Broken

Chapter 23 (Yejun)

Outside the Titanfall Tower, the day Yejun goes on his school trip.

Yejun followed his classmates off the bus and stood under the mid-day sun amongst a mishmash of of common citizens, government officials, and raiders decked out in full gear. And though the plaza his university's bus had dropped them off at was quite large, it was nothing compared to Titanfall Tower itself.

No one was truly sure what material the tower was built out of, nor who had crafted it. After all, it had just appeared one day, well before Yejun had been born. What was known was that it seemed to be indestructible; not even a nuke could bring the Towers down. People had tried.

"I can't believe we're actually going in there..." Groaned the woman standing next to him. Her name was Wendy, and like Yejun she was part of the technician course of Titan University. She was even shorter than his older sister, Aoife, with an untamable mass of chocolate brown hair, a button nose, and crystal blue eyes.

Yejun let out a small, nervous, laugh. "Well... I mean it should be an experience, right?"

Wendy glared up at him, adjusting her blazer which appeared to be two sizes too big. "I did become a raider for a reason, you know? I'm a tailor for goodness sake. Production classes like us have no business going into that tower at all!"

"Pull up your big girl pants." Sneered another student, shoulder checking Yejun as he made his way off the bus. "You have us looking out for you, so why are you so scared?"

"Yeah, I feel totally reassured." Snapped Wendy as the tall, muscular man walked off with a swager. He hadn't even stuck around to hear her complaints. "What an ass..."

Yejun's first year technician's course was not the only group to be entering the tower. There would also be second years from both the raider courses: Mage Studies and Battle Arts. They were to work with the instructors to make sure no harm came to the poor, soft, technicians so that they didn't get eaten by monsters.

"Wendy, you're too on edge." Sighed another of Yejun's classmates, Raj. He was the tallest person in the class at just over six feet tall, with short, dark hair and caramel skin. He was a prospective blacksmith with a father in a rather well known guild. Once Raj graduated he already had a spot reserved within it. "Classes have been going through this process every year you know?"

"Yeah?" Wendy snapped, known for getting aggressive when she was stressed. "And how many of those students got hurt then?"

Raj shrugged his shoulders, looking unconcerned and a little amused. Yejun knew that the man had a thing for the tiny tailor, and enjoyed riling her up. Yejun just sighed at their antics and waited for the announcement from their instructors.

"Alright everyone! Listen up!" Called out a woman's voice, drawing all of their attention. It was one of the combat professors... though Yejun couldn't quite recall her name. "We are going to be dividing you into teams. There will be three of the Technician class, three battle arts, and two mages per group. Each group will be supervised by one of your professors- Hey! Cooper! Shut it!" She snapped at a tall battle arts student, glaring at the man until he lowered his eyes. Though, the smirk on the man's face showed that he wasn't overly mollified.

"Once I call your name, join your assigned professor." The woman continued, blonde hair blowing in the wind as she continued to glower at Cooper, even as she addressed the rest of the gathered students. "We will be entering the tower as one large group and traversing the first floor together. However, once we get to the maned base on the second floor the groups will be divided, and given tasks to complete. Got it?"

There were some mumbled words of assent, but not much enthusiasm.

This was for a few reasons. For the Technicians, most were on edge and nervous. Like Yejun, none of them had even seen a monster outside of a few mummified examples in museums and the like. They didn't go into instances, and live rather sheltered lives for the most part. They used products and ingredients from instances, but none of them had any desire to go see the source up close and personal.