His eyes flickered open, greeted by the morning sun rays. "I slept a lot," he muttered as he stood up from his bed.
After two weeks he was finally going on a mission, he was looking forward to it.
After showering and freshening up, he packed everything he would be needing before walking out of his room with a bag and sword hanging behind his back.
He didn't have a single mark from the injuries he had obtained the previous day.
After walking out of the corridor into the hall, he sighted his sensei seated in his usual position while drinking a cup of coffee.
"I'll be heading out now," he voiced out.
"Have you eaten?" His sensei asked, taking a sip of his coffee.
"No. I'll do that later," he replied.
His master shook his head in disappointment. "Never underestimate the power of food. It is much more important than you think."
Ray was confused at what this might mean but he nodded either way.
One thing that he had learned after spending time with his sensei was never to overlook anything he says. Even when it seems to be lame or a joke because they were always important and helpful in one way or the other.
"Have you been able to master a new form?" When saying this his sensei expression became more serious.
"Yes. I was also able to master a release," he replied.
A smile appeared on his face. "That's very good. Then it seems I was wrong about you ditching training."
"You think I'll lazy around with all I have planned." Ray looked disappointed.
"Hahaha!" He chortled. "I guess I underestimated you. Get going now, you can't chat with this old man all day. Just continue to do your best."
Ray bowed his head. "Thank you for everything."
His sensei waved his hand dismissively. "We've already gone past that."
Turning around to leave, he took six steps before suddenly stretching his hand backwards, catching a dagger that was aimed at his neck.
He looked behind to see his sensei nodding in satisfaction. A smile appeared on his face as he proceeded to walk out.
After locating his bicycle he walked towards it. "Come on buddy, it's time for another adventure."
He got on his bicycle before cycling away.
While whistling, he cycled at an average speed to him, which was still faster than that of a normal human.
He was actually in a very good mood today. He believed it was due to the combination of a good night's sleep, being reunited with his partners, and spending some time with his sensei.
But it seemed like the gods didn't want this to keep up for long.
"Boooooommmm!!!"
A loud sound reverberated around the area along with some screams, which came from the east.
He looked at that area with a frown.
"This is happening more frequently. Miss Felicity better finds out what is the cause of this before it gets out of hand."
Was he going to help?
Of course not.
He had no reason to do that, and it would affect his plans.
If he was idle then maybe. He believed that the area was under the protection of someone. So it wasn't as though he was sentencing them to their death.
He put his leg on the paddle and was about to begin cycling away when a woman who was quite beautiful and in tears ran towards him.
"You're him, right?" She cried in desperation.
Ray stared at her in confusion. "Who?"
"Morning star. I'm sure it's you. I've seen many impersonators but I'm sure it's you, please you have to help me!" She cried even louder.
"Morning star? I'm sorry, but that isn't the name my mother gave to me," he shrugged.
"I don't care what your name is, just please help me."
Ray turned around to leave but she grabbed him by the hand, an action which pissed him off.
"Please, my daughter is over there, you have to help me. She's the only thing I have left," she sobbed.
"There should be someone protecting them, so can you let me go now?" He glared at her.
Her knees buckled as she fell to the ground because of the pressure that was radiating out of him.
Even though she was scared, this was her daughter. The only person she had left in this world after her husband and her son were killed by abyssals about five years ago.
So she would gladly risk her life to find help for her daughter. She was aware of her weakness, so this was the least she could do.
And now, she was sure that she had found the right person.
She grabbed on tighter to him as she said calmly but still in tears, "Please help her, she's only 15."
Ray's expression slightly changed when he heard this. He always had a soft spot for children, especially girls below 16 years. This was because of his sisters who were 11 years old when he got separated from them and were 16 by now.
Seeing the complicated look in his eyes, she knew she just had to give one more push.
"Please, she definitely can't lose her life at such an age. The sentry who is in charge of this area barely shows up. Please I don't want anything bad to happen to her or any other kid."
Ray who had just made up his mind after giving it some thought, came down from his bike. "Here," he said handing over his bicycle and bag to her, taking only his sword.
"Guard them with your life," he said in a threatening tone to which she nodded obediently.
A golden glow began to emanate from his body as he dashed forward.
She watched him disappear into the distance. She was glad that she was able to convince him and could only hope that her daughter would be alright.
****************
Ray was like a golden streak moving at a very impressive speed of 250 meters per second. A speed much faster than his top speed when riding a bicycle.
The reason he usually used his bicycle was because running at such speed took a lot of stamina which didn't make it the best option for long distances.
It only took him a few seconds to arrive at the scene. His eyes soon fell upon a creature that looked like a monkey but was obviously not.
It was 3.5 meters tall with very long arms which were 2.5 meters long and they looked brawny with large fingers and large hands.
People were screaming and running away from the abyssal. He was surprised that the sentry in charge of this area was truly absent.
The girl in charge of the place where his last encounter with the abyssal was, came some seconds after he had arrived. But he couldn't even see any sign of a sentry here.
Looking around, he could see that four people had been killed and several more injured, as well as some children who had been pushed to the ground by older people as they ran away.
Just 6 meters away from the beast was a car, which was something that was rarely seen in use. Two girls were seen hiding behind, trembling in fear.
"Aurrrrrrrhhhh!" It roared throwing the man it had in his hand who was half dead, away into a building which put him out of his misery.
It turned its head towards the car and walked towards it. With a swing of its arm, the car was sent flying exposing the two girls who trembled even more.
Unable to scream due to the fright they felt, they could only hug each other and stare, as what they felt was death itself.
The abyssal moved closer to them and raised his 2.5 meter long hand into the air.
They both closed their eyes as this was the only action they could make.
"Paahhhh!"
"Boooooooommm!!"
They heard these two sounds echo, and noticing they weren't dead, they opened their eyes to see a breathtaking young man with golden hair, with a large sheathed sword.
After seeing such a creature up close and seeing him next, from their point of view, he looked even more handsome than he was.
From the resemblance, he knew he had the right girl.
She had blonde and blue eyes like her mother and even looked more beautiful.
The other girl was a brunette with brown eyes and wasn't too far off from the other girl in terms of beauty.
This blonde-haired girl reminded him a lot about his sisters.
He looked around to see that no child had lost their lives, which caused him to sigh in relief. This could be misinterpreted as they were still people who had lost their lives.
"Are you hurt?" He asked, but they just kept staring at him with no response. 'They must be shocked,' he concluded internally. He believed that they must've seen their lives flash before their eyes and would need some time to recover.
He didn't know that he was only partially correct as they weren't shocked only for that reason.
"Stay here," he said as he looked at the building which the abyssal had crashed into. He grabbed the hilt of his sword while walking towards the building.
It was unknown to him that his decision to save these girls would pay out some time in the future.