10 Presentations (2)

PoV Marcus.

Will, Nassus, Joy, and Setos arrived as soon as the others finished their introductions. Daniel and Christian instead decided to stay in front of the entrance.

Joy took the translator and started speaking.

Joy is extremely young-looking. He looks like he's in his mid-twenties. He has short black hair and green eyes. He doesn't have a beard or a mustache. He has a huge scar on the side of his face that extends down to his neck. He is also the tallest of the group, at around 210 cm. His body is not that bulky compared to someone like Kane, but his muscles are still fairly visible.

He was wearing his golden set of armor, paired with the wings and the arm cannon.

"This is Joy, I'm about to be eighty years old. I was born in the first dimension and I like to read. I'm probably the strongest one here, so if you're interested in gaining power, you can always rely on me."

Nassus then took the translator.

Nassus is the other black guy in the group. He has blue hair, keen eyes, a small nose, thin lips, and a chiseled jawline. His body is covered in scars, with a burn mark on both his legs, and he is probably around 200 cm tall. He's the only one in the group who wears earrings and piercings. While his earrings are quite simple and don't have anything attached to them, he has a small piercing on his nose and another one on his eyebrow.

He was wearing a small black shirt and some dark shorts.

"Ahem. Hello? This is weirder than I thought."

The cool thing is that he said the latter part so low that I could barely hear it, but the machine didn't have any problems hearing and translating that.

"So my name is Nassus. I come from the tenth just like you, and I come from a remote galaxy, probably one that's even further away from his." He said this while pointing at Manni.

"I'm probably the oldest member of this group. I hope to get along with you all." He got closer to us, sat down, and, with the sweetest tone of voice, said

"Ok?"

"Yes!" I answered with Manni.

He proceeded to pat us in the head and then went back to give the translator to the next person.

The next person to present himself was Christian. He's a bit weird; his hair is partially white with the ends colored red; he's about 190 cm tall; the white part of his eye is completely blue while the iris is golden; and his skin is also extremely pale. His eyes are closed, his nose is straight, and his lips are almost nonexistent.

He was wearing a yellow shirt and some jeans.

At that point, every presentation sounded so similar to me that I stopped listening to them altogether.

The others were also barely paying attention. Jonathan was lost in his thoughts while Nina was listening to music at max volume on her headphones that were resting on her neck.

'What's the point of having those headphones if you're not going to use them? Why not just take them off and listen directly from the phone's speakers at this point?'

The next one on the chopping block was Setos. He was wearing a black jacket and sweatpants. With a flick of his fingers, he made all our surroundings cold.

He was blonde with dark eyes and pointy ears. His skin was tanned. His hair was extremely long and gathered in a braid that extended down to his waist. He had missing fingers—more precisely, the middle finger in his left hand and the pinky in the right one.

I wasn't paying attention to him, but he mentioned being from the same universe as Areus.

Hyungtae was the only one that went against the current; while most of the soldiers didn't really care about their hair, his was extremely healthy. He had no scars and was the only one who created something shiny with his magic to cover himself from the sunlight.

He had no wrinkles; his elbows weren't rugged; his body was shaved; his hair was of a golden color; and his eyes looked like emeralds. He was wearing a robe that showed most of his chest. He was probably flexing his muscles constantly just to show off his abs.

He had sharp, keen eyes that seemed close at all times, a straight nose, and natural lips. He was probably wearing some makeup as well. His eyes were silver.

He didn't really introduce himself; he just said his name and then returned home without any further explanation.

Another thing I saw during the presentations was that he and Nassus were the only ones who took extensive care of their skin.

After the soldiers finished their presentations, it was finally our turn. They decided that we should present ourselves in order by age, so I was the first one.

"Erhm… My name is Marcus, and…"

'Just get over with it; I don't want to stay out here any longer. Can't you see we're freezing out here?'

"I like video games… I guess?"

I then awkwardly passed the translator to Nina.

She was wearing an extremely large shirt, probably to cover her belly, and shorts.

"I'm Nina, and my goal is to become a renowned singer. NICE TO MEET YOU!"

'You didn't have to shout the last part.'

When she went to give Jonathan the translator, he rejected the translator.

"I don't need it; there's nothing I have to say to savages." He said.

I wanted to say something but was interrupted by Nina, who slapped him across the face.

