[Mysterious Explosion Took Five Unidentified Victims.]

No personal data was left due to this mystery explosion that occurred on March 9th yesterday at a small house in Arallean Village, and the evidence that might have caused the explosion had been destroyed without a trace. Apart from the victims, most of whom were migrants without a clear background, the house of the incident was also mercilessly wrecked. Thus, the investigation team decided to drop the case as no clear and written data could help the investigation.

[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/931529365542555650/1161865111556853830/ruins_of_a_comp_1.png?ex=6539da35&is=65276535&hm=8525101d21c958ba3ba593cbe037f01beae92dd262142d763758028afaaefd99&=&width=934&height=700]

Just like in the picture captured above, everything had been terribly wrecked. The five victim’s bodies were buried not far from the destroyed house.

For those who might know and previously have interacted with the victims, please voluntarily contact the embassy of Youba Balde, Mayor of West Sandfort.

But, then again, what kind of explosion might have occurred in such a small house in the middle of the woods?

By Darren Gihan

Today’s Sandfort on Monday, 12 March 1318.

“Is there anything particular happening in Sandfort that you read Today’s Sandfort instead of Today’s Besanveil, Mom?” echoed a boy in his usual sarcastic tone, his eyes on her mother curiously but his hands busy buttering his toast.

The Mom, Mrs Stanfield, flinched with the call from her only son, then frantically folded the newspaper.

“Nothing’s interesting, Felix, dear. And maybe it’s because the servants here know we’re from Sandfort, so they sent us Sandfort’s newspaper, too. But, anyway, it just feels good to know what’s happening at home.” She paused to open another newspaper. “And anyway, it’s not Today’s Besanveil, but it’s What’s up Besanveil?!” she exclaimed, living up to how each word should be said while showing off the title of the newspaper.

Felix ceased whatever he was about to do with every muscle in his body, and just slightly winced. “With the fact how old-fashioned it is our country compared to other countries—can I be cringed at how cheesy our capital’s newspaper name is?”

Mrs Stanfield let loose a short laugh. “Oh, c’mon—why can’t you just have some fun with it, Felix? We will be living here until you graduate.”

“But in fall—presumably every fall in the future—can I go for a short vacation back to Sandfort? I’ve made a promise with that bloody-head friend of mine to attend a festival together.”

Mrs Stanfield stopped her teacup halfway to her lips; something in her features shifted. Then she placed the teacup back and turned to her son, forcing a pleading smile. “Can you move it to next year, please? Your father and I have arranged a trip for you to visit the Magical Institute of Garneshia this fall,” she said, literally begging.

Felix’s face lit up. “Really? Sure, let’s go to Garneshia then! The fall festival in Sandfort is always happening every year, anyway.” He smiled and nodded approvingly, and his mom could never be happier.

“Felix, oh dearest—it’s almost eight! And Monday, too! Your appointment is in an hour—we should hurry! But you ought to go downstairs first since I need to grab a few documents in my room.”

Felix hastily devoured his last piece of toast, fixed his coat, and then left the dining table, but his hand managed to snatch two pieces of chocolate biscuits from the basket he had brought from Sandfort.

Mrs Stanfield just smiled seeing her son. But that smile quickly vanished from her face when she crumpled up the newspaper with the bold title written: Today’s Sandfort.

“Do not buy newspapers about the Sandfort region again, and make sure all Today’s Sandfort on Monday, which is today, is kept out of my son’s reach,” she informed the servant, then threw the crumpled newspaper into the fireplace.

Three days earlier: Friday, 9 March 1318, in Sandfort.

Florian had three major problems at the age of twelve: Sorcery, his race, and his responsibilities.

His magic power had been awakened since he was four; it was even considered very early, as he would definitely have excellent magic power when he grew up. But that didn't seem to be the case for him, whose magic power was relatively weak and underdeveloped.

Howsoever, giving up his dream of becoming a great sorcerer did not seem to be in his vocabulary. Florian would do anything to achieve his selfish dream. Even selling his soul if necessary.

But where and how would one sell their soul for power? Florian, fairly and unreasonably, wanted to learn.

With great concentration, Florian drew a deep breath and stretched out both hands forward. His palms emitted a golden light of mana, creating a golden magic circle, and one by one, runes appeared to fill the path in the circle.

It was slow and lame and weak.

When the magic circle finished, it shone brighter for a second, but nothing moved from the well. Not even the sound of gurgling water could be heard. Nothing at all. Even the magic circle disappeared shortly after.

It was not surprising, and Florian, in fact, was even glad it did not harm him or anything like his previous attempts.

I'm still way too far from Felix.

