For every fulfilling childhood, there is a home waiting for them…with a father to smile at their return and for a mother to hug them after a long day of playing outside the world. A home that as complete.
That wasn't the case for my Childhood.
The moment I came to the front of my house, all that greeted me was the untouched floors and the empty halls of my parent's home.
"...So this was my house?" I asked.
"Yes." said Aunt Mary as she looked rather nervous.
"...It's a bit far from your house." I said.
"It is." she said.
"Can you take me to my room?" I asked.
"...Sure, I'll take you there." as she said so, she lead upfront and started guiding me in my own home.
The moment I took the first step into my home, I was meet with a family portrait of a couple holding a child by their arms.
"..."
It was me and my parents…
And to my surprise, they looked exactly like that of my parents back on my past life…
Feature by feature, they were identical.
To be given the same identical parents in this world….
I couldn't help but ache…my heart ached…it ached so much it distorted my expression into sadness.
Why did the God who brought me here gave me the same parents…was it coincidence? Was it his plan? Was it because of the thing he wrote in the book that was with him? Was my existence in this world…real? Despite coming from a novel?
I didn't know…and I was perplexed about it.
But answer wouldn't come no matter how much I wanted to question it. Without the god to answer, it didn't mattered.
"Martin and Josephine were very good parents…they would have been proud to see you grow up to be so healthy today." said Mary as she saw me looking at my parent's family portrait.
"..." but I simply stayed quiet as I put down the picture. My emotions were too complex to be told outward.
As we arrived at my room, the moment I opened it, all I saw was a room fit for a ten year old. A room that a child would have enjoyed playing in. With toys found in a box by the end of a bed, and a closet that was the same shape as a rocket ship, and especially the bed that was designed to look like a race car, this entire room was meant for a ten year old Hamil Crux.
"..."
"Hmm, I don't think you can sleep here tonight." said Mary as she looked at the room as well.
"...Its okay, I can just sleep in the guest room if its possible." I said as I closed back my room.
"O-okay then."
"...If its possible, can you leave me alone in this house tonight. I wanna collect my thoughts before my trial starts tomorrow." I said in a rather cold tone.
"...Okay, if there's anything you want from me, just come visit me at home. Okay?"
"...Okay."
With that said, my aunt left me to my own.
I spent the whole time looking around the house.
Simply walking by and looking into the information of what these people were to Hamil…what life they've lived.
And after about 4 hours of simply looking around, I gathered what I could.
My Father's name was Martin Crux, a Certified member of the clan that died in a raid to an S-rank gate. He was an A-rank that was gifted in the arts of assassination…similar to Mary Clinton. Seeing as how most of his pictures involves having to be at the dock or at a boat with a fishing pole in his hand, I could say that he was a fisherman.
My Mother's maiden name was Josephine Clinton, a Sister to Mary Clinton…and just like my father, she was also an A-ranked Assassin. She loved to read books as it can be seen that most of whats on the shelves were written books made from a certain author named Pina-Cocle. Her handwriting was beautiful seeing as how I found a diary in their room…and reading it…i was saddened by the emotions she wrote in the diary, describing the loneliness of being far apart from her child. She also wrote her dreams of being able to live far away from the clan to live out in the peaceful kingdoms…without the intervention of any assignments or killings made order by the clan.
She and Martin made a lot of accomplishments for all the assignments given to them…as all of their works were fully made completed up to 90-100%. in other words, they were successful assassins. But they did it all for the sake that they could get away from clan. With their known accomplishments, they wanted to negotiate have to leave the clan…along with Hamil himself, and with the elder's approval, it could only ever happen if they succeeded with the plan to raid an S-ranked Gate.
But it all failed in the end…
And it only achieved Hamil the Five years of freedom given to him.
Martin and Josephine only wanted what's good for Hamil.
To think that it only amounted to this much is…cruel.
Now that I'm back…
It feels like their lives didn't amount to anything…knowing that I'm back into the clan.
It feels like I'm dishonoring their wishes…
Having felt this sense of judgement towards failure, I couldn't help but want to sleep the night away.
But with the house as empty as it is, I doubt that I can sleep well enough. I doubt I can even sleep at all.
As I moved myself to the guest room, I returned back to the Ruler's Domain where Merlin was waiting for me.
"Merlin, I have a question regarding the Rulers." I said to her.
"And what is it my lord?" she asked.
"...How were the rulers able to gain the strength they had in the past? Was it through a certain training process or was it entirely out of the blessing of the All-Father?" I asked.
"Hmm…there were a lot of things that made the Rulers gain their strength. Half of it was from the Blessing of the All-Father himself, but the other half was entirely by their own efforts. Each of them had an entirely different training process that made them as strong as they were…but there was one training technique that somehow all of them were able to use…one that gained them the upper-hand at all the battles that they partake in."
"And what kind of technique was it?" I asked.
"It was a special technique that enabled them to grow faster and fight stronger than any other enemy out in the world. It was only ever exclusive to the four of them since the First Ruler, the Intrepid Ruler was the one who cultivated this technique. My sister told it about me once…I think it was a breathing technique…'The Ruler's Breathe' she called it." said Merlin.
"The Ruler's Breathe?" I asked, intrigued by this phrase.
