The sound of police lights and sirens echoed in Saber’s mind. He heard a lady's voice shouting, "NOOO!!!! YOU MONSTER!!!! WE SHOULD HAVE LET YOU ROT THERE!!!!"

Arush's voice followed, "I’m sorry... sniff sniff..."

Saber woke up in fear. What was that? It’s... it’s haunting me again?! he thought, looking around in confusion.

"Looks like a pharmacy," he muttered, trying to make sense of his surroundings.

Saber heard whispers and the door opening.

Marco: "Neither did I think."

Argil: "Yeah."

Saber secretly listened to their conversation.

Argil: "I’m starting to fear him."

Lead: "That show is something that we can’t ignore. Marco, see if any of them are awake?"

Saber: Any? he thought.

Ergo: "That boy is extraordinary."

Ergo ran to the room.

Marco: "Hey Champ! You awake?" Marco came in.

Saber: "Oh, yeah." He was sitting on the bed.

Marco: "So, how are the wounds?"

Saber: "Wounds?" Crap! I forgot I had painless mode enabled.

Marco: "No way, you don’t feel pain at all? That’s awesome, dude!"

Saber, sweating: "Yeah, indeed." Dodged a bullet there. "So where am I right now?"

Marco: "You’re in the Adventurer’s Guild, and you’re with us for the time being." Marco sat in front of him. "So, what I wanted to say is… Thank you."

Saber looked at him.

Marco: "You know, after Chloe’s brother passed away, we were thinking of disbanding the group to avoid any more casualties. But Chloe forced us from doing so."

A bright day with a tree and leaves blowing away view.

Marco: "This group you’re seeing now is because she wanted us to stick together; otherwise, we would’ve lost a key element of this group."

Saber: "And that is?"

Marco: "Our friendship."

Saber’s eyes shined.

Saber: "So how is she?"

Marco: "Same as you, bandages around her forehead and both hands. Snoring soundly."

Saber, not surprised: "Yeah right."

Lead: "Marco? Did you fall asleep too?"

Marco: "No, the boy is awake now."

Lead: "Wake up Chloe and bring them down."

Marco: "Come on, wear your clothes and meet us down. I’ll wake that devil."

Saber came out.

Lead: "Hey Champ!" Lead, Argil, and Ergo were sitting. "Come and sit here."

Saber sat down. Ergo came closer.

Ergo: "Finally, we got to see each other closer, don’t you think?" She touched his chest.

Saber: "Yeah, indeed," he said with a lusty face.

Ergo: "Now that I take a closer look, you’re way cuter up-close."

Saber: "Ehehehehe…" he said, still with a lusty face.

Lead: "Ergo, that’s enough. He’s a kid for your information. So, no dirty exercises." Lead's face turned scary.

Ergo: "Oh, let’s see about that," she said, sliding away.

Lead: "Saber."

Saber: "Yes."

Lead: "I’ll ask this only once." His face turned interrogative.

Marco knuckled Lead from behind, and Chloe sat next to Saber.

Marco: "For one minute I leave you alone and you start to bully him."

Chloe: "I’m hungry, where’s food?"

Saber: "You look awfully beaten up."

Chloe: "Said by someone who’s ass was saved by a Goddess." She leaned on his shoulder.

Ergo: "Hey, no touching," she said, coming closer to Chloe.

Chloe: "Stay away. I’m injured, so I need someone to lean on."

Argil looked irritated. Why we assembled here for and what are we doing here? he thought.

Both sides were fighting, but everyone calmed down.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Lead: "So I’ll start once again and no fooling around."

* Says the one who started it in the first place,* Chloe and Saber thought, imagining Lead beaten up.

Lead: "So my first question is… What was that in the dungeon?"

Saber: "An Ogre?"

Lead: "NO!"

Saber: "OH, sorry." Lead nodded in agreement.

Lead: "A ‘king’ ogre?"

