The howling of the cold, harsh winds grew louder as the moon hid behind the pitch black clouds above the vast lands beneath it.
With the disappearance of the moon, the snow-covered fields that stretched beyond the horizon were covered in a blanket of darkness.
As the winds kept on making whistling sounds and the snowflakes danced riding upon them, a single lonely figure could be seen making his way through the snow-covered fields.
A white hood covered the head of the person, which was attached to the cloak worn by them.
Although the individual's features were hidden under the cloak, slight glimpses of the shining silver armor beneath it could be seen from time to time, thanks to the harsh winds that blew around them, causing their cloak to flutter.
Two sheathed short swords could also be seen hanging from the person's waist,
"I can feel his presence nearby."
Suddenly, a husky and deep voice rang out beside the figure, causing them to halt their steps for a second, only for them to continue marching on,
"Kekeke, you sure you wanna do this, Dante? I am not sure if you will be his match, for all we know, he might have already reached the level of a Nyvakar while you are still stuck at the aperture opening realm."
The voice spoke in a teasing and childish tone as the man named Dante kept pressing forward,
"....you seem to have grown a lot fond of babbling ever since you gained the ability to talk, eh? Kroft"
Dante spoke with a small smile while he pushed forward against the winds as the sight of a city in the distance became clear,
"Heh, we will soon reach Rose Frost City. Good luck, you will need it."
As the voice rang out one last time, the presence of the one who had spoken seemed to vanish.
A long stretch of wind blew across Dante, pulling the hood off, showing the face of a man in his mid-thirties with flowing medium-length black hair reaching down to his shoulders, accompanied by a cleanly trimmed beard,
"....Claud..."
Dante muttered under his breath as he gazed at the faraway city with a resolute look,
"...a storm is coming...."
.
.
.
.
The ice-cold winds drifted throughout the city of Rose Frost, creating a harsh, gloomy atmosphere.
This type of weather was rare even for a city like Rose Frost, which was known for its harsh, cold surroundings.
It was already late at night, and thus most of the people were tucked away in their brick houses, basking in the warmth provided by their fireplace and their families.
And those who were still out were either on their way home or had special duties that needed to be performed during the night.
The brick-carved roads that the people walked upon were illuminated by the street lamps that stood tall on the sides of the main road.
As the heavily dressed people busily walked back to their homes, in a small alleyway between two buildings, a lonely figure lay there splattered across the dirty floor.
It seemed to be a boy of about fifteen to sixteen with a head full of raven black hair.
Although the features of the boy were obscured due to the dirty, ragged look on him, and his whole body was covered in bruises, it was apparent that he had quite a young, handsome face.
Luan's swollen eyes fluttered as they slowly opened up to gaze hazelly upon the dark blue sky filled with the black clouds above.
For a few moments, he just stared at the sky absentmindedly, as he lay there admiring the vastness of the dark ceiling of clouds.
He didn't feel any discomfort in this dingy alleyway, on the contrary, he felt quite relaxed, as if this place soothed his senses in some way.
Slowly, he started moving his body as he tried to get up, pushing through the aching pain coursing through his body.
After a while, he finally managed to stand on his two feet, even though it hurt like hell.
Breathing in a mouthful of the damp air that surrounded him, he took a few steps forward. His feet felt like they were on fire, but he ignored the pain as it was something he had already gotten used to a long time ago.
Slowly, step by painful step, he walked out of the alleyway and made his way through the lonely streets of the city,
"Man, it hurts like bloody hell."
He muttered under his breath, along with a string of profanities, as he kept on walking towards the slum district of the city.
While he walked, all the people who came across him gave him looks of disgust and avoided him like a plague.
But no one could blame them, after all, with Luan's dirty and bruised appearance, accompanied by the clothes he wore that could only politely be called rags, not even a fellow slum dweller would dare approach him.
But Luan couldn't care less about the peculiar stares he was receiving either, he kept on walking on the all too familiar roads that he had seen since his childhood.
He had been here for all of his fifteen years of life, and yet he had never once felt like a part of this place, as if his very existence was something the city looked down upon.
Luan shook his head, stopping himself from thinking anymore unnecessary thoughts as he continued on.
The light from the street lamps on the side of the roads illuminated his way while he walked alone on this dark, cold night.
After a while, he saw the clean roads come to a stop to make way for the simple, uneven dirt roads ahead.
Unfazed at the sight, he walked off out of the commoners' district of the city and into the slum district, this was the place he had been calling his home for the last fifteen years.
As he continued to walk, he saw the all too common sights of people sleeping on the cold roads, of some person eating the rotten food they had found somewhere in this heap of trash, and of prostitutes lining up in front of the bars.
