The Five Kings: First Step

Hopian 72 Part 1 - Easier Said than Done

Last chapter, Karia stayed with her promise of becoming a Commander for Sariel- however, at first she was still struggling to even succeed as a Soldier due to distractions and a lack of willpower. However after realizing that Sariel was most likely depressed due to her failing to actually try hard to fufill her promise- she smartens up both in school and in the "run of challenges". Though, her strength seemed to be at its limit- so Officer Aora gave her the option to get mechanical implants to make her far stronger than before...

Karia's P.O.V.

"Wait, seriously? Thank you, of course I'll do it then!" I shout out with a smile- but get shushed by a librarian at the same time.

"What? So soon? These implants will be permanent- and will certainly change your life entirely. You'll practically become half machine- with your body functioning far differently than a normal human's. Perhaps for the worse- even the scientists are somewhat unsure of all of the effects it will have on humans in the future. I highly recommend that you think this through, or else you truly are still a fool." Aora says to me in a stern tone as she stares me in the eyes, which makes me look down of course, and feel bad about myself too...

"Well... I guess you kinda have a point there... I'll uh, think it through a bit more. See you later- I mean goodbye Officer Aora." I mumble out to her as I get up from my chair and start to walk out the door. And I was feeling so sure about myself too...

"Wait. I have to ask- what has pushed you so far in the first place these past few weeks? I may change my offer depending on your answer now." Aora asks for some reason which worries me a bit.

"Hm? Oh... it's my boyfriend- Sariel. I promised him I'd become a Commander in his place since he can't anymore, and every time I tell him about my improvements he smiles... so, I'm just trying to make him happy again." I say to Aora with confidence as I turn back to face her.

"Sariel... oh, the disabled one. I see. You're dismissed." Aora says, and I'm just gonna assume the offer will still stand... but jeez how rude- calling him that!

A few hours later...

🥘🥘🥘

"Officer Aora." I say in a serious tone as I find her sitting alone in the schools cafeteria. She's wearing her dirtied up navy blue uniform, and chugging down a cup of water with some of it pouring down her face...

"Have you made your decision?" She only says back to me after basically slamming the cup back down onto the table- I don't even think she was trying to either...

"I-I'll still do it. It's the only way I can get stronger, and to get past the rank of a Soldier..." I say with my mind set in stone at this point. I was gonna go see Sariel one last time before I decided since I'm still pretty scared and have been shaking like hell for the past few hours. But, if I did see him he'd probably feel bad and tell me not to do this for him either.

"...Alright. The surgery will be scheduled for the near future then." She says back to me, looking somewhat disappointed obviously. If she's so against all of this, why did she even make the offer!

One week later, after the surgery...

"Mm... fuck! OW, shit shit f-fucking hell!" I cry out as I barely manage to walk through the halls with my crutches I have to use for a while- even with painkillers I'm bawling- this is the worst pain I've fucking felt in my entire life! It's like the stuff is cutting into me from the inside!

"I'll- go see Sariel, I bet he'll be happy to know I'll be stronger AFTER the surgery at least- y-yeah!" I think to myself as I squeal out in pain again after almost falling over...