-Evening hours, Castle of the First Epic-

A soldier that seemed to be wearing the casual armor of the first kingdom, stood before the first Epic and informed him about the situation. But needless to say, his armor was very close to what the knights had used, it was a different version that the Epics would make on their own to put in their army.

The Epics, many from other kingdoms, doing their works completely apart from other, lived on castles that they have raided a long time or such a short time ago. They would just participate in any form of agreement, leading them to disobey and betray the owners of dealers, or just use their power for fun and destroy everything in their way.

Becoming a contest-like thing, this had been going on for almost fifteen years.

And for now, The first Epic, Arsillo, things were getting much more out of control.

"Sir, Miron wants to see you."

Arsillo replied in a nervous, but an unsudden way,

"Miron? What's he doing here?"

"We don't know Sir, he didn't tell us anything. He only told us about that there were "things" he wanted to talk with you."

*What is this guy up to again?*

Miron appeared before the first epic without waiting for permission, and just got inside of the room like a very much ghost.

"It's been a long time, Lapus. I see you've found a new place." His voice echoed through the room, with a chilling, type of voice that would get stuck in Arsillo's head, with how much he was talking with ease with a smile and joy, but still, his voice cut like blades.

Miron approached him, with the biggest ego that a man could ever have, but with such gentlemanly steps.

Arsillo didn't want to give in to the suspicion in his voice. He just sat there calmly and tried to resonate with whatever Miron had in my mind.

"Yeah, it's been a long time, Miron. It is actually quite surprising to see you here."

He then looked at his soldiers and ordered directly,

"Leave Miron and me alone."

The soldiers quickly followed up his order and they started to line up in front of the door to still protect Arsillo and be out of the conversation. And when they finally left the room, Miron started talking again.

"Do you wonder why I came here?" He talked while walking through the room, creating circles slowly.

"You said you weren't going to be back for a long time. Why all of a sudden you decided to visit me back?"

Miron then laughed quietly,

"I'm very happy to hear that you remember our rendezvous back in months I have told you about. And, yes, I was indeed on a mission. But not to drag this any further or longer, I must ask you something. Something that I need to know."

*He is hiding something big. I must talk to him with so little information. Otherwise, I'm not so sure he will try something bad here.*

"What would you like to know from me?"

Arsillo repositioned himself in his chair, putting his hand on the other side of his face. He wanted to seem very much comforted by the Miron's words and there wasn't anything wrong. But the questions of Miron were getting much more intense too.

"Do you know Kaika from the Wolf bloodline?" Miron said, evilly smirking under his cloak,

"Yeah, he is Alpha Prime's brother, and somewhat of a dangerous person. I actually hadn't seen him for who knows how long too, but I have no intention to see him either." Arsillo replied rolling his eyes over to his hands.

He then looked at Miron and added,

"What about him?"

Miron's smirk grew larger. His deadly and terrible aura under the cloak enveloped his entire body and made a facial expression as if he was going to reveal something very evil in him. And with such cool, he said his words as if they were nothing.

"Did you know, that I was the one who killed him?"

Arsillo didn't seem to be surprised about the thing Miron had said. It was just another piece of news that he almost heard. And because of how many people followed up on every article or news about Miron, it wasn't something new or out of the blue to know what he did.

Arsillo still wanted to keep his cool, and wanted to know furthermore, since Miron was somebody who always told the worst in his speeches, at last.

"I heard everything about the incident. Almost every kingdom speaks about you and it seems like you put up a very good fight, that almost destroyed the kingdom and something more you would go over. I'm thinking that something made you much angrier than usual."

He then added with getting bored how much Miron was taking long to say the things he was here to,

"Did you come here to say all of that?"

"No, that's not what I want to talk about. In the center of the village, Kaika rescued a child and walked away with it. I looked for the boy he saved for a long time, but I couldn't find him."

*So that was what made him angry. But why he would go so far for a child?*

"Why do you want the child so badly? He's probably an ordinary citizen, like everyone else. You know that Kaika liked saving people, but still attacked the kingdom relentlessly. Everyone fearing you is a fact, I know, but you attacking these places randomly will put much more pressure on you. You should stop on these random battles you put."

