Chapter 13

Kei and Fether following the boy entered the hospital room. They entered the room to see a frail woman sitting on a bed.

“Mom! I’m back.” He jumped to her bed and hugged his mom.

The woman looked very sickly and felt as if she would faint if she made any rapid movement.

“Dae Hwan, you’re back! Who are these gentlemen?” The mother hugged him back and asked who Kei and Fether were.

“They said they plan to help us.” Dae Hwan answered innocently.

‘This guy talks like a kid when in front of his mom, but talks big when he’s with others.’ Kei smiled and bowed. “I saw him running around the streets and stealing from people.”

“Gek!” Dae-Hwan was shocked and suddenly turned his head and looked at Kei.

His mother’s eyes grew and were about to scold him when Kei spoke again. “Ma’am don’t worry. I’m not here for that. As this boy said, I plan to help you.”

“Why? What do you plan on doing?” The mother was skeptical and didn’t trust them.

“I don’t plan anything, I just remembered myself in him when my late mother was still alive.” Kei answered her honestly.

“But still…”

“If you don’t want to accept this help for free, I can give your son some work in exchange for this.”

“What work?” His mother was visibly scared and thought that they will make her son a slave.

‘Fuck, I didn’t think of this. What work can I give him? A porter?’ Kei thought for a second before asking Dae Hwan.

“Do you have any special talent or ability? Do you want to become a hunter?” Kei asked.

Fether was shocked and held his shoulder. “You can’t be thinking of…”

Kei held his hand up and stopped Fether from speaking. “So? How about it? To be honest, I was a thief when I was a kid too, I don’t want you to step on the same path as I did.”

Dae Hwan saw this as an opportunity and stood in front of Kei. He bowed and shouted. “Please let me be a hunter!”

“Dae Hwan!” His mother was terrified and tried to stand up and stop him.

“Mom, I’ve decided. If I can help you in any way that I can, I’ll do it. Even if I put myself in danger.”

“Kid, NO! Please, don’t take him away.” She left her bed and knelt in front of Kei.

“Don’t worry, your son is already a man. I’ll take care of him.”

“Mom, please stand up. I know what I’m getting myself into.” Dae Hwan looked at her with resolute eyes.

She didn’t know what to say. She hugged Dae Hwan and tears came out of her eyes. “Please, be careful.”

“You’re not going any time soon. I’ll help you awaken an ability and it’ll take you longer than a month. You still have time to spend with your mother. We don’t go in Gates that much so you have a lot of free time, and the pay is quite generous.” Kei tried to explain.

Dae Hwan and his mother both nodded. Dae Hwan thanked him.

“Dae Hwan, can you please go out. I have to talk with them.” She spoke seriously.

Dae Hwan nodded and went outside the room. “I don’t know what you plan to do. But I won’t thank you for this. Endangering my child’s life for my own is my life’s shame.”

“I understand, I’m not doing this to help you, I’m doing this for me.” Kei nodded and turn around to leave.

She was confused but didn’t ask any further. Kei saw Dae Hwan outside the room and gave him a stack of money. “Take this and pay for everything you need, take the rest to buy you some clothes and food.”

“Tomorrow, go to X Hotel and wait for me outside.” Kei told him before he and Fether left.

…

“I didn’t want to ask. But I felt like I need to, so, why did you help them? Do you like being a hero?” Fether asked him while walking towards a park.

“It’s not that. I already said it before, I was a thief when I was a kid and I saw myself in him.” Kei answered him.

“I know, but that doesn’t mean you have to go and help them. Will you help all thieves in the world?” He looked at him seriously.

Kei wanted to joke around, but seeing Fether’s serious eyes, he stopped himself. “My mother died back then when I was stealing from people. When I returned, she was already close to death. I couldn’t save her, that’s why I think of this as my repentance for what I did back then. Is that good enough of a reason?”

Fether understood and stopped talking. Kei noticed the serious atmosphere and changed the topic. “Where are we going? We always meet up in a restaurant, how about we rent an office for our team. With another one on the team, we’re closer to filling the spots.”