"Savages, you say? Who gave you food? Who gave you a safe roof over your head? If you don't want to stay here, why don't you swap your current position with a random orphan on the streets!"

She wanted to slap him again but Daniel got in the way, taking the slap in his place.

"Y-YOU-" Shouted back John.

"Come at me bitch!" She shouted while thumping her chest with her right hand.

'What is going on with you two? Why did you thump your chest? Do you think you look intimidating? You just look silly doing so, and John, can't you see that they can end you in an instant?'

"You're just like the rest of them-" This time, he was put to sleep by Kane. He touched him, and he lost consciousness.

"John… punishment." He said this before carrying him back home on his shoulder.

The last one to present himself was Manni. He was a bit shy and couldn't speak at first, so Kane put him over his shoulder.

"M-my name i-is Ma-Manni, I l-like video games and-and in the future I want to be a pro." He said.

Everyone then started cheering for him. They brought him in and then we started partying.

Apparently, while we were sleeping, they had prepared the third floor for a party. There was lots of food and drink waiting for us. We spent most of the day eating, drinking, and watching movies. In the evening, they brought down some really old consoles, and we started playing some fighting games.

I saw Jonathan once, and it was at lunch time. He came up to grab some food for himself. Most of us ignored him, but not Daniel, who had prepared a special broth for him as well as some other stuff I didn't care about.

That was probably the most fun I've had in my life.

At dinner, Daniel forced us all to dine together with no TV or any other distraction.

"And call John; tonight we all dine together." He said to me.

"Why me?" I protested.

"From now on, you're the older brother, and it's your duty to watch over your younger siblings." Daniel responded.

I didn't want to argue with Daniel, so after that, I simply went to his apartment and dragged him back by force. It wasn't hard since he was thinner and smaller than me.

We almost fell down the stairs because of him. When we arrived, Manni was playing with Areus while Will and Joy were setting up the table.

"SIT!" He shouted. His voice passed through my bones, making my body shiver.

We all sat at a circular table. Jonathan was in between Nina and Manni, while I was on the other side of the table in front of him.

The dinner was going smoothly until Joy and Will suddenly stood up to make an announcement.

"So, since you're all here, we figured this is the best moment for this announcement. From tomorrow on, your training will start. It's training that focuses on keeping your bodies healthy, and Nina, you can train with Kane afterwards if you want to learn magic." Joy said.

"The next most important thing is your education. You'll have to learn lots of things, and we don't have much time, so we'll focus mainly on the basics for now. To communicate properly in the new world, you must be fluent in our language. We'll leave history aside to focus on math, geography, religion, physics, and other necessary information to make a living abroad. " Continued Will.

"The reasons are simple: soon this place will become unable to host normal life. The 10th universe was never-."

The translator suddenly shut down.

"Test 1 test 2, is this still working?" Areus was still checking the battery when Kane snatched it and started testing the microphone.

Will tried to continue his sentences, but whenever he started speaking, the translator would go off.

"Coward bastards!" said someone, but I couldn't really tell who was in that chaos.

"Anyway, tomorrow we want you ready, so take a book and pen or whatever you use to take notes, and we'll wait for you at 6:30 AM in room 2-10."

"Wait you haven't eve-" Nina tried to object, but was quickly shut down by Nassus.

"It doesn't matter what you think; it's for your own future. I assume you'll do your best at it. You don't have much time till you're legally adults."

At that point, Jonathan got up and went upstairs.

"Remember to wash your teeth!" Shouted Daniel.

He didn't respond and went back to his own room.

"Marcus-" Will, signaled me to stand up.

"I know already."

'God I fucking hate John.'

"And wash your teeth." Shouted Daniel at me.

"I know!" I shouted back while calling the elevator.

Since I still had the master key, I had no problems entering his room once again. He was lying on his bed, sobbing. I went to his bathroom and checked his toothbrush, and lo and behold, it was dry.

"You motherfucker!"

"Leave me alone!" He replied.

"I'll leave you alone after you brush your teeth."

"You're not-"

After putting the toothpaste on the toothbrush, I rushed at him and forced it into his mouth.

"Geth away fhrom me!" He tried to push me away while I started brushing.

"If you don't want me to do this, do it yourself!" I shouted at him.

"You're more disgusting than that whale!" I said this while kicking him towards the bathroom.

He quietly went to his bathroom and then locked himself in.