"Kaika's eyes were different, he was worried about the child. I saw it in his eyes. If that child was a normal citizen, he wouldn't have tried to sneak out of town with him."

"So you are putting up all of this because he cared about a Kid? I don't even remember Kaika having a child. We searched everything he had when we had the chance."

"Those times, those things he did, were nevertheless unrelated to everything he had."

"What do you mean?"

"We have made countless research about his bloodline, his family, his friends, and many people he could or would care about. And you, being the person who did them, should know better than me that he is somebody who likes to put up a show while he is on the track.

"I still don't understand you, Miron. You should be more clear."

"It's not his child, but it's a child of one of his descendants, I'm sure of it. He was protecting him as if he was a family member. Maybe someone who is closer to him had something to know."

"Then what do you want from me? If it's somebody closer to him, that knows anything about the child, which is blinding you with the want of hunting down the wolves, then you should be looking somewhere else from here. I haven't had any work with the Wolf Bloodline, and will not have."

Miron put up a joyful expression again. This time, not having the smirk he had the entire time, he had only a very much joyful and evil smile.

"I found out that the one who saved the child was a witch named Pelena. I want you to find that woman and find out the connected points she could have with that Kid. She is a witch that was once saved by those like Kaika, and I'm pretty sure she would like to pay something in back to help him."

Arsillo wasn't pleased with all. Everything that Miron said at that moment with the chance of being a trick he could play on him, was even further and was like an order that he was trying to give. Arsillo didn't want him to act with such greedy gestures in his presence. He wanted Miron to know his place and talk knowing how much he was doing wrong to him.

"This is my kingdom. You are in no position to give orders, Miron. You'd better remember that."

The King's eyes were filled with anger, apparently taking orders from someone like Miron made him angry. But After those words of the King, Miron put his hand near his mouth, and purple flames began to rise from his hand. Then Miron blew a whistle and seconds later hundreds of Souls filled the room.

The satisfied look on Miron's face was gone. Instead, he put on a serious and angry expression.

"Your kingdom is worthless. You're only giving orders from where you sit, sleeping every night not knowing how many times I could have got your eyes pop out of your skull. You are just a little bug that I'm not stepping on to crush and a useless body that I'm not giving to my companions to eat. And with such artistic manners, you are here thinking you are living the best life you have, aren't you, my king?"

As they came face to face, the only thing written on Miron's face was "death".

His words and the expression on his face were the most terrible sight that Arsillo could hear and see in his life at that moment, he forgot every kind of power he had as an Epic. With the strong gripping power and the unstable situation of anything that might be happening, Miron's eyes were opened, right to the end. His lips were closed like a safe, and he was looking deep into Arsillo's soul, so that his breath would not be felt in any way.

He was the monster, that Arsillo stepped its tail on.

But not long enough, Miron went back a couple of steps back, and fixed his body to the position he had at the beginning,

"Anyway, I don't have time to lose. You will either do as I say, or you will disappear with your kingdom."

The King's eyes were filled with fear this time. Everything he said at the beginning, was now regretful decisions he wished so badly to rewind and redo. But having Miron angry about his own decision, all he could do was lay silent to the powerful hand that was upon him.

There was nothing he could do against Miron's unstoppable power.

"Okay, I'll deal with this." He said with a half-shaking voice, and a heart that was filled to the very top with chaos.

The satisfied look on Miron's face came back. His deal pleased him.

"I'm glad we got along, I'd stay a little longer if I didn't have urgent business, but I have to go."

Before Miron left the room, he turned to the king one last time and said with a frightening expression,

"And remember, do not let me down."

Miron then walked slowly to the wall and disappeared, turning into thin air.

Arsillo collapsed into his throne, his chest going back and forth with the heavy breathing he had. He tried to silence himself from how much he was affected by the situation, not the show his soldiers his weak side of him. But the horrifying experience that he had, just now, was enough for him to sit there for minutes.

So he took a deep breath, and tried to comfort himself with the fact that Miron had sent his clone.

