***

The best way to start a fine day is to feel the mellow warmth of daylight and breathe in the fresh breeze of the morning sun.

Ephraim stretched as he got out of bed, smiling with eyes closed as he thought of the gentle chirps of birds outside. Nothing better than the early greetings of nature, he thought as he opened the window.

"Litter! Litter!"

"Feces! The perfect fertilizer for Ambrosia!"

"Oh my gosh!" someone shrieked. "Rats in my pie!"

He slammed the window shut and scratched his tousled silver hair. How chaotic.

That's right, 'greetings of nature' was nowhere less violent than an airstrike in the slums of Prowell City.

'Prowell City, the modern Garden of Eden, the new era of technological evolution that could revive the planet that has gone to ruin, and the immortal path of the utopian civilization.'

"Their ads are getting cringier these days," he complained with a disgusted face as he heard the local TV station start the morning news with the usual Prowell City mantra.

Upon switching to the cooking show, he maximized the volume and went to the kitchen to brew his coffee.

Prowell City, an advanced metropolis that enhanced not only the technological prowess of mankind but also the barriers between the elites and lower class.

Ephraim started setting up his little brewer robot on the counter.

Majority of the middle and lower classes reside on the outer districts called "Rexions", which were divided into the North, South, East, and West. In the middle was Nucleus, the city's main powerhouse that generates Prowell's dome.

The sky he sees outside his window every single day was no more than the electromagnetic forcefield that overlooks the entire city.

It was artificial, but the finite domain showed them life, making it the most worshiped creation since the dawn of the new world . . . since the fall of the old one.

He watched the slow blinking of the machine's button as it processed his beverage.

"Please wait a bit," the machine announced. "You can't brew your own coffee, so might as well wait!"

"Oh look, even the coffee machine's showing me some attitude." Ephraim chuckled and flicked a switch.

A mutational virus that shocked the planet. The widespread aftermath of biochemical imbalance in the desperation to create an omnipotent solution to all existing diseases.

What supposedly was a heroic journey to discover the Elixir of Life, turned out to be the most incurable outbreak on the surface of the earth.

The machine let out a ting and finished pouring out his coffee.

"Caffeine is life!" The robotic voice of the coffee machine broke him out of his trance.

"Damn right, Beanie." He smiled at the earthy aroma. "Damn right." He took a sip and grimaced. "Hot!"

"Viva la patata!" Ephraim jumped when the door was suddenly kicked open by Aleck. Her hands were full. "I bought chips!" she announced.

"You're the only one who likes those, Al." He rolled his eyes and walked to the sofa.

"Well duh, that's the point." She mimicked his eye roll and placed the groceries on the table.

For a while, he simply sipped on his coffee as Aleck discarded the plastic bags and went to the bathroom. Ephraim then moved to the boss' table, and breathed in all his hopes to continue his small business for another day.

He sat on the swivel chair and spun with both feet hanging in the air.

"Whee!" He sang as he wheeled around the room. "Weewo!" He felt like a captain of a battleship.

"Boss?"

He stopped and swiftly crossed his legs - poised. The chair kept moving, however, and only stopped when it hit the table. "Ouch!" He cleared his throat. "Uhm, yes?"

Aleck looked at him blankly and sighed. "These." She pointed at the groceries. "Are all for this week. Lyca said she's not gonna 'demand' for rent if we'll have nothing left for food. In the end, she'd just use that rent we paid to cook us meals. Seriously, boss, she's our landlady and she's more concerned about our finances than we are."

She kept talking as she took off her shoes and plopped herself down on the sofa.

"Now she says she has trust issues and won't open the door 'til next week. She said that's all the time she needs to restore her faith in humanity."

"Smart woman," Ephraim grumbled as he dragged his chair back to its proper place.

"Honestly, anyone would be dead inside if they had us as tenants. At this point I'm already considering working for her instead."

"Nice try. Whatcha gonna do? Fight chemicals?"

"Fair point." Aleck shrugged and flipped the TV channels. "Well, do we have a plan?"

"How about, we watch the phone." He pointed at the phone on his table. "And wait for a client to call?"

"Sounds good to me."

They waited in silence, with nothing but Aleck's loud chewing and the TV show's volume echoing in the room. At some point, they both ended up immersed in the drama series while eating the second pack of chips that they didn't even hear the phone until its fourth ring.

