The Heroes formed a bond.

Noah, an adult from another world, and Orion, a young adult from the future of this land.

At first, their interactions were awkward.

As stated by Dramia and Drania in the past, Noah was extremely reserved. His thoughts were often focused on doing his job as a Hero.

On the other side, Orion slowly made his way into his everyday life, accompanied by Tetra, who enjoyed this new side of Noah.

~

A week had passed by then.

Noah was preparing food with the meat of the critters he had mercifully killed.

'This era is strange.'

Orion observed around him, sitting on a rotting log. His eyes looked all around the forest, where he noticed many wild vegetables and a relatively large number of uncorrupted critters.

'Why?'

By this point, Orion and Tetra were frequently comparing their past with this one.

'In our time, this place is a city... this information is very mind-boggling.'

They were actually north. Further north of Albriar and east of Lahro, which didn't exist yet.

None of the modern-era cities were nonexistent, replaced by various small villages of humans and beastmen.

They were far more numerous than the few cities present in the future, but the people living in them were very few.

And most of them were constantly attacked by corrupt beasts, making the destruction and creation of those villages a recurring event.

During this week, Noah and Orion traveled north at a very fast speed, helping those villages by eradicating the marching stampedes of beasts before they could arrive at one.

Now, they were having a meal to recover from one of those missions.

But, there was something bothering Orion greatly.

As Noah passed him a bowl of soup, he caught his attention.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"..."

"What is on your mind?"

Orion showed a very disheartened expression.

"I haven't been very useful..."

Since Orion came to this era, he has lost all of his abilities related to the light and dark elements. Everything he had worked on became useless without the power to bring it out.

All he had were his bare hands, a dagger, and the knowledge of martial arts. He also had the 'Shackles' power, which made available the power of the 'First', 'Second', 'Third', and 'Fourth Gear'.

He could also use the 'Overdrive' mode, but in this state, this was a perfect way to break his bones.

Without the light element to heal his wounds, the 'Third' and 'Fourth Gear' became useless, and the 'Overdrive' became a sealed ability.

Silka's sigil was sealed too. Probably naturally, as it could create a conflict with the Silka of this time.

The only exception was the power of 'Space and Time', which remained in the hands of Orion and Tetra, but they were exceptions.

Still, both Orion and Tetra were unable to openly use that power. Something was blocking their attempts to use it.

This led them to think that Miasma had found out about them and was openly trying to stop them from interfering in any way.

"That's nothing to worry about. I was supposed to carry that alone."

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Orion took the spoon full of soup and placed it in his mouth.

'It's good... but I really miss Amelia's cooking.'

With a faint smile, he looked toward Noah.

"If only there was more I could do, I could help alleviate your work as a Hero."

"You've been helping me refine my control over my elements, so there's no need to feel so guilty about it."

Orion was giving Noah instructions on how he was using his elements before coming to this era.

There were a few inconveniences, coming more or less from Orion being a mixed blood.

Noah, being the original wielder of light and dark magic, was capable of devastating even more enemies than Orion could, even using his Abyssal Sovereign form or Angelic form.

—

"Hmm~"

Both were standing in front of an army of a few thousand beasts.

Noah was standing a little further in front of Orion, a crude sword in his hand.

"Well, I'm going to explain how my stuff works. It's rather unique, but very straightforward."

This time, the elemental spheres stayed hidden inside Noah.

To start, Noah gathered a fraction of the light element in his hand and transferred it to the sword.

"Those two elements were a 'gift' I received when I arrived in this world, alongside this strange ability."

He extended his right hand to the side, which was holding the sword.

"I can create those swords with anything at my disposal. Be it wood, stone, bones, or anything else available."

"But most materials cannot withstand my power. Before I am able to even strike, it crumbles into dust."

A wolf-like beast jumped at him, ready to bite his neck.

*Slice*

It instantly separated in half from the middle of its body and crashed on both sides before Noah moved his hand.

"Ore fragments, like iron, silver, copper, gold, and other various types I can extract, are viable for a single strike."

The crude sword of iron crumbled, as he explained.

"What you've just witnessed was me using the light element. That power accentuates your perception of the world and boosts your cognitive abilities. It is also very useful for moving at a faster pace, just like I've just done."

Noah's speed was no joke. Even with 'Calm Analysis', Orion was unable to see the speed at which he had moved his arm.

"I'll demonstrate the power of light magic with half of this army. Look closely to the right."

Orion nodded and did as he was told. Noah pulled a piece of titanium out of his other pouch and transformed it.

"I usually don't use this pouch, as it contains the toughest ores, but for an example, I will make an exception."

Just as he looked toward Orion, the sword crumbled into dust.

With a shocked face, his face alternated between the sword and the right half of the beasts.

Noah, who was still in place, was already done attacking. The right half of the army simply exploded into a flash of light, leaving behind nothing, not even blood.

"Wa-"

Orion opened his mouth in complete shock. Noah being the most powerful human in history was no joke. He feared that even Elliott was no match for him.