“You don’t really plan on making him a part of our team, right?”

“Why not? If he doesn’t have a unique ability, he can just be a porter.” Kei answered him.

“You want a team of only unique ability users?” Fether was shocked.

Kei nodded innocently and asked. “Is that not good?”

“Listen here, you idiot. Unique ability users are so rare that there are only about a thousand in Korea, give or take a hundred. And you want a team of only ability users? You’re asking for the impossible.”

“Why not? It’s not like we’re rushing to get members. Oh yeah, how many members are there in a team? I know 5 members are the basic, but how many members is the limit?”

“I’m pretty sure, there was a team before that consisted of 10 members. So, maybe that’s the limit. More than that and you’ll probably need to sign up as a guild.”

“Well, before that. It’d be good to have an office or a room as a meeting room for the team.”

Fether nodded. “Yeah, it’s quite weird to show up in a restaurant, all geared up. It’s getting pretty late. I’ll try to rent a room tomorrow. I’m going home now.” After saying that, He waved his hands and bade farewell.

Kei also went back to his hotel and trained his magic energy more. After recovering and sparring with Fether, he found it not as taxing to go over 7 circulations now. He found his body to be a lot tougher and more resilient than it was before. ‘I want to try how tough my body is now.’

He stood up and went to the kitchen to grab a normal knife. He slashed at his left arm. It made a metallic sound as the knife failed to cut his arm. ‘I feel like a suicidal psychopath.’

He reversed his grip on the knife and held it pointing downwards, he then stabbed it into his left palm. The knife went in, albeit shallow. Blood appeared and he noticed his blood to be more of a crimson bright red. ‘Remy, what happened to my blood? Why does it look like it’s shining?’

[Your blood now contains magical energy, since the energy flows and circulates with your blood, it’s slowly fusing with your body. If your blood is finished, next will be your muscle, then your bones. After that, you’ll finally be on par or stronger than a devil’s physique.]

‘I’m no longer a human?’

[Are you an idiot?] Remy’s annoyed voice rang out inside his head. [Where in the words I said, did I say that you’ll turn into a devil? I said you’ll have a strong body, that’s all.]

Kei contemplated for a second before understanding. He then returned to his room before hesitating whether to sleep or eat dinner. He decided against eating as he went to dreamland.

…

Kei woke up feeling hungry. He scratched his head and stumbled towards the bathroom. He took a bath then went out of the hotel. As he got there, a kid shouted called him.

“Hyung!” Dae Hwan saw Kei and waved his hand before running to him.

‘Ah, I forgot about him. I planned to eat.’

Dae Hwan was wearing a new casual shirt and pants. Even his shoes are new, although not famous brands.

“Let’s work later, I want to eat right now.” Kei walked towards their usual restaurant with Dae Hwan in tow.

They entered the restaurant to see Fether already waiting there. “I remembered that I don’t have your contact number or address so I waited for you here.”

Kei raised his hands and stopped him from talking further. “Let me eat first. I’m really hungry right now, I can’t think properly.” Kei found it odd that he becomes hungry more often.

‘Remy, is the changes to my body connected to why I’m always hungry?’

[Certainly! Your body needs more nutrients to function as your body is really high-maintenance right now. This is a temporary setback before you learn how to keep absorbing magic energy from the surroundings. Your body is using the nutrients as a substitute for the magic energy.]

Kei understood her explanation and nodded in his head. He didn’t give anything any more attention as he ordered food and stuffed himself full.

Fether watched as Kei and Dae Hwan ate until they were satisfied.

Kei paid for their food before leaving the restaurant, patting his stomach. Burp

Fether then grabbed their attention. “I got us a meeting room, it’s big enough to fit a hundred people. I call it a room but it’s more like a building. My sister bought this building for us. It’s also close to the Hunter Association building.”

“How much is it? I’ll pay for it.” Kei asked him.

Fether raised 2 fingers. “2 million won?” Kei asked him. Fether shook his head before speaking. “US Dollars.”

