“GOD DAMN IT!!!” I hellishly scream while trying to run away from my impending doom.

Hello there! You must be thinking, “What the hell is going on here!?”

Well, let me introduce myself first. My name is Aden, Aden Haraldson.

I’m your average 13-year-old human boy with short red hair, rosy white skin color, and very bright ruby eyes.

With nothing but a shared dream, to be known worldwide as one of the greatest adventurers ever!

There are three primary things to do to obtain that title: kill giant monsters, earn lots of gold, and hang out with some ladies.

...Forget about the last part. I have next to no sexual interests. So yeah, let me start explaining how this all started.

When I was happily strolling down the beginning town streets, mostly because I had finished helping someone lift some things into their shop, I happened to stumble upon a scene. Three thugs stealing a shiny orb from a girl. Then, of course, when I saw the thieves make a run for it, I got cocky and ran after them. Yeah, big mistake.

The thieves I was chasing were level twelve rogues, and I'm a level five warrior. So not only are they faster than me since they’re an agility-based class, but they’re most likely stronger than me too, since classes don’t begin to get any power spikes until level ten.

Beginning to see what I mean? Well, never mind that it isn’t possible to know a person’s level.

Anyway, I don’t know how they never noticed me before all of this. I followed the guys the entire time while in plain sight, mainly since red doesn’t fit well with green. Yet somehow, they never turn around to see if anyone is following them, even when they're in a class with a better perception.

Well, I guess it doesn’t matter if they’re part perception when they’re low-level like me. I'm grateful for the thugs' lousy sense of caution and surroundings because if they had any higher perception than now, they would've noticed me a long time ago and killed me. Well, that’s what I think would happen anyway.

I also had to be glad that I'm still new to all this leveling stuff. So I still have these dark red cotton clothing. It’s completely red, no kidding, except for the black pants. The only thing that helps make this set not entirely red is the leathery, brown belt bag. My equipment consisted of four types of wear: shirt, pants, gloves, and boots. Everything else is otherwise just helpful or necessary in general.

Well, besides all that, it’s a free set of clothing given to you when you first obtain your combat class. So you didn’t hear metal clattering against each other like the usual warrior gear, which could be the reason why they haven’t noticed me, but let's ignore that.

So when I finally caught up with the rogues and found their camp, I found myself lucky enough to see the same orb on top of a small box. Fortunately, the rogues were talking at the other side of the camp, and I knew it was my chance. I snuck up to the red orb and managed to get it into my grasp, but my luck had finally run out when I heard a yell.

So here I am, running for my life while being chased by three level-twelve rogues in the middle of a green forest, in the middle of the goddamn day!

I run through one bush to another, trying my best to avoid conflict with the three men, but it’s all a waste of effort as the rogues catch up to me and immediately cut off my intended route. They begin to surround me.

Do tell you they are adults, so they’re bigger than me, making them more intimidating.

“Come on, kid, give it up.” The smallest of the rogues warns while threateningly getting closer with his knife pointing at me.

I unsheathe my short sword from my leather scabbard, hold it with my right hand, and stand silently with a cautious look. I then proceed to look at my surroundings. There is a rogue in front of me, another to my four, and a third to my eight.

I put the rather large red orb on my other hand into my empty belt bag, which barely fits in there. I then grip both hands on my sword's handle and calmly look up at the biggest of the rogues in front of me. I try to focus, preparing to counteract any of them, but it's difficult when I'm nearly out of breath.

“Vital Status,” I whisper under my heavy breathing. A screen pops up on the left side of my vision.

Vital Status:

HP: 327/327

Rage: 0/100

Stamina: 16/308

“Well… I’m fucked.” I think to myself as I look at my relatively low stamina. If I wanted to fight these guys, I should have started doing so sooner. Because if I remember what my best friend said, "having low stamina in the middle of a fight will only heighten your chances of dying like an idiot."

I take a deep breath, ignoring the low stamina condition that lowers nearly half of my stats and preparing for battle. The rogues notice that I'm not going to back down, but this is what they expected from a heroic wannabe boy, which is my guess of what they’re thinking right now.

“I see how it is, kid. Guess we’ll just have to kill you, won’t we?” The biggest one of the rogues grins while the other two laugh wickedly.

But I didn’t waver. Instead, I respond, “So, are you going to do that,” I look up at the biggest of the rogues, “Or are you going to continue wasting my time?” The big rogue's face then twists, making it look like he is pissed, which he is.

"Wow, that was easy," I think with a grin.

“Kill him!” The other two behind me begin to close in on me rapidly.

I know I’ve gotten myself into a life-and-death situation, but if I'm going to die here, I want to at least take one of them with me.

It was my fault for being such a cocky idiot. I should have never gotten myself involved unless I knew how strong my opponents were going to be. Or better yet, not wastefully use all my damn stamina. But it’s already too late. All I could do now was fight until my very last breath. Even if I’m a kid, something like this is bound to happen, no matter how much I try to stop it. I’m prepared to die, and I don't regret it.

I was about to turn and slash at the two thugs behind me until I heard a yell.

“Firebolt!” A small ball of fire shoots out from a bush, moving as fast as an arrow, and hits the rogue to my four. The rogue screams in pain as the small firebolt explodes on contact. Burning through his clothes and creating a vast burnt spot to where his right lung is. He fell, crashing to the ground, and covered the burnt area with his hands. Trying to stop the pain.

The other rogues quickly turn towards the origins of the firebolt. From there, they catch sight of another boy who looks around my age.

He has short whitish hair, the sameish skin color as me, and dark blue eyes. He's also the same size as me and wears similar beginner clothing, primarily white and blue. His leather straps from the belt bag and pocket bag were the only things that added a little brown to the endless white clothing.

He holds a wooden staff that is as long as he is while having a small crystal clear stone ball at the very tip of it. The boy holds it with his right hand and grips on it hard, knowing things are about to turn ugly. He also has an entirely blue book on his other hand with no writings on the cover.

The boy walks up to me, I smile.

“I thought you were still out shopping for potions, Charles.”

“Of course I was, you dumbass,” even though he’s my best friend, he tends to use vile language when I do something stupid, “That was until I saw you run past me full speed after these three useless excuses of human beings.”

He also tends to use that vile language on his enemies.

I didn’t respond. Instead, I kept on smiling.

He sighs as I continue to smile and tosses a small glass bottle with what seems like a yellow liquid in it.

“Anyways, here, as promised, a stamina potion.” I catch it, open the cap and begin gulping it down. Of course, the thugs aren’t going to let me do that. At my eight, the rogue rushes at us and tries to thrust his dagger into me, trying to pierce it into my skull.

