--- [Isaac’s perspective]
“With only two people left now, the final match will be between Hazel Sanitas and Isaac Lux!” – Leanne
I’m going into this fight hurt…
In the first round, I had to use my ability a couple times to beat my opponent.
The fingers on my left hand are broken, and my ability to speak is gone.
Luckily, none of the later rounds were team based.
Had they been, not being able to speak would make strategizing almost impossible.
Having my fingers broken is enough of a handicap though…
It won’t be easy, but I’ll do anything it takes to win!
We both jump into the arena…
“Good luck!” – Hazel
“…” – Isaac
Now that I think about it, not being able to speak does mean I can’t surrender if I find myself in a situation where I need to…
Honestly, that’s probably a blessing in disguise.
If I can’t surrender when I’m in trouble, it just means I’ll have to try even harder to win.
“Let the final match, begin!” – Leanne
---
All three of us were friends from birth.
It’s only natural considering our parents were too.
Before we could even crawl, they’d make us play with each other.
We literally grew up together.
We went to the same kindergarten, the same school, and never went more than a few hours without seeing each other.
We might as well have been living together, because for most of our lives, it felt like it.
Since our parents were such good friends, they made sure to live close to each other.
Our houses were directly next to each other; it only took a few seconds to get from one to another.
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We were all so familiar with each other that we could walk straight into any of them without knocking, and nobody would bat an eye.
There were times I slept in Gael’s bed, other times in Iris’.
They’d do the same with mine, and for no reason other than we could.
I wouldn’t even really think of ‘my’ bed as mine.
It was only ‘mine’ because it was in the home my parents owned.
Me and Iris would sometimes play in Gael’s room while he took a nap in one of ours.
To us, sharing everything was the most natural thing in the world.
There were no secrets between us, and no judgement.
We were as close as you could possibly be…
There was an incident once when we were about six or seven years old.
A dungeon opened in the middle of our village.
It was only an F-rank dungeon, and only a single monster escaped from it, but that was more than enough to wreak havoc…
It slaughtered dozens of people, destroyed just as many homes, and hurt so so many more…
Calling it catastrophic would be an understatement…
Luckily for us, we lived on the outskirts, so none of us, nor our families, were harmed by the time the hunters arrived.
They swiftly dealt with the monster whom none of the villagers could even scratch, then went on to just as easily clear the dungeon.
Despite it not physically affecting us, it still made a huge impact on us, along with so many others.
Almost every kid in the village now set their aim on becoming a hunter so that they too could be a hero just like them one day.
Us three were no exception.
Between everything else going on in our lives, we’d train tirelessly to learn to manipulate Divinity.
Like always, we’d do it together.
In this case, it wasn’t even just because it’s what we were used to, but because it helped us keep our motivation up.
When we held each other accountable, we would always try our best to not disappoint the others or fall behind.
Our training would progress nicely for many years to come.
Everything stayed the way it had always been, until we were 17…
“Guys, I’ve been thinking…” – Gael
He struggled to get the words out, but he got there in the end.
“I want to go see the world! See everything it has to offer… The people, the cultures, the nature… There’s so much more to be seen than what our tiny village has to offer.” – Gael
“You wanna do this before or after we become hunters?” – Iris
“Before.” – Gael
“Alright, I’m down.” – Iris
“Same.” – Isaac
To anyone else, the idea might have seemed crazy.
To suddenly leave everything behind, and put everything you had been working for all your life on pause, just so you could go on an adventure…
But not to us.
We were born together, lived together, and trained together…
We spent so much time with each other our thoughts were practically identical.
Without any hesitation, without any second thought, both me and Iris were ready to leave everything behind and go with him on a journey across the world.
But, the conversation didn’t go the way we thought it would…
“I… I know we’re always together, but I think this is something I have to do on my own…” – Gael
“Oh…” – Iris
“I don’t have the words to explain it, but I just know this is something I have to do. I need to experience the world by myself before I’m ready to become a hunter.” – Gael
“I see…” – Iris
“But don’t worry! This doesn’t mean I’m abandoning our dream or anything! Sooner or later, I’ll be back. When that times comes, I’ll be more than happy to take on the exam with you guys! If you haven’t already done it that is…” – Gael
It was hard to wrap my mind around…
For the first time in our lives, we would go our own ways.
Gael would go on a journey all by himself, while Iris and I stayed at home.
Despite how big of a change it would bring to our lives, we took it surprisingly well.
“Then you better get on with it! We won’t stop training just because you’re no longer here, so if you don’t get back soon, you’ll be left behind!” – Isaac