"So he sent a fake one."

But once again stopping him from rethinking everything, One of the King's men entered the room nervously at that moment,

"Sir! Our first Elite soldier has been defeated by an unknown person!"

Every other event was happening at the same time, not leaving the king time to find his way out. So getting angry at this, he shouted,

"This is just perfect! I'll deal with that issue later. Send me the fourth and third elite soldiers now! I'll give them a mission."

(-At that time, In an unknown part of the forest-)

"Hey kid, At this rate, we'll be there in three days." Hiroshi said, as he was trying to see behind the tree in front of us.

"We need to speed up."

"There's a small-town place nearby. People out there don't know much about what's going on, so we can buy horses from there."

"Yeah, I think so too. But I hope that we don't go there for nothing, since I can only hope witches can open the seal of the map. We have no other person to talk this about and don't know how this works either. So it would be the best if they knew."

"Don't you know any person in the village of witches who you can ask for help?"

"Not much, but I'm sure we can trust them. The last time I talked with Pelena, she was very kind and talked about how much she can help. If we even can find her, maybe we can do something about it."

Hiroshi gave me an unsure look at that moment. Not being able to tell him even certain information, was untrustworthy. But he still kept walking and stopped me after some time.

"Let's camp here for today. We'll continue early tomorrow."

"All right, I'll handle the fire." I said going inside the woods for a little bit to collect some branches.

And Hiroshi let out every type of tiredness in his body, stretched a little, and did the same too.

"I'll look around too. See if there is any danger or not."

I gathered bushes for the fire, wandered around the forest a little bit, and finally came back to lit the campfire properly. I almost burned my hand from the flames, but I managed to get it in control until Hiroshi came back. After that, we sat around the fire and kept talking.

"Hiroshi, it might be a bit off, but why aren't you taking your hat off? I saw you countless times jumping around and falling, but every time you manage to keep your hat off on your head and don't hold it in your hand. Why would you care so much about the hat?"

"It is not that I'm trying to save the hat, Kid. It is not something that can save my life or anything, it is just a habit from the past and will probably stay that way."

"What do you mean?"

"My father always said that a man only takes off his hat when he dies, or either he dies with it. Like some kind of symbol or a ritual that cowboys do on their deaths. I never understood the thing that my father was talking about, nor the weight he was carrying on his shoulders. But I do finally understand that it is no such easy thing to do. So in short, that hat is as valuable to me as the gun we bought back."

"That is fairly understandable. But are you doing this for a family heirloom?"

"No. Actually, a person I admire gave it to me. His name was Claw. He was the fastest shooter in the town, even people called him "The Nightmare of the West". Bad people would look for holes to run away from when they saw him. It would be just so fun to see them run away or piss their pants in fear."

"Was he that strong?"

"Strong? Kid, strong isn't the definition for this man. He had enough power and energy to fight an army, alone. Maybe this makes no sense to you, which it still doesn't for me on some points, but it was the truth. I do see him a lot greater since he was my childhood hero, but I do not think that my adult mind can fool me on what he did."

"What kind of person "Claw" was anyway?"

"It's a topic I don't like to talk about."

"Oh...."

"But I'll tell you for this time."

-----------------------------

A group of people once caused chaos in our city for no reason. At the time, I was trying to be someone like him, I was just fooling around to show how much I can do, so I wanted to stop them, but I just got in the way. Claw jumped in front of the bullets to protect me. And I was very much so sure of him that he would and can protect me. But it was no use since I was the one who caused him to do this. Even when he was dying, he was kind to me in his last moments, saying it wasn't my fault that he died, but I was the one completely to blame.

Taking his hat into his hand, he said to me, with little breaths falling from his lips,

"Hiroshi, as long as you want to save people, you don't have to be like me, just be yourself."

He then put a smile on his face, and added,

"Take care of this hat. I'm sure It'll look better on you."

-----------------------------

Hiroshi smiled and looked at the campfire.

"I've never taken this hat away from me since."

Everything that Hiroshi told me about that moment was so deeply wounding, I couldn't help but remember the other people around me doing such great things. Hiroshi was just like me when I was a child, but seeing that he came out with another outcome, I now understand the value of some things that annoyed me the first time with my uncle.

