After devouring his meal, Sezel sank into his chair, his crimson gaze fixated on the gleaming coffee machine across the cafeteria. For half an hour, he watched as many came and filled their cups with the black steaming hot liquid, Sezel remembered Arty telling him that coffee is one of the most bitter things.
But after witnessing so many of people drink coffee, he felt like it was an important tapestry of life, he gulped hard and went ahead. He rose, seized a cup from the rack, and filled it with the obsidian liquid and sat back on his seat.
'This thing looks disgusting.' he stared at the coffee, black as coal.
Hesitantly, he sipped. The liquid seared his taste buds, his face twisting.
"So bitter!" he cussed under his breath, the words swallowed by the cafeteria's hum. He looked around at the ones who took the coffee before him, their faces serene as they savored the brew, lips curved in quiet delight as if it was not bitter at all. 'How do these people drink it so casually?' he wondered.
A soft chuckle broke his thoughts. Across the table, a girl watched him, her eyes twinkling with mirth. She stood, her red hair cascading like a molten waterfall down her back, her azure dress shimmering with elegance, she walked to him.
Sezel looked at her with confusion, his cheeks turned a faint hue of red, 'What does she want?' heart beat quickening.
"You should add milk and sugar to the coffee," she said, her voice a dulcet chime.
Sezel's lips parted—"Heh"—a clumsy sound escaping. The girl looked at him puzzled unable fathom the words.
Sezel's mind reeled, he wanted to thank the girl but the language barrier prevented him to, after a second of silence he finally stood up and bowed down as a token of thanks.
There was no other way he knew how to thank someone. Her smile bloomed, radiant as dawn, and she bowed back before returning to her seat, her dress swaying like a summer tide.
'Ok, let's try it.'
Sezel approached the machine and clicked the other button on the side of the coffee one, hot milk poured into the cup, transforming the ebony elixir into a creamy, tawny blend.
'It looks drinkable now.' Sezel thought, putting two spoons of sugar in it as he noticed the others doing.
Back at his seat, he sipped again, not overly bitter, not cloyingly sweet, but a sublime blend, an otherworldly nectar that danced on his tongue.
'This is good, so this is how you drink coffee.'
He sipped the whole cup, embracing every drop of the valuable liquid. He felt a new kind of energy, as though all his tiredness had disappeared, "Coffee is divine," he whispered, a grin tugging at his lips.
He walked to the cafeteria's door and halted before opening the gate and walking out, his crimson gaze sweeping the whole place, but he couldn't find the redhead from earlier, she was gone.
With a frown of disappointment he left the cafeteria, stepping into the vast garden outside, the sun had already half dipped below the walls of the facility, painting the sky in embers and twilight.
Sezel squinted his eyes, the question still lingered, 'What place is this?'
But Sezel didn't give it much thought, at least this place was a lot better than the slums and as for the possibility that he might be a test subject here, who cared, not like they gonna kill him. The food was worth it.
Heading toward the classroom building, Sezel spotted Raelion in the garden, conversing with another man in a matching uniform, the man was taller than the captain and paler in comparison. Then Sezel saw it, his uniform had two crescent moon like badges, he had noticed earlier that Raelion had one crescent moon badge on his uniform.
'What does these badges signify?' Sezel wondered, its not like he saw them for the first time here, some slayers in his country also wore those crescent moon badges, but they were rare, and he had realized that it was a big deal and that's why the students in the class looked up to Raelion.
He indeed was a figure to look up to. Their voices were a faint murmur, too distant to discern
Shortly after the man, and the captain shook hands and the taller man left. Raelion turned, sunglasses catching the fading light, and fixed Sezel with a probing gaze. Approaching him he asked, "Had your fill?" voice low but sharp.
Sezel nodded.
"Then follow me," Raelion instructed, striding forward. Sezel quietly followed behind him.
They walked past the two buildings, then through a big gate stepped out of the facility. Sezel halted, awe and trepidation swirling, the captain trusted him much to bring him out without any weapons and special guards.
Maybe he knew, Sezel won't run. After all where would the poor boy go in the foreign land.
A city blazed before him, its main road pulsing with vibrant lights, cars weaving like fireflies. Shops glowed in kaleidoscopic splendor, their signs alive with colors of amazement, people laughing, playing, drinking and eating peacefully. Children ran carefree without a worry in the world, quiet opposite to what Sezel had endured at their age.
Raelion's hand landed softly on his back. "Let's continue." He guided Sezel to an adjacent walled complex, its multistory buildings soaring twenty floors into the evening sky.
Inside, the corridors shimmered, polished floors reflecting automated lights that banished darkness in an instant.
The captain led him to a door, handing him a key. "Your room." Sezel's heart surged, joy tempered by disbelief.
And to think he even got his own room in one of these buildings, he was overjoyed. These were the perks of awakening, food, shelter and status, but the last one was an exception in Sezel's case, but who cares.
He opened the door warily, and the lights flared, illuminating a space both austere and luxurious—clean bed large enough to fit him over twice, a desk, a window framing the city's glow. Sezel now had his own room, 'I was dying just some time ago, to think i got my own room, I am progressing through the world.'