'Oh you little- I swear to god, next time I get my hands on you, I'll…'

As I left the room, I saw Manni waiting for me in front of the elevator. He seemed tired.

"Let's go, Manni." I said, gently grabbing his hand.

We returned to his apartment, and after washing myself, I went to sleep in Manni's room.

"The oldest one's curse is growing faster than I expected. Have you still not found the source of this?" I shouted at them.

PoV Hyung

"We were able to identify the source of the curse. It's the ashes of misery. We managed to find a woman who was already corrupted." Said Areus.

"That's not it. I know how that thing works. What the kids have is something different." I replied.

"We monitored their curse, and it seems it's indeed related to the ashes of misery. If I had to guess, I would say it's a variant meaning-" Said Nassus

"A potential reset... Do you think this world can handle another 10 years?" Kane seemed worried.

"At this rate... It can probably last a couple of centuries before the ashes will reset everything." Answered Joy.

"Send a report to the HQ first. What about the other soldiers? Did they manage to find the locations of the ******?"

"Unfortunately, we found some of the magic seals. Should we order them to destroy those." Asked Hollis.

"No need, Daniel; use your ability to connect all the places with a seal on them. So long as they're not destroyed, those cowardly gods won't interfere with us." Responded Nassus

"What about the cursed ones?" Asked Setos.

"We don't have enough Hafi to save them all. Next time, just put them out of their misery as painlessly as possible." Kane said while looking towards the kitchen.

"The War God has started the operation to rebuild "the bridge". He asked for our cooperation." Said Kane.

"Finally, some good news. Send them teams 5, 6, and 9. Make sure to connect them to a safe location in case the situation gets dire. If they learn how to build a "bridge" with that technology, we'll be able to get one step closer to our final goal. " Said Nassus.

"His Majesty will be pleased to hear that." Added Christian in a sarcastic tone.

"Next up is the matter with the trial. Is there a way to get in and ensure the final result will be in our favor?" I asked.

"The Combat God assured us that the outcome was already decided. He said, there's no need for us to interfere." Answered, Christian.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Yes, we have no more news." They all unanimously answered.

"You can all go now." I sighed.

Once everyone returned to their respective bedrooms, I sat down on the ground and stared at the nearest window to see how the survival test was going.

I froze when I saw the white wolf's power—a black aura that absorbs the souls of the living and uses them as weapons.

'Demonic Aura? How did such art manage to survive in this environment? And how can that guy remain sane while using such horrifying power?'

Demonic aura was first used by a hybrid demon, which allowed him to wield that power free of consequences for the most part, but even he had to pay the price at some point for using that kind of power. Those who weren't demons who tried using such art for the most part went insane almost instantly, and the ones who didn't died shortly after. 

He was covering his body with that aura, making eyes pop out all over himself. He would also make limbs emerge from his body and use those to better climb or jump around the forest of giant trees. Meanwhile, his brother was graciously jumping left and right using his wind aura; someone with no knowledge of auras may think he was even flying.

'To be able to handle that kind of technique without the need to slow down means that he's probably not some no-name warrior, but at the same time, he lacks the technique that's typical of a hunter.'

The two wolves were gaining altitude as they got closer to their prey, a young deer that had just shed its antlers. As the duo was about to make their final leap towards it, a snake revealed itself and ambushed the older brother. After swallowing the gray wolf, a bunch of blades made out of fire aura appeared on the necks of the snake, and after a quick spin, the gray wolf freed himself as well as beheading the snake. The white wolf instead used his ice aura to create nails and proceeded to nail on the trees both the heads and the bodies of the snakes before turning back to the already fleeing deer.

'Yep, they're totally amateurs when it comes to hunting, but I guess it's fine so long as they're stronger than their predators, but one day that'll stop being the case, and I wonder how they will adapt when they reach that point.'

It reminded me of when I was younger and had no master and was trying to get strong enough to pass my first hunt so that I could avoid being a professional escort. Back then, the only references I had were some weird films about famous hunters and other fantasy shows; therefore, my attacks tended to be a lot more simple and straightforward. What I did to compensate was learn a few tricks to maximize the speed and output of aura, and thanks to that, I barely passed the test.

'Back then, I didn't know about tension, solidification, and the like, so all I really did was throw absurd quantities of fire around until my prey eventually died. Back then, everything was much simpler, and I was probably much happier as well. I guess this is the bitter taste of my old age.'