“The Burning Star of the South—Hellion Lavec is a mysterious man with an unknown past. But perhaps that is for the best, for his enemies would love nothing more than to have his past as leverage over him.
Unfortunately, the media is only concerned about one thing: is Hellion a Shard user?
He vehemently denies it, so no official documents would detail him as a Shard user. Yet, his strength is so absurd that it would be more unbelievable if he turned out to just be a normal Hunter.
Until then, we must wait for confirmation.
May his past stay hidden,
And may you stay safe.”
-Ted Pryer, senior journalist of Merciful Flames
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“Now then, Luna,” Myr propped the rapier against the wall. “Care to tell me why that guy could use your power?”
Luna averted her eyes to the ground. But after some moment of consideration, she regained her composure and gracefulness. [Do you really want to know, Myr? The truth might be hurtful.]
“Can’t be worse than having my pride getting chopped off.” Myr laughed as she fiddled with her horn. But upon seeing Luna slowly cowering in guilt, she quickly added. “A-Ah, forget about that. It’ll grow back in a year or so. You don’t need to worry.”
Luna took a deep breath. She tried to speak with the softest voice possible. [Those who touch Shards shall be granted intuitive knowledge on how to use them.]
“Then why did I not…”
[That was why I did not want to tell you. You are the most unsuited to be a Shard owner, at least to my knowledge.] Her eyes softened. [Yet, I much prefer you over anyone else. To not have everything granted to you through intuition means you have much room to grow. Perhaps you shall perfect the Art of Speed that even I have not been able to complete.]
“Thank you…” Myr smiled gratefully. Picking the rapier up, she sheathed it and put on her weights again. Then, she left the building.
As it turned out, the hideout was in the more shady parts of the city. Myr decided to leave it be. No one would care, and even if an investigation was launched, the guards and polices would think that another gang did it.
And that was another reason why she didn’t take anything out of the hideout. She didn’t want anyone to possibly trace the items back to her.
Still, she kept her guard up. Only when she returned home did she breathe a heavy sigh of relief. Plopping down on her soft bed, she stared blankly at the ceiling and muttered,
“...I need to get outta here.”
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.
The next day, Myr collected all of her savings and went to the Association. Besides being a regulatory body for Hunters, it doubled as a bank. And as expected of a bank, they had complicated Mana machinery that Myr couldn’t understand. All she knew was that if she deposited money from another branch, her bank account would get updated and she could take it out at any Association branch.
Anyways, she rode the elevator up to the second floor and went up to Joseph’s counter. She slammed her hands on the desk to wake him up.
As soon as the sleepy receptionist finished adjusting his glasses, she placed the heavy bag of Nuren notes right in front of him. “Store these in my account.”
The receptionist lazily nodded and put the bag away. Yawning, he asked, “What you doing this for? I thought you didn’t trust anyone but yourself with money?”
“...I have to take a leap of faith. I only have you to trust this with.”
Immediately after hearing this, Joseph’s drowsiness went away. He straightened his back and spoke with a serious face. “What is it?”
“I’m leaving the town.”
Total silence. After several seconds of trying to comprehend Myr’s words, Joseph slammed his hands angrily. “You WHAT!? It’s a miracle that you’re still alive being a Hunter for so long, and now you want to leave!? Have you got a death wish?”
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To this, Myr looked back at him in confusion. “Hunter? I thought my license got revoked?”
“Hah, revoked? I wish! Some blokes went in and submitted the Proof of Contract Completion for you. By the way, who were they? Your new friends?”
Myr thought about it. Yeah, they’re probably the gang members. After all, if a Hunter went missing during a Contract, the Association was required to post a new Contract searching for that Hunter.
The gang knew this. So, they sent someone to complete Myr’s Contract for her.
It was very smart of them, but unfortunately, it benefited Myr directly.
“Just so acquaintances. But it doesn’t matter. Listen carefully.” She took a deep breath. “You heard me. I’m leaving town. I’ll make sure that my account would always have enough to pay for mother’s fees, so I’m trusting you with taking that money out and paying the hospital’s director directly.”
“But why? Why would you leave? If it’s money you need, I can hook you up with some good Contracts!”
