Author's notes:
SHOUTOUT to
@Stylish_Demon for helping me out with the positive criticism, it helped me a ton otherwise I still would have been publishing my work without any proofreading and it would have surely killed the story.
@JOKERofSPADE for commenting on my chaps.
@BaeVida for helping me out on my first chaps with that positive critisim. @DiDi_MCflurry/Hadi_Syahputra
for supporting me and commenting on my chaps.
I might have ended up giving up my work in a few days or maybe a week without your words.
Really thank you, it motivated me a lot.
Also to all the people who voted for me, your every vote motivated me. Thank you.
At the end of the First Volume, I'll create a special chap both right after the first volume and an auxiliary one especially to thank you, guys.
.........
COREY'S POV:-
Standing at the main gate Light observed all of us and soon a few more people came from the entrance behind him. To be precise, two people a catgirl and a blue-haired swordsman.
The catgirl was black-haired roughly around 18 years old with her claws covered in blood. She was like a ferocious beast who has smelled blood. Her eyes were completely red, signifying that she was in berserk mode. The blue-haired swordsman wasn't much different, with blood all over his body it looked like he has killed at least a dozen or two people on his way here. His scary expression showed that he still hasn't quelled his anger.
"Take care of the farther ones. One on each, let the other three be handled by my brother and those two kids,"
Light spoke without turning his head as he started walking in our direction. Those two then followed his command and attacked the guys in the far back from their direction. I didn't understand why he gave such a command, but for many reasons, I really liked that. Light walked slowly towards me.
One of them attacked me with a throwing knife coated with poison and mana. I was thinking about what should I do next but before I could do so the blue-haired guy came in front of me and shielded me from the knife, then attacked me with a mana burst breaking whatever was blocking my mana control. Then my mana started surging all over the place. It was really painful but my anger at that time was way beyond that to let me think about the pain that I was going through.
"Do you know Corey? That human body decays and grows at the same time. In the beginning, the growth is faster than the decay and later it's the opposite. Light magic, you see, increases the growth rate to maximise the healing potential of the body. Now let me ask you this my sweet brother, what do you think Dark Magic does?" I heard a voice coming from behind which was too soothing to be ignored. I don't know how he did it...but even among the confusion, his voice made me understand some of the fundamentals of Dark Magic theory.
But that was just the beginning of his theory, he kept talking and observing the situation, and the more he talked the more I understood the possibilities of how could he exploit the situation, soon a smile formed on my face. The other bandits had their expression turned shocked to serious at the sudden development. First, they were looking at me as if I were some sort of handleable monster but now they had the looks as if they were going to fight a life and death battle.
0.01s
One of them ran towards Light to attack him. He had a knife in his hand. I ran towards him and kicked him in his gut instantly throwing him out of the battle.
0.02s
The others started and completed their chants throwing fire and air spheres in our direction but I created a wall of dark magic that blocked all of their attacks.
0.03s
"...the other thing that you need to know about Dark Magic is...." Light continued to explain about the Dark Magic even at this speed. This shocked not only me but the bandits too.
0.04s
The red-haired kid who somehow got a sword from somewhere moved at a high speed and caught up behind one of the bandits, but the bandit dodged before he could slash him.
-Boom
A purple lighting sphere attacked the bandit from behind. Taking a clear look the orange girl was making a dangerous expression as she shot lighting sphere with 5 another ready behind her.
0.05s
The last bandit, the bastard who was knocked by me before he could do something to the sister's kid, stood back up and analysed the situation in an instant. He then blinked in front of Light in an instant.
0.06s
"You are the most important one. You will die firs-" before he could speak anything he was pushed behind by something, he flew for a considerable distance before hitting the ground.
"As I was saying, Dark Magic...." Light continued without giving the bandit even an ounce of his attention. This probably triggered the bandit as he lost his temper on this sudden change of situation.
0.07s
He attacked Light again but this time before he could reach Light,he was pushed down on the ground, the one who did it this time was the cat girl. Turning around to the bandit whome she was fighting...yeah, he was dead already...Looking at the scene of his corpse with blood all over the place...that horrifying sight...sent a relief to my body. He deserved this.
0.08s
Hearing Light's theory my surging mana became more and more controllable. It was much less painful now. I ran to the other bandit, so did the other two children. Both of those bandits started escaping towards the entrance, but then the blue-haired swordsman was standing there with a head right beside him.
0.09s
The bandits did a synchronised attack but before they could do so they were completely taken over spells from the orange-haired girl and the red-haired boy. As the spells connected with the bandits body, they were burned in an instant.
0.10s
Both of the kids had a slight smile on their faces before they lost their consciousness. They probably had exhausted all of their mana with that attack of theirs. Now, the only one that was left was that one particular bandit.
0.11s
"Brother, he is all yours. I need you to exhaust all of your mana on him. That should complete the enlightenment process at once,"
Light spoke to him and the catgirl threw the body at me.
