2 weeks later.
"I feel no difference..other than body muscles." Kuro has been training for 2 weeks since his fight with Var'gath.
"Training and killing monsters with a bare fist, doing missions for those two weeks. I really need a rest.." He sat on the bed. "At least i gained some coins for my other katana." He yawned.
"Oh yeah..when i came back from that fight" Kuro lied down.
-
Sentinels and the crowd stood before the ruined forest.
"A monster…?" one of the sentinel members muttered, crouching to examine the ground. His eyes caught a trail of heavy footsteps leading away. "Hey, follow these tracks!" he barked.
Three more in sentinel uniforms dashed forward, following the marks through the dirt until they reached a tree.
"Here. He stopped here." One pointed at the ground.
Another frowned. "These tracks are fresh… heading toward the town."
They rushed along the trail, but as the path shifted to stone, the footprints vanished.
"Tch. They'll be in the crowd by now. Search!" Their leader snapped.
Moments later, at the edge of the bustling pathway, one of them pointed. "HEY, YOU THERE! STOP!"
Kuro froze mid-step, slowly turning his head. His clothes were torn and charred, a sheathed katana hanging in his hand. His eyes darkened. …Crap.
The three sentinels blocked his path, scanning him from head to toe.
"Did you cause this chaos in the forest?!"
The crowd stirred, forming a wide circle.
Kuro opened his mouth to speak, but one of the men cut in, eyes narrowing. "Wait… isn't this the new F-rank?"
The girl with him squinted. "Yeah… it's him."
The three exchanged glances. We don't know who did this… but if we blame him, it'll save us face, their leader thought with a smirk.
"IT WAS YOU! YOU DESTROYED THE FOREST!" he shouted, pointing at Kuro.
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. "An F-rank did all this…?"
"Or maybe…" someone stepped forward, jabbing a finger toward Kuro, "he lured a monster into the forest and let it go wild!"
"Exactly!" a low-ranked sentinel pushed his way forward, puffing out his chest. "I fought the monster myself. This brat brought it here!"
The crowd erupted in noise.
"Trash F-rank!""Dangerous!""He should be expelled!"
Kuro kept his gaze low, his fists tightening. Even if I speak the truth… no one will believe me. If I argue, they'll demand my expulsion. His teeth sank into his tongue. Damn it… even silence makes me look guilty.
Among the crowd, Boro and his team watched quietly. Toshu muttered under her breath, "Kuro…" while Uoro's face twisted with disgust. Ungrateful pieces of shit.
Boro's eyes narrowed. Kuro… I know you fought to protect them. But if I speak, they'll turn on us too. An F-rank boy with a blade in his hand makes the perfect scapegoat. Endure this… prove yourself in time. He exhaled, turned his back, and slipped away.
Kuro slowly lifted his gaze toward the town gates. For a fleeting second, he saw a lone figure watching from atop the guard tower. The man's presence sent a chill through him, but as the wind blew, the figure vanished.
"Quit staring around, criminal!" the sentinel leader shouted, pointing at Kuro again.
Kuro's jaw tensed. I'll have to stand up for myself… even if it's a lie.
"Listen…" he muttered, lowering his head.
"Oh?" the leader leaned in mockingly.
Kuro raised his voice. "I don't care if you accuse me. I don't care about a burned forest. But I know one thing.." his eyes flared as he shouted, "You're trying to use me to cover your own failures!"
The crowd fell into stunned silence.
"Listen, people! Deep down, you all know the truth. An F-rank doesn't have the power to lure or control a monster! And yet you spit your ignorance on me like cowards. So accuse me all you want… I won't care anymore!"
The silence broke into rage.
"Arrogant brat!""How dare he insult us!"
The leader stepped forward, hand twitching toward his blade.
"Enough." His comrade grabbed his shoulder, halting him. "We've done enough."
Kuro brushed past them, forcing a path through the jeering crowd. His expression stayed calm, but his mind burned. At this rate… I don't care anymore.
-
"Since then, most people have hated me..although some were nice." His gaze narrowed through the ceiling. "Welp." He stood, "The traders didn't force a higher price on me, so I'm still living greatly."
I'm forgetting something... He thought. Accessing memory.. Nivor is accessing Kuro's memories.
"NIVOR?!" Kuro shed a deep sigh. "Since the fight, she has been answering my questions without my order."
My master, you assigned a mission with a new party.
"Oh, i remember now.." Kuro stared at the katana, it won't be much of a use to me..only a drain of energy instead he wore a cloak.
Kuro had left the apartment and made his way to the south exit of the town. As he reached his destination, a group of 4 people stood in front. "Hey!" Kuro greeted.
"Wait.." One of them observed Kuro, "Leader..did you accept the F-Rank guy?"
"I'm not sure i accepted this one..doesn't matter, he'll only carry our stuff." The leader whispered to the group. "Listen runt, i don't know how you got accepted for this dangerous mission..but keep your distance from our way. if you get on our way, your death is guaranteed." He shouted at Kuro.
"..." Kuro kept his silence as he took the empty bag on his back. The group stepped into their path, and as they did, Kuro was observing the group. One swordsman, one medical user, and i assume from that wand this is a mage. Also.. Kuro observed closely, This guy has no weapon..
And i'm a servant, welp..i need to do this mission to buy myself another katana. He thought as they got near a cave. "Here is the cave. Be careful, this cave has much stronger monsters." The leader said, "How do you know this info?" One of them questioned.