Lead banged his head on the table, suffering in pain. "Y-you... YOU DUMB CREATURE!!! I ASKED YOU, WHAT WAS THAT STRENGTH AND NOT THE NAME OF THAT GOBLIN KING!!!" he screamed, teary-eyed. Saber felt the waves of Lead's frustration.

Lead panted. "I think my BP is at its peak," Saber said, panting as well.

Lead: "I’ll eat you alive, Mr. Saber- The Dumbest Creature Alive!"

Saber: "Alright, alright, I get it. But you didn’t ask the proper question, so I got confused."

Lead grabbed a nail club, scaring Saber. "So my answer to your question is…"

Lead gulped. Marco, Chloe, and Tina also gulped, their eyes parallel to the table.

Everyone screamed.

Tina: "What? I want to hear the secret too!"

Chloe laughed. "Hahahahaha… That was awesome, Tina," she said, giving a thumbs up.

Marco: "Are you with me, Lead?"

Lead: "No, I don’t think I’ll be able to survive the shenanigans of these children without a babysitter."

Saber, Chloe, and Tina were gossiping.

Lead leaned on the table in tears. "Hey kid, all I want to know is what's going on. That’s all. Please don’t make this more painful."

Saber thought: He really hates children, huh. I pity this guy. "Alright, I’ll make this easy for you. So, I don’t know where to start, but I’ll try my best to answer the question."

Lead: "Then let’s start with yesterday’s incident. When did you find out about that power?"

Saber: "Actually, it’s literally yesterday."

Argil, Marco, Ergo, and Lead: "WHAT?!"

Chloe: "Wait, what power?"

Ergo: "The kid—"

Chloe: "No way, I wanted to see it too."

Marco: "You were out cold, and we were really far away. Only the kid was able to save you on time right before that blob was about to smash your empty head."

Saber thought: Did this guy just roast her? Everyone was silent. Chloe was surprised.

Chloe: "Woah! Marco just roasted me!"

Saber: "And why are YOU of all people so happy about it? He roasted YOU."

Argil: "I didn’t think I would see this side of you, Marco."

Ergo: "You even took ME by surprise, dear."

Lead: "I’m surrounded by idiots. CLAP CLAP! Back to the topic, chop chop!"

Saber: "Yeah, so as far as I remember, I lost consciousness when Chloe was slammed against the wall."

Argil: "What do you mean ‘Lost Consciousness’? You were kicking his ass back there."

Marco: "Yeah, you literally chopped his limbs off with one swing and let him feel a horrible and terrifying death."

Chloe: "Really? For me?"

Saber: "NO, idiot."

Lead: "Exactly, the kid just mentioned he was unconscious or… maybe sub-conscious." Lead smirked.

Flashbacks of the fight: The displayed strength yesterday was some kind of manifestation from that device. The handle in Saber’s hand. But since it’s empty, you only experience a mere ‘taste’ of that strength.

Marco: "So that’s why he fell down lifeless after dismantling the ogre."

Lead: "Tell me kid, what were you feeling back then before passing out?"

Flashback: Saber: "When he threw Chloe at the wall…"

Image of Saber’s POV, a shadow in blood in his arms.

Saber: "I remembered a similar past incident but in way worse condition than Chloe is right now."

Lead: "That’s when the sword hidden within you was manifested in reality… Because of the need of power, you wished you had in that place."

Lead closed his eyes. "I know about these things."

Image of the handle.

Lead: "These ‘Handles’ only manifest when the user has experienced enough bitterness in the heart, it’s like breaking down from inside. And these things only come alive when the caller has reached a certain age, that’s 15 years, since that’s when any possible sorcerers learn about their inner personality. Or in this case, to ‘learn’ a possible inner personality imitation."

Marco: "You can do that?"

Lead: "Yes, since the wielder of the powers will be the legends of ancient mythology."

Everyone's faces showed shock.

Lead: "And on top of that, this one is in black."

Everyone looked at the handle.

Lead: "The black ones are extremely rare, even for the ‘Handle Collectors’."

Chloe: "What’s ‘Handle Collectors’?"