“Money doesn’t do it anymore.” Myr shook her head. “I need to find a cure. I can’t just let her slowly die!”
“Fine…” The receptionist sighed. “I can’t stop you. I’ll do what you ask. Now leave before I change my mind.”
“You won’t.” Myr chuckled. “Mother didn’t save you so that you can be ungrateful. But anyways, bye! May we meet again!”
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As Myr stepped out of the Association, she tapped on the scabbard to signal for Luna to appear. Seeing the familiar silver-haired beauty appearing; invisible to everyone but Myr herself, she whispered, “Hey… Do you know the cure for Mana poisoning?”
[Why would you ask me?]
“You know, you’re uhmmm…” Myr squinted. She really didn’t know how to put this without sounding rude. “...you’ve lived for many years. Surely, you know of something.”
Luna rolled her eyes. [You can call me “old.” Such things as age do not bother me. As for your question, I cannot tell you of the cure even if I want to. Such is one of the restrictions of being a Shard. But I can tell you that one does exist.]
Myr breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s all I need to know. Thanks.”
She stopped by a flower shop to buy a bouquet of roses. Since she was leaving town, she’d allow herself to spend this much.
Then, she made her way toward the hospital. It was the road that she’d traversed many times. Yet, it’d become quite unfamiliar only after a few months of not coming here. She stood before a pure white building that seemingly reached the sky and entered it.
The hospital reeked of antiseptic. She hated this place so damn much, but she had to put it with it.
“Welcome!”
Ignoring the door girl greeting her with a fake smile, Myr got straight to floor three, room 318. She checked the card on the door just to be safe.
==
Doctor: Luke Vir Retsa
Patient: Katellion L’adovec
Main Affliction: Mana Poisoning
===
Yep, that’s her room. Putting on her best and most sincere smile, Myr pushed the door open. “Mother, I—”
But she stood there, frozen on the spot when she laid eyes on a certain figure—a man.
Flaming red hair, similarly red eyes, and an athletic build. Hearing the sound of the door opening, the man turned around to look at Myr.
Shock overtook Myr. And soon, it was replaced by pure, unadulterated rage. She threw her bouquet to her feet and stomped toward the man. Roughly grabbing his arm, she dragged him out of the room.
“Myr—” the man tried to speak, but Myr shut him up with a glare.
She led him through the hallway, and upon finding an empty room, she shoved him inside it and closed the door.
Now alone with him, she turned around and slapped him hard on the face.
“You BASTARD! Have you got no shame!?”
The man tried to speak. Again. “I—”
“I don’t fucking care! Eleven years! ELEVEN FUCKING YEARS! As soon as mother fell sick, you ran away! You don’t care about me. You don’t care about our mother. You don’t care about fucking anything!” Myr slapped him again. Although her hand now stung, she would do it again if she could. “So why are you here, Hellion? To rub your wealth in my face!? The same fucking wealth that’s not used to help our mother?”
“Myr, really, I—”
“SHUT UP!” Myr screamed. She unsheathed Luna and pointed her tip at Hellion's throat. “One wrong move and you’ll pay.”
Myr knew she couldn’t do anything; not to this Disaster-ranked bastard. But she still had to make a point.
“B—”
Veins bulged on Myr’s forehead as the deadbeat bastard dared to open his mouth again. She thrust the rapier forward, and the blade bounced off his skin harmlessly, just as she’d expected.
But unlike what she’d expected, another figure appeared as soon as Luna came into contact with Hellion.
It was a girl with tanned skin, flames for hair, and deep red eyes. She was floating, much like Luna. In fact, her whole vibe felt kind of similar to Luna's….
Myr quickly looked at Hellion to find out what trickery he used, but instead, she saw him staring right at Luna.
Upon closer inspection, Myr realized that the flame-girl was projected from the sword that was strapped on the man’s back.
This led her to a conclusion. A surprising one.
“N-No way… Are you a Shard user?”
But instead of Hellion, the Shard was the one to answer.
[Ya got it right. The name’s Solis Du Lumere, and I must admit—] She grinned dangerously at Luna. [—I didn’t expect to meet the Parasite here, either. Had enough fun stealing your light from me, Lunae Lumen? Or perhaps you would like me to call you “Luna,” just like Assyra did?]