Chapter 13:

The Truth - Military School (Part 1)

Diary of Void: The Millennium War


This is a story from long ago. The war has just begun. Only the Cloud Empire and their arch-nemesis, the Pravlo Empire and their allies were in the war. All thought this would be a short war, no longer than a few decades. Instead, it became the deadliest and longest war in the history of the world. 

People wonder why the war started. And yet, no one knows the answer.

Capital City Blae, Cloud Empire, 300 Years Ago

As far as she can remember, she has always been here. Doing the same things over and over again, while also polishing her leadership, problem-solving, self-defence and knowledge. She was doing good in school, nothing terrible nor outstanding. She was just average. One day, a man came in contact with her. He was fascinated with her ability to think and problem-solve so quickly when he observed the school for promising students. He invited her to a meeting filled with experts, and professors from top schools in the city, and was given a test, with each of the invitees giving a question. 

To everyone's surprise, other than the man who invited the girl, she had answered everything correctly. All of the invitees acknowledged her to be worthy and gave her the hardest and the longest unsolved equation up to date. She solved the equation with ease. She was hailed as a genius afterwards with top universities and schools offering her a spot in one of their top classes with very generous bonuses. 

But she turned them all down. She just wanted to live a normal life. She joined the military 10 days after the Millennium War had started out of curiosity and because of her self-training and ability to commander other people effectively, she skipped the ranks of Cadet and Officer Cadet and instead became a Second Lieutenant. She commanded a squad and during her time as a second lieutenant, she would gain the trust of many and accomplished many achievements. This led her to be promoted to First Lieutenant then to Captain, Major, and it continued all the way to Lieutenant General, which is still her rank now. 

Who is this she? It's none other than Vula. Lieutenant General Vula. Or my twin sister. 

Entanian Alliance Northern Front HQ, Present Day

I sighed in front of a door. It was my dorm room. 

How did I end up like this? I wondered. 

Going back a few days, when I was (forcibly) dragged to the Entanian's HQ on the Northern Front, and was locked into a room. Every day since that was quite nice. They would drag me out of the room every day at around 8 am sharp. Then, I was placed in an interrogation room with the same person who dragged me to the HQ, Hari. I found out that she was the rank of Lieutenant Colonel with the help of her subordinates reporting to her and stuff. 

But after a 4-hour interrogation in the morning, I was given some food and some time off. I was let into the garden to scroll around and do whatever I wanted. They would record every detail of what I do there, then some more interrogation on light and quite personal topics. Like favourite foods, books, hobbies, etc. And after all that, I was free for the rest of the day. They will give me some food at night and that's my life for the past few days.

And finally, after a week of this process, I was suddenly told that I was given a room in the HQ's dormitory and was told to stay there until the top dog of them, the Lieutenant General comes back from Touimai. So I was sent to the dormitory and a key with room number 500. 

And I don't know where Heodia was been in the past week but from the looks of it... she's been enjoying herself. 

"Long time no see, Void!" she sarcastically said when she saw me walking down the hall. 

"Yes, hello..." I replied. 

"So? How was the experience if I may ask?" 

"Not bad at all. I got to roam around for a few hours a day and the interrogation process wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." 

"I see, I see. So, you're free now?" 

"Yes, but technically speaking, no. I have to meet the soldier's superior, the feared Lieutenant General Vula." 

"Hmm. Alright. I understand. Well, I got some things to do right now, so I'll see you later. Get some rest or goof around." 

"Okay. See ya." I said to Heodia as she walked away. 

I looked at the door, which was surprisingly plain. Even by my standards. It got no fancy engravings like most of the doors in the Entanian HQ, and only had a simple room number. 

Room 268 huh. Still have a couple more hundred rooms to go...

I continued walking down the hallway, walking past a few soldiers living in the dormitory. They paid me no mind though, so I think that they got an order or message about my situation and told them not to do anything against me. 

Well, if that's the case, many thanks, kind person who ordered that. 

