Ryu Astre (Point Of View)

"Hoooo..." I exhaled, my breath condensed into a thick hot white air.

I opened my eyes in the middle of the night. It was dark. I'm currently sitting in the center of the room while holding in my hands the Unbreakable Destiny, a pair of swords that is imbued with ice and fire dragon orbs.

A few minutes ago, I was on a trial in overcoming the power of these weapons. Since Gavin's grandfather promise that succeeding will allow him to sell them to me.

The room is completely frozen. Hot steams continued to float around the surrounding. It felt like a sauna. For hours, the Fire Dragon Sword and Ice Dragon Sword's power conflicted with each other, creating this cold and hot environment.

Now that it's midnight, the two swords started to calm down. This short time was enough to enable me in grasping the knowledge on how to use them.

Since the swords are like living objects, all I did is to be friends with them by acknowledging their painful past and absorbing them into my own. "Your lives and my life are now combined. We are not three, but one. Your burdens, I will carry. Your dreams I will achieve. And your wishes I will accomplish."

Click... Click.

I sheathed both swords and tied them into the sword belt in my waist that was provided earlier by Gavin's grandfather. "Kai egeneto fos," I chanted. A fire appeared above me illuminated the dark surrounding, allowing me to clearly see the door that leads outside. I walked.

Passing through the door leads to another room, but this room was familiar since it was the one at the back of the shop, the one that was filled with high-quality weapons, and the one where the spirits of the Unbreakable Destiny forcefully seized my mind.

Clink.

Another surprise is waiting after I stepped foot inside the shop. Some strange men are waiting for me idly. Their sensitivity and reactions were quite slow so it gave me a chance to discreetly cast scout magic. "Epitrepste mou na do to perivallon."

Dozens of men are in the vicinity hiding in the dark: 6 are inside the shop, 6 are in the back alley, 12 are outside the front entrance, 4 people inside the room holding Gavin and the others as captives, and 4 people on the roof as a lookout. The whole place is surrounded that not even a cat could escape.

"Who?" I said, nonchalantly crossing my arms on my chest.

The people inside the shop were slightly shocked as they revealed their weapons in response to being caught off guard.

After the place was secured, a man who was hiding at the farthest corner of the room appeared, stretched out his hands towards me like he was asking for something, he said, "I'll not beat around the bush, kid. We have captured your friends, so hand over the swords and we will let you guys live."

A gang of thieves. A cliche that always happened in movies. After someone gets a hold of a good item, there will always be people who would want the easy way by ganging up on the person. And here I am not confused since this already happened a bunch of times when I was still in Southbourne City. In fact, these people are quite novices compared to the other encounters.

"Another pathetic bunch," I said, heaving a deep sigh. "Since I'm in a good mood, I'll let you guys live as long as you atone for your sins and get lost."

They paused. Looking at each other for a second before they started laughing off. "Pffft! Bwahahaha! Boss Wolf, did you hear what the kid just said?"

"Viper, it seems that this kid has a screw loose," Wolf said, eyeing me with his fierce bloodshot eyes. "It seems a kid like you wasn't taught by your mommy."

Swish!

The person called Wolf vanished into smokes and appeared in front of me within three seconds. His arms are raised and stretched up to his back, wearing metal gauntlets that are used as a weapon by the fighter class.

"This guy is finished," someone said in the background, "provoking Boss Wolf, who is a 5-Star Brawler equivalent to a Sword Grand Master is suicide."

Since the incident on the Dragon's Lair, I stopped being complacent and underestimating my enemies. As much as possible, I wanted to end things quickly so an accident would less likely to occur. I learned my lessons.

"I gave you a chance, but you became deaf to my words," I said, sliding one foot backward and bending the other while I grabbed on the Ice Dragon Sword. "Still, you guys are lucky since my sword doesn't want to kill."

You heard that right. The Ice Dragon Sword wished that it doesn't want to kill anymore. This is the reason why this pair of swords still doesn't have a master until they met me. The previous people kept failing in subduing the Unbreakable Destiny because they don't respect the swords' wishes.

Slash!

Since I slid backward, a gap was made, making Wolf's attack missed and giving enough space for my sword to slash through the air without hitting anyone.