But that didn’t happen as Charles went in front of him while holding his long wooden staff like a baseball bat. He swung it at the thug full force; the rogue couldn’t react to it at all as it hit his hand with the dagger, making it go off course. Charles quickly regrips the staff and swings it at the thug’s face.

It landed hard, I’ll tell you, hard enough to expect his head to detach from his body and go flying to the sky.

But sadly, it didn’t.

It makes you wonder how durable that staff is.

The rogue falls back first on the ground, covering his face in pain. Charles looks down at the rather squirmy, fallen thug and looks with disappointment.

Even if Charles is just a level twelve mage, he still has training in close combat. Before he met me, Charles wanted to train himself in close quarters. Though it didn’t seem he needed it since he rarely had to hit someone physically, now he most likely understood that at least it has its benefits.

“As I thought, if Aden had had full stamina, he would have taken you all on and had a decent chance of winning.”

The biggest rogue just stood as he saw all his comrades taken down by a juvenile, fledgling mage. Of course, since Charles didn’t kill them, the two fallen rogues simply stood back up while drinking a bottle of red liquid they got from their leather belt bags, which are health potions.

The 4 o’clock rogue’s burnt skin created by Charles’s firebolt begins to restore its original color. And so did the red spot on the other rogue’s face due to the wooden staff's hard smack.

Charles's Perspective:

"They’re taking their potions earlier than I expected," I thought to myself, "but it only answered one of my many questions, how much HP do these rogues have? It could either be that they have meager stats due to the lack of special action points, or it’s just because they’re dumb and took the potions that would mathematically overlap their HP."

"Of course, in their conditions, they could barely fight, well… at least one of them."

Main Perspective:

The three repositioned around us again, just like how they did to me before Charles came.

I finish drinking my stamina bottle and throw it away.

You have drunk a small stamina potion! +50 Stamina!

"Just enough for this fight," I deem to myself as I feel a massive burst of energy.

I walk in front of Charles and wield my small iron sword.

“So, what now, Charles?” Charles smiles at my awaiting orders and points at the biggest of the rogues.

“Beat him until he's fucking scrap.” I smile at this response and charge to my target. Knowing that this time, I only have to fight one of them. For a moment, my body felt lighter all of a sudden, but that's beside the point. Behind me, I hear Charles begin chanting a spell.

This sudden battle has begun.

Third Person Perspective:

As Charles is about to finish his chanting, the rogues behind him aren’t going to let him finish it.

The two more miniature rogues run at Charles behind, trying to backstab him for bonus damage. However, Charles expected this and isn’t dumb enough to chant some long-ass spell when surrounded. Besides, the stuff he has been chanting is nothing but gibberish.

Taking advantage of his opponents' lack of magical knowledge, he stops his chanting and makes a small but quick sidestep to his right. Immediately, the rogues knew they were fucked. They try to stop their momentum before Charles does anything unexpected. Sadly for them, it is already too late.

The rogue behind Charles is smacked to the ground by his staff which he uses like a blunt weapon. Charles quickly spins it, then ends with a hold similar to a soldier who wields a spear. He slams his right boot down then thrusts upwards. The staff lands on the other rogue’s face, right on the nose.

While that is happening, the biggest rogue is already having difficulty fighting Aden. He continues to thrust and slash his dagger at him randomly, hoping that at least one of them would land, but all the attempts he had tried were either evaded or parried. The slashes of Aden's blade already shred the dirty leather armor he has been wearing. He most likely didn’t expect himself to be in this kind of situation, at least not by a kid like Aden, who is half his size.

Aden:

A special action has been performed! +1 AGL

The rogue takes a few steps back, trying his best not to get swallowed up in Aden's dance of death. Every time he would observe Aden's movements, he would only get confused, primarily due to his lack of wisdom, intelligence, and experience. Aden would sometimes take a small leap back, making the dumb rogue think that he is attempting to conserve his stamina after finally stopping his volley of attacks, but ends up surprising him as Aden jumps forward and thrusts at him. Giving him some minor wounds as he tries not to get a sudden gash. Aden would sidestep at random moments, then suddenly dash at him, thrusting and slashing at moments he wouldn't expect it.

Aden:

You have done minor damage to the enemy! 9 Damage!

You have done minor damage to the enemy! 10 Damage!

You have done minor damage to the enemy! 7 Damage!

A special action has been performed! +1 DEX

As Aden does all this, Charles continues to toy with the two other bandits simply by avoiding their brainless attacks.

Literally.

Usually, their one opponent would back up due to their numbers. However, Charles is different. He knew how to handle groups like these and hasn’t even taken one step back. Besides, he’s the one who will always position Aden in situations that will most benefit him.

Charles continues his disappointed look and simply turns to see how Aden is doing as if he is bored. However, he holds back his irritation as he sees Aden doing something he specifically taught him not to do.

Aden clashes blades with the rogue, but he quickly knocks Aden back. That is when reality had finally come crashing in. Even though it would be evident that Aden has more in the strength attribute, the man is still twice his size. Meaning it’s going to be tough to win a tug of war against someone larger than you. Sure, the strength attribute will get Aden there, but it's still a disadvantage.

However, Aden can fix that.

Aden took another swing at the rogue. The rogue smiles as he sees Aden making the same mistake. He attempts to block Aden's attack but is up for a surprise.

“Heavy Swing!” Aden yells as he swings his sword in a more heavy manner, as if the weight of his sword suddenly changed. The rogue took the attack but is the one sent stumbling back instead. The power behind that swing is a lot stronger than before.

Aden:

Your blade has clashed with the enemy! 3 Damage!

Heavy Swing

Description: Swing with all your might, doing more damage than normal swings will.

Requirements: Warrior (level 5), Any melee weapon.

Type: Skill

Effects: Deal 20% more damage when skill makes contact.

Usage: 10 Rage

Cooldown: 5 Seconds.

The skill's damage will increase by 2% per rank up. Rage usage will decrease by 1 per two rank ups.

It’s the first warrior skill Aden had gotten after clearing his first beginner dungeon, with Charles's help, of course. It’s a skill that gives plus three strength upon ranking up. However, it swings slower than the usual swing and often leaves some openings. But it’s still a good skill to use when you want to break down someone’s guard.

Charles's Perspective:

I continue sneaking glances as I fight the two inexperienced rogues. Besides these small imbeciles, the big one knew what he was doing and tried not to get swallowed up in Aden's confusing fighting style. But it is only a matter of time before that rogue falls due to exhaustion.

