... Gate

Like a waterfall of fresh milk, hair flowed down the little boys shoulders. Hidden behind loose strands of hair, were sharp pointy ears. His green eyes were colorful, and full of life, and his gentle facial features displayed a glint of determination.

He looked looked left, he looked right.

Nobody shared his vigour. Instead, his folksman mumbled to each other worriedly, and others simply could not speak at all.

It was his first time fighting for his nation, and it was the greatest honor. He was proud to be carrying the responsibility of dying for his people. He couldn't imagine anyone be crushed by such a weight.

He was soon pulled out of his thoughts, by a large rumble in the distance.

Was the ground trembling?

It was. The very ground below his feet trembled, shaking in unison to the rumbling in the distance.

They were coming. The army of the dead were coming.

The honor that had held the by upright all this while trembled, and he felt his body shiver as he took in the sight before him.

Following a pungent smell, an army came into sight, and it was the most gruesome sight indeed.

Corpses... stumbled toward them. Their rotting bodies seemed to he falling apart, and their eyes had a deathly green glow.

They looked weak, but there was something about them that made the boys kin uneasy. It was the millions of bodies filling the plains before them.

Dragons, beasts, orcs and at the very back, the vampires. They all drew closer, and closer, making every passing second feel like torture.

The boy felt his sweaty palms tighten around his blade. Deep in his heart, he finally understood. This is what risking ones life was, this is where the honor lay.

Relentlessly standing strong, and unwavered against even impossible odds, just because they were using themselves as shields, protecting their homeland.

It was not simple.

~~~

Sarah Foster glanced around the oversized, Rocky valley. Unease tugged at her nerves, and she couldn't help but wonder whether the other group was fine.

She observed the Rocky valley, before throwing a glance behind her. Her group had 3 people beside her. One of them was the groups summoner, a striker and a tanker.

Sarah Foster sighed, if she wanted to save her team, she'd have to take down the boss.

With that in mind, Captain Foster marched forward, through the valley, her eyes focused on reaching the final peak.

~~~

The first sign of life was far from a good one. A single beast, in the form of a giant grey wolf appeared in the distance, casually walking towards Alden's group.

"Time to warm up!" Alden said, as he jumped up and down. He twisted his head back and forth before rotating his arms. Then, he began to walk towards the wolf.

The wolf growled, it's bloody teeth showing through her mouth as it did. Then, it's muscles shook as it began sprinting towards Alden.

"Come on..." Alden mumbled.

Using all of his new abilities, he had attempted to forge a new, unique style of combat. He has flame control as a long range weapon, and though he could also use use moon energy, he still could not manipulate it without expending to much of unnecessary energy.

So, his long range weapon was his flames, his gravity blade, and his gravity. He also had his puppet hand, where he created a puppet shaped like a hand and crushed the enemy soldiers, but he preferred not use it in combat.

He wasn't sure if he could count his moon soldiers as a long range ability but he guessed they were in a separate category. They were more like his pawns, in harsher terms. They could do all the dirty work for him.

As for short range, he'd use his fists or his swordstaff. For movement, he had gravity and [GLITCH].

It was time to test his abilities.

With that, a stream of bright blue flames poured forth, making the trees dissappear within its giant body. The flames hid the wolf within, and after a few seconds, Alden lowered his hands.

Smoke filled the air, blinding him from what his within. He could just wait and listen, and he realized how silly he had been to launch an attack that disadvantaged him in such a way.

Then, he saw something. The smoke danced, as something tore through it. Alden lifted his arms, just in time to catch the Jaws of the wolf. Being near it, he realized how big it was. He felt it's jaw alone was bigger than him.

Alden lifted, and the wolf's grey figure was was raised into the sky far too easily. Alden swung, and it's body smashed into the dry ground with such force, that cracks formed on the ground.

The wolf thereafter lay limp, it's body not even twitching.

"Damn..." Prince muttered in amazement.

Alden looked down at the wolf, before muttering.

"Converge."

Brilliant blue filled the air around the animal. It danced around like dust in a storm, and it whirled around the wolf like some sort of tornado.

A blue light hid the wolf within, and it took a few seconds before it disappeared. In place of a simple grey monstrous wolf, was a bigger, elegant and fierce creature.

The wolf slowly stood, and it whined, it's friendly eyes set on Alden.

"Good boy," Alden, who never had a dog could only mutter. He had a cat in high-school , which had gotten run over, but because of that he only liked cats. Wolves were basically dogs, and not that he disliked dogs... But he wasn't familiar with them.

"Is that your power?" Prince asked in awe. Alden nodded, as he petted the creature.

"So you can control flames, and this?"

"My abilities are complicated." Alden simply said. He'd had a hard time at the association office because of his abilities, he didn't want to go through all that fuss again.

Also, he needed to find the boss. To do that...

Blue smoke rose above the ground, like clouds over a mountain. It rose, and danced to and fro while within, silhouettes made themselves seem.

A blue light filled the dark atmosphere, and it slowly disappeared in the following seconds. In it's place, an army full of at least a few hundred dragons filled the room. Right next to Alden, was Mar Kirr and Bizarro, which was the name of the powerful dragon.

By now, Prince was dying of shock, and the rest of the group were just as baffled.

"Shadow!" A giant raven perched on his shoulder.

"Go on and scan the surroundings!"

The bird let out a caw, and rose into the air.

Alden found a rock, and sat on it, patiently waiting.

"Sooo, you're pretty strong?" Prince said to him with a nervous laugh.

Alden simply shrugged.

"I guess."

Prince sighed, before leaning back.

"I can't lie, I'm getting influenced into also trying to reawaken."

"What..." Alden paused, before saying his next words. "Don't.".

"Why?"

"It's not worth it."

"How can you be so sure?"

"What?"

"I've never told many this, but I have to take care of my little siblings. My little sister's just 13, and my other sister is 6. That's why, being the eldest sibling, I'm tasked with bringing back food."

Prince sadly stared into the distance.

"Being at E-class, means I don't earn enough money to help her. Even the grant money from the government doesn't help. I also have the risk of dying in the dungeon, leaving her alone. That's why I work extra jobs... So I can pay for rent, for their education and clothing, and for the food in the house."

Prince smiled, a fragile attempt to hide his negative emotions.

" That's why I have to try and be stronger... You were my inspiration that there's still hope. "

Alden looked down. Should he tell him everything. After all, Prince long knew that he had hidden his true power. He was about to speak when he recieved a telepathic message from Shadow. It was a message that made him stand, and it cast a dark expression over his face.

" What's wrong?" asked Prince.

Alden paused, before turning to Prince. His next words were ominous.

"There are more then a thousand monsters coming out way."