But the captain's next words put him in shock for a second. "Would you like to work for me?" Captain wegener said with a sincere smile on his face. Or that was how he tried to smile sincerely at the least. But it was harrowing and Michael instead felt uneasy. Captain Wegener smiled like a butcher looking at meat.
Seeing him not answering, the Captain rubbed his nose and said. "Of course I'll pay you. And you'll have to get your system first."
'System. What is he talking about?' Seeing the confusion on his face. The Captain explained.
"You probably don't know this since this technology just came out a few years ago.
But, we have discovered the universal system... or that's what it calls itself. When you have Awakened, you can get a system and... I don't really know how to explain it but you'll get the gist later. For now just be prepared."
'I still won't understand, but the discovery of the universal system. What is it? How does it look like and what is it's goal?' Michael wished to ask but knew that the old veteran probably won't be able to answer him.
'I guess I'll find out soon.' He thought inwardly and spoke with the Captain for a few minutes before being dismissed. Despite the captain's current mellow behavior, he was still a grizzled veteran and had a job to do. He couldn't waste all his time on Michael.
Given permission from the Captain, he was allowed to walk around in the airship for a bit before returning to his room.
***
"Are you sure we should be allowing him to walk around. He could be a creature walking around in human flesh." A middle-aged man said to the Captain.
"What is this?" The Captain pointed to his nose.
"You're nose sir."
"And what is my aspect ability?" Captain Wegener asked again.
"You can detect when someone's lying to you." the middle-aged man said with his head low.
"The brat wasn't lying... about most of the things. And the ones he did lie about are all useless subjects. And he smells human to me so I don't understand you're worrying."
The servant bowed his head and nodded. No longer doubting the Captain. "So what do we do now?"
"Isn't it obvious, we get him a system. We're short on manpower here, why not get a recruit when one suddenly shows up at your door" Captain Wegener said with a weird grin as if the prospect of leaving the airship for a mundane task like that was comforting.
In the next few hours, Michael returned to his room and waited for the airship to land. He was already informed about it by Captain Wegener so he was patiently waiting for the airship to land.
"Urgh, I never thought I would say this but why is civilisation so boring."
In a few minutes, he was lost in his train of thought. However, all he was thinking about was how to maximize his use of his ability when the need arises.
He was not strong physically, nor was he the fastest. But there is one thing that sets him aside from others. And shockingly, it was his paranoia... and fear.
In the time of battle, he was always cool and collected. Never divulging into unnecessary thoughts but instead thinking of how he could improve the next time he was faced with such a situation again.
'I am back in the human world again, I best take my time to learn some battle skills and how to use some weapons.'
So far, his experience in the forest had been nothing but harrowing. Forced to fight his way through everything and anything. And when his physical capabilities didn't help, he would choose tactics.
Thankfully, beast were not the smartest creatures nor the most cunning. But that was what made him survive so far.
Their lack of common sense and being led purely by instincts made them suitable candidates to be tricked and led by the nose. All in all, beasts were very predictable.
Michael snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the silent thrumming of the airship stop. 'Have we landed?' He stood up from the bed and rushed to the window, eager to see how civilisation looked again.
He was sure that by now, the current situation of mankind would have improved and people could be living comfortable... but what he saw made him frown.
Instead of the tall metal buildings he was expecting and the beautiful streets trekked upon by satisfied humans with content smiles on their faces, he saw a world polluted by clouds of dark smoke coming out from the chimneys of far away industries.
Instead of tall skyscrapers, he saw several small houses made of poor construction materials. The roads looked dilapidated and their people were wearing rags and sitting by the roadside.
Doing all sort of menial jobs for the large industries and companies situated not too far away.
"Do you miss civilisation yet?" At some point Captain Wegener had arrived and leaned against the side of the metal door.
His grin was eerie and spoke evil but he could that the Captain was also disappointed by humanity.
"I thought humanity would improve. What of all those fights against the gate creatures. I thought that would make them come together in unity?" Michael asked with a hollow expression.
Captain Wegener just shook his head and said in a tired voice. "Kid, humans will always be humans. You can't suppress their greed any more than you can suppress yours. But the price for that is what you can see before you. Things haven't changed at all. Instead, it has only gotten worse."
Michael couldn't bear to see the scene anymore so he turned his head away. When he was younger, he had lived in the scums of a city before.
Until his parents got a job on a airship similar to this one. They were just some hired labour, but just two weeks into the job and they were attacked by gate four flying creatures.
The ship was torn asunder but before that, Michael had been dropped into the forest below. The last thing he remembered was the ship being blown into bits in the sky right before his eyes.
He lived alone in the forest for five years after that. He remembered he once had a younger brother who had been taken in by his uncle a long time ago when he was young.
But that was a long time ago and he couldn't remember his face anymore. Not even his name. As far as he knew, his brother might have just been dead and he was the last surviving member of his family.
"Why are we here?" Michael asked. This place reminded him of bad memories he would have rather wished he didn't remember.
"I just wanted to show you the true world. Not what you will see when you are there." Captain Wegener said with an indifferent expression on his face.
"There?" Michael was confused. What was the Captain talking about.
"Am talking about... you'll understand soon enough." Captain Wegener sighed and walked out. Motioning for him to follow.