Even if I did most of the movement, it didn’t mean I couldn’t take short breathers. The stamina bar only gauges how tired you are, not by how many moves you’ve displayed. Which also includes the HP bar. If someone cuts off your head, it doesn’t mean you’ll lose a small amount of HP because your enemy has low damage. It means that you instantly die.

Main Perspective:

After another ten seconds later, the big rogue had finally fallen over due to exhaustion and lousy footing. But he most likely knew he had to stand back up fast, or else it’s game over. Unfortunately, it is already too late as I am already standing above him, with my sword raised. I smile as I see the big rogue’s face twist in horror. Intending to split the rogue’s head in half, I swing my sword down without mercy until…

“Aden, stop!” I stop in my tracks, my short sword nearly making contact with the rogue’s forehead. I keep my sword pointing at the big rogue and turn to Charles, who had already finished cleaning up the trash. The other two rogues were already unconscious, bodies stacked on one another. And on Charles’s hand, he holds two of their small belt bags, but he also looks at me with a surprising gesture as he did.

“What?” I ask.

Charles shakes his head as if he has put away misunderstanding thoughts, then points at the big rogue.

“Collect the big imbecile’s belt bag, and let's head back.” I hear a loud thump after Charles finishes his sentence and turns to the large rogue, who had already fainted.

A few minutes later, we walked down a dirt road in the open plains outside the forest, heading back to town.

The small, sudden battle is over.

As we walk to town, Charles looks through the soft and leathery belt bags we have looted from the thieves and begins to take out what seems like a couple of health and stamina potions from each bag. They all have the same potency and amount of liquid as the ones Charles had bought.

He keeps on observing and checking the contents of the three rogue’s belt bags until I ask, “Why didn’t we take their dagger as well?”

“Wolves in this area are pretty strong, that’s if you don’t have a weapon. Afterward, it will be easy to take one of them on. However, if we were to take those daggers, what would you think would happen if those rogues encounter a pack of wolves while trying to head back to town?”

“They will die, and it will be our fault,” I responded immediately.

I'm always able to respond to his questions like that, mainly because he would knock me out by literally swinging his wooden baseball bat at my face if I were to take too long to answer. Even though Charles is a mage, he still hits like a buffed man with a mace, not really, but it still hurts like hell.

Charles, as you can already tell, isn’t your average mage. He is a combat mage specializing in close, mid, and long-ranged combat. The usual mage will have trouble fighting in close quarters, mainly because they didn’t have the spells or skills to handle those situations. However, Charles didn’t have that problem. At the beginner dungeon, which is called The Rat King’s Dungeon, I was able to see a display you don’t usually see from a mage.

Charles fought off four of the rats quickly while only using physical attacks. What's impressive is that usually, a person in the 1-15 level range would have difficulty trying not to get bitten by one of these rodents, especially when that person is a mage using only melee attacks. But for Charles, he has an imaginary map showing every hostile entity's positions.

I’m fucking serious. It’s like Charles knew one of the rats was behind him. When one of the rats tried to take a bite at him, Charles would turn around and send that rat flying like the thing was a ball, waiting to be hit afar and be called a home run.

What impressed me the most was that after Charles and I started practicing with each other for the first time, it took him five rounds until he finally figured out that weird pattern I was doing with my so-called dance of death. Then the next moment I charged at him, I was sent into a coma after having my fucking head almost taken off by the force of his first-rate baseball battering.

Wait, what the hell is baseball anyway? I feel like some God gave me unworldly knowledge I shouldn’t understand for this time and age, but I don’t usually give a damn about it, so I just let it flow.

“I’d like to ask, though, why did you run away from those rogues instead of attacking them head-on?” Charles asks.

“I’m just following what you taught me, don’t charge straight at the enemy until you know how strong they are.”

“Yeah, but I still don’t expect an idiot like you to remember any of that,” Charles says as we walk downhill.

“Hey, even if I’m a dumbass most of the time, it doesn’t mean I’ll be one forever,” I say behind him.

“Alright, I get it. But if you have done the same thing you’ve always had when a fight starts, you’d have won easily,” Charles closes one of the last belt-bags, “Especially since those rogues are poor fighters.”

“Yeah, I know. But like you said, it’s bad practice,” I say while bringing back memories of Charles’s teachings, “If I grow too accustomed to that sort of fighting, I’ll have either run into a trap or a person I can’t deal with.”

“I’m glad you remember all that stuff. I wasn’t sure that you’d remember all that stuff with your low intelligence,” Charles says, knowing how insulting it sounds, “Well, I could say the same for me since we’re still at a low level.” He adds.

“Hey, I’m not saying you should depend on me fully yet.”

“When in the lord's name did I say I would, you dumbass.”

“Ow! Don’t go full smartass on me, please! I’m still not mentally prepared for that!” We laugh like we always do. After finishing laughing our asses off, Charles sighs.

“Well, I just wanted to ask because in some parts of the fight… the things you did weren’t like you. Every swing you would do would look merciful, but during this fight, when I saw you fought that rogue. It was like I was watching an entirely different person. The intended downswing you did would prove that. Not only that, you retreated. I’m going to ask, are you okay?”

“Now that you mention it, I did feel weird during that fight,” I point out, “I mean, why would I want to split a guy’s head so much? I don’t know, but it could be just me. It is our first real fight, after all.”

“Yeah, I could be just imagining things.”

I couldn’t blame Charles. Even I think I’ve changed during that fight. It felt like my emotions were all over the place. At first, I was calm and tried to take down the big rogue, then all of a sudden, when I saw him fall over, I got this weird and sudden urge—the urge to simply cut the big rogue's head in half and laugh about it.

My expression goes dark, “Is it like that time? When I…”

I shake the thought away, "Yeah, it could just be my imagination."

Well, since the rogues have their weapons, they should be fine.

Unseen Things:

As Aden said that to himself, the red orb began to glow in his belt bag for a moment until turning back to normal.

However, that wasn't the only thing they hadn't noticed. What Charles and Aden didn’t see after they left the forest was that the three rogues, they had effortlessly dealt with, had all died.

Upon the rogues’ awakening, they faced a giant, red-skinned man who held a giant cleaver. The sight of the big demon made the three rogues look at it in terror and then attempt to make a run for it. Unfortunately, their efforts to avoid this giant demon were nothing but futile.

In the end, the three rogues brutally died one by one, as a human-looking girl, who looked around Aden’s age and covered in a black cloak, watched joyfully as blood and guts covered the trees and grass of the forest.

Main Perspective:

It took Charles and me another ten minutes until we finally reached the town.

The town, known as the beginning town of Lexigon, is your usual town surrounded by castle walls. From looking afar, you’ll expect to see around a hundred or so buildings, some big and some small. Around half of those buildings are stores with windows showing armor and weapons. There is also a big market, which is usually only made up of fruits, accessories, and gifts like flowers and so forth. This town, you can say, is truly a place where heroes take their first step towards their adventures.