"That was the fastest I could move. What I did was imbue the sword with light magic and transfer it into them on impact. Then, the light devoured the corruption, leaving nothing behind."

Orion knew that the light element was a weakness of the corruption, but he was never able to use it so efficiently.

The most Orion was capable of bringing out was the large beam of light energy that destroyed the giant eel creature.

"Taken aback?"

Noah smiled while dropping his face.

"That's spoken lightly..."

This was an unbelievable sight for him, who had worked so hard to get stronger. Truly, the world was still a large place where many surprises existed.

"What about the dark element?"

Orion asked with clear interest.

"Do you need a weapon to imbue it with?"

With a quick shake of his head, Noah explained further.

"No. Look."

He extended his hand forward as the remaining beasts approached dangerously close, almost ready to trample him.

But suddenly, they all stopped moving. Each of them, with no exception.

"!"

Orion opened his eyes wide. He noticed a thin layer of darkness under the beasts, encroaching at their feet.

"But that's not everything. I can do that too."

He pointed his palm toward the sky. His fingers, one after the other, twitched, and a terrifying scene appeared in front of Orion.

A part of the frozen beasts was pierced by dark spikes coming from underneath them.

In nature, how Noah used his power was very similar to Orion. The only clear distinction was the sheer power achieved between them.

"And I'll finish with something I rarely use. It is... of rather bad taste."

With a frown, Noah looked forward, hiding his expression from Orion.

His hand closed slowly, and the remaining beasts that weren't pierced by the dark spikes began to sink into the darkness under them.

As they struggled and cried, their muffled screams slowly vanished, until...

*PSSSH*

The darkness crushed the beasts, releasing geysers of dark blood upward.

"Really... what kind of power is this?"

It appeared Noah wasn't very keen on using this power, even if it was powerful. Yet, he needed to show Orion how he used his magic if he wanted to receive help.

His mouth agape, Orion stood there, his worldview shattered.

'And here I thought I was strong...'

—

"The way you've described how you use your magic is interesting. Forget about the amount of power exerted for a second, and let's discuss it."

Noah, with his own bowl in hand, sat in front of Orion on the other side of the camp.

"Light magic is mostly enhancements. I mostly used it to travel more efficiently and attack my enemies to finish rapidly."

"Dark magic is a terrifying power, similar to a curse. Its destructive power is on a different scale altogether."

Orion nodded.

"But you've brought a new vision to me. Creating weapons with the elements, healing injuries with light magic, and causing ailments to the enemy."

"These ideas never crossed my mind."

Eating his share of food, Noah nodded to himself.

"That is a very fascinating perspective. I had never searched for ways to improve or change the way I manipulated these."

He pulled his 'phone' from his pocket and opened it.

"I use lightning magic to charge it. Maybe it's because I have the perspective of a man from another world that I use them like such."

Noah opened up a little.

"You see, I was a cop. It's a line of work where you protect the laws established by society and help the citizens in their times of need."

Orion had no idea what this could entail. Seeing the confusion on his face, Noah gave a different example.

"The closest thing to that is a soldier. Imagine a soldier who, instead of being on the front line, protects the normal citizens in the city."

Then, the picture became clearer for Orion. With a nod, he listened.

"In our world, you saw countless individuals committing crimes: murder, theft, extortion— all of that was common in our lives."

"Yet, I took this job because I wanted to help everyone. Humanity as a whole depends on people like us to create a peaceful environment for them to live in."

He nodded to himself while putting another spoon in his mouth. After chewing for a few seconds, he swallowed and continued.

"This world is the same to me. This corruption encroaching on the living is a nightmare that needs to disappear."

Orion agreed with him with a nod.

"You are strong, Noah. How you can continue to fight even far from your family is something I cannot comprehend."

Noah smiled.

"My son loved seeing me in uniform. He admired my work."

That's when Orion understood.

Stella's smile flashed in his mind.

"You can't bring yourself to betray his expectations, even in this world..."

"Exactly. My wife would destroy me if I ever made him cry."

Orion's teeth were grinding against each other.

"The way I use those elements came from my son. I am very ignorant of fantasy settings, but he always loved to imagine."

They continued to eat in silence for a moment, until they both finished their bowl.

Suddenly, Orion opened his mouth.

"There is someone..."

Noah lifted his face and looked at Orion, who was clenching his fists on his thighs.

"A young girl I saved..."

At that moment, Orion opened his heart to Noah, who was very similar to him in every aspect.

He told the first Hero everything about his meeting with Stella and the brief moments of happiness he enjoyed with her.

The regrets of leaving her behind and the sadness of not being able to see her again.

Noah and Orion shared their true feelings that day, as their family was a crucial part of their lives, pushing them to survive in this treacherous time.

Then, after their conversation finished, the two exited the forest they were staying in and traveled north all afternoon until late at night.

The next day, they arrived in front of a village of beastmen.