A long and dreadful pause entered our conversation. I didn’t notice the time, but we were talking for an hour inside this house. But since Hina and I were resting for the time being and fought no monsters right now, maybe this wasn’t too bad after all. However, we had a time limit bound around our necks. And the moment that the Crimson Guild elite adventurers or the monsters residing around this place breached this place before we could even escape, Hina’s family and our lives would be endangered. The fate of the world and the possible war was within our hands. “Working together is going to be a big problem for the two of us. But if I have to do it… for your family and for the people’s well being. But if worse comes to worst, and I saw you killing our people, then I will have no other choice but… to present myself to the Crimson Guild…”“Save the people more than help me. Yeah, I get it. I would do the same thing,” I said, interrupting Elena’s words. “Don’t worry about it. Betraying
Backstory. 14 years ago(Aoi’s Point of View)____________________________Hina stormed inside her room after showing her report card to her parents… When we showed our report cards to her parents. Hina’s mother compared her to me, who had better grades than her - than the rest of the students in our school. She knew that presenting them to her parents would lead to this moment. However, Hina steeled her heart and braced herself for whatever was about to come. And it did come inside our house. Regardless of the matter, Hina faced her consequences head on and cried alone inside her room. But at the end of the day, she still had me. And maybe, just maybe, I want to be a part of her life as well… just like good old days. The Dean called both of our attention. That Dean wished to congratulate me, while they wanted to call Hina about her grades hanging on the ledge. That was the school’s regulations. And that marked the chaotic event inside our home.As the door shut upstairs, I was left
Backstory (continuation) (Aoi’s point of view) _______________________ After what happened inside the living room, I couldn’t help but check Hina upstairs. I knew that she had changed and became cold hearted while talking to me. But Hina was still my sister. And despite what had happened between the two of us, Hina will always be my little step sister. There was not a thing I wished to change that reality. As I climbed the steps of the narrowed living room, the squeaks from the wooden floor announced my appearance. My sweat drenched my clothes as I crept closer and closer to Hina’s room. A weeping sound echoed at the other side of the staircase, belonging to the girl who was the only one present upstairs. After a few moments, which felt like a decade, I finally arrived on top of the place and came face to face with Hina’s door… It was Hina’s room. The crying sounds of a girl continued reverberating throughout the upper floor. And since this house was not large enough as it sounded
Bonus Chapter Icarus’ Perspective Ten years before joining the Elite team of the Crimson Guild ____________________ Icarus. My mum named me that after the famous story about Icarus and Daedalus who tried reaching the sun with their make-shift wings. Dad died when I served in the military. The terrorists killed him, but my dad and his team won the battle. But even that information wasn't disclosed from the public and from us. A representative of the Queen's government and the United Nation's Defence agency went into our house and disseminated that data to my mum and me. Mum told me that I had to believe what the man with high ranking status mentioned about dad until I could reveal the truth. And since I was still young and dumb, I didn't mind it and still believed dad's death was caused by the terrorists. When my old man died when I was six years old, he left a letter, telling me to become a man that was willing to protect the people in need. But despite what he wished for me, I ne
Bonus Chapter (part 2)Icarus’ PerspectiveTen years before joining the Elite team of the Crimson Guild____________________When dad died, every information about his death and moments afterward was classified. The man who visited our house told us that, but mum didn’t believe him. My mum told me that dad had himself caught up with a mission so confidential not even the civilians were informed about it. Only the queen - The United Kingdom - and the United Nations were aware of the matter.Maybe it wasn’t the terrorist behind this plot… Even though it was clear as day those dangerous organisations could’ve done it, my guts told me otherwise. But even so, I still went with the flow and thought that the terrorist was behind it, while keeping the situation mind that something might be pulling the strings. And the death of my dad was related to this event happening in the academy.A known terrorist must be behind this. There was no doubt behind it. If it wasn’t that, I didn’t know how to
Bonus Chapter (part 3) Icarus’ Perspective Ten years before joining the Elite team of the Crimson Guild ____________________ [You have entered a Class-B Portal] [Congratulations, Icarus! You have become an adventurer and earned the ability of Phoenix!] [Note: Phoenix, the adventurer, who has acquired these skills is not a player but an adventurer. System cannot be obtained] [Hot Body (Passive Skill)- Hot Body allows the adventurer to negate any extreme temperature, regardless if it is tundra or lava. This skill also applies on the adventurer’s current equipped weapon and clothing, unless the adventurer relieves or toggles this ability off momentarily.] [Fire Manipulation (Passive Skill) - Any fire that has 600 Celsius can be controlled by the adventurer. By controlling and maintaining the blazing element, this skill will also feed on the adventurer’s own mana to sustain it. If the spell depletes the adventurer's mana/stamina, the ability will be deactivated until the adventure
Bonus Chapter (part 4)Icarus’ PerspectiveTen years before joining the Elite team of the Crimson Guild____________________When the students found me, who was covered with flames and fire coming out from my hands, they rushed in my direction, hoping I could save them. I didn’t want to, especially after what they did to me. However, because of the old man’s words, my moral compass forced me to help others. If dad wasn’t a soldier or a police officer, maybe I would’ve neglected all of this and cuddled by myself inside the shelter. But where was the fun in that?Even though the four students were well aware of me, they sprinted behind my back and begged for any assistance from me. After saying my powers, they swallowed their pride and pleaded for mercy for the monster and me. I heaved out an exhausted sigh, knowing that this wouldn’t turn out well. I had to defeat the gryphon in front of me while defending these students behind my back. As luck would have it, the gryphon also had eyes
Bonus Chapter (part 5) Icarus’ Perspective Ten years before joining the Elite team of the Crimson Guild _______________________________ When I stretched both of my arms to attack each gryphon, which was akin to a nuke, the sphere collided and dealt considerable damage against the mythical creatures. The towering gryphon behind me who was the first enemy I targetted received considerable damage as it flapped its wings and tried smashing its body and head against the nearby mountains. Time healed the burning wings of the gigantic gryphon, but the wounds it had received were considerable enough to slow down its movement. As that happened, that colossal gryphon looked like it had a weakness against fire attributes. Fortunately, I could generate flames out of my hands as if it was second nature. The smaller gryphon tried attacking us by using its body and beak as its means to deal damage against our group, compared to the larger gryphon who used its magic and conjured a spell out of it