District 42-Chapter 275: Hero part 3
The woman was inspecting Ivar closely now, which made him get quite uncomfortable with the situation. Ivar wasn’t good at dealing with people.
No wonder, the only company he had since he was a little kid was his mom and the good clients that came every day to see her. Those were the only people that he talked to before, but he always got along better only with his mother.
When a teenager, he didn’t have time to go to school, nor to play with the other teens and kids on the streets. Since his 10 years old, he needed to find a job, somehow. The earlier someone could get a job in District 42, the bigger their chances were to be chosen to work inside the Castle, which was Ivar’s case.
Of course, he needed to work hard every day, fifteen hours per day, sometimes more. To finally reach that goal and give his mother a good life, 6 years on that same rhythm needed to be spent. This eagerness to work more and more every day was what stole from him the opportunity to know more people.
That said, it’s easy to imagine how desperate Ivar was feeling with that situation.
"Hmm, you don’t have an exemplar body shape, nor the face of a tough guy but... Well, I see many bruises here and there, even cuts, your muscles have no volume but they seem used to go through peaks of exhaustion. Also, you have a kind of nonchalant eyes, but you sure emanate determination. You are the person I need, I can feel it! You are not perfect, but your imperfections will surely be interesting to deal with as well!"
The other people present in that line, waiting for their time to enter into the Castle, looked at that scene with suspicious eyes.
They made sure to cover their bodies well with their shabby and torn clothes, also as look away from them. They didn’t want to make eye contact with that crazy lady.
Nonetheless, as a way of politeness, they wouldn’t be looking at her for longer because of her position, anyway.
Catrina’s white mask seemed to shine under the sunlight as a reminder for the other commoners to keep their heads lowered and recognize the difference in their positions.
"I need to know something first: do you have a family? Do you have someone you can’t just let aside? Or, better, if you have family, wouldn’t you like to just leave them aside and free yourself? There are a lot of people who do the same without anyone asking for this!" Her eyes were bright while looking at Ivar.
The young man was willing to take a step back, but he didn’t want to get out of the line. He would get too late on his job if he did so.
"Look... I need to work, ok?"
"If you come with me, you won’t need to work for your entire life anymore! You will be powerful, you will be invincible! Someone worth to become a Ridire or, rather, an Aesir in the future."
Even though that talk about his body and everything else was quite strange and explained nothing revealing about what Catrina was doing there, those last quotes got Ivar on his weaknesses.
He worked a lot every day, but he didn’t like to work at all. And, more importantly, there was just a single thing that Ivar ever wanted in this world aside from protecting his mom, and it was to become a Ridire, be a hero.
"A R-Ridire, you say?"
Catrina smiled widely, squinting her eyes in joy while seeing a golden opportunity appearing there. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞
"Of course! You will be able to become a Ridire easily! And, if you do things right, you can even turn into an Aesir in no time!"
"Aesir..." He mumbled, looking to the ground while giving a deep thought on that matter.
Catrina knew that she had hooked that young man. It would be just a matter of maintaining the conversation and keep the rewards on show, so Ivar wouldn’t be able to refuse by any means.
"Look, I know that it is hard to believe. I know that this prestigious position is the dream of a lot of people, and often it really is just a mere dream. However, with the kind of power that I will be able to give you, you will have in your hands something that the others don’t. You will be the most powerful person of District 42 by far!"
"Like a hero..."
Catrina chuckled, getting closer to him and speaking in his ear.
"Yes, honey. Like the hero you deserve to be." The mischievous look on her face couldn’t be noticed by the man, who just kept looking on the ground, ashamed for having a woman talking so close.
He pushed her away delicately, glaring wary at her eyes.
"But what exactly is this power? And why, among all these people, you are choosing me?"
"Haha, silly! I am choosing you because, as I said, you seem to have good endurance, both mental and physical. I can tell just looking at you. Your eyes tell me that you are passing for a moment of intense suffering, but you still come every day to work. And your body seems to be tired of years of hard work, but you don’t let it get you down. It is a characteristic that only a commoner can have."
The line advanced quite a few steps, so Ivar and Catrina walked as well.
"Now, about the power that I will give to you... Well, it is something quite simple. I will turn your bones and muscles into pure metal, so to speak. You will be as sturdy as steel, strong as well, resistant, hard enough to bear any pain. You will be the Iron warrior of the district."
’Iron... not glass, but Iron. A glass warrior can’t beat a stone warrior, but iron can surely do it!’
Ivar got excited with the proposal.
"How... How will it work, exactly?"
"Come to my laboratory. I bet you know which floor the labs are on. I am the main researcher of one of the blocks there. If you show up after your shift ends, I will be waiting for you. Then, I will show you what I am talking about. For now, bye~" She waved at him, without waiting for Ivar to answer if he would go or not.
The young man wasn’t able to deal with people. He was naive in various aspects, and couldn’t differ when someone was trying to deceive him or telling the truth.
Catrina was cunning, but also a profiteer. She could see in Ivar’s eyes that he was an easily manipulated man. That’s why she could convince him to go there.
...
The shift on Ivar’s job never was so fast like on that day. He could only think about Catrina and what she was planning during that time.
Although he needed a certain focus because of the frenzy that always befell on his work every day, he could do everything on the automatic. His mind kept aloof and he could barely wait for the moment when he would be in front of the Third Lab’s entrance.
As always, he left that place without talking to anyone. Usually, the people who worked in that industry would go shopping for a while. Inside the Castle, the products weren’t highly taxed as in the other regions of District 42. It was worth it to stroll around for a while and buy something.
They weren’t supposed to keep in the Castle after their shifts ended, but the masks didn’t have a restriction for them to walk around there. Nonetheless, the Ridires always ended up finding them and kicking them from the Castle.
Ivar never went to buy anything with them, whatsoever. He didn’t want to get in trouble with his boss or the Ridires. And the Jarls always kept looking at them like they were walking garbage. He knew that one time or another, they would complain about it and the workers would get in trouble.
The young man rushed towards the nearest Teleporting pad. He couldn’t take it to go to any other floor. Since he didn’t have a white mask and any authorization, he shouldn’t be able to do it, but on that day it was different. Catrina probably opened the way to him.
Soon, he was in front of the Third Lab, looking at it amazed.
Someone was already in front of the entrance waiting for him.
"Oh! You are already here. I like people that don’t keep me waiting for too long~" She waved at him.
Ivar walked toward her and stood in front of the gates of that construction. It didn’t seem to be so big, but the young man could already guess that most of it was made underground. The Third Lab was a polemic place, so almost everyone knew a thing or two about it.
"C’mon, enter. Don’t be shy~" The gate opened automatically in front of them and they walked in.