Lead: "Merchants who buy these from children, fooling them into thinking they are just toys. Children are just selfless beings, so most of them are fooled by the collectors and buy these cheaply."

Ergo: "I don’t blame them, if I saw this in my hand, I’d think of it as a toy too."

Lead: "And in the end, these things are sold at the highest bidding price possible in the underground, hence the children losing their only chances to change their paths and lives."

Saber: "So if they ‘take’ it from children, then why not make one on their own? It’s like as you said, ‘any possible sorcerers learn about their inner personality’."

Lead: "That’s where you’re wrong."

Saber: "How?"

Lead: "Because in order to bring out this ‘Thing’! You must experience the death of someone you hold dear, brat!"

Everyone's faces showed shock.

Marco: "Lead, calm down."

Lead: "Mm Hmm, sorry. Where was I? Yeah… So in conclusion, the only possible explanation of the kid manifesting such a valuable item means one thing: he has opened the door to master the ancient sorcery. And it was only possible since he saw something that we’ll never be able to forget and that is ‘DEATH’."

Ergo: "No way."

Saber felt afraid.

Saber: "At that time, I was able to perfectly relate Chloe and my friend in the same shoes." He envisioned an image of Chloe and a boy overlapping. "I was so scared that I could die at any second. Then I didn’t feel anything at all," he added with a depressed smile.

Lead: "Which was more than enough to trigger the call."

Marco: "How old are you, Saber?"

Saber: "15."

Lead: "And you’ve already experienced such terrible grief. I’m sorry that I underestimated you. You’ve suffered a lot despite your age."

Saber: "Yeah."

Chloe patted his head. "There there, don’t cry."

Lead: "Chloe?"

Chloe: "And that is?"

Lead: "The kid can join the team."

Chloe’s face lit up with happiness. "Really? You heard the old man, right?" She looked at Saber in amazement. "Yippie!" she exclaimed, shaking Saber’s hands quickly.

Ergo: "Welcome to the team, kid."

Argil: "I have nothing to add."

Lead: "But one thing…" Everyone listened. "You’ll learn to master that power and only use it when I say so. Are we clear?"

Chloe: "Yes!"

Lead: "And just like that…" He stood up. The others stood up too. "Call me Lead."

Ergo: "I’m Ergo, you can visit my room anytime, kid."

Argil: "Argil here, let’s help each other out."

Chloe: "I’m your favorite crush Chloe, and it’s nice to see you here."

Marco: "I’m Marco, and let’s treat each other with respect, kid."

Tina: "I’m Tina, and whatever intel you need, take it from me." She came closer to Saber and whispered in his ear, "And whatever I mean whatever. Like at what time Ergo takes a bath and how she keeps the door unlocked."

Saber blushed. Chloe pulled him towards her by the hand. "Hey! No touching."

Argil: "Says the one who’s actually ‘clinging’ if I may say."

Marco: "Indeed, I’m surprised too. Chloe sure took a liking to you, kid."

Lead: "You’re quite a master, aren’t you?" Everyone laughed.

Lead offered a handshake. "Welcome to the team, kid."

Saber’s eyes sparkled as he shook Lead's hand. A 360-degree rotation of the group followed, and then the screen went black.

Everyone cheered: "WELCOME SABER!"

SPECIAL CALL FOR THE READER

Lead: Ok, so before this chapter ends, I MUST say it here because others will listen. I never would’ve thought that what I am going to end up into... These kids are monsters. So I’m going to spill it out, bear with me please. Ok, here I go…

Lead: DAMN IT!!! I HATE KIDS SO MUCH. I’M NEVER GOING TO HAVE KIDS EVER! Ahem… Yeah, that’s pretty much it. These two lovebirds will make me remember one thing forever, and that is…

Lead: - No matter what. At all cost. Ok, time to end the chapter. And please call for help in the next chapter. Doesn’t matter, a therapy or a SWAT, my creator is having his time torturing me in the upcoming chapters. I can feel my core already bursting and calling for help. See ya.

Please standby...

Communication lost.