Inside a fairly large and luxurious house, a twelve-year-old boy with ash-colored hair waited at the door as he stared into the distance.
The young man had a look of longing as though he had been waiting for someone for a long time.
"Big brother Shye, the food is ready, let's eat." A ten-year-old girl with identical features to Shye spoke with a depressed voice.
After hearing what his little sister said, Shye slowly closed the door.
He then proceeded to eat his meal, comprising only hard bread and a plain soup crafted from water and salt.
It has been three months since they last ate a proper meal and today marked their last day in this large and luxurious house.
Shye and his sister, Maia, didn't want to believe that their parents had already perished during their mission but the facts were right before their eyes.
Their parents' adventurer party took on a mithril-ranked mission in hopes of ranking up but unfortunately, they failed the mission, and their whole party was wiped out.
Shye wanted to at least see their parents' dead bodies one last time but it seemed that even that would be impossible to do so as their parents reportedly died inside a dangerous zone.
Failing a mission that is ranked diamond and above had dire consequences.
As a result, their house was taken away from them as payment for failing the mission.
The two of them couldn't do anything but cry as they were kicked out of their own house.
Two little children, who weren't even teenagers yet, had nowhere to go.
The two of them roamed the streets, desperately begging for coins and leftovers just to survive one day after the other.
At night, the siblings couldn't do anything but shiver as cold winds ruthlessly assaulted their young, vulnerable skin.
Fortunately, a few weeks later, Shye found a dilapidated hut near a beginner adventurer zone.
The siblings then used the hut as shelter while Shye, as the big brother, desperately tried to hunt small animals in the beginner adventurer zone, entering through a slight gap in the zone's fence.
As a child of diamond-ranked adventurers, Shye was trained by his parents ever since he was 8 years old.
And so, he had fairly above-average hunting skills for his age.
However, going out to hunt in adventurer zones was illegal if one didn't have an adventurer card.
Still, Shye managed to occasionally sneak in and hunt small animals like rabbits, pheasants, and wild ducks.
However, on a bad day, they wouldn't even be able to eat a single meal in a whole day.
Luckily, Shye managed to pick up an old worn-down dagger which made hunting a little bit easier.
This is how each day went for the siblings and in the blink of an eye, four years passed.
Shye was now sixteen years old while Maia—was fourteen.
He has finally reached the age where he could take their city's adventurer academy entrance exam.
This...was his last hope, if he managed to pass the entrance exam, then he would be able to procure food for his little sister.
The said exam would happen a week from now.
Naturally, he made whatever preparations he could—no matter how small, to increase his chances of passing
After a short training session, Shye entered the dilapidated hut.
Well, their food sources were limited, hence, he could not train too much.
Upon entering, his eyes widened in shock after noticing that his little sister collapsed on the floor.
Shye madly dashed towards her and quickly checked Maia's condition.
Upon confirming that she was burning with fever, he quickly lifted her in a princess carry and ran to the nearest clinic to try his luck.
After around seven minutes of desperate sprinting, he finally arrived.
Knocking at the clinic doors with a pitiful expression, Shye begged:
"P-Please…help my little sister, she collapsed earlier and is currently burning with fever…"
Tears welled in his eyes.
He had nothing to offer as payment, thus, he could only beg for help.
Seeing the filthy kids in front of the clinic, the staff scanned them with his eyes, promptly judging them as incapable of paying the clinic's fees.
"Do you have money to pay for the clinic's fees?"
"N-No, but I–"
"Then get the hell out of here! My boss doesn't treat anyone for free!"
*BANG*
Pitiful as they appeared, the clinic staff rudely closed the door after confirming that Shye had no money.
"Please! I can probably pay you back in a month…Just please, save my sister, she's all I have…Please…"
He tried for another quarter of an hour outside the clinic but to no avail.
The clinic staff didn't even spare another glance at him.
Left with no choice, Shye carried Maia to different hospitals to beg for help.
