Ash made his way to the small studio apartment he rented out. He was seventeen but due to his circumstances, he was able to rent the place legally after he got legal counsel to be considered an adult to avoid being put in the system.
The rent was ridiculous even for a small room but it was all he could afford with the money his parents left over after the reports on his brother Isaac ruined the military benefits he could have had as well. Ash went upstairs to the room to rest, the room was barely enough, the kitchen had a small space for a fridge, a microwave, and a single hot plate warmer next to the sink. The living room was big enough for a futon couch to fit, it had a compartment for a bed to be pulled out. And the bathroom is just enough to fit him in it albeit a little compact.
Ash threw his bag against the wall, he didn't care if it got messed up now that it was practically ruined already. He turned the TV on to have some background noise to keep his mind off the day. His focus wasn't even on the program playing on the TV, but rather on his phone.
Struggling to scroll through his photos and videos from his screen having multiple cracks on it he went through all the photos of his family.
His parents looked alive and happy from before when he was just a kid. They died when he was still a child, the photos he had his brother gave him were so he would remember them.
He scrolled till he got to the video of his brother's wedding day. That was the happiest day for Ash, he was six at the time when his brother Isaac married his girlfriend. Isaac was cutting the cake in the video, feeding the piece to his beloved girl.
"Ash come over and have some." The bride called over inviting the young Ash to have a bit of the cake.
Ash watched his young self waddling over to the beautiful bride giving him a small piece to nibble on. Isaac picked up his baby brother, kissing him on his chubby cheeks as he held Ash like he was his own son to show off.
"Look how adorable he his babe. My real best man here to see me happy before I ship off."
Ash couldn't hold back his tears. He wiped his face off before turning the phone off. Since he left early from the school he decided not to go back, wanting to take a mental health day for himself.
He took his shirt off and put on some gym shorts. Even with the living being small he still had room to do some basic calisthenics. He never slacked off once, he did his routine to keep himself in shape. It was ingrained at this point to not miss a day, both for training and to help keep negative thoughts swirling in his head.
He mostly thought that doing this as well would help increase his current level theoretically. Level increases didn't happen easily without proper training with the military or an ascendance stone. On very rare occasions one was able to level up with hard work with the most minimal results.
Ash did this every day, coming home, looking at his phone, train, or doing schoolwork.
Ever since the Kraegan came he never had a normal life. Fifty years after they emerged no one knew peace.
They were monsters, demons, names called over the years by humans. All humanity knew was that they came from Hell, even in Hell they had taboo rules and the Kraegan broke them. Punished for their actions, they were fitted with collars on their necks, from the information a captive Kraegan gave in the early years the collars could never be removed unless they ingested a thousand souls thus regaining their freedom and transcending into higher evolution.
This turned out to be false much their dismay, they could evolve but never be free, if the collars were destroyed they would permanently die, no Hell, Heaven, or Purgatory, they would cease to exist completely.
It took ten years before humanity found the stones, books, and scrolls to gain their powers. With all the power though the balance of war never changed, both sides were at a standstill that kept going back and forth.
Ash wanted that to change, he wanted to help change it as his brother tried.
He stopped his training midway, he stared up at the ceiling just thinking, so many thoughts in his head racing. Ash needed to do something else to help keep his mind clear, so he headed downstairs to clean the bike from the stains it endured.
The bike was his brother's prized possession, it was a Harley Dyna, customized by Isaac and his wife. Isaac bought the bike when he was in high school, took him many years and three jobs to save up for it. His wife at the time was studying mechanical engineering, wanting to make custom cars and other projects, she was odd in her family but Isaac loved her unconditionally. She worked hard fixing up the Harley with him, even making a custom gas tank with a carved stencil of flames and a goat skull on it.
Ash scrubbed hard to finally rid the seat and tank of the coffee stains. Luckily the scuffing on the frame was easily doable to remove leaving no permanent damage. It took close to nightfall for the back to be clean again, the pride Ash felt fixing it brimmed bright. He lost his brother and later his sister-in-law too from a Kraegan attack, they raised him after his parents' death. The bike was all he had left of them it was practically a part of him.