0.12s
After that...I don't remember what happened...all I remember is that I let go of all my emotions and mana at once at that particular bandit.
...
3RD PERSON'S POV:-
Corey killed the man in the most brutal way possible. Then the rest of the kids were taken back to the city safely. As for the leader of the bandits, he ran away before he could get caught.
"Morpheus, why don't you join us? You are clearly way stronger and smarter than what you look like, I believe our leader will love to have you in our party," the blue-haired swordsman spoke with a determined look on his face as he observed Light.
"YES!! MORPHEUS!! Join us! We will have lots and lots of fun. I promise I will take good care of you," with stars glittering in her eyes as if she found a gem, the catgirl spoke as she thumped her chest with her fist.
"Says the guy who called me a useless child, and the girl who mocked me for my mana. Well, honestly if I didn't have a choice I hadn't even shown my capabilities to you guys. As for the party, I will create one on my own someday later," Light clearly refused their offer with a slightly tired expression. He looked quite thin at the moment.
"That's too bad. Well, whatever, good luck buddy, let's meet again someday then," said the man with a helpless expression as he shrugged.
"By the way, what's with your body?" The cat-girl asked with curious eyes. As she bent in front of Light with an observing gaze. Well, given how his body changed from fat to thin in a few hours it was an understandable question.
"Well, I can't use mana yet, so I have to rely on my body energy if I have to join a high profile fight," Light answered her casually.
"You can do that!!?" Asked the cat-girl with a dumbfounded expression. The swordsman was also looking at Light with a curious expression.
"All right I guess it's time to say our goodbyes. Let's meet again someday," Light ignored their gaze and bid goodbye before piggybacking his unconscious brother to his home.
The other children and the two adventurers looked at him silently for a few moments before getting back to their work. Some of them bowed to him with a thankful expression.
...
COREY'S POV:-
I woke up after a long sleep that felt like days. It was quite relaxing honestly. When I tried to move my body...it was numb...I couldn't feel my body at all. But before I could panic a voice came.
"I have blocked your senses, for the time being, you could probably move your eyes, but that's all for now. It should take a day till your senses return and also the time it would take to reach back home," Light spoke with a slightly happy voice. His voice was soothing enough to send relief to my body. As if reading my thoughts he spoke again,
"The girl that you were trying to protect as well as everyone else is safe and alive, all of them were saved thanks to the other adventurers. Also, mother and father were really worried about you. Sorry, it took some time to find you, Corey, I promise it won't be this late any other time," he spoke as he walked. Looking carefully, he was carrying me on his back. It felt embarrassing honestly. But it also felt safe that I have a brother like him....huh? When did he get this strong....and smart??
"Also, you are not allowed to talk about what happened today. I'll tell you what to say to our mother and father. Plus the most important thing, not only for your safety but for everyone around you, don't tell anyone about your Dark Magic Enlightenment, because..." then he went about every do's and don'ts. He also explained each and every point clearly. The more I heard about it the more I realised how the situation is. The only thing I could do about it is follow Light's instructions. After everything he spoke he finished with one sentence that still puts a smile on my face and washed away all the bitterness about my foolish decisions that led me into that situation.
".....it's okay, I know you might be worried about your decisions to try to sort out the situation. But if I can sum up everything in a few words then..." he spoke as his voice turned joyous with pride,"...I am proud to have a brother like you."
---
3RD PERSON'S POV:-
A few hours after Light left with Corey. The red-haired boy and the orange-haired girl woke up. The first thing they did was to search around and analyse the situation. After checking that everything is fine, they let their guard down. They then turned towards each other and a smile formed on their faces. The boy raised his hand forward,
"My name is Blaze, Blaze Lireta," he introduced himself with a smile on his face.
"Nice to meet you, Blake, I am Clair Marlin," the girl shook his hand as she smiled back at him.
Then they turned to the people that saved him. The blue-haired man and the catgirl were there but instead of that fat child, there was a girl in her early teens. She looked extremely beautiful. If Corey had seen her, he would have been shocked because she was the same girl she saw in the market before he was kidnapped.
They both went towards them and introduced themselves before thanking them.
"It's okay, it was just everyday work. Although I would have loved to meet that Morpheus kid, he looked really interesting," the girl spoke with a thoughtful expression as she placed her hands on her chin. The others just shook their head at that statement. Both the kids were also disappointed at their benefactor's sudden departure.
"So Aisha, what should we do next?" The cat-girl asked as she tilted her head and looked in the direction of the other children who were there.
"Let's drop them at their homes and extort some money from their parents," Aisha spoke with a grin on her face as she looked at the children as big bags of money. They gulped as they turned to look at her. The catgirl and the blue-haired man shook their head as they sighed at her amusing reaction.
Everyone soon returned to their work to prepare for the departure. Then after moving in a slight desolate place, the girl took off her face mask that revealed an even more beautiful face that would have surely turned every boy's head no matter which age.
Light would have been shocked too if he would have seen this girl....after all, this girl was his daughter, Aisha Rodriguez.