Chapter 105: Chapter 105- Lesson

*RUMBLE*

The sky shook powerfully as a lightning strike hit the ground, leaving behind a burnt mark akin to the remains of a dying fire.

In the past hour or so, the weather grew more and more violent and the rain flooded all the streets of Seoul. Buildings were filled with water and started collapsing and whatever remained intact was swept away by the water.

The only safe places remaining in the city were the high-ground areas since water didn't reach that level. Luckily, the campus belonged to those areas so the gymnasium was fairly safe from the rain.

Talon and Hyun-Jae spent the entire remainder of the night helping the injured students. Luckily, apart from the casualties, the injuries the students sustained were rather minimal. As for the dead ones, they could only cover them with blankets and leave them alone for others to mourn their loss. They couldn't bury them because of the weather.

Talon stood in front of the few crying students who sat near the dead bodies. Some were friends of the deceased, others were their peers back when things were still normal, and one single person... Just one single person lost his big brother.

Staring at the silent student near his brother's corpse, Talon's expression changed subtly. Out of everyone there, he was the only one not crying. He didn't even seem like he was fighting the urge to cry.

However, the entire time, he had his brother's hand grabbed tightly, holding onto him. For some reason, the scene hit Talon far harder than the other ones even though he was already affected.

"Talon?" Hyun-Jae noticed the change in his aura and looked at him.

The latter didn't reply and instead approached the student till he was right behind him.

The young man didn't notice at first until Talon's shadow loomed over him. Turning around confusedly, he flinched when he saw Talon behind.

"S-Sir!" He exclaimed as he tried to stand up. However, Talon stopped him and made him sit down again.

Talon then crouched down and looked at the dead corpse lying in front of him.

"What was his name?" He asked.

The student blinked in confusion before he looked down at his brother. "Ryung... Sam Ryung." He replied.

Talon nodded his head faintly in a daze. "... Sorry for your loss..." He murmured quietly to the student.

The young man's face didn't change the entire time as he kept staring at his brother. "He was my last family member..."

Hearing that, Talon's eyes widened slightly as he looked up. Just hearing those words made his heart sink. "The last one?"

The student nodded his head quietly before he inhaled. "My parents died a few years ago and we were a family of four."

"Mm? Yeah, I'm coming." He replied with a dazed look on his face. His eyes were fixated on the horizon. The usual beautiful sunrise was nowhere to be seen that day.

The girl looked at him silently for a while. "It's unusual of you to be out of it like this." She said in a casual tone.

Talon gave her a side glance for a moment before he turned around again. "No, I'm just thinking about how many monsters I'm going to kill today. I'm aiming to break my personal record." He replied.

Hyun-Jae chuckled slightly as she pushed him slightly. "You really worried me for a second there."

Talon smiled slightly at her before he said. "When the plan gets into motion... Be careful, Hyun-Jae. No matter what happens, don't put your life in danger. Even if you see me getting killed or at a disadvantage."

"Where did that come from all of a sudden?" She asked.

"Just saying it in case things go south which is something I highly doubt. I'm not going there to get defeated." He replied. "Can you promise me that?"

Talon still remembers how Hyun-Jae had tried to save him when he was thrown into the middle of the monster horde a week ago. While it warmed his heart to know that she was ready to do anything to save him, he didn't want her to lose her life because of him.

In a sense, it was the same as when Acrypha tried to defend him against a Dimension Walker a while ago.

'Now that I think about it... Acrypha and Hyun-Jae are really similar in many ways. What a weird coincidence.' He mused as he looked at Hyun-Jae and then at the floating beauty near him.

He could see a lot of things they shared especially when it comes to certain character traits. Both are extremely clever, serious, and mature. Both have stoic personalities but can be soft and warm to people they're close to and both are ready to sacrifice their lives if it meant saving people they love.

"I can't promise you that. In the spur of the moment, I don't know what I would do. But, I will try to focus on the mission as much as I can. On the other hand, you shouldn't throw your life away just to fulfill the plan. Even if it fails, just try to escape, as long as we're alive, there is always a second chance."

"... I wasn't intending to put my life in dan-"

Before he could even finish the sentence, he felt a cold glare poring at his face which made him change what he was about to say. "... Not. Ok, I promise I won't be too reckless! If I see a 0% chance of success, I will think of fleeing."

"Good..." Hyun-Jae murmured suspiciously. She wasn't totally convinced by what he said considering his past record. But, she decided to be satisfied with his promise. There wasn't time to keep warning him anyway.

Turning around, she walked back to the entrance. "Come on, it's time." She said.

Talon nodded his head and walked after her, when he reached the gate he turned around and glanced at the horizon one last time.

Even though the sky was still grey, Talon caught a glimpse of a small hole in the clouds, from which, one single strand of light passed and reached him. For a second, he looked at it before he turned around and entered the building.

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )