《Strongest Nova: Path of Vengeance》


 Chapter 1: The Veil

    <h4>Chapter 1: The Veil</h4>


    The town of Last Hope was situated on a slope at the base of two narrow cliffs and housed thest of humanity that remained in this world.


    At the edge of the town was the Veil, Arge, ck wall made up of smoke and haze whose main purpose was to keep the monsters away, the very same monsters that had wiped out the rest of the humans.


    Unfortunately, the veil wasn''t good enough to work perfectly all the time. Once in a while, a monster or two would end uping through the veil.


    So, a group of powerful, trained individuals that called themselves the Defenders took it upon themselves to protect thest remaining humans from the monsters outside.


    There was not a single child in the town that did not want to grow up to be one of the Defenders.


    * * * * *


    Stanley ran down the town to get back to his home which was a long way down the slope, near the Veil. He hurriedly entered his wooden house, cing his sword next to the door, before running into the kitchen where he could hear his mother cooking.


    "Mom!" he shouted while jumping into the room.


    "Dear god! Don''t jump in like that," his mother shouted. "You will give me a heart attack."


    Stanley''s mother, Yelena, was in her early 40s. She was a woman with a lean body, not because she wanted it that way, but because she couldn''t have any better.


    Her clothes were without any vibrant colors, just simply gray or brown which was further muddied around the lower end due to the nature of the work that she was forced to do to survive.


    "I did it!" Stanley said with a massive smile, not giving a single thought to what his mother was talking about.


    "You did what?" his mother asked, not sharing his enthusiasm at all.


    "I passed," he said brightly. "Did you forget we had our tests today?"


    "You passed?" his mother finally showed some other emotion. "Without any powers?"


    "My results were top of the charts even amongst those with powers, so it''s natural they passed me," Stanley said. "I now get to go into the third year of training."


    The woman smiled. "Aww, I''m proud of you, Stan," she said.


    "Hehe," the young man only gave a cheeky smile to his mother. "Although, you might be more proud of Bradley, won''t you? He passed the third year''s test. He''s a Defender now."


    "He did?" the woman asked with a bright smile. After all, she knew what it meant for someone to have passed the third year of training as a Defender.


    Now that her first son was a Defender, she could go live in the town too, not at the edge of it.


    "See? You''re more proud of him," Stanley said while giving a fake sour look.


    "I''m proud of both my sons equally," she said. "Speaking of which, where''s Bradley? Shouldn''t that brat give me the information himself?"


    "I don''t know," Stanley said. "I tried to look for him toe home together, but he sent me back alone saying something important hade up. I don''t know where he is now."


    "Hmm," the mother thought to herself. "Let''s eat for now. I will prepare something for him when hees back."


    Stanley waited for his mother to finish cooking while he himself just looked around his house.


    His was a rundown house, with roofs that leaked when it rained. With his father dying a few years after he was born, he had been forced to live here with his mother, who was a Dull. However, now that his brother was a Defender, he could move with them to the center of the town.


    ''Just one more year and I could''ve done the same for Mom,'' Stanley thought. At least, he was happy that he wouldn''t have to stay in this ce anymore, even though he was a Dull.


    Dulls were people who had not or could not awaken any powers at all. These people were shunned in the town and were usually forced to work on the farms at the edge of the city, not far away from the veil.


    They were the ones that were supposed to grow the crops and take care of animals. They were important parts of society and yet they were shunned for not having powers at all.


    Stanley hated that. But more than anything, he hated himself for being a Dull as well.


    Suddenly, an odd feeling blossomed inside of him. Something that didn''t feel natural, but yet at the same time was. It was a truly odd feeling that took him out of the moment for a bit.


    ''What was that?'' he wondered. Then, he got a feeling that he should go to the back door and open it. It was something instinctive to him that he simply couldn''t exin.


    ''The hell is going on?'' he wondered, but he still stood up to go open the door. He opened the door and walked outside. When he did, his eyes went wide as he looked down the slope to where the veil was.


    In front of the veil was a group of Defenders that were busy fighting monsters that had sneaked in. However, the number wasn''t normal at all.


    Usually one or two would make it through, but somehow nearly 10 monsters had somehow sneaked in. Then, he saw one of the monsters climbing up the slope and was only a hundred meters away from his house.


    And it was crawling in his direction.


    Stanley''s eyes went wide in horror as he realized what had happened. Monsters hade in, and the first line of defense couldn''t stop it at all.


    A gust of wind rushed past him, waking him up from his stupor. He turned around and immediately rushed back into his house.


    "Mom!" he shouted. "MOM!"


    As he shouted, rms started ringing from near the veil, alerting the entire town of the monster''s invasion.


    "Stanley?"


    His mother walked out of the kitchen and Stanley immediately grabbed her wrist before pulling her away.


    "We need to run," he shouted. He rushed to the front door and somehow the front door was already open.


    However, before he could reach it, the monster crashed through the house, sending debris flying everywhere, some of which hit Stanley.


    Stanely fell to the ground, cking out for a second before slowlying back to it.


    A pile of rubble had half-buried him and he couldn''t move at all. He felt pain all over his body and some parts even felt hot and wet. Blood trickled down his forehead, but he couldn''t find the will to care about his wounds.


    His eyes slowly opened to see his mother not far away from him. She was wounded as well with a piece of wood sticking from her right shoulder, but not so much that she couldn''t get up and walk.


    "Mom¡­" he said softly as he tried to get back up. However, he wasn''t strong enough to pull himself up. He was on the verge of losing consciousness as well since he continued losing blood.


    Even then, he reached out for his mother with his bleeding hands.


    "Stanley," his mother spoke with bated breaths. "Stanley!"


    Stanley barely heard the words at all. He continued reaching for her, but she was too far away. He couldn''t reach her at all.


    Then, something mmed on top of his mother as she was crushed by arge pir of wriggling, inky ck tendrils.


    "<strong>NOOOO</strong>!" he shouted as he watched his mother get crushed right in front of him. He couldn''t even turn away to not watch it or turn toward the monster to see which one had done it.


    He could only watch as the ck pir moved away and the half-crushed body of his mother was left behind.


    Tears started rolling down his eyes, mixing with the blood that continued flowing.


    "I''m so sorry," a voice spoke from next to him.


    Then, something sharp stabbed into his arm that was reaching out for his mother.


    Before Stanley could even tell what had happened, his vision went dark, and in the next moment, he lost consciousness.

 Chapter 2: Haunted

    <h4>Chapter 2: Haunted</h4>


    Loud heartbeats.


    shing lights.


    Incoherent voices.


    A bearded man.


    A sharp knife.


    Metal clinking.


    Rusty smell.


    Painful limbs.


    Bloody clothes.


    A ringing noise.


    Metal contraptions.


    Long Bandages.


    Clear tubes.


    Floating pictures.


    Bloody Hands.


    Dizzy head.


    Nothing.


    * * * * *


    3 Months Later.


    "Student Stanley Reed and Marcus Gray, pleasee up front," a middle-aged man spoke while holding a clipboard with a paper attached to it.


    About 40 different young men surrounded him outside in the middle of the Defenders'' training field.


    Stanley walked in front of the group, going into the center area that had been separated so they could fight against each other.


    His opponent Marcus walked up to him as well, towering over him with a height of nearly 6 feet, while he himself was 5 feet 7 inches at best. He had still not finished growing as a 17-year-old man, but he wasn''t sure he could reach the same height as someone like Marcus.


    Because he had been wounded 3 months ago, the Mayor apparently had to cut off all of his hair to see which parts of him were truly wounded before he could heal him. So, while his blonde hair had grown back, they were still quite shortpared to the rest of his ssmates.


    "Isn''t this the Dull kid you said was one of the best, Jerry?" a man asked the teacher slowly. "I hear he was wounded during the ident 3 months ago. Is it okay for him to fight?"


    "He''s healed fast thanks to the mayor," the teacher named Jerry said. "Although, I''m not sure I would call him one of the best anymore."


    "Hmm? Why?" the man asked.


    "You''ll see," the teacher said and looked at the two fighters in front of him. "Take positions."


    Both Stanley and Marcus had already been standing on the opposite side waiting for the teacher''s go to fight. They both held round wooden swords in their hands and were ready to use them.


    "First to 3 proper hits wins. Remember not to attack your opponent''s head or private areas," the teacher said. "Go!"


    Marcus dashed forward, barreling down with his rather huge body.


    Stanley dashed forward as well and swung his sword when he got close.


    Marcus suddenly closed his eyes and his body stopped unnaturally. Like cotton in the wind, he floated into the sky. Then, when he was high enough, he opened his eyes, and his body suddenly elerated downwards.


    Stanley knew what Marcus'' powers were and knew what he could do. However, by the time Marcus was on top of him, Stanley''s mind was nowhere in the fight at all.


    Marcus struck him on his shoulders, delivering the first hit of the match.


    Stanley faltered to the ground, his hands quivering slightly while his breathing was heavy. His eyes were wide, as if with fear and he had momentarily forgotten what he was even doing.


    Cold sweat appeared all over his body as fear gripped his heart and sadness in his mind.


    He couldn''t even manage to get a hold of himself when the second strike hade down. He tried to get back up by the third time, but his mind wasn''t in the right ce anymore and he easily lost to Marcus.


    "See?" the teacher told his assistant.


    Stanley''s face was nk as he walked out of the arena. The teacher handed over the board to his assistant and let him handle the next set of matches while he walked over to Stanley.


    He ced his arms around his shoulders and pulled him away to a corner of the field.


    "Alright, tell me, what''s wrong with you?" the teacher asked him.


    "I¡­ I don''t know," Stanley said with his eyes looking at the ground. He couldn''t even look the man in the eye as they spoke.


    "Are you sad? Is that it?" the teacher asked. "Are you looking for sympathy just because your mother died?"


    "N-no," Stanley said quickly.


    "Remember when I asked you if you would want to leave the Defenders? With your brother a defender, you wouldn''t have to worry about going to work in the fields even as a Dull. But it was you who told me you wanted to kill all the crawlers."


    "I do," Stanley said quickly, his eyes finally looking up at the teacher. "I want to kill them. Everyst one of them."


    "Hmm, so you show the drive now? Where is this when you are training? Why do you always freeze in the middle of the fight?" the teacher asked.


    "I¡­ I don''t know," Stanley said.


    The teacher sighed. "You can leave for today. Get your head cleared up ande back when you can fight," he said. "We don''t need people who will freeze when they are most needed."


    Stanley wanted to say something, but the teacher left him. Depressed, he turned around and left the training area.


    The Defender''s quarters were right next to the Defenders training area and it was where every Defender and Defender-in-training lived. So, Stanley went directly to his quarters and slumped onto his bed.


    "Why does this keep happening to me?" he shouted into his pillow, not understanding the problem.


    It had started even before he was fully healed. Once in a while, he would get a peculiar feeling, one that had started that day 3 months ago.


    He didn''t know what the feeling was, but it was usually apanied by an instinct to do something.


    However, Stanley could never focus on what that something was as whenever he got the feeling, it reminded him vividly of what had happened back then when he first got that feeling.


    He would relive the moment when his house came crashing down. The moment when he was hurt all over and yet he still reached out to his mother.


    The moment when the crawler¡­


    Every time he got that distinct feeling, the memory of his mother''s death would haunt him, making himpletely unable to function in any capacity.


    "What do I do?" he couldn''t help but shout.


    Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.


    "Stanley? Are you in there?" a voice came from outside.


    Stanley quickly got up from his bed.


    "Brother? Are you back?"

 Chapter 3: The Town of Last Hope

    <h4>Chapter 3: The Town of Last Hope</h4>


    Stanley opened the door and found his brother Bradley waiting outside.


    Bradley was a year older than Stanely at 18 years old. He had short brown hair and was a few inches taller than Stanley. He was also handsome and always had a smile on his face.


    If someone saw the two of them together, they would be hard-pressed to tell that the two of them were brothers. After all, one had taken from the father and the other from the mother.


    Bradley was d in thick leather armor, which every Defender was forced to wear when they were on the job unless they had a power that conflicted with the armor.


    "I haven''t seen you in a few days and you already look like shit," Bradley said with a yful smile.


    "I feel like shit," Stanley said.


    Bradley''s smile softened a bit as a frown reced it. "Is it still the trauma?" he asked. "Do you still see mom dying?"


