"Time! 49.83 seconds, Rank, 28"
Ash was seated on the sidelines with Arc, who was standing a couple meters away, watching the 5 year olds training exercise with a book in his hand.
"Why are the two of you here? Instructor Dean has been looking all over for you"
Katie Byron, of the 7 years approached them
"M-Ms Katie.... Yes, well... I guess you could say big bro's searching for a kindred spirit"
"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"
Ash nervously scratched his cheek
"Yes, well..... He took an interest in a certain girl.."
Katie grabbed him by the collar upon hearing the word "girl"
"What girl?!" She exclaimed, rocking him back and forth
"S-She was one of the new recruits that arrived last week, transfered into the 5 year class"
"WHO?!"
"I think her name is—"
"Amy Cross"
Arc said, closing the book. Katie let Ash go and arranged her ribbon, blushing a little.
"A-Arc..... Why are you interested in that girl?"
"You know about her?"
"Yes, well.... Just rumors here and there"
"Wow, as expected from the chief of the gossip committee"
"Hey! Don't call me that"
"Haha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry"
He apologized to the pouting Katie. Just then, the topic of discussion stepped up for her evaluation.
"26.03 seconds, Rank, 17" The instructor said, immediately she finished. Katie smirked
"17th, huh? Not bad.... Though not good either"
"You're one to talk"
"Hmph"
She turned her head pouting as Arc tried apologizing for his comment.
Cradle trainees are grouped according to their age and ranked according to their performances in different evaluations. Once they turn thirteen, they graduate from trainees and officially become licensed hunters working primarily for the cradle— Those who show exceptional abilities are then integrated into the Government starting from the Hunter's Academy and rise through the ranks quickly
Only the top 8 trainees graduate each year while the others are "deported". Katie's current rank among the 7 year olds was 16th
"I'll forgive your rude comment, since it's you"
"Thanks. Could you tell me what you heard about her though"
"Well, according to what I heard, she was the sole survivor of a desolate world...."
Desolate worlds refer to captured gate worlds whose core goes out of control, changing the climate and spawning new monsters and beasts— It's a rare phenomenon and it's cause could only still be speculated, but the threat level of such worlds increase significantly.
"... Apparently, that world was occupied by a company of researchers, including her parents. When the world went desolate, everyone died, except her. According to some instructors I happened to overhear, she had to survive in that gate world full of monsters for 6 months"
"Six months?!" Ash exclaimed, understanding how difficult that will be for even official Rookie hunters. Katie sighed
"Still though, I expected her to be more impressive than this"
*WHIP
Their attention was drawn to the sound, the man lashing Amy with a whip
"What kind of pathetic showing is that?! Take this seriously!"
Arc was about to jump in but was held back by Ash and Katie, who reflexively reacted to stop his "hero impulse"
"Stop it, big bro. You know you can't beat an instructor"
"Listen to your brother Arc, you'll only cause trouble for her"
The man dragged her away right then. Ash and Katie let him go once the man was out of sight.
"What's the deal with that man who's always around her, how can he do that"
"That's Mr Owen, her personal trainer...Well, tamer is more like it. As you just saw, he uses violence to keep her in line"
"She's not some wild beast"
"Well, she spent six months surviving among beasts, considering her age, she's probably more beast than hu—"
Katie stopped talking upon noticing his anger. She hung her head.
"I was out of line, sorry"
"You said instructor Dean was looking for us, right? Let's go Ash"
Arc walked past her, determined to help that girl.... Amy, no matter what.
****************
"The two of you are late, come on, it's time for your routine chec—"
"One of us I supposed to be your masterpiece, right?"
Dean stopped in his tracks
"Arc, how do you kn—"
The moment he locked eyes with Arc, he noticed something different— the boy who's usually so aloof and cheerful was serious.
He stood before the boy, confronting him head on
"I want you to help Amy"
"Huh? In what way?"
"Change her instructor from Mr Owen, in exchange, I'll endure every single one of your tests, no matter how grueling"
"Mr Owen produces results as her instructor. I see no reason to grant your request"
"He hurts the poor girl at the drop of a hat!"
"And?"
Arc choked on his words after Dean's response. The man didn't care as long as results were produced. Arc took a deep breath then
"If you don't do it, I'll bite off my own tongue"
"You little—"
"If I happen to be your masterpiece, all your efforts will go down the drain, all because you're being stubborn"
Dean unleashed his aura, intimidating the two. Arc couldn't move, and he was really scared, even so, his eyes didn't lose their fire
"Uhmm.... What matters is results, right?"
Dean suppressed his aura, mostly surprised Ash was speaking up. The younger twin continued
"Just as Katie said, for someone who spent six months in a desolate world, her numbers are far too low. I believe the cause is Mr Owen"
"Hmmm...Continue..."
"A child's emotional state is directly tied to their performance— kids will try their best when they're praised, Mr Owen's approach is significantly hindering her growth"
"Wishful thinking and platitudes"
"It's not"
"Really? I suppose you have proof of your claim?"
"That's why we're here"
Dean was puzzled by his response. Ash continued
"Give us one week with her, away from Mr Owen, we'll raise her rank and prove our point"
"That's some big talk, kid. I hope you're ready for the consequences if you fail"
"We won't!"
Ash retorted, his eyes glistening with confidence
"... If anyone can do it, it's big bro!"
Dean stopped to ponder it, then he decided
"You have one week, if you can't raise her rank into the single digits, you fail"
"Agreed!"
The twins said in unison. Dean stroked his hair thinking about just how much of a pain this is going to be.
After concluding their checkup, Arc shut himself in the library, researching the beasts in that desolate world while thinking up a way to approach her.
