Chapter 1. The academy's weakest student

Kailen Darkhaven stood before the grave of his parents, with a melancholic expression on his face.

Tears fell endlessly from his emaciated face,as the howls of the wind attempted to sway him away ,his dark hair that looked dry and lacked nourishment swaying endlessly .

This had been his usual practice for two years now. He would visit his parent's grave on this same day, ever since the incident that led to their deaths has occured. Of course, this same day also turned out to be his birthday, the day his parents died.

Unlike most teenagers, what was supposed to be a day of celebration , had turned out to be a day where he constantly remembered the loss of his parents ...

Without uttering a single word, he sighed deeply, then turned around and left ..

Kailen walked through the streets of New Alexandria, ignoring the activities of people.

Since he had no money to hire a cab to take him to the academy, he could only do with trekking on foot.

His worn out shoes did more to humiliate him, as various demeaning glances were thrown at him.

What made matters worse was his attire. He was so lanky that the uniform that would make any young man his age complain about how tight fitting the clothes were, was actually too large for him.

" Used to this". Kailen sighed, then continued his journey .

His stomach made grumbling sounds, a testament of how much hunger he had endured in the past few days...

" Curse those bullies.. They took the last of the few remaining savings I had left from selling the family house... Selling that house really gnawed at my conscience, mum and dad must be cursing at me wherever they are in the after life right now" Kailen sighed ingratiatingly, then continued trekking, finally reaching the gates of the academy.

Luxurious cars were parked at the gates of the academy, with parents showing all manner of affection towards their children as they dropped them off..

Peers chatted and giggled in groups, showing happy expressions on their faces....

" It's the weakest guy in the academy ... "

" Why does this guy even bother coming to school anymore"

" He looks so lean, it's like someone used a syringe to suck out all the fat out of him"

" I heard his grades completely dropped two years ago"

" Yeah... I heard his parents were part of the victims of the beast tide that destroyed New York City two years ago... They died , after that, his grades started dropping"

" Not only that, he failed to awaken on his 16th birthday ... He's trash amongst trash..."

" At least if he maintained good grades, he could become a doctor or something even though he's not an awakened, but he threw his chance at having at least a normal life for an unawakened away"

This and many other conversations were directed towards Kailen...

" Just the usual" Kailen chucked, then shrugged, he had become pretty used to this...

Bullying, taunts, insults , deameaning looks, yes, he hated them, however , he really didn't see the point in trying anymore ....

He has given up on life .. of course he didn't have the courage to kill himself...at least not yet, but he knew with the way his depression was aggravating, he was heading there soon ....

His parent's death has really wrecked him up ... He was just a teenager after all, it was only natural he didn't have the emotional capacity to handle their death well, especially when they died in such a tragic manner.....

His life has become hell after they passed, no money to afford meals, no money to pay bills, no sense of security and protection , and he was so desperate for money due to hunger that in the end he sold his parent's house to a wicked real estate agent at an extremely cheap price...

And worst of all, the bullies at the academy had extorted all of that money from him..

Kailen's life was a wreck...

He maneuvered his way to his class, then sat down at an isolated spot in the classroom ... Everyone avoided him like a plague... After all, anyone who associated with him would be seen as a weirdo

No one wanted to be associated with the weakest person in the academy...

Even the individuals who had awakened F class talents and trashy affinities looked down on him...

The usual taunts and jeers were thrown his way. It was safe to assume that Kailen had become some sort of comic relief for everyone around here...

Kaelin completely isolated himself from the rest of the class , immediately the instructor entered the classroom...

Everyone was used to his slothful mannerisms, so they ignored him ... Even the instructor shook his head over the uselessness of the scrawny seventeen year old seated at the back of the class...

Quickly, 4 hours passed . The students left the classroom , leaving only Kailen sleeping at the back of the class ...

Since he had sold his family house, he had been sleeping on the streets...

So everytime school closed, he would sleep in the classrooms till the security personel who was responsible for locking the classroom came to wake him up and tell him to leave so that the classroom will be locked... At least ,he could enjoy a few hours of comfort by the sleeping in the classroom before the security personel would come and kick him out,leaving him with no options but to sleep on the streets...

" Wake up trash"... That's right ,even the security personel didn't fail to give him the bad medicine...

This world was a place where the strong preyed on the weak ... The security personel, despite having an F class talent and a trashy affinity, looked down on him...

That's human behavior. People would always try to demean those beneath them to feel superior...

With that, Kailen stood up from the desk and with a pitiful yawn,staggeredly left the classroom..

He was so hungry that he felt his stomach was being picked with needles...

Just when Kailen got to the middle of an alleyway where he could find a spot to rest, he started coughing large amounts of blood,,as his head ached miserably,as if it was being hammered with nails.

His chest heaved heavily, and became tight, his breathing grew haggard, he could hear his heartbeat like he was hearing the sound of a moving train a few walks from him...

Then, he fell down, and before his vision grew dark, he sighed "Well one thing is certain , since I didn't have the courage to end my own life, my body decided to do it for me... Looks like this is the end for me... What a pitiful life I lived"..

With that, he vision blanketed completely .

**********

The cold rains washed the streets of New Alexandria City, as people sought shelter through different means....

In the middle of an alleyway , a 17 year old teenage boy's dark eyes opened...

He stared at the familiar environment with shock on his face ...

" How am I still alive... I clearly..died..?... "

He no longer felt the pain in his body , the tightness of his chest , the erratic beat of his heart, and the churning pain of his abdomen...

Right when he was thinking about how all this was possible, a thought emerged from his mind as a holographic screen appeared before him..

" Fusion complete ... You have obtained a time dilation artifact.....

You are too weak, you will be taken into the pocket word of the time dilation artifact to train in 3...2...1"

With that, Kailen dissapeared from the alleyway...