Okrum's Past

"Come with me boy." Okrum said solemnly, dragging Minos towards his office. It was only after he shut the door and was assured no one was listening in did he speak.

"Do you swear on your soul that this is a weapon you've made?" Okrum couldn't help but ask sternly.

"You yourself said it's still warm, had someone else made it, it naturally would be cold." Minos answered.

"That's true. It's not that I doubt you, but you need to realize what talent like yours means." Okrum said, signaling Minos to sit down.

"Originally I was planning on taking this story to the grave with me, but seeing your talent, you'll know the truth sooner or later."

"As you've likely guessed, I don't come from here. Most unions are split into five levels, and the Weapon Refining Union is no different."

"Starting from the lowest level are rural-ships, the level we're currently at. Above that is town-ships, city-ships, kingdom-ships, and finally headquarters, which in the Weapon Refining Union's case, is located in the Aleph Empire."

"There are thousands of rural-ships dotted across Alephora Continent, in locations of low-value. Naturally, as the bottom of the ladder, rural-ships are usually ignored by the higher ups, and only really serve to find talents."

"In my case, I originally come from a kingdom-ship, in which there are only a handful. As the level right below headquarters, you can imagine the power they wield."

"Then how did you end up here?" Minos couldn't help but ask.

"That's what I was just about to tell you. First you have to understand that the kingdom-ship I came from was pretty much controlled by a certain family, the Tiffons, whereas I had no background, only relying on my talent."

"Wait, let me guess. The Tiffon family was envious or scared of your talent, hence they found a way to send you here so that you couldn't get in their way?" Minos said, suddenly interrupting.

"... Well, yes" Okrum answered, feeling like the wind had just been knocked out of him.

"Mm-hmm, well since you understand, I hope you realize the reality of this world. Talent is one thing, but connections are usually more important."

"The sad fact is that how far one goes in life is often directly tied to their origin. For every story of a nobody's rise to success, there are nine others for those who had a strong background."

"Talent is good, but in the eyes of those large families, it can be seen as a threat. If you aren't willing to become one of them, some will try to destroy you."

"Of course all families are different, and their methods of dealing with outside talent is different as well, but you always have to keep your vigilance."

"Knowing how to deal with people is an underestimated metric of success. How you deal with those people is up to your own discretion, but just know, people like us don't have the luxury of making mistakes." Okrum finished.

"I'll keep your words in mind." Minos said seriously.

"Good, but beside all that, the main reason I told you this story is because I want you to be prepared for the future. Given your talent, you won't stay here for long, so I plan on taking the next year to teach you exclusively."

"After the years up, I plan on recommending you to a township. From there, you'll have to walk alone, but after a year of my training, you should be able to fly through the ranks."

"I don't expect you to get revenge for me or anything, but I do hope that once you become successful, you'll help me rejoin a kingdom-ship" Okrum said, stating his true intentions.

"If I make it that far, I'll naturally help you." Minos promised.

"Good, I trust you." Okrum said with a smile, the two shaking hands as if to confirm the deal they just made.

"Since I've become your unofficial teacher, it would be rude of me to not give you a gift." Okrum said, tossing a small pill bottle to Minos.

"What are these?" Minos asked, as he weighed the bottle in his hand.

"Those are Three-Moon Lock Breaking Pills, a total of two. You should be at the Fifth Life Lock, so those two should push you up to the Seventh Life Lock." Okrum answered.

"Well I'm not too sure about that, my talent is pretty bad." Minos said, feeling unsure about reaching the Seventh Life Lock.

"Don't worry, as long as you have even the slightest talent, you should be able to breakthrough two life locks at least." Okrum said, reassuring Minos.

"I'll take your word for it." Minos said, thanking Okrum for the gift.

"Well, go ahead and breakthrough, we'll start our work tomorrow so be here at the break of dawn." Okrum spoke.