Kei nodded his head before transferring the money to Fether via phone. They also exchanged contact numbers and addresses.

Dae Hwan felt his head spinning at the amount of money they were talking about.

Fether led the way towards their new building. “This building was a guild’s office before they wiped out in a sub-dimension.”

“Must be a large guild to have had this building as an office.” Kei looked at the building and admired it. It was at least three stories tall and was wide enough to fit two basketball courts side by side. They entered the double doors and saw the inside.

Kei walked around the lobby. It was empty except for the three of them. “We need to hire some people around. It feels lonely with just the three of us.” He then looked at Fether, “You don’t want just a team, don’t you? You want us to become a guild.”

Fether smiled awkwardly and nodded. “I want to make this guild grow big enough so that my Water School also grows famous.”

Kei smiled and turned around. He planned to explore the rest of the building.

Fether explained the layout of the building. On the first floor, there was a lobby and a gym. The second floor has meeting rooms and a dining room while the third floor contains bedrooms.

“There’s a room I can sleep in? I’m leaving that hotel then.” Kei celebrated in his head.

Dae Hwan anxiously looked around the rooms before being noticed by Kei. Kei smacked his back and laughed. “What are you being nervous for? If you want to live here, just say it. You can even bring your mother here.”

Dae Hwan rubbed his back before thanking Kei. “About the ability…”

“Oh right! Go down to the gym.” Kei ordered him.

Dae Hwan went down followed by Kei and Fether. “What are you following us for?” Kei asked Fether.

“I’m interested in how you will awaken his ability.” Fether answered him immediately.

“Later, go post a paper saying we will hire people. You decide on everything, you’re much better at me than this. Oh yeah, go call your sister and tell her I’m hiring her.”

Fether listened intently and nodded, but when he heard Kei mention his sister, his eyes narrowed. “My sister? Why?”

“From what I heard about you, your sister has good managing and negotiating skills. We need those skills.” Kei answered him innocently without any hidden intent. ‘You damn siscon. I don’t plan to do anything to your sister. Krie is already a big problem to me, and there’s also the kid in my necklace. I don’t plan to involve myself with another problem.’

[Who the hell did you call kid?] Remy’s threatening voice appeared in Kei’s head.

‘Hmm? You’re the only one in the necklace, right?’ Kei answered her.

Remy went to the necklace causing it to shine. Fether noticed the necklace and pointed at it. “What’s that?”

Remy then materialized herself in front of Kei. She was really pretty, her black eyes and hair that seemed to burn like fire. Her eyebrows were knitted together as she walked towards Kei angrily.

“How dare you call me an old hag?”

Fether was shocked to see a person come out of nowhere. “Who?” He held his sword and was ready to fight.

Kei raised his hand and stopped him. “She’s not an enemy, she is mine. Don’t worry.” Kei meant that she was his problem but Remy and Fether heard a different meaning. Remy blushed as she tried to cover her face.

“Go back to the necklace, you’re wasting your soul energy by appearing here.” Kei told her worriedly and didn’t seem to notice her red countenance.

She forced herself to stay calm before answering confidently. “Don’t worry, I’m using your soul energy.”

Fether seemed amused as he watched the two shout at each other.

“Huh? Why did you even appear?” Kei asked irritably.

“Because you called me a kid!” She shouted angrily.

“Right, right, you’re already an adult. How big of a deal.” Kei spoke sarcastically, annoying Remy even further.

“I’ll show you I’m an adult!” She jumped in and hugged Kei. She then went for the kiss but she suddenly disappeared before touching Kei’s lips.

Her voice rang out from the necklace. “Wait!! Just one more second!!”

Kei felt his soul weaken and he suddenly felt very tired. ‘That damned brat, making more problems.’

“So that’s your girl? Ok, I can call my sister here now knowing you’re taken.” Fether spoke from the side, clearly entertained from their banter.

‘He misunderstood something.’ Kei thought but he didn’t want to correct him.

[Grrr.]

--End--