As I got closer to my assigned room, the more male soldiers I came across and fewer female soldiers. I don't know why this is occurring. Maybe most of the female soldiers live between floors 2 and 3? That would be the most likely case in my opinion. 
Those thoughts were proven wrong as soon as I arrived on the 5th floor. 

"Man, do they have an elevator here?! Climbing these stairs are tiring!" I exclaimed. 

"Yes, they do have elevators here. They are on the far sides and the middle of each floor. Maybe you have missed them since the stairs are closer?" someone answered. 

I looked up and saw a female soldier..? She was wearing a red schoolish uniform with a red skirt and a small red bowtie with a white outline. White knee-high stockings* with brown leather school shoes gave her a feeling of 'youngness'. Her light blue (almost white but with a tint of blue) hair was around mid-back length and her silver eyes gave her a sense of mystery. 

I did not know if she was a soldier or a lost student/trainee but this deep into the Entanian HQ's dormitory, a lost student is highly not possible. 

"Uhh-" 

"I know what you may be thinking but I'm a soldier. I'm Shizuko. Shizuko Sukan. I'm usually quite quiet, but since joining the military as a soldier, my confidence has grown. Nice to meet you!" she said, with a joyful smile on her face. 

"Ah, I see. You read my mind. Well, nice to meet you, Miss Sukan. I'm Void. I got assigned room 500. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything more than that." I replied. 

"Nah, it's fine. I won't force you to share your private matters. And also, just call me Shizuko. I don't mind it." Shizuko answered and extended her arm. 

"Thanks," I said, giving her a handshake. "And nice to meet you too, Shizuko." 

After I had met Shizuko, she invited me over for some tea and snacks for us to get to know each other better. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, I humbly accepted. 
I found out that she was from room 499, the one right next to mine. I asked her some questions and she will answer them. Then, she will ask me some questions and I will answer them. Those were the rules we followed. I found out a lot about Shizuko and had many things in common. She also has 2 other sisters, the oldest, Sakura Sukan, and the youngest, Ikou Sami Sukan. As for her youngest sister, she was adopted by the Sukan family when the Sami family, a close family friend of theirs suddenly went bankrupt. 

That is why she's the only one with a middle name (Ikou's last name became her middle name after getting adopted by the Sukan family), she explained. 

"Well, I have answered a few questions of yours, so it's my turn." she said, eating some cookies. 

"Go ahead." 

She then proceeded to ask me some generic and normal questions like 'Where are you from', etc. And strangely, her last question for me was 'Are you male?'. 
Which I replied with yes. She actually had a shocked face when I answered but she prevented herself from asking any more questions since it was my turn again. 

I began to ask less personal questions, like what rank you are in the military, relationships, etc. 

This went back and forth until it got pretty late and I politely excused myself. She asked for my contact info before I left but I replied that I had none. So she gifted me her old phone and we (she) exchanged numbers. 

I left the room and went to my assigned room which I actually haven't even seen yet. I sighed, looked at the door and put the digital key into the lock and the door opened. 
I walked in and searched for the light switch with my hand. I did so until I remembered that Touimai was one of the few cities left in the world that still used the old classic light switch. So I made my hand into a palm and sure enough, a blue floating menu appeared. 

Hm. This is pretty cool. Now, where are the light settings?

I tapped around the menu, hitting every button I see before I saw a search bar where I can just type it in. 
I typed in 'Lights' and one option appeared. In the description, it told me where it was. 

"I better remember that next time huh. So it's home, basic needs, then light options." 

When I clicked on the light option button, a huge amount of settings appeared. There were settings for light colour, watt power, luminosity, and many more. But since I was uneducated about many things, I wouldn't understand much. So I decided to leave the settings on default and searched for the on and off buttons. 

"Ah, there it is," I said. "Created shortcut to home screen? Alright." 

When the lights turned on, I finally was able to see the interior of my room. It was nothing fancy at all. In fact, it was similar to Shizuko's room but blander. The bed was neatly made, and the temperature automatically decreased to fit my body's desired temperature. 

