Chapter 19: The Violet Hollow Orphanage
“It may not look like it, but I was born into a noble family,” Carter began. “Everything was fine until I turned five, which in case you didn’t know, is the age where everyone is supposed to go through the Rank Classification Test. You basically put your hand on this machine which evaluates your Talent potential and gives you your Rank. Unfortunately, I had the misfortune of being classified as an E-Rank magician.”
“In the unlikely event that a noble attains a low Rank, it brings shame to the family’s name. Some of the luckier kids are able to stay with their family and are subjected to harsh training, but in my case, I was simply thrown away.”
Carter’s tone was eerily calm, as if he were simply reading off a book. But Noah could tell he was doing his best to hold it together.
“I ended up being dumped at Violet Hollow, one of the newer orphanages at that time on the outskirts of the city. The capital of the Vyndamas Kingdom, Vyxiburg, is much larger than Mytharus, so there are plenty of slums scattered around the border. Then again, most of the kingdom is in disarray, corrupted by sick, twisted people in power. Half the population live in oppression and are prejudiced on the daily. Slavery is a common thing. The weak bow to the strong. It’s disgusting how—”
“Carter.” Kiera gently placed her hand on his lap. “I think they get the message.”
“I—“Carter coughed. “Sorry, I got carried away there. But yeah, life there is pretty horrible for the average citizen.”
“Sorry for interrupting, but is it hard to leave the city? Because I’d assume many people would leave if they hate it there,” Noah asked.
“Well… yes, but that’s not the only reason. It’s true that unlike Mytharus, we were not allowed to leave the city freely, but at the same time, we were actually safer in there. From monsters and such. Vyndamas has some of the most hostile terrain and monsters in the realm, so leaving and settling somewhere else isn’t as simple as it sounds.”
“Damn…”
“Yeah, I hope that wasn’t too much to take in,” Carter pursed his lips.
“Not at all,” Noah said. “Do carry on.”
“Would you like to take over?” Carter asked, turning to Kiera.
“Sure,” she nodded. “So I pretty much had the same childhood as Carter, cast away to Violet Hollow for the same reason. The two of us arrived on the same week. The orphanage was a large building without any windows, and I think there were only four or five other kids at that time. They had probably only been there for a few weeks at most, but their eyes revealed everything. They were sunken in and devoid of life, so I knew we were gonna be in for a hell of a ride.”
Her voice quavered. “The place was run by nuns or something. They were women dressed in white and black who we referred to as ‘Mothers’. They would find any reason to shout or beat at us. Of course, we were never allowed to leave. If we were lucky, we only got to see the outdoors once a year, on our birthdays. And by outdoors, I mean the backyard of the orphanage. Honestly, I feel like they were just doing it to rub in the fact that we were deprived of our freedom.”
Kiera looked like she needed a second to compose herself too, so Carter stepped in. “We were crying almost every day at first, but as the months went by, we started to get desensitised to it. Of course, this didn’t mean that we had decided to give in and live the rest of our lives there. We just… existed, all the while hoping that someday, we would make it out of this place.”
Kiera looked like she was ready to resume. “We met Lia a few months in. She was a little younger than us, and she had reacted the same way we did when she first joined. Carter and I were good friends by then, and we decided to take her under our wing. The three of us formed a close bond, and we promised that one day, all three of us would escape together.”
"Over time, the orphanage grew, but I don’t think any of us ever got ‘adopted’. Once we reached about thirty kids, the nuns stopped letting new ones join. Yet their vile treatment of us never stopped. They were constantly doing experiments, testing our mana capacity, sensory thresholds, and other things. We had classes like a normal school, but you would get whipped if you answered questions wrongly,” she said, rubbing her wrist out of habit.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Were you guys unable to use your Talents while you were there?" Sophie asked.
“We weren’t allowed to. If they ever caught us using it without their permission, we would be taken to the ‘Naughty Room’. I’ve only ever been there once. It’s… pretty much what you’d expect,” Kiera shuddered. “With such limited opportunities to practice, we couldn’t really get a feel of our Talents. And honestly, we were too scared to even try anything silly.”
“It was only a few years later when it happened. Lia was asked to fetch a cup of tea for one of the nuns, but she tripped and spilt it on her lap. The tea was so hot that it immediately scalded the nun, who flew into a rage and backhanded Lia across the face. She hit her with so much force that Lia was knocked out on the spot.”
