"Huff! Huff! Fuck!" Mike wanted to continue but couldn't speak due to heavy panting. The amount of sweat dripping down his forehead would be enough to fill a bottle. Holding his palm against his knees, he was trying to take a breath.
"That was so freaking hard…... Stamina, stamina is something I lack. Even if I got +1 stamina from the last task, it was nowhere enough."
"Huh! I need a resting place." Placing his arms on his waist, Mike moved towards the bench that was near him. Fortunately, he was near the park where many benches were kept. It was already night time, so he decided to doze off.
His body was aching too much. Laying over the bench, he closed his eyes to rest but didn't expect to fall asleep after few seconds.
...…..
Few minutes passed and a figure appeared near him. The figure caught him by her hand and took him away. This figure was a lady, wearing a black leather jacket and jeans. She had grey hair, and black pupils, with a beautiful pale face.
Her eyebrows were a little down on the edges with a small dimple on her right cheek. When she held Mike in her hands, she gave a helpless sigh and walked away.
........
Inside a wooden roofed house,
Two boys were sitting opposite. Both had similar faces but one seems younger while the other seems older. They were Luke and Lucas. Currently, they were ready to have lunch but it seems they were waiting for something.
"So, why aren't we eating anything?" Lucas asked with a doubtful expression. After all, there was a whole feast of meat in front of him. There was non-alcoholic juice in the glasses.
"Idiot, we are waiting for the sister." Luke shook his head and looked at him as if he was an idiot.
"Is she really coming?" Hearing his words and caring about his expression, Lucas shouted with a smile blooming on his face.
"Bam"
But instead of the reply that he expected, he got a slap on his head. He looked at Luke with an angry expression shouting "Why are you hitting me?"
"Idiot, no wonder Mike always used to tell me that you have no social sense. Do you think she would miss out on such a celebration due to her younger brother as the eldest sister?" Luke looked at him with displeased on his eyes but soon shook his head and continued "She might arrive any moment."
"Ding" "Dong"
Just when his words were finished, the doorbell rang.
"Elder Sister, I am co... Woah!" Hearing the doorbell, Lucas's expression turned cheerful from angry and rushed to open the door. But he saw Mike in her hands, he shouted: "Mike, what happened to you?"
"Bam! Idiot, can't you see he is unconscious?" Just like the previous times, Lucas got a slap on his head once again. Only then, he reacted and shouted "Sister, what happened to him? Why is he unconscious?"
"Can I come in?" His elder sister didn't reply instead, asked looking at Luke who was standing behind Lucas.
"Of course, sister! Why are you even standing out?" But before Luke could say anything, Lucas shouted and invited her in.
His elder sister sighed and walked in. She went to the couch and placed Mike on it. Then, she looked at Luke, completely ignoring Lucas, and said "Heat up the foods! I will take a quick bath." Saying so, she went towards the bathroom.
"What do you think you are doing?" Seeing Lucas near him while holding a marker in his hand, Luke gave him a sharp look and asked.
"…Well, I checked his pulse and he seems alright. So, I thought of doing a small prank while he is unconscious." Lucas answered with a guilty feeling but didn't stop doing it.
"Bam"
"You are not a kid anymore. Come and help me with the food." Luke slapped once again and dragged him to the kitchen. They took back those foods and began to heat them up.
Ten minutes later,
Around the table, there were three chairs. Luke and Lucas were sitting opposite each other as usual while their elder sister was sitting on the middle chair. They were chatted for a while with lots of smiles on their faces until Luke made a sentence turning the mood low.
"So, which academy did you plan to g….? Ouch!"
This time, Luke got a kick on his right. He turned his head towards his elder sister who was glaring at him with deadly red eyes and a terrifying aura "If you ask such a silly question, I'll break your leg."
"Yes! Yes!" Suddenly dragon turned into a lizard, Luke nodded his head with fear.
"Puchi!" Suddenly, a smile appeared in Lucas's mouth which turned their attention towards him. At this moment, he suddenly spoke which once again turned down the mood "Elder Sister, you act just like the mother."
Only when these words escaped his mouth, Lucas realized his mistakes. His cheerful face suddenly turned gloomy and dark as he silently said.
"Sorry!"
"Lucas, don't speak about that bitch in front of me." Although Lucas apologized, Luke was still beaming with anger when he heard that word.
"Bam" But once again, he got a slap on his head. His elder sister then moved towards Lucas after she slapped Luke. Getting on her knees, she looked at her young brother as if he was still a baby and said "Lucas, you are our youngest brother and also our gem. It doesn't matter what we suffered till now, we promised each other to live our life to the fullest. It doesn't matter even if you remember them or not. In fact, none of us can forget them no matter how much we try. So, we need to live with the past, work hard in present, so that we can have a better future."
"You don't have to think about other academies. It seems luck is on our side that even Mike got an invitation from the King's Academy. You promised him to be his best friend regardless of his/your condition. So, now you can't break your promise and leave him alone."
"If he is going to the King's Academy, you are also going with him. Even if he doesn't end up in the King's Academy, you have to follow him. Remember, only when you learn to embrace your power, you'll learn about your responsibility."
"Embrace this power, embrace your talent, only then you will realize how many choices you have while he doesn't. So only then you'll learn what your responsibilities are as his best friend. Remember in your darkest time, he was the one to help you and support you." While she spoke, few drops of tears slide down her cheeks as she continued.
"When your own brother and sister couldn't help you. Remember, people might think or say we have five family members, but for us, our parents are already dead even if they are alive, I won't let them live."
Only at this moment, Lucas realized his condition again. What he has been gone through? A family with two parents and three children. Their life was happy. Although their parents didn't work much, they were having a cheerful life with lots of wealth.
But only after two years, they found the happiness and cheerfulness in front of them was just an illusion. Debt, a huge dept caused by their parents for more than ten years. When their parents left them due to huge debt, three children blanked out for a long moment.
Eldest sister named Lauren was twelve, Luke was eleven and Lucas was just ten. With the debt of ten million on their head, they had already fallen into despair. Although their house was still with them, if they didn't sell that house, they wouldn't be able to pay off the debt.
And even with a house, it would impossible. They got no choice but to sell the house and buy some time. But when they became homeless, they realized how harsh life was. Although they could hold on to this life for some time, they realized their younger brother was far too weak to bear such life.
With no choice left, they asked Mike's family to keep Lucas with them until they can buy a new home. Although it seems like a foolish dream, Mike lets him live in his house. After all, Mike was also the one who had gone through the same pain.
And, he had a close friendship with Lauren. So, he sees Lucas as a little brother. But didn't expect that little brother will soon become his best friend.
Luke and Lauren lived in the street, working day and night, abandoning their studies, trying to make money to pay off their debt.
But it seems it wasn't a foolish dream especially in this world where the strong can do anything they want. At the age of thirteen, Lauren awakened her A-Rank innate ability. When she awakened her innate ability, a storm occurred in the entire state.
Her A-Rank ability was very close to S-Rank, it was Storm Dragon Blood. Her ability can condense the blood of a Storm Dragon in her body which can slowly transform her bloodline into the bloodline of a dragon with the same powers as them.
On that night, not a phoenix but a dragon was born on the Ethen State.