    Stanley nodded. "It''s like I''m right back there in our old house, watching her get..." he shook his head to get rid of the thought. "I had a training battle with Marcus today. I couldn''t even swing the sword at all because of it."


    "Marcus¡­ is that the thin guy whose hair can turn sharp like needles?" Bradley asked.


    "No, that''s Nale. Marcus is the big fat guy that can lower his body weight when he closes his eyes," Stanley said.


    "Ah, right! That guy," Bradley said. "You used to be able to beat him before, right?"


    "I did," Stanley said. "But nowadays¡­ I''m useless."


    "Hey! You''re not useless," Bradley said. "Have you eaten anything?"


    "No, I just came back from the training ground," Stanley said.


    "Great! Come with me, I''ll treat you to some food. There''s a rather popr restaurant that has opened up in the 3rd quadrant," Bradley said.


    Stanley hesitated a bit. "Do we have to? The quarters have enough food for us, don''t they?" he asked.


    Bradley got closer. "Do you like that food?" he asked.


    Stanley couldn''t deny that the food wasn''t delicious at all. They only ate it because there was nothing else to eat.


    "Fine, let me change. I''m dirty from all the training," Stanley said and walked in. Bradley walked in as well and looked around the room.


    "Are you sure we shouldn''t just get a ce to stay on our own?" Bradley asked. "I can afford it, you know."


    "You are gone all the time, and I need to be training most of the time too," Stanley said. "Not to mention, there is a rumor going around that even 3rd years will now have to take part in patrolling the veil. If that is true, then having a ce will make no sense if no one is there to live in it."


    "It''s not a rumor," Bradley said.


    "Huh?" Stanley paused and turned around.


    "It''s not a rumor. It''s true. The mayor is going to announce it in a few days," Bradley said.


    "How do you know that?" Stanley asked.


    Bradley shrugged.


    "You''ve been hiding something from me for a while now, and you don''t tell me at all. What is it?" Stanley asked.


    Bradley smiled. "I''m not telling you just yet. I don''t want to disappoint you if it turns out to be nothing. I promise, as soon as it seems like it''s possible, I will tell you what it is," he said.


    Stanley snorted a bit and quickly changed to something else. Then, the two brothers left the Defenders'' at the center of all four Quadrants and moved toward the 3rd quadrant of the town.


    The Town of Last Hope was separated into 3 sections.


    The first section, starting at the crevice of the two cliffs, consisted of the most important thing that the town''s survival depended on.


    The waterfall.


    There was a waterfall that fell in between the two cliffs. The water from the waterfall was the main source of water for the entire town. If not for it, the people in the town would''ve died of dehydration ages ago.


    Not only was the water important for normal survival, but it was also their only source of electricity. A hydro powernt was set up where the water fell, providing the town with electricity that they desperately needed.


    The water from the waterfall was manually split into many streams and tributaries so that water could be sent to all areas of the town.


    As the town was on a downward slope, they needed to do nothing more than make the path, and the water followed it on its own.


    Not only that, but the first sector was also home to the Mayor, who was the most important individual in the entire town.


    The mayor was responsible for many important decisions about the town and held one of the rarest powers in the entire town.


    The power to heal the wounded.


    Because of how important he was, the mayor stayed in his fortress on the first section of the town where no one was allowed to go at all or they would be immediately punished, sometimes even by death.


    The First section was about 500 meters from the corner of the cliff to the edge of the Mayor''s fortress.


    Right after the First section came the Second section which was where the normal people lived.


    The Second section was thergest piece ofnd in the entire town,ing to about 30 square kilometers in area, holding over 20 thousand people in it.


    The area was then separated into 4 quadrants for easier management. The higher thend on the slope, the more expensive it was. So, there was a natural sorting of rich to poor in these quadrants.


    The Defender''s headquartersy directly in the center of all four quadrants. After all, the Defenders were not just saving the people from the monsters outside the town, but also from the ones inside of it.


    They were the ones that stopped crime in the town.


    Finally, the Last section was thend where the Dulls lived. It was the farnd where the food and crops for the entirety of the town were produced.


    The Last section had a massive area too, but because it was a long strip ofnd, its width was rather small, making the distance from the Veil terrifyingly low.


    As such, it was the first thing to be attacked if the monsters did manage to slip past the Defenders that patrolled the veil.

 Chapter 4: The Shop on the 3rd Quadrant

    <h4>Chapter 4: The Shop on the 3rd Quadrant</h4>


    Bradley and Stanley walked down the street to the third quadrant, crossing over small bridges from time to time.


    The people around them would quickly make way for the two of them as it was mandatory to give the Defender a path ahead if they were walking on it.


    Not doing so could lead to the Defenders beingte wherever they were going, so everyone was made to move aside if they saw a Defender walking toward them.


    There was only a single wide street in any of the quadrants and it was the one that led from the top of the slope all the way to the bottom. It was made so that Defenders and anyone else that needed to could easily rush down the town to get to where they needed to.


    Otherwise, the town was rather cramped with the roads narrow enough for no more than four people to walk side by side.


    After about 15 minutes of walking, the two brothers finally arrived at the lower half of the 3rd Quadrant where the restaurant was.


    "Did we really have toe all this way for some food?" Stanley asked. "Aren''t there better food out there in the 1st and 2nd Quadrant?"


    "I''ve been hearing a lot of rumors about this ce and just how crazy good the food here is," Bradley said. "Now it could all be false, and the other ces may have infinitely better food, but we won''t know about that until we eat here first, will we?"


    "I¡­ suppose," Stanley said and followed his brother to the shop.


    The shop was quite small. It was a house with an open front made up of rock and mud. Wooden houses were prone to fire, so they weren''t allowed in such a congested area.


    Instead, the people worked around the cliff walls to break them down to use the t rocks to build what was needed in the town.


    Stanley smelled something nice and savory in the air,ing from the small room in front of him. He looked at the ce and was surprised to see that it was indeed quite packed.


    "It seems we will have to wait," Bradley said looking around the ce.


    "It''s just like you said," Stanley said. "It''s quite popr."


    Thankfully, there weren''t many people around waiting for the others to leave, so the two brothers got to enter about after another 15 minutes of standing around.


    Stanley looked around the room and was surprised at how everything was set up. There weren''t regr tables and chairs in the middle of the room at all. Rather, there was a long and thin table going around the walls with chairs in front of them.


    Instead of facing each other, people would have to face the wall while they ate. It wasn''t the best way to eat if you were with someone else, but it was most definitely the best way to save on space.


    The cooking happened in the middle and was done by a girl in herte teens and early 20s. She wore a gray apron and a white cloth that covered her hair while she worked on the food that she would hand over to all of her customers.


    There was a single dish on the menu, so there was no need for an order. The girl quickly brought over tworge bowls to the two brothers and handed them over.


    "Thank you," Bradley said with a small smile, which usually was enough to charm anydy, but this one didn''t give him the attention he was expecting.


    "Thank you," Stanley said softly, looking into the girl''s face once and staring as she walked away.


    "Hmm? What''s wrong?" Bradley nudged him. "Did you fall for her or what?"


    "What?" Stanley looked back. "Oh no, it was her eyes. I have never seen eyes so blue."


    "Wow, my brother. You actually looked into her eyes?" Bradley asked. "Are you sure you didn''t fall for her?"


    "Stop teasing me," Stanley said. "It''s just surprising because I haven''t seen anyone with both blue eyes and yellow hair."


    "Hmm, the yellow hair is unique, I must say," Bradley said. "If you had blue eyes too, people would think she''s your sister."


    "Maybe," Stanley said and turned around to his food. He looked at what it was that they had been served and was quite surprised.


    "Wait, isn''t this just noodles?" he asked.


    "It is," Bradley said with a confused look. "But everyone praises it, so it must be good."


    The noodle was inside some sort of fatty soup with a few pieces of pork meat on the side. There was also half of a boiled egg on top, the yolk of which wasn''t fully cooked.


    ''She didn''t even bother to cook the egg properly. Just how good can this be?'' Stanley thought and used his fork to pull out some noodles from the soup and bit into them.


    As soon as he ate, an explosion of vor bombarded the inside of his mouth, forcing him to eat more and more. He ate some more noodles, bit on a piece of meat, and cut off a piece of the egg before eating it.


    Bradley was the same as well, eating as quickly as he could since what he ate was very tasty. "Slow down or you''ll choke," he quickly said to his brother while he also slowed down himself.


    Stanley slowed down a bit and drank a bit of the liquid inside his bowl.


    "How is it? It''s good right?" Bradley asked.


    "It''s beyond good," Stanley said.


    "See?" Bradley said while smiling when he saw his brother happy. "Now, let''s talk about what''s going on with you."


    Stanley paused for a bit and looked toward his brother.


    "I know the memory still haunts you, but you need to learn to move on," Bradley said. "Those feelings that you get might have something to do with your powers. You need to follow them."


    "I¡­ I don''t think so," Stanley said.


    "It has to be," Bradley said. "It must be the activation condition for your powers. If you follow it through, you will be able to use your power. I''m sure of it."


    Stanley looked down. "But¡­ I can''t," he said. "I can''t do it at all. Every time I get the feeling, I¡­ Do you want me to forget about mother?"


    Bradley stayed silent for a few seconds before speaking again.


    "It''s been 3 months since mother died, and you still haven''t visited her grave, have you?"

 Chapter 5: Problems

    <h4>Chapter 5: Problems</h4>


    The words fell like a hammer to Stanley''s heart. Ever since he had fully healed from his injuries a month ago, he had been thinking about visiting his mother''s grave. However, each time he thought that he would feel an intense amount of guilt for not being able to save her.


    It was fortunate that Stanley wasn''t facing his brother right now, or he would have read everything from his face right then and there. It was fortunate that he was facing the wall as that would be the only thing that could see the intense sorrow that appeared on his face for that one moment.


    "I¡­ I can''t do it right now," Stanley said softly.


    "Why?" his brother asked, waiting for him to continue speaking.


    Stanley thought of what to say but there was nothing he could say right there that could satisfy his brother.


    "I¡­ I''m not ready just yet," Stanley said. "Please brother, let''s not talk about this right now. I''ll go when I''m ready."


    Bradley looked at his brother for a few seconds before sighing. "Fine, but you will have to do it sooner orter," he said.


    Stanley nodded mindlessly and ate the food in front of him.


    The vor and the taste of the food was still there, but for some reason, it no longer brought him the same joy it had moments ago.


    The pain in his heart had ruined the taste of the food he was eating.


    "Anyway," Bradley spoke again. "You will need to get back to being able to fight once again. If you can''t do it by the half-year test in 3 months, you will definitely be thrown off the Defenders, never to be able to join it again.


    Stanley jerked up a bit. "That won''t happen," he said quickly. "I will be a Defender, brother. One way or another. I¡­ I won''t be happy until I''ve killed all the crawlers out there."


    Bradley looked at his brother''s eyes which seemed to shine with determination and finally smiled. "That''s the Stanley I know."


    Stanley gave a meek little smile and went on to finish his food. "Oh right, you only talked about me, brother. What about you? How are you doing?" he asked.


    "I''m fine," Bradley said. "I have had enough time to process mother''s death, so it isn''t as bad for me as it is for you."


    "What about the job? I hear it''s very hard right now," Stanley said.


    "Yeah, ever since that incident 3 months ago, it''s been difficult," Bradley said.


    "Is guarding the Veil with what little Defenders there are now must be hard," Stanley said. "How many of you are there again?"


    "Around 120 people that can actually fight. The rest are injured and cannot fight. It should be close to 160 when your group is added too," Bradley replied after thinking a bit.


    Stanley gave a worried look. "Is it even possible to guard the Veil with just 160 people?" he asked.


    "The Veil?" Bradley said while shaking his head. "That''s not even our main problem right now."


    Stanley gave a confused look. "What do you mean?" he asked.


    Bradley looked around the room and moved slightly closer to his brother. "Do you know how many people died 3 months ago?" he asked.


    "About a hundred Defenders?" Stanley asked. "I only know that number since regr people''s death isn''t public knowledge."


    "340," Bradley said. "340 people died that day and over 800 were injured in some minor or major way. There are still people in the Mayor''s ce who he is trying to save until this day. Sadly he doesn''t have the power to heal many people at once, so he has to spare what he can."


    "I see," Stanley said. He must''ve been lucky to have been healed so early then. "Wait, what does this all have to do with what I asked?"


