It was a bright and early morning.
The sun was barely kissing the horizon as it poked onto the Earth.
The birds chirped lively as they took to the orange skies, while the grass swayed with each ray that struck it.
Amongst nature was a little boy with dark black hair, resting upon the bed of green grass.
His eyes were abnormally grey–cold and distant as they stared at the horizon.
"You seem... occupied," a woman chuckled behind him as she strolled next to him.
Soon after, she sat down next to him and smiled as she ran her hand on his hair.
The boy gave no reaction as he continued to stare blankly ahead of him. Eventually, after a few moments of silence, he finally spoke up.
"Mother... Why did you name me Odysseus?"
His mother's smile only grew wider as she slowly embraced him.
She rubbed his shoulder and kissed him on his forehead. "Because I love the story of Odysseus.
"A mortal who fought in the war for his people, who crossed monsters and foiled gods, one who was favored by the stars...
"You are just like him, my little wolf," she concluded.
Odysseus slightly narrowed his eyes. "But... I'm already 10 years old and I do not even have my abilities... I'm an... unawakened."
"Indeed you are, Ody. And yet that is exactly why you and him are alike."
Odysseus looked at his mother and tilted his head in curiosity. "I'm confused."
"Odysseus was powerless too. No god blood flowing through his veins, no magical weapons to help him.
"And yet, he reached his goal. He made it back to his wife and son–scarred, but alive and grateful to be strong enough to be in their lives."
Odysseus's mother then squeezed his cheeks and chuckled. "You saved little Rosie from those bullies with powers, even though you don't have them!
"You are so much more than human. You'll understand soon enough..."
***
「11 Years Later...」
The battlefield was filled with the thick smell of metal and sand.
Distant cries and screeches echoed, distortions of the dungeon crawlers' voices screaming as they tore through the monster's shells.
The sky was blue, covered by towering trees and leaves the size of fully grown elephants.
The fauna was overpowering the trees as it sprawled throughout the environment, practically devouring itself and any corpse next to it.
Admist the chaos, a young adult Odysseus lied on the ground, his breaths heavy while his face was covered in his sweat and black blood.
The muffled sound of his name rang through the battlefield, unbeknownst to Odysseus, who continued to hyperventilate as he stared at the vast array of monsters before him.
"Odysseus!"
By the time he had snapped out of his daze, it was already too late.
The monsters were already lunging towards him, their jaws unclenched and tongues lathered in their saliva.
Then, a young man appeared right in front of Odysseus, his golden hair shining brightly and his blazing blade shining even brighter than the sun.
His gaze was focused and yearned for blood.
And with one leap, he swung his blade in a wide arc and cleaved through 3 of the bipedal monsters' necks in a fraction of a second.
Their heads rolled to the ground as black blood pooled from their necks. A second later, their bodies fell to the ground and disintegrated.
Odysseus sat up straight and stared at his bloodied hands, drenched in blood that didn't belong to him.
But if it weren't for Julius, it may as well have been his blood.
Julius smiled softly as he extended his hand towards Odysseus, his blue eyes piercing his friend's grey gaze.
Julius always had this... thing... about him.
He was never afraid. And if he ever was, he was damn near amazing at concealing it.
It's been that way since we were teenagers. But now, it seems his radiance far exceeds the very fabric of creation.
He shines like the Sun, whereas I–
"Odysseus! You prick!"
A large man with a lean body and a muscular build that could rival a professional bodybuilder stormed towards Julius and Odysseus.
His hair was short and brown, undercut with a fade while his eyes were of the same color.
"I knew it! We should've left him behind the gate, where he wouldn't have been an ass crack!"
Julius quickly grabbed Odysseus by the hand and lifted him off the ground before standing in front of him, shielding him even.
"Cool your jets, Alex. Ody didn't do anything," Julius narrowed his eyes.
"Wrong! His job is to carry our luggage and stay out of our way. Why the hell was he caught in the middle of the wraiths all of a sudden?!"
