(Eve)

“Io, huh. Well my name’s Eve, however I still don’t know who you are.”

“O-o-oh um right, sorry.” The little boy said as he began twiddling his thumbs together. “I am, well I… I am the one who has been giving you the bandages and other supplies.”

I stared at him for a few seconds before what he said registered.

“Thank you so much, if it wasn’t for you I would have already died by now.” I bowed but shot back up when he started sputtering.

“Wait, there is no need for that!" He exclaimed, waving his hands wildly in front of himself.

I couldn't hold back my grin. 'He is not at all what I was expecting.'

“If you say so, but if I may ask, why did you help us?”

Io looked deep in thought for a moment, fidgeting and tapping on his chin.

“I am afraid that question can only be answered at a later time.” His tone suddenly became a lot more mature catching me off guard and was honestly a little unnerving.

'Maybe I shouldn't push that question.'

“Then… can I know why you chose to talk with me first?”

“Because you are different. I do not know why, but when I look into your eyes and feel your aura, although very faint, it is… different.”

I had to think about that.

It's true I didn't awaken in the normal way, actually I thought I was going to be stuck without mana for the rest of my life. Could he sense that somehow? I don't remember even Kalan noticing anything different about me.

“Well I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m really just a normal girl. I’m quite weak actually.” Sheepishly running my hand through my hair as I spoke.

“Yes, you are weak."

I winced. It was true but still…

"But, that is just right now. You do not have to remain that way. No, you cannot remain that way. Just like me, you can and will grow. "

'He sure opened up fast.'

“If I may ask, how strong are you?”

“Hm… I believe you would call me an Immortal.”

‘So he’s the same as Kalan, no that’s not quite right. I had still been able to sense Kalan’s power even if only somewhat, but I haven't sensed a single shred of mana when he was clearly using spells. Wait, he was using mana for all that, right?’

“Sorry for my lack of knowledge, but are there different ranks for Immortal? I knew someone else like that but you…you appear to be on an entirely different level. ”

"Of course," he looked at me like I was stupid.

I waited for him to continue but he just stared back at me.

"Could you… tell me what those are please?"

"Oh! Yes. Four tiers for Immortals. Squired, Graced, Knighted, Crowned."

“Where do you rank?” I asked, assuming it was weakest to higher tiers.

“I am near Crowned, probably." He finally said after long consideration.

“Does the D through S class also have a ranking system for each tier?”

“Mm.. no there is not. The difference between weak and strong mortal tiers would be too insignificant to care about. While the difference between Squired and Graced would be greater than a D and S rank. It might have something to do with the amount of people that can attain that power as well. The population of this continent must have reached around two billion by now, and of those less than a single percentage achieve S rank. Of those S ranks, those that attain Immortal would be a percentage or two.

“Is it really that low?”

“In truth it is much lower, but if the conditions are perfect then two percent would be right.”

“Why is it so low?”

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“Because the requirements to transcend to the immortal realm are different for everyone. Unlike the progression from D to S rank where it is a pretty standard combination of aptitude, training, determination, and chances of the individual, the Immortal realm requirements are different for everyone.”

“What were your requirements?”

“They are personal.” He said flatly.

“I understand, thank you for everything you’ve done for me and for all the things you’ve taught me, but I need to get back before Ryla and Amelia wake up. I'd rather avoid Ryla finding out I left while on guard duty…”

“W-wait, you don’t need to worry about them. I put up a barrier around them while we were leaving, they should be fine.”

'Now he's meek again.. it's hard to keep track of this boy. Wait, there's no way he's actually a child. I remember Kalan looking younger than he actually was, and Io is stronger than he was.'

“I know that people of your level have increased life spans so, can I ask how old you are exactly?”

“Hmm, I honestly stopped counting a long time ago, but if my memory is correct I’m probably somewhere between six hundred to seven hundred years old. Though age means even less to me than other Immortals.”

“What?! Just how old can immortal beings grow to be?!”

“That I am not quite sure of, from what I have heard from travelers the oldest known is nearing a thousand years old."

“That’s absolutely insane.”

“I’m sure you will reach this level one day, but for now stay here and refine with these mana crystals. Wait here until I get back.”

“Where are you going?”

“You wanted to go get your friends, so I am going to let you train, and absorb the crystals here while I go get them. I have things I need to discuss with all of you anyway, and doing it one on one would not be very efficient or pleasant for me.”

“Oh, alright. Thank you again.”

Io vanished without even acknowledging me.

With him being gone my body relaxed and I realized how tense I had been the entire time.

'I don't know if he's doing it intentionally, but he's scary…'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Io)

“I thought my heart was going to explode for a little bit there.” I said to myself as I slowly wandered through the sand.

I hadn’t spoken to a living person in so long, and even though I had my reasons for doing so, it didn’t make it any easier to actually do.

But what a strange girl. In all my years, I’ve never met someone quite like her. I mean she must be around her twenties, but her knowledge is still very lacking. It’s almost as if she just recently got thrown into this world.