    "Because most of the people who died were Dulls, there is ack of people to work in the farms right now. So, the Defenders have be stricter, sending anyone who seems to be useless to work in the fields."


    "It wouldn''t be so bad if that was the case alone, but because so much was destroyed in the carnage back then, they don''t even have a normal ce to live in."


    "These people live in fear every day right now of being sent to work on the farm. Since not only do they now have to fear the crawlers, but also the Defenders, they are starting to develop some negative feelings."


    "There have been signs of resistance forming within the people, and the seniors fear that soon enough they mightunch an attack against the mayor. If that happens¡­ the town will be in big trouble. We can''t afford an internal conflict right now, not so soon after the tragedy."


    Stanley''s mouth was wide in shock after hearing what his brother had said. He had never imagined that the people would be angry at all. However, thinking about it logically, it all made sense.


    "You must be working hard then," he said.


    "We''re trying to find the main figures who are spreading the idea of resistance in the people. As long as we find them, we should be fine," Bradley said.


    "Yeah, you should definitely d¡ª"


    Loud sirens red all of a sudden and everyone in the room stopped eating at that very moment. People started panicking as the siren meant that a monster had slipped through the veil


    "Everyone, calm down please," Bradley stood up and started speaking. "There is no need to panic at all."


    The crowd calmed down a bit, but they were still jittery.


    "Stan, pay thedy, I''m going out first," Bradley said and ran out of the building quickly.


    Stanley had heard the words, but he had frozen in his seat as he tried his best to calm down his beating heart.


    The sudden siren had reminded him of that day once more. Fortunately, it wasn''t as bad as the times when he got those feelings.


    He took a few deep breaths to calm himself fully and opened his eyes.


    The crawlers hade inside once again. He wanted to see those bastards die this time around.

 Chapter 6: Pain

    <h4>Chapter 6: Pain</h4>


    It took Stanley a minute to get his emotions under control before he stood up abruptly. He turned around to face the blonde-haireddy who was standing behind him.


    "Little brother, are you alright?" she asked, looking all around him. "It looked like you were having an anxiety attack."


    Stanley panicked a bit when he realized that someone else had found out about his problems but remembered quickly that it wasn''t all that bad if it was found.


    He gave as best a smile as he could and said, "I''m fine. Thank you for worrying about me," he said.


    "If you''re alright then¡­ that''s good," thedy said. "Let me know if you need something."


    "It''s alright," Stanley said. "How much for the noodles?"


    "It''s 3 coins each," the girl said.


    ''3 coins each, so 6 coins huh? That''s¡­ quite affordable,'' he realized. He quickly reached for his bag and pulled out 7 coins from inside.


    He sighed when he saw the 7 coins.


    The coins were made from iron found on the right cliff and stamped with a V with an arch going across the middle. It was a top-down view representation of the Last Hope.


    The coins were covered in some sort of paint, the recipe of which was one of the deep secrets hidden by the mayor.


    People could try to counterfeit the coins as much as they wanted, but without ayer of this paint on the coins, they could never be epted as currency in the Last Hope.


    In a way, the Mayor controlled the economy of the Last Hope too.


    ''Just 7 and I have to pay 6 right now?'' Stanley thought. ''It was supposed to be Bradley''s treat, and yet here I am paying.''


    He handed over the 6 coins to thedy. ''Whatever, it''s his money in the first ce,'' Stanley thought.


    "Are you really okay?" thedy asked while seeing Stanley get lost in thought once again.


    "Yes, I am fine," Stanley said. "Your noodles were really tasty. I wille again soon."


    "Sure," the girl said and watched him leave.


    Just as he was about to walk out, the sirens red once more, terrifying Stanley suddenly. The panic returned as he took a deep breath instinctively.


    His arms spread around, trying to get hold of something. As he did, his left hand caught onto something that was next to him.


    He quickly pulled back his arm as intense pain red from his palm.


    "Ahhh!" he shouted in pain and immediately crouched down.


    "Are you alright?" the girl quickly ran up to him. "Why did you touch the open handle?"


    "Urghh!" Stanley cried in pain which brought tears to his eyes. The burning pain in his hand was hard to control and he slowly turned it around to see.


    From one end of his palm to the index and middle finger, a long red diagonal burn mark was left behind from where he had touched the hot handle of the boiling soup.


    "Here," the girl quickly brought a bowl full of water. "Put your hands in this for a second."


    Stanley nodded and ced his hands in the bowl. Immediately, a sense of relief came from his palm as the pain subsided quite a bit.


    Not only that but somehow the panic he had felt was also gone as the pain had overwhelmed any other emotion he had felt.


    "Take this bowl with you and go to the stream there. Keep your palm inside the water for at least 15 minutes or so before the pain subsides," thedy said.


    Stanley nodded and moved toward the stream. After he got there, he ced his palm inside the cool water, feeling more relief than what he had felt in the bowl.


    While he sat there, he looked to his right, towards the Veil where currently a battle was happening.


    * * * * * *


    Bradley ran down the slope, crossing past the edge of the 3rd Quadrant, past the small patch of woods between the 2nd section and the 3rd sect,ing out on the farnds.


    With how open the farnd was, he could see what was going on in the distance.


    Outside of the veil, there was a single Ink Crawler that was fighting against 10 different people all by itself.


    "Shit!" Bradley thought. After the incident 3 months ago and the subsequent drop in the number of Defenders, the number of Defenders that patrolled the veil had be less than 30 at any given time, with it being even less during transition periods.


    Since the veterans patrolled the veil during nighttime, the ones that were patrolling right now were all newbies, ones who had only fought the ink crawlers for the first time 3 months ago.


    After that, they never fought it again, until today. With no veteran there to help them likest time, Bradley worried that his friends were going to die.


    No, his friends were already dying.


    Even from far away, he heard the sound of one of the Crawler''s inky ck limbs striking against the body of someone who hadn''t managed to dodge at all.


    The person''s body flew like a ragdoll in the air and hit the ground hard. Without a doubt, the person was dead.


    Bradley ran even faster after seeing this as he needed to help the lot. However, his head moved to the side when some other movement caught his eye.


    About 200 meters away from the first Crawler, another Crawler was making its way into the town.


    His eyes went wide and fear appeared in his heart as he wondered if the same thing that happened 3 months ago was happening once more.


    The sirens red once again as the second Ink Crawler made its way through the veil and the Defenders started gathering toward it once more.


    Bradley looked at the two Crawlers one after another, wondering which one he should go for first.


    "Let''s get rid of the closest one first," he thought. "We can then go for the 2nd Crawler together."

 Chapter 7: Ink Crawlers

    <h4>Chapter 7: Ink Crawlers</h4>


    Ink Crawlers were named as such because of the terrifying ck ink-like texture their body had.


    Their body was a simple t mass of darkness with 5 massive limbsing out of them, each one of which was abination of many smaller inky vine-like strands that joined together to form the giant limbs.


    They usually stood on all 5 of their limbs, like the palm of one''s hand with all 5 fingers bent down, with each finger being nearly 10 meters long and a meter thick. However, when inbat, they usually stood on 3 limbs or even just two, fighting with the free limbs.


    These monsters were unnaturally fast and they hit very hard too. Which was why one needed to be on their toes when fighting the thing.


    These monsters didn''t have any eyes, and one yet didn''t know how they saw exactly. However, they could see and they could tell exactly where you were, even if you were hiding.


    The Defenders believed that it had something to do with smell, but they were not yet sure if that was true or not.


    Bradley looked at the one closest to him and ran for it. It was standing on two of its limbs, swinging its other 3 limbs around at the 6 people that were fighting close to it.


    Unfortunately, too many people trying to fight the same Crawler usually causedplications and mimunication which was a lot worse than having fewer people fighting it.


    So, most of the others were standing around, helping in their own way by shooting arrows and using their powers from far away.


    "I''m here," Bradley shouted when he got close. He was very close to the Crawler, being only 30 meters away from it. "I am here to help you. Stay in my sight."


    The rest realized who hade. "Yes!" they all shouted as they tightened their grips on their sword and went for the monster.


    There was only one way to kill a Crawler. It was not by burning it with fire, cutting it in pieces, or even raining arrows on it.


    The way to kill a Crawler was much more simple. You attacked until it died.


    No matter how much you cut it, pierce it, strangle it, or even burn it, the ck goop on the Crawler''s body always grew back, wriggling all over it as it became vines that joined together to form the body and veins.


    However, after a certain point, that would stop. It would stop regenerating, and if you hurt it then, the damage would remain, and after enough damage, the monster would die.


    One of the 6 men close to the Crawler dashed forward. He burst out in speed asunched himself to sh the monster.


    Bradley then took off his pouch full of coins and his sword from his hip and tossed them aside before getting ready to use his powers. He joined his palm and intertwined his fingers as that was the activation ritual for his powers.


    Then, he looked at the man.


    The Crawler noticed the man and mmed down one its limbs at him. The man saw the limb falling down, but he did not hesitate. His target was one of the two limbs on the ground and he would hit it no matter what.


    The limb mmed onto the ground, kicking up quite a bit of dust, which blocked Bradley''s vision. He stopped using his powers and waited as the man that had gone in for an attack quickly rushed back out.


    Another limb fell down on another person that had sent his sword into the monster. Bradley looked at him and activated his powers.


    The limb mmed onto the man, only for the man to jump up from under its arm. Bradley canceled his powers and the mannded on top of the limb.


    He reached out for the sword he had thrown, which quickly flew back to him. He used the sword to sh the limb he was on as hard as he could before jumping away from the limb.


    Another man moved at the same time, shing down the Crawler''s other limb it was standing. The damage was there but the Crawler brushed it off as it quickly regenerated.


    One of the men that were standing around watching rushed into the battle. His powers were useless in a fight by himself, but since Bradley was here, he could help a bit.


    He crouched down next to the Crawler and closed his eyes. He touched the ground, which slowly turned liquid under his touch, undting like water. He somehow floated on this unnaturally waving ground, feeling more and more worn out with each passing second he had to use his power.


    The Crawler targeted him as well, but he didn''t falter. He waited there as the limb fell onto him.


    The ground mmed, but there was no dust this time around. The Crawler''s limb fell into the puddle of solid ground and the young man stopped his power.


    The liquid ground immediately froze solid and the Crawler''s limb was stuck. He pulled out a sword and started shing at it, removing the ck ink on its surface.


    The more he got rid of it, the more the monster had to regenerate to reform itself. If he kept this going, he could kill the Crawler all by himself.


    Since the monster''s limb was stuck and constantly attacked, it couldn''t put enough strength in its own limb to pull it out.


    So, it started using the other two limbs to attack around. Bradley did his best to protect his fellow Defenders, but the onught was too much even for him, and the other Defenders had to back out.


    Then, the Crawler finally managed to put enough power in its stuck limb and pulled it out with great strength.


    The ground tore open asrge chunks of rocks started flying around, with the biggest one flying in Bradley''s direction.


    Bradley was surprised, but it was a fleeting emotion that he managed to suppress since he needed to survive.


    Then, he closed his eyes.

 Chapter 8: Surprised Crowd

    <h4>Chapter 8: Surprised Crowd</h4>


    Whoever Bradley looked at became intangible. That was his power.


    There were a few conditions to his power that he had figured out after testing it over thest 8 years since he had awakened it.


    Firstly, his powers only worked on humans and nothing else. He couldn''t turn nts, animals, or any other inanimate objects intangible at all.


    Secondly, his powers could only work on one person at a time. He had learned to switch it between his targets wasting as little time as possible by now, but he still hadn''t managed to make it work on more than a single person.


    It was most likely that it would never work on more than a single person.


    When he made someone intangible, he also made whatever was touching that person intangible as well, namely his clothes. Confusingly, however, rocks, metals, ss, and a few other things didn''t be intangible even if the person was touching them.


    But, even if they didn''t be intangible, as long as they were in contact with the thing that was, they could move along just fine.


    Since those things could cause trouble when being intangible, Bradley usually got rid of his coins and sword before using his powers.


    Any person that went intangible could still interact with light as well as hear things, although in a very different way. This way, one could see a person even when even they were intangible.


    Air, however, did simply go through one''s body, so being intangible for too long was not a good idea.


    Just like with everyone else that had some powers, there was an activation ritual that Bradley had toplete before he could use his powers.


    These rituals were usually something very simple like closing one''s eyes or holding one''s breath. In the case of Bradley, he had to hold his own hands with his fingers intertwined.


