NOVEL FROG The New World
Luna sighed as she gave one last look at the grand estate she had stayed in for most of her life until now. And aside from the memories, Luna was sure she wasn't to miss a damn thing about this place.
The Main house of the Estate was made from white bricks that hadn't aged a day despite having been constructed over forty years ago. The windows were also too clean and so were the pavements leading to the main entrance as if untouched by a shoe. Most estates had machines that did the cleaning but House Feng liked to keep things old-fashioned so they hired workers who offered the best of the best cleaning services.
'They even managed to clean my room and that was the most messy place I have ever seen in the estate.' She thought with a weak scoff. It was also not something to be proud of as a young lady.
For the first time in so long, Luna was leaving the Feng estate with a determined look. Leaving was still a challenge, but she needed to see more of the world and what it had to offer. this was the best course of action for someone like her.
Smiling weakly, she then dragged her wheeled suitcase as she made it past the main gates leading out of the luxurious home.
During the past two weeks, Luna spent most of her time thinking through all of this and preparing herself for what was to come. Firstly, Luna had worked on her appearance by cutting her hair to a reasonable length of up to her shoulders—this was supposed to be her new personality according to Lena, of course. Second, Luna bought herself a state-of-the-art limiter for her superhuman strength.
This was the most important thing she had bought because it gave her a slight chance at a normal life by hiding her physical strength which was the biggest attention drawer.
"…like being a powerless Feng didn't draw enough of it," she murmured to herself. A dumb habit she had acquired after spending so much time alone.
Limiters were advanced special devices that gave ascenders a chance at a normal life by suppressing their strength and powers.
However, there were not many in the world since the life of an ascender came with so many privileges. One of them was a chance to become an ascender under one of the Great Houses that ruled the New World. This was one of the greatest honors in the world, so Luna understood why most ascenders would stick to their excitingly dangerous lives of protecting humanity.
Who the hell would turn down such a life?
'I would.' A thought cut in.
She glanced at the device on her arm resembling a silver bracelet with a black screen in the middle with the number '97' displayed on it. This meant that 97% of her strength was currently being suppressed by the limiter. She didn't feel particularly different from before she wore it. But when she tried bending a metal rod earlier, it only bent after she strained herself.
To her surprise, this proved that the remaining 3% was still something even though her punches wouldn't be as powerful as before.
Which was okay in Luna's case. She had no plans of fighting anyway.
The gates behind her closed automatically and she stopped. Luna didn't look back as waited for the sound of the lock clicking, marking the beginning of her life as a seventeen-year-old professor.
***
"The next station is Hansho Station."
Luna scowled as she read the LED display on the train.
A feeling of fulfillment was currently washing down on her. She was no stranger to this feeling, by the way. Luna experienced fulfillment each time she saw her name as number one of the top players in the Ranker League.
This wasn't a game though, so this form of fulfillment was new to her. She had taken the first steps of her new life and she was excited.
Soon, she would be in Hansho district, one of the five major districts here in the Eastern Settlement of the world.
"Excuse me, miss…do you mind if I sat next to you."
Luna turned her focus away from her communicator and looked up to the old man who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
In the transporter's white lights, the man looked extremely pale and withered. His small face was covered in years' worth of wrinkles. He had a pair of dull green eyes underneath his lens.
She only nodded without saying a word and returned to her communicator, not bothered by the man's appearance. People with divinity aged slower than mundane humans, so she usually never got to see many old people, especially in majorly populated parts like this one.
This man, specifically, looked almost ancient as if he had lived hundreds of years to this moment. Which was impossible as far as human knowledge went.
He slowly took the seat next to her and started conversation with a rather strange question. "Your shape is very unique, do you practice judo?"
Judo? Luna hadn't heard of that mundane combat style in a long time. She was told it was a form of martial arts from a long time ago before the Fall.
It was harmless and humans of that specific time considered it a sport. Now, no one in the world cared about Judo. No one except for the Martial Arts-focused Houses like House Feng.
Luna politely smiled and nodded. "Sometimes. But mainly for self-defense."
The old man cleared his throat. His facial expressions couldn't be mapped out because of the overgrown wrinkles on his face.
"I knew it. You see, I was a judo master back in the day. When I was twenty…I, Hamido Kashiragi. Won the Olympic finals in judo. We took that medal home that day. the food was so good, I remember my mother holding the greatest feast at home. Ah. It's funny how time moves, miss…?"
"Luna." she lowered her head out of respect for the old man.
Suddenly, the dullness in his eyes seemed a bit lighter, "Luna…what a nice name. I feel sorry for your generation young lady. All you know is to fear the sky. You see, back then, the sky wasn't a place to fear. We never even knew the sky was home for those things until the shackles broke and all hell came falling on this poor realm."
He paused for a moment as if gasping for air then continued, "I was looking at the sky that day when all hell broke loose. Gods… I ran for days as I watched great buildings made from great materials and architecture crumble down to dust in mere seconds. How could something so beautiful be so dangerous? I thought. Now, I am one hundred. Wandering the world after the Fall with only my purpose keeping me going."
They remained quiet for a moment after he said that. Indeed, this was the era of the world after The Fall, or as the youngsters liked to call it, The New World.