"Confirm" ,said Kai.
As soon as Kai confirmed the system. Everything around him seemed to change. The air felt heavier, with an dark energy which made the hairs on his arms stand up. Ash and Siel, sensing the change, immediately looked at Kai, before he could reassure them, every thing got envelope in a golden light.
As the light faded, Kai found himself in a open field with his siblings by his side. Around them were, hundreds of thousands people standing silence.
"Congratulations," a voice boomed out, echoing across the field with an unnatural clarity. "This is your training camp. While you are here, you can awaken your abilities by completing quests, and by complete the training in those ten years we will grant you powers to protect your world. Don't time here flows faster then in your world. Ten years here will equal only two minutes in your original world, good luck."
As the voice finished, Kai's heart raced, his mind struggling to grasp the situation and what was happening. Ten years here… two minutes back at home. It was almost too much to comprehend. The idea of spending years in this strange place, training to gain powers to protect their world, sounded like something out of a story.
He would have been more confused, but out of nowhere he got hug from behind by to strong hands.
Kai froze for a second, surprised by the familiar grip around his shoulders. He turned to see his old friend Jake, grinning, with the usual glint in his eyes that spoke of mischief and strength. In his previous life, Jake had awakened one of the most powerful abilities Kai had ever seen and also became one of the strongest voices against some awakened people, who abuse the system.
Kai's heart skipped as he looked at Jake, taking in the familiar grin that he hadn't seen in so long. Despite his strength and his natural confidence, he always had been the most childish one of his friends, unafraid to show his softer side. In the past, he'd always been hugging him after that it became a routen.
Kai's smile faded slightly as he glanced around the field, scanning the crowd for any sign of his parents.Just as Kai's gaze drifted across the unfamiliar faces, a system notification appeared before him, in bold letters floating in mid-air.
Class Assigned: Guardian.
Current People of Protection buff: Siel and Ash.
Kai blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the floating notification. Guardian of protection? He furrowed his brow, and after a moment, he spoke in his mind, hoping the system would respond. "System, what does 'Guardian' mean? And what does it mean to have people of under your Protection?"
The system's voice rang out in Kai's mind, giving him a clearer understanding of his situation.
"Guardian Class: An extra class assigned to parents or protectors who enter this training camp with children. If the parents are not found or are deemed unfit to fulfill the role, the Guardian class is transferred to the closest individual who is fitting or responsible for the children."
Kai's heart skipped a beat as the information settled on him. It means his parents are either far away or not fitting as guardians right now. "So, I'm their Guardian now?" His gaze shifted to Siel and Ash, who were both quietly observing him. Siel, with her calm and composed nature, seemed to understand something was different, while Ash clutched his teddy bear tighter, had eyes full of tears.
Kai's heart clenched as he saw the tears in Ash's eyes. The young boy, usually so full of energy, looked vulnerable now. Soundely Ash squeezed his teddy bear tighter, as if it was the only thing holding him together in the face of ther current predicament. Kai crouched down patting his head, meeting his brother's gaze.
Kai's was about say something to him, but sundely Jake effortlessly lifted Ash into his arms, the young boy's eyes wide filled with surprise. But Ash didn't immediately resist, instead burying his face into Jake's shoulder, clutching his teddy bear tightly. Jake, always the protective and playful type to small children. He also smiled down at Ash, whit his usual grin giving a sense of security.
"Oh, it's Miny Kai 2!" Jake said with a chuckle, his voice light but warm. "Don't worry, little guy.You be fine Uncle is here for your protection."
Kai couldn't help but roll his eyes at Jake's teasing. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the lightheartedness; it was just... Jake had a way of deflecting everything and making a humor that angers others, even when things were serious he didn't take them seriously.
He suddenly couldn't suppress the small grin that was tugged at his lips, despite the stress he still would want to beat him. Sundely thinking in his mind just you wait I'll beat you up later, you little idiot, but the in the same time he was more great full of helping him out. He knew deep down Jake meant well in everything he does.
Kai the said:" don't worry every thing is fine, we will meet mom and Dad soon." But before Kai finishes he stiffened for a moment, caught off guard by a secondarie embrace from the back, but the familiar warm hands made him dreath out loud. He turned to see Lyli standing there, her face a mix of excitement and mischief.
"Hey, you big softie," Lyli's voice came through, gentle and reassuring. "Don't worry it's me. I just wanted to hug you from behind."
Kai froze for a moment, the shock of the unexpected but mischievous behavior of Lyli even this predicament was crazy. As Lyli pulled back, he couldn't help but blurt out was in his mind, whit a voice of disbelief and frustration he asked, "How long were you behind me?"
Lyli smiled, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Long enough to see you stressing out, getting hugged and petting your little sibling, and seeing soft big guy becoming a big uncle. You've been so warped in your thoughts, I thought you wouldn't notice me. I was right behind you for hours. Honestly, I didn't think I had to announce myself to be noticed."