While he soaked in the familiar sights, he kept on walking, and soon enough, he was close to his house,
"Luan?"
Luan's body flinched as soon as he heard the deep male voice coming from behind him. He slowly turned around, looking at the three individuals walking towards him.
As they got closer, the features of the people became clear. The person in the middle who had called out to Luan was a bulky middle-aged man dressed in some torn-up clothes.
On his right side stood a young man, and on his left was a young woman, both of whom seemed to be in their early twenties,
"What the hell happened! Why are you so battered up!!"
The middle-aged man asked furiously as if he were roaring,
"Nothing big, you know it's just the usual."
Luan said with a wry smile, which in turn made the man even more furious,
"Don't worry, Uncle Joseph, it's not like they broke any bones, I can still work, so it's all good."
Luan continued trying to cool down the anger that was boiling inside this uncle of his whom he had known since little.
Joseph was a close friend of his late father, and was also the one who took him in, who was just a five-year-old kid at the time when both of his parents passed away in a house fire.
Seeing that Joseph was about to have another one of his outbursts, Luan hurriedly tried to calm him down, but the young man beside his uncle beat him to it,
"Uncle, we all know how those mannerless brats behave, we are all dissatisfied as well, but doing anything against them would only cause more trouble for us, so please don't do anything rash."
The young man who had a scholarly aura around him said with a gentle smile as he turned around to face Luan with the same kind expression, but this time, one could clearly see the sadness in his eyes,
"I am sorry for our inability to do anything for you, Luan."
He spoke calmly with bitterness in his tone,
"Don't worry, Walter, it's nothing big."
Luan just smiled with an honest expression and didn't mind their response, as this was just how the slum dwellers like them were treated, and if they tried to retaliate, then they would have to suffer even harsher conditions.
In fact, he was already quite happy that he had the luxury of having people who would worry about him in this hellhole.
As he was thinking this, the young woman with a head full of black hair dressed in white clothing rushed forward and grabbed his cheeks gently as she started examining him with a worried look.
"A-are you r-really ok? Does it h-hurt anywhere?"
Luan, caught by surprise, looked at the young woman whose eyes were filled with tears,
"I am fine, Clara, you just worry too much."
As he said this, he wiped away the tears flowing down the woman's cheeks, but as this emotional moment was taking place, suddenly a cheeky grin formed on his lips as he joked.
"You shouldn't be worrying about me, though, after all, soon enough you and big brother Walter will have to worry about another little guy, hehehe"
Looking down at Clara's belly, he could see the small bump that had formed. It was very Subtle and anyone else wouldn't have noticed it, but even though he was a kid, his senses were somehow very sharp.
Clara and Walter were caught by surprise as they looked at Luan with a questioning look, as if asking how he knew,
"Don't look at me like that, big sis has been pale recently, which shows she is going through sudden bursts of pain, she has also been vomiting more often, not to mention that sometimes she would get angry for no reason, and finally.... I have been able to sleep like a baby for the last few days without being disturbed by the "ghost"."
Looking at Luan, who was smirking, both Walter and Clara blushed profusely. Indeed, after he moved into the house he was currently living in when he was five, he had been hearing noises of a man and a woman every night.
When he told Walter about this, he said that it must be the ghost of the pirate who once came here to hide away his treasures, but as he grew up, he started to understand that the "ghost" was not trying to scare him but just enjoying some quality time with its "treasure".
Seeing how both Clara and Walter were acting, the dense and oblivious Joseph frowned.
Luan just looked on with a smile at this warm scene when, suddenly, his body started to ache again, clearly indicating that he now needed to rest.
"ok, I've got to go and get some rest, bye guys."
Saying this, he bid farewell to them, not wanting to cause them to worry. The others also said their goodbyes and looked on as he made his way towards his home.
After traversing the dirty, uneven road for a while longer, he soon reached his house.
Entering, he was greeted by the familiar plain scene of his one-room house, which had a simple wooden chair, a table, and a mat on which he slept, as well as a small window on the side.
As soon as he closed the door, he fell onto his mat in exhaustion and pain, his body felt like it was on fire, yet he felt very sleepy due to the exhaustion.
As his body lay flat on the mat, his eyes moved to look through the window at the cloudy night sky.
Silence enveloped the place as Luan just looked blankly at the sky. The clouds started to move, and light seeped through them as the moon once again became visible.
Looking at the moon, which was the only source of light in this dark room with no lamps, only one thought entered Luan's yearning heart as his eyelids started to feel heavy and his consciousness started to fade,
'if.... if only I could shine as brightly.....'