The road we stroll turns from a dirt road to a paved, brick stone. As we walk through the gate entrance into the town, we wave to everyone.

The people we wave to smile and wave back as if knowing us for years.

Well, the truth is, we’ve been in this town for more than seven years. Lexigon is where Charles and I established a friendship together when we were six years old. Many memories were born here, so many that I wish I could remember and cherish them all.

“Hey, Aden! You gave those rogues a beating, didn’t you!?” A random person yells as he passes us.

“Hey, Aden! Glad to see you and Charles are fine!” Another person yells.

It's pretty big news that I was chasing after three rogues. I mean, would you expect a child to chase after the adult rogues that were not only twice your level but also twice your size? You’d expect that to be a suicide mission for a child, but here I am, back and intact. The news got even more significant since I'm one of the most known citizens of this town, making everyone stop what they're doing just to come out and wave to us.

We walk through town and wave to everyone until we finally reach the town square. Charles turns to face me as we stop in front of a water fountain, “So, you’re going to return that orb to the owner?” Charles asks as he sees me take the red orb out of my belt bag.

“Yeah, I’m going to go around town and find her. What about you?”

“I’m going back to the library to study more about your class. See what promotional class you should take once you reach level twenty-five.”

“Thanks! Well, once I return the orb, I’m going to go make a few more copper coins before we get ready for our departure tomorrow,” I turn around, “see you in a bit!”

I was about to start sprinting away to begin my search, but Charles then yelled out, “Are you sure about this,” I paused, then turned to Charles, who looked serious, “once we head out, I won’t guarantee that we will come back to this town alive.”

“I told you already,” I said with a big smile, “I’m prepared to die. When becoming an adventurer, you have to know that you’ll be taking risks. Risks big enough that it might even cost your own life. That’s the life of an adventurer, right?”

Charles's Perspective:

I watch as Aden waves to me and then runs off. I continue to watch him until he isn’t in sight anymore. I turn in the opposite direction and begin walking to the library.

It is up to me now. I know that Aden will put his life into my hands whenever a fight breaks out. So that’s why I have to study tactics, maneuvers, everything that will aid Aden and me during our adventure. There is no turning back now. Aden had already set his goal, and I knew I couldn’t stop him no matter what I did. All I can do now is follow and make sure that no matter what, Aden will come back to this same town, no…

Our home, alive.

Main Perspective:

I run through the streets, looking left and right, trying to find the owner of this strange red orb.

I’ve only caught a glimpse of her, but I could tell she's from royalty. She has that bright, long, and shiny silver hair that seems to be long enough to reach down to her waist. Those hairstyles and colors aren’t typical, though it is widely known as royalty hair.

I’m not saying that Charles was from royalty or anything. I just don’t know much about his past. I don’t plan on talking about it anyway. I’m not the type of person to do so.

Anyways, the girl’s eyes are similar to that of the color of blood. Looking at them made me hesitant to think she was innocent, but I let it slide. Her bright, pale white skin is more proof that she might be born from a big named family as that kind of white skin can only be seen from high-class families.

Overall, just looking at her gives you the urge to scream, “ROYALTY,” without caring.

Not only that, she looks cute. Very cute, in all honesty. It wouldn’t surprise you to the point where some weird group would try to confront her. But I doubt she's weak; those dark blood-colored eyes she has still give me the chills.

I shook my head to the thought and continued running through the streets. I look around until I see someone I knew waving at me in his fruit stand within the market. I went to meet him.

“Hey, Mr. Pap! What do you need?”

“It’s Mr. Papperson. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me. You sure did help a lot with those boxes full of fruits. Especially beating the crap out of those thieves, they’ve been stealing some goods from my shop recently,” He says with his rather long nose.

“No problem! Oh, did you happen to see a girl who-” I then start describing what the girl looks like to Mr. Pap.

Mr. Pap nods, “Yeah, I saw a girl like that. Though just thinking about her gives me the creeps.”

“Oh! Do you know where she went?” I ask with a rather big smile.

“That was a long time ago. I think the girl is long gone by now.”

“Oh… Well, do you know the direction that girl went?”

“Just keep going in the direction you were running. That was where I last saw the girl.”

“Alright! Thanks, Mr. Pap!” I yell as I run towards the direction he pointed.

“It’s Mr. Papperson! PAPPERSON!” He yells as he sees me run in the direction the girl went.

“That boy,” He sighs but smiles afterward.

Unseen Things:

Mr. Papperson heard that Aden would depart tomorrow, which is sad, to be honest, but kids like Aden want to explore the world, so it wasn’t surprising. When he thought about this, he turned back to a rather worn-out bag he had filled with copper coins, with a note inside saying,

“Good luck, boy! You’re going to need it! From your Mr. Pap.” Of course, he cringes at the name, but he lets it go as that's the name that Aden always loves to say whenever he sees him, all those years ago.

Main Perspective:

I continue my search through the streets, asking every shop owner about a certain girl. It was going great at first, but then suddenly, it got worse. After the following five owners, others begin to say that they’ve never seen a person like that. I start to get desperate. I thought I’d see the owner in no time, but then all of a sudden, the trail disappeared.

But it didn’t stop me. I nearly risked my life trying to get this orb back, and I don’t intend on stopping.

I keep on running until someone throws themselves onto me.

“WAAAAA!” I yell in surprise.

“ADEN!!!” A girl around my age screams in joy as she's in my arms.

I immediately lose my footing and fall to the ground with the person in my arms. Everyone nearby turns to see the commotion, but they all simply smile and go back to what they were doing when they saw what happened.

I turn my head to see who in the hell it is. However, my eyes widen in horror as it is the girl I dread to this day.

“L-Layli!?” I yell while trying to push her away from me, but that proves futile as it only makes Layli tighten her hug, making it impossible to move her away from me.

“Yes, Aden! It’s your future wife!” She makes a cute smile while her bright green hair moves around as I am still trying to get her off.

“Future wife, my ass! Get off of me!” I put more effort into trying to get Layli off of me. She's budging, but not enough to make me sure that I can get free from her hug.

“Oh ~ ♡. You’re so cute when you struggle ~ ♡.” At this point, it makes you sure that the pupils of her green eyes are heart-shaped.

“Get the fuck off of me!”

"Why!?" I think to myself. "Why does Layli always do this to me!? Why!?"

Questions keep coming up left and right as I continue struggling.

