"Kill them!"

Ripper wolves immediately began the chase and raced towards Jay, Elena, and Grace.

Jay gently pushed the girls forward a little, giving them a little boost of speed. He swiftly said to them, "Go! I'll buy some time! Don't worry, I won't die so easily." Elena turned around. She was worried. She was about to pull Jay's hand when Jay said, "Trust me!" Their eyes met. Elena saw the confidence shining within Jay's eyes. She gave Jay a little nod and turned the other way. She grabbed Grace's hand and ran as fast as she could.

Jay turned towards the incoming wolves. He shouted "Jandar! Your opponent is me! You should take on someone your own size." He reached for a stick on his back. It was slightly bent. There was a leathered handle on one of the ends. He held the stick with his left hand and extended his hand fully straight, aiming at the wolf tamer. 

"Transform." Jay said in a low voice, almost to a whisper. His right hand approached his left hand. Then, before they met, he pinched the air and pulled it. 

Suddenly, wind started swirling on the ground under him. Magic gushed through his veins. His body emitted a flash of light that covered his whole body. The flash also released a powerful aura. 

Jay's clothes had turned into a white sleeveless shirt and white long pants. Both have stripes of gold colour here and there. His stick also turned into an actual bow. Made with a sturdy and white material, the bow was magnificent. 

"I am Elred, the archer of elements!" Jay told the wolf tamer. Elred is his form's name.

"So what?" Jandar smirked. "Go! After those two!" 

Jandar's wolves zipped past Jay, one from each side. Their target were Elena, someone with a golden spirit, and Grace, an owner of the magic soul.

"Hey! Didn't I tell you that your opponent is me? This means that I won't allow you to go near them at all!" Jay aimed his bow at the direction of the two wolves. "Arrow of wind." He let his arrow fly.

The arrow flew towards the left, obviously going to miss both the wolves. The wolf tamer wanted to laugh. 'Huh, archer of elements? What a joke! More like an archer of inaccuracy' His mind joked. He then looked at Jay. The wolf tamer was taken aback when he saw Jay actually being indifferent.

The arrow suddenly changed directions in mid-flight. The speed also increased tenfold. It simply pierced through the first wolf's head and went on to stab into the second's throat. The two wolves lifelessly fell onto the ground. 

Jandar's jaw dropped. Jay turned around and locked his eyes with Jandar's. "I wish that I don't need to repeat myself a second time" Jay warned.

Jay loaded his bow with another arrow. This time aiming directly at the wolf tamer.

Jandar let out his anger and shouted fiercely. "Attack!" The wolves sprinted towards the solo archer.

Jay took a deep breath, then said. "Arrow of light." His arrow was set free.

X

It all started 2 years ago

Year 2020

Jay was just a casual pink-collar. At 21 years old, he has never been in any romantic relationships. He had to drop out of college a year ago when his mother was involved in a car accident. It was a hard choice, but he has already made up his mind to take care of his wonderful mother. His mother had given a lot of love to him in the past. His mother's love was enough to replace those he lacked from a father.

Jay considered himself to be extremely lucky. He managed to find a job nearby his home. It might not be the best job in the world, but some income was still better than none. Moreover, he did enjoyed it.

"Bring these to table 3." A supervisor directed him.

"Alright." Jay brought the tray of drinks to the designated table. He slowly placed the drinks onto the table and then walked back to the counter to await his next task.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

The last customer finished up their food and left. This meant that another hard day of work is over. The staff said goodbye to one another as they slowly dispersed and returned home. 

Jay was one of the last to leave. He was preparing a bucket of water to clean the floor. "Half a bucket of water, 3 bottle caps of Fury Cleaning detergent, and a few daps of Kishi Shine solution. Alrighty."

Suddenly, Jay felt a hand on his shoulder. He stumbled backwards, almost kicking the bucket over. "Mr Eric! Sorry. But, please don't do that again…"

Mr Eric was the owner of the restaurant. He was very kind and treated all his staff with respect. He also was rather fond towards Jay. "Jay, here's your salary today. Thanks for all your hard work once again. I can handle the rest, you may return home now."

"Oh, actually… it's okay. I can finish up first before I leave." Jay wanted to clean up the restaurant before he called it a day.

"I can do it myself. Don't underestimate me. I might be twice your age, but I still have quite a lot of strength in me." Mr Eric boasted. 

"I'm not underestimating you, sir. I just feel like I should work a little more to repay…."

Mr Eric stopped Jay in the middle of his sentence. "Like I said, it's all fine. You're already the most hardworking person there is in the staff team. If you were to be a little more hardworking, I'm afraid everyone else would just be slacking off all day." Mr Eric gave Jay a warm smile. "You are a fine man. You love your mother enough to drop out of a high qualification college. You are also so hardworking. So, I'm giving you a paid holiday tomorrow. Maybe bring your mother for a meal or something. After that, you could go around and try to find yourself a soulmate." Mr Eric placed 500 mins into Jay's pocket.

"Sir, this is too much. I can't accept it." Jay took out the money and tried to return it. 

Mr Eric pushed Jay's hand away. "What's wrong? Just accept it. 200 for today, 200 for tomorrow, and an extra hundred as bonus." Mr Eric then came closer to Jay and whispered into his ear "Accept it, it would help me get the other staff to work harder too."

