“Each of you are part of the future of our Magrin Family.” A vigorous and stern-faced man spoke in front of a lectern in front of a classroom.
Neville Magrin was one of those children. He was almost indistinguishable from his other brothers and sisters.
They hardly ever saw their father in reality. Their mothers told them that he shouldered great burdens and had to work hard every day in order to complete a grand mission.
“I have high expectations for all of you.” Otrus Magrin continued his speech. “The school that I have set up for you will teach you essential skills. Each of you will need to be good at something when you grow older because the galaxy we live in does not tolerate useless people!”
The older kids told him that the ones that performed better received more attention from their father!
Otrus continued his speech.
This was a harsh message, but the children had all heard this message many times. Their father tolerated no excuses from them. If they failed, it was their fault.
“Each of you are lucky to be my children.” Otrus Magrin claimed. “There are many children in this galaxy who have no parents, who don’t have a roof over their heads, who have never felt the touch of love and aren’t able to get into any decent schools. Compare that to yourselves. Here, you have everything you need. You have access to a good school that possesses all of the necessary learning facilities. You will receive a light set of augmentations that will help you keep up with your studies. I have even been generous enough to free plenty of hours in your weekly schedule.”
Otrus Magrin swept all of the children with his piercing gaze. Kids such as Neville felt as if they were exposed to the great responsibility that their father had always shouldered!
All of the children raised their fists! “For Magrin!”
Many kids worked hard for a time, but they eventually fell back to their youthful impulses. Spending so many hours of studying ahead or understanding the lesson materials more thoroughly was utterly boring compared to playing with all of the games in the playrooms.
Neville used to play with his toys as well, but ever since he met his father, he locked them into a lockbox that he had requested from his mother and resolved to never open them again.
His toy mechs, his stuffed dolls and his cool starship models always called him back and play like in the old days.
It took more and more effort to turn himself back each day.
The desire to earn the recognition of his father ultimately drove Neville forward.
The approval shown by his mother, the admiration he attracted from his fellow brothers and sisters and the accomplishment he felt for doing a good job all turned into his new sources of fun!
It wasn’t until he became 10 years old that his life changed forever.
It was one of the most glorious moments of his long life. Even though Neville had attained much greater achievements since that time, he would never forget the pride and expectation his father directed to himself.
“I will, father.” Neville politely said, though his little heart was burning with the desire to get another pat on his head.
Neville threw himself into his training. The Magrin Family hadn’t been large enough to set up its own mech academy back then, so Neville was forced to attend a public institution.
Even so, he resisted the temptation to hang out with them or match their pace. He clung onto the motivation that allowed him to stop himself from opening his box of toys and pushed himself into both physical and mental training.
By the time he graduated from the mech academy with distinction, he entered a long but successful career as a mech pilot.
As more and more people in the Magrin Family expected greatness from him, Neville always made sure to never slack off in his training.
His father.
This was because his father expected him to go much further.
“You are only halfway on your journey.” Otrus Magrin gently said as he patted Neville on the back with great affection. “So don’t celebrate before you have completed your marathon. You will need to work much harder from now on because the remainder of your route will be an uphill struggle.”
Otrus’ eyes stared hungrily at his grown son. “I do. Do you know why? It is because you are my flesh and blood. Not only that, but you also took after my lessons better than anyone else. No one has matched my drive and urgency to excel as well as you. That is why I know for certain that you have what it takes to become a god pilot.”
Instead, he saw this as his strength!
As long as Otrus Magrin remained a part of his life, Saint Neville Magrin never had to worry about everything else. His only concern and responsibility was to become strong as possible so that he could help his father fulfill his great mission.
The ace pilot never imagined a scenario where his father was no longer present in his life.
Though Otrus inevitably made mistakes from time to time, he never allowed that to put him down for long.
He should have been doing so for his father once again today.
Saint Neville didn’t know why a part of his mind recalled all of his cherished moments that he had spent with his father, but he had an ominous feeling about what he was experiencing.
A much greater sense of urgency and pain burst in his heart, causing him to resonate a lot better with his Unrelenting than before.
His ace mech’s Saint Kingdom began to wobble even as it glowed brighter, causing it to draw even more laser fire from the alien battleship, but Neville cared nothing about his own ordeals.
“Father! Talk to me, please! Are you still alive?!”
The lack of answer caused the dread in his heart to grow even stronger.
