Life had never been smooth sailing for Roy.
He had been abandoned in the slums at birth, left to die, until an old man, moved by pity, took him in. His childhood was spent begging on the streets, running errands for the "big guns" of the slums, and fighting to survive.
Yet even in that harsh life, he had dreamed of something simple. A life where he wouldn't have to bow his head. A life where he could live as he pleased. A life where he would be the ruler.
And for that dream to come true, he knew he had to become strong, stronger than anyone.
"Never let anyone decide what your place is, in the great story of Roy, everybody else either should be a supporting character or they should be mobs and nothing more."
That was what the old man, who raised him, taught him. Pretty big words for a man who was a beggar himself, but before becoming a beggar, he was a master, or at least that was what he told him.
Maybe it was his influence that fueled the Roy's desire to become great. That old man's past life was also one of the greatest mysteries of Roy's life.
When the old man died, Roy took what little money was left and set out on his own. He became a hunter, and he worked harder than anyone.
His life settled into a relentless rhythm: learn, hunt, fail, then learn again, hunt again, and fail better.
But he never gave up.
With his A-rank talent, he was eventually recruited into the Ashford mercenary group. It wasn't a large company, just a band of orphans and outcasts, people who had nowhere else to go.
And among them, Roy finally felt something he had never known before. Belonging.
It hadn't started that way. At first, he was a loner who cared only about eating, sleeping, and hunting. Everything changed when he met Laura.
She was a runaway, a bastard child the leader had taken in for her sword talent.
Roy, for some reason, found himself attracted to her. Maybe it was just admiration for her talent, or he was simply young, and Laura was one of the few who made him feel like he truly mattered.
He couldn't even remember anymore.
"Life's too short to spend just hunting," she once told him.
"Whenever I look at you, I see my past self, a bird trapped in a cage. So I'll make sure you see the beauty of life and freedom."
He had thought them to be hypocritical words at the time. Yet, maybe there was truth in them.
Maybe that was why he started to interact with the others more.
And he noticed the small things that he had never noticed before
Like how Aunt Mai's meals were the most delicious he had ever tasted. And, like how Robert's jokes were painfully lame, his ridiculous expression made everyone laugh.
Life had become lighter. Warmer. Roy often wondered why he had never felt that way before.
Days turned to months, and months to years. He grew closer to the group. But what changed most of all was his bond with Laura.
At some point, he began to develop feelings for her.
He knew his feelings well. But he never confessed. He didn't need to, because Laura never saw him that way. To her, he was only a younger brother. Nothing more.
He had tried to bridge that gap, but it was hopeless. Eventually, he learned why.
Laura already had feelings for someone else.
The leader.
Of course, it was him. Strong. Handsome. Kind. Everything Roy was not, and could never be.
All the fantasies he had were just in his head; her only purpose was to bind Roy to the group.
The truth had broken him, yet he swallowed it down.
Deep inside, he had known it for a long time, but he pretended to be oblivious, perhaps because he never wanted to know. Instead, he chose to enjoy his daily life, which had, at some point, become comfortable.
He could not carry on like that forever. In the comfort of his new life, he had forgotten his goal, but the world reminded him of it again, and for that, he was grateful.
So, he distanced himself. Slowly, quietly. After some time, he left that mercenary group.
He got over her. He buried those feelings and returned to his goal.
Because if there was one thing life had taught him, it was that nothing lasted forever.
Not Laura. Not friendship. Not even family. People were kind to him, yes, but only because he was strong. If he had been weak, would they have ever stood by his side?
Would Laura have ever reached out her hand to him?
The answer was no.
Strength, that was the only reason he mattered.
Even Laura's choice, perhaps, wasn't about strength alone. But if Mark had been stronger, he would never have needed to ask himself those questions.
Love. Friendship. Family. They were beautiful things to cherish, but only if you had the power to protect them.
In the end, it would always come back to him and his goal.
Power. The one thing that never betrayed, never faded.
Only power was absolute.
So, he threw himself into training like a madman. Days and nights bled together in endless toil.
He didn't cut ties completely. He still laughed and ate with his comrades, still played his part. But behind every smile, every nod, there was only the mask.
The mask everyone wore.
A mask of fake expressions. Behind it, he kept himself ready, waiting for the inevitable betrayal that could come from any of them. He was not like that with everyone; there were some friends like Robert who genuinely cared for him.
Even though he always gave them the cold shoulder, they never questioned his choice to leave the group and were always there for him whenever he needed them. So, Roy responded in kind, albeit a little distantly.
Perhaps he was afraid that if he showed any weakness, they might take advantage of him.
Roy's training eventually paid off, and one day he achieved the rank of Master, a feat only a rare few ever reached.
But even then, he was not satisfied. The world was big, there were Grandmasters, Sages, Apotheons, and the mythical Eternals.
He was just a slightly bigger fish in the sea. So, he wanted more.
As an A-rank Master, he had already touched the limits of his mana core, but he hungered for more. Craving strength beyond reach, he forcefully attempted a breakthrough to S-rank by using an external medium.
And he failed.
He bought an SS-rank mana core from an old woman in the black market.
Although he knew the chances of success were slim, his hunger for power clouded his judgment. When he tried to resonate the mana core with his body, it spiraled out of control, nearly destroying his own core.
Though he managed to absorb fragments of its power, the attempt left his core fractured, crippling him for life.
It was the most foolish decision he had ever made, one that cost him everything. The power he thought was absolute slipped away like sand through his fingers.
For days, he wrestled with questions that never seemed to have an answer.
What had he done wrong? Was it impatience? Foolishness? Or was it his fate to become cripple like the man who raised him?
He had no answer.
He stabilized his fractured core as best he could and returned to hunting. Even though he could never regain his former strength, he had resolved to live.
As long as he continued to live, all the answers would reveal themselves eventually. That was the lesson the old man taught him.
Years passed quietly. One day, Robert came to visit, asking Roy to join a small raid. He agreed, because he had nothing better to do.
That decision led him here, lying on the cold ground, half his body crystallized. Of all the ways he thought he might die, he had never imagined this.
'I suppose this is better,' he thought.
'I tried my best. I have no regrets.'
The sun set across the crystal mountains, painting the jagged horizon in shades of gold and crimson. Light scattered through the transparent spires, shimmering like glass.
Crystal flakes drifted softly from the sky, turning the battlefield into a breathtaking, otherworldly scene.
'This… is not bad at all.'
And amidst that beauty, Roy drew his last breath.
But just as he lost consciousness, his chest began to glow with strange colors.
[Synchronizing...]