"Shh!" Ephraim shushed the phone.

Aleck's eyes widened upon realization. "Boss! A client!" She nudged him.

"Huh? Oh right!" He jumped out of the couch and clicked the answer button. "Good morning, Ephraim Bricks, Jacks of All Trades Servicing -"

"My son!" a panicked old man shouted from the other end. "Please protect my son!"

***

"So . . . are we in the right place?"

Ephraim checked his notepad. "It appears so."

They stood in front of the tall metal gate of an Italianate building surrounded by concrete walls, and on top of the entrance was "Arnoldii's Camp" engraved on varnished birch. The hint of extravagance was subtle, but to Commoner's Valley, it was like a rose among thorns.

"I thought this place was poor?" Aleck buttoned the sleeves of her dress shirt up to her elbow. Only now did she realize why Ephraim instructed her to fetch some more decent clothing from the thrift shop. "What's this fancy bullshit? Commoners have royalty?"

"If everyone here is poor, there won't be businesses, Al. Of course there are some money-makers here. Not royalty but close." He tightened his tie. "It's been so long since I wore one of these. Not sure if I did it right."

"Told ya to ask Lyca for help."

"She's 'restoring her faith in humanity' right now, isn't she?" They both laughed at Ephraim's words. "Right, let's go."

Ephraim pulled out a small printed copy of an insignia from his chest pocket and placed it in front of the scanner attached to the gate. For a moment there was silence, then a short buzz. The gate clicked and opened, allowing them full entry to the campsite. Aleck caught sight of guards spread around the place, and one of them left his post to approach them.

"You're entering private property. State your purpose." The armed man's height was in par with Ephraim's, and even if he towered over Aleck's stature, she glared back with the same level of intensity.

"Yo, we just got in -"

Ephraim put a stop to Aleck's rant by handing over the printed insignia. The guard took one look at it and narrowed his eyes at them. "Is this a joke?"

Aleck was about to rebut but Ephraim gave her a warning look that made her huff in annoyance, whispering a curse under her breath.

"Tell that to your scanner," Ephraim answered. "And if you want the original insignia, call Mr. Kornelius himself." He smiled and tipped his fedora hat. "We are just temporary, sir."

With squinted eyes, the guard jerked his head to the left. "Go. No funny business, Joatys." He went back to his post and eyed them like a hawk as they walked to the direction of the camping field at the back of the main building.

Tall ceilings and polished floors, porcelain ornaments and golden pillars - the inside was even grander than the view from the main gate.

Aleck's neck stretched whenever they passed over a window, trying to peek at whatever's inside. "Ho-hoo, that client's one heck of a bigshot!" she whispered and punched the air. "Finally!"

"Now, now, don't get too excited. We still need to find our 'young master' for today." Ephraim rubbed his stubbled chin as they approached the backside where there was a tall wooden fence that hindered them from seeing the camp.

"Huh." He fondled the padlock on the wooden door. "That sneaky guard."

Aleck casually stepped forward, held the body of the padlock, and pulled it down in one swift motion. The lock snapped open from the speed and brute force of her pull.

She looked at him innocently and held up the broken lock. "We're sneakier."

Ephraim touched his chest and wiped an invisible tear. "Not really sneaky but okay, I'm proud of you anyways."

Upon walking in, the two shielded themselves from the strong wind of the open field - grass were trimmed enough to be mistaken as plastic, and in the middle stood at least twenty shirtless young men whose clothes were carelessly stacked in a messy heap on the ground.

A few servants in white can be seen roaming the area, cleaning the multiple working tents spread around the wide field, while others were simply tending to the shirtless mannequin-like men by giving them towels and cold drinks.

"This . . . is a training camp?" Aleck's face scrunched up. "They're just standing there half-naked!"

"Now now, Al, let's not judge. Who knows how groomed these young men have been since childhood? The ugly weather? The rough ground on their bare feet? It might be hell for them, y'know!"

Aleck looked up and down. "It's cloudy, and the grass is like, carpet."

"It's all about mental torture, Al." Ephraim waved at one of the passing servants when Aleck tugged his suit. "What?"

"I just broke the lock. Are we trespassing? Would the servants know?"

"Broke what lock?" He stuffed the broken padlock in his pocket and hopped over to one of the nearby helpers.

