The last container they were about to drag in made him widen his eyes. There were two containers in total and each container held the body of his mom and dad submerged in yellow liquid.
Raia's emotions churned.
In a heap, he leapt over the mass of people and landed in the middle of the path of the soldiers who were carrying his parents. The people and the soldiers were alarmed and the soldiers aimed their weapons at Raia.
"Let them go." Raia mumbled. The soldiers couldn't hear and warned him instead.
Raia saw that they were still aiming their weapons at him and he couldn't help but feel aggravated. He lunged forward and tried to break one of the glass containers with a kick.
The soldiers were surprised by the speed Raia showed but didn't dare to fire. They were waiting for the signal to be given and there were also citizens behind Raia. If they pulled the trigger there was a chance they would be caught in the barrage of bullets.
Raia's foot was only a few inches away when it stopped mid-air. A hand shielded the glass containers. It belonged to a military soldier... the general.
He was blonde, blue-eyed, and taller than six feet. His build was fit but his arms showed huge muscles. He looked very strong and intimidating.
He gripped Raia's foot and surprisingly lifted him into the air. Like a stick, he slammed Raia's body onto the ground.
Bam!
Raia groaned in pain. He never thought that even with this profound strength, he could still be overwhelmed by this ordinary human... or was he?
Raia sucked up the pain and stopped. He just realized something. He slowly looked at the general observing him from head to toe.
He could tell the person in front of him was far from ordinary.
'He has eaten Origins already. I don't think he has True Origin though. It is best if you lie low.'Inner Self warned Raia about the general confirming his suspicion.
The general eyed Raia and suddenly smiled.
"You have eaten Origins haven't you," the general sounded curious and sly. He guessed this because no ordinary human could have survived what Raia just did. Ordinary human bones would have broken immediately. He was really surprised that Raia survived that.
Raia didn't answer so the general sighed.
"Do you know how grave your punishment will be for attacking and disturbing military operations. Young man I suggest you stay still," the general said seriously.
"Because if you don't, I might have to kill you," he continued with a bloodthirsty gaze.
Raia felt his sudden bloodlust but instead of being afraid his anger swelled. He met the general's angry gaze with his own. The general moved and took a martial arts stance. Raia didn't blink and got ready for any attacks.
Before a fight could break out a person appeared in front of them.
"Please stop. He is my brother, general. He means no harm," a tall kid with black hair raised both hands signaling the two fighters to stop.
He looked at the general with apologetic eyes. The general sighed again and turned his back to leave.
"Fine. I'll leave the explanation to you," the general said while walking away.
"Thank you general." Rein sighed and went to see his brother. "You shouldn't have done that. You could've died." Rein reprimanded his brother.
"Yeah easy for you to say... I was just worried. What happened to them?" Raia asked as he looked at his unconscious parents inside the containers.
"I don't know either but I'll explain in a while. Let me get you to the doctor's tent. You might have broken bones or something." Rein said and grabbed Raia's arm supporting him as they walked.
Based on what his brother said, after Raia left for school their mom and dad started to act strangely. They were always in a daze and looked like their minds weren't present. Then, the Great Catastrophe happened. Their parents suddenly rose a few feet off the ground and started emitting a bright white light.
The white light then enveloped the entire house.
When the monsters came over Rein was surprised that they didn't attack them. It was like they were avoiding the white shield his parents were emitting. The next day the military came. They said they found a strong signal coming from the house and suspected it was because of their mom and dad.
Rein tried to fight back and protest but with weapons in their hands, he couldn't do anything. The only reason the soldiers gave was that they would do their best to wake their parents but they needed to examine them first.
Rein and Raia arrived at the doctor's tent and Raia got checked. The doctor was surprised that even though the wounds were large, Raia didn't show signs of blood loss.
After a few stitches and bandages Raia was finally able to rest on the bed inside the tent."We can't let them have our parents." Raia said seriously.
"I know but what can we do. We are outnumbered and hello, they are soldiers, they're stronger than us... I mean kind of." Rein tried to be realistic but got sketchy at the end.
