Kori, with Lila following closely behind her, was thinking to herself while walking through the halls of her home which was practically a castle when compared to the houses in the outskirts of the city. 'Interior Knights' were patrolling the halls but Kori paid them no mind. They were one out of the three branches of the military that governed 'Utopia', the city consisted of three areas as well, the Upper-city area, the Mid-city area, and the Outskirts. As a whole it was the one final city that remained of the old world.
"How exactly do I prepare for the Selection by tonight? Damn it! I wasn't even supposed to participate this year!" She finally said aloud. Kori knelt down scratching her head in frustration, ruffling her pretty snow white hair.
"Kori? May I propose an idea?" Lila said.
Kori soon stopped to peek over her shoulder to ask after coming to her senses a little, "What is it?".
Lila bowed as she presented her idea. "Depending on what trial you get I think it'd be best to form a house."
"Stop being so formal! I already thought of that but I wouldn't know where to start…" Kori sighed, no matter what she thought of she couldn't find a solution and being treated like some kind of cream of the crop did nothing but make her feel worse.
"Houses are formed from a bond. It's not something you can just throw together, not to mention if the strength and ability of its residents aren't balanced the growth will be inadequate." Kori went on to explain.
Lila smiled gleefully. "Then we'll find people that are adequate."
"Like who?"
"The other prospects!" She happily pointed to the writing on the top of Kori's hand.
"Prospects. The other kids who were handpicked by the top 5 houses. That's it! You're a genius Lila, do you know where they are?" Kori finally stood up and asked, filled with determination.
"W-well most have probably already formed their own houses with each other since they also come from prominent families." Lila nervously explained as a result of Kori's enthusiasm. She may have been smiling but Lila thought Kori's grinning was quite devilish, even if she did have a pretty face.
"But?" Kori's eyes kept lighting up.
"B-But my mother used to tell me stories of a Zeytian child hidden in the forbidden forest. The one plagued by the corruption which lies beyond the outskirts of Utopia."
Kori was as close as ever to the young maid's face which made Lila take a step back. As if there was a change in the air Kori suddenly took a step back and considered something.
"How do you know all this? You haven't been here long so you can't have heard rumors the other maids have spread, you can't utilize Spirit Essence, and you're a bit too… plain looking to be a spy from another family." Kori looked her up and down in analysis.
Lila felt that the last part was fairly unwarranted, but eventually confessed, "She used to work as one of the Knights here."
Kori was in a state of shock, "You have more connections than you appear to!"
"But what do you mean by "used to" exactly?" Kori added after the shock dispersed.
Silence was the only thing one could hear for a while at least until the guards that were patrolling passed while Lila avoided any eye contact with Kori.
"I have no idea since she never really told me directly. We used to live in the Mid-City area until we had to move to the outskirts, she gave no explanation whatsoever, only reminiscent stories about her time as a Knight and things she heard…"
"I'm… sorry to hear that." Kori said earnestly.
Although Kori knew she spoke very strongly most of the time and she did want to get to the bottom of finding out about the Zeytian prospect, she didn't want to undermine what Lila had told her by breaking the uneasy silence that had approached them.
Lila stepped a bit closer her mouth next to Kori's ear, "The rumor is that the boy is a child of one of the residents of the House of Eden, like you." She whispered.
"What?!" Kori exclaimed puzzled.
"I think he is the King's Prospect." Lila went on.
***
"Lok, have you packed everything?" Kei asked.
"Yeah, but I still don't get why we have to leave. What's that Selection thing you were talking about and where are we going?" Lok asked.
"We are going to meet someone in the outskirts of the city." Kei replied as he headed towards the window jumping out.
After he landed he looked up to see the tall tree their home was placed on, as ragged as it was Kei was still somewhat proud, he had built it by himself after all. It had no ladder or rope so nothing would get in without going through the one small window in the front of the house.
"The city?! Why so suddenly?" Lok yelled down.
"This is how we survive it. Just trust me ok? Now come on and jump." Kei urged.
Hesitantly Lok jumped down. He stumbled upon landing near his big brother who helped him regain his balance.
"Let's go." Kei said.
He was worried but had decided that he trusted his big brother who was the only reason he had survived thus far, "Ok…". Lok responded.
Lok was dawning a backpack and an old dagger frog that was strapped along his hip while Kei had simply a small pouch on his waist and a cloak that covered his head and shoulders. They both had lived in a forest beyond the protection of the city's firmament. Not only meaning that the equipment Kei had was found from the bodies of dead Knights while scavenging for food, but also something else.
That being, corrupted creatures making an appearance rarely but surely. Anytime one was near Kei always heard a soothing woman's voice that he knew in his gut was right in telling him to stay away from the creatures and he had always listened.
And it was true, the corrupted had their own parameters set by humans to scale their stage, immediate danger level, and their ranks within the two.
The first was 'Trifled' which was the very first stage of corruption, then 'Tainted' which meant 25% of the corruption had taken effect, 'Contaminated' was 50%, 'Decayed' 75%, and 'Calamity' the most dangerous stage of the corruption levels was 100%. The ranks between each of the stages ranged from 'Low', 'Standard', 'High', 'Refined', and 'Finalized'.