Florian was aware of his lacking. After all, no one taught him properly in Sorcery Arts, and he could only study rune spells after finishing his work at the Stanfield house, Felix's house. Either he learned it with Felix—only when Felix was in a good mood—or sneaked in to see him learn magic. But most of the time, he learned on his own, relying on his poor memory against rune spells and practicing to control magic circles at home, though mostly failing.

"Brother Ian!"

A shrill voice jolted him up; his pointed ears twerked twice, and his whiplike tail with a tuft at the end swung once.

"Yes?!" Florian answered in a bit of panic, then hurriedly pulled the rope to lift the bucket of water from the well and placed it on the ground. Of course, he did not forget to adjust his position. Only to look more relaxed, as though he had just used magic.

"Oh, did your water magic finally work?" Asked Lita cheerfully, scurrying toward him. She was ten this year but had a slightly smaller body than children her age. Eloquent and wicked—people said—and just like Florian. But Florian hated to admit it because he didn’t want to be the cause that corrupted this innocent little girl.

Florian stiffened but forced one corner of his lips to curl up. "Literally—" He lied, eyes on a bucket full of water. "I guess I need to borrow Felix's magic book again, so I can do it even faster."

Lita wrinkled her small nose, her brows knitting. "Young master Felix would have a grumpy face if you sneak into the library and stealthily read his spell book again!"

Florian raised a brow, his fox-like eyes drifting to Lita, who was struggling to lift the bucket of water. The bucket was large enough that Lita could have room assuming she sat in it.

"Oh, would he?" he snarked.

Sighing, Lita gave up on lifting the bucket and pinned her chin up to look upon her not-related-eldest brother. "Yes," she confirmed. "Last time, he even said"—she was trying to mimic the face and tone that Felix usually had when he's upset; that frown, that puckered lips, and obviously that fretful tone of Felix’s—"'When will this poor faerie have a shame?' he said something like that."

Florian held back his awe at how Lita could mimic Felix's annoying face so well, and instead showed her a shock and disbelief look; his jaw was slowly dropping. "Let's not drop by after I take care of the horses tomorrow," he murmured, then settled his jaw with a rigid clench.

"Wha—no-no! I still want to have some of their expensive candies, brother!" squeaked Lita, but got an immediate waiver from Florian, who dashed towards the vegetable corps.

Florian was quick, even with a large bucket of water in hand. Well, he was unreasonably stronger than an average twelve-year-old boy because half of him was a faerie. And not just any faeries, horned or winged, Florian was the tailed faerie: a faerie with the strongest physique.

But dissimilar to faeries who should be Elementalist, Florian could not be one because he had no control over nature elementals and possessed Mana instead.

Having only the characteristics of a fae wasn't really an advantage to his life, either. Whenever Florian went to places crowded with humans, he had to use a cloak to cover his pointed ears and coil his tail under his pants, which was undoubtedly uncomfortable for him.

Faeries living with humans wasn't uncommon, and Florian, in fact, might not have done that and mingled, living freely with humans. But he was a nobody. Not an Elementalist. Not the son of an important figure or whatever. And not pure-blooded, either.

Florian was just a nobody faerie with no obvious information about his background.

Lucky for him, though, he could at least live in a decent house with a loving family who cared for him, because some not-pure-blooded faeries would mostly be treated inhumanely in human land if they had no strong backgrounds as their backup.

Florian, for one, had even experienced being bullied by several kids whenever he visited the town when he was younger.

The house Florian lived in was not an official orphanage. It was just the house of a generous lady named Rebecca Rivka, who created her own family with abandoned children she rescued. Her old two-story house was more than enough for the four children to live together, and it was located in a secluded place away from the rest villagers and quite close to the Forest of Gluttony.

For the necessities of life, their primary income was from the vegetables they grew in the garden behind the house. But Florian had started making money since he was nine by helping to care for the horses and cleaning the stables at the Stanfield residence. Though Florian used to do the job with the previous eldest child—who had been adopted by a noble family from the Besanveil Capital—he now did this side job by himself, or sometimes the new boy, Kieran, helped him as well.

At the age of twelve, Florian had become the eldest of the four children in the house. Which, of course, he despised it.

Taking care of the younger children? Having to pretend to be that reliable older brother?

Should I just run away to Felix’s house today? Florian scrunched up his face as he reviewed all the remaining tasks for the following day.

Being an older brother was tough. Very tough for a twelve-year-old boy who wanted nothing but freedom.

"Oh, did you succeed in using water magic?" asked Kieran, bringing Florian back from his musing.

"As you can see." Florian's voice sounded so annoyed as he lied again. Placing the bucket of water, he sighed and brought his chin up to stare upon the vacant blue canvas, trying to ask the uncaring universe—

Why was his life so hard? Why couldn't he be born into a wealthy family like Felix, thinking of nothing but studying and eating sumptuous food? Or at least—why couldn’t he be reborn as the youngest child?

