THE UIR

Seven days after Lemiya and I became acquaintances, the number of times I had thrown her out of my bed already numbered at thirty-five times.

But every time I tried to do so, she will always get back up get in my bed. She was persistent in sleeping in my bed. She was resilient in doing what she wanted to do.

Feeling defeated, I slept in her own bed, which happened to be in the girl's quarters. I slept in there like a snuggled child sleeping peacefully on the bosom of one's guardian.

But after I woke up, not only did I get cursed at by the girls who, for some reason found my presence as disturbing even though they did not know I was there while they slept. I also found Lemiya by my side.

I asked her why she was doing such a thing and she answered with, = "I like it." = I decided not to delve any deeper into her thoughts and just let it be. If she is not killing me while I sleep, that would be good enough for me.

Getting back to the present, I was left with the pressing problems of not having the ability or choice to learn any spells. The backbone of any mage no matter what kind of mage was the number of spells he knows after all.

I was pressed for time. The Academy does not accept any youth that is below the age of seven in enrolling. The Academy I speak of is the Academy that is located in the city of Triss.

The Academy's official name is the Master Mage Academy. A very… cliché and overused naming sense. By all means, the Master Mage Academy was not that good of an Academy, but that was the closest one in the orphanage.

The City of Triss is some kind of backwater city, at least that's what it was said in the books. I know the concepts of maps, but I have no idea where to find an actual map in the orphanage.

I asked Sol about it and then she said that there was no map in the orphanage. I was disappointed when she said those words, but then I heard her say, = "Do not worry about such a thing. Your [UIR] will come in two weeks together with the Seekers, by then, you will finally be allowed to exit the orphanage and go to the library or around town." =

My face tried to show happiness and I tried to smile the best way I can. It was finally happening, I am about to go out of this place. I was happy and satisfied.

The UIR, or the [Universal Interspace Recorder] is a multipurpose ring that binds itself to the wearer and registers its wearer into the [World Network]. If I get my hands into one of those things, I might just be able to become free of this place.

I have to admit, this place is beginning to feel suffocating. Mostly because of Lemiya.

I went back to the library and do what I always do, read. Lemiya was there, she was swinging her arms around and stretching her body.

For some odd reasons, Lemiya stretching her body in weird ways interesting. To move her limbs in such a way without showing a pained face was something else. If I was to do all that, I would be feeling pain and my arms would break.

Lemiya could twist her limbs in difficult ways. I placed the book beside me and then walked up to her saying, - "Teach me." =

She looked at me in the eyes and said, = "It is painful and once you start, you can't stop it else I am free to break one of your arms." =

Though I dislike how she's too clingy when I sleep, I like it when she understands what I want and does not shy away into speaking her mind. Lemiya is not perfect, but she is much better than anyone else in this place.

I looked at her and then just nodded my head as I answered, = "As long as it does not kill me or actually break my arms while you teach me those, I will not complain… unless it really hurts too much then I will complain and then continue." =

= "If that is what you want, then I shall teach in the way assasi… athletes train their flexibility. Though this will not help you in any killing of your enemy, it will help you move easier than before. It also widens your channels, so it is good." =

She explained to me in a flat tone. After I said the words okay, my fate was already sealed and for two weeks, I was made to train in Lemiya's way. She tried bending my body through inexplicable methods which resulted in me screaming in pain.

That continued for an hour before I got used to the training, but from what I could tell, this was merely the first step.

She began teaching things to me that seemed to be martial arts and that helped my body move. I tried infusing mana in my strikes but found it hard to actually pull off. It would seem that only a Martial could use their mana in their martial arts.

Those who awakens as Mages are rare people, only one in fifty Mana Manipulators are Mages. They are rare and valuable, but they were hard to train but they were powerful. But because there were more Martials and their way of training is much more mainstream, becoming a Martial is much easier than becoming a Mage. I had to say, I find that troublesome.

If I was just a Martial with twelve Martial Channels, will I soar in strength and manage to kill that woman faster?

And so, two weeks passed and after the early morning torture (training) with Lemiya, I was called by Sol.

In her office, there was a woman who was holding a box. That woman looked old and as she saw me. She looked at me with a smile. A fake one.

= "So this little one is the one they call Xir. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Melinda of the World Records here to give you your UIR." =

She knelt down and now, she is now on my eye level, she took my hands and then handed me a box. I opened the box and inside I saw a book and an even smaller box. The book must have been the book I asked for, and the small box must have the UIR.

I brought out the box and then opened it. Inside the small box that was big as my hands was a ring. It was a ring that had the silver sheen, it was my UIR.

= "Wear it." = I heard Melinda said.

I wore the ring and then I felt something prick my fingers. Blood was then sucked into the ring, it was weird but understandable. The ring must have been collecting my DNA and identifying it if it was truly me.

It took a minute but after some time, I finally heard something from the ring and a blue panel that floats in the air appeared. The blue panel floated there with words, = "Welcome Xiron to the World Network where everyone is connected." =

I was astonished as the sound directly came from inside my head. I tried clicking on the blue panel and it disappeared,

Another panel was open where my social status was present. It had my name and all of my information even the amount of money that possesses was here. The balance of my money, I found it to be zero.

As of this moment, I am free to go outside the gates of the orphanage.