, and enslaved by every other race here on our world Neverseen. Because of our curse from the gods, we had no extraordinary abilities nor powers we could use to defend ourselves. But the gods were far from done with our torture, they sent down people known as 'Godsent' to manipulate us, to make us hope!"

People cheered for the lord as he kept his speech going ever so smoothly.

"Gods had gifted these people with tremendous powers, to help us in the struggle for survival.

We were tired of getting used to their wishes, so we formed a rebellion called 'The Guardians' to slaughter the Godsent. And after the first successful hunt, we found our salvation. Upon the death of a Godsent, they leave behind an orb that holds the powers of the individual Godsent. The orbs could be digested and humans would then be bestowed part of the supernatural abilities that the Godsent was capable of."

"More people than ever joined The Guardians, and the process went even faster. But one sunny day we made a crucial discovery. One of the leading researchers found out that if you buried the orbs in the newly deceased Godsent corpses, a sapling would grow out of it, and become a fruitful tree filled with ability orbs!"

Once again the entire town yelled and clapped as if they had anything to do with the heroic Guardians.

"But now comes the good news, everyone! Since our war with the Orcs has taken a turn for the worse, the capital has sent us even stronger abilities than we normally would have had at our disposal. Now we will sell the strongest orbs first and then give the last orbs out to the lesser important people."

I felt rage build up inside my veins as I heard the term 'lesser important people' but a soft light hand grabbed mine and calmed me down. When I looked who it was, I saw Amber smile at me, making my rage melt into nothingness.

Hours went by with us standing in the back waiting for the good quality orbs being sold out, and my patience was reaching its limit. However, people were more or less done with buying abilities, and the effects finally showed themselves on the more wealthy people who got their powers first.

They started to sweat and emitted a dim colored glow depending on what ability they had. One of the Thunder ability users had cracking sparks rush all around him as the orb made his body its home. Now people all over began to glow, and I got even more excited for what I was going to get.

"It seems the wealthy are done with purchasing abilities, and the poor may now take their share." Our lord announced pleased about the profit he had made.

I ran as fast as my injured body would take me, and finally, I got up to the table to take a look at what they had to offer. There were some yellow orbs and two fierce red. But I had eyed myself another one out. It was a blue orb, and it had a soothing aura around it. I grabbed it and saw a larger dirty boy yelling something in my direction while running sloppily. But I had no intention to give up my bluish orb, and with one big gulp, I swallowed it whole. The boy's run came to a stop, and he looked as if he would tear me to pieces if he ever caught me in an alley. Unfortunately for him, I was already back with the rest of the orphanage.

I felt the butterflies swarm around in my stomach as if they had lost their sanity. But not long after I began to feel weird, my body shook lightly, and I felt burning hot, making me sweat like a waterfall.

Vomit approached my throat, but I was determined to keep it inside. It was how it was supposed to feel, right? The orphans clapped me on my back and laughed as they said kind things to me, but all I heard were indistinct noises.

What was happening to me? This could in no way be how it was supposed to go. I felt an enormous pressure forcing its way up my mouth and out came the ability orb that I had just eaten.