Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Decision (2)

It was early in the morning two days after the incident. A group of people comprising nuns and children were standing in front of the orphanage, bidding goodbye to the three children who decided to leave today.

"Are you guys sure about this?" Said Teresa to the three kids in front of her. The three were Jericho, Millie, and Fredrich. Each bought a bag that had all of their belongings inside, but since they didn't have that much other than a few sets of children's clothes and other personal belongings so they were all fairly light.

"It's ok sister Teresa, this was our decision, to begin with." Replied Millie to at least ease sister Teresa’s worries

"Yeah she's right! We did this because we wanted to, nothing more." Added Fredrich to support Millie’s words

Both Millie and Fredrich tried their all to assure the nun. They both had their reasons for why they wanted to join but at the end of the day, if Teresa didn’t approve of them leaving, they didn’t have the guts to argue otherwise. 

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After all the misunderstandings were cleared up yesterday and we all went back to the orphanage, Teresa discussed everything with the nuns and decided to leave the decision of leaving to the children.

I was of course given the responsibility of relaying what had happened to the children hiding in the shed. After hearing what I had to say, those who had some awareness were able to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted to go with me or stay here.

But among all of us, only 6 were of suitable age to join, with the rest being too young to go. The nuns also wouldn't allow them to go even if they wanted to so that was that.

Of the 6 however, only 3 were willing to go, surprising me greatly.

"Orson?"

"I'm sorry guys…. Although I'm sure that it will be fun… I have enough 'excitement'. I just want to stay here and live a normal life you know? And besides, who is gonna take care of these little runts if all 4 of the oldest decide to leave?"

"…Ors- "

"Don't worry Fred, I won't regret this, I'm plenty satisfied with where I am already."

"…fine."

Ending it with that, the three who decided to join left the next morning to meet the visitors waiting in a clearing outside of the orphanage. To truly qualify, a clearing test was to be held by Ken and the other two to check if the children were really worth taking. On the way to the testing site, Millie decided to ask a question she has been dying to ask.

"What about you Jer?" (Millie)

"Hm?"

"I mean, you seem to be the most eager out of all of us to join, why's that?"

"Yeah, yeah, I wanna ask that too." (Fred)

Being suddenly confronted by their questioning, I gave out the reason I painstakingly thought of yesterday. 

"I believe that strength and influence will be very important for the days to come, joining this organization of theirs is the fastest way I can think of for me to gain that." 

"Hmmm...I see.” Said Millie “But even so, I’ve known you for a while now and with that personality yours, I’m sure"

"As I said before, I need to gain strength now to have a better chance at survival in the future, that's all."

"Hmmm…. That isn't enough of a reason-"

"Millie Adolf." I was starting to get annoyed so I ended up glaring at Millie, making her stop the questioning.

"I'm sorry..." she said in a meek voice while turning away from me. Seeing her act like that made me feel extremely guilty so I immediately tried explaining myself. 

"…. Don't be, I should be the one apologizing. I got irritated because even I don't know the clear reason why I'm doing this as well… Sorry for lashing at you."

I couldn’t bring myself to tell them the real reason why I was doing this. the fact that I received a 0 in ambition. What I want to achieve, even I’m starting to doubt myself on that. I tried asking the other kids my age who received gifts of their own about their ambitions and I’ve concluded that it can be anything really. Like wanting to get a toy or wanting to be adopted, as long as I’ve shown a desire for it, no matter how insignificant it was, it still should’ve shown in the panel.

And yet 0, that was all I got. Although I’m quite thankful for it because of the gift I received, I couldn’t help but worry, worry that once again I was not like the rest.

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Hearing my apology Millie apologized too "It's fine, I’m sorry too, I was being too nosy even though you clearly didn’t want to answer.” She then added, “But remember this, we are family, if you’re still not ready to talk about it then I won’t force you, but do know one thing, we will always be on your side.”