"Everything is so automated. It feels like I'm not needed to do anything." 

"I know right?" a familiar voice replied. 

I leapt in surprise. 

"Woah. Sorry about scaring you." 

I turn around to see Heodia and Shizuko standing in front of the door.

"Hello." Shizuko greeted.

"First Uto and now you, Heodia?!" 

She giggled. 
"Maybe." 

"So? What are you two doing here?" I asked. 

"Well, as friends now, I thought that it was good to spend some more time together, you know?" answered Shizuko. 

"But didn't we just have a bonding time just then?" 

"No, that was getting to know each other as strangers. And now we are friends now, let's spend some time together."

"Ugh. Fine," I answered. "But next time notify me!"  

"No need really. We are right next to each other already." 

"And for me, we are staying together in one dorm. Didn't they tell you that?" Heodia said. 

I sighed. 
"Alright fine, come in." 

"Yay!" Shizuko exclaimed, jumping onto the neatly made bed. 

"Oi! Don't do that!" 

"Why not?" 

"Cause you ruined the neatly made bed!" 

"So what?" she replied. "Sooner or later it's going to be made like this again. Or... is it that you have OCD?" 

"Ugh. I can't argue with that reply. And no, I do not have OCD." 

"Heheh. I win." 

"Oh yeah. Heodia?" 

"Hmm?" Heodia responded. 

"Do you guys know each other?" 

"No. We just bumped into each other in the hallway." 

"Then shall I introduce you guys to each other?" 

"Please do." Shizuko said, lying on the bed. She jumped onto her feet and approached Heodia. 

"So, Heodia, this is Shizuko, a friend I made recently. She's a trainee (Officer Cadet) in the military." 

"Nice to meet you!" she said. 

"And Shizuko, this is Heodia, an android and we were in a master-servant relationship before I gave her a name but now, we are best friends really." 

"Nice to meet you too." Heodia greeted back. 

When I finished introducing them to each other, Shizuko immediately called for a party. She called a restaurant located in the food court of the HQ and ordered some dishes. 

"What about the payment?" I worriedly asked. 

"Don't worry, I got it covered," Shizuko replied, pulling out a gold card. "We use this bad boy." 

With that, my worries were forgotten. Even with my limited education, I knew that a gold card means wealth. I actually have seen some people use it before the war reached Touimai. 

And so, after 15 minutes or so of waiting later, our order arrived. It was delivered straight to our doorsteps automatically. 

"Ooh. I should really thank you, Shizuko." 

"No worries! Building a strong relationship is a key factor for a long friendship," she replied. "So it's fine." 

"Well, if you say so." I said. 

Well, no point in trying to convince her anyway. She's the most stubborn person I know up to date. 

And unexpectedly, she also ordered some alcohol as well. I am indeed legal to drink alcohol but I don't. And since I basically never had alcohol before, my alcohol tolerance was extremely low. 

And I couldn't remember anything further than that. I think I got black out drunk or just collapsed after one glass. 

But when I woke up, it was the next morning and the room was actually quite tidy. I would expect stains on the carpet floor and rubbish all around the room but there was minimal of both. 
The biggest problem I faced was the headache from the hangover I had. My throat was dry as well and my body was weak. I dragged myself to the bathroom and saw myself in the mirror. 

Hm? Since when did I get this ring? I wondered. Ever since I had regained consciousness, I had a strange feeling on one of my fingers. And when I looked at myself in the mirror, I saw a ring around my right middle finger.
Who's ring is this anyway? It's definitely not mine. I only have one on my right hand, given me to by my mother... Maybe it's Shizuko's?

So I head back into the main room and searched for Shizuko. 

Now, where is she... Oh. There she is. 

I searched for Shizuko until I found her sleeping upside down on the couch. 

Woah. Does she sleep like that? I wondered as I woke her up. 

"Hmm? Is that you Void?" she mumbled. 

"Yeah, it is." I replied. 

