"You all will be assigned to your various rooms tonight, then in 15 days, a test will be conducted to determine the strength of your abilities and runes".
A man in white T-shirt and army green trousers addressed the millions of newly recruited awakened individuals in a very wide, brightly lit Hall.
Despite the millions of individuals that just came, the hall was still not crowded in fact, they looked rather scanty.
After the man finished addressing all of them, "and please change your clothes, you look terrible" He said.
Everyone looked at each other in confusion, murmuring amongst themselves before a girl slowly raised her hands "um... S- sir, aren't we already in new clothes? "
"I was talking to him" the man said without specifying who he was talking to.
"And don't call sir... Call me Christmas"
"Y- yes sir... I understand"
Those who were close to utsuro immediately knew who Christmas was talking to. After all, utsuro was the only odd one out.
The awakened individuals had changed the moment they woke up in the ship after they were picked up but utsuro on the other hand, was unconscious for 14 days straight which was more than half of the journey to heaven so, he had no chance to change.
Utsuro sustained serious life threatening wounds in the previous battle. If not for the awakened healers, he would probably be dead by now but, like most awakened healers, they could only heal one's physical state, not mental so, utsuro still felt like shit.
He felt like he wanted to collapse right there and then but he definitely wasn't ready for the attention.
A few moments later as utsuro was led to his room, he immediately slumped on the large, soft bed as his pillows seduced him into a deep sleep.
Utsuro woke up and looked out his window, it was nighttime. He couldn't help but wonder if he slept for just a few minutes because, if he remembered correctly, he slept by nighttime.
He looked at the digital timer on the stylish, decorated table. It was 12:53, and he slept by 1:20. He had slept for almost 24 hours straight.
Utsuro got up from the bed and went to the bathroom and in a few minutes he was back out with water all over his body and a towel wrapped around his waist. He opened the wardrobe and proceeded to wear anything... Anything at all. As usual, he left his hair unkempt... Well... In the past he didn't really use to have a choice, so he was used to it.
Utsuro walked the hallway in silence before branching in the former Hall where all the new recruits were addressed. He looked left, right, then up in amazement. The ceiling of the Hall was so high it felt unreachable.
Every nook and cranny, even the bathrooms and toilets were coated with gold with only some things linings on the wall coated silver for decoration. It was magnificent.
"Hello little fighter" A voice rang from behind, utsuro's eyes widened in shock, and he froze for a moment. There was only one person who had called him that name.
Utsuro turned around to be met with fierce eyes he had met before and a big, sturdy, muscular stature that he found familiar.... It was Barney.
"What are you doing here? " Utsuro asked "Sheesh, not the type of welcome I expected" Barney replied
"Well, I just came to tell you that I'll be you protector for the time being"
"Sooo, you want to protect me? " Utsuro asked confused.
"Nope, I was assigned to guide you" Barney corrected
Barney then turned around and started to leave "lesson starts in two days" Barney said in a raised voice from the distance.
Utsuro wondered what position Barney was in Haven. Well, that was story for another day.
Utsuro proceeded to explore more of this fascinating infrastructure, walking the halls in silence. He felt a sharp pain in his head, it wasn't because of exhaustion. He was used to being in dark spaces, it made him feel hidden and it made his eyes more comfortable but, Haven was the exact opposite of dark. Light was everywhere, even in the night.
The second reason was simple, there were just too many faces to register. It was torturous.
"Hey bro, wait for me!!!" Just as utsuro was deep in thought, a loud voice from behind woke him up from his train of thoughts.
Utsuro turned around to be met with the smiling, chubby face of Marcus and couldn't help but say "you really didn't have to shout" "Sorry" Marcus apologized
"I saw what you did in the desert back there bro, it was amazing. You totally rocked" Marcur said, expecting a response or reaction but, he was rewarded with silence... Just silence.
"By the way, you still haven't told me your name" Still, silence... Again.
As they walked, utsuro stopped and looked forward for a few minutes before he turned back and started to walk away.
"Where are you going bro? " Marcus asked confused.
"It's a dead end" Utsuro replied "No it's not." Marcus corrected before quickly walking to a mark on the floor. There were different symbols and ancient scribblings in another language.
The symbols formed a circle, containing a pearl shaped mark inside it.
Marcus stepped into the ring, as he called it and closed his eyes. He then circulated his aura throughout his body and then infused it in the symbols through his feet making the ring give out a golden glow.
"C'mon, these only work if there is an even number of ascenders. Get over here dude. "
Utsuro agreed and slowly and calmly walked towards the ring. As he entered the ring, nothing happened but when he blinked closing his eyes, and opened them, they were in a different environment entirely.
They were still in Haven, they were in a corridor. A corridor that formed a circle with railings on the edge to guide people from falling, they were on the second floor.
The second floor was about 300 meters high from the first floor. Utsuro held the railings and looked down "just how tall is this infrastructure" Utsuro couldn't help but think.
Well the second floor was just a circular balcony that rounded the interior of Haven with transperent glass in the middle that covered the space in the middle of the balcony leading to the first floor to prevent people from falling.
"Cool right? " Marcus said "teleportation is the best!!! "
When utsuro used to hear as the other slaves talked about teleportation, he used to think it involved loud and crazy effects but now that he had personally experienced it himself, he realized that it was the complete opposite, like a glitch in an online game when internet is bad. One moment you're there, and the next, you're not.
...
After spending the entire day exploring Haven, utsuro and marcus went back to their rooms in exhaustion.
Utsuro lay on the bed thinking of how far he had cone. Even though it wasn't that far to some people, to someone like him, it was pretty far. Afterall, he was once just a petty slave who was being sold out for money in an underground slave cavern unknown to the world.
Utsuro decided to put all of that behind him and work towards his new life. As for what the future held, he didn't know but he would enjoy his life from now on. After all this was a new beginning.
The usually rational utsuro somehow overlooked the fact that not everything is completely pure, completely forgetting that no matter how safe he thought Haven was, he was still an out cast.
Meanwhile, in utsuro's comfort, an elite group of individuals scheme against him.
"He's the one... The one who has been flaged. We cannot tolerate such embarrassment... Such disgrace in Haven"
"Shall we propose to the supreme head? "
"No... The supreme head would not agree to the council's proposal"
"Then shall we eliminate him? "
"I suggest we do it discreetly"
"Shall we throw him into the void? "
"I don't suggest that. We tried many times and it worked but, someone once survived."
"That bastard survived!! "