"I discovered this cave a long time ago." The leader replied.
Kuro's arms trembled from excitement. Is this like a dungeon from video games? Kuro's thought was interrupted as someone spoke, "Are you making fun of us? Caves only contain one or two monsters. If you want goods that badly, we can search for valuable monsters outside!" The mage girl.
Yeah..i guess my fantasy dream about this being a dungeon is crushed..
"You'll see upon entering." The leader proceeded to walk inside the cave. "Whatever." The girl followed him. Upon entering, they were faced with many monsters in their sight.
"Whoa.." Kuro's eyes were tracking every single area of this cave, "How huge.."
The group members were astonished, "No time to waste, erase the existence of every monster here!" As he said that, the rest of the group shouted, "Yeah!"
Kuro sat down on a rock, "I wish i didn't sign for a helper position..." He observed the group as they killed most of the monsters. "Basically, all i have to do is carry someone when he is down, or defend them when they're injured."
"To say..this guy didn't want any goods from this cave, he wanted to be acknowledged by the sentinels for finishing a misery close to town. Since the monsters will increase in this cave and go for the people in town.." He yawned, "This is so boring to watch.."
The cave contained several lizardfolk, werewolves, and other monsters as well. The monsters weren't as powerful; anyone who wields a sword can extinguish them.
"I get a weird feeling of some presence in this cave.." Kuro expressed his feelings as one of the group members went deeper into the cave. He shouted, "Guys..." A shadow of a massive dragon appeared on the ground.
They all dropped their weapons as monsters ran from the cave. Kuro stood up to see what exactly was coming, "No..way.."
The guy in front turned back and tried to run, but his leg failed him, making him fall to the ground. A large humanoid dragon stepped in front of them, lifting its leg, crushing the guy on the ground as his blood splashed everywhere. When the dragon lifted his leg, no traces of the guy remained.
The other group members started running toward the exit, leaving Kuro behind. Only one of them fell on the ground as one of his teammates pushed him by accident.
"Please..F-Rank.." The dragon stepped forward, going for the man. "I..have a family..don't leave me.." The man said, though, Kuro stood in fear; his legs wouldn't move whatsoever.
As a warm breeze roamed around the cave, the dragon lifted its leg. "No..i have to!" Kuro ran toward the beast at full speed, Hang..on The man's tears were pouring on the ground as he repeated "Help.."
The beast's leg crashed into the ground, causing shockwaves to spread. However, the ground didn't break.
"run..." Kuro used both hands to prevent the beast's leg from hitting the guy, yet he was struggling against the monster's pressure. The fallen man saw the scene, trembling in fear.
"YOUR FAMILY AWAITS YOU" Kuro screamed at the man, returning his senses. Then the man barely stood up, running from the cave. As he left the cave, the gate closed due to rocks falling from above the cave.
When the man looked above, the leader closed the gate to prevent the dragon from leaving. "The F-Rank is still there!" The man shouted at the leader.
"His life doesn't matter compared to the danger that will occur to the city." The leader replied with pride in his actions. "If he dies, no one will know we abandoned the mission" The girl behind the man said.
"Accurate enough."
The dragon lifted its leg from Kuro when it saw the gate closure. Kuro's gaze was fixed on the ground, "I knew.." He laughed.
"These arrogant people will do anything to bring my downfall.." Tears from Kuro's eyes fell.
His feelings were fear with hatred toward people; expressing his feelings isn't enough to lift the weight of the mission given to him by his father.
"Only..if i didn't accept the mission of saving you all.." Kuro cried as the dragon roared, sending shockwaves that knocked Kuro toward the wall. "Is this the humanity you wanted to save father...is those people who you don't want to die..itoshi..?" fell from the wall with blood from his head spilling on his face.
"My hatred isn't toward you dragon..i don't fear fighting you.." The dragon stepped forward. "Will..my death change any history..?" Kuro's fist clenched, "I don't want to die..but" The beast grabbed Kuro by his head, the comparison between Kuro's head size and the monster's two fingers was huge.
His eyes were closed as the monster lifted him, "But.." The beast's red, fearsome eyes stared at Kuro's face. "I WILL FIGHT BACK!" Kuro widened his eyes; they were glaring red.
The monster dropped Kuro and stepped backward, roaring with all might. "What..?"
It continued taking a step after step to the back while roaring. A voice shocked Kuro, "Let..me.." The roar trembled the whole cave, and rocks were falling rapidly, as the cave was almost collapsing above Kuro's head.
The dragon shape was tightening, taking the shape of a human. "Could it be..!" Kuro's pupils widened as the shape completely transformed. Kuro ran forward to catch the fallen boy.
The shaking vanished as muttering was heard by Kuro, "Am..i..free" As the red-haired boy landed on Kuro's hand, he said, "Don't..leave..me"
Kuro removed his cloak, covering the boy in it, though the cave started collapsing over them.
"Shit...SHIT..SHIT!" He kept turning all around searching for an exit, "THERE HAS TO BE ONE." He carried the boy and ran toward the main exit. Upon reaching the exit, Kuro repeatedly kicked the rock in the hope of destroying it. Error..this rock can't be crushed.. Nivor spoke as each kick Kuro performed was getting stronger. Marks appeared on Kuro's face, "BREAK YOU BASTARD!" His voice changed as the last kick destroyed the rock.
As Kuro crumbled outside the cave completely collapsed.
Chapter End.