"What's up?" she said. "Do you have a question that you want to ask me since you woke me up this early?" 

"Yes, I in fact do. But it's like uhh..." I stopped and looked at the clock. "It's 12:35 pm. I think you should get up." 

"12:35? Don't worry I only have a meeting at 7 pm today. I don't have anything much to do besides sleeping in the morning." she replied. "And I have a painful headache now due to you." 

"Alright fine, answer my question then I'll let you sleep." 

"Okay. Now, what's the question?" 

"Do you wear or own any rings?" I asked. 

"Nope. I do not." Shizuko blankly replied. "Go ask Miss Hari for those types of questions. And I'm going back to sleep. I won't forgive you if you wake me up one more time." 

And as soon as she said that, Shizuko collapsed into the sofa and fell asleep again. 

"Is she a heavy sleeper or just not a morning person..?" I asked myself. 

But then I wondered again. 
If Shizuko doesn't own this ring then who does? 

"Well, it's a key so you can control your powers and use it much more efficiently than without it. I secretly put it on your finger when you were all sleeping." 

"Uto?" 

"Hm, yes?" he said, walking up to me. 

"It's a good thing that my mind is processing things at a slower speed right now so I didn't get surprised when you suddenly talked and appeared out of nowhere." 

"Well, I'm lucky, ain't I?" Uto joked. 

"Well, so?" I asked him in an annoyed tone. "What do you need from me?" 

"Nothing much. I'm just checking up on you guys. And right! The girl." 

"Is she much better now?" I questioned. 

"Yes, she's in much better condition right now. Still a little bit weak but she's healthy. I can send her to you or Heodia soon. Maybe in 3 or 4 days from now." 

I got excited about the news. But I was able to retain my calmness. 
"Oh? That's nice to hear." 

"Yeah. It's exciting news for you guys, isn't it? Oh yeah, one last thing before I go, Vula, will be back in 5 days. And then, she will force you to fight with her in the Kanles Battle Arena in the capital. So I recommend some training with your powers. And about the powers, it is not the same thing as your curse." 

"Mind if you explain?" I replied. 

"Well... to put it simply... the curse was the thing that I had developed and had gifted to you. Unfortunately, it had killed your mother and father over the years as they were the ones most exposed to and influenced by it. You can use it with training and it provides much better results than the powers I gave you but hence the name, using the curse will in fact reverse your fate. Of course, the amount it will reverse or change will depend on the power of what you use the curse for but generally, it's just bad luck." 

"Hm. Yes. I do remember you telling me this a while back. And what about the powers?" 

"The powers are the power to bend reality itself. It can only be used in this world but if what you wanted to do was possible, then you are able to use it anywhere. It has no drawbacks so it's much weaker than the curse."

"And why did you give me these gifts?" 

Uto looked up and glared at me. 
"Because those gifts are weapons. And weapons need testing to see if it fails or succeeds. So in other words... you are my lab rat to test my 'Extreme Multiplier' on arts and magic and how it affects the body after and during use. I told you before when we first met remember?"

I stood there, frozen in place. I racked my memories, trying to find when he said it. But it was no luck. My mind was just blank and it was not ready to hear that coming from Uto himself.  

"But! I have no intentions to kill my best cadet so far. Which is you, Void. So don't worry. Just try to live and survive while also use those gifts I gave you so I can make adjustments to it." he said, putting a hand on my shoulder before walking off, disappearing. 

I was left speechless. I always knew that it was far too strange for someone like Uto, god and creator of this world to be this generous to someone like me, a nobody, without any intentions. 
And that conversation just proved all my thoughts about that topic. 

A lab rat? So I'm just an experiment tool for him?! I angrily thought. But then I calmed myself down. He did guide me into this better life than before. I looked up at the ceiling.
I have no idea what he is thinking and what his moves are. My best choice is to follow and trust his words then...

And so, I decided to trust his words. 