They were led to a nearby kiosk which had a clear view of the lined-up men. Ephraim squinted his eyes to observe each of their facial features, trying to look for the one that matches Mr. Kornelius' description best:

A tall and lean young man with fair skin, short brown hair, and likes vibrant clothing.

Clothing is crossed out. Not much hint to work with when they all look the same.

"Potato chips, and uh, iced tea. Thanks." Aleck was already asking the servant for snacks.

Ephraim turned to glare at her.

"What?" she asked. "Want some too?"

He looked at the servant who had a notepad ready. Well, he was getting hungry anyway. "I'll have the macaroons, please."

In just a few minutes of wait, the two were soon munching on their snacks while keeping their eyes glued to the men who were now assigned tasks around the field. They were divided into three groups, each taking turns on the soil-digging, litter-gathering, and arranging rock formations.

"This is fuckin' kid's show," Aleck whined. "Elites call this 'punishment'? What happened to 'gardening'?"

"Oh yes, chocolate," Ephraim groaned in pleasure as he savored his sweets, oblivious to Aleck's visible annoyance.

"To answer your question . . ." He wiped his lips after a while. "They're rich. That's it. Now let's talk about the guards around here."

"Yeah, what about them?" There were armed men stationed on specific areas around the campsite but the only ones she saw were those lingering by the entrance, and one of them was the guy who approached them earlier.

"Why do they have guards there, but not here?" He plopped his elbows up and placed his chin atop his joined hands, squinting his eyes to await Aleck's answer.

"Hmm . . ." Her eyes wandered, and she noticed Ephraim was right. Not one guard on the backside of the building. Not even one by the wooden fence. "The entrance is the most vulnerable, right?"

"Not really. Although the backyard is surrounded by the woods, not even the walls could block thieves out once they decide to take that route."

"Then are they simply being careless?"

"I think it's because they find no need to guard this area." He rubbed his chin. "Two possibilities. One, they're purposely putting their clients in danger for whatever shit reason. Two, something in the woods or the walls makes them confident enough not to put any guards."

"Or they want the clients to feel safe enough in the place where they are. No guards means no threats, right?"

He smiled and patted her head. "That's another one! Great job, Al. I didn't expect such a wholesome answer from you."

"Well, yeah. It's stupid to crowd just one area. Even if it's just for show. No wonder that old man called us for help."

"You're right. I feel like something else is goin' on here, but I can't tell yet." Ephraim leaned back on his chair and caressed the bulge forming from his inner coat pocket - specifically, the place where he hid his weapons.

Aleck noticed this and pouted. "If I had known it was fine to bring weapons, I could've brought my mithril rifle."

"Good luck making that fit in your pocket."

They turned to look at the small podium placed on the mid area of the field when they heard a loud whistle, and found the instructor standing there.

"Seems they're done. Time to scout the area." Ephraim stood up and Aleck followed.

A different servant came to clean their table as they moved to the side, watching the men walk to the heap of clothes and taking what was theirs.

"Al." He turned to Aleck. "We take the high ground and wait for the drone to come at exactly six, or any time after that. I instructed a friend of mine to -"

"Oomph!"

A man tripped on his own feet and fell down to the ground face first, just right in front of them. He was still shirtless and held an orange dress shirt.

The two didn't move and only watched as the servants assisted the young man, while his fellow campers were behind him, simply shaking their heads as if they were used to it. The man stood up with assistance and rubbed his dirtied face.

Ephraim's eyes widened. That's right, the most important detail on the list.

Tall and lean, fair skin, short brown hair, vibrant clothing, and most importantly . . . a klutz.

The young man averted his eyes out of embarrassment. Found him.

Trezdon Kornelius.

***

Author's Note:

Hey hey hey! Demiprose here! Here's for Chapter 1 of JOAT!

Honestly, when I started writing this, it never crossed my mind that it would become an instant reader's favorite, since among the three books i was writing at the time, this was what i considered my comfort work.

Something less serious and more on the funny side. I didn't even have a concrete plot for this one! I just wrote it cuz i felt inspired after watching anime!

But now I'm in the middle of revisions. College has been hectic and i kinda lost track of my writing style. To bring it back, i decided to start with JOAT here. This my baby.

Here's a lil something from me!

Sit tight and read away~~