    As long as he did that, Bradley could use his powers.


    When he used his powers, he had to look at the person he wanted to use his powers on. It only worked when the person he wanted to use his powers on was in his vision. If he was not, the power deactivated on its own, albeit the effect lingered on the person for a second or two.


    When it came to using the power on himself, however, things were a littleplicated. His powers didn''t work on him if he just looked at his arms, his legs, or even his torso.


    To use his powers on himself, Bradley had to see at least part of his own face consciously. He could go cross-eyed to look at his nose, but that took a bit of time.


    The easiest way to use his powers on himself was to simply close his eyes.


    The moment the Crawler pulled out its limb from the ground and therge chunks of rocks were thrown in Bradley''s direction, he closed his eyes. Unlike others, he couldn''t see when he was intangible, so he had to rely on the very drowned-out sounds that he heard when he was in that state.


    He heard the deep rumbling sounds of the rocks passing through him, the sound of the air rushing through him like a storm. When he was sure that the sound wasn''t from somewhere close, he opened his eyes.


    There was a piece of rock where his leg was when he became tangible again. Since two objects couldn''t be in the same space, when his powers vanished, they repelled each other quickly.


    The piece of rock was pushed back while Bradley''s foot shot forward.


    He quickly stabilized himself and looked at the Crawler that had started fighting again. He was about to get back to help when he noticed that part of the limb where it had been attacked wasn''t healing at all.


    "It''s about to stop regenerating," he shouted at the people who felt rejuvenated when they heard that. "Just a little more and we can win this fight."


    * * * * * *


    Stanley sat around with his palm in the stream. It had been around 10 minutes since he hade here and surprisingly, his pain had lessened quite a bit.


    ''She was right,'' he thought. The stream water did help his burn not hurt a lot. He was a little worried though that this was all temporary and the moment he pulled it back out, the pain woulde back in full force.


    "How long do I have to keep it again? 15 minutes?" He thought. "How long more is it until 15 minutes?"


    Just as he wondered that he heard a few people gasp in surprise around him. Stanley quickly turned around to look at what was going on.


    As he did, he saw the people in the distance, next to the main road making way for someone that was walking through.


    It was expected for them to be making a way in the current situation as the Defenders were urgently fighting the Crawlers near the veil, but there was no need to make any noise at all.


    When he thought that, he saw a giant man, nearly 2 and a half meters tall. Even while sitting by the creek, he could see the man towering over everyone as he slowly made his way down the street.


    The man was named In, if he remembered correctly, and was one of the most physically gifted people in the entire town. His strength was massive,ing second maybe only to the Crawlers.


    He would have made one hell of a Defender if he had joined. Unfortunately, while he was gifted physically, he wasn''t all there mentally.


    He had the intelligence of a child and couldn''t do much fighting aside from just rushing in blindly. That would not help anyone at all when it came to fighting Crawlers and the man would be the first one to die if he ever did.


    Everyone considered him a waste of luck. However, since he was still physically gifted, he was taken away by the Mayor to be his personal helper and guard.


    Which meant that the people in the streets weren''t gasping for this big man at all.


    They were gasping because the Mayor had left his home after a long time.

 Chapter 9: The Mayor

    <h4>Chapter 9: The Mayor</h4>


    Damian Hazel was the 5th Mayor of the town of Last Hope. He had be a mayor at a very young age and had been one for nearly 40 years now.


    He had made decisions for the town for as long as he had been mayor, but he rarely left his mansion, so people rarely saw him.


    He was only over 60 years old now but was somehow very frail to move around. Many people believed he was aging very fast because of the very useful power that he had which had helped the people in the town of Last Hope for a long time.


    Damian had the power of healing.


    Not many knew what sort of healing he could do, or just how his healing even worked. Did he have to touch the person? Did he needplete darkness?


    No one knew what the specifics of his powers were, not even how they were activated. What they did know was that the Mayor was aging faster than he should be and it was all because he used his power of healing to help the people of Last Hope.


    Because he was so old and frail and always remained in his mansion, the people were surprised and formed a crowd in the streets when they saw the man walking.


    Stanley stared at the road and through some small gaps in the crowd, he saw the old man slowly walking behind the giant In. He wore simple white robes and brown trousers and used a metal cane to aid him in walking.


    A few memories shed in his head when he saw the old man.


    Lights shed in his vague memory with sounds that he couldn''t understand. He could barely open his eyes back then and when he did, he remembered seeing this old man.


    He didn''t even remember the man himself, but rather his long white beard. The old man was healing him back then, back then when all of his limbs hurt like crazy and he was losing a lot of blood.


    Stanley remembered the ringing in his ear and the dizziness in his head. He quickly shook his head and got rid of the memory.


    That had been his memory back in the Mayor''s mansion, back when he and many others like him were taken over to the mayor to heal after they were attacked.


    ''Right,'' Stanley thought. ''I have been to that mansion before.''


    If only he remembered anything from that ce. Given how many people were curious about the mayor''s mansion to see how fancy it was, it was a shame that he couldn''t remember anything aside from the shing memories of when he was going in and out of consciousness while being saved.


    He took a deep breath so as to not think back to those times as doing so led him to another memory that was too painful to remember.


    He sat there with his palm in the water and watched as the mayor walked away. The mayor was walking in the direction of the veil, which surprised not just him but many people.


    ''He didn''t even leave his mansion 3 months ago,'' Stanley thought. ''Why is he out now? And why is he going where the fight is happening? Has it already ended?''


    "So that''s the mayor huh?" a voice spoke from next to him.


    Stanley turned around to see the blonde-haired girl from the shop standing next to him as she watched the crowd too.


    "That''s him," Stanley said. "Is this your first time seeing him by any chance?"


    "Yes," the girl said.


    That was a little surprising to Stanley. After all, he had seen the old man at least 3 times before, not even counting the time when he was wounded.


    One of those times was quite a long time ago when he was just a kid and the old man had gone around the town.


    The other two times were when the old man came to give a small speech during each time there was a batch of new Defenders-in-training.


    ''Of course, she wouldn''t have seen him there,'' Stanley thought. ''She''s a girl.''


    Girls weren''t allowed into the Defenders at all.


    Nobody questioned why that was. It was just the way things were. Only boys were allowed into the Defenders while the girls were forced to do other work that didn''t require them to fight or get into conflict.


    "That''s enough, you can pull your hand out now," the girl said, bringing Stanley out of his thoughts.


    "Is it?" he asked as he slowly lifted his left arm from the water. He prepared for the burning pain that was going to follow, but to his surprise, it didn''t.


    "Oh, you were right, sister," Standley said, flexing his fingers a bit. "The pain nowhere near close to what it was before either."


    The red mark had faded quite a lot too and it no longer burned at all.


    "What?" the girl grabbed his palm and pulled it up. "How is it already halfway healed?"


    "Because I put it in water?" Stanley asked, but judging from the girl''s face, it wasn''t the case. "How long does it take for a burn mark to heal?"


    "I don''t know, you can heal it in a¡ª" the girl stopped in the middle of her sentence and moved her eyes around a bit. "A week, maybe? That should be enough."


    "Oh, so this must be fast then," Stanley said. He wondered why it was so fast though.


    "Is your power that of healing? You should have healed yourself sooner then," the girl said.


    "N-no," Stanley said, a little embarrassed. "I don''t have any powers."


    "Huh?" the girl shouted in surprise, which was not a reaction he had been expecting from her. Usually, people acted disgusted as if they shouldn''t even be touching a Dull at all.


    "Your powers must be one of healing. You should know about it already," the girl said.


    Stanley was a bit confused too. "Hmm, maybe it''s because of the mayor," he said.


    "The mayor? What about him?" the girl asked.


    "The mayor healed me after I was injured in the incident 3 months ago," he said. "Maybe some residual healing power of his remains in me, which is why I healed so quickly."

 Chapter 10: Sheila

    <h4>Chapter 10: She</h4>


    "Residual Healing¡­" the girl thought for a moment. "Not sure if healing powers work that way, but who knows? Maybe the Mayor''s healing can have a residual effect."


    Stanley nodded. "That must be it," he said.


    "Still, there is a chance that it is your power. You need to check and see if that is the case," the girl said.


    "I would doubt that''s my powers," Stanley said. "I wouldn''t have to have been helped by the Mayor if that was the case. Besides, I''m pretty sure I''m a Dull, just like my mother was."


    The girl looked at him for a bit. "How old are you, kid?" she asked.


    "17," Stanley said softly.


    "Oh, you''re only a year younger than me, huh?" the girl spoke to herself. "Don''t consider yourself a Dull when you''re just 17. I''ve known people who have awakened powers way into their 20s. You might also awaken it soon, don''t give up."


    Stanley smiled a bit. He wasn''t sure if the girl was being genuine, or if she was only saying what she thought he would like to hear. Either way, those words made Stanley feel quite good. No one aside from his brother ever told him that he had a chance to awaken his powers.


    Funnily enough, he got a little hopeful too. ''Maybe brother is right, and those feelings I get are my activation ritual for my powers,'' he thought.


    The crowd dissipated once the mayor was gone far away and everyone started going back to their own things.


    "Youngdy, are you the owner of this shop?" someone called out to the girl next to Stanley.


    "Oh shit! My shop," the girl quickly remembered. She was about to go back when Stanley called out for her.


    The girl turned around. "What?" she asked.


    "Your bowl," he handed over the bowl that she had given him to rest his burned hand in.


    "Oh, right," the girl remembered.


    "Also, may I know your name, sister," Stanley asked.


    "My name? Why?" the girl asked.


    "Just because," Stanley said. "You''ve been quite helpful to me today, so I wanted to know your name."


    The girl looked at Stanley for a bit. "You''re not trying to hit on me, are you?" she asked.


    "Hit on you? I would never hit you," Stanley quickly shook his head.


    "No, not that," the girl said. "I meant¡­ never mind, it''s She."


    "I see. My name is Stanley. Thank you for helping me today, She," Stanley said.


    The girl stared at him for a second for so easily using her name, but she shook her head in the end and turned around to leave.


    "I''ll return the favor sometime in the future if I can," Stanley shouted toward She who waved her hands as she returned to her shop.


    Stanley then stared at his hand and wondered, ''Could I really have healing powers? I''ll have to ask brother to help test me or something.''


    That reminded him. "Right, should I go check on brother?"


    Stanley wasn''t sure if that was the right thing to do, but since he was already so close and his brother was fighting for his life, he needed to go there.


    He pushed back any negative thoughts that were about to affect him and walked down the street in the direction of the veil.


    * * * * * *


    Bradley looked at the young man far away from him and the Crawler''s limb phased through him without hurting him at all.


    The sword on the young man''s arm was knocked aside from the attack, but the young man himself was fine as he was intangible for the time being.


    Someone shot a ball of fire from the side, hitting the side of the Ink Crawler that was standing on two limbs. When the ball of fire hit the surface, a few people that were looking intently realized that the crawler had stopped regenerating.


    "It stopped regenerating. It''s time," someone shouted and immediately everyone was ready to fight it for thest and final time.


    The other Crawler had already died, so this one was the only one they had to defeat before everything was over.


    The group brought out everything they had to attack the monster from every direction until the crawler slowly buckled under the onught of attacks. With no more regenerative capability, it whittled down until the scars from the attacks were so heavy that it could no longer sustain itself.


    The crawler suddenly lost all movement and fell to the ground with all 5 of its limbs spread wide. Then, the inky ck vines on its body slowly melted the entire monster was nothing but a puddle of inky goop.


    Finally, that inky goop turned into some sort of ck fog and dissipated into the air. After all of this, the Defenders around the veil were finally certain that the Crawler had truly died.


    Everyone slumped to the ground, taking long and deep breaths as they fought the fatigue that came after the fight. A few of the injured ones started crying out in pain while the ones that weren''t fatigued or in pain went to help.


    Bradley closed his eyes and stayed there for a few minutes, almost wanting to sleep right then and there. He hadn''t done much physically, but still using his power so much left him quite drained.


    He felt listless and wanted nothing more than to lie here forever. However, his eyes opened when he heard a bit ofmotion from around him.


    He quickly got up in fear that another Crawler had made its way inside. However, seeing no ck creature, he was relieved that was not the case.


    He then looked around to see the cause of themotion and saw the giant In making his way down the small pathway.


    Behind him was the old Damian, mayor of the Last Hope.


