Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Some of the new recruits walked over to Alphonse as they greeted him while others looked at him with slight fear, afraid of being associated with him. Alphonse looked around at the people in the hall. Everyone looked to be around his age.

“That was fucking awesome back there, man!” A tall young man with an uncomfortable amount of exuberance sporting a buzz cut slapped him on his shoulder. “The name’s Dillan. Nice t’meet you.” He shot his hand forwards. It looked like he wouldn't take no for an answer. His stupid smile made Alphonse want to laugh.

“Alphonse, likewise.” Alphonse shook his rough hands.

Dillan looked happy to make another friend as he gathered around a few people.

“Let me introduce you.” he pointed to a short young man, he was fidgeting with his fingers. "This here is Marcel. He’s damn smart. He makes it sound like it, anyway.” Dillan laughed.

Alphonse clasped the clammy hands of Marcel. "It's nice to meet you Marcel." Alphonse gave off his usual fake smile. Hopefully, it's enough to convince them. Alphonse thought, as Marcel nodded with a nervous smile. Seems like an introvert, although I prefer that to a loudmouth like Dillan, I suppose.

Marcel wanted to open his mouth to talk, but he took his time, so Dillan interjected.

He then moved onto a girl with short hair and tanned skin. “This is Ellena.” Dillan leaned in closer to Alphonse as his voice turned into a whisper. “Careful, she has quite the temper.” He winked and then Ellena got into a boxing stance and sent a straight punch straight to his arm as he winced in pain.

“I liked your courage back there. Any lesser man would have bowed down and taken the abuse.” Ellena’s hand pushed forwards in respect, Alphonse noticed scars covering her knuckles. Is she a boxer? The thought struck Alphonse. He had seen those kinds of hands before from a certain boxer on TV. He looked closer at her ears and his suspicion was correct. Small deformities covered both of her ears because of extensive hand-to-hand combat.

“Thanks, Ellena. Although I snapped a little.” Alphonse's eyes twitched at the comment, but his smile remained as he clasped her tough hand.

“You say that as if you wouldn’t do the same, Ellena.” A pretty voice came from the last remaining girl. Her long golden hair flowed down her shoulders, her slender fingers also moved forwards for a handshake.

“Hi Alphonse, I'm Isobelle. How did your wounds recover so fast?” Her inquisitive eyes gazed at him as she asked a question straight away.

“Ha, honestly, I'm not too sure myself. I just woke up and most of my wounds were… restored?” Alphonse shook his head. He was also curious. I hope I can get my hands on whatever they sorcery they used, restoring all of my wounds... How useful. The thought made him giddy with excitement.

“Well, I guess we’ll find out eventually. After all, that’s not exactly the weirdest thing that has happened.” Marcel’s shaky voice finally sounded out. It was true, status pages, attributes, a weird colossal spaceship the size of a city and… death.

“We just need to accept it for now, no point stressing over something we can’t control.” Isobelle responded as her fingers swirled around her hair.

I'm different there, Isobelle. It's exactly because I can't control it, I stress. Alphonse thought.

“So, what are everyone's traits?” Isobelle's eyes lit up as she looked at everyone. “Does anyone have any skills?” She added with excitement.

“I have a trait called fighting amateur.” Ellena spoke up. Alphonse looked at her fists and his guess rang true.

“What does that do?”

“It uhh…” Ellena’s eyes became absentminded, obviously focusing on her stats, then continued. “It says that I can learn hand-to-hand combat techniques faster than the average person.”

“You totally forgot, didn’t you?” Dillan teased before ducking behind Alphonse at the sight of her fist.

They then went round in a circle as they told each other what their traits were. Marcel had the Bookworm trait, able to read books faster, attributing to his studious lifestyle before arrival. Dillan had the Tough Skinned trait, able to absorb more damage. While Isobelle had the Accelerated Learning trait, she could learn things faster than average.

What the fuck, now I just feel useless. Alphonse lamented as everyone's eyes then fell upon him, the only one still yet to share.

Shit…

“I, uhh… can eat more than the average person.” Alphonse said, as everyone looked at him with wide eyes. Dillan was the first on one to break out in laughter as the others soon joined in.

“You won’t be laughing when I eat all of your food.” Alphonse puffed his chest out as it only made the laughter worse.

"The seven—or whatever they were called, why do you think they brought us here? I mean, they say we will fight for them... It makes little sense, right?" Isobelle said what everyone was thinking, and they all grew serious, their smiles wiped from their faces.