Even though his arms were sore, he didn't let go of his little sister—not even once.
Unfortunately for him, the results were the same as no hospital was kind-hearted enough to treat his little sister for free.
Due to this, Shye got a glimpse of the cruel reality of the world that they were living in.
He stood petrified on the spot while carrying his little sister who was still unconscious.
"Will I lose my little sister?"
"Why? Why is this happening to us? I only needed one more week…Why am I so unlucky…"
He started to sob as he glanced at his little sister who was evidently in pain.
"I'm sorry Maia…Big brother is useless…Please, hold on…Please don't leave me…"
He couldn't do anything but pray to the Gods to give him a miracle.
A few seconds later, as though the Gods were answering his prayers, he suddenly recalled two adventurers gossiping about a strong and scary hermit residing in the woods.
Although no one has seen the hermit, the authorities confirmed that there is indeed such a dangerous individual hiding inside the beginner adventurer zone.
An idea then popped into Shye's mind.
He swiftly carried his little sister into the beginner adventurer zone in desperate hopes of obtaining help from the strong hermit.
He didn't even know whether the hermit was a kind or dangerous individual.
Although it was confirmed that the so-called "dangerous individual" was strong, there was no guarantee that his little sister would be saved.
Still, armed with nothing but an old dagger and affection for his dying little sister, Shye carried Maia on his back and trudged deeper into the woods, fighting off dangerous small creatures such as rabid rabbits and red foxes as he did so.
Unfortunately, it seemed that the heavens were determined to take his little sister away from him today as he encountered a greyback wolf, one of the most dangerous predators one can encounter inside the beginner adventurer zone.
"Haaahh…Haaaahh…Leave! Us! Alone!"
Shye tried his best to defeat the wolf as soon as possible, but it was too agile.
Fortunately, after half an hour, he managed to land a fatal strike on the wolf's neck in exchange for a badly bitten left hand.
He then proceeded to walk deeper into the woods, paying no heed to the fact that his hand was bleeding at an alarming rate.
He didn't care about himself, as long as he could save his little sister, he would happily exchange his life for hers.
Finally, after another half an hour, Shye's body couldn't take it anymore and he collapsed to the ground—his unconscious little sister still on his back.
'Is this it for us? Well, this isn't so bad…At least we get to die together…'
Exhausted and weary, he was on the brink of losing consciousness, yet his eyes snapped wide open as he caught a glimpse of someone standing behind a large tree.
The individual donned an old ragged hood, appearing to be someone of old age.
The rumored Hermit!
Shye realized that the person he was looking for was right there—in front of them.
He couldn't give up now for the sake of his sister!
His complexion resembled that of a ghost, his left hand numb, and his eyes threatened to shut several times.
However, through sheer willpower and determination to save his sister, Shye slowly stood up and walked unsteadily toward the hermit.
"What a tough lad…" The hermit murmured.
Finally, after a few minutes of struggling, Shye arrived in front of the hermit.
Upon seeing the hermit's facial features up close, a hint of wariness crept into Shye's eyes.
The hermit was as pale as a ghost and had at least twenty scars all over his face. Moreover, one of his eye sockets was empty while his other eye glowed purple.
The individual not only appeared dangerous but also scary.
Still, Shye clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he forced himself to ask for help.
"S-Sir hermit…We came here to seek your help…Please...help my little sister…"
The hermit didn't speak for a long time and just stared straight into his eyes, seemingly peering into the depths of his soul.
Shye...was naturally scared, however, he didn't shrink back, staring straight back at the hermit with a desperate expression.
Finally, the hermit spoke.
"I can indeed help you and your sister. However, you must accept my conditions."
"I accept! I'll do anything! You can even kill me! Just please help my little sister and let her live."
"You haven't even heard of my condition yet."
"I don't care what it is! I'll do anything in exchange for my little sister's life."
"Very well then, sleep for a while, I shall take you to my place."