    "Mayor?" he quickly got up and ran until he and the rest arrived by the mayor who had just arrived.


    The mayor looked around the battlefield and smiled. "Good job on killing the crawlers."

 Chapter 11: Mayor鈥檚 Work

    <h4>Chapter 11: Mayor''s Work</h4>


    "Mayor? What are you doing here?"


    "Mayor, you shouldn''t be here, it''s dangerous."


    The Defenders spoke as such as they made their way to the mayor. In quickly moved in front of them all to block them as that was his job.


    "In, stop," the mayor said softly. "Let them get close."


    The giant man moved away and let the other Defenders gather close to the mayor. Bradley arrived as well and stood in the crowd.


    The mayor walked with his cane toward the crowd and was smaller than everyone around him. If not for his hunched back, he would have been just as tall as Bradley.


    "Good job on killing the crawlers," the mayor said as he looked at all the men that were there. "Someone give me a casualty report."


    "5 dead and 9 injured," one of them spoke,


    ''5 Dead,'' Bradley thought in shock. It had just been 2 Crawlers that hadn''t even interacted with each other and 5 had somehow died to them.


    At least thest time around, the Crawlers had made it into the farmhouses and the location had made it not a good ce to fight. However, they had no excuse as to why so many had died this time around except for the fact that they were ipetent.


    If they were a little stronger, a little better, surely they could''ve survived much longer, and there didn''t need to be so many deaths.


    But, Bradley couldn''t do anything about that. After all, that''s just how it was as a Defender. Defenders either died or were injured. It was never a matter of if, but a matter of when in this line of job.


    If not for young men with bravery, ambition, and drive to protect their town from the monsters that lurked outside, this group would have ended a very long time ago.


    "Any serious life-threatening injuries?" the Mayor quickly asked.


    The group of young men looked around and shook their heads. "None that are life-threatening," one of them answered.


    "That''s good, that''s good." The mayor looked around and sighed. "Collect the bodies of the dead. We will have to honor their death."


    Everyone walked away aside from Bradley and 2 other young men who stayed behind. The mayor looked at the 3 and then around.


    "Where''s Jack?" the mayor asked. "Is he not here yet?"


    "Jack¡­" one of the young men spoke. "He was one of the 5 that died today."


    "What?" the mayor''s face went pale white. "He¡­ died?"


    "Yes, mayor," the young men answered.


    Bradley had seen the moment Jack was killed and couldn''t get rid of the scene of him being crushed by the crawler''s limb from his head.


    "Sigh, why did he have to¡­ it''s such a shame," the mayor said. "George, Yasu, Bradley, don''t you three ever die. You three have a big responsibility to just die like that."


    "Yes, mayor," the three of them spoke at once.


    The mayor nodded. "I should get to my part of the job too," he said and slowly turned around.


    "Right, Mayor, why did youe here?" Bradley asked while walking up to him.


    "I haven''t been out, so I needed toe. I hear the people of the town aren''t very happy with what I''ve been doing, so I should at least talk with them, don''t I?" the mayor said. "In, let''s go."


    "Yes," the giant said with a grumble and grabbed the mayor before putting him on his shoulder. The old man could walk downhill with some problems, but uphill wasn''t as easy for him at all.


    Bradley and the rest followed the mayor until he was past the farnd and in the area where the newly built houses were. Due to theck of wood, the new houses were instead simple huts made with stone and dried mud.


    They looked a lot worse than the house Bradley used to live in, the one that dripped with water everywhere when it rained.


    People were gathering around those areas and a few of those even came toward the mayor.


    In instantly took on a more defensive position, making the people fear him a little.


    "Mayor, why does this keep happening? Do we have to die too as thest ones did?"


    "I''m not even a Dull, why did you send me to work on the farm?


    "Mayor, please, I will work in the mines if that''s what you want. I don''t want to stay here, please."


    "Why am I being punished?"


    The people cursed him, begged him, and did whatever they could to get their piled-up emotions out of them.


    The mayor tapped him on In''s arm. "Put me down."


    In slowly ced the mayor on his feet, who took a few steps toward the people. Then, he bowed in their direction.


    "I would like to apologize to anyone who I have inconvenienced with my decisions," the mayor said. "I promise you, my decision was done with no bias at all. It was never meant to be a punishment, just a desperate attempt at survival."


    "Due to the monsters'' attack, we were left without anyone to grow our crops or take care of our animals. Since I was busy with healing everyone that was injured, I had to make a quick decision, which I inevitably regret," the mayor said.


    After the attack 3 months ago and the many deaths of the Dulls, the farnd was left without anyone to look after it. So, the mayor had made the decision to send anyone who was either useless or a problem to the town to work on the farms.


    Inevitably, people weren''t happy with this decision, and still to this day, these people cursed at him for making that decision.


    "So, what now?" one of the people asked. "If you regret the decision, are you going to change it?"


    "Yes," the mayor said. "I was busy the past 3 months, but now I''m not. Since I finally have some free time to think, I will now make a more thoughtful decision. I hope you will all be happy with that."

 Chapter 12: Census

    <h4>Chapter 12: Census</h4>


    The crowd couldn''t help but feel a little happy when they heard that the Mayor was going to revert his order and make it so that they didn''t have to work on the farm anymore.


    "Well¡­ if you''re going to change it then¡­ we don''t really have any reason to be angry, I suppose," one of the people said.


    "Yes," another woman said. "So¡­ can we go back?"


    The others looked at him curiously as well.


    The mayor shook his head. "I''m sorry, but not yet. While it is true that I will revert your situation, it will take some time for me to do so," the mayor said. "As you might know, we are low on food supply this year. There are rations in the mansion that I can hand out in the worst-case scenario, but we still need people to grow the food for now."


    "But¡ª"


    "I know, I know," the mayor said. "I will do my best to find ones that actually deserve to be here. Please, just give me 3 more months. I promise you, you will immediately start seeing the changes."


    "What do you n on doing exactly?" one of the people asked.


    "Well¡­ I think I should start with a census. It''s been years since we have taken one, so I think it''s about time to take a census again and hopefully find ones that we can rece you with," the Mayor said. "Of course, I can''t guarantee that all of you will be changed since some of you should be Dulls too, and as you know, if there is a ce here, Dulls will have to work here."


    A few people in the crowd immediately lost their smiles. The rest of them were happy at least, and they quickly agreed to the mayor''s words.


    "Please, you can return back to your home. The sun should be setting anytime now," the old man said


    "Yes, thank you," the crowd said and walked away.


    The mayor sighed after everyone walked away and shook his head. The 3 young men behind him tried to figure out what he was thinking, but they couldn''t.


    "Mayor, are we really doing a census?" one of the young men named Yusa asked.


    "We have no choice," the old man said. "We need to find people that we can make work on the farm without the others being in fear of having to do the same. We need to nip this resistance in the bud."


    The mayor turned around. "I''ll have to think of exactly what to do for now, but we need to use this census as a means to find out just who exactly is trying to destroy the peace of this town," he said. "I''ll brief the Defenders tomorrow about everything. It should be the perfect timing to implement what I have been nning on doing for the past 3 months too."


    "Mayor¡­ are you finally going to have the training Defenders work as well?" Bradley asked.


    "Yes, we have no choice. We need the number," the mayor said. "Anyway, go back and rest. You''ve been through a lot today."


    "Yes, you too, mayor," the three said.


    The mayor turned around and had In ce him on his right shoulder again. "Stay well, and try not to die before I do," the mayor said. "Otherwise, I won''t have anyone to make the new mayor."


    The three young men took a deep breath. "Yes, mayor. We''ll do our best," the three of them said in unison.


    The mayor then tapped In with his cane, who took him away.


    The three stayed there until the mayor had gone far away, and then they returned to the veil to help with the dead and the injured.


    * * * * *


    Stanley walked down the road and saw In walking back up with the Mayor. He moved to the side and bowed toward the Mayor, who didn''t even turn to look at him.


    ''Does he not recognize me?'' he thought for a bit. However, remembering that there were hundreds injured when he was healed, it was normal that the old man wouldn''t recognize him.


    He turned to continue walking and in doing so caught sight of a young man who was walking back up the slopes.


    ''Isn''t that¡­ Gan?'' Stanley thought. The young man had very short cut hair and his colorless clothes didn''t stand out much either. However, the young man had been in the Defender''s training ss for the first year only.


    He suddenly left one day and never returned. Stanley hadn''t seen him much, so he was quite surprised to see him right now.


    The young man noticed Stanley too and paused for a moment. Then a sneer appeared on his face as he scoffed at Stanley and walked past him without saying anything.


    Stanley didn''t say or do anything. After all, that was the norm for most young men he met that knew he was a Dull. Nobody really respected him, even when his training scores were one of the best in his ss.


    ''I suppose that''s not true anymore,'' Stanley thought to himself. He looked towards the veil and moved onward while taking his time since the fight seemed to be over.


    He arrived by the veil sometime before darkness had fully taken over thend. The white light from themps helped him see better and he quickly found Bradley.


    Stanley felt a sense of relief when he saw his brother. He didn''t seem to be wounded either, so that was good.


    "Brother!" he shouted for him and made his way toward him.

 Chapter 13: Help Me

    <h4>Chapter 13: Help Me</h4>


    The Defenders carried their dead and took them back to the town so that their families could hold a funeral.


    Stanley walked a little further behind with his brother and looked at him worriedly. "Are you alright? You didn''t get hit right?" he asked.


    "No, I''m fine," Bradley said with a soft voice. He didn''t even have the strength in him to put any emotion into his voice. Today had been very draining.


    "Are you tired? Do you need some help walking?" Stanley asked.


    "Don''t worry about me. I''m your big brother; I should be the one worried about you," Bradley said. "What are you even doing here? What if there was a Crawler out here still?"


    "I checked before I came," Stanley said. "I only came because it was over."


    Bradley sighed and shook his head. He looked around the darkening farnds and his eyes fell onto a distantmp post that was already glowing.


    "Do you want to go there?" Bradley pointed toward the light in the distance.


    Stanley looked toward where his brother had pointed and his heart skipped a beat when he saw it. It was the cemetery, the ce where their mother was buried.


    Stanley quickly shook his head. He couldn''t handle something so intense just yet.


    "Because of the trauma?" Bradley asked.


    Stanley could only nod in return.


    "You need to deal with it," his brother said. "Unlike you, I had 3 months to get to terms with my mother''s death, but you haven''t even started unraveling the knot in your heart."


    "Come, let''s go to her grave and maybe you can start to be able to deal with it too."


    Bradley turned around to walk toward the cemetery but Stanley quickly grabbed his brother''s arm. "Brother, please. Not now," he said. "I can''t do it right now."


    "Dammit, how are you going to deal with your trauma, if you continue to¡ª"


    "Help me," Stanley quickly said.


    "¡­what?" Bradley asked.


    "Help me get over it," Stanley said. "I don''t want to be helpless at every moment either. I don''t want to be a burden to you either. I want to kill the Crawlers too."


    Bradley looked at his brother and Stanley stared back with a burning passion in his eyes.


    "I want to be a son that mom can be proud of."


    Bradley froze for a few seconds before his face broke out into a smile while his eyes filled with tears. He suddenly hugged his brother while patting him on the back. "Finally, it''s a single step forward but an important one," he said. "Of course, leave it all to your brother. I will do my best to help you."


    Stanley gave a small smile. "Can we start training tomorrow then? I want to see if I really have powers or not," he said.


    "Sure, tomorrow we can¡ª" Bradley paused. "Right, tomorrow is the announcement. No matter, we can train around the time the sky gets bright. We will have to return by the time the sun is up though."


    "Sure, I can do that," Stanley said.


    The Defenders returned to their quarters, with a few separating to bring the dead to their loved ones.


    Stanley and Bradley retreated to their rooms after having dinner and went to sleep.


    * * * * * *


    Bradley was just 11 years old and Stanley was only 10 at the time. Their mother was cooking dinner when the two kids ran into the house noisily.


    "Go get cleaned up before youe for dinner," their mother said without turning around.


    "Mom, mom, look," Stanley said loudly, making their mother turn around. She saw Stanley pointing at his brother who had a big smile on his face.


    "What¡­ should I look?" the woman asked.


    Bradley locked his fingers and went cross-eyed. "Hit me," he ordered. Without hesitation, Stanley punched his brother in the face as hard as he could.


    "Stanley! Don¡ª" their mother''s words stopped halfway when she saw her youngest son''s fist go right through his elder brother''s head.