"So annoying," was his only comment on all the complaints in his mind.

Nervous, Kieran dragged his gaze away after glimpsing Florian's somewhat ferocious face. Since he hadn't been at Rivka's house long enough, he was still not used to Florian's faerie presence and, especially, his annoyed manner; even his features naturally looked intimidating and scary.

"Wha-what is annoying?" Kieran faltered, then stiffly fetched water with a smaller bucket in his hand—he just had to do something else to try not to listen to Florian's babbling.

In his honesty, Kieran would prefer it if Florian vented all his anger earlier in the day than looking scary all day long. Something could be destroyed or burned by his rage, as Florian was the only one who could use magic in the house but couldn't control it well.

"That bastard, Felix—how dare he call me a shameless faerie? Didn't he know I'm only half, half-faerie?!" grunted Florian, letting all anger and annoyance creep into his voice. Yeah, I might be shameless, but I'm a half-faerie!

Unwilling to bring this conversation gone too far, Kieran gave no reply and just focused on watering the corps. This was nothing new for him, but still hard to get used to. Either hearing Florian's complaints or even his vicious plots—

—why did Florian always do it when he was around?

Six months had passed since Rebecca took care of him in Rivka's house, but never once did Kieran find it easy to always listen to Florian's complaints or hide the wicked things Florian did.

Kieran had always been Florian's partner in crime, whom he hated to be one of.

Just why does it have to be me? Kieran seriously wondered.

"Aha! I will tell Maman you just said a bad word!" Lita exclaimed, her index finger pointing sharply at Florian. And on the other hand, Kieran found himself snorted.

Florian sucked in a breath, heaving his chest. "Don't tell her, please? I will give you a week's worth of my dessert." He sounded chastised. Not getting Maman Rebeca for a week was equal to not getting sunlight and fresh air for a week.

Lita's lashes fluttered twice as she looked at Florian with a cheeky smile. Most likely, an evil plan crossed her mind at that moment. Florian was sure of it.

"Two weeks!" She grinned, bright in the eyes of others but somehow wicked in Florian's eyes, like poisonous honey.

"Ten days."

"Twelve!"

Florian swallowed back a swear word. "Deal." He forced a nod and twisted his heel, unwilling to see Lita's smile any longer.

Where did that innocent baby learn to smile so wickedly like that?

Oh, Florian did not realize that Lita had learned it from him.

Leaving the two youngest children to continue watering the crops, Florian headed to the house to grab something to drink, but the scent of sweet chocolate wafting under his nose triggered his hunger to greet him earlier.

"Wow—chocolate biscuits," he murmured, eyes sparkling in hunger.

He gazed over the chocolate biscuits arranged in the basket and some still lying neatly on the wire rack. And with unbearable hunger, his hand didn't hesitate to reach for one biscuit.

But someone slapped his hand with a wooden spoon.

"These biscuits are for young master Stanfield. Didn't you hear he is leaving for the capital this afternoon?" chided Rebecca Rivka, who was often called Maman Rebecca.

Florian held back a wince and murmured something under his breath. "I thought he would go in two days?"—his hand stealthily took one biscuit—"They have tens of servants, but none of them can make biscuits like this? Unbelievable."

"Don't you dare take the biscuits from the basket, Florian!" rebuked Rebecca, hitting him with a wooden spoon. Florian, however, had devoured the biscuit into his mouth before defending himself from her not-so-hard hits. His face even showed a sense of satisfaction despite how he received blows from Rebecca.

The chocolate is so rich that I finally feel alive, Florian said internally, pleasure falling across his face despite the chaotic situation he was currently in.

Even though Rebecca couldn't use magic, Florian had always wondered if she used some sort of magic in making food, especially sweets.

"Aih, ought to deliver this basket of biscuits before midday," Rebecca grumbled, her Varaklich accent thick and rolling.

Florian rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. And before he gave more complaints, Rebecca continued.

"And bring this to the postal service afterward."

Florian furrowed his peaked eyebrows, then received the letter in aggravation after a glance at the recipient's name. "Locke?" He read out, surprised and iffy in his tone. His face turned grim as he made sure he read correctly. Locke? That bastard who has forgotten the family he grew up with?

"I understand your childish hatred, but he is still our family, Florian," Rebecca went on without hesitation, "talk and apologize to each other, boys—and you guys will be back like the old days."

Chidlish hatred? Florian scoffed, slightly crumpling the letter in his fist. He wanted to interrupt when Rebecca mentioned his hatred because it wasn’t hatred he felt but disappointment.

