The boy lay curled against the shattered remains of a doorway, knees pulled tight to his chest as if he could make himself smaller, invisible. He struggled to breathe.
A pair of footsteps crunched over broken wood.
"Master said wipe out everyone," the woman remarked, her tone disturbingly casual. She glanced at the boy as if he were a misplaced object, not a shaking child.
The man beside her hesitated only long enough to exhale. "How annoying, I don't like to kill children"
The boy's fingers tightened around the torn fabric of his shirt. His heart thrashed so violently it almost hurt. Why was everyone he knew dead? Who were these people?
The man didn't look at the boy, head looking to another side. "Let's just get this over with, any last words kid?"
The boy's mind spun,flashes of faces he loved, voices now silent, laughter swallowed by smoke. He felt himself shrinking into a cold, hollow space inside his chest where hope had already started to flicker out. Why did this happen? Everything was going great, he was named talented in swordsmanship, he even had signs of awakening an ability early! His little sister was going to be born soon! The boy looked to the side, at his mother's corpse.tears gathered around his eyes as he tried to remember his family who had just been eating dinner and watching tv with him earlier, blurring the figures standing over him.
There was only one thing the boy wanted to do
The boy looked up at him, his eyes watering
He thought back to what his parents always said
"As long as you pray to the sun god, any wish will come through"
"I wish… for you all to die"
The boy muttered under his breath.
"..what did the kid say?" The woman asked
"I WISH FOR YOU ALL TO DIE!"
The man and the woman suddenly fell head first to the floor.
The boy shrieked in fear, moving slightly to the left and avoiding the bodies
"AH! WHAT-"
"You made a wish, right?"
He heard a calm, boyish voice
"W-who are you..?"
The boy asked, trembling in fear.
The two adults, people who had killed his entire village, had just suddenly fallen over and a voice appeared out of nowhere
The boy was frankly, shitting his pants in fear right now.
"Who am I you ask?"
The boy flinched at the sound of footsteps approaching him
"I'm the one who granted your wish!"
From the dark, walked out a boy of similar age.
The boy quickly scanned the other boy's appearance as he tried to sit up.
'His eyes… are glowing?'
His hair was white, an unusual colour for humans, his yellow irises were distinct, even glowing.
The black haired boy couldn't speak, his throat was dry.
'Who… is this guy?'
The black haired boy tried to process everything in his mind, the town was suddenly lit on fire, people barged in and suddenly killed his family, then he tried to make a wish to kill the people that barged in and it came… true?
The boy seemed similar in age to him, if only being slightly younger. He had a bright expression, as if he was excited to see him. His eyes, though glowing, seemed lifeless to him.
The white haired boy quickly walked towards the black haired boy, still sprawled out on the floor.
"Do you have a name? Or another wish to grant?"
"Ah-w-what?"
The black haired boy was confused but he tried to answer
"My name is… asteron."
Suddenly, footsteps were heard from outside
"Ah! It's the accomplices!"
Asteron sat up in fear, shrieking.
He immediately looked at the blond haired boy
"You- what are we going to do! I-"
"Do you want to get rid of them?"
The surroundings grew cold as the blond boy spoke
Asteron looked at the blond haired boy, staring at him right in the eye.
Feeling a sense of discomfort and fear, he immediately looked down.
"I… I wish to survive!"
Asteron shouted, he could hear footsteps getting closer to the room.
"Does that include removing them?"
The blond haired boy continued to ask, his voice was calm, smoothing.
It put the black haired boy at ease, even if just a little
"y-yes?"
The blond haired boy smiled
"Wish granted"
*****
"To think a massacre suddenly happened in a village like this"
The man sighed as he gripping his forehead
"At least there were survivors."
The woman next to him replied
She adjusted her cap, on it shined the symbol of the dragon's den.
The man looked to the side, at the two teens getting escorted
"Hah… I wish we'll get off work early today. They're about to do a dungeon conquering stream soon"
He then felt someone staring at him, immediately looking back.
But there was no one, the only people in sight were the two kits getting escorted
"This isn't the time Jerrod. Let's just start with the investigation"
The woman called over her team
****
"What do you want to do now?"
The blond hair boy asked Asteron
"I.. don't know"
The two were sitting in the back of some truck
From what Asteron could understand, one of the most prominent organizations, one that boosts of many awakened individuals had came to the town
Awakened individuals were people who had awakened an ability. This ability can range from summoning simple gears to summoning fire. These abilities typically awakened when one was at the age of 14, he was currently 13.
Honestly, he didn't understand how it worked, not that he'd currently care anyway.
From the words he heard from the adults, the reason this town was attacked were due to demonic creatures.
But that didn't make sense, humans had attacked them, didn't they?
In the end, it is because he does not have a proper grasp on the world that this happened.
It was because he didn't have an awakened ability that this happened.
If he was just a bit older, he could've prevented his family from dying.
"I… want to get stronger"
He looked at the blond haired boy resolutely.
The blond haired boy's eyes widened slightly and a smirk appeared on his face
"Is that your wish?"
"Yes, that is what I want to do."
After saying that resolutely he leaned back onto the truck, as it began to accelerate, bringing them to a new location.
Come to think of it, is this blond boy in the same situation as him too? No way, the boy seemed to have an ability, he had killed the two people earlier, didn't he?
Asteron looked at the blond boy
"Do you have another wish?"
The blond boy asked
Strange, his skin seems paler than earlier.
"Do you.. have a name?"
"A name? Do you want me to have a name?"
"? Do you not have one..?"
"I can make one!"
"Then.. tell me your name"
"Hmmm, my name is Elior!"
What kind of name was that?
Ignoring the weird name, Asteron continued asking
"Do you have an ability?"
"Ah! It's a secret!"
Elior winked, still smiling.
"Then… how do I repay you for saving my life?"
"Repayment? Ah! I… haven't thought about that"
Elior stared down at the floor for a moment
"Then… I wish to witness your story"
Elior looked up at Asteron
"Huh?"