Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 72 Fate is...

"The… instructor is sparring with the Lowborn?"

"Pft, finally. I was getting uncomfortable with the guy. Just standing there with his military uniform like he's actually doing something."

"They should just ban Lowborns from attending the Academy altogether. Why are they even wasting resources with these people?"

"Stop it, they're people too. I don't understand why you would treat people like that!"

"You hear them, Trainee? No matter what you wear, you will always just be treated as a Lowborn."

"I hear them all the time, Sir."

"Hm…"

The whispers of the students started to fill the training hall. Those who were previously sparring with their fellow trainees and those who were fighting with the skeletal machines all paused their training as soon as they saw their instructor and Rhys on one of the sparring mats.

"I am not going to go easy on you," the combat instructor started stretching as he stared at Rhys, "I want you to know that no matter how big you are, how much you train… you will never truly advance in this world. I have nothing against you, Trainee."

"Thank you for the consideration, Sir," Rhys nodded as he removed his military jacket, causing some of the students to scoff and jeer as they saw his crippled body.

"Look at him actually thinking he has a chance against the instructor."

"The instructor's probably just going to scare him. Good, I was getting uncomfortable with him here."

"You got that from action?" The combat instructor squinted his eyes as he glanced at Rhys's missing arm.

"Yes, sir," Rhys nodded as he raised his left hand and put up his guard.

"And you still want to enter this violent world?"

"With respect, sir…" Rhys slightly slid his foot forward as he pointed his slightly opened palm at the combat instructor,

"...I have probably been in this violent world longer than you."

"Smug…" The combat instructor smiled; his thick mustache almost poking his nose, "...Let's erase that!"

And with those words, the combat instructor rushed toward Rhys; his stance was extremely low as he brushed his palm on the floor. And as he did so, the floor started to crack, the debris following his hand like a magnet before forming into some sort of javelin, which he quickly threw at Rhys while still rushing toward him.

"..." Rhys just very slightly stepped to the side as the javelin seemed to be targeting his armless shoulder. And before the javelin could pass by him, he tapped the tip down, causing it to fly downward and pierce through the floor diagonally.

"!!!" The instructor, who was rushing toward Rhys, quickly halted his steps to prevent himself from hitting his own face with the hilt of the javelin he threw. Sadly for him, before he could fully stop himself, Rhys suddenly crouched down and extended his leg — casually tripping him.

"Wh…" The instructor held his breath as he quickly hopped; the floor beneath his right foot, being pushed up by the floor, basically throwing him up. And as he spun in the air to try and regain his balance, he saw Rhys adjusting the javelin stuck on the floor so he would hit it on the way down,

"This… kid."

A smile quickly crawled on the instructor's face as he just kicked away the javelin, almost hitting a trainee. He was able to land cleanly on the floor, but as he was about to get up, he noticed that Rhys was pointing his finger at him.

"You have already died, Sir," Rhys quietly whispered, not letting any of the trainees hear his words.

"...I can tank a bullet," the instructor smirked as he looked up at Rhys.

"Not this one, Sir," Rhys shook his head.

"...Which branch did you say you served?" The combat instructor could really only just let out a small sigh as he stood up and collected himself.

"The Underworld Corps, Sir," Rhys stood up straight as he addressed the instructor.

"No wonder," the instructor sighed as he stretched his hand to Rhys, "I also served in the Surface Army. I heard you Underworld Corps are tough motherfuckers, I didn't know that also includes… well, forgive me for saying, but people like you. What did you do there, Private?"

"Odd missions, Sir," Rhys saluted, "...And I am a Staff Sergeant, Sir."

"..." The instructor batted his eyes several times as he looked at Rhys. And then, after a few seconds, he turned to look at Rhys's jacket which was neatly folded on the floor, only for his eyes to widen as he quickly stood up straight,

"Ed…Edwin Gonzales, Sir!" The instructor quickly saluted, "Sorry for not addressing you earlier!"

"It's… fine. At ease…" Rhys quickly gestured to Edwin to lower his hand, but Edwin refused to do so as he took a step back.

"What… just happened?" And of course, the other trainees could really only just look at each other as they watched this scene, completely confused and utterly bewildered. Before any of them could whisper to each other, however, Edwin quickly told them to continue their training; his voice, extremely strict and stern.

"Sir…" This stern voice, however, was nowhere to be heard as he looked at Rhys,

"...Please, follow me."

***

"You Underworld Corps really are built different. I mean, wow."

Rhys and Edwin were now outside the training hall, with Edwin holding a cup of coffee as his back was resting on the wall; the two of them, just casually having a conversation as if they have been friends for a long time,

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but are you sure you're a—"

"Yes, I'm a Lowborn," Rhys shook his head, gesturing he didn't mind at all. Edwin was going to hand him a cigarette, but he quickly refused.

"You're not in some type of special mission…?" Edwin squinted his eyes.

"No, I'm just doing this to become an Explorer," Rhys let out a small chuckle.

"Really…? The Army has better benefits. Of course, you can't really get rich unless you deal with the politics of it all," Edwin sighed as he winced, "Don't worry about attending the classes anymore, I'm signing your form."

"Is… that alright?"

"Yeah, psh," Edwin lit up a cigarette as he shook his head, "We look out for each other, brother. Everyone thinks they can become an Explorer when they haven't even set foot in hell. Honestly, as much as Lowborns die, us Commoners do too once we go down there. It's just… life, man."

"Is it hard? Becoming an Explorer?" Rhys asked as the air became slightly somber.

"Only hard when you want to earn the good shit," Edwin blew out the smoke from his lungs, "I'm not earning the good shit so I'm all of this Academy crap, wife's suddenly pregnant too. Want to see?"

"N—" And before Rhys could even refuse, Edwin already took out his phone and showed him a photo of an ultrasound, "That's… nice."

"Bullshit, I don't see anything," Edwin laughed as he started panning the photos, "Wife's been showing me this telling me she's 2 months along or something. Look, this is her…

…my Elizabeth. She's an Explorer like me and she's down there right now."

"...Elize?" Rhys could really only hold his breath as he stared at the familiar face being shown to him… and he could really only imagine her with a hole in her head.

"...Don't get all familiar with her now," Edwin quickly hid the phone back in his pocket, "Anyway, where's your form? Just let me sign it so we can get you out here. But don't actually go to the Association yet, wait until…"

The Fates, they say, are playful.

…But they never said they were this playful.