‘No matter the reason, or why she is how she is. I was told by an acquaintance of hers that she would show up here one day, that I’d need to protect her and train her. So that’s what I must do, after all if what he said is true then I can’t miss this chance.’

‘Now.’ Looking up at the entrance of the cave where I first met her, before slowly pushing mana into one of the many runes on my clothes. ‘Let’s take you all to the cave.’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Eve)

I wasn’t sure how long it had been since he left, but in this time I could feel my strength increasing faster than it had before.

Although I hadn’t made a significant jump, like going up a rank or anything, I could feel my mana veins becoming purer by the second.

‘These crystals are really something, but can I really trust this person? Although it is true, if he wanted to hurt me what could I do to stop him? He’s way stronger than Shezmu and Kalan so there’s no way I could rely on Ryla to save me from him. I guess I’ll just have to hope his words are sincere.’

“I see you’ve made some pretty good progress since I’ve been gone.” I heard a voice say behind me, causing me to immediately jump up.

“You should really warn people, not just scare the hell out of them!” Watching as he suddenly recoiled. “Sorry, that came out harsher than I meant it to.”

“P-pay it no mind.” Refusing to meet my eyes, as he took a seat in front of me. “You two may come in now.”

“Your naivety is going to get us killed one day.” I heard Ryla’s voice call out, as her and Amelia appeared from the entrance of the cave.

“Sorry Ryla, but it worked out right?” Hugging Amelia, as I gave Ryla a childish smile.

“It worked this time, but you can’t always rely on your luck. But for now I’ll drop it, we can talk about this later.” Taking a seat next to me, Amelia and I quickly sat down beside her.

“You’ve already explained who you are on our way here, and I can’t thank you enough for all the help you’ve given us.” Quickly bowing her head before continuing. “You also said you had something to speak about when we were all gathered, what was it?” Raising her head to meet his peach colored eyes.

“The first thing is I would like to congratulate you on passing my test.” A childish smile appearing on his face.

“What do you mean? What test exactly?”

“Oh you really don’t know? Well I guess it’s not common so it’s understandable you wouldn’t know, so let me show you.”

I was confused what he meant as nothing appeared, before one of the many runes on his body began to glow and we were suddenly inside the village we had saved.

“What is this?” I asked.

“Illusion magic.” Ryla quickly answered.

“You’re quite knowledgeable, yes this is one of my powers, illusions.”

“But why did you use it on us?” Amelia quickly asked, her eyes darting around the illusion.

“Humans are unpredictable, I needed to test you all to see what kinds of people you are. Along with learning what abilities you all hold.”

“So the bandits we killed inside the village?”

“They were also illusions, however the bandit camp you went to was indeed real.”

“We killed a lot of people in that camp, do you not care about that?”

“Why would I care about that? They were not good people, and it is not like I have not killed before. It is kill or be killed in this world after all.” He answered with a childish laugh.

“Then let me ask you this, did you know the sword was there?” Ryla quickly asked with an icy voice.

“I knew the sword was there, however I was not aware of the value it held to you. So I guess you could call it an unintentional reward.” He answered as he dispelled the illusion, bringing us back to the crystal filled cave.

“Then allow me to thank you again.” Ryla replied, clutching the handle of the sword she had strapped to her hip.

“Of course, now I will explain the second reason I have brought you here. Truthfully I only care about the growth of this one.” Quickly pointing to me. “But I see you are all friends, and will travel together in the future. So I thought it would be best for all of you to train here, and I will do my best to help you all grow as quickly as possible.”

“Why are you so interested in her?”

“I have already told her, but I am not quite sure either. You can just say it is intuition.”

“Can we really trust you?” Amelia quickly asked, but it was Ryla who responded for him.

“We can, he wouldn’t have put us through the test in the village if he just wanted to betray us, plus if he wanted to get rid of us, he could have already done it.”

“That is quite right.” His childish laugh returning. “But for now, that is enough talking, you two will train together for now.” Pointing at Ryla and Amelia, before looking at me. “You will come with me.”

“Where are we going?” But I got no response to my answer, so I just nodded at Amelia and Ryla before following.

After a few strides and turns we finally arrived at an opening in the cave, and I quickly noticed the strong winds that ripped through it.

“You wanted to know where we were going, I will give you a simple answer. I can feel the hatred and want for revenge in your heart. Tell me how determined you are to get this revenge.” Keeping his back turned to me.

“It’s what I’m living this life for, my revenge it’s the purpose of my life. Nothing will stop me from getting it.” Feeling determination burn deep inside me.

“Good, I want you to hold onto that determination when you are in there, you are going to need it.” Quickly looking over his shoulder, before shooting me a half faced smile.

“What is this place?”

“No more questions, I told you I wanted to watch you grow. So I’m going to make that happen as fast as possible. It is time for you to really become what you want to be. My tests will be grueling and hard, but if you can surpass them you will be that much closer to everything you want. I will be back in a few days to check on you, let us see how well you do.” He finished as he suddenly disappeared.

‘This is it. My chance to start the journey of what I want to become.’ Clutching my fist in front of me. ‘It’s time I take control of my own life.’