“Pace yourself!”

A gruff voice shouted at a tall boy some meters away. It was a life-or-death battle with a large insect creature.

Easily two meters long with large thick mandibles on its face, the insect brandished multiple sets of legs that allowed it to skitter swiftly and silently.

This was the low C rank monster, Colossal Bull Ant, and its opponent was Chenbo.

“Don’t lose your form. Watch your side! Your other side! Dance with it now. Don’t let it swipe at you for free. Gather your energy!”

Chenda constantly lectured his son from the sidelines. Next to him stood a small boy wearing oversized clothing.

“Good strike! Good!”

At that moment, Chenbo sliced off one of the ant’s legs.

“Keep up the pressure. Careful! A monster is always most fierce when cornered.”

With Chenda’s guidance, the boy steadily pressed his advantage. After a few short minutes, the monster lay dead on the floor, its large head severed from its body.

Chenda pulled his exhausted son in for a massive bear hug.

“I’m so proud of you, my boy!”

“Eeek- urk! C-can’t breathe!”

This endearing moment of victory was captured by the small boy in the distance. He leaned against a nearby tree in amusement.

Today was a good day for the trio, especially for Chenbo who constantly training hard the last couple of months.

Quite some time had passed ever since the young boy joined the father and son. Their training excursion took them through the winding mountain range and was fraught with peril.

The entire time, the boy acted as a silent protector, secretly eliminating dangerous entities that dared wander too close.

At night, he hid purifying flames deep within the campfire before resting. It seemed as if they had a type of healing property, which didn’t go completely unnoticed by Chenbo and Chenda.

After just a week of sleeping by the fire, both men found that many of their visible and hidden injuries completely disappeared. Chenda even had a large scar on his back that was slowly fading.

“Haha little friend did you see that? This older brother took down a Colossal Bull Ant!”

Chenbo said smugly.

Over the last couple of months they had gotten somewhat closer, but naturally the boy was still kept some distance.

“Now that I’ve taken down a low C rank monster, how will you ever catch up to me?”

Chenbo continued to elevate himself in an attempt to spark a competitive atmosphere.

Unfortunately his provocations were met with deaf ears. In fact, the boy already walked away from the battle site to pick up their traveling equipment.

The boy hid a smile after hearing the smack of a girthy hand against someone’s head.

“Oww!”

Chenbo rubbed the impact point.

“Nonsense boy. When he’s ready for his next challenge, he’ll step up. Just remember there’s always someone stronger than you unless you reach the absolute peak of the world.”

In the distance, the boy’s ears perked up.

Does Chenda know something?

He thought to himself for a moment.

But that’s impossible, right?

He was very particular in taking care of difficulties without alerting the other two. In fact, at this point he had become a master at eliminating his presence entirely.

He shrugged, hoisting a bag over his shoulder. It was time to continue the journey through the mountains.

The trio began their walk just as the sun was reaching its peak in the sky. Bright rays of light pierced through the canopy tops, breathing life onto the forest floor.

It was hot and humid, but it wasn’t unbearable. Before long the sound of running water swooshed in the distance. They quickly made their way to it.

A decent sized stream stretched off into the distance. A good place as any for a wash.

“Wonderful!”

Chenda clapped his hands together before announcing.

“We’ll make camp here. Chenbo go ahead and rinse off.”

“Yes sir!”

The boy saluted and happily jumped into the stream with all of his clothes on.

Meanwhile, Chenda and the young boy quickly set up camp.

“He worked hard you know?”

Chenda eyed the boy while his hands collected firewood.

The boy nodded without saying anything. He could feel Chenda’s gaze on him.

“We’ll be heading out of the mountains now that he’s reached this level.”

Chenda paused for a moment in case the boy had something to say.

“At his age, being able to beat a low C rank monster is above average. When we get back into the city, he’ll be applying to attend a fairly reputable academy…”

Chenda let his voice trail off, again waiting for a response. The boy continued to chuck stones away and dug through the bags, taking out cooking materials.

“I… I know what you’ve done for us.”

The boy went still.

“At least, I think I know.”

Chenda let out a sigh and continued.

“Honestly, I thought it was weird that we hadn’t come across a single B rank monster. Although it’s uncommon, I was prepared to fight off the danger for you two to escape should the worst happen, but it never did.”

The boy looked at the father and waited patiently.

Well? What is the verdict? What will happen now? Does he really know?

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“One night, about a month ago, I woke up and didn’t see you around. In the distance I could hear a vicious howl, and then it went silent. I saw you come from that direction not long after.”