“Don’t worry, Aden… We will be together forever and ever ~ ♡. Once you come back from your departure, I’ll be waiting in a wedding dress. Then we will be together ~ ♡! Forever and ever. Forever and ever! FOREVER AND EVER!”

I managed to push her off me. Before she gets the chance to recover, I immediately get up and make a run for it. Full speed while screaming my lungs off as I run around a corner.

Unseen Things:

Layli stands up and dusts herself, then turns in the direction Aden went.

“Aden is going, isn’t he?” She asks herself with a sad look while holding a white envelope with a heart-shaped stamp.

She shakes her head and starts to walk in the opposite direction.

She has to prepare herself for Aden’s return. She has to take cooking classes, help with caring for children, and much more! She has to keep training herself, to be Aden’s perfect wife.

However, the moment she thought that a chill ran through Aden’s spine as he was still running away in terror, still expecting her to be chasing after him.

At this moment, he asks himself, “Should I really get married?”

Main Perspective:

It had been seven hours since I started my search, and already the moon shone brightly over the town. I, slowly and shakenly, walk back to the fountain, not as energetic as I used to be.

It’s the usual spot Charles and I always go to when we finish what we're doing for the day. And by the Goddess of Virtues, I'm finally finished for the day. I got to say, this might be the worst day I’ve ever had. Not only did Layli catch me off guard, but I also couldn’t find the girl at all! Not only that, I didn’t even make a single copper coin!

I sigh as I am finally at the fountain with Charles waiting there. He's reading a book while sitting patiently on the edge of the fountain. He turns to see me, who's shaking frighteningly.

“Let me guess, Layli?” I nod slowly to his question. He sighs, “Alright, let’s head back to our treehouse then,” He pats a small wooden box next to him, “We’re eating some steak tonight.”

I suddenly switched personalities. I started drooling while barking like a dog. Charles shakes his head and decides to ignore me.

Five minutes later, we walk outside of town, the opposite direction of the way we entered into Lexigon since there's a door there mostly made to make it easier for me and Charles to get back home faster. We enter through it and then walk straight towards a hill with a large tree in its middle.

“How did you get the steaks? Aren’t they like a silver coin each?” I ask. I continue to stare at the tiny box I hold, with two large steaks in it.

“I got them for free. A departure gift, you can say.”

“I can’t wait! What grade are they?” I want to know, but I don’t know why I’m asking such a question. All the meat in Lexigon is F-grade meat, a grade that is similar to beef jerky. Finding a quality higher than F is hard to get in a beginning town.

“They're D grade.”

Well, there’s my answer.

“Wait, what!? Aren’t those like four silver coins more!? That’s like two months' worth of labor!”

“Like I said, a departure gift.”

We continue chatting as we walk up to a small hill in the plains. We plan on what we’ll do when finally departing from Lexigon and walking out of its safe zone.

Safe zones are what they sound like; they’re Non-Monster Areas, meaning monsters don’t usually walk in those areas. Unfortunately, it's possible to breach as there was once an invasion in Lexigon a month ago. Fortunately, it was just goblins. But even if they were just a bunch of small goblins, they were tough. Tough enough to make even level fifteen players struggle against one of them.

From what I remember Charles teaching me, the God of War, who watches over us, often enrages monsters doing their own business and make them charge into settlements for his enjoyment.

I don’t care about that stuff, but it’s a good thing they only invade twice a year.

Two minutes later, we started to see our home. On top of this relatively small hill is a square treehouse.

Literally.

The lone tree that holds up the treehouse is an old, dark-barked tree.

The tree is huge! Almost three times wider than us in width and five times in length. The leaves of the dark-barked tree are as green as ever as the environment keeps it healthy. The bark is all cracked, but not enough to make you think it’s scorched.

Then there is the square treehouse. It's a two-story wooden house. It isn’t a massive house since it can only fit people around five feet, but it isn't for big people anyway. It also has windows built onto it, but it didn't have glass, which isn’t a problem, of course, as we usually put up wooden boards, which we could easily slide in to close the window if it was a rainy day or something. Again, the treehouse is an entirely square house, with no unique edges or anything, just an utterly square house.

It's well built and doesn’t have many loose things hanging off it, making it a perfect square.

Wow, the people who made this sure have a great imagination.

Charles and I walk up to the treehouse; both of us smile at the sight of it.

It's the treehouse the townspeople willingly built for us for free. We promised we would pay them back somehow, but they kept declining our offers for this treehouse. It bothered Charles and me for a bit, but we had to accept that this treehouse was free.

Charles picks up a rock on the floor and gives it to me. I aim it up at the noticeable hatch then throw it.

The rock bangs against the hatch, making it swing open downwards, letting a rope ladder on the other side drop down to the ground. Then we climb up the ladder until we reach the top and step on the treehouse's wooden flooring.

We pull up the ladder and into the treehouse. Then, I reach down to the hatch and close it.

It is almost entirely dark, but fortunately, the moon shines light into the treehouse from one of the windows, making it not pitch black.

“Firebolt.” Charles chants and a small ball of flame ignites itself from thin air, hovering over the top of his staff. It brightens the room and fills it with light.

In the middle of this first floor is a wooden dining table with two wooden chairs. There's also a square, stone-bricked, furnace-like stove that stands in the corner of the room. It’s easy to move around since we didn't hammer it to the floor.

Charles opens the small hatch in the middle of the stove and aims the staff at the opening, where inside is a small pile of charcoal prepared in it. He shoots the firebolt into it, and the charcoal bursts into flames, filling the room with warmth and light. It isn’t as bright as the firebolt on the staff, but it's enough. The flames shine in the direction of the dining table, with me sitting on one of the chairs.

After Charles has finished lighting up the charcoal, he opens a window nearby by sliding off a wooden board to help let the smoke go out. Then he walks toward the dining table where the small box of steaks is. He opens the box and sees two steaks on top of some hay. Beside them is a small white envelope. Charles picks it up and opens it. In the envelope is some sort of orange powder and a letter.

He pulls out the letter, which is almost entirely orange due to the powder, then reads it. Afterward, he starts to smile.

“What does the letter say?” I ask out of curiosity.

“Nothing much. Just the rancher and butcher thanking me for all the help.”

Charles puts down the letter then turns to the orange powder in the envelope. He looks at the powder and focuses all his attention on it.

Charles's Perspective:

“Inspect Ingredient.” As I say this, information begins to flood into my mind.

Congratulations! Your Inspect Ingredient has ranked up to Rank C! PER +2

The level up satisfies me slightly, but not enough to distract me.

“This powder has a couple of spices unknown to me. Salt is part of it, sure, but the other two mixtures are unknown.” I think this as I put my finger in it and pull it out.

