The Mind World And The Outcast Hero

The Ross's Past

It had now been a total of three days since the mission to defeat the Scorpions had come to an end. Nathan had defeated Scorpio and saved his friends with the aid of Death's power.

Unfortunately, this did not come without a cost. Nathan's right arm now had the letters DE engraved onto it. He was only one letter away from reaching the halfway point of the progress meter.

Nathan sat quietly in his room as he pondered. He felt empty and confused. He had realized that his dream of becoming a hero was only a childish delusion. It had even become evident that his title of the Mind Hero was nothing more than a meaningless name. He was nothing more than an average teenager who had a difficult choice to make. Would he help to save the Mind World or the Real World? He couldn't see a way to save both.

The Real World was the sole reason why the people of the Mind World were suffering. They were always at constant war with Demon Beasts and their only option was to destroy the Real World if they hoped to find peace.

 However, the leaders of the Mind World refused to allow this. Due to this, people like Scorpio were forced to take things into their own hands. To make things worse, there were also children like Isabella who were forced to risk their lives in Hero Agencies from a young age to survive.

"What am I going to do..?" Grumbled Nathan to himself. "If it was as simple as killing all the Demon Beasts then this would be a million times easier... But Demon Beasts are constantly being created from the emotions of people from the Real World!"

Suddenly, Nathan was scared from his thoughts by the opening of his room door. He looked up to see none other than Alondo coming inside to greet him.

"Sup!" greeted Alondo as he let himself in.

"You know that you should try knocking before you barge into people's rooms..." Complained Nathan.

Alondo then leaned himself against the wall comfortably before responding.

 "Eh... It's much more fun to surprise people. They give all sorts of different reactions."

"Sigh... Anyways, how are the others..? I haven't seen them since the mission..."

"They're perfectly fine. They should be released from the infirmary today. You did a good job on that mission, Nathan."

A displeased look then came over Nathan's face. He did not believe that he deserved any gratitude for what he had done.

 "You mean thanks to, Death..? I couldn't do anything by myself. We'd all be dead if it weren't for that stupid angel's power.

Before responding, Alondo unwrapped a bar of chocolate and placed it against his lips.

 "Look, everyone has a starting point. This is simply yours, Nathan. You shouldn't beat yourself up since you're still a rookie."

 "Sure, just my starting point when I was supposed to die three times already! All I can do is rely on this stupid power. I'm sorry, Alondo, but you wasted your entire life preparing for a hero who can't even save himself..!"

Alondo then straightened himself before walking over to Nathan. He then grabbed onto Nathan's right arm before looking at the progress meter.

"DE, huh? You explained everything that happened on the mission but you never quite told me how you were able to use the angels' powers. Care to explain?"

Nathan then went silent for a few seconds. It was not a topic that he wanted to discuss but since Alondo was the one asking, he knew he had no choice.

"Fine, but only under one condition. You can't tell anyone about it, especially Sindy and Andrew!"

"Deal."

"The A.O.D seems to be trapped inside me. Based on the conversation I had with him, I deduced two things; Firstly, he can only get out of my body if I accept his power and allow him to take control. Secondly, if I continuously borrow his power, he will be able to take control of my body after five uses."

"So the markings on your arm are some kind of progress meter then, huh? Also, Angel of Death and five uses... That indicates that when his name, DEATH, is fully engraved on your hand, he'll be able to take over for good. In other words, you can only use his power three more times before he takes control of you."

"Wow... I see your last name isn't Smartmind for nothing..."

Alondo then bit into his chocolate bar before continuing.

 "I mean it's no big deal. Just don't rely on his power anymore."

"What choice do I have when I'm confronted by a stronger enemy than myself? It's my go-to when I'm in a tough spot... I'm far too weak! I almost cost you the life of one of your best assassins!"

"Wouldn't you have done the same if Isabella was the one being held hostage?"

"Well..."

"I'm positive that you would. It's part of who you are, Nathan. Besides, Isabella found something she cares about and that something is you. If anyone else told me that she tried to kill herself to save someone else, I would think they're capping. Isabella's never been the type to put her life in danger for the sake of another."

"Huh? But why? Why is she like that?"

"It's a long story but both she and her brother, Rick, had a tough life from a very young age." Sighed Alondo as he began. "Isabella and Rick lived in a small town called Intellect. It's similar to the village you went to on your first mission. It was a poor town that was hardly supplied with any food due to where it was located. To put it simply, it was a hotspot for Demon Beasts..."

"I see... So that means travelers could hardly get into the village to provide them with resources..."