Raia could tell his brother was hiding something.
"Tell me. You ate something, didn't you?" he eyed Rein as he asked.
Rein huffed in defeat.
"I did"
Rein explained what happened. After the first day of the Catastrophe, he found a huge green bug that fell from the sky then a few more fell after. They all had huge gashes on their heads almost lopped off.
He smelled a sweet scent coming from those bugs. Rein couldn't help it and ate some. Just like what happened to Raia, he experienced strange sensations as well. Then, he found out his strength had increased. Rein took a rock as big as a baseball and crushed it with his bare hands. Raia looked at his brother before closing his eyes. He just needed time to absorb all the information from today.
Rein understood and went out to get food.
As Raia closed his eyes, he heard someone walk into the tent. He turned his head in the direction of the sound and furrowed his brows. It was the general.
"You look well now. I think you are qualified for questioning," the general spoke calmly and took a chair and sat about two meters away from Raia.
Raia looked at him coldly.
"How do you know about the Origins," he asked.
"And why should I answer you?" Raia snapped back.
"Because I can make you a bargain," the general smiled slyly. Raia heard that and thought he found an opportunity but he still remained wary.
He explained everything that happened yesterday but left out anything that would link to his True Origin. The general listened but his expression turned strange.
"Alright. It seems you're not lying. It's just that... it doesn't explain how you knew about the word Origins" the general stared suspiciously at Raia.
Raia almost broke out beads of sweat but managed to stay cool.
The general sighed.
"It's fine if you don't want to tell me. You've given me important information already. The fact that there's a monster that can parasitize people in the City Hall. That will be troublesome. As for the bargain..." the general dropped the question and was content with what he got.
"If you want to get your parents out of here, you have to defeat three of my men first in hand-to-hand combat. If you win, I'll release your parents. If I win, you and your brother will come with us to be examined as well," he stated convincingly.
Raia thought hard before agreeing to the deal.
"Meet me in the open field this afternoon. Let's stay away from the people. Head to the east side of the airport. The moment you step past the red border there, the fight will start"
The general smiled and walked out of the tent. Outside the tent his smile turned into a maniacal grimace. The general thought he had fooled Raia completely. Little did he know, it was the other way around.
'I can help you win the deal with that guy.' Inner Self said.
"Really? How?" Raia asked. He knew three military men would be hard to fight. They are professional and skilled while he didn't even know fighting techniques. He only fought using instinct.
'Trust me and I'll surprise you.' Inner Self said confidently. Raia looked hopeful but still couldn't help overthinking how his Inner Self would do it.
Raia took a short nap after that.
Raia opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the tent. He thought for a moment that the deal was a dream. He was still nervous about the fight but chose to believe in his Inner Self.
He sat up and noticed a plate of food beside him. His stomach growled. It had been a while since he ate. He gobbled the food and thanked the high presence for the meal.
He changed into new clothes and washed himself.
He went outside and saw the sun slowly setting. It was time for the fight.
He headed east of the airport and saw a huge open field. There he saw three men in the middle. Raia looked serious. He knew these men weren't ordinary.
He saw a red line around the open field. He remembered what the general said. He took a deep breath and stepped inside the circle.
"The game is over if any of us goes outside the circle. You also win if you defeat all three of us"
Then the three men moved immediately. Their speed wasn't that fast but Raia knew they wouldn't be easy to handle. Just as he thought so, the guy with a red bandana delivered a kick aimed at Raia's head.
It was so fast, Raia could hear the wind whistle. But unlucky for them, Raia's speed was far more profound. He moved to the side to dodge the attack but as soon as he did, two more kicks followed from the other guys.
Raia was impressed by the strategy of the three. Two kicks hit his abdomen and he almost flew out of the circle. He took the hits and planted his feet into the ground staying rooted.
The three men somersaulted away like ninjas.
Raia caressed his abdomen and tried to recover from the shock."This is going to be a tough fight to win." Raia commented realizing how skilled the three were.
'Don't worry. I'll show you how lethal your True Origin is,' the Inner Self said suddenly.