"He was part of the family," Florian uttered with a low, sarcastic laugh at the end.

Rebecca fell into silence, aware of how sensitive this topic was to Florian. She looked at Florian rather wistfully, reckoning again how Florian had changed after the gentle boy Locke left the house.

But soon after, a click of the door opening entered the silence. As the groans by the rusty wheelchair followed, Florian turned and saw a sickly boy in a wheelchair.

Florian took a deep breath, relieved to see the warm smile on the boy's pale face. "How's your fever?" he echoed, raising his voice as he tried to change the topic, then gracefully slipped in another biscuit and dashed over Zed, a sickly boy a year younger than him.

"Much better," Zed replied, receiving the biscuit with a faint smile as Florian beckoned him not to tell Rebecca. Thanks, he mouthed, then asked, "Will you go to the Stanfield house now, brother Ian?"

"He ought to go now," Rebecca chimed in as she arranged the rest of the biscuits into the basket.

Florian finger-combed his blood-red hair and hovered over the wall hooks to grab a dark cloak. "And what’s this letter about, if I may ask?" What important thing could we say to someone who has abandoned his family? But Florian kept the following words to himself and turned to Rebecca and Zed with a faint scowl, lapsing the surroundings into silence again.

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"Brother Ian," Zed called softly. "What Maman said is right: you shall talk and apologize—"

Florian chuckled in disbelief, stopping Zed from talking. "Firstly, I have nothing to apologize to that bast—Locke for." He quickly folded his lips inside his mouth as he almost said a bad word, his eyes moving to rest on the wooden ceiling for a short moment. “And secondly,” he continued, looking at Rebecca and Zed in turn, “tell me what’s this letter about? What important or special thing happened to us that we must tell Locke?”

"Brother Ian," came the meek call from Zed as he approached him. He had been with Florian the longest—together with Locke—so he knew well how stubborn Florian was, especially how Florian had changed since Locke left the house. "Then, please give him a chance and forgive him." Zed paused, his grey eyes roving over Florian’s amber eyes. "Brother Locke sent us a letter a few days ago asking that he was planning to celebrate his birthday with us. Perhaps this could be a chance to be like what we used to be."

Florian shot his brows up, feeling somewhat betrayed. “Two days ago? After two years never even replied to my letters?” He swore quietly and looked away, revulsion flaring in his veins, yet his face looked as though he was about to laugh.

Then he shifted to Zed again, and felt annoyed; pent-up frustrations just came to the surface. He recalled how Locke always told him to learn from Zed. To be mature. To be kind. To follow and listen and behave.

"You talk as if everything's easy for you, Zed," Florian spoke after pulling himself from his musing. "And you do know that Locke has a new family, a fucking rich noble family! And doesn't even need to work hard like us—like me. Why would he want to celebrate in this poor place with his previous poor fam—"

"Ohhhhh, this young man needs to be grounded for a full month now! Have I ever taught you to speak such bad words and with that kind of tone, huh?!" ranted Rebecca, showering Florian with powerful hits of the wooden spoon. She knew how glib Florian’s tongue could be, but sometimes she just couldn’t stand that twelve-year-old boy talking like a depressed old man. "Auuuuhhh, my poor life! Now, no more complaints, and deliver this to young master Stanfield, or you won't get dessert for two months!"

Florian bit his lower lip and reluctantly took the basket of biscuits, a swear word coming out through a small sigh. Without saying goodbye, he breezed towards the front door and left the house.

----------------------------------------

"Is it fifty-five biscuits already?" asked a boy with one brow hiked. His flawlessly combed caramel hair—without a single strand of hair messing up his hairstyle—could make anyone blinded by its glow.

Florian etched a wide, mischievous smile on his face. "I was hungry on the way, so I apologize in advance, young master Felix." His face got brighter beneath the shadow of his hood, especially after seeing Felix's annoyed expression.

"So some of the biscuits have been contaminated by the touch of your hand?" Felix arched a brow.

Florian gulped down a laugh. "Oh, I was joking, young master Felix—knowing how sensitive you are, I would never have done that. And Maman even said that it's even sixty biscuits in total." Pausing, he slightly leaned forward because Felix was shorter, then whispered, "Though I did spit and curse the dough before Maman baked it."

"Seriously, this lowly faerie—"

Before Felix finished his sentence, Florian quickly interrupted.

"Half, young master. I'm a half-faerie." Florian ended his words with a simple smile.

Felix narrowed his eyes at him, working his jaw. "So, you prefer to return without money, huh?"

Florian faked a flinch at that threat, then quickly masked his face with a smile and the expression of a good person. But he was sure that Felix knew how bogus his smile was.