Kiera lowered her tone. “But she wasn’t done. She continued stomping on Lia, until Carter tackled her. Obviously, it was all or nothing now. All of us started activating our Talents while the remaining nuns struggled to maintain control. It was then we realised that none of them actually had any Talents. They were all F-Ranked. In the midst of all the disarray, we snatched the keys from one of the nuns and unlocked the main entrance. Carter then slung Lia over his shoulder, and with what little practice we had with our Talents, the three of us managed to escape. I don’t think everyone made it out, but we just wanted to go as far away as possible from that sickening place.”
“Anyway, the three of us ran to the opposite side of the city. We didn’t have a place to stay, so we ended up sleeping in random places—in the woods, under bridges, in alleys. We resorted to stealing crops and scavenging for food in the trash for the first week or two, until we heard the news that the orphanage had shut down. According to some rumours spreading around the public, the nuns had been ‘disposed of’ by the Vyxiburg Council. Apparently, the nuns had been working under them and were ultimately punished for their failure.”
“Regardless, this allowed us to be a little less secretive. We started working odd jobs, earning just enough money to sustain ourselves. This continued until one night, when a huge fight broke out in the district we were staying at,” Kiera allowed herself a grin. “There was Tanna, taking on like twenty guys at once. When she had dealt with all of them, she retreated into an alleyway as reinforcements arrived.”
“Our alleyway,” Carter nudged her.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting to it! Tanna attempted to take cover at an alleyway, which was coincidentally where the three of us had set up our shelter. Would you believe it if I told you she just squeezed in between us and told us to cover the entrance?” Kiera laughed.
Noah noted the change in mood from the moment Tanna was brought up in the conversation. The two of them clearly adored her, no matter how much they didn’t act like it. He couldn’t help smiling at the thought.
“Kiera continued, “While she was hiding there, Tanna actually asked about our backgrounds and how we ended up here. After we told her the short version, she didn’t even hesitate. She just looked at us and was like, ‘Alright, I’ve decided—I’m recruiting you for my guild.’” Kiera dropped her voice, mimicking Tanna. “Once the heat had died down, she carried all three of us and flew us out of the city. So yeah, this is how we ended up here.”"
Noah’s brow furrowed. “Wait, she flew you guys out of the city?”
“Yeah, you haven’t heard of her Talent?”
“No, we haven’t actually.”
“It’s one of the rarer branches of the fire type,” Carter explained. One of the strongest elemental Talents in general—Inferno. She just carried us and blasted her way over the city wall and out of danger.”
A chill ran down Noah’s spine. Inferno? That was the same name Marcus had claimed for his Talent back in the dungeon, back when he and all his classmates had been eagerly checking out their Vitras for the first time. He’d even bragged about being an A-Rank.
“Is—is Tanna an A-Rank?” Noah stuttered.
“Hmm? No, of course not!” Kiera jumped in. “She’s an S-Rank!”
Okay, so she was indeed higher-ranked than Marcus. For some reason, that made him feel relieved. The leader of Kamaru Village, Alatair, had mentioned that while rare, it was possible for higher-ranked magicians to share similar Talents. He supposed this was one of those cases.
“You guys said that you were E-Ranked at first, right? So that means y’all ranked up?” he asked.
“Yup, it wasn't easy, but we did go from E to D eventually,” Carter shrugged. “It’s still not very impressive, but at least there’s an improvement.”
A curious thought sprung to mind. Right now, he really wanted to return to his world. But what if he had been assigned an A-Rank instead? Would he have been more reluctant?
Sophie noticed the distant look in Noah’s eyes. “Hey, you good?”
Noah snapped out of it. “Yeah, I was just thinking about something.”
“If it’s about ranking up, it’s easier to do so in the lower ranks as compared to the higher ranks,” Carter replied. “But you’ve only been here for like… two days? So try not to worry about it too much. Besides, you’ve already accomplished things way past what your Rank would suggest!”
"I guess," Noah muttered. He was caught in a self-imposed dilemma. A part of him still clung to the hope that Anna would somehow let them return to their world. If that happened, then all the effort they put into levelling up would just be pointless, while exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. But if they were really stuck here, then there wasn’t much of a choice. He would have to get stronger, whether it was to protect himself, his friends, or just to see how far he could go. And if that was the case, then he would prefer to start grinding as soon as possible.
It seemed as if he hadn’t shaken off his unfocused gaze, for Carter slowly stood up. “I think that’s enough for today. Please get some rest, Noah. You deserve it,” he said earnestly. “Thanks for listening to our story, and I apologise once again for the incident earlier.”
Noah waved it off. “It’s all good. We gotta cover each other’s backs, right?”