Awakening I

Alden awoke early so he could go to the Rangers association office. He wanted to go there early so he could be awakened and so he could see his ability. Alden bathed and dressed up before looking at himself in the mirror, his hair was long and untidy and it reached his shoulders. He hadn't left his house for a few months as he feared being around other humans, it was a fear that had developed after he had been humiliated at University.

Alden dressed up and headed downstairs, as he walked down the stairs, he could hear his parents arguing at the bottom. He paused halfway down the stairs when he heard what was being said.

"-AYING IN THE ROOM FOR SO LONG, NOW HE SUDDENLY WANTS TO BE A RANGER!? HE'S DELUSIONAL! HOW CAN YOU ALLOW THIS? IT'S BECAUSE YOU ALWAYS SPOIL HIM!" He shouted, his voice full of anger.

"Calm down, at least he's finally leaving the house and doing something! We as parents can't stop him. He is a grown man after all." His mother said, trying to reason with his father.

"GROWN MAN? He is no man. What sort of man stays locked up in his room for 4 months without even studying or getting a job? Leave me out of this, I want to take no part in throwing away the life of my only son!" His father shouted. Alden chose that particular moment to walk in. Both his parent's eyes widened on seeing him. His father just grabbed his coat and walked out, slamming the door of the house in anger.

Alden had never seen his father in anger, his father had always been the softer parent and even when he had dropped out of university, his father did not show any signs of anger. Now that he was seeing his always-composed father explode for the first time, it was scary.

"Don't bother too much about your father, Alden. He's been stressed about sending you to become a ranger. As you know, your father has been a Ranger for a while and he has witnessed many of his close associates dying. Naturally, he is quite pessimistic about allowing you to become a ranger. He loves you very much, and you're his only son, Alden. I hope you understand." His mother assured him, he could see that she was also not sure about allowing him to become a ranger but she probably knew that Alden would stay in his room rotting away if she did not allow him to go.

Alden merely nodded his head and sat down and had some breakfast. After breakfast, he joined his mother in her red car so she could drive him to the association. His mother intended to do some shopping afterward so she decided to drop him off before going to buy what she needed.

It was the first time Alden had been outside in 3 months. Because Alden was trending on social media when his video went viral, people would recognize him and whisper inaudibly behind his back. The negative attention he was getting affected him so much that he decided not to step outside for fear of suffering from the same harassment again.

Alden felt nervous, he pulled his hoodie to cover his face and looked away from the sidewalk so nobody recognized him. All the while his mother would occasionally look at him from where she was in the driving seat. She was worried about her son. Both she and her husband were aware that the reason Alden first stumbled when he attended school was that they had not properly prepared him for society and thus the guilt was killing them.

The only time she saw Alden happy from the time he first attended school up until the time he dropped out of university was when he had finally made friends and became a well-liked figure at university but then that video... That video had broken her heart, seeing her son in such a position. The amount of abuse her son had received, both from people who were once his friends and from those who liked and admired him was a significant number and that was when he had broken.

Despite the lectures and words of encouragement, both parents gave to Alden, he was deaf to their words, and he was blind to the light of hope.

But his mother saw a light of hope, just a glimmer, and it shone in her son's eyes when he begged her to allow him to become a ranger.

She hoped she was making the right decision.

The car drive was a silent one and it was not after long that they reached the city. Soon the car stopped outside the Rangers association. Alden could feel his heart thumping in his chest as he got off the car.

He walked towards the door and threw a nervous glance at his mother, who was leaving to go town. She smiled at him, and even though the relationship he had with his parents was not currently at its best, Alden felt much more relaxed. He turned and walked into the Rangers association building and found that the building had a very spacious lobby and at the front desk sat a dark-skinned woman with plaited hair. When Alden approached her she welcomed him with a professional smile and asked for his name and purpose.

"Alden hall, T-to a-awaken," Alden said stuttering as he answered. He had no confidence now that he was standing before a young beautiful lady, he was finding it difficult to stay calm and composed.

The woman nodded before giving him directions, Alden wanted to thank her but he knew the words would not leave his throat at all so he just nodded and walked over to the room, he found the door to the room he wanted to find so he turned the handle and entered.

He found before him a large room, designed to look like some sort of arena. the building was an extremely modern one. At the center was a raised platform and on it was a machine that had seemed like some sort of high technology podium at first but people would go over and pace their hands over its shiny surface.

The machine would light up and a hologram would show up, showing some sort of information Alden could not see. The person who had been standing there punched their fist through the air emphatically and left to go fill in paperwork.

"Are you here to test," An official asked coming over to Alden and asking. He was a burly man, with a bald head and dark skin. He wore a golfer which had the association logo on it.

Alden nodded and he was instructed to wait and sit on the stands nearby, he had a better view of what was happening and very soon it was his turn. He realized that the purpose of the machine was both to awaken and show one's stats.

Alden walked onto the stage and walked over to the machine. He could feel the stares from the few people watching as he his hands on the cold surface of the machine. he felt his skin begin to tingle and a strange light surrounded him. He was confused by the strange light. Then right before him, his stats showed.

His heart sank.