Seil couldn't help but laugh at that, the tension in the group was slowly easing just a little. Lyli always knew how to find him, how to show up when he needed her most. In the future she always found and safed him. She was like a hero to him the one hero who will never forget. He shook his head, the familiar feeling of comfort settling in.
"You're impossible," Kai muttered, but he didn't mean it.And lyli knew it because he smiled.
Sundely Jake's voice cut through the lighthearted moment. Kai turned to look at Jake whit a confused lock,"So I found my target I guess yours is Siel right, I take my leave soon you, actually let's see who is the fastest out of the two of us?"
Kai blinked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "What do you mean by that Jake?" His voice ranged out, but his gaze was sharp, trying to understand those two.
Lyli chuckled lightly at Jake's comment, her arms still loosely around Kai's shoulders. "Jake, you're impossible," she said, shaking her head with a grin. "Not everything's about you us compitig, but I am in."
Kai raised an eyebrow, his confusion deepening as he tried to figure out what Jake and Lyli were talking about. He had a feeling Jake was just trying to sture the pot up, but he wasn't sure why Lyli was jumping in. Especially when the names outher then of those two were his siblings.
"I don't get it," Kai said, frowning. "What are you guys trying to do?"
Kai stood there, blinking in disbelief as the scene unfolded in front of him. Before he could even possibly do anything, Lyli swooped down and picked up Siel, effortlessly lifting her into her arms and taking off in a sprint.
"See you at the village! Kai I will take Siel to complete my quest now.", Lyli called over her shoulder, her tone light but carrying an edge of urgency. As she stole his sister away.
Jake, not missing a beat, grabbed Ash and darted off in the opposite direction, his long legs quickly carrying him away. "Catch you later, Kai! I be taking Ash for the same reason now." he shouted, a playful laugh echoing back.
Kai was left standing in the middle of the field, his mouth hanging slightly open as he processed the sudden disappearance of his friends whit the kidnapping of his own siblings. His mind raced to catch up. Whit the anger in his heart shouting." Give me my siblings back you thieves. That not what friends do."
Kai's frustration boiled over as he stood there, becoming red like a tomato, trying to make sense of what just happened. Why did they leave me behind? Aren't we supposed to stick together? Why only my siblings? Are they on drugs? What about that quest thing? He clenched his fists, ready to shout, but before he could, the system chimed again, its message appearing in midair before him.
"Your quest is to reach the village in pairs of two. Good luck."
Kai stared at the notification, his mind trying to process it. Pairs of two? He glanced around again, still confused and irritated. Great. Now I have a quest this, but no clue what's going on with Jake and Lyli.
Kai's eyes narrowed as the system's new message appeared, telling him his pair was only five meters away. Partner? He thought, scanning the area once again. His frustration was building again.
Kai's mind raced as he tried to piece everything together by the new knowledge he obtained. Are my siblings paired with Lyli and Jake? Is that why they took them off like that? His frustration and grew if anything happens to them I beat both of them up. He had happy that his friends were trying to helpful to his siblings, but now he was starting to feel like he had been tricked. Did they know something I didn't?
Kai scanned the area again, looking for any sign of his siblings in hopes of them coming back to him but no luck. He couldn't spot them anywhere. His focus snapped back to the system's message: "Your partner is 5 meters away."
Without wasting another second, Kai started walking toward the direction the system had pointed out his partner was.
As Kai walked toward the direction indicated by the system, his thoughts were still swirling. His frustration of the betrayal, didn't leave his heart and every step felt heavier. His mind was focused on his siblings, wondering if they were okay, and whether Lyli and Jake had everything under control. Why did they have to take them? Whit out him. It like wanting him to have a heart attack. Getting closer to his partner Kai out of the corner of his eye, saw a figure emerge from the crowd. Tall, with sharp, calculating eyes, the guy's presence instantly registered in Kai's mind. He froze for a second.As the man walked close and the Meter count became smaller. No way.
This was the guy is the top ranker of the future. The one who had always been a bit of a mystery, standing apart from the others, not partnering refusing the to follow the other rankers for "selfish reasons," as he had put it. Kai remembered him well his intense gaze stayed in his mind even after learning of his death, the way he carried himself through the crowd, and a tipe of aura flowing around him made everyone quiet. He had heard whispers before that this guy had killed a whole army of monsters . Yet, he had always refused to follow the system's chosen missions, viewing them as boring.
"Not interested in playing the roll of the demon king," he had said once infront of the gods. "I'd rather protect the world, not fight for someone's ego of mine."
Now, standing before Kai, the man's expression was unchanged. He looked at Kai with a faint tilt of his head, as if recognizing him from the past but without any warmth in his eyes. Kai, still processing everything, took a cautious step backwards.