    "What?" she couldn''t understand what had happened for a moment.


    "Mom, I got my powers!" Bradley said proudly and startedughing loudly.


    The woman remained bbergasted as she couldn''t understand how this could happen. "Bu-but your father was a Dull. I am a Dull, then¡­ how?" she asked.


    "Who cares mom," Bradley said. "All that matters is I now have powers too."


    "I¡­ I can''t believe it at all," their mother said.


    "Believe it, mom," Bradley said with his arms on his hip. "Just wait a few more years mother. I will be a Defender and then I will take you away to the town where you can live in a house that is a lot better and a lot bigger than this."


    "Really?" their mother asked as she came up to her son and ruffled her hair. "I can''t wait for that day, Bradley."


    The scenery changed to one where the house was all destroyed, with two corpses below his feet. The day he promised had finallye, and yet¡­


    "Mom?"


    Bradley suddenly woke up from his nightmare. He wiped his face and realized that he had broken out in sweat again.


    "That same dream again," he thought.


    The dream had started after his mother''s funeral once he had processed what he could process at the time.


    That had been the day he had been called to the mayor''s mansion along with the other 3. Had that not been the case, he would have most likely died in his house too.


    He remembered, after all the fight and carnage had ended, he had gone and found his destroyed house that no one had even checked yet.


    There he had found the half-destroyed corpse of his mother that had been crushed by a Crawler, as well as what he had at the time thought was his brother''s corpse as well.


    If he hadn''t heard the breathing back then, he would''ve assumed his brother had died as well.


    He shook his head to get rid of the thought and looked around. "What time is it?" he wondered. He went to the window and saw that the sky had started lighting up already.


    "Oh, it''s time," Bradley thought. "I should wake Stanley up."

 Chapter 14: Hold Back

    <h4>Chapter 14: Hold Back</h4>


    Stanley woke up to a loud thud in his room. He quickly looked around with drowsy eyes, trying to find the source of the sound only to see his brother in the room.


    "Brother, what are you¡­ did you use your powers to get in?" he asked.


    "How else would I have gotten in?" Bradley asked. "Why are you still asleep when you were the one that asked me to train you."


    "Uhh¡­ can I sleep for 5 more minutes, please. Just 5 more¡­ no," he quickly got back up and got out of bed. He jumped up a few times to wake himself up.


    "Let me go wash my face. We can leave after that," Stanley said.


    "Take your stuff ande along," Bradley said. "We''re going by the open ground next to the old mill to train, so you can wash by the stream there."


    "Oh, okay," Stanley said and grabbed a few things before leaving.


    The sky was bright and as such the town had somewhat woken up as well. However, since the direction the sun rose from was in the direction where the two cliffs met, it took some time before they actually got to see the sun.


    The old mill was on the other side of the 4th quadrant, and it took the two brothers just under 10 minutes to get there with how open the roads were this early in the morning.


    They arrived by the mill that was next to a ratherrge stream that made use of the vast quantity of water to run a water wheel that was used for running the mill to crushing giant ores up by the 2nd quadrant.


    The two of them walked across a small wooden bridge and arrived on the open grasnd that was on the other side.


    "Wash up, we will start afterward," Bradley said and the two brothers went to therge stream.


    Clear water flowed through the stream at quite a force. Stanley crouched by the edge of the riverbank and cupped his two hands to pull up some water.


    As he did, he remembered what he had done yesterday. He let go of the water and looked at the palm of his left hand.


    There was a barely visible red mark that itched a bit if he pressed on it hard, but there was no pain or difort otherwise. The burn he had suffered yesterday had somehow almost fully healed.


    "Brother, do you think I could have a healing power?" he asked absentmindedly.


    "Healing power? What makes you think that?" Bradley asked while washing his face.


    "Because of this," Stanley showed his palm. "I had burned myself on a pot in the noodle shop back in the 3rd quadrant yesterday. It was a bad burn, but somehow within 15 minutes it was almostpletely gone."


    "Huh?" Bradley looked at his palm and came up close. "You''re not lying, right?"


    "No, of course not," Stanley said. "I''m being serious, brother. I might have healing powers. It''s either that or the Mayor''s healing power has a residual factor."


    "After 3 months? No way! That can''t be¡­" Bradley said softly. "And if it is your power then how do you activate it?"


    Stanley paused and shook his head. "I don''t know," he said.


    "You don''t know?" Bradley asked. "How can you say you''ve awakened a power when you don''t even know how to activate it? If you really did, you must know the activation ritual. Try and think what it could be. You should know what it is instinctively."


    Stanley closed his eyes and tried to check if he knew his activation ritual. However, he couldn''t really tell if he had any. Did that mean that he hadn''t awakened his powers and had in fact used what the Mayor had left behind?


    But as his brother said, it had been 3 months since then. Could it really not be the mayor''s powers then?


    If he hadn''t awakened and wasn''t using the Mayor''s healing powers, then why was he healing so quickly?


    ''Maybe I don''t have a ritual? What if my activation ritual is getting injured?'' Stanley thought. However, he himself couldn''t believe it at all. Everyone simply knew their activation ritual when they got power, however, he didn''t know at all. Then was that not his power?


    "Hurry up, so we can start."


    Bradley went back and started stretching a bit while waiting for his brother toe. Seeing Stanley walking his way, he pulled out his sword and pointed at his brother.


    Stanley looked at his brother. "Are we using real swords?" he asked. "Isn''t that dangerous?"


    "You want to fight the Crawlers, don''t you?" Bradley asked. "Then you need to train with real swords. A wooden sword and a real sword have different weights and different bnces. Any small variation that you''re not used to in a fight can result in death, so you need to be trained for it with your actual sword."


    "I see," Stanley said and took out his sword as well. "What do we do now? Just fight?"


    "How does your¡­ thing work? What do you have to do to get it?" Bradley asked.


    "Those instinctive feelings? Umm¡­ I don''t know if they have a special trigger, but they usually happen when I fight," Stanley said.


    "Well, then we have no choice but to fight then," Bradley said. He got into a fighting stance and dashed toward his brother with his sword. The dash speed was slow since Bradley didn''t want to hurt his brother identally, and Stanley understood that too.


    He swung to the side and parried his brother''s sword with his own.


    Bradley felt force behind the hit and was surprised a bit. He used the force to turn and block the iing strike only to be surprised by the force again.


    "Stop! Stop! Stop!" Bradley quickly said and moved back. "Are you trying to hurt me for real or what? You don''t have to strike so violently."


    Stanley gave a confused look. "What do you mean?" he asked.


    "Why are you hitting so hard?" Bradley asked. "You need to hold back a bit."


    "But¡­ I am holding back," Stanley said. "Quite a bit too."


    Bradley''s eyes narrowed. "What? Are you saying¡­ that this is you holding back?"

 Chapter 15: Strong

    <h4>Chapter 15: Strong</h4>


    Bradley got back up and looked at his brother with a doubtful look. "Are you really holding back?" he asked.


    "Of course," Stanley said. "Why are you doubting me?"


    "Because you''re hitting so hard," Bradley said. "Can you hit me again? While holding back?"


    "Sure," Stanley said and swung his sword again. The force he put in was about 60% of what he could truly exert in a normal scenario.


    Bradley blocked the attack with his own sword and nearly cut himself with his own sword which fortunately didn''t fully leave his grip.


    "Damn, is something wrong with me today?" Bradley thought for a bit. "No, it had to be you. You''re hitting too hard."


    "Am I?" Stanley paused. "That''s weird."


    "Here, you block now," Bradley said and got ready to swing.


    Stanley waited for the sword to swing and blocked it when it did. He easily blocked his brother''s sword which his brother had swung while obviously holding back.


    "Again!" Bradley said and swung once more. When Stanley blocked this one too, he swung once again.


    Over and over, he swung multiple times. Each time he was blocked, he increased the force behind his attack little by little until he was swinging his sword at his brother harder than he had ever swung at a person before.


    He hadn''t even swung at a Crawler this hard before.


    However, Stanley didn''t seem phased at all. He stood there, blocking every single hit that came for him.


    "How are you doing this?" Bradley asked.


    Stanley was surprised at himself too. "I''m¡­ strong?" he couldn''t help but ask. Did it happen overnight by any chance? Or had he been this strong for a while and not realized it?


    "You''ve been physically better than almost all of your ssmates before, but this is different," Bradley said. He looked around and found a fist sized stone.


    He took the rock and threw it into the air as hard as he could. He watched the small stone flying high into the sky before falling a few distance away from them.


    Bradley picked the stone back up and threw it at his brother. "Throw it up as hard as you can. Let''s see exactly how much stronger you are than me," he said.


    Stanley nodded and immediately tossed the stone into the sky. It flew high, much higher than Bradley''s. It took a few more seconds to fall than it did for Bradley.


    "Wow!" Bradley couldn''t help but say. "You should be somewhere between one-and-a-half to two times as strong as me right now. How is that possible?"


    Stanley felt gleeful when he heard that he was much stronger now than he was before. Did that mean that his powers had activated?


    "Since when were you this strong?" Bradley asked.


    Stanley had no idea. He shrugged his shoulders. "I only just found out today," he said.


    "Have you not noticed it before? That you had grown stronger? What about when you fought during training? Did no one mentioned that you were hitting hard?" Bradley asked.


    "I¡­ I never hit anyone," Stanley said with saddened face. "I was tormented by the memories before I could even try to hit anyone."


    Bradley scratched his head as it all got even more confusing for him. How could his brother''s body have suddenly gotten stronger?


    "Do you have to do something to get this strong?" Bradley asked. "Any sort of activation ritual?"


    Stanley gave it some thought, but he couldn''t think of any. "No, it just is," he said. "Ooh, brother. Do you think my healing powers are rted to this? Maybe I can heal faster because I have a strong body."


    "Maybe?" Bradley said. "But the main problem is the fact that your body is strong. Why did it suddenly be strong?"


    "It isn''t like In''s, right?" Stanley asked.


    "In was born with a strong body. Your body grew strong sometime in between thest 3 months, it''s quite different," Bradley said. "Maybe it''s rted to those feelings you get?"


    "Could it be?" Stanley asked.


    "Did you get any sort of those feelings today?" Bradley asked.


    "No, it''s all just been normal for me," Stanley said. "You would know if I had those instinctive feelings."


    "Right," Bradley said. "Well, I can''t tell what is happening then."


    His brother''s body healed from a burn overnight and was nearly twice as strong as his own, and then there were those feelings he randomly got. Bradley couldn''t connect the dots between any of the three or even see how they could be his brother''s powers.


    After all, there was no activation ritual that Stanley had to do.


    "Hmm, we should ask the Mayor," Bradley said


    "The mayor?" Stanley was surprised. "How will you ask the mayor? You can''t even meet him."


    "He will be giving some announcements today during assembly. We can ask him afterward," Bradley said.


    "I mean, but he''s still the mayor. How will we approach him? Will he even stop for us when he has so much work to do?" Stanley asked.


    "He will, don''t worry," Bradley said.


    "Alright," Stanley thought. He didn''t have any other choices anyway.


    "By the way, we came here to deal with those random instincts of yours. Have they really note yet?" Bradley asked.


    "No," Stanley shook his head.


    "How do they usuallye?" Bradley asked. "Is there no specific trigger?"


    "Trigger¡­ well, no. Maybe fighting? It alwayses around when I''m about to train with someone else. There have been some other random times too, but fighting is one that guarantees that it happens," Stanley said.


    "But you didn''t get anything when we fought?" Bradley asked.


    "No," Stanley said.


    "Hmm, let''s continue and see what happens."


    The two brothers trained against each other for quite a while, but Stanley never got those feelings a single time during their training.


    Disappointed, the two of them had to return back to Defenders Quarters to have breakfast and get ready for the day.


    The assembly was going to start in less than an hour.

 Chapter 16: Break A Rule

    <h4>Chapter 16: Break A Rule</h4>


    Superior Healing, Superior Strength, or whatever the hell those feelings were that Stanley got from time to time; those had to be his true powers.


    Stanley wondered if in fact his powers hadn''t actually awakened, but were in the process of doing so, which was why he was showing signs of it without actually having it.


    That was perhaps the case for why there was no activation ritual either. But then, which of the three would end up being his true powers? If one of them did, then what about the other 2? What were they?