"Precisely. The living conditions were terrible. On top of barely having any basic necessities to survive, they were constantly forced to defend themselves from Demon Beast attacks every day. To make things worse, they couldn't simply run away from the village since they had nowhere to go. One day, during the Demon Beast attacks, a level-10 Demon Beast appeared. It ravaged their village killing many people. Sadly, some of those who didn't die caught a deadly disease called Dark Syndrome.

"Dark Syndrome..?" Muttered Nathan.

"Yes, it's an illness passed onto anyone who is injured by a level-10 Demon Beast. It's a disease that attacks your brain. Unfortunately, Isabella's parents were one of the few who had been infected by the syndrome. Due to having limited medical supplies and resources, there was no way to treat the illness. So, everyone who was infected eventually succumbed to the illness including Isabella's parents."

"But why..? Why didn't a hero agency help them? This world has good technology too! The living standards should be much better than this!"

"It's not like that, Nathan. It's not that the hero agencies didn't try to help them. It's just that they couldn't..."

"What..?"

"Some areas in the Mind World are divided into High Spawn Point and Low Spawn Point areas. In High Spawn Point areas, Demon Beasts come at you like raindrops. The area surrounding Intellect was one of those High Spawn Point areas. Even if you kill one Demon Beast, two more would take its place. No matter how many you killed, more would always be there to replace them. It is near impossible to enter the village without losing a life, even with a powerful assassin or hero with you. The same goes for trying to leave the village as well."

Nathan folded his fists in frustration. He understood what Alondo was trying to say. Even if the heroes were to somehow make it into the village and rescue the villagers, they would have nowhere to go. It was painful to even think about.

"So what happened after that..?" Asked Nathan dimly.

"After the level-10 Demon Beast had attacked, the village struggled to keep itself together. Eventually, the Demon Beasts overwhelmed the few villagers who were left, slaughtering almost all of them. Rick and Isabella were only lucky to survive. I'm not sure how they did it but Rick and Isabella managed to escape. After they managed to run away, they ended up in Conscience City."

"Wait, I thought only the rich were allowed inside safe zones like Conscience City..!"

"Well, you're right. But there are times when security gets a little lenient. Since they were kids, Rick being 7 and Isabella being 5 at the time, the guards allowed them inside."

"So things got better after that, huh?"

"Not exactly. In some ways, it got worse. Since they didn't have any money, they couldn't afford a place to stay. To make matters worse, no one offered them a helping hand because they weren't registered citizens. It's taboo to help anyone who isn't a registered citizen of that particular safe zone. If you're caught, you could have your life destroyed. The government would confiscate your businesses, properties, and worst of all, kick you out of the safe zone."

"The hell?! That's bullshit! Even if the government is so damn crappy, why didn't someone at least try to adopt them? They could help them out by getting them registered!"

"No one wanted to take the risk, Nathan. Trying to gain custody of two illegal children is very risky. Safe zones are considered overpopulated. Due to this, the government does its best to get rid of as many people as it can for the simplest of reasons."

"Damn it... That's such bullcrap!"

"Well, that's just how it is. Rick and Isabella were both forced to fend for themselves while evading the government which tried to kick them out. They had to steal food to survive, sleep on the streets, and run from authorities daily. It became their everyday life."

Nathan could hardly believe what he was hearing. The struggles that Isabella and her brother went through were far from easy. Having to experience such pain from a young age had to be difficult.

"It doesn't end there," continued Alondo. "Around two years later, they were abducted from the streets and sold off to the Cliques. This was where they were trained as mercenaries to help with the destruction of the Real World. They were abused and treated as tools for an entire year. Fortunately, my late father who was the leader of AA at the time managed to rescue them and have them join the organization instead."

Nathan didn't need to hear anything else to understand why Isabella was the way she was. After everything she and her brother went through, it was no wonder why she only cared for herself. People rejected them when they needed them the most. This led to a life full of suffering and pain. They grew up with the idea that the only way to survive was to care only for themselves.

"I see... So that's why Isabella's the way she is..." Mumbled Nathan.

"Exactly. It's why she acts as if everyone else is beneath her at times because she believes that acting that way is the only way to survive. She believes that if she puts anyone else before her then they'll simply walk over her."

Nathan cursed himself underneath his breath. He didn't know what it was that he was supposed to do. 

"What am I supposed to do then..?" Asked Nathan in a brittle voice. "I'm far too weak... I can't save anyone!"

"Pretty simple actually. Just become stronger."

"How do I get stronger then? I would do anything for more power..!"

Alondo then looked up into Nathan's eyes before giving his response;

"That's what I came here to talk to you about, Nathan."