"It wasn't the seven..." Marcel's faint voice was heard as the others looked over at him as he continued. "I mean, you saw and heard the voice inside our head. It's just a guess but, I don't think they have anything to do with it." Alphonse looked at him but he only had more questions needing answered.

"Then... the voice brought us here and the Seven are forcing us to fight?" Alphonse said, his eyes resting on Marcel.

Marcel shook his head. "I can't possibly know. It's just me throwing around guesses. But one thing is for sure, if we piss off the wrong people here... they will kill us." Only silence remained as it rooted them to the spot. A siren-like bell sound that filled the entire barracks interrupted their thoughts. The screeching like bell forced everyone up onto their feet.

“What’s that?” Alphonse watched as everyone left.

“That’s the sound of dinner, Alphonse.” Dillan rubbed his stomach.

At the mention of dinner, Alphonse’s ears perked up as he excitedly followed behind everyone else, shoving those dark thoughts to the back of his mind.

After a long walk and an elevator lift, they soon made it to the canteen area. It was huge, comprising multiple floors for the different classes and soldiers.

Marcel took out his D.S.D and looked at the seating plan for the different personnel. “Our canteen is on the 5th floor.”

They all made their way to the 5th floor, but there were quite a few eyes on Alphonse.

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Marcel looked at Alphonse. His hands fidgeted as he watched him walk.

“Alphonse, how are you unbothered by the attention? It seems like a lot of them are saying bad things.” Marcel’s eyes jittered around the hall as they made their way to the canteen elevators.

“Hmm. I just don’t give a shit what anyone thinks. That’s all there is to it.” Alphonse smiled at Marcel, Isobelle and Ellena’s eyes seemed to sparkle as they watched him walk forwards with his head held high.

“I’m jealous.” Marcel said as an unsure smile formed on his face.

Alphonse looked at Marcel. He wanted to say something to encourage him but… he didn’t know him enough to care.

Dillan looked around and glared at everyone. “Who dares talk shit about my friend?” he puffed out his enormous chest, his muscled pecs clearly visible through his shirt.

“Dillan, just leave it. There’s no point in troubling ourselves over trash. We’re not children.” Ellena was strangely the voice of reason as she calmed down Dillan.

Wow, I’m impressed. Alphonse thought. His lips turned into a slight smirk.

They soon reached their designated canteen. It looked like any other canteen in a school. A long line of a vast assortment of food filled one side of the hall. Heat lamps shone from above as it kept all the food nice and hot.

Alphonse’s footsteps hurried forwards as he grabbed the biggest plate he could find and rammed it full with food. It was so high it was threatening to fall. He had to hold a portion of it with his free hand. He looked at the dinner lady, his lips turning up into a cheeky grin. “Uh, this is okay, right?”

“Well, it’s all you can eat, I suppose.” The dinner lady smiled with amusement as she answered the young recruit.

Alphonse wandered to a free table with a smile on his face as he sat down and, without further ado, began devouring the colossal plate of food in front of him. The others looked at him in shock. How could such a skinny person inhale so much?

Soon the plate was empty, and another, and another. Three plates of food in total he had consumed and finally his stomach was full.

Isobelle lost her appetite as she watched the hungry ghost in front of her. She said, “Umm Alphonse, I don’t think the food is going anywhere.”

Alphonse shifted his eyes towards her, but continued eating. “We don’t know when we’ll be able to eat again.”

“At your rate, there won’t be any food left.” Ellena said, as everyone soon began laughing.

< Hunger trait has evolved into a skill, enter the status window to view the change. >

Alphonse’s eyes lit up at the sound of the voice inside his head. He had thought that was the last time he would hear it.

With a thought, his status page opened up.

[ Name Alphonse Khastal

Class: None

Traits: Hunger ( Evolution Trait )

Skills: Gourmet Extraction ( Gain a certain amount of attributes of the things you eat. Must be above a certain rank. )

Attributes:

Strength: 4.2

Dexterity: 7.3

Constitution: 5

Intelligence: 5

Wisdom: 6.2

Charisma: 3 ]

[ Thorned Boar consumed | 0.2 Strength added. ]

[ Blood Hawk consumed | 0.3 Dexterity added. ]

[ Blink Dog | 0.2 Wisdom added. ]

Alphonse felt a warmth enter his body. It was a strange sensation, but he could feel his body magically become stronger, lighter, and he could think a little more clearly.

What the… Nothing else will be a surprise, will it? Alphonse shook his head.

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