    In the end, he wasn''t even sure if any of them would actually end up bing his powers. After all, never in his life had he heard of someone showing signs of power without awakening it immediately.


    Awakening was supposed to be like the flick of a switch that turned on the light. There was no way it could be like a tap that took time to release the full flow of water.


    "Don''t worry," Bradley said after seeing his brother''s face. "We will figure it out soon enough. Just wait for after the assembly."


    Stanley nodded and went to the assembly that took ce in the training field. Over a hundred people were already there, with more joining by the minute. Not all Defenders were there, but every single trainee was there for certain.


    Stanley found his way to the third-year trainees and got into a line.


    "Oh, look who we have here. If it isn''t our batch''s highest-scoring trainee," a young man spoke from behind Stanley.


    Stanley didn''t even have to turn around to know that it was Desmond who was behind him. "What do you want, Desmond?" he asked. "I don''t have time for your nonsense."


    "Oh, nothing, nothing," the young man said as he came in front of Stanley. He had an elongated face with a sharp nose and short brown hair. He was taller than Stanley by half a head, so he looked down on him when he stood close to him.


    "I was just worried about you, you see. You used to be so good, but after you were hurt, you can''t fight at all. Since you don''t have any powers, at this rate you might have to go and work on the farm very soon," the boy said with a sad expression on his face.


    Stanley couldn''t help but feel disgusted looking at the person in front of him. "Keep your worry to yourself, I don''t need any fake ones," he said.


    Desmond''s face changed into disdain as he scoffed. "Hmph, fine. I can''t wait to see your downfall, you damned Dull. I will make sure you don''t pass the third year of training, so you will be forced to go work on the farm your whole life. Then, you can die there, just like your mother did."


    Stanley didn''t realize when his fist swung. It did so on its own and arrived at Desmond''s face. However, instead of hitting him, his fist went right through his face, surprising him for a moment.


    He bnced himself and looked around to search for his brother. It had been him that had just used his powers.


    "Hah! You just tried to hit me," Desmond shouted. "He tried to hit me."


    "He did," Bradley''s voice came from close by as he appeared. He looked at his brother who was clearly angry. "What are you doing?"


    "He spoke about mother," Stanley said angrily.


    Bradley sighed. He pat his brother''s shoulders and said, "Don''t fall for such obvious baits. He''s clearly trying to make you hit him outside of training to break the rule."


    Stanley grumbled, but he couldn''t say anything to that. He knew that if not for his brother, he would have most likely been in big trouble right now.


    Fighting in-between trainees themselves was considered a taboo in of itself, but a Dull hitting someone Awakened was even more severe. If Stanley was found guilty, he wouldn''t even be warned at all. He would be directly expelled.


    "He tried to hit me," Desmond shouted, gathering the attention of the people that were gathered there.


    "He tried to hit you, but he didn''t," Bradley said. "Calm down."


    "No, I won''t calm down. He tried to hit me," Desmond shouted. "Teacher! Teacher!"


    The people were starting to gather around to see what was happening, and it caused Stanley to cower a bit. Was it really going to be a problem?


    "There''s a difference between hitting you and trying to, isn''t there?" Bradley asked. "You haven''t been hit, so calm down."


    "No, there''s no difference. I won''t stand until a teacher brings justice here," Desmond shouted.


    "There''s no different, you say," Bradley said. "Did it hurt when my brother tried to hit you?"


    "What? No, it did not, but¡ª"


    *SLAP*


    Bradley suddenly pped Desmond in the face so hard that he didn''t even realize that he had been hit. It was only after the burning pain followed that he realized what had happened.


    "Did it hurt now?" Bradley asked.


    "Y-y-you¡ª"


    "Bradley? What are you doing?" someone from the crowd asked.


    Bradley put his palm up to stop the person for now. "Tell me, did that hurt or not?" he asked.


    Desmond started tearing up from the pain as a red palm print appeared on his left cheek.


    "See, you''re crying. It does hurt," Bradley said. "So it''s evident what my brother did is different from hitting you, isn''t it? Which means he broke no rule."


    Bradley stood up. "No need to crowd up, it was just a little confusion that has been settled," he said with a smile before turning toward Desmond.


    His face suddenly turned serious and his voice full of hatred.


    "Speak about my mother like that one more time and I will make sure you never speak again."


    He then pat his brother on the shoulder once and walked away.


    Stanley stood there with sparkling eyes, hoping that someday, he could be just like his brother as well.

 Chapter 17: Discrimination

    <h4>Chapter 17: Discrimination</h4>


    Kids were never considered Dull. After all, a person awakened their powers mostly in their teenage years, so you couldn''t consider them Dull at all.


    However, the longer the years went, the more it was epted that a person was Dull. It was usually only after one was no longer a teenager did a Dull truly see just how prejudiced the world was against them.


    However, to Stanley, he didn''t have to grow to see it. He had been seeing it his whole life.


    His mother couldn''t go to the town without being bombarded with rude and hatefulments every single step. They never attacked her or were violent, but the passive torture she had to suffer from their words and actions was still torture.


    Dulls were usually easy to recognize. They wore simple clothes and were haggard. They were naturally poor as they were paid very little for the food they grew, and what they did pay them was never enough at all.


    Dulls were considered the lowest of the low of society just because they didn''t have any powers. After all, without powers, they weren''t considered useful to the town.


    A person who could create fire could help in a kitchen or the smithery. A person who could create light could help brighten up a room. A person who could reduce the weight of things could help transport goods.


    Even a power as useless as being able to change one''s skin color could be useful in the right circumstances. They could be used to notify people of the status of things just by the virtue of having a different colored skin at any given moment.


    However, a person without any power couldn''t even do anything that someone else could do more easily. Worse of all, they usually gave birth to Dulls too.


    In a town that was constantly looking for the next strong fighter to protect them from the Crawlers, a Dull was the most useless thing one could imagine. They were just one more mouth to feed after all.


    So, the general public couldn''t help but despise the Dulls with everything they had. While there wasn''t exactly anything against the Dulls in the town''s rules, the public still discriminated against them.


    Even the Mayor was pretty forward with not really caring about the Dulls. It was why he sent them to work in the farms around danger in the first ce.


    Now that he was close to being considered a Dull without a doubt, Stanley was seeing the discrimination slowly happen against himself as well. They always used to speak behind his back about how he was Dull, but they never took any action.


    Today, however, Desmond did. Tomorrow, it might be someone else. They would speak badly about him and his brother wouldn''t be around to take care of it every time.


    He couldn''t even fight back.


    He started to feel rather terribly about the whole situation. In the end, all he could do was sigh and hope his powers awakened before he graduated.


    He heard amotion out of nowhere and looked around to see the Mayor walking in from the side with In. In lifted him up and ced him on arge podium that had been prepared before his arrival.


    The mayor looked at the group of people and waited for them all to get quiet down.


    A middle-aged woman walked up from the side and arrived by the mayor''s side. The middle-aged woman was someone the defenders were used to seeing.


    She had the natural power to amplify the sounding from anyone that she touched. So, people usually liked bringing her along when making announcements.


    She ced her palm on the mayor''s back and the mayor started speaking.


    "I''m sure you all know why you are gathered today," the mayor said. "There is a significant decrease in the number of Defenders, so we will have to supplement that by adding you trainees into the mix as well.


    The crowd murmured at the announcement but the mayor continued.


    "I''m sure you all are worried, but there is no reason to be. You will not have to go patrol the veil until you graduate unless there is an emergency. Also, you will always be with an actual Defender and won''t be working alone," the mayor said.


    "The 1st years will work twice a week, the 2nd years will work 3 days a week, and the third years will work 5 days a week. The third years will only have a single day of training since you have already learned most of what you need to learn," the old man said. "You will get more details from your teacherster."


    "Now, there is another important thing that needs to be announced to everyone here," the mayor said. "There will be a new census that we will conduct of the town. It is about time we do another one. For the census, the defenders will be working with the trainees to figure out everything you can about the poption of the town."


    Stanley was only listening when a peculiar feeling struck him. The feeling seemed to try and tell him something, or make him something to do.


    However, before he could realize what its intention was, his whole body started trembling since with the feeling, came the terrible memory that haunted him.


    He heard the imaginary thud as the giant limb of the Ink Crawler vividly crushed his mother right in front of him once again.


    Stanley tried to control himself, he tried to stand up. He tried to ignore the feeling he was getting to focus on himself.


    When he was finally able to calm himself enough to snap back to reality, he heard the most crucial piece of information from the Mayor.


    "Since we are in desperate need of farmers, your main objective will be to find out the Dulls as fast as you can," the mayor said.


    "To start with, record every single Dull in the Defenders and Trainees that are over the age of 16 so we can immediately send them to go work on the farm. There will be no exception."

 Chapter 18: Lie

    <h4>Chapter 18: Lie</h4>


    "What?" Stanley looked back up while breathing heavily at the same time. The terror he felt hadn''t fully left him but the words he just heard were about to rece it entirely.


    Dulls were now to be sent to the farm directly, without a care for whether they were useful to the Defenders or not. That was what the Mayor said before he walked away from the stage.


    He was going to give more information to the Defenders directly and thus the trainees were no longer addressed in the assembly.


    Stanley stood still, unbelieving of what he had heard just now. He could hear murmurs, evenughter from the people behind him who were more than happy to see him fall.


    Desmond, especially couldn''t help butugh out loud. If Stanley were to fall, he was going to be the strongest of the Defenders trainees in the 3rd year after all.


    Stanley didn''t know what to do at all when he suddenly felt someone grab his arm. He turned around to find his brother looking at him.


    "Come, now''s the time," he said and started pulling Stanley.


    Stanley let him pull, half thinking about having to go back to the farm to work and half wondering if he could stay with his brother once he got his own ce in the town.


    He walked along with his brother, away from the assembly. He finally had enough thoughts to attention to spare to see where his brother was dragging him to.


    He looked up front and saw that his brother was bringing him to talk with the mayor. Only then did he remember what they had nned for after the assembly.


    Stanley stopped walking. Bradley felt his brother stop and turned around.


    "What are you doing? Let''s go," he said and turned back around to pull him again, but Stanley wouldn''t move.


    "Brother, I- I don''t think we should do this," Stanley spoke while looking around to see if there were people that could hear him.


    Bradley didn''t seem to care at all. "What''s wrong? The mayor is going to leave," he said.


    "Let him leave," Stanley said with a bit of hesitation in his voice.


    Bradley was very confused right now. "What''s wrong with you? Didn''t wee here to figure out what your powers were? To ask him if he knew something?" he asked.


    "And what if he says I don''t have one?" Stanley asked. "What if my being strong is the same as In, just a small abnormality? What if my healing is from the mayor and is just a residual aspect?"


    "If he finds out I don''t have any powers, he will definitely send me to the farm, brother," Stanley said. "Please, I don''t want to go to the farm."


    Bradley felt a little annoyed for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Then what do you want to do? You can''t skip the census. That will put you in prison as far as I know," Bradley said.


    "I don''t n on skipping," Stanley said as he thought for a bit. "Brother, do you think I can perhaps¡­ lie my way around it?"


    "Lie? How?" Bradley asked.


    "I will tell them that I do have power for now," Stanley said quietly. "As long as I prove I have one, I should be able to get out of having to go to the farm."


    Bradley thought for a bit. "Sure, that can work," he said. "Tell them about your strength, and make sure toe up with a believable activation ritual. That way you won''t get caught."


    Stanley nodded.


    "Trainees, please return to your quarters for now. We wille to you as soon as we are all ready," the Defender trainers said. They were the older Defenders that couldn''t fight anymore and were more suited to teaching.


    Bradley put an arm around his brother and spoke, "Given everything they want without hiding anything. If you find yourself unable to talk about mother, just tell them that I have the information."


    "No, I should be fine," Stanley said.


    "Well, good luck. I have to go to the veil now," Bradley said and walked away from the training area.


    Stanley waved him goodbye and turned around to see a group of his fellow trainees making their way toward him.


    "Hehehe," Desmond''s nasty smile andugh grated Stanley''s ears. "I didn''t think I would get tough so soon. Finally, you will be gone¡ª wait, where are you going?"


    Stanley had walked away from them, not giving them any attention at all. Even if by mistake, he didn''t want to get baited into hitting one of them again.


    Besides, he wasn''t going to stand there while theyughed at him.


    Stanley went back to his room andy on his bed, waiting for the teachers toe. He thought about what he needed to do and what he wanted to do. As he did, his tired body fell into a lull and soon enough, he fell asleep.