Luckily for Kei and Lok the area they were residing in had been cleansed long ago which meant only a stray Low or Standard Trifled creature could ever cross their path.
After about an hour Kei and Lok saw the firmament of the City. It was like a slightly transparent barrier that only gave you a glimpse of it's beauty based on how the sun had shined its light.
As they approached a voice called out to them at what seemed like a gate of entry.
"Hey! You two! Halt!" A man clad in iron armor yelled.
Kei immediately motioned to Lok to put his hands up who listened without question. The knight began to approach them.
"Who are you two affiliated with huh?!" The knight had a neck that rolled into his chin riddled with stubble, his armor did not even help to hide his overwhelming weight. Along with him was a very fit knight who held a strong and stern look.
"Shut up rookie." The Fit knight said as he lightly hit the fat one in the head.
"You two from some sort of settlement of some kind?" He went on to say.
"Boss! These two could be dangerous! I heard from friends in the Salvation Army 'Sources of Corruption' are usually humanoid creatures! There's no way they survived beyond city grounds!" The Fat Knight raised his sword.
Although Fit Knight did not heed Fat Knight's frantic words he did not completely dismiss them either, the city 'Utopia' was the main population left on earth most humans, if not all, live there. Although it's hard to believe there are settlements out there without the protection of a barrier, there were, except they usually end up being ravaged by corrupted creatures. That didn't stop strays or lost warriors from coming in before.
"Yeah, we're from a moving settlement." Kei said after thinking a while.
"Oh yeah? Then where's the rest of your people?" Fit Knight asked, gesturing the Fat Knight to lower his sword.
"My people? They were wiped out. Creatures flooded in… and we lost everything." Kei said as he held his chest. Fit Knight couldn't fully see his face, but Kei's words felt genuine though he was still cautious.
"Hey boy… is that the truth?" Fit Knight asked, looking at Lok. This made the young boy nervous and he instinctively hid behind Kei. The Fit Knight analyzed Lok, although the idea of Zeytian's description were forged in every humans mind these two didn't look the sort. Zeytian's usually had purple hair with tattoos flowing along their dark skin and tapered ears accompanied by sharp fangs.
Lok had fine human ears, a full head of spiky cobalt blue messy hair, human teeth and no tattoos. Nothing was similar so Fit Knight paid no mind to his suspicion that held no weight.
"My little brother hit his head during the attack, don't mind him, he's still a little rattled." Kei broke the silence with a laugh to thwart Fit Knight's suspicions.
"Funny…"
The Fit Knight slowly began clutching his sword's hilt.
"Should there be any reason to lie? Because I don't see any blood."
Kei's face became serious as he knew that maybe he had messed up gaining the Fit Knight's trust.
"What's going on here?" The voice of a girl called out from the gate.
Her hair was neck length with a fluffy texture and white in color. Her tall figure complemented her fit physique.
"Princess Hageshi?!" The Fat Knight exclaimed.
'It's her…' Kei thought.
Kori began to walk past the gates towards all of them with Lila following close behind. Soon she stood in front of Kei but the sun perfectly casted its light creating a shadow over Kei's cloak making her unable to make out his features.
"Knights, you're dismissed." Kori spoke without even looking back at them simply shooing them away with her hand.
The Fat Knight took a knee as he tried to retort, "Ma'am these two could be intruders or enemies I think it'd be wise to-"
"Hey fatty… are you disobeying me?"
Suddenly Fat Knight felt a shiver that traveled down his spine. Kori had not made eye contact with him but he felt her intent.
"My apologies princess, I'll take care of this one later. We'll leave you to your business." Fit Knight also knelt.
"You idiot, how could you tell one of the princesses what they can or can't do?" The Fit Knight's voice slowly dwindled into the distance as he walked back beyond the gates with Fat knight.
Kori looked at the person in front of her as if she was trying to make out his intentions, but Kei couldn't truly see her because of the cloak that covered half his face.
"Show me your hands." Kori ordered with a domineering pressure.
Kei did not put up a fight. He showed her the writing on his hand which signifies that he is a prospect and Kori responded by putting up her own.
"I can't believe it!" Lila gasped before quickly covering her mouth as if she was trying to catch her words.
Lok had barely a clue what was going on, these are some of the first humans he'd ever seen so he was rightfully nervous and stayed behind his brother.
The princess reached for the hooded cloak but her hand was caught by Kei.
"Stop it." Kei finally spoke.
"It's fine. We already know." Kori assured him.
He soon let her go, allowing her to pull down his hood revealing his true face. He was the exact description of what Zeytians were described as.
He had ears that narrowed out to a fine point, sharp fangs, a full head of purple silky hair that at some points fell just below his eyes. The only feature missing was that no tattoo could be spotted on him. He was only a bit taller than Kori herself.
"So it's really true. Amazing!" Kori smiled.
Lila was slowly becoming used to the princess's ugly and devilish smile but Lok made it up in his mind to stay away from such a frightening woman.
"I order you to participate with me as an ally in the selection. You do know what that is right?" Kori imposed.
'Has Kori always pushed her weight around like that. She never acted that way with me.' Lila pondered to herself.
"If I refuse?" Kei asked.
"Don't refuse."
Kori's fist clenched.