“It sticks to my finger compared to table salt. It’s dry, but it sticks.” I taste it, and my eyes widen.

Congratulations! Your Tasting has ranked up to Rank D! PER +1 DEX +1

"It tastes amazing! It isn’t like anything I tasted before! Sure I haven’t tasted as many things as a normal chef would, but the taste is fantastic!"

I turn to the steak. I wonder how many levels I’ll gain in the Tasting skill.

But I shake my head. I need to focus on the main thing: to cook the dish Aden and I want.

I put half of the orange powder on my hands and began to pat it down on one of the steaks. Then I move to the stove and put the seasoned steak on the watered surface. The steak sizzles loudly throughout the treehouse.

Main Perspective:

I stand behind Charles, staring in amazement.

“Wow…” I say while staring at the steak. Charles simply nods and seasons the last steak to place it in with the other.

Cooking

Description: Cook different food types to create dishes that will give special effects and satisfy your hunger.

Requirements: Cook an item

Type: Mastery

Effects: 5% more efficient when cooking. 5% better quality when the ingredient is cooked.

Usage: None

Cooldown: None

The skills efficiency will increase by 5% per level. The skill’s ability to turn foods into better quality will increase by 5% per level.

Inspect Ingredient

Description: Have the ability to know what ingredients are by simply looking at them.

Requirements: Cooking (Rank C), Inspect an ingredient.

Type: Skill

Effects: Gain the ability to get info about an ingredient by examining it.

Usage: None

Cooldown: None

The higher level of this skill, the more info you can obtain from an ingredient.

Tasting

Description: By simply tasting a dish, you can describe the taste and ingredients used in the said dish.

Requirements: Cooking (Rank D), Eat a dish.

Type: Passive

Effects: Allows you to immediately know what ingredients are used in that dish depending on the level.

Usage: None

Cooldown: None

The higher level this skill is, the more certain you know which known or unknown ingredients are in a specific dish.

It amazes me how cooking works. Not only will your hunger and taste be satisfied upon eating a dish, but you’ll also gain bonus stats from those dishes for a certain amount of time. It gets better with every dish too! The more levels you get on the cooking skill, the tastier that dish is!

I simply watch while standing behind Charles, drooling as I see the steaks sizzle and turn dark brown. They will usually turn a little darker, but it turns out to be what color it is right now due to the orange powder.

Two minutes later, Charles finishes cooking the steaks.

Charles:

Congratulations! Your Cooking has ranked up to Rank B! +3 DEX +1 PER

Main Perspective:

Charles places the big brown steaks on old but clean silver plates. Then later, place them on the dining table. Beside them are some old silverware and two leather canteens full of water.

I stare at the juicy, dark brown steak. I look up at Charles, who simply lets out a hand and says, “Eat up.”

I pick up my silver knife and fork and start cutting up the steak. Upon cutting it open, steam burst out of the steak and juices slowly went out.

"It smells like heaven… Now, it’s time to taste it." I cut up a small piece of the steak and stabbed a fork into it. I lift the piece of steak then put it in my mouth.

A special action has been performed! +1 PER

My eyes widen as I can taste the amazing, juicy, and savory flavor in each chew. Then I start to gulp down the rest of the steak while drinking water to make sure I don’t choke. Then, Charles took a bite.

Charles's Perspective:

A special action has been performed! +1 PER

Congratulations! Your Tasting has ranked up to Rank C! +1 PER +1 DEX

"This is beyond my expectations. It's like I'm eating a C grade instead!" Then I look at the now empty envelope.

"Can it be that the powder raises the grade of the steaks? Well, I don't know what a C-grade steak truly tasted like, so I would find out about that later."

For now, I just wanted to eat my last dinner in this treehouse. I knew that tomorrow would be a rather emotional day, but I couldn’t let that hold me back. I also have to make sure Aden is alright throughout our adventure. Besides, I knew it would be a dumb idea to leave him alone, just like how he wasted all of his stamina running like an idiot.

There are also monsters that are almost or entirely immune to physical attacks. So there is absolutely no way in hell that I will leave Aden be. At this point, I feel like shaking my head by how much of a babysitter I am. Though sooner or later, I won’t be babysitting him any longer, and that's for sure going to happen. I just hope that it happens sooner rather than later.

Main Perspective:

About ten minutes later, we finished our dinner.

“So Aden, how do you like it?”

“AMAZING!” I cry out as I still wish to continue eating more.

It's nothing like I've ever tasted! The flavor, the juices, just everything about it! I want more, that’s for sure.

Charles simply nods with a smile. As he did, he looked through his pocket bag. Then moments later, he pulls out piles of paper. I simply look with curiosity.

I didn’t know how to read, and the reason for that is my low intelligence. Four-teen intelligence, to be precise. I just couldn’t find anything fun in that kind of stuff. I know I will regret it sooner or later, but now I think it isn’t the time for me to start working on that. Not yet, but maybe later.

Ha! Watch as I never gain a single point in intelligence for the next thousand years.

Charles stood high up there with fifty intelligence. Which is amazing for how low level we are.

I mean, sure, I have fifty-six strength, but I’ll never- Wait, when the hell did I get 56 strength!?

“Umm… Charles, I’m confused.”

“What is it now, you imbecile?” He questions as he organized all of his papers.

“Remember when my strength was at forty-one? It suddenly shot up to fifty-six strength.” Charles looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

“Did any of your other stats change?”

“Yeah, my dexterity and agility. Those stats all seem to have gone up by fifteen points.” Charles stares at me for a long moment, then looks back to his papers.

“Check your Skills and Masteries.”

“Alright, Skills and Masteries,” I say out loud, and a screen pops up in front of my vision.

Skills and Masteries:

Heavy Swing: (Rank C)

Sword Mastery: (Rank 9)

Evasion: (Rank B)

Blood Moon Arts: (Rank A)

Parry: (Rank C)

Block: (Rank C)

Create Campfire: (Rank B)

"Ha! There it was!” I look at the skill for a moment, then my face twists in confusion, “Blood Moon Arts? What the hell is that?"

“What’s new?” Charles asks, knowing I've gained a new skill just by my facial gesture.

“It’s called Blood Moon Arts. It doesn’t sound like a warrior skill at all.” I stare at the skill, and the description of it pops up.

Blood Moon Arts

Description: The Blood Moon Arts is a unique sword mastery created by the goddess who opposes the pure moon. This fighting style is forbidden as it is the altered version of the original, Pure Moon Arts, to fight more aggressively and mercilessly.

Requirement: ???

Type: Mastery

Effects: Using this fighting style, all damage increases by 10% and gains a 20% bonus effectiveness to agility.

