Chapter 1: Will To Live

Chapter 1: Will To Live

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.

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."