After that chaotic morning, I now have 2 rings, one on my left middle finger, given by my mother, and Uto's ring for the powers, on my right ring finger. 
I didn't know what to do next so I followed Uto's word and went to an isolated area in the forests near HQ. I practised on using the powers and experimented with it. These are some of the things I found out about the powers. 

- To use the power, one must think in their mind of what they want to summon or create. They must have a clear image of it to be able to do so. 
- There are no drawbacks to using the powers as Uto mentioned so it is extremely useful. 
- You can customize the range, speed, density, weight, mass and size of everything you create, making it very versatile and good for every matchup. 
- The max power isn't very powerful but good enough to deal some serious damage to opponents. 
- The colour is random but usually white or black. Colour changes when using more or less strength. 

And that's basically all I got. Heodia found me through her tracker and brought me some food and water. She gave me the latest newspaper and I read through it while eating. 

Hm? The United Western Council is preparing for trench warfare, is it? And they are setting it up near the second largest city in the Sagen Republic, the new capital, Grande. That's all from the Northern Front. The Central Front with West Ruovil is in a stalemate. Not many resources are getting put into the Central Front. The Arctic Front with Solpeo are having intense battles with huge amounts of soldiers on both sides just to capture a fort or city for a strategic position. 
This front is one of the more well-known ones unlike the Southern Front in the Senge Territory. Barely anyone in the general public knows about that front. But it seems that they have just captured the city of Auba the 6-month-long Siege of Auba. I must say, great job, soldiers down there. 

I flipped the page and saw an old post. In bold and in large print, it says: 'Touimai finally falls under the command of Lieutenant General Vula!'. 

Are they still printing that news? It's been what, a week and a bit now? In times of war, this should be considered old news by now. But I guess I'll read through what they wrote though. 

I scanned through the text, not paying too much attention to the details and grasped the basics of what they wrote. 

Well then, I'm done eating, let's return to my dorm room to relax. 

I rolled up the newspaper, placed it under my arm as I packed up and walked back to my room. 
When I reached the gates, the guard stopped me and handed me a letter. 

"You must be Void right?" he asked. 

I nodded as my reply. 

"Very good. You have some mail. I have already sent most of it to your dorm room but here's the one with the details of the sender." 

"Thanks." 

"No problem, it's my duty." 

After that, I was allowed into the HQ and I walked back to the dormitory while reading the letter for me. 
I was worried that it was something about my future or something like that but yeah, it's none of that. It's way worse. 
Uto told me that Vula, the Lieutenant General was coming back to HQ in 5 days. A sudden change of plans and progress that was faster than expected shortened Vula's business in Touimai, so she's expected to arrive back at HQ within 2 days. And if I can take Uto's word for granted, then she will force me to fight with her in the Kanles Battle Arena in the capital city. And of course, I predict that the governing body of the Cloud Empire including the Emperor will attend to watch this fight.  

I started to stress out, wondering what to do. 

"It seems like you got something weighing on your mind, Void?" Shizuko said. 

"Ah. Hello Shizuko. Fancy to meet you here on the 2nd floor." 

"Yeah. I'm currently returning from a meeting. Wanna walk together and discuss what's on your mind?" 

"Sure. Sounds good to me." 

"So, what's on your mind?" she asked when we started walking together. 

"Well, I got a few things on my mind recently," I answered honestly. 

"Well? What are they?" she replied. "I don't think I can help too much but I can at least help a little." 

"Well..." I began. I looked around and saw the male soldiers glaring or giving me bloodlust eyes.

"Hm? What's wrong?" 

"Uh... It's nothing much." 

"Is it those men other there?" Shizuko asked me, pointing her thumb at the male soldiers hiding behind the corner. 
They freaked out when she mentioned them so they quickly fled the scene like rats. 
"I don't know why but they have been doing that ever since I was transferred here. Are still cautious of me?" 

Oh no. They are not cautious of you at all, Shizuko. I think it's either love or something else. But I'm positive that it's love. 

"Yeah, but anyway, please continue." 

"Alright." 