********************
"Help, Fire!!!!!"
Arc was awoken from the pile of books the following morning by a rather strange cry. He stepped out to check the commotion and
"The dorms are....on fire?"
He ran towards the dorms, joining up with Ash and Katie standing outside among the crowd.
"What's going on here?"
"The dorms just caught on fire all of a sudden, I heard that wild girl did it"
"Amy did?....."
He stared at the dorms engulfed in red flames and started getting a picture what happened.
"No....."
"A-Arc?"
"Go get an instructor!.."
He said as he bolted off towards the burning dorm, ignoring the two who tried stopping him
"Hold on Amy, I'm coming"
***************
Inside the dorms
*****************
Mr Owen lay on the floor, unconscious and charred, as though he took an unexpected explosion to the face. Before him, was Amy seated on the floor, crying and muttering
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry....why does this always happen?"
After she was saved from the desolate world by hunters and before being brought to the cradle, she was placed in orphanages and foster care systems, although, she never lasted longer than a week in each place.
The reason? everyone who got close to her, everyone who tried caring for her and every place that took her in, were all burnt by the thing which helped her survive for six months in the desolate world.
"A spirit salamander, the only salamander with deep red flames, impressive, squirrel girl. To think you were able to tame such a beast at your age, you're already one step ahead of me, haha"
She lifted her head and saw the one person she wished didn't show up— the boy she encountered in the library, who, as he did in the library, had been trying to interact with her since she arrived by imitating beasts she'd encountered before.
"Go away, you'll get hurt"
"Glad to see you no longer communicate with 'grrrr', haha"
He slowly walked towards her. The flames became more erratic
"Stay away!"
"Spirit Salamanders are considered incredibly powerful creatures because their strength grows with their user. However, if the user isn't that strong yet, it should be fine for me, the fact you can't control your power is also for that reason...
" You'll die..."
"I'm pretty sturdy y'know... If I couldn't handle the power of a five year old, there's no way I'll become paladin"
Arc ran towards Amy, dodging blasts from the spirit salamander and tanking the ones he couldn't dodge. He finally reached her, but....
He was at point blank range. The salamder on her shoulder let out a huge flame breath
"Grrrrrrrrr"
With sheer willpower, Arc pushed through the flames and grabbed her in his embrace, hugging her while enduring her burning aura.
"Let go of me, you're burning yourself"
"No! This is your power, and you can control it. I'll stay here with you till you calm down, if you want to let out your frustrations, take it out on me....."
He smiled softly
"..... You're not alone anymore cause I'll always be here for you, we are beast buddies, aren't we"
Tears filled her eyes as he said those words and her pent up emotions came flowing out, the salamander's flames weakening as a result
Help arrived shortly after, and they found Amy who had cried herself to sleep, while clinging to a severely charred Arc.
Following that day, Amy was usually seen around Arc, following him around, engaging in his hobbies and hiding behind him whenever Katie and Ash were around.
You'll mostly see them at the library, reading about beasts together and Arc using his wealth of information to teach her how to control her power and Ash assisting
"Hey.....why do the both of you want to become Paladins?"
"Huh? Well, aside from saving people.... I guess, as proof of our existence"
"Proof? But you're right here"
Arc and Ash's faces sank as Arc elaborated
"Well, the two of us were abandoned by our mom as babies. The only reason she had us was for some experiment, she didn't actually care about us, our lives were meaningless to her...."
He looked at the ceiling with a distant smile
"..... She's currently a Paladin, one of the world's strongest hunters. So we figured, if we became paladins as well, it'll serve as proof that our lives weren't meaningless, that we weren't just data for an experim—"
His speech was cut short by Amy, bawling her eyes out.
"W-Why are you crying?!"
"That's just so sad...*sniff sniff"
"It isn't that big of a deal—"
She grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes
"You don't have to fight alone, I'll work hard too, so I can fight alongside you"
Arc smiled softly at her resolve
"Yeah..... Let's fight side by side and become Paladins together, Amy. it's a promise!"
"Yeah....pinky swear"
**************************
"She ended up coming in ninth place and we changed her personal trainer, after that, she just kept improving. It was also around that time Ash started getting stronger and distanced himself from us..."
Arc showed a distant smile as he stared at the floor
".... Meanwhile, I fell behind and got deported in the end. However, no matter how strong she got, she never shunned me nor treated me differently. Now that I have this power, I can finally stand by her side"
A new event mission popped up suddenly
[Play Cupid and Hook Up Rei and Yuki. Reward: 500 coins 50XP]
"Hey?! What's this?"
[zzz.... Oh? Is it over?]
"You were sleeping?! Since when?"
[Hmm....I stopped listening right around the sleeping squirrel.]
"You're the one who asked!"
[Then summarize. Geez, you're like an old man with too much time on his hands. Anyway, I think you should join the Oni to escape]
"Huh? Really?"
[Yes. If you escape first, they might highten security, stopping the Oni. It's the same the other way around]
"I see.... Hmmm.... I guess you're right"
[Now that that's out of the way, let's hookup those two lovebirds]
"W-What? No"
[If you don't like her like that, you should have no problem, right?]
"Why are you so gung ho about this?"
[The tomboy having a boyfriend means less competition for Lady Irene, it's simple math]
Arc's face turned a little red, recalling the kiss she gave him when they first met. He shook his head and slapped his cheeks
"Now's not the time for this, I have to focus"
There was about a week till his tier 9s were back in action and two till his escape. He could endure for two more weeks with family, and it'll be best to have as much coins as possible once the time comes so he should focus on completing missions aside from the Cupid one.
He had considered all possibilities and was running down the clock now.... Or so he thought.