Minos nodded, thanking Okrum once more before exiting the room. With these Three-Moon Lock Breaking Pills on hand, he naturally planned on breaking through before anything else.

…

After exiting the Weapon Refining Union, Minos soon found himself back in his inn room. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he gently opened the bottle, pouring the two pills onto his hand.

Taking a deep breath, he steadied himself. After completely clearing his mind and calming his body, he tossed the pill into his mouth, swallowing it in a single gulp.

Having already experienced Lock Breaking Pills, this wasn't a new experience. The only difference was that the power produced from the Three-Moon Lock Breaking Pill was considerably stronger then the Two-Moon Lock Breaking Pill he had eaten in the past.

Knowing what to do based on past experience, he kept himself rooted firmly, breathing in a steady rhythm as the energy began assaulting his Sixth Life Lock.

However, just as Minos expected, the energy didn't seem enough. Although he was slightly frustrated at the ever increasing knowledge of his own poor talent, he wasted no time in swallowing the second pill.

With the second burst of energy joining the first, the Sixth Life Lock no longer had the strength to hold on, collapsing in on itself.

With the Sixth Life Lock's destruction, a new flood of power surged through Minos's body, filling him with invigoration.

His strength at 2150 pounds surged to 3150 as a thousand pounds of new strength came with his breakthrough. Similarly his original speed of 40 meters a second also doubled to 80 meters a second, but that change was far less noticeable.

Slowly clenching his fists, Minos appreciated this new power. After a short while relishing in this new strength, Minos began meditating, slowly regaining full control of his strength.

Since every breakthrough came with a rapid surge in power, it was natural that people would temporarily lose control of themselves, having to spend some time regaining command of their bodies.

How long this adjustment period took was different for everyone, but with Minos's tremendous control, it only took him a half hour or so to master it.

After a few tests to make sure his self-control was perfect, he hopped out of bed, deciding to head to Beetus and see if he'd done what he asked of him.

Given a month had passed since Minos gave him the order, he assumed the job was already done. The only problem now was finding them, since they likely weren't going to be in their alley anymore.

However it had been a month since he had last properly relaxed, so he decided to make a game out of finding them.

Exiting the inn, he soon arrived at the alley they normally gathered, but as he already expected, it was empty.

Inspecting the alley for a moment, he didn't find any clues, which meant they've likely been gone for a while.

After exiting the alley, he found a passerby, and with his tremendous memory, he noticed this was a person who often walked by this area.

"Excuse me, I just want to ask a quick question. Do you by any chance know what happened to the kids that used to play here?" Minos asked as he intercepted the man.

"Uhh not really, but they seem to have disappeared about a month ago or so. Oh right, I just remembered, the last time I saw them they seemed to be heading that way." The man said as he suddenly recalled.

"Many thanks." Minos said, leaving the man to continue with his day. Following the direction he pointed, he arrived at a street filled with homes.

Underwood City was naturally split into sections, and the area he was currently in was the residential area, where most of the homes were.

Walking along the road, he inspected each house as he passed. He had told Beetus to choose a house large enough to house all the children, so he directly ignored the smaller homes.

As he walked, he soon heard the voices of children playing and laughing. Heading towards the area where the sound came from, he found himself in a small park with a jungle gym at its center.

It didn't take much time for Minos to spot Rubella among the crowd, alongside her friends. As he walked up towards her, she also noticed him.

"Master, what are you doing here? How did you find us?" Rubella questioned as she jumped off from the top of the jungle gym.

"Just looking for you guys. Where's Beetus?" Minos asked.

"Oh Uncle Beetus is at home making sandwiches for us!" One little girl said.

"Oh? Rubella, show me where you guys live now." Minos said.

"Okay!" Rubella said, grabbing Minos by the arm as she dragged him out of the small park. It didn't take much walking for the two to come to a large mansion.

Opening the door, Rubella and Minos headed towards the kitchen, where Beetus was wearing an apron as he tossed together sandwiches at an incredible speed.