Free Web NovelChapter 13: An Adventure!
[Loading Map ...1%]
The warm smile on Lucien’s lips never faded as he gazed at the system screen.
But after a short while, he shook his head, washing away that infectiously bright and sunny smile as he breathed out softly.
Right. Focus. He had to focus on the execution of his plan. And that meant working on the next step while the map loaded.
Glancing at the camo-watch strapped to his wrist, Lucien noted the time. It was already [1:04 pm].
Great. He had at least six hours before he would set out to get dinner. Exactly six hours to gather any and every useful belongings that would aid Lucien and Michael on their journey to Sector 3.
Without wasting any more time, the young man took on a quick stride toward that one wooden table lapped to the wall at a corner of the small room.
Reaching for the table, he rummaged through the inner drawers.
’We won’t bring much stuff,’ he thought. ’Just the necessary things we might need on this trip. Things that won’t weigh us down.’ freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
Besides, they didn’t have much belongings to bring with them anyway. And the little they had, Lucien couldn’t afford to bring them with, because Prowlers were most active around sector borders. They might eventually need to evade those guys when they got there, and Lucien couldn’t imagine running with a shit load of–
’Focus! Stop thinking about useless stuff!’
Wonderful.
Lucien, hurriedly and frantically, searched through the drawer. And after a while, he brought out a large, brown, leather backpack and a small sack.
"Perfect," he whispered, raising the two items to eye-level.
Memories thrummed in his mind as he gazed at the items, a rather fond smile surfacing on his lips. These two items had been what a 19-year-old Lucien had escaped from the orphanage with, bringing Mikky with him. The items had held his belongings as he fought to escape the bleak walls of that orphanage — to stride into a wider world that he now fully understood...
[Map Loaded ...100%]
The map came into view, disrupting Lucien’s sight of the sack and backpack.
He frowned.
But his frown quickly dissolved as he gazed at the blue screen.
It was painted with vast landscapes, on which tiny letters hovered, identifying regions, areas, and the names of most places.
And above a small building in a dark section of the map, Lucien, once again, saw his signature.
It was a green signal, hovering silently, indicating where he currently was.
Zerozone-sector 5. The dark landscape was meshed together with the seven other dark sectors on the map. Together, they were seen as the seven zerozone-sectors of Stronghold Mariva.
See, Strongholds were like... countries in this world, Lucien remembered. But they weren’t complete sovereignities, as the Union, the world’s government, was still the one that appointed the leaders of every single Stronghold on all five continents in the world.
Lucien kept caressing his chin as he studied the map.
They were currently in the Rosegold Continent. The 2nd-ranked continent. Lucien still didn’t understand why the hell they even ranked the continents, as there were only five of them in the world.
Damn Union.
Anyway, in the novel, Rosegold was seized by Michael years from now.
It was also the continent where the first whispers of rebellions against The Union were sparked around the time when people first began awakening.
Lucien shrugged.
’This whole thing still feels surreal.’
Of course it did.
This Earth was completely different from the one he was used to. Hell, in the big cities of the Strongholds, they even had more advanced technology than that of his former world!
Smiling, Lucien allowed himself to enjoy this for a while — to please both sides of himself he often kept hidden; the webnovel fanboy and the deep otaku. And, needless to say, those parts of him were greatly pleased by this entire situation. freeweɓnovel.cøm
After all, it wasn’t every day one got to transmigrate into their favorite novel.
Abandoning the reveling, Lucien gazed at the red signal hovering above an area in the dark sections of Mariva’s landscape.
On the map, it was just a little bit farther away from Lucien’s green signal. But Lucien knew better, because in reality, they were hours away.
Amira’s signal hovered above Zerozone-sector 3, above a small facility known as—
He squinted his eyes, reading the letters.
—The Cerulean Orphanage.
Lucien’s gaze turned cold as he glared at the letters that spelled out the orphanage name.
And, subconsciously, without even realizing it, his fists slowly curled into a ball, blood circulating through his veins at unchecked speed, causing his breath to quicken, heartbeat tracking off rhythm as he clenched his teeth. Hard.
It was that damn orphanage. That same ’orphanage’ that ruined Amira from the very beginning, sending her spiraling down into the pits of a raging storm...
Eyes widened immediately, and the bubbling heat that’d crawled its way through Lucien’s heart instantaneously dwindled.
He breathed out.
Shit it. What was that emotion? It felt like it was something more than anger.
Shaking his head, Lucien reoriented himself.
"There’s no time for this."
He had to prepare quickly. Amira was currently... suffering. He had to be swift with this.
Lucien quickly pushed aside the still-hovering map. He would load it tomorrow, when it was about time to set out.
With that out of the way, he resolved himself and began storming through his house, gathering every single thing he deemed useful to both their incoming trip and to his seething, bubbling, decades-spanning plan.
***
The next morning came faster than Lucien would’ve liked to admit.
But regardless, it was welcome.
He’d spent the whole of yesterday preparing both mentally and physically for this trip, making adjustments to his plan, simulating scenarios and preparing backups, and, more importantly, clearing his house of every single important, useful stuff.
The result of everything was a nearly tidy house, a full backpack and an even more filled-up sack.
That dull half-moonlight that always illuminated the world before dawn lazily made its way through the lone window in Lucien’s room, highlighting the place.
It shone on squeaky clean tiles, on Lucien’s well-dressed bed, on the walls, and... well, that was it. The other stuffs were still there. That rusting fridge, that stove, that wardrobe, the white plastic door to Mikky’s room. They were still intact.
Lucien sighed, almost feeling bad for running away from this house just a few weeks before the rent was due, but shit it. He’d had enough rent problems for one lifetime. In fact, according to Lucien’s plans, there was NO paying of rent for him for the rest of his life.
A warm smile bloomed on his lips as he adjusted the heavy backpack strapped to his back.
He wore a light brown t-shirt today, and a pair of black loose pants that made running easy. His camo-watch was still strapped to his wrist, on which the time showing [4:30 am] sat right next to a countdown timer that reminded Lucien of the time he had left until Eden struck.
Tightly grasping Lucien’s palm was Mikky. He was dressed in black shorts and an oversized white shirt. The black-haired boy, with his blue, glistening eyes, was looking up at Lucien, a hesitant, tired look on his face. He’d been awakened earlier than normal, evidenced by the way he yawned.
’Should I have let him sleep some more?’ Lucien thought, worried. But soon after, he shook his head. ’No, we have to leave now.’
They both stood in front of the door.
And as Lucien outstretched his palm toward the doorknob to open the door, he paused, feeling the weight of what he was about to do. His hand trembled slightly, and he hesitated.
This journey he was about to embark on...
This step he was about to take...
It would change his life forever. Change five lives forever. And, perhaps, it would change the person Lucien was.
Chuckling at the scope of it all, Lucien took in a deep breath, reaching for the doorknob.
And he opened the door.
"Uh... so, Luci, where did you say we’re going with all this stuff again?" Mikky asked, tugging on Lucien’s backpack.
They both walked out of the house, watching the world slowly break into dawn.
’Load Map.’
He grasped Mikky’s hand as the map loaded and expanded, showing him the perfect route to Sector 3. To Amira.
Lucien smiled, feeling his heartbeat surge.
"Kid," Lucien said. "We’re going on a wild adventure."
"Ohh!!" Mikky exclaimed. "An adventure!!"