Usage: None

Cooldown: None

The Masteries damage will increase by 1% per level.

I describe everything it says about the skill, and when I finish explaining my status, Charles begins to write it down on paper.

Hey, I did say I couldn’t read, but checking skills that open up in your mind is a different story. I can read things that open up in my mind since it gives you the knowledge of the ability. I just wish I could do that with books. It would make it a LOT easier. Well, at least I can count to like a million or so. Counting is a lot more enjoyable than reading.

Charles's Perspective:

“Is this mastery your dance of death?” I ask with interest.

It’s pretty obvious. Not only did the name set it out there, but the mastery is already at Rank A. That means the person who is using this mastery has a lot of experience with it. However, what’s strange about it is that Aden's mastery is already at Rank A. But how or where did he learn it? And why is it already at Rank A?

Main Perspective:

Charles continues to think about it until I ask, “Want me to try it out?”

“We can, but if it’s the same fighting style, then no. From the looks of this skill, I think the only thing that will change is your speed and your overall damage.”

“You sure we can’t just try it out right now? I’m still feeling energized from the meal.” I say as I stretch my arms.

“Again, no, if you want another reason, then here, it’s still night out, which means wolves are out hunting as usual. I also have to add that last time we actually tried training in this house, you almost fell out the damn window.”

“Come on! It was only that one time! We can just put the covers on the windows.”

“Again and again, no, you nearly set the house on fire when you knocked over the stove.” Charles says bluntly.

“It was just that one time!” I continue to insist, trying to convince Charles so I don’t spend the rest of the night doing nothing.

“No! Anyways, we’ll try it tomorrow. Besides, there is something else I want to do.” I sigh in boredom.

I really want to try it, but I can’t complain to the smartass here. It would only make me look even more like a dumbass than usual.

“Alright… What do you want to do?” I question as I’m pretty sure Charles wants to do something else.

He pulls out from his pocket bag another blank piece of paper, “Tell me your stats.”

Charles's Perspective:

It's about time I start recording our stats. I need to know, so it will help me qualify for the class I wanted, known as Scribe. The class allows you to inspect other people’s skills, stats, and everything else, such as titles and so forth. The short description of this class can tell you what the Scribe class is. I want the class simply because it would not only allow me to inspect Aden's stats, but it also synergizes well with my mage class. The Scribe class gives intelligence, lots of it too, including perception.

“What do you need to know?” Aden asks as if ready to answer it all.

“Everything, I’ve already recorded mine. Now, it’s time for you.” Besides, it’ll help tell the difference between my stats and his.

“Alright, first off, strength is fifty-six.”

I already recorded it after the slight confusion.

“Intelligence, four-teen.”

Wow, I thought he was smarter than that. Oh well, it just helps me prove how simple-minded he is.

“Dexterity, forty-one. Agility, forty-six. Perception, twenty-five. Endurance, forty. Willpower, fifteen. Faith, zero.” I could have learned the Scribe class a long time ago, but the damn teacher won’t teach me the Scribe class until I prove to him that I have the responsibility. A level thirty-one Intermediate Scribe. Well, at least he isn’t a money hog.

Ahh, it's time to record Aden's Charisma and Luck. I'm curious about how much Charisma Aden has. He must have a ludicrous amount of Charisma to make Layli and other girls hang onto him. Yes, Layli isn’t the only one after him. He's like a harem magnet, which is terrible since it leads to an early death. I'm also curious about his Luck as well. When we were doing the beginner dungeon, he got a blue book from a chest, which I'm using now.

It is a Great ranked item that gives an extra bit of Intelligence and Willpower. And what made it unfair to think about it, dungeons have a five percent chance to drop blue items, which is rare. Of course, it can be beginner’s luck, but I doubt that.

Well, it doesn’t matter. As long as I can record Aden's stats, my curiosity will be quenched.

“Charisma, 751.”

What. The. FUCK!?

Main Perspective:

“Aden, wait! What the hell did you say!?”

“What do you mean?”

I’m confused. What’s wrong with 751 Charisma? Isn’t it a useless stat?

“Your Charisma! What did you say!?”

“Charisma, 751. What’s wrong with that?”

“EVERYTHING!”

Two minutes later…

“Is that the fucking reason why Layli is still chasing me!?”

“It is, alright!”

“How do I get it down!?”

Five minutes have passed since this argument started. At first, I denied that Charisma was anything special because I kept getting a special point for it. Charles, however, disagreed with this. The amount of Charisma I have is outrageous! Not even a handsome prince has that kind of Charisma. The average amount a prince usually has is three hundred!

I questioned what it was, and Charles gave me a brief explanation about it.

Charisma - Charisma is an attribute that affects how attractive you are to others and determines your physical appearance as you age. It allows you to speak to others with more fluidity, confidence and lowers the chances of tripping on words or stuttering.

I’m so dumb.

After another two minutes of horror and explanation, we’ve finally dropped the Charisma bullshit.

The only reason why I have such high Charisma is because I'm born with it. Specific stats get set upon birth, which is how I started with somewhere around five-hundred Charisma. However, it's still questionable how I can get an extra two-hundred Charisma out of nowhere. It isn’t possible to gain that much Charisma through a lifetime. The best an average human can get is around a hundred in a lifetime.

Charles sighs as he writes down my Charisma.

Yet somehow, I'm able to get 751 Charisma out of nowhere. Well, it doesn’t matter to us since we’ve stopped talking about it. It's a good thing too, if we need to scam or pass through somehow, Charles can just use me to get those things fixed, which he said. He most likely isn’t jealous or anything. Out of anything, he’s pretty impressed, to my guessing.

Now that he knows my Charisma is high, it wouldn’t surprise him that my Luck is also god-like. It would be a good thing; it would mean that we can somehow get the best items from a dungeon with ease.

“Luck 158.” The moment I said this, Charles stood up and grabbed his staff. He turns to me, and then my face turns into that of horror as he raises his staff, ready to slam it down my face.

A minute later…

“AHH! Charles stop! What did I do wrong!?”

“EVERYTHING, YOU IMBECILE! EVERYTHING!”

Average Luck Stat: 75

Unseen Things:

Wolves just outside the treehouse turned their heads and looked up at the rather noisy treehouse. However, they went about their business immediately, as this had been happening for as long as they could remember.

Main Perspective:

A special action has been performed! +1 END

It had been another five minutes later that Charles and I lay in bed. Our bedrooms are in two separate rooms, on the second floor. Charles’s room faces in the direction of where the stove stands, while my room has a window with the perfect view of the clear sky.

I sit on my twin-sized bed with a small cloth blanket and a thick cloth over a wooden board mattress.

