The Past: Woe and Hesitation

Fenrius was reminded of the words of the black-robed adventurer with the giant sword who had stopped by the bar. The Sorcerers are a secret society that works alone and sometimes works with independent kingdoms like Atria. Their destination is still unknown, but they have a lot of faces and have destroyed many empires. The adventurer advised him, if you meet them, run as far as possible! Your chances of survival will be on the brink.

“Hoh… So these kids defeated the Atria soldiers?” the sorcerer raised his left hand towards the dying soldier.

“W-what are you doing?! Arghh!” shrieked the soldier who was getting short of breath.

“Teaching these kids to kill...”

Evil black energy shot out from the sorcerer's palm. The energy absorbed the rays of life on the soldier's body, vanishing into black dust grains that flew into the air. “That's how you kill someone, without mercy. If you can do it, then you must prepare to become like him.”

The sorcerer with a suffocating black aura, step by step approached Fenrius. The air felt heavy, this sensation Fenrius had felt when he looked up at the hills of Gronoa. He and his friends got goosebumps at what was in front of them. They really are in a dangerous condition! They have to run!

"Fenrius! What will we do?!" Dale asked rigidly.

"All of you! Run...!!!" shouted Fenrius.

Everyone’s blood ran cold as they ran towards the forest away from the masked sorcerer. Some of the arrows that Talindra shot were caught by the sorcerer's hands, then broken in two. Talindra threw away her bow and immediately ran away screaming.

“Run everyone! Run!!!” shouted Fenrius once more.

The sorcerer who was originally galloping towards Talindra turned to Fenrius, “So you are the leader? Alright, you are my first target.”

Fenrius turned to lunge at the sorcerer, but his attack was dodged, and the sorcerer managed to strangle him by the neck (one hand only). However, he let go of his grip upon learning of Fenrius' tactic, and the boy nearly slashed his arm with the second blade. He looked at his left palm which had a cut scar, then clenched his fist while saying, "Hmm, so you're the stubborn type huh?"

"Fenrius!" called Dale who stopped out of worry.

They wanted Fenrius to go together. Dale ran over to him, but Fenrius denied it, “Don't...!!!” The boy's screams stopped his friend's intention to help.

"Go! We don't have time anymore! I will restrain this sorcerer myself! Ask the villagers for help to fight together!”

"But! You will die if—”

"I won't die!" cut Fenrius shortly. With teary eyes, he convinced in front of his friends, "I won't die... I promise..."

Fenrius returned his gaze to his enemy and dashed to attack him several times with his sword, but his small body continued to be slammed into the ground by wind magic or the sorcerer's physical strength. Knowing that Fenrius had been stubborn for a long time, they too had no choice but to obey him.

Dale's blood churned, in his heart, he would never forgive Fenrius if he were to die in this place. “Remember our dream, Fenrius!” agreed Dale who immediately ran towards the village, followed by Camus who cried without saying anything.

“Promise me! We can definitely adventure around this world together!” said Luca.

“Fenrius, wait for us! We will immediately bring help from the village!” said Talindra who also followed Dale, Camus, and Luca.

Finally, the red-haired girl, Kagari who was sobbing in tears, didn't want to disturb Fenrius who was fighting, and couldn't say anything but just looked at the boy's back, then ran after her friends leaving Fenrius alone.

Fenrius went berserk and grabbed the sorcerer, but the slash of his sword only hit the wind as his foe disappeared suddenly. He looked around, there was no sign of him anymore, but his sharp instincts told him to dodge, so he escaped his enemy's ambush from behind. The sorcerer pointed his palm at the boy and then clenched it. Fenrius' body became immovable.

"It's useless for you to fight. Before you die, I want to ask you one thing. Do you think your friends in the village will be safe?”

The veins on Fenrius' head and muscles indicated that he was still struggling. His muscles and ligaments were constricted by magic, unable to break free. The boy was short of breath, unable to even feel his body anymore as if he was suspended. It was his first time fighting a sorcerer this strong. He was at his wit's end and thought about how to escape this high-level magic. If he escaped this magic even a little, then he would use that time to run as far as possible or hide in the bushes.

"Hey! Reply me...! Stupid brat...!"

The sorcerer loosened his restraints a bit, allowing Fenrius to breathe a little and speak. As Fenrius was still reluctant to speak either, a violent wind force burst from his palms sending the boy far back and crashing into a tree trunk, then sat up gasping for air. He walked up to the boy while saying once again, “Let me tell you one thing, naive boy… In this world, there is no such thing as compassion… Do you still think those people will save you useless brats?”

“Yes… I believe in human humility, we have done a lot for those people, they will definitely help us…”

The sorcerer laughed at Fenrius' words, “You really are an innocent boy. Don't worry, you will soon catch up with your friends in a peaceful life.”

Evil black energy appeared in the sorcerer's hand which was aimed at Fenrius as if he had stopped playing around. The boy stood up slowly, then limped and hid behind a tree; making it difficult for the sorcerer to aim.

"Give up to fate, no one will save you."

Little by little Fenrius got used to the pain in his body. This pain wasn't too bad compared to what he had been through before. Slowly after slowly, his footsteps grew faster. The sorcerer who was surprised by Fenrius' endurance, also ran after him. It was a miracle when he saw that the boy could also run to balance him.

(“Dale, Luca, Camus, Talindra, Kagari, wait for me there!”)

The sorcerer continued to chase him into the depths of the forest. In this area of trees with lots of objects, the boy thought the enemy must have a hard time aiming at him with magic. Fenrius continued to look straight ahead, all he could see was darkness and dimness. There was the sound of tree branches breaking. Fenrius knew that he was getting closer. He hoped that some light would come from the village later. Damn it! How much longer can he keep chasing? It may never stop.

The sorcerer glared at Fenrius, then disappeared into the void. There was no sound of tree branches anymore. Fenrius who realized that, remained focused on one goal, insisted on running, and got closer to the village. It could be that the sorcerer used a teleportation ability that was able to move quickly in an instant.

Suddenly the sorcerer's voice echoed from the darkness of the forest, "However, it's useless. You will never be able to escape from fate. The more you run away, the closer your fate will be."

After the voice disappeared, Fenrius saw a light, a ray of hope coming from the village of Nightville. A look of relief appeared on his face knowing the villagers must have been preparing for war with him. It did look dark from this forest, but as the boy kept running, he felt the warmth of his last hope coming from there.