I did many things and learned many lessons from them, but Hiroshi was left all alone. To do, to enjoy, to even live. Everything that he was going to do, was all alone.

And that part that I hated the most.

"A man that I respected, told me that no matter how a person dies when death comes, a person cannot escape it. It is something we can't come in front of it. So don't blame yourself for that. He saved many people, knowing the outcome, and I'm sure he would have done it again without thinking about it."

"Yeah. It is just the process of understanding the concept of what he did. But I'm grateful for your words regardless."

I smiled, getting happy with the warm words Hiroshi said.

"I would do the same too. Carrying a legends hat with you, must be something heavy, but something special."

Hiroshi chuckled,

"Yeah, something like that."

After our conversation, we went to sleep shortly and set off again early in the morning. And after two hours of walking, we finally managed to reach the village. But since we hadn't eaten since yesterday, we went into the restaurant and ate before looking at the horses.

We then left the restaurant, and Hiroshi lit his cigar at the very entrance stepping outside,

"Looks like we spent our last money on food. How are we going to pay for the horses?"

"I'll find a way. There has to be someone around here that can help us."

"They are not that friendly, Kid. We are two strangers walking around looking for ways to carry ourselves. That wouldn't make any sense to them in any situation. You should even start hoping that they wouldn't kick you out their door or even the village. As long we don't hit something like a lottery, we are off here."

A strong sound rose from the crowd, as Hiroshi was left out watching it after he said that,

"Come! Come! Come! Whoever defeats this man, will be given two healthy horses! Come put your money down and take your chances!"

"Here. The lottery." I said pointing out the fact we found something.

The whole expression on Hiroshi's face changed, and he talked putting out his cigar,

"I take it back, let's go get these horses."

Hiroshi and I went to the middle of town to pick up the horses and almost everyone in town was there. Everyone wanted the horses like crazy, and I didn't think we could get through the crowd. But after struggling for minutes, we managed to squeeze through, and finally saw who the announcer was talking about.

The guy who was undefeated, was actually a pretty big guy in size. He had muscles showing up, right from his shoulder to the tip of his fingers. He was showing his muscles, his sweat going into the air with his shining body, and he was taking down everyone who came into the ring one by one. He was just fighting, with such ego growing his chest out.

And after every challenger was defeated and no one wanted to enter the ring, the man in the ring shouted at the audience,

"Doesn't anyone have the courage? Come on! You coward chickens!" Everyone shook with fear after hearing his strong voice on their faces.

But it wasn't that scary for me. Just like the time my uncle had defeated the bully that was kicking an innocent man, and the other memories I had of my uncle beating up such "buffed" men like this, I know exactly that they were the weakest ones among the others.

So after that phrase, he yelled out loudly, I jumped to ring and stood in front of him,

"I think this ring is empty, and enough for us to move around. I'll be your opponent."

"You? What can a boy like you do?" The man replied laughing,

"I don't know? You have to get closer to find out."

An excitement covered my body quickly, and I was more than ready to put my skills to the test. After Ronk's trainings, I was getting excited almost at every fight. Using this to my advantage was a great breakpoint too. After all my want to keep pushing forward in that training was the most entertaining part.

And I had to do the same here.

For a short period of time, we stood there looking at each other, sure of ourselves. Deeply trying to create the feeling of greatness in each other. But not getting too caught up, and after the announcer hit the bell, the man went crazy and fully charged up to me.

That fully surprised me. Because it was the worst move that someone could have done in a battle and there were nevertheless endless options for me to hit him.

So I got back, fully concentrated on my move, and did a strong blow.

When he got the chance to attack me, I punched him in the stomach, twisting and pushing my fist further to deal more pain to his guts and inner bones. He got in the air, painfully trying to get back. But realizing that it was no use, the guy couldn't get up from the ground after my first punch and just stood there laying down.

Everyone was now looking at us again in surprise. But Hiroshi didn't care and simply went to get the horses.

"Congratulations, kid, good job."