Chapter 01: Enlistment in the New Era311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk78aUvSjVw
In a city full of shadows, there is a small flicker of light.311Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOP6AjhYmpU
Through the bustling streets came a crowd of people, giving me even more obstacles than I already needed. I was already running really late, and now this. If I don’t hurry enough, the gates might close, and then I won’t even be able to try out. So I maneuvered my way through the wave of people, trying to slim in between everyone without accidentally bumping into them. But in the end, a lot of I’m-sorry's and excuse-me's were said along the way. Either way, I had no time to worry about that, I have to go, now. Normally Elimnea wasn’t too lively at this time of the day. It’s pretty early and people were probably still in bed or getting ready to go to work. Our city isn’t too populated, and the only thing that gives it an overall sense of importance was CORA headquarters, which was situated in the center of its foundation.
This city was known for CORA and most importantly, the exorcists who made it up. Even though it is one of various others, our city’s division is well-known and includes some of the best individuals in the exorcist community. And that was what I wanted to be. I always dreamt of becoming one of the best exorcists, not maybe in the world, but in the country or something around those lines. But I’m not even going to come close to accomplishing my goal if I’m late for try-outs. Today of all days, it seems like the world is conspiring against me. And now of all times. Brilliant, just brilliant. The road even seems like it’s stretching on and on, infinitely, just trying to prevent me from getting there.
♦ ♦ ♦
I’m finally covering the last stretch of road that is separating me from my destiny. The surroundings are growing more and more familiar with every passing second that I am running. In reality, I’ve never taken this route to get anywhere before. It’s all new to me. But I’ve always come to the headquarters, even though I had no initial reason. I just liked staring at its beauty. The headquarters was a towering structure compared to the rest of the city, with its intricate design. It was indeed a marvel of architecture. And I did always want to take a look inside of it instead of just glancing at it from the outside. I mean, people would stare at me weirdly if I stood in the same spot, admiring a building, for more than 10 seconds.
I’m almost there, I can feel it. I’m running faster than I ever have in my entire life, and wouldn’t you know it, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going. Before I knew it, I slammed my head into something. It felt as if I had rammed my head directly into a brick wall. My head hurt so badly and my vision even got a bit hazy. I didn’t even notice the person talking to me-
“Hey, young lady, are you all right?”
I could hear a faint voice. And then I noticed that it was talking to me. It was difficult, but I saw a hand stretch out before me, and so I took it and got pulled up from the ground.
“I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I didn’t notice you were in such a rush.” He sounded sincere when speaking. The most perplexing part was that he was apologizing even though it was completely my fault.
“N-no, it’s my fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.” I realized that all the contents of my bag were scattered across the floor.
“Let me help you. It’s the least I could do after making you drop all of your things.” He started picking up all of the things that were spilled on the ground. At that moment, my vision was finally back to normal and I was able to identify this stranger. His hair was a bit spiky, with a light-brown color. I couldn’t see his face though with him crouching on the floor and carefully placing all of my things into my bag. He did pause for a moment while he was packing. He picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the ground and stared at it with curiosity. It was a photo…
“Give me that!” I frantically swiped the picture from his hand and crammed it into my pocket. In that instance, he looked directly at me with his warm, brown eyes. I blushed for a moment as he stared at me. He then gave a little smirk and chuckled, and proceeded to finishing his task.
He stood up from the ground and I noticed that he seemed quite young, maybe a bit older than me. Yet he was still taller than me, and I felt short next to him.
“Here’s your bag,” he said while he handed it to me.
“Um, thank you.”
He gave me a small smile when I realized that I was running late.
“Oh no, I’m late! Uh, thanks for everything.” I turned around in a hurry and dashed towards the academy. But it is a shame though. I wasn’t able to catch his name, even after all that happened.
♦ ♦ ♦
He turned around, facing the direction in which she had left. As he watched her take off into the distance, he grinned. “See you later, girl.”
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