I rub the red bruise on my cheek, which Charles created with his top battering skills. I changed from my adventuring gear to cloth pajamas.

Yes, I know there was a lot of cloth going on, but it was the only soft thing we could afford.

When I finish changing, I jump onto my bed and cover myself with a cloth blanket. I turn my body to my left and what I see when I turn is a red orb on the bed with me and the view of a starry sky. I sigh at the sight of the red sphere.

I wish I could’ve found the owner. Sadly, I couldn’t find her, and now I need to make sure I return it to her before Charles and I depart from Lexigon.

I put the red orb close to me, making it firmly touch my chest.

Tomorrow will be an emotional day, but it’ll also be a big and new one.

When we finally leave Lexigon, a whole new world would be opened up to us! We can finally go anywhere we want! We can explore caves and dungeons. We can fight and slay monstrous beings. We can search and obtain riches beyond imagination!

I begin to close my eyes slowly.

We can become the greatest adventurers ever.

Unseen Things:

A few minutes later, Aden has finally fallen asleep. Crickets and grasshoppers sounded a rhythmical chirping song through the night as a full moon shines upon his slumber. However, another light illuminates the room, a light that shines brighter than that of the moon. It shines the color of dark red, a color similar to blood.

As Aden is asleep, the red orb glows brighter than it last did when Aden fought the rogues. It’s minutes later that it begins to merge into his chest. It shines inside of him until its radiance finally fades away.

Main Perspective:

Droplets.

The sound of tiny drops of water can be heard around me, getting ever so slightly louder and louder until finally waking me up.

I stare up at the ceiling of a cave, a place I hardly recognize at all.

It took me a second, but afterward, I realized I wasn’t in my room anymore.

My face twists into that of confusion as I realize I’m in a cave.

I wake up in the middle of a dark cave—tiny droplets of water drip down from the stalactite above me. I stand up on the uneven stone surface and dust myself. However, I hear heavy breathing behind me the moment I do, a large breath that smells vile.

I turn to confront a giant lizard-like head that has scales that shine red. It has yellow eyes that shine like gold and pupils shaped like a rough four-sided diamond. Its teeth have the color of steel and are as sharp as the most refined blades.

It takes me a while to realize who’s or what’s head this is.

It is a dragon.

I wanted to open my mouth and try to say something out of fear, but the moment I did, I woke up in the same bedroom that I’ve fallen asleep in.

I yawn as I try to sit straight up on my bed.

"What was that dream just now? It came out of nowhere. Like seriously, what could’ve caused a dream like that? Did I catch something?" I think to myself as I already have the back of my hand touching my forehead.

“Status.” A screen pops up in front of my vision.

Aden Haraldson:

Race Currently: Human (Teen)

Age: 13 Years Old

Guild: None

Classes Currently:

Warrior: Level 5

Condition:

Normal

Stat Currently:

Strength: 56 Intelligence: 14

Dexterity: 41 Agility: 43

Perception: 25 Endurance: 41

Willpower: 15 Faith: 0

Charisma: 751 Luck: 158

I look at the Condition.

“Doesn’t seem like anything is wrong. It could be just another random dream, but I’m still suspicious about it. I usually dream about me and Charles traveling in some foreign land or something. Or slaying some giant chimera thingy. Oh well, I’ll think more about it later."

The moment I think this, my status screen begins bugging out. I pause as I see my status screen start glitching out before going back to normal.

“What the fuck was that?” I said out loud.

"What… just happened? Why in god’s name did my status screen go all over the place?"

I blink at the screen confusingly for a few seconds until I hear Charles yell from the first floor.

“Hey, Aden! Hurry up and get ready!” I shake my head.

"I’ll think about this later. Maybe Charles knows something about it." I put the status screen away and stood up to stretch, "Well, it’s time."

I change into my adventurer clothing, which is on the wooden floor.

I begin changing, putting on my shirt, pants, gloves, and shoes. Just about everything until my set looks just about the same as yesterday.

I pick up a wooden board off the ground and place it on the window.

And when I finish cleaning up my room, “Oh yeah! Almost forgot the… orb?”

I look at my bed, which has no orb on it. I stared at the bed for a short moment, then ran up to it.

“It’s not here!”

"Where is it!? I could’ve sworn I slept while holding it!"

I look under my bed, "Not there."

I look around the room, "Nowhere!"

I slam out of the door to my room, leading to a tiny hallway with a noticeable wooden hatch. I hit my foot on it, and it flings open downwards.

“Charles! Bad news!”

“WAAH! What was that!? Why did you slam your damn foot on the hatch!? Are you trying to break it!?” Charles is sitting at the usual dining table.

I ignore the questions Charles screams at me.

“The red orb! It’s missing!” Charles stares at me for a moment, then sighs.

“What? You slam your fucking foot on the hatch just because that orb is missing?” Charles questions.

“Do you know where it is?”

“Like hell, if I know.” I stare down in sadness at his response.

"Not only am I not able to find the owner of the red orb, but I also fucking lost it. Am I that blind?"

I rub my face while at the same time sighing again, “Nevermind then, are we going to eat breakfast?” I ask as my stomach is already growling at me.

“Not here, but we’ll eat at Lexigon. I’d like to save the ingredients we have in our adventure.”

It makes sense. Rationing our food to maximize our distance without worrying about food outages. Of course, we can hunt for food, but it’s better if we don’t risk it and go too far.

I drift off into my mind and begin thinking about specific outcomes until Charles says, “As I thought, something is different about you.” I turn to look at Charles, who looks serious.

“Huh?”

“Your eyes, the way you approach things, how you’re all of a sudden in deep thought. Ever since you managed to get your hands on that orb, you’ve been acting weird. For once, you’re not an idiot.”

“...I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment… Also, my eyes? What about them?” I ask.

Is there something different about my eyes?

“They’re a lot darker than usual. Like they don’t shine with excitement anymore.”

“Come on. Even you know eyes don’t simply change.”

“Yes, I know that, but this time it’s different.”

“What do you… It’s the orb, isn’t it?” I answer as I slide a wooden board off to open the window that shows the view of Lexigon.

“See, this is what I meant. You don’t usually figure out things this easily, even when they’re easy! It’s like the dense you isn't here anymore. What's standing in front of me is someone smart, observant, and very self-controlled. These three traits are the complete opposite of you. Now I’m going to ask again, are you okay, Aden?” But I didn’t answer.

“...Aden?” He turns to me, who is staring out at the window. It's at this point Charles knows something is wrong. He stands up and looks out the window.

But, the moment he did, he saw it.

Lexigon, the town we both loved and cherished…

Is set ablaze.