"You do know I was kidding, young master. Please pay for the biscuits, or we will starve to death for an entire week." Even his tone sounded dignified.

Felix stifled a sigh; he just couldn’t do much when Florian had pulled his poor card and even brought up the other children in Rivka’s house, then called his butler to take the basket of biscuits, which meant his hands were now vacant, and the time for him to brag and vex Florian. It was practically like a ritual every time he was with this half-fae.

"Just so you know: I will go to the capital earlier because I need to recheck my mana core, since my tutor is already convinced that I have reached the orange shade, which means I will be attending my first year in the academy as a Moyner Sorcerer," said Felix, in his typical honeyed voice.

Florian had many things on his mind but chose to remain silent, honestly trying his best to hold back from letting any response that could show his jealousy.

Money, loving parents, a fancy house, talents for magic, private tutors, and now—a confirmed Moyner rank?

Florian now wondered if there was a way to switch his life with Felix.

"Oh, wow—very impressive, young master Felix," Florian said, his voice snarky.

Felix snorted, rolling his eyes, then twisted around. “Follow me,” he told Florian.

Florian was a bit surprised by Felix's order because—It usually takes thirty minutes for him to brag and annoy me, but what's this? Storing his suspicion, he followed Felix agitatedly and was even more surprised because Felix took him to the library. Does he really know I often sneaked here and stole his books? Florian began breaking out in a cold sweat under his dark cloak.

"You can take these books and figure out how to reach my level," Felix said haughtily, his grey eyes pointing to the pile of books on the table.

Florian was at a loss for words, mouth agape, mind malfunctioning, but his eyes twinkled with excitement. He could not sneak those six specific books back then because Felix cast protection magic only on the shelf with books about magic. What storm hit him last night? He wondered, sweeping his gaze over Felix and the books.

"But these…" Florian tried to drag the words out, but it was more challenging than usual. Despite the excitement that overwhelmed him, part of him wondered if the Felix in front of him was the real one. "Are you…sure?" he asked, scrutinizing Felix's features. I believe some of these books are very rare and expensive.

"Well, I'm going to learn in the academy anyway, and I have mastered all the contents in these books," explained Felix with an arrogant shrug, then studied his only close childhood friend for a long few seconds.

Hated to tell his honesty, Felix pitied Florian, who he considered his rival. Although Florian was way too far from being good at sorcery and still lagging in sorcery arts, he always felt rivalled by the half-fae boy who oddly had human mana instead.

Felix pitied his rival but did not want to lose, nor did he want Florian to continue falling behind. He preferred to compete with equality. It's classier and fairer to him.

"Thank you." Florian added his thanks with a sincere bow, causing Felix to feel somewhat awkward.

Felix inhaled uncomfortably. "Anyway, then, I must go, and here's the money for the biscuits. Do convey my regards and gratitude to Maman Rebecca," he said, almost stammering, and placed the money atop the books before leaving the library first.

You, cocky bastard—always surprising in both magic and personality, said Florian silently while widely smiling beneath the shadow of his hood.

***

Florian's mood changed quickly, just like the unpredictable sky. The vexation he had felt before leaving the house had vanished as joy and excitement filled its place. He even seemed so excited to be delivering the letter that he wasted his time and energy to greet some fellows he knew in town.

But as a result, it took him almost two hours to get back home.

Out of the hustle and bustle of town, only woods became the feast for his eyes as forests and hills surrounded the northwest territory of Sandfort. No more icy wind biting the skin, for the green flags came, the parade of spring in bright bloom. The weather was not too cold and not too warm. It was a very delightful season, but still not his favorite. Florian adored warm weather, especially sunny summer days.

Listening to the orchestra of birdsong, Florian unknowingly whistled to harmonize with the melodies. It was soothing and pleasing and echoed even louder in his ears because he had sharper hearing than average humans.

But it was none other than the half-fae hearing that allowed him to hear an explosion, gliding into the chirping of birds that were even closer to his position.

"What was that?" Florian halted, his pointed ears twitching a couple of times. But when he realized something, his heart seemed to splinter. "The source of the explosion is—"

Before Florian had even finished gathering his thoughts, he dropped all the heavy books in his hands and sprinted, giving all his faerie strength to reach his house as quickly as possible.

By the time he nearly arrived, dark smoke billowed in the air and blocked his view, causing him to slow his pace. Getting closer to his house, he stopped and froze; it seemed his soul had left his body to see the terrifying sight before his eyes. Half of the house was gone, shattered wood and glass pieces straggled around, and the ground surrounding the house cracked as though there was an explosion centered on the base of the house.

It was still noon, but it felt somewhat gloomy because of the haze.