Jay knew there was nothing he could say to make Mr Eric change his mind, so he reluctantly accepted.

X

Jay unlocked the front gate to his house. He pushed his motorcycle into the house and locked the gate. The motorcycle was a 4 years old Honda, bought when he first got his license. His home was also simple, just a single storey terraced.

He took off his shoes and unlocked the door. "Mom, I'm home." He announced as he entered. 

There wasn't a reply. Jay looked around the house for his mother. He found her on the couch with a box of old items on her lap. There was a wedding ring, a silver necklace, some pictures, and an old key. His mother was fully absorbed into her memories that she didn't hear Jay entering the door.

"Mom?"

"Oh, Jay, you surprised me." His mother's voice was weak and coarse. She held the ring in her hand and asked Jay, "Jay, would you like to hear a story today?"

For the past month or so, Jay's mother has been asking this exact question almost every two or three days. And, Jay's answer has always been a cheerful smile and "Of course, you know I love stories."

Jay's mother has been telling stories of her past. Things like the village she was born in, to the days of war. But, one thing she barely ever touched was stories about his father. Nonetheless, Jay enjoyed listening to his mother's calming voice as she recited story after story for him.

"Jay, last year …. Right after the accident… I saw your father. At that time, I thought I would finally be reunited with him." Tears began streaking down her face. Jay sat closer to his mother and held her hand. Jay's mother took a short breath and continued. "He noticed me. He told me 'Darling, thank you so much for caring for our son all by yourself all these years. I'm sorry I left so soon. But, it isn't time for you to come yet. Please give our son a little more support. I love you. And please tell our son, I love him too, and will always do.' "

Jay couldn't hold back his own tears. "I love you too, mom. And I also really miss dad."

"Jay, I feel like I didn't tell you enough about your father. He was an amazing man. To be honest, one reason I couldn't bring myself to tell you is because you remind me too much of him. You inherited his wonderful brown hair and his handsome face. Even the way you act, it's all just like him."

"Mom, did you forget I inherited your just as amazing beautiful black eyes?"

"Ah, Jay. Your mouth is just as sweet as your father's. I still don't know why you still didn't bring home a girl yet. Or maybe you are just waiting for the perfect time?"

"Ahaha, mom…. I wish it was that too…."

"Alright, you ready for stories about your dad?"

"Yeah."

X

The next day

"Mom, are you ready? Do you need any help?"

"Just give me an extra minute"

"Alright." Jay told his mother about him getting a day off before bed last night. He also mentioned that his boss suggested that he should enjoy some more time with her. So, he successfully borrowed a car from a neighbor to drive his mother.

Just then, a postman came to deliver the morning post. "Oh hi there, Mr Kelvin" Jay said

"Oh! If it's isn't Jay. It has been some time since I last saw you. Your mother told me that you returned but has always left early for work. We even joked that you might be trying to avoid me." Mr Kelvin is the town's postman. He has been in this profession for over 30 years. Jay's parents were Mr Kelvin's friends. "So, have you found a lady yet? Your mother has always wished you would magically bring one home someday. Come on, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell your mother."

"Ahaha… Not yet. I just haven't found the one, I guess."

"Listen, your mom has been very lonely. She was over the moon when you said you would be coming back." Mr Kelvin told Jay with a serious, yet somehow joking, face. 

"I did think of that before. I didn't know what to choose at that time. Mom wanted me to choose the famous college. She told me it would be better for my future. She was basically begging me to go, so I thought it was for the best…. I guessed dad really did leave too soon huh?"

"He really did. He was a wonderful man, and a magnificent friend. I can tell that he loves you, and is wishing the best for you up there, somewhere, and always will be." Mr Kelvin tapped a bundle of letters, pulling Jay's attention to it. "Alright, I gotta go. Got a ton more letters to deliver."

"Bye, Mr Kelvin." Jay took the mail. On his way back into the house, a burst of light and energy came from the east. A loud boom soon followed. Windows shattered and buildings shook.

The huge energy blasted Jay. He fell onto the ground. "Jay!" He heard his mother's worried voice.

"Mom, I'm okay." Jay quickly got back up onto his feet. There were burn marks on both the left side of his face and his left arm. These areas were directly exposed to the light. He also found bruises on his right elbow and knee resulting from the fall.

"Jay! What happened?"

"I'm… I'm not sure. You saw it, right? The blast of light."

His mother nodded

Jay rushed to the television. The news was on every channel

"A strange explosion in a science lab has caused a strange light wave to engulf every single corner of Earth."

"Explosion caused a huge wave of strange light to wrap around the Earth."

"Strange light from explosion cause sunburns to hundreds only here in Ghork Square"

Suddenly, all channels had an interruption and started broadcasting the same thing

"Attention! Attention! This is president Roland Brown. Attention! Attention! This is president Roland Brown"

"Hello, my fellow citizens and everyone else all around the world. An explosion originated from Alduin National Lab has generated a wave of light that held enough energy to give sunburns to direct exposure. The exact cause is still unknown, but it is believed to be from an accident. We shall inform everyone about it after the investigation comes back successfully. Thank you."

"An explosion strong enough to cause a blast of light powerful enough to knock me over? What the heck happened?" Jay whispered to himself.