Chenda looked towards the ground and clenched his teeth.

“That howl struck fear into me. I could tell that the beast was powerful. I don’t know how you handled it, but I wanted to thank you for everything.”

After saying this, Chenda bowed toward the young boy who remained in shock.

“Thank you for ensuring our safety…”

Chenda’s eyes were narrowed with determination.

He instinctively felt that this was the correct choice. He knew deep down that this young boy was a guardian angel watching over them.

Even though he lacked proof. Even though he was at least four times older than him. He knew that their lives were indebted to the kid.

Not even a second went by since Chenda formed his bow, when he felt a small hand pushing him up. Chenda’s large frame stood tall as he looked down at the boy.

The boy shook his head.

“No.”

The words he couldn’t say out loud were buried in his chest.

Thank you instead. Thank you for keeping me around, and for showing me that I can live with others.

He smiled after thinking about what he truly wanted to say. Without another word, he continued setting up the camp.

“Ahem.”

Chenda cleared his throat.

“So as I was saying, our plan is to head back to the city and enroll Chenbo in the academy. Of course, that was the purpose of all this training.”

Chenda spoke while also preparing fresh ingredients for stew.

“I don’t know what your plans are, but I know Chenbo would be very excited if you joined him.”

Although he didn’t know the exact age of the boy, he seemed around fourteen or fifteen years old, which was a prime age to attend an academy. He was doubtless that this boy would be accepted easily.

The boy looked up at Chenda with curiosity.

Academy?

Having grown up in a constant state of poverty, academy sounded enticing.

Tradesmen in his home city would prattle on about these academies; about how wonderful it would be for their children to attend. They incredibly popular in his home city. Rich families enrolled their children for training and advanced education—whatever that meant.

“I can’t pay for it.”

He still didn’t have a good sense of money, but he knew that attending an academy was an expensive ordeal and out of reach for the current him.

“Pay? Haha what nonsense!”

Chenda broke out in laughter after hearing the boy’s response.

“You’re confusing these academies with the ones outside the tower. In here, you simply need to pass the entrance exams. The academy will pay for everything else. In fact, they’ll even pay you a monthly allowance, which increases depending on your status within the academy!”

The boy’s eyes went wide upon hearing this.

Pay me to attend? That doesn’t make any sense at all!

“How does the academy make money then?”

The boy’s interest was piqued.

“Mission requests, to put it simply. The disciples complete missions, which are either sourced externally or internally. The academy brokers the missions and assigns points accordingly. Perhaps you’ll experience it yourself one day.”

“On the other hand, the academies outside the tower are exceptional, but those are primarily focused on the younger generation who have yet to enter the tower. Their goal is to train those children and teens before they enter the tower in a safe environment. So, there’s no sense of missions or internal points.”

“Of course, those elitists usually do exceptionally well once they finally enter the tower.”

The man grumbled while saying this.

“They could also buy their way into one of the tower’s academies, or if they have strong connections. However, the majority of students earn their status by passing the entrance exams.”

“Oh you’re talking about the academies?”

A far-off voice called out to them.

Water droplets shot in all directions as Chenbo shook his hair like a wet dog.

“Is he going to attend academy with me?!”

Chenbo’s excitement shot through the roof.

“I was wondering how I was going to ask you, but this is great! Don’t worry, I’ll make sure no one picks on you because you’re small.”

Chenbo snickered before taking a seat.

“Ouchie!”

Chenda’s fist once more met the back of his son’s head.

“Nothing’s official you buffoon. Stop making assumptions!”

Chenda berated the boy.

“Okay, okay! No need to get violent…”

Chenbo couldn’t understand why he was always the one getting hit. On the other hand, Chenda wouldn’t dare hit their guest.

The boy simply smiled at the scene. Due to Chenbo, the evening continued to develop into an atmosphere of excitement for the future.

Eventually night took over, and the boy sat alone gazing into a flickering fire.

“Academy huh…”

He fiddled with a rock in his hands, consumed in thought.

It didn’t seem so bad, attending an academy with a friend. In a way it felt like the start of an adventure. Something unlike simple training, but a place where fortuitous encounters could happen.

A place where he could bury his past and hide in the future. A place where he could make friends, or perhaps enemies, and strive towards living a fulfilling life.

He smiled faintly as the sparks of fire danced in front of him.

It was decided. He would join Chenbo in the academy as soon as they got back to the city.

He trembled and felt giddy at the thought of this new adventure.