To all the mess—

Where's everyone? Where's my family?

"Aaahhhh!"

Kieran's loud cry snapped him back from drowning in a quandary. With the scream coming from the woods, Florian frantically took a piece of stick from the ruins; it was pretty decent and sharp to be a weapon.

A bandit? Big bear? Monster from the Forest of Gluttony?

He did not know what enemy was waiting for him, so he ought to bring something as a weapon.

"What the hell is that?"

It was nothing like any monster he saw in the book. There were so many unique and creepy monsters in the Forest of Gluttony, but Florian couldn't remember seeing a two-headed dog with greasy and thick dark skin from the two books about monsters of the Forest of Gluttony. Or perhaps he didn't discover enough? He couldn't tell.

"Brother!" cried Kieran, with Lita in his arms, looking limp and pale as bone. They huddled on a tree branch no more than two meters tall.

And Florian felt like he had forgotten how to breathe. All the muscles of his body tensed. His heart seemed as tough fell into his stomach. One foot of Lita's had gone, with blood pouring out like a leaky faucet. Meanwhile, Kieran was covered in scratches and blood all over his body.

“No, no, no, no, no, how—" Florian crooned; tears already blurred his vision. To see them wounded like that, he already felt like blaming himself. I should’ve come home earlier!

But then the monster's growl snapped him back as it turned and rushed toward him. Besides being terrifyingly scary, there was something odd about that monster: what was the cut on the rightmost side? Was it supposed to have three heads?

"At this point, it's like something straight from hell!" grumbled Florian, gathering his golden mana to strengthen the stick in his hand.

Florian tightened his breath to steady his trembling body, with his rapid heartbeat thumping in his chest as the monster rushed towards him. As soon as the monster was about to devour him in one jump, he aimed at the wounded neck. And he did—and was even pushed back a bit. The monster fought back and quickly tried to bite the shaft. It looked in pain and rage, but Florian did not care and just pushed harder so that the shaft sank deeper into the flesh but made a slight crack in the middle, almost breaking. Realizing that, he immediately forced out his golden mana even more powerfully.

The scary black dog roared in pain, wriggling like crazy as it tried to reach and bite him.

But Florian didn't waste the chance. He kicked the dog's front legs, stomped his body, and knocked it down—but it's still alive, obviously. Without wasting a second pause, he withdrew the stick, broke it in half, and swiftly stabbed into the monster’s neck with his mana to give more force to the thrust.

The monster gave the last few squirms before its whole body stopped moving. Black blood flooded the ground; the stench almost made him gag.

Florian swayed backward while trying to catch his breath, then darted towards the tree where Lita and Kieran were.

"Jump," he said through panting, with both hands outstretched in front. "I'm here," he continued, a single tear rolling down his cheek unnoticed.

Lita was the first to jump, and then Kieran.

Florian tore off his shirt to cover the blood of Lita's lost feet with his shaking hands. "How—what happened?" He finally dared to ask, but Lita and Kieran seemed lost in horror.

Florian thought again. It was pretty lucky that Kieran and Lita could climb trees, as they loved to play in the woods. But what if they couldn't? He shook his head to push away his bad thoughts.

"How many monsters are there?" he prompted.

After a moment, Kieran finally spoke, "Three monsters came out from the black hole. But the other two are chasing Maman." His voice was strained and shaking.

Florian shut his eyes closed, feeling as though his heart had dropped to his stomach. He nearly lost his control of staying calm. No, Maman, please. Negative thoughts kept crossing through his mind like a wild breeze. The question about Zed had reached the knot of his throat, but he swallowed it back. As the eldest, he couldn't let bad thoughts weaken him.

"Let's go find Zed," Florian told them, then strode over the house with Lita in his arms and Kieran beside him.

He thought it would be better to take them together so he could protect them immediately.

His steps towards the house never felt so heavy. As Florian drew closer to the house, a foul stench clotted the air, like bear meat left to rot in the barrel for weeks. The stench stung his eyes and stippled his arms with goosebumps. And with the sight ahead, he lost the courage to take another step.

A huge dark hole was right next to his house, with dense dark clouds swirling in it, splashing wild electricity and emitting a tremendous dark aura.

"Just what in the god's name…is that thing?"

"Brother…" moaned Lita weakly; her body trembled and felt colder and colder.

Florian's heart sank as he noticed it, so he held her tighter, squeezing her limping small body in his arms. Please, Lita, please…hold on!

Then, a weak moan coming from the house startled him.

Zed!

Florian braced himself to shove inside the house, and the murky haze swallowed him whole.

Almost half the house had gone flying, so it was difficult to see the way to Zed’s room because of the heavy damage and the strange, eerie fog. The wooden floor was covered in rubble, creaking every time he stepped on it.