"They probably locked onto him," Belle, a blonde woman with green eyes interjected as she crossed her arms.
"Bullshit. He's so weak they wouldn't even be able to sense him," Yusuke, a young man with black hair and red eyes spoke up with a smirk on his face.
"Be honest, Ody-chan," he suddenly appeared behind Julius and right next to Odysseus. Then he casually hung his arm around Odysseus's shoulder.
"You intentionally tried to kill yourself, right? Because of how pathetic you are, even as a porter."
Julius snapped and shoved Yusuke, making him cackle like a hyena as he reappeared next to Alex.
"Seriously, why'd we end up with him? You know the stories. He's bound by darkness," Belle commented as she placed a hand on her hip.
"Everywhere he goes, death follows. Which would explain why all the other crawlers' he's ventured with died except him," Lauren, a black haired girl with glasses, added with a sigh and a head shake of disapproval.
"Maybe that's why he wants to off himself. Freaking loser—not even the darkness of death wants you," Alex concluded as he clicked his tongue.
"You—!"
Before Julius could defend him, Odysseus walked up to Alex, his feet dragging against the gravel as he stared at the ground.
In the next second, he swung his right arm, but Alex instinctively raised it to block it.
Eerily enough, Odysseus didn't even land the hit. Instead, he pivoted his left arm and planted his fist straight onto Alex's chin.
Alex staggered and gritted his teeth, his eyes seething as he grabbed Odysseus by the collar.
"You piece of—!"
He stopped and stared at Odysseus, watching as a wide and crooked smile began twisting his lips.
It was then that Alex fully realised that the rumours about this porter were true.
Odysseus wasn't just cursed with darkness. He dwelled in it.
He enjoyed suffering even though he wanted to die.
He wants to be looked in the eye even when he's being insulted.
He wants to be acknowledged as an equal even though he clearly wasn't on par with the dungeon crawlers.
Alex shoved him onto Julius's arms as he sucked his teeth.
"Keep that freak in check, before I do something about him.
"... Now, let's review our strategy..."
While the others spoke amongst themselves, Julius sighed and glared at Odysseus.
Odysseus smiled softly and stuck his tongue out, only for Julius to constantly shake his shoulders.
"You couldn't just let it slide?! Alex will kill you if you keep provoking him!"
Odysseus chuckled and slapped Julius's hands away. "Shut up. Alex's brain is smaller than his penis. I don't fear him."
"It's not about fear. Those rumours about you aren't true. Not everyone who has raided a dungeon with you has died! Why feed into the rumours?"
"That way, when they do die, their expectations of me are on par with their outcome.
"If I can't be an awakened dungeon crawler, then I'm gonna be the cursed porter!"
Julius screamed as his fingers twisted before touching Odysseus's face and scratching it softly.
"You don't sound cool! You don't even sound edgy! You're just cringe!"
"And yet I'm the only friend you have. Tell me, how is someone as handsome as you still a virgin?"
Julius screamed and covered his ears. "Die! Die! Die!"
Odysseus chuckled and grabbed Julius's hands. "Okay, crazy. I was just teasing. Come on. Let's hear what our great leader has to say."
Julius gritted his teeth while his cheeks reddened. "You're so dead if anyone heard that..."
Odysseus smirked and crossed his arms as he walked behind Julius, both of them joining the others.
"Finally stopped messing around? Can we get back to the reason as to why we're here?" Lauren crossed her arms and glared at them.
"Relax, princess. We're here, aren't we?" Odysseus shrugged and smirked.
"You're not a part of this group, so butt out," Lauren stated.
"Hey, I would get upset too if some unawakened loser was more handsome and had a better personality than my current boyfriend.
"But I can wail like a baby if that'll get your nipples hard," Odysseus commented as he crudely ran his fingers on his chest.
Julius chuckled while Alex fumed. Lauren gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, throwing a direct hit towards Odysseus, whose body fell back without him knowing.