What stood in front of him was a silhouette of a man. In front of him was dense fog that made it hard to see any details about him. In front of the silhouette of the man was a heavily injured person.

One of his arms was missing as blood formed a puddle beneath him.

"I gave you a choice, and you still want to defy me! Defy my authority!?" the being behind the fog spoke in a deep fiery voice. "The chance to reincarnate, the chance to have a second life, a chance that few ever get to have. Yet, why do you defy me till the end, my student?"

'My student…' The middle age looking man pondered in melancholic eyes. The man laying on the ground was Ronald Willwalker, and they indeed did have a master and student relationship. Although their relationship was by pure chance unlike his other students, he looked up to him like a parental figure he never had.

"You have to… realized that thing you created…is flawed! Look at you now… You are not the same master I knew..." Ronald was panting hard as he spoke. One side of his lungs was punctured.

"SILENCE!" The master before him bellowed out causing the fog to vibrate around them.

Ronald knew how stubborn his master was, but he wanted to give it a shot. He wanted his master to listen to him, but it was all for naught. Ronald stared at the blood beneath as he slowly came to a decision.

"Fine, I give up… I accept..." Ronald said in defeat.

"Good, my student. But just in case, eat this." The man behind the fog floated a small size pellet towards him with a simple wave of his hands. It landed on the blood beneath Ronald.

Ronald picked it up, struggling like it bare the weight of a mountain. With great hesitation, he swallowed it.

Ronald felt the coldness coursing through his body. He smiled bitterly. He had failed himself, and he had failed his master.

When Ronald's master saw him swallowed it, he aimed his finger at Ronald's forehead. A burst of light shot forth him.

"Now go forth and carry your mission… Until we see each other again" The fog dissipated along with the man within it leaving only the corpse of the middle-aged man. The corpse was slowly blurring out of existence until it seems like nothing ever happened at all.

***

In front of a restaurant, a young man was giving out free samples in a basket.

"Would you like to try some teriyaki chicken?" the young man asked politely. However, the stranger ignores his approach.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

The young man, named Lyden WillWalker, sighed as he thought about how pitiful his job was, but he could not give up since it was not easy to find a job these days.

After several hours, he was finally done with his shift and was preparing to go home.

A slight tremor shook beneath the town.

[Emergency, a tower have been detected. All citizen please evacuate the vicinity.]

Lyden saw everybody peacefully leaving the area. Even Lyden was not surprised about the slight tremor or the announcement he heard. He casually walked home like everybody else.

The existence of the towers appearing randomly had been happening for three years. With the spread of information, people were not ignorant about it for the most part.

As Lyden walked towards the lit ally way, he saw a young boy looking around in a panic. The lost child was on a verge of tears as he looked around for his parents.

Lyden carefully approached the young and gave a kind smile. "Hey, is everything alright?" Lyden asked softly so he does not spook him.

"My parents, I got scared and ran. I can't find them" The boy said with an anxious look on his face.

"It is ok, I'm sure they are not far. Let's head back to where you last saw them."

The boy simply nodded as he wiped his tears and followed beside Lyden.

They are many people walking in the street due to the evacuation. Hence, it was hard to spot his parents.

Lyden noticed the boy anxiety and thought that this might be the first time he saw an event such as this. That expression reminded him of the ones of his younger brothers.

"Is this your first time being in something like this?" Lyden tried to console him.

"Yes, my friends told me about this, but I have never seen it happen before. My parents said if something like this happened, go somewhere safe."

"I see. Well, there is nothing to be afraid of. How about I show you something cool. Ever heard of hunters?" Lyden asked.

The boy shook his head.

"They are like superheroes. They will protect you from scary things, trust me. My older brother is a hunter ." As he spoke, Lyden was about to recall something, but he quickly suppressed it.

Anyway, he guided the boy so they can see where the tremor originated from a safe distance couple of miles away.

There they saw a tower that rose from beneath the area. Fortunately, the place where tower rose from was an abandoned hospital waiting to be demolished.

"What is that!?" The boy gasps in curiosity. He locked his eyes towards the tall black tower.

"That is the tower of lost worlds, and those who wander in there will never return home ever again." He teased.

"Really?" The child shivered a bit when he heard that.

Lyden quickly reflected on his action. "I am kidding. Hunters return from such towers many of time."

"Can we see it up close?"

"Not possible. You will have to be a hunter with a hunter permit or else it is deemed illegal."

"Are you a hunter too? You seem to know a lot about this."

"Not really," Lyden said with a bitter smile like he had something to had.

"Can I be a hunter too?" The boy's eyes lit big.

"Hmm, maybe. I cannot say. Maybe you will be chosen someday."

"Really? Who chooses them?" After hearing Lyden talking, he was more curious about the towers and hunters. The young boy anxious face was filled with curiosity.

"I do not know the requirements to be chosen. It can be just a lottery or maybe something more."

Lyden and the boy looked back at the tower. They can already see a few hunters driving there with the U.S army.

"Now that the hunters are here, let's go look for your parents. It should be easier to spot them since the crowds had settled down."

The boy reluctantly agreed, peeling his eyes away from the tower and the hunters.