"Zed! Zed!" Florian called out, and then found a part of Zed's wheelchair. “No, please, no—no!”

After moving the fallen door and the other few ruins, he found Zed wedged under the ceiling logs, lying down, with his bleeding head drenching the floor. His wheelchair broke. His skin was painted with some deep scratches and dust.

Florian slumped and stood on a knee. "Zed! Zed!" He cried, breathless, and his cheeks were already wet with tears. "Say something, Zed, please!"

"G-go…"

"What?"

"T-the portal will open once again."

Zed's voice was too low and frail to the point that Florian, who had a good sense of hearing, found it difficult to capture the voice.

"Leave—before the real portal is open."

Portal? What portal? Florian shifted to the black hole again, which he guessed to be the portal that Zed mentioned. What the heck is happening here? Before he could gather his chaotic mind, faint groans from the backyard jolted him back. And nothing except the creepy three-headed black dog came to mind.

"Ohh shit! Make haste! Escape from here first, Kieran!" Florian shrieked in wild panic, then hastily tried to drag the feeble Zed with him, yet Zed seemed to refuse to follow him; he tried to let go of Florian’s grip with his remaining energy.

Oh, please!

His mind turned into a chaotic mess. All emotions simmered within him to the maximum. To the point that he didn't know what to do and just wanted to give up on everything and die. But he could not. He did not want to. Not now.

But then, the ground suddenly shook, and the ruins dropped like rain even savagely. The two monsters even stopped their movements as the black hole slowly shone a blinding light.

Florian jerked his head towards the portal, which strangely shone bright and caused him to squint. The two monsters across the portal stopped and grimaced, showing their bloody teeth as if anticipating what would come out of the portal. But he ignored the portal for a second and planted his focus on them. Even though his vision was somewhat hazy, seeing a bracelet stuck to the monster’s teeth caused his heart to twist. He bent his body forward, narrowing his eyes even further to focus on the bracelet again.

It was Rebecca's bracelet that Lita made special for her forty-second birthday a month ago.

"No—it’s… that bracelet!" Florian abruptly shook his head in disbelief. "No… it can't be! SHE CAN'T DIE!!!!" he screamed, choking on his sobs. Oh, never thought he would be crying this badly.

"Florian, go…Please, I beg you to leave and stay alive," pleaded Zed, whose voice suddenly rose. Then he grabbed Florian by the cloak to bring his sanity back and gave him a stern look that left Florian confused and surprised.

Florian looked into Zed with frustration and grief filling his weepy face. Zed knew Florian was thinking about giving up and nothing else, so he stretched out his weedy hand to wipe the tears off Florian's cheeks and whispered almost silently, Leave and stay alive, I beg you, your—

But Zed was cut off by an earthquake that got worse.

Florian staggered in his position and stumbled as he rose. Even in that frantic situation, he still forced himself to make decisions. He told Kieran to get out of the house first, put Lita’s cold body on his shoulder, and attempted to drag Zed out of his room.

But the earthquake just got worse and worse, and Florian fell to a knee but still pushed himself to stand again while carrying Lita and Zed.

Kieran was panicked as he tried to get himself out of the house. It was even difficult for him to see the path properly because the dusty smoke drowned the air while ruins kept falling like rain and blocking the view. But before he could hear his brother's shout, a large piece of wood fell on him, right at his head.

"KIERAN!!!"

Florian was late. Everything was late.

Everything is my fault. Everything is my fault. Everything is my fault. Florian bit his lower lip to the point that he could taste his blood's salty taste. But it was nothing compared to seeing Kieran’s blood flooding the floor and even touching his toes tip.

I’m sorry, Kieran—it’s all my fault. Everything is my fault.

Then Florian inhaled sharply and quickly gathered his thoughts.

He had no time to keep mourning.

Wiping his wet eyes and nose with the back of his hand, Florian carried Zed and Lita out of the house first. But suddenly, a savage wind roared from the portal, with sizzles and strange noises reverberating throughout the area, giving his entire body a peculiar sensation that made him momentarily freeze. Then his hands loosened up and accidentally let go of Zed and Lita's bodies, and his attention embedded upon the portal.

"Just…what—"

Florian lumbered towards the portal as the strange feeling invited him to come closer, and then stood at the edge of the house, less than a meter away from the portal. His dark cloak was fluttering hard by the savage wind. The dark clouds no longer swirled in the portal but bright clouds instead. And the portal was tantalizing, persuading him to jump into it.

"It feels…so strange."

