Family.
[Third Person POV],
When the students in class A saw the confrontation between the blazes, they all remained silent and observed.
Of course, as classmates in the same class, they were aware of the two's relationship.
Brian Blaze and Ace Blaze
Even a blind person who could hear the names would recognize the connection between these two.
which is correct given that they are stepbrothers.
According to rumors, Ace's father abandoned his mother, Agneya Blaze, while Ace was still in the womb for another woman.
Because the pregnancy was still in its early stages at this point, neither Ace's father nor Ace's mother knew they were expecting another child.
People suspected that even if Ace's father was aware, he would still leave.
Fate likes to play tricks on people, as the woman Ace's father left his mother for was also pregnant at the time.
And this lady was Ace's father's boss.
Yes, a project manager apparently assigned a nine-month project to his boss.
Ace's mother, Agneya, was still working in a normal place at the time and wasn't the Agneya blaze the world knew now, and Ace's elder sister was still a child, so when Ace's father left without warning, things became difficult for the pregnant woman and her young child.
Agneya worked in an engineering company as a low-level employee.
Despite her intelligence and creativity, she was one of the many people who discovered that being smart doesn't get you very far at the place you work.
It got worse for the pregnant woman when her pregnancy interfered with her work negatively.
She was eventually fired, and life became more difficult to bear.
Things were going well when Ace's father was still around because of his position in the company and the type of company he works for, but when he left, he left nothing and abandoned the family.
Though what he did was wrong, no one could really blame him because it was obvious what they would have done if they were in his shoes.
Leave your wife and child to be with your powerful boss, who is extremely wealthy and also pregnant for you, or stay with your wife and abandon a normal life when you are fired.
Most people would obviously choose the former.
Is it inhumane?
Yes, it is, but that is how the world works.
Of course, if they knew that the Agneya they knew before would not be the same in the future, it might be a different story.
There were many rumors about what happened next, but this was basically the beginning of Ace having a stepbrother and a runaway father.
Same blood, and the same father, but different mothers, and equal status.
Status?
Well, if your mother is one of the greatest inventors in the world, and you have an elder sister who is also one of the greatest youngest doctors in the world, and you are one of the world's youngest and most promising inventors, then having a high status is natural.
Ace was of this caliber.
And what about Brian?
What is the expected status of the grandson of a former king of a kingdom and the nephew of the current king of the kingdom?
This is also one of the reasons why people were perplexed as to why a princess would be interested in Ace's father, a normal man.
And a proud person like Brian, who refused to acknowledge Ace as his elder brother, will naturally contend with him.
Unfortunately for Brian, only one party was willing to disagree with the other.
It also didn't help that the other party was better than him.
Even though Brian was a top student in the class, he couldn't compete with Ace, even without taking into account Ace's own accomplishments.
However, the young noble did not remain silent, and he continued to compete, only to fail.
Even the girl he has feelings for is.....
.......
[Ace POV],
After giving my younger brother a brief glance, I turned back to Adara and ignored him.
I knew that if I responded now, another useless conversation would begin.
He didn't appear to be planning to stop, though.
"Hey! Are you ignoring me? ", he questioned.
"Yes," I replied, and he looked stunned.
He probably didn't expect me to respond directly.
Seeing this, I ignored him and returned my gaze to Adara, asking if she wanted to accompany me, but before she could respond, Brian spoke again.
"Adara is not going to follow you," he said as I turned my back on him and Adara and prepared to enter the dungeon with Chris and the gamer girl.
Too much talking.
When Adara saw this, she quickly called out my name, just as I was about to touch the portal surface.
"Ace, I'm coming with you!" she exclaimed.
I simply nodded when I heard this.
We were four, Chris and I, Adara, and the gamer girl, and only one remained.
Looking around, I was about to pick any random person who looked strong when Brian spoke up again, saying he was going to join as well.
I ignored him and continued looking, but instead of quieting down, he began making his way to my side when Adara abruptly spoke.
"Elsie will be the fifth," Adara said, and Elsie moved to the side as Chris clenched his fist and looked at me with what I assumed was an angry expression on his face.
I don't have a problem with him, but I believe he dislikes me for some reason.
I don't like him because I can't feel it and his appearance hurts my eyes, but I don't really have a problem with him.
Taking another quick look at Brian, I touched the portal surface again as the familiar panel with text appeared in front of my eyes.
[Temporary {Goblin Lair}],
[Condition to enter dungeon: Level 15],
[Difficulty: Hard],
[Would you like to enter the dungeon alone or with a team?],
'With a team'
[In this dungeon, only 5 species can enter as a team, with a minimum of 2],
[Keep in mind that for a team to enter, every member must have a form of contact.],
[Number of participants: 5/5],
[Would you like to enter?],
When I saw this, I told everyone on the team to touch each other, and when they did, I chose to enter right away.
My vision blurred as soon as I chose to enter as a team, and when it returned, I found myself in another location.