I told her about the letter I received at the gate from the guard and the details about the duel. Of course, I kept who sent it as a secret, and what I have been doing previously before getting the letter. Shizuko kept quiet and listened to what I had to say. When I finished, I felt relieved. 

"You feeling better now since you got off your chest?" she asked. 

I took a deep breath in and out. 
"Yeah. Much better now. Thanks, Shizuko." 

"No need for thanks. Just helping a friend out," she replied, smiling. 

I smiled back. I proceed to notice a red spot in the shadows of her hair. 

"Hm? You got something red near your hairline." I said, lifting her light blue hair up to reveal her forehead. "Ooh. Nasty wound there. You should go see a medical officer to check what's up." 

Shizuko slapped my hand away from her forehead.
"It's fine. It's just bleeding a little. I'll just cover it up with something to stop it." 

"You sure? It's a pretty large one too..." 

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm tougher than I look you know?" 

"Ah right. I forgot you were a proper soldier. It's just that the clothes and your appearance just don't scream 'soldier'." 

"Same thing does for yourself. Your appearance doesn't scream 'male'."

"I can't help it since I was born this way." 

"Then go complain to your parents for making you this way." 

 "Well, they're dead so I can't really do that..." 

"Oh..." Shizuko responded in a soft tone. "I'm sorry for your loss and I apologise for what I said." 

"No, no, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Birth, Life and Death are completely normal. So don't apologise. And also if you do that, then it will make me look like the villain here."

She softly laughed. 
"Well if you say so. Now c'mon. I'll race you to your dorm." 

"Ey? You dare challenge me in a running race? Are you sure?" 

"I'm 100% sure! And I'm off!" 

Shizuko ran off into the distance. 

"Hey, no fair! Come back!" I yelled. 

My worries were completely gone in that instant. I only had one thought. To catch up to Shizuko. 

She's a great fellow, isn't she? I thought. But back then, I still didn't know Shizuko's true identity. 

Somewhere in the Basement, Entanian HQ, Northern Front

"Please... that's all the information I have! I swear!" a man in chains said. 

"Quiet you." another man's voice replied, kicking him in the face. 

"Yes, yes. Everyone here says that but they always had more intel hidden. Bring him to our latest mind-reading machine." 

"Roger that. Should I also put in on the trial experiment?" 

"Hmm. No. Even if I do have the authority to use that, I'm not too sure what the boss will think about that..." 

"Understood." he replied. 

The man in chains was a soldier from the United Western Council captured from Touimai by Lieutenant General Vula's forces.  He has bruises all over his body and was bleeding as well. Dirt and gunpowder covered his skin and his grey uniform. 

He looked like he was about to die. After thousands of hours of torture to get intel out of him by the soldier guards of the Prison Basement, is the living hell finally over when this process is over? He wondered. 
In fact, no. No prisoner leaves the Prison Basement alive. Especially prisoners of war. 
The man was strapped tight to the machine, and a mix of different waves all at the same time was released into the man's head. Extreme pain occurred and after several attempts to gain extra intel from him, the man's brain couldn't handle it anymore. 

In a messy explosion of brain matter and blood, the man's living hell was finally over. But before he died, someone asked him something. 

"I saw your misery, pain, grief and regrets during your imprisonment. Would you like me to grant you power so you can have your revenge on those who did those kinds of terrible things to you?" 

The man stopped. With a peaceful smile on his face, he answered. 
"No. This must be my fate to die like this." 

The unknown person clicked its tongue. 
"Very well then. I won't ask you again. May you have a good afterlife." 

"But thank you for giving me an opportunity." the man said to the unknown person, disappearing into tiny shards. "I do not know who you are but thank you. Just... thank you." 

... 

*I got no idea if it's called that. What I'm trying to say is that she, Shizuko, wore white stockings that were up to her knee. 

But yeah, things are going to be a little chill for the next few chapters, (school life kinda) and getting introduced to a few new characters before we get into the Rouvil Civil War Arc. 
 - SnowDust5