Lost in his imagination, he watched over the sleeping father and son. Eventually, he nudged Chenda—it was his turn to take over.

For the first time since entering the mountains, the boy slept soundly with expectations for the future.

Of course, not all plans were perfect. Life had a tendency to create twists and turns, forcing one to redefine their path forward.

Crunch… Snap… Crunch…

Strange sounds entered the boy’s ears. He slowly became more alert but struggled to form coherent thoughts.

Crunch…

His eyes fluttered open. A green mist swirled in the air.

Ugh… We… We’re under attack!

He tried to hop to his feet, but his body was unresponsive. He could barely twitch his extremities.

Crunch…

His heart rate spiked out of fear and blood flowed aggressively within his body. He felt a dangerous presence not far away. An erratic series of breaths sounded from the floor.

Is it just one body? No…

He didn’t dare think the worst and closed his eyes. He felt the flow of energy circulating inside his body.

I need fire. Purifying flames to cleanse this putrid air.

Just as quickly as he thought of it, smooth white-gold flames blossomed from his body in all directions. The fire swiftly circulated through the air, incinerating the green mist in mere seconds.

He regained his freedom just as the mist around him evaporated into nothing. Shooting to his feet, he quickly looked around.

Not far from him was Chenbo, who picked himself up off the floor. Chenbo hacked and choked on the remnant mist still in his lungs. His face was stained with tears as he looked with despair in a different direction.

The boy followed his gaze to be met with a horrendous scene. An enormous plant-like creature squirmed only a couple meters away. Green mist continuously spewed out of its body, only to be incinerated by the curtain of flames that circulated in the air.

In the center of its body was a huge mouth with fierce wooden teeth.

Crunch…

The teeth clamped down once more on the upper half of a man’s body, finally severing it from the bottom half.

Gulp!

“Ahh…”

A small whimper sounded the side. It was Chenbo.

His face was strained as grief overtook him. He couldn’t scream, nor make any additional noise. He simply sat on the ground in shock as the scene of his father being devoured was imprinted into his brain.

The creature shifted its body uncomfortably due to the intense flames that now filled the air. It turned its attention to the smaller foods, which were originally paralyzed.

More mist spurted out from its body as it angrily shook its limbs made of vines.

The boy narrowed his eyes. Without a second thought, he clenched his hands towards the creature, causing the brilliant flames to swiftly encapsulate it.

The creature couldn’t sense danger from the flames, giving it the confidence to strike out viciously. A loud shriek echoed into the night—it’s tendrils turned to ash!

In less than a minute, nothing of the creature remained. Unfortunately, the upper half of Chenda’s body burned with it.

Once the ordeal was over, the flames vanished as quickly as they came.

The boy hesitantly glanced at Chenbo, who simply kneeled on the floor like a statue. He stared at the remnants of his father’s corpse.

I couldn’t save him…

Somehow, this plant-like creature escaped his senses before he slept. This was the result.

The Shadow Ent, an upper B rank creature. If it weren’t for its weak combat abilities, it could easily be classified as a low A rank creature due to their elusiveness.

They thrived on their ability to avoid detection, and their green mist could paralyze unsuspecting victims before they were even aware of what was happening.

It went without saying that most people didn’t have purifying flames that they could summon on a whim to eradicate the mist with ease.

“You…”

A voice reached the boy’s ears.

“You could have saved him, but you lied there and watched.”

It was the words he didn’t want to hear.

“You hid. You’re a coward. You hid behind us this whole time.”

Chenbo slowly turned his burning gaze towards the boy who stared back.

“I fucking hate you.”

His face was twisted, and his eyes were stained with tears.

“I hate you. I hate this. Scram out of here. You shitty coward!”

Each word struck deep at the boy. He took a step back.

This is my fault. Everyone around me…

“Please…”

Chenbo was now on his hands and knees with his head down.

“Please just go. Please leave us alone.”

The boy backed off and carefully left the scene, leaving Chenbo alone to grieve over his loss.

Over the past couple months he discovered how powerful he was.

Shockwaves shook the earth from a simple punch. Black flames eradicated the world with a simple thought.

He could hide his presence and become the perfect killer, jump to the top of the tallest tree, and sprint fast enough to create afterimages.

Alas, with all of this power and strength—he couldn’t save a life.

He couldn’t bring back the dead, and he couldn’t conquer regret. If only he had been that much more vigilant, that much more aware.

If only he stayed awake the whole night instead of sleeping peacefully. If only he asked them to tread more carefully.

What use was all of this strength, if it served no purpose?