The man tried to say something, but the principal silenced him by conjuring an ice spear and pointing it toward his eye. "You'll speak only when I tell you to," the principal said coldly. The man nodded, realizing exactly what kind of situation he was in.
"Tell me your name, where you're from, and how you joined Nameless Faith."
The man paused, sighed, then finally spoke. "I'm Silver. I don't remember much of my past, so I can't say where I'm from. And as for how I joined Nameless One—more like I infiltrated it to find some info. But before I could uncover anything, my identity got exposed. Then they were ordered to kill me."
"Why did you infiltrate their base?" I asked while casting a healing spell to recover from the slash that other masked man gave me mid-teleport.
I thought to myself: How did he even manage to predict where I was teleporting? The only explanation for such speed and timing... was he knows i would teleport there.
"I infiltrated their base because I was in need of gold coins," he said while looking away.
The principal and I looked at each other, then at the man, thinking the same thing: What's the use of gold coins if you're going on a suicide mission? We both sighed and asked, "What exactly were you trying to buy that made you risk your life infiltrating Nameless Faith? And also, how much were you even getting paid for this mission?" The second question was mostly out of curiosity.
"I wanted to buy the Memory Spell... to get my past back. I was getting 100,000 gold coins for the job," he said.
I sighed. Just then, solar rays hit our faces—and I saw his eyes shift from red to a golden yellow. I suddenly remembered something... interesting.
"Why did you decide to help me?" he asked, being carried on my back.
After getting all the information, the principal originally wanted to imprison him. But somehow, I convinced him to let me take care of Silver instead.
"I'm just being nice... You said you were going to get 100k gold coins, right? Well, we saved your life. We should at least get 10 to 15k as a thank-you, no?" I said while walking with him on my back.
"I wouldn't give you a single copper, and you're asking for 10k gold coins?" he scoffed .I laughed and said, "I know you wanted to give us some gold coins, but you can't... because the people who gave you the mission are now hunting you. And at the same time, Nameless Faith is hunting you too."
"How did you know?" he asked ."I was just guessing... so that means it's true." I turned my head and saw him look away, embarrassed.
We finally reached my house. He looked around and said it looked shabby. I threw him to the floor and said he should be grateful he even has a place to stay. Then I went to the kitchen, grabbed some apples, and gave him a few.
"I'm Winter. And the real reason I saved you is... I also want the Memory Spell. So I want to work with you—we both have the same goal," I said, extending my hand.
"I'd accept, but first explain your teleportation skill. How did you get it?"
"I got it from feeding a hungry witch," I replied. "She gave me a stone and said if I held it for one month, I'd gain a teleportation skill. She vanished after that. I did as she said, and eventually, I gained the ability. At first, it was tough to control. I'd randomly teleport . But over time, I learned to control it. Now, I can teleport to places I've been before."
Our journey began after that. We said goodbye to everyone, and about an hour later, we were walking through a grassy plain. We sat on some rocks, looking up at the sky. I asked, "How much do you remember about your past?"
Silver looked at me and said, "Just fragments. I remember being trapped in a cell. Some people came and saved me, but I couldn't see their faces—they wore masks. After that, I was placed in an orphanage, but even those memories are fading."
He looked at me and saw I had fallen asleep. Annoyed, he cast a fire spell. I woke up with a reflexive dodge, just barely avoiding it.
"What was that for?" I shouted .He redirected the fire and hit me with it. I was shocked—not because of the pain, but because of his magical precision.
"Hey, what grade are you in magic?" I asked, healing myself with a spell. "S-rank," he said casually .I blinked in disbelief. I was only C-rank.
We continued our journey and eventually entered a town. Hungry, we stopped at a restaurant. While eating, I saw an old friend. "Kite! Over here!" I called.
He turned to the direction of the voice, saw me, and smiled. He walked over.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Started my journey today," I said. "And this guy here's my companion."
"What about you?"
"Still job-hunting... trying to get into a guild as a strategist," he sighed. "But no one wants a newbie. They say they already have a strategist or only want experienced ones."
I looked at Silver. He nodded, already knowing what I was about to say.
"Kite, how about you join our guild? We were thinking of forming one."
He looked hesitant but eventually sighed. "Alright, but to form a guild, we need five core roles: All-Rounder, Attacker, Defense, Strategist, and Mage. So, what role fits you best?"
I thought and replied, "Attacker. I'm considered A-rank in attack."
Silver said, "I'll be the All-Rounder. Most of my skills are A-rank, and my magic is S-rank."
Kite nodded. "We still need Defense and Mage."
Just then, a girl walked up. "Sorry for eavesdropping, but I'm looking for a guild too."
"What's your specialty?" Silver asked. "S-rank in both Defense and Magic," she said confidently.
Kite raised an eyebrow. "Prove it."
We stepped outside. Silver told her to only to use defense magic and not to attack. Kite and I prepared spells and started throwing them. Remembering what our teacher told us about defense types user, I avoided predictable spam and used tactics instead.
I cast a ground spell to create a hidden pit behind her. I signaled Kite, who made an ice spear and threw it at her. She dodged, leaped back, and fell into the trap. I followed up with a water spell to turn the ground muddy.
She leapt out with muddy feet, cast a lightning spell, and threw it at me. I blocked it with a ground wall, which absorbed the electricity but still few electricity hit me . Then I crafted my own lightning spear and launched it. She dodged again and started casting another spell—but Silver grabbed her hand.
"I told you to only use defensive magic," he reminded her. "She blocked three of our attacks at once. She's not lying about being S-rank in Defense, " Kite said, using a healing spell to restore his mana. "And that lightning spell? Easily S-rank spell too."
"Welcome to the party," I said, grinning. "By the way, we never asked... what's your name?"
She cleaned the mud off her using a water spell and replied, "Athena Lior ."
All three of us froze. Lior ? That was a noble family name.
Seeing our reactions, Athena quickly added, "No, no—I'm not from the royal family! lior is common surname in this land ! It also just so happens be that I'm so beautiful that people assume I'm from the noble Lior family when they hear my name !" she laughed.
As she looked forward again, she noticed the boys were already walking ahead—clearly unimpressed now that she wasn't royalty.
"HEY! I'M STILL BEAUTIFUL!" she screamed after us.