"Ha! Who are you trying to hit, kid?" Wolf laughed. Shortly, his laugh turned into an unexplainable expression. — Crackle! — "I... I'm freezing, help m—"

"Ah!" Viper and another one who dashed forward and the three who tried to run outside were frozen. In just a split second, almost half of the room was filled with ice.

Whistle~

"Your Majesty," Felix said, appearing beside me.

"Clean up this mess."

"As you command." Felix disappeared. In a few seconds, hundreds of Shadow Assassins under the Shadow Intelligence Guild surrounded the place.

On a silent night, the screams of people calling for help can be heard. But no one is brave enough to come out of their homes and see what's going on. Later on, this day became a famous horror story in the neighborhood, they called it 'The Bodiless Night Shrieks'.

***

Rosie Xavier (Point Of View)

Another day, another dream. These absurd instances started to happen when I was six years old. It repeated more than three thousand times that I already became immune to it. So much that my consciousness can now freely move inside this illusion.

But today is somewhat different. My dream was so intense that my emotions piled up.

"Rosie," my father called. In my dream, he is a father who is always there with me. But in reality, the family's business is more important, that I only saw him several times within years. I can even count the number of times I have met him in all my life with my fingers.

"Dad!" I replied, running towards him with open arms, jumping as I hugged him. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too, sweetie."

"Will you stay at home?"

"Of course, from now on, I'll be here with you forever."

"Dad!" I cried. I was so happy that danced throughout the room.

The happiest dream I could have ever wished. However, a dream will still be a dream that gathers your inner emotions and turn them into something. Something that no one would expect. A pleasant dream can always turn into something horrible that you would want to wake up to immediately. But for a reason, you can't.

"But, sweetie."

"Yes, dad?"

"Your three brothers became a successful businessman. How about you?"

"How about me?"

"We know that you have no talent in doing business. But you should have at least have one thing you're good at. Right?

"Talent? But dad, I'm still a student—"

"And yet, your brothers are already successful when they were your age."

"I'm studying hard—"

"You're not even in the top students of the Royal Academy."

"I'm doing my best—"

"Is that all you can say? Wouldn't it be better if you were just born as a boy instead?"

"No, dad! Even as a lady, I'll become someone better than my brothers! I'm even set to become the crown prince—"

"Liar!"

"What?"

"My daughter is a liar!"

"W-What do you mean, dad?"

My father's face who was brimming with happiness a while ago suddenly darkened. I can see the disgust in his face as his whole body grew twice bigger. Much bigger, that he covered the light that came from the chandelier lamp. The room became dark and all I can see is his red eyes. His eyes that is looking only at me. In a slow, trembling, and hushed voice, I asked, "D-Dad?"

Whoosh!

A large amount of wind wiped our house in an instant. Then I found myself in the front end of a boat while the angry waves slammed and whacked against its sides. The boat rocked and made me cling to the rails when I noticed that a woman is standing unaffected by the circumstances.

"Help me!" I shouted while my eyes are half-closed because the big raindrops continued to hit my face. The rain is so strong that my vision is blurry, so I didn't identify that person.

Sssssshhhhh!

The strong wind deafens me, so I only noticed that the woman is already at my side when she suddenly thrust her hand at my throat, gripping it so hard as she lifted me by the neck.

"Ack!" I choked, "Yu..aack...! Yu...Yume?!"

Now that our distance is close, I can see that the one who is holding me up is none other than the person who I wanted to remove from my life the most. But the one in front of me is different. She is confident and domineering that even I trembled in fear.

"Why are you trying so hard, Rosie?"

"Ack... What?!"

"Whatever you do, the position of the crown princess will always be mine."

"S-Stop... Choking me..."

"The King already decided. Even if Shin loves you, you can only be his concubine. A position that is lower than mine."

"No... I'm... The future queen!" I struggled, wriggling my body so I can get away from her grasp. But whatever I do, she is so strong that her strength overpowered me. "...Kill."

"Kill? You want to kill me, you talentless woman?"

"Hahahaha!" I laughed. In desperation, I forcibly remembered that this was all a dream. "Go on, Yume! I know you can only do these things in my dream. But when I wake up, I'll make sure that you will suffer so much that you'll beg me for your life! Hahaha! Hahahahahaha!! Hahahahahahahahaha!!!"