Sailing to Valgoore-3
David walked up to the couple to have a friendly chat with them…
"Nice day isn't it?" David said as he walked up to the couple.
"That it is. And if Lord Ourobos's blessing remains with us, the weather will stay like this for the rest of the journey as well." The man said.
"My name is David by the way," David said and then he extended his hand towards the man.
Seeing this gesture, the man looked at David weirdly. Seeing this David understood that shaking hands must not be a common gesture in this world. So he awkwardly put his hands right back into his pocket.
"I am Dan and this is my partner Hope." The man said.
"Hello," David said and the woman also nodded her head with a smile.
"Guys, I may have overslept so I don't know. But is breakfast time over?" David asked.
"Yup. Breakfast was served about two hours ago." Hope replied.
"Damn it… Do you guys know where I can something to eat? I am very hungry." David said. Hearing David's question, Dan understood what David was trying to say. It was then Dan's hand went towards a small pouch hanging from his waist. He then opened the pouch and took out a fruit similar to what Hope was eating and threw it toward David.
"Here, help yourself," Dan said.
"Thank you very much," David said while catching the fruit.
David didn't let his emotion show on his face, but he was startled by how Dan took out the fruit. The pouch that he took the fruit out from was very small. While the fruit was so big that the pouch would hardly be able to cover the fruit, let alone contain it. So how did he do it?
The only explanation that David could think off was the fact that Dan is an awakened one. He doesn't whether Hope is one too or not. But David couldn't let this chance go. He didn't know a lot about what are the powers of awakened ones or what they do generally. Seeing the friendliness of Dan and Hope, David understood that this may be the best opportunity he has to gain some insight into awakened ones.
"Dan, if you don't mind me asking, but can you tell whether you are awakened one?" David asked.
"Of course, I am an awakened one. Normal people don't carry spatial pouches with them." Dan said.
"Spatial pouch?" David said, unsure of what Dan meant.
"This little gimmick. It is a small pouch that has a ton of space in them. Almost all the awakened one has these kinds of spatial artifacts." Dan said.
"Is that so… Well I will be very honest, I don't much about awakened ones other than the rumors that I heard from people," David said while looking at the pouch.
"Oh, don't believe the rumors. The people from the Guda island are the worst. I remember when I got awakened and traveled to Valgoore. It is after I joined Harmony Garden I realized that most of the things that I heard in my village about awakened ones were all just bullshit." Dan said while smiling.
"Harmony Garden?" David asked.
"It is one of the awakened one's schools in the Faction," Dan said.
"Oh… So how was your experience of Harmony Garden?" David asked.
"Oh, it is a very good school. You will be able to learn a lot there." Dan said.
"But Zimmer Garden is good too. It is a very good school for people like you." Hope added.
"Zimmer Garden…*PFFT*" Dan while blowing a raspberry. "Zimmer Garden isn't a better school, it is the worst. If someone did end up there then they should commit...." Dan was saying something when he stopped.
He noticed that Hope was glaring at him while pointing at David. At first, Dan didn't understand what she was trying to say. David also noticed her gesturing which made him confused about what she was trying to tell Dan. It was then Dan understood what Hope was trying to say and realized his mistake…
"But you know I have heard that Zimmer Garden is also good these days… It has become better…" Dan said.
"What he is trying to say is…. life isn't over for you, just because you awakened late. You will get a ton of opportunities in Zimmer Garden as well." Hope added on while trying to fix the awkward conversation…
Hearing her comment, David understood what the stare meant. Zimmer Garden is probably the school for late awakeners. And David looked like a late awakener as well, thanks to height and body shape. He wondered that maybe he should let them know that he was just 10 years old. But then David remembered the kind of treatment he faced when everyone knew that he was a Siberian. Remembering the time, David understood that maybe he should keep it a secret…
***
David became very familiar with Dan and Hope after they met in the morning. As they became friends, David talked a lot with them to understand the world that he has to live in from now onwards. And by talking to them he was able to uncover a lot of things…
The island that they were coming from is called Guda island. It is located near the coast of a country called Faction. The Guda island is mostly inhabited by mundane beings or beings that can't use magic. The people of that island are very secluded from the outside world and as there is no law out there, it is considered a very chaotic place. Dan was born there, and then he became an awakened one and moved to Faction. Dan with her fiancé Hope came to the island to pay respect to Dan's dead parents and now were going back to the Faction.
Faction is a country that is ruled by a council of 5 great families that came together and joined their lands. In the neighboring area, Faction is the largest and strongest country. And that is why there are many schools in the Faction that trains awakened ones…
Currently, there is a test being undertaken throughout the country to test the young awakened ones. As David heard about the test, he understood what Duffy was talking about back at the restaurant. He was probably thinking that David was going to Faction to take that test. And that is why David's line from Eminem's rap made Duffy reconsider David's request to board his ship…
And it turns out that the tryouts were pretty significant too. Most of the ship's private rooms were occupied by rich kids so that they could give the exam. Seeing this David realized how big of a deal all of this was…
According to what David had learned after talking to Dan and Hope, this world is ruled by awakened ones. Some of the strongest awakened ones in the world could destroy cities like a walk in a park. Even a normal awakened one's prowess is nothing to take lightly of.
Hearing this, David started to understand how this world works. This world is inhabited by several different species of intelligent beings. This world may have several elements that are very similar to the society back on earth. But from what he had heard till now, David understood that this place is more dangerous than earth…
***
David's first day on Duffy's ship passed by in a blink of an eye. That day David talked to a lot of people and found a lot of things. He was disgusted by hearing some things, while things made him realize once again that he was on an alien planet…
The thing that disgusted David the most was the attitude they have towards financially backward people. Most of the rich families treat financially backward people like trash. While David also heard that some awakened ones think that getting closer to people like them would avert would affect their power. That is one of the reasons that poor people didn't even come on deck to get some fresh air. They all remained holed up in that smelly hall for the rest of the day…
The only reason that people talked to him when he initiated a conversation with them was because they thought that David was also rich like them. Some people even sympathized with him because they thought that despite being rich, David had to travel with those bunch.
Some people offered David to share their rooms with David. But he gracefully declined them saying that his pride won't let him invade anyone else's comfort zone. But he decided that instead, he would be happy to use their toilets instead. David had seen the condition of the toilet that people of the hall used. And after seeing its condition he just couldn't say no to a clean toilet….
Currently, David was lying on a hammock on the deck of the ship. Most sailors sleep on the deck of the ship. And when David paid one of them some coppers, they gracefully gave David a hammock to sleep in.
As David was lying, he was gazing at the stars that he could in the sky. The stars on a black night such as this looked very beautiful. Seeing those stars, David started to think that, this world maybe be cruel and disgusting. But for some reason, he felt very nice receiving a second chance in this world. This is the greatest gift that he had ever gotten…
While thinking about gifts and life, suddenly David sat up. In all the hustle-bustle of getting here from there, he forgot a very important thing…
He forgot to check the rewards that he got by destroying his first broken shard…