Before Kai could even react to the man's cold gaze, the system chimed again, confirming their partnership with a notification: Partner found. Please proceed to the village.
Before he could ask any more questions or make a move, the man's sharp, but sudden motion took Kai completely by surprise. With a swift, almost effortless movement, the man grabbed him and tossed him over his shoulder, like a sack of potatoes. Kai barely had time to react, his mind still racing to catch up with the unexpected turn of events.
"Hey! What the hell?!" Kai's voice rang out desperate trying to get down. "Put me down now!"
The man didn't respond. He simply adjusted his grip, making sure Kai was secure. His steps were purposeful, long strides carrying him forward as he ignored Kai's protests. There was a calmness to his demeanor, as if he had done this a hundred times before and couldn't care less about Kai's discomfort. After a struggle for over 20 minutes he could no longer ignore Kai though.
"We will reach the desttenation faster if you stop complaining," the man said, his voice cool and detached. "I don't have time to waste by walking at your pace."
Kai's face flushed with irritation. He hadn't expected to be treated like this. I'm not some damn burden! But he knew arguing wouldn't help. This guy wasn't going to listen to him. And with the quest to find his siblings urging him to move quickly, there was no way to avoid it.
Kai grumbled, trying to shift in the man's grip, but it was no use. "I can walk fast too, you know. I'm not completely useless."
The man didn't acknowledge him, his eyes focused ahead. Kai's mind raced as he dangled uncomfortably over the man's shoulder. He had been expecting something... different. After all, this wasn't just some random quest in some fantasy game this was real. He was actually in a different world, in a training camp, with the possibility of gaining powers to protect his own. But none of that mattered right now. He was being carried like cargo by someone who was more interested in completing the mission than understanding his situation.
This is not what I expected from a regression, Kai thought bitterly. I was expecting challenges, tests, maybe some crazy training sequences. Not... this.
Kai's heart skipped a beat as the man's unexpected question cut through his thoughts. "You also regresst, right? Are you the guy who fed those stray cats? I must thank you for back then the food u gave me was tasty."
Kai froze, trying to process what had just been said. His mind immediately flashed back to a moment long before the regression a moment that seemed so trivial but had always stuck with him. In the future world, he had spent months feeding stray cats that lived near his apartment. It was a small thing, something he did because it felt right, but one time a man hidden in a clock came there he seemed hungry and hurt so he made food for him. He ate it though, the man said he was neither hurt or hungry but like his cooking. In the end he asked him to follow him and become his wife. That was the last straw for Kai no awaken person treated him as a man. He even gut those questions from women tho he mostly answered not some went as far as getting him kidnapped. But sundely his brain turn back to reality how could he know that? Is he is from the future too. Could it be...? Kai's mind reeled. No, that's impossible. He can't be from the future, right?
But then again, a suddenly as if the all the pieces were starting to fall into place. What if this man was also a regressor from the future world? What if, there are more people like me? Does that mean he might not get anything useful, from the regression?Kai decided to risk it. He couldn't stay in the dark forever.
"You... You're from the future, aren't you?" Kai asked, his voice quiet but steady, tinged with curiosity and wariness.
The man looked at him for a moment, then asked, "Didn't you know? There are a lot of people who regressed. All hunters who died and regress . Either had an item or practicepated in surten quest." He paused, changing the position of the way he carried him,eyeing Kai with a mix of curiosity and recognition. Then, as if remembering something, his gaze shifted. "But you were never a hunter to begin with... How did you regress?"
"In the quest you died, Lyli and Jake died too. It was an awful day one of the darkest moments for me. All the good people perished, while saving some non hunters. Most of the non hunters died days latter trying to survive while the hunters monopolize everything."he answered to the Man.
Kai remembered it vividly: Lyli had thrown him to Jake, and Jake had taken him to a safe place before going back to his own demise, determined to protect others, those two gave there life. Even at the cost of there own lifes no one got saved at the end. The memory still haunted him, the weight of their sacrifice never far from his mind. If he remembered right, the top-ranked hunter was killed by a group of hunters. All the monsters were killed by the dead hunters. Only leaving cowards behind.
The man stopped and looked at Kai, still carrying him, but now in a princess-like manner. Kai felt a surge of fear, his heart racing. He quickly blurted out, "I didn't die that way. Some people survived thanks to the secret resources left by hunters.But the King quest started, most hunters refused to participate. And since non hunters can not participate in those quests, it was deamed as a failed quest. Then, the whole world was consumed by a black hole for failing. That when I got the chance to regress."
The man gave a disappointed and sad look, as if he had already known something like this would happen.But he also would have loved to see the faces of the hunters who had refused to act. He motioned for Kai to wait by the cave entrance. "Stay here," he ordered.