"Yes, I think it was called as such…but like I said my lord, it was only for the Rulers who are able to learn such a technique. Anyone who isn't acknowledge as a Ruler will perish if they try it so carelessly."
"So how can I learn it?" I asked.
"Hmm, the Ruler's Domain is more than a simple land that you can stand on my lord, it is the very foundation where you will build the base of your kingdom. And as a kingdom, it is the place where all knowledge and history is placed upon. The Ruler's once made a structure within the Domain where it stored all the sense of history that they have accomplished. Being that the Domain is much smaller compared to before, we can't find the Historical Structure that the Ruler's had made in the past."
"Historical Structure?" I asked.
"Yes, it was called 'Adam's Archive' once, but since the Rulers grew in number, it was now renamed the 'Great Archival Museum of the Rulers'. The people, who, like me who have been given access to the archive are able to study the history of the Ruler's Kingdom. "
"So its possible that the Ruler's Breathe is stored in that Museum then. How can I expand the Domain then?" I asked.
"The Answer is simple my lord, as your influence grows, your Domain will also grow. One way to grow such influence is to gather the people who remains scattered throughout Elthen. By time, when you have restored the Domain to a sizable degree, the 'Great Archival Museum of the Rulers' might appear again." said Merlin.
"But I thought everything was destroyed when the Gods attacked." I said to Merlin.
"That is true…but even the Gods aren't allowed into the Domains of the Rulers after their death if not allowed. Only as time passed, the Influence of the Rulers have been slowly crumbling away into time and by then, the Domain had shrunk to its current state. But everything inside the Domain continues to exist, it is only hidden within the restrictions of the Ruler's influence that the Domain will once again expand and the Archives will show." said Merlin.
"So It's a priority then. Expanding my influence and gathering my people. It feels like it's going to be a long journey ahead of us." I said as I felt pressured by this task.
"Worry not my lord, I am here to assist you." she said ever so willingly with a smile on her face.
"Thank you Merlin, that means a lot to me."
"It is my pleasure, now then, you said that you would introduce me to Iris ? Is she available?" she asked.
"Ah, yeah…that I did. Hold on, I'll try to call her if she can respond back." I said.
***Iris's POV***
Since Lord Hamil has been away, I made true to my promise and as much as I can, I hunted in the gates using the bow which he bestowed upon me on my journey for strength.
With her being a D-ranker, she's only ever capable of hunting inside a D-ranked gate. That said, she was out here hunting Orcs with the bow given to her.
"..." Like being a wind in the air, she was completely undetectable to the monsters below her.
'Five Orcs and not a single Orc Guard in sight, I have a good chance of hunting well today.' she thought to herself.
With her current strength, she can handle hunting orcs from a distance using a bow, mostly what she can handle is around five orcs at a time, but once an Orc guard approaches, it would be wise to retreat.
The last time she fought with an Orc guard, it was with Martha and Hamil, and even then, they had a hard time. With Hamil not using his spear in the attack, it took them a while to take out the orc guard.
But if she were to meet with an orc guard today, she was confident that with her improved weapon, she can go toe on toe with the beast.
The one thing special about this bow was that, like a gun, one can store a reinforced mana arrow into the bow to save as a precautionary weapon. Instead of a simple arrow fired or that one has to charge up a powerful attack, storing power and putting it into an arrow is now possible.
She can store up to 5 reinforced mana arrows up to her limit and with it, each one is capable of killing two simple orcs in one shot.
Now as she waited for her hunt, all of a sudden, a voice rang in her ear. A voice who she missed so dearly.
'Iris…'
'...my lord?' she questioned herself in her thoughts…and to her question, the voice answered back.
'Its me Iris, its Hamil.'
"!!?" to her shocking surprise, she was elevated to hear him once again.
'Currently I am inside the Domain, Do you still remember when I brought you to that place once?" asked Hamil.
'Ah…yes My lord, every second of it.' she said, ever so delighted by his voice.
'Is it possible that I invite you right now? There's someone who I would like you to meet.' he said.
"Ah…hmm, yes, definitely!' she thought.
But during that quick moment of thought, Hamil was curious as to where she was at the moment.
'Where are you right now anyway?' he asked.
'Ah….nothing special. I'm just here in the gates, like I've said before, I wanted to grow strong as well.' she answered hesitantly.
'hmm, seeing as how your in the gates right now, maybe its best that I call later on.'
'Huh!? but -but!-'
'I'll call you back in an hour, happy huntings.' he said. And as he did, he cut off the call.
".…" seeing as how she was cut off, her simple calm demeanor turned devilish and she pointed that anger to the gathered orcs below.
To her who has not herd from her lord in a couple of days, she was in for the worry of what might have happened to him. Now that she had the chance to be called by him personally, she was ecstatic by this chance. 25 seconds…25 seconds of conversation wasn't enough for her fill of hearing her lord's words.
And she took that anger down on the orcs.
It didn't even took a minute and five orcs were completely obliterated on the spot that day.
Some nearby hunters mistook that attack as if a bomb had blown off.
And it wouldn't really be an exaggeration to say the least.
And simply put, after thirty minutes she was out of the gate and now was making her way to a private space. Her house was too far away so she had to make due with staying at a karaoke bar. Having to rent out five hours worth of a single room, she waited in that room with a smile on her face and a nervousness that could wreck a tower.
Simply said, she was excited.