“...Thank you.” Just those words alone managed to calm me down, I was truly grateful for her maturity at times like these, it reminds me once more that she’s the oldest of the orphans. But then I remembered the tragic reason why she became so mature so even though unintentionally, I ended up feeling bad 

With the mood turning better, the walk continued peacefully. Although Fred did complain about how he was ignored throughout the conversation, we both knew he was only trying to lighten the mood,

As we made our way outside and became closer to the clearing we began hearing a familiar voice, as the silhouette of a red-haired man waving his arms around in the air was becoming visible. "Oh, they’re here, they’re here!" exclaimed Jake to his subordinates. 

Arriving at the planned location the 3 children saw 3 men dressed in black slim suits. They were the uninvited visitors who came to recruit them, and the very same three men who got their asses handed to them by Teresa. Jake, Kendrick, and Des.

"Ok then let me make this short so that we can finish this as quickly as possible, my name is Kendrick and I will be your main proctor for the test. I have a gift called [Gift Observation] that allows me to know the gifts of those my right eye sees so all we’re testing today will be your proficiency."

"!?" 

{What! then...he already knows about my gift? No wonder he was so generous when it came to accepting my favor.}
Seeing the alert look I had on my face, Kendrick approached me with a smile and whispered in my ear.

"I've heard from sister Teresa that your hiding your gift, although I do think that you're just being overly cautious, it is a good mindset to have so I won't be saying anything to the others just yet."

"…"

"All right then, let’s get right to it, why don't we have the pretty lady go first?" asked Kendrick

Following his suggestion, Millie didn’t hesitate at all and went in front of the three men. “Begin” receiving the signal her hair glowed as she started activating her gift.

Although not to the same extent as Jericho, she was among the kids who consistently trained her gift along with her stamina during her free time. This allowed her to do more with her gift now, miles apart from when she was barely able to light a ball fire.
Summoning a small flame in front of her, she controlled that flame to form a circle that went around her body like a hula hoop, it was a showmanship of her increased control and stamina, impressing the three men before her.

Along with seeing her gift firsthand, Ken also removed his eyepatch to get a better understanding of her gift's abilities. What he saw made him smile from ear to ear with joy.

"[Fire Bender], Jackpot! Among the hundreds we’ve seen so far hers is among the best." (Ken)

"Really? If I remember correctly, didn't we manage to recruit some kids with the ability to control elements as well?" pondered Jake

"Those two had [water barrier] and [wind cutter] respectively, although highly valuable gifts, one is mainly for defensive purposes while the other is for attacking. It’s stated here that her gift gives her full control of the fire around her while also giving her the ability to create fire from nothing. In terms of overall power and versatility, Millie's gift is on a whole nother level compared to theirs." (Ken)

"An ability to create and control flames huh makes me jealous." (Jake)

"And her natural talent as well... I know of a few adults who possess elemental-type gifts like hers, but believe me when I say that in terms of control, only a few could ever come close to her." (Des)

"Although the output could've been better, considering her age and current stamina this is already more than satisfactory, Millie Adolf, congratulations you pass." (Ken)

"hah..hah…hah. Thank you." Although she tried to hide it, a smile could be seen on her lips

Looking at a piece of paper with our names on it, Kendrick called out to the next participant "Next, Fredrich."

Hearing his name, Fred immediately went in front and energetically said "H-Here~!?" But his voice ended up bending at the end which made everyone in the area struggle to keep their laughs from going out

“Pfft...”

“Awawawa” Fred’s face started turning red from embarrassment and we ended up wasting a few minutes trying to encourage him to throw the ball

“Haha, what a funny kid.” Due to Fred’s funny outburst just now, the stupor of the trio from watching Millie manipulate fire died down. However, they could only let out a frozen smirk as Fredrich throws a rubber ball with speeds reaching roughly 170 km/hr.

 

Author's Notes:

If you re-read the chapters you can notice that I removed the horrible spacing, I hope that this makes it better for you guys

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