1 Chapter 0: Beginning of the Change

Earth, Solar System, Year 7850

"Dad!! Its early in the morning!! You should brush first and not drink…" A boy complained looking at his father.

"I am fine, Leo...don't worry," the middle aged man replied with a grin on his red face.

"I am not asking about your health...geez you are drunk!" Leo pinched his nose when the smell of alcohol wafted his nose, involuntarily taking a few steps back.

Leo was around 5'10 and had a normal fair skin tone. His green eyes seemed to be darting around the room as he looked at the empty bottles of alcohol all over the place.

But, the old man didn't even seem to mind his presence at all and opened another bottle to chug down.

Seeing that he was being ignored, Leo could only sigh in frustration before going out to open the recycle shop in a bad mood.

His father was alcoholic, useless and alive. But it was still better than being an orphan for Leo. Not to mention, he had a lot of freedom due to his father's state. All the decisions of the house were on his call and hence, he was more mature than the kids of his age.

On his way, Leo picked up the bag of trash from the hallway and left in on the trash space outside his house for the utility robots to carry it away.

"Ting!"

A message popped up on his phone. It was from his friend, Kyle. He was asking him out for a trip to get some fresh air. It was obvious that Kyle was trying to lighten his mood due to the unfortunate event yesterday.

[Fine, but you are the one paying..]

[Deal] An immediate reply came.

Leo couldn't help but smile. He was lucky to have such a best friend. He walked toward his shop. It was only a minute away from his house and usually didn't take Leo long to arrive there.

On the way, he saw people of his locality all getting up to go on their jobs while the shop owners were opening their own shops as well. And as usual, he stopped for a minute as he was about to cross through the plaza and turned his head to look at the huge screen which was showing the early morning news.

[A Reaper has been found on Dwarf Planet Sirius, a few light years away from Earth. According to the Federation's spokesmen, the threat has already been dealt with and the Reaper was slain by the Alpha Squad of Defense Force]

With that the scene changed and footages from the fight were played.

A huge creature which looked like to be made of metal with eight legs and arms fought with four giant robot like creatures. The creature was called Reaper while the those machines weren't robots but human piloted body suits called Mechas or Mechs as the younger generation preferred.

'Woah! Are those RX7 from the 7th generation of Crafton's War Mechs. What's with the badass custom looks! I really wanna touch it and feel it from close!!' Leo felt his blood surging. His love for Mechs literally had no limit.

Seeing him shaking in excitement with a red face, people gave him a weird look and immediately got away from him.

"Sir, Are you fine? You seemed to be showing symptoms for seizure. I will request for medical emergency in 30 seconds if there is a lack of response." A monotonous metallic voice entered Leo's ear giving him a shock.

He hurriedly turned around to see a small public utility bot, it was shaped like an hour glass and had wheels below and a round head with sensors embedded in them. It was wearing a blue colored jersey with the word "PATROL" on it.

"No! Don't call anyone, I am absolutely fine!" Leo replied in a rush while wiping off his sweat. After that, he didn't even wait for its reply and quickly ran away.

If that thing really called on for emergency medical help, he would have another bill to pay. The same thing had happened last time and he really had fallen in a state of chaos that month.

…

"You are early today, Leo?" Aunt Jessie from the nearby store asked seeing Leo opening his shop.

"Well, schools are over and I pretty much have nothing to do…" Leo replied with a smile. He would usually open the shop in the noon but now, it was going to be his full time thing.

"Did you pass your scholarship exams? I still remember how you used to scream all day that you want to be a Mech Engineer…" Aunt Jessie said with a smile making Leo extremely depressed. It was obvious from his expression that he had failed.

"I failed for 3 marks…." He replied with a sigh. If he could have passed it, a good life would have been waiting for him but alas he failed.

"What about the awakening test?" Those words were like needles to Leo, he almost spewed out blood after hearing that.

"I failed that long ago…If I was even a Lv 1 Awake, I would have passed the exam with a breeze….most of my marks got deducted in the physical aspect.." Leo explained it to her with a heavy face. He just couldn't understand why he had to go through physical test, he didn't want to be a Soldier nor a Mech pilot. It had nothing close to do with physical strength. He just wanted to build Mechs…why in hell did he need physical strength to do that…

"Is that so?" Aunt Jessie forced a smile on her face realizing she might have accidentally hit him were it hurt the most.

"Don't worry, you already scored so much while handling your shop. I am sure you would pass next year….besides someone as talented as you will definitely awaken. Look even I am a Lv 2 Awake…." Aunt Jessie tried to encouraged him but it only did more damage to Leo.

'Even she is awakened…' Leo felt another blow to his confidence.

"Even though, I am awakened…I don't have any potential. I just have an yellow rank skill that is a bit helpful in my daily life…" Aunt Jessie said as she rubbed his head as she have always done since his childhood, "I am sure you would definitely awaken a Golden Rank skill.."

Leo smiled at her. She didn't understand what a golden rank skill was but he sure did. But still, he didn't correct her. After all, he understood that it was her feeling to encourage him that mattered and not the words.

Anyway, it wasn't like life was over just because he didn't awaken. The current life was not that convenient. But it wasn't that bad…He wouldn't mind living like this for the rest of his life.

At his moment, another message came in from Kyle saying that he had booked the tickets for tomorrow.

…..

Thousands of light years away….

Gloria…

A boy with pale white skin and silver white hairs stood on the balcony of his room as his blue eyes pierced into the horizon looking at the rising sun.

"Master Aiden, the Lady called you for breakfast at the dining table.." A servant's voice followed after the knock on the door.

"I will be there.." Aiden replied as he turned around. There was a large bag pack on his bed. His looked a bit conflicted for some reason but after shaking his head, he tapped the side button on the bag and it shrunk into a small capsule which was then put into his pocket.

He gave his room a last glance and then walked down stairs, but it seemed everyone had yet to arrive while his mother was most likely in the kitchen.

Aiden grabbed a piece of food which looked like a loaf before finding his way out of the place.

"Maste-"

"I am getting late." Aiden cut off the servant who could only give Aiden a pitiful look and didn't say anything.

As soon as Aiden walked out of his mansion, he saw a carriage standing there and a person looking at him with a frustrated look. The guy had a light green hairs and pupils. He was a head taller than Aiden and was his only trusted friend.

"Think again, Aiden….This is not a good idea….outside world is dangerous…you can slowly build yourself here. You don't need to compare yourself to other…"

"I won't change mind, Sun… I can't breathe in this place anymore…even if death awaits me outside, it will be a lot better than staying here and dying everyday…" Aiden's face finally changed. It was covered in pain and grief as he looked at mansion behind. He was going to leave this place and everyone. But his decision wasn't going to change. He had enough of it and had finally reached his breakdown point after the last incident.

He felt that he would do something wrong, if he couldn't cope up with the pressure. It was not like he wasn't trying. But in this world, even hard work had its limit. He had to go beyond hard work, otherwise there would be no option for him.

Sun looked at Aiden in frustration the entire way while trying to persuade him not to leave until they finally arrived at the Air Nest.

"You sure? You are not gonna changed your mind?" Sun couldn't help but ask once again.

The Air ship behind announced the passengers to board up for the last time. People from different races hurried up one after another. Aiden gave a last look to his city and then looked at Sun who had a depressed face. He opened his mouth to speak but then suddenly stopped not knowing what to say. In the end, he just patted his shoulder and said, "Take care.." before quietly turning around walking up to board the ship.

….

Leo and Aiden were separated by thousands of light-years but the two had no idea how their lives were about to get entangled and change forever….