But then, a sudden calmness distorted him. The earthquake stopped, and the wild wind seemed sucked into the portal. Everything strangely went back to normal, like the calm before a disaster. And after a few terrifying seconds of serenity, with only a brief pause, an enormous explosion occurred from the portal — BOOOOOOOM — throwing everything away without exception and mercy. The shock wave swept the dark fog away and replaced it with a cleaner mist.

Then, five unknown people in dark cloaks came out from the portal, soaring into the sky before slowly descending as the portal below them disappeared.

Although the portal had gone, it left such a vast hole in the ground. And the house was nowhere to be seen, except for the wreckage scattered on the ground.

Those five people were conversing, but Florian could not hear them well, nor did he understand the language of those strangers. After all, he was over twenty meters away from them.

And strangely, they also seemed to be the foes of those creepy three-headed monsters.

After Florian bounced far enough, he found himself in the forest with none of the children around him. His limbs felt heavy and dull, with soreness creeping up his body so badly for the very first time. By being alive but in pain, he hated himself for being a half-faerie with a powerful physique because he would rather die than live a life as a poor half-fae with no family and house.

Besides his desperation, something weird and new echoed in his ears; it was like a subtle chime sound—like the sound of a bell, but much softer and pleasing.

In his curiosity, he tried to lift his heavy eyelids.

[Welcome, player]

Florian bashed his eyes open as the transparent, light blue screen strangely appeared in front of him, floating. There were letters in the middle that he could not read or recognize the language. No—he had never seen such letters in his world.

"What…?" He breathed a groan and scrubbed his hand over his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating or something.

But the same table screen appeared again after the first one had gone in a blink.

[The system is inspecting the current world. The system is adapting to the present world.]

[The system has adapted to the new world.]

[The system is inspecting the player. The system is adapting to the player.]

[The system has adapted to the player.]

[Welcome, player.]

Player? And what system? What is this weird blue screen?

He swept the table screen away with his hand, and it disappeared. Somehow, the strength in his body was drained as though a wave of sudden exhaustion consumed him whole. With every passing second, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and his whole body went limp, unable to move even an inch. He urged himself not to faint, but he had lost.

And the same chime sound kept echoing in his ears like a lullaby as the drowsiness sank him even deeper.

*Ding*

Statistic

Player

Florian (12)

Level

1

Class

Sorcerer

Race

Faeire/Human

Rank

Mugler

Title

N/A

Experience Point

0,25%

Strength

26

Endurance

21

Hit-Point

50/3000

Charisma

30

Wisdom

21

Mana Power

450/2800

Dexterity

25

Intelligence

18

[The System has processed your skills and innate traits]

[Skill – Water Magic lv. 1]

[Skill – Fire Magic lv. 2]

[Skill – Earth Magic lv. 1]

[Skill – Wind Magic lv. 1]

[Skill – Shield Magic lv. 1]

[Skill – Mana (Strengthen, Flow, and Deform) lv. 2]

[Innate Trait – Faerie Sensitivity lv. 2]

[Innate Trait – Faerie Recovery lv. 2]

[Innate Trait – Mana Regeneration lv. 2]

[Innate Trait – Scamming lv. 3]

[Innate Trait – Bluffing lv. 3]

[Innate Trait – Affinity to Nature Elements lv. 5]

[The system has successfully awakened enabling skills]

[Congrats! You achieve additional Passive Skills!]

[New Passive skills acquired!]

[Passive Skill – Special Identification lv. 1]

[Passive Skill – Special Hearing lv. 1]

Again, *Ding* *Ding*

[Notice: You are unqualified to be in Sorcerer class.]

[Reasons: Generally lacking in Sorcery Arts and possessing different kinds of Magical Powers.]

[The system is processing to find the eligible class for the player…]

*Ding* *Ding* *Ding* *Ding*

And many more dings.

[The class is found!]

[You have obtained tier I Warlock Class]

[Class Special Effect: Accelerates learning and application of new skill by 10%]

[The system has successfully awakened hidden power and skills during the searching]

[Dark Mana Power unlocked!]

[DMP: 450/2800]

[Skill – Dark Mana (Strengthen, Flow, and Deform) lv. 1]

[Unique Skill – Dark Mana Absorption lv. 1]

[Unique Skill – Mana Absorption lv. 1]

[Innate Trait – Dark Mana Regeneration lv. 1]

That was it; the chime sound rang like a long monotone melody that hummed in his ears during his brief sleep.

[Have a fun play, Player!]

***

It's either the beginning or the end...

The memories are still there.

[https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/931529365542555650/1161334775827664937/Illustration.jpg?ex=6537ec4b&is=6525774b&hm=7183e93480e4badcee98cbe4c57ed66405f2fb1e8bc5e125ff262ec5e81cde8d&=&width=520&height=700]