THEIR PASTS

"Whoa, is this the training room?" Ren exclaimed.
Blue tiles were arranged in a regular manner. The ceiling was made of black marble. It was a long, empty room. It was in perfect condition, as if it were not in much use.

Ren noticed Shar and Damian, standing at the far end of the room. Their clothes were slightly torn with many bruises.
Dacoria and Philomena walked ahead with Ren following after them.

Philomena glanced at Ren, "I will continue the lecture, then we can do some training."
Dacoria sighed, "You are always such a grandma, let him fight us."
"He cannot fight you guys," she gently patted his head.

“Well, let me recap what I told you, manoid gives powers. Powers are of two types, namely: specie-orientated and obvious powers. Philomena looked at Dacoria and Shar, who were now sitting on Damian.

Ren kept a straight face, trying his best to ignore their antics. “So, um, you told me that obvious powers can be used by anyone.”

Philomena turned to him, “Yes, whatever is the specie-orientated power, with increase in your power grade, you will unlock obvious powers.”
Why is there so much to understand? I can’t keep up.
Ren let out a sigh, “So what are grades?”

“He knows nothing!” Shar laughed out.
“Yeah, cause I just came recently,” Ren added sarcastically.
“Still no excuse!” Dacoria shouted out, laughing.
“I am doing my best trying to understand, okay, so just leave me alone,” Ren snarled.
Philomena patted him, “and you are doing a great job, just ignore these guys.”

Damian got up, “Philomena, you don’t need to be this nice.”
She smiled at him. His breath hitched, he turned a whole red and went away.
“I think he likes you,” Ren recalled all his reactions.

“I know,” Philomena giggled, “well, there are 5 grades of power, with each grade user becomes capable of using newer obvious powers.”
Ren added, “like games, where with each level you unlock new powers.”
Philomena smiled, unable to understand what he meant, “Yes, like that.”

Dacoria pulled Ren down, “and you are on grade 0.”
Damian chuckled, “weakling.”
Philomena sighed, “Everyone starts from grade 0.”
Ren sat on the floor, blankly, “Why must I be this weak?”
Dacoria patted him, “It's okie, at 0 you can still use your specie-orientated power”
Ren sighed, “What is your grade?”
Dacoria laughed out smugly, “I am 5, the highest”
Ren bent down in a bow.

“We all are on 5,” Damian stared at him, “so bow us too!”
“Quit it,” Philomena shouted. Her eyes twitched, “Quit overwhelming the poor kid, go sit in the corner!”
The three got up and did so.

“You sure know how to tackle them.”
Ren noticed she stood with a red aura, but turning to him, it changed into glitter.
“Yes, years of training”

Ren sighed, “Will training increase my grade?”
“Yes, the more you train, the more you gain control over your manoid. You can enhance the quality and quantity of your manoid, making it easy to use obvious powers.”
“Well, the grades-“ Ren was cut short by Philomena. “Ren, grades don’t matter.”
Dacoria yelled out, “They do, dummy!”
Philomena glared at him.
Dacoria smiled blankly, “Yes, they don’t.”

“Grades are just there to know how many obvious powers a person can use. But if you get full control over specie-orientated powers, that is more than enough to take down a strong opponent.” Philomena tried her best to sound optimistic, but how could her words carry weight?
She is in 5th grade herself. Ren sighed in exhaustion when Sen came to his mind.
“What is Sen’s grade?”

All of them looked at each other.
Did I ask something wrong?
Shar began giggling. “He is a weakling, he is on 1.5, right?”
Dacoria thought for a while, “I think he is even weaker.”
“He is on 2.75,” Philomena answered.
Can’t be…..
“Increasing in grade isn’t as easy as you were assuming,” Damian sighed.

Philomena sighed, “Mostly, star awesome members aren’t too interested in training, so they haven’t increased in grades.”
“Why, isn’t isekai all about becoming stronger in a better world? Isn’t it about becoming the strongest?” Ren shouted.
“This isn’t a better world,” Shar thought for a while, “I mean, I am strong, but I loved my previous life way more.”
“Dude, you were killed by a vehicle.” Damian laughed
“Yes, I was hit by a stupid truck,” Shar huffed, “And on the day I had a date.”
That’s actually sad.

“Shar, you were going on a date to tell that person that you were a boy,” Damian chuckled.
“Yeah, and pop his dreamy bubble,” Shar laughed out.

Ren glanced at the other three. “Um, so I was wondering, um, what were your lives like?”
Shar let out a laugh. “Damian had an even funnier death than mine.”
Damian pulled Shar’s hair. “Mine wasn’t funny at all.”
“It was,” Dacoria laughed.
Ren smiled nervously.
Damian looked at him. “So I was the only son of a monarch; my father was a great ruler.”
“I see,” Ren smiled
“My father killed everyone who defied him,” Damian spoke proudly.
“I see—“Ren sweated
“And we took over many kingdoms.”
Ren wiped his sweat.
“We had an enormous army which killed for us, especially whenever we were bored.”
What the hell?
“I wanted to be a ruler just like my father, but then the stupid civilians decided they wouldn’t be our dogs any longer.”
Ren kept nodding.
“So they started a rebellion and dethroned us.”
“and…”
“We were beheaded, since that was my father's and my favourite pastime.”
“hehe…” Ren giggled nervously
Damian laughed out, “But I ended up here, so now I can follow my idol’s teachings.”
Ren smiled. “Who's your idol?”
Damian looked at him with glittery eyes. “My father.”

Ren took a few steps away from him and looked at Dacoria. “So what happened to you?”
Dacoria stated, “I think I was hungry.”
Ren turned to Philomena for translation.
“He died of starvation.” Philomena patted Dacoria.
I was sure he must have tipped over and died.

“Philomena, what happened to you?”
“Me, I was sacrificed to the god we worshipped,” Philomena replied enthusiastically.
"O-oh," Ren stared dumbfounded. "That's heavy."
“I was raised for this sacrifice; that was my dream,” she was enthusiastic beyond words, “but unfortunately, I ended up here, but I am glad since I got a chance to live.” She smiled.
“Your people were dummmmmb.” Damian turned to her.
“I know,” Philomena giggled, "but traditions are worth dying for, and as I said, it was my dream."

Philomena looked at Ren. "How did you die?"
"I-I think I was shot," Ren recalled. 
"That's funny," Damian laughed.
That's not funny, but I'd rather not argue with this thing.
"It is..." Dacoria giggled. 
I'd rather not waste my time arguing about this one.
Wait....
"Did every star member die in their previous world?" Ren felt his heartbeat increase.
"As far as I know, yes."