    He woke up to loud bangs on the door and quickly got back up. It took him a second to realize what was happening and quickly ran to the door to open it back up.


    A group of older Defenders walked in with a bunch of papers in their hands.


    "Were you sleeping?" one of them asked. He was the teacher that was responsible for training the 3rd years, the one that was perhaps the most kind to Stanley.


    "I''m sorry, I dozed off while waiting," Stanley said while slightly embarrassed about it.


    "Are you fresh enough for us to collect information for the census?" one of them asked.


    "Yes, absolutely," Stanley quickly said.


    "Alright, let''s start with your full name," the senior said. "Spell out your name for us."


    "It''s STANLEY REED," Stanley quickly said.


    "When were you born?" the senior asked.


    "Year 544, 22nd day of the 3rd month," he said.


    The teacher hesitated a bit as he saw the next question he was supposed to ask. The other seniors looked at the teacher weirdly and looked at the next question.


    "Have you awakened your power?" the senior asked.


    Stanley took a deep breath and answered, "Yes, I have."

 Chapter 19: Strength Enhancement

    <h4>Chapter 19: Strength Enhancement</h4>


    "You have powers?" Stanley''s teacher questioned. His brown eyes narrowed in suspicion when he heard that.


    "Yes, I do," Stanley said doing his best to not show anything other than confidence on his face.


    The teacher kept staring at him, not believing him at all.


    "I- I only found out today too, sir Aaron," he quickly said. "I wasn''t aware of it until this morning when my brother took me to help me train."


    The teacher sat back. "Fine, I''ll believe you as soon as you show us your power," he said as he took up the pen.


    "Right, my power is that I ha¡ª can make my body stronger," Stanley said quickly.


    "A stronger body? How strong?" the teacher asked.


    "Uh¡­ I don''t know exactly, but my brother said I''m a little less than twice as strong as him," Stanley said.


    "Bradley did? He''s not a weak person," one of the men in the room said. "Out of his batch, he definitely had one of the better physiques, didn''t he?"


    "I think so," the teacher said. "Show me this power of yours."


    "Yes," Stanley said and stood up before pausing. "How should I show it?"


    "Oh, hit me," one of them said and crossed their arms. As they did, their skins started cracking up as if it was petrifying. Soon, ayer of stone had appeared all over his torso and arm.


    The stone armor also appeared around his leg, giving him a strong foundation.


    "Just a punch?" Stanley asked.


    "Mhm," the young man nodded.


    "In the arms or¡­"


    "Uh¡­ I''ll be in trouble if my arm breaks," the young man thought. "Hit me on my upper back." He turned around and waited for Stanley to punch him.


    Stanley nodded and was ready to hit when he stopped himself from going for it without thinking. ''Right, an activation ritual,'' he thought. If they didn''t see him do something, they would be suspicious.


    He took a deep breath and held it in, not letting it go. That was going to have to be his ritual and power.


    Holding his breath gave him enhanced physical strength.


    He took one step forward and punched.


    *THUD*


    The man toppled over and hit the wooden floor of the quarters with a ratherrge crack on his back. The crack wasn''t there at all and had only appeared after Stanley hit him.


    "Ow!" Stanley cried out in pain and saw that the skin on his knuckles had grazed off. It burned slightly and he started blowing on it a little.


    "Brother, are you alright?" Stanley asked the man he had just hit.


    "Yes," the man said. "Can someone please flip me over? I can''t undo my arms, so my powers aren''t stopping."


    "Right, right," the other man in the room said. He had a single arm, his other one most likely destroyed during his battle against some crawler years ago.


    He tried to flip the man over with his single arm but was surprised when he wasn''t able to. "What the¡­ how heavy are you?" he couldn''t help but ask.


    "Dude, I''m covered in a thickyer of stone. What did you expect?" the man said. "Just hurry up."


    "Let me help you, brother," Stanley said and quickly walked up to the man in the stone armor. He took a deep breath and held it in before easily flipping the man over.


    "Woah," Stanley himself was surprised at how strong he was.


    The man in the stone came undone and left behind a pile of rocks in the room. "Oh, sorry about the rocks. Once I create it, it stays that way for a while, unfortunately."


    "Oh," Stanley said. "How long?"


    "Uhh¡­ about a week," the man said. "I can prolong it, but I have to want to prolong it and need to be near it as well. But, if I don''t pay attention to it, it vanishes."


    "I see," Stanley said. "Don''t worry about this, brother. I will clean it upter."


    "Thanks," the young man said and turned around toward the other two. "What are you guys looking at? Why are you not continuing?"


    "We''re waiting on you for the answer, idiot," the one-handed man said. "What do you think? He''s strong or not?"


    "Of course he''s strong. Didn''t you see him topple me? You couldn''t even do that if you had 3 Dulls pushing me at the same time," the man said.


    "Oh," the teacher was surprised. "He did flip you over too. So, under power, I will write ''Strength Enhancement''. That''s all right?"


    "Maybe?" Stanley blurted out without thinking.


    "Maybe?" teacher Aaron looked back up. "What else is there?"


    "Oh, no no, there''s nothing," Stanley said. "I¡­ uhh¡­ I just found out today, so I''m still in a daze. Please don''t mind me."


    The teacher shook his head and wrote down the information. He asked other various questions such as how many family members he had and where his house was and such.


    The teacher knew all the answers, but he had to ask them just so they didn''t have to face any trouble if it turned out that there was something other than what he wrote in the forms.


    Once all the questions were answered, the two people walked out before the teacher. The teacher stayed behind for a moment and smiled at Stanley. "I''m happy for you, Stanley. I was worried you would have to go back to the farm where you would have to face your fears so soon, but the luck seems to be on your side," he said.


    Stanley was stunned for a moment. "You¡­ you know what''s going on with me?" he asked.


    "Of course I do," the teacher said. "You''re not the first one to have trauma after seeing someone die. Many of the veteran Defenders are just like you. Maybe not as severe, but everyone has seen someone die and everyone fears it."


    "Even I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night, remembering the faces of my friends who I had graduated with. I see them die in my dreams," the teacher said. "I can''t promise you that you will ever be healed from this, but you will be capable of having a normal life. You just need to get over whatever is happening to you."


    The teacher ruffled his hair and stood up to leave. "Oh, and go to the training area and get a physical test. I want to see numbers on exactly how much stronger you are by the end of the day."


    "Yes, sir," Stanley nodded.


    The teacher walked away and closed the door, leaving Stanley behind in the room with a smile on his face.

 Chapter 20: Assessment

    <h4>Chapter 20: Assessment</h4>


    Stanley went ahead and did some physical tests in the training area. Because the entirety of Defenders was focused on the Census and was preparing for it, Stanley had the entire training ground to himself.


    Only a few more people were there, but none were training themselves. He walked up to one of them and asked them to help him record some physical stats.


    The man had short brown hair and was a little smaller than Stanley, but not by much. He looked at him with narrowed eyes and asked, "Aren''t you the Dull from the 3rd year''s group? What are you doing here?"


    "I''m no longer a Dull," Stanley said. "I awakened my powers recently and sir Aaron asked me to get it tested to see how strong I am."


    "Hmm, you have a power that can be tested?" the man asked.


    "Physical Enhancement, my body gets stronger," Stanley said.


    "Alright,e with me," the man said and took him to the center of the training ground, onto the stage.


    There were 5 different tests that were prepared for him to test how strong Stanley was.


    The first one was to simply jump as high as he could. Stanley did as asked, and got a result of 1.6 meters. Since there was no running involved in this jump, the trainer was quite surprised.


    The second test was carrying weights. Two sacks would be filled with decent-sized rocks of simr shape and weight. Stanley had to carry a rod that had these sacks on either side of the metal rod.


    While average trainees could do about 10 to 12 rocks on both sides at best, Stanley did 24, surprising the trainer quite a bit.


    Stanley himself was quite surprised. He hadn''t guessed he would be this strong.


    The next test was a simplep around the training area to see how fast he could run.


    Stanley was curious about this test as much as the trainer. He knew he was physically stronger, but was he fast as well? There was definitely a corrtion between being fast and strong, but never 1 to 1.


    So, he was ready to see too.


    As soon as the trainer gave the word, he ran. He hadn''t run this quickly since he had healed, so he was surprised at how surreal it all felt.


    It was like the world around him had slowed down and only he himself moved through the training field.


    He stopped after arriving where he started and looked toward the trainer. "How was it?" he asked.


    The trainer stared nkly for a few seconds before saying, "too fast. That was¡­ youpleted it in just under 20 seconds."


    "20 seconds?" Stanley was surprised. "That fast huh?"


    The distance he had run around the training ground had to be more than 300 meters. So to do it in just 20 seconds meant that he ran 100 meters every 7 or so seconds.


    ''Not bad,'' he thought.


    "I''ll go bring out some wooden sticks and bows for your endurance and reaction tests. Wait a minute," the man said and walked away.


    "Endurance test?" Stanley wondered. "Can my body handle more damage than normal?"


    He looked around his arm, wondering if he had gotten stronger when he noticed his right hand''s knuckle. The part where his skin had grazed when hitting the stone armor had already scabbed over.


    He pried around the scab until it came off. When it did, he was surprised to see that his fist had already healed.


    ''I knew it,'' he thought. ''I do have enhanced healing too, don''t I? Is that really not from the Mayor?''


    He wondered if it came together with his strong body. If it did, why? Why did he suddenly have two separate types of power at once?


    The trainer returned a few momentster with some wooden weapons in his arm. "You ready to get beat up?"


    Stanley did get beat up. Quite badly at that too. To test his endurance, he had to be hit with various weapons to test it. Depending on how much he could endure, the hits would keep on going and increase in strength too.


    In the end, the trainer stopped after realizing that he could endure quite the beating too.


    "Finally, let''s go ahead with the reaction training. I will shoot these round-tipped arrows at you. Either try to dodge it or grab it if you can. Don''t let it hit you," the man said and stood some distance away.


    He had a bow in his hand and a quiver on his waist full of arrows. He pulled out the first arrow and without announcing shot it at Stanley.


    Stanley saw the arrow fly for his chest and was amazed at how easily he could see iting this way. Was he always this good at noticing fast-moving objects?


    He moved to the left and let the arrow fly past him before going back to the same position. ''That was¡­ weird,'' he thought. ''How does having strong physical skills give me a better reaction speed? Is my brain enhanced too? Is that why my reaction time is so good?''


    Another arrow flew at him and he caught it in midair. The trainer looked surprised and moved three steps forward to close the distance.


    ''What is 13 times 16?'' Stanley asked himself randomly. He thought for a bit, but he couldn''t think of the answer very quickly. ''Ok, so maybe my brain is the same.''


    Another arrow flew at him. Since it was from a closer distance, he had less time to react to it. Even so, he managed to dodge it and waited for the next one.


    More and more arrows flew at him from a closer and closer distance. In the end, the trainer was merely 5 meters away from him, pointing his bow at him.


    He let go of the bow and Stanley moved immediately as well. While Stanley saw the arrow leave, his body was still too slow to catch it or dodge it.


    In the end, he was finally hit and the assessment was over.

 Chapter 21: New Team

    <h4>Chapter 21: New Team</h4>


    Stanley handed the teacher Aaron his assessment, which the older man flipped through and nodded as he read it.


    "Not bad, you really have awakened quite the powers. They are simple but efficient. You will do great as a Defender surely," the man said. "Go and rest now. You guys will have to start your patrolling tomorrow and will have to help Defenders with Census."


    "Yes, sir," Stanley said and walked away happily.


    Aaron walked away, flipping through the sheets, and arrived at the training ground. He looked for the trainer that had their name on the sheets and found him a few minutester.


    "Did you test Stanley?" he asked the man.


    "That''s the kid with physical enhancement, right? Yeah, I tested him during the afternoon, why?" the trainer asked.


    "This, is this real?" the teacher pointed at one of the results.


    "Reaction speed? Yeah, I had to get as close as 5 meters before he was hit by my arrow. Actually, he reacted to my arrow at that time too, but he simply wasn''t fast enough," the trainer said.


    "5 meters, that''s close," the teacher Aaron said.


    "That''s very close," the trainer agreed. "I swear, the only other person that can do what he did is Yasu, and that''s only because of his powers."


    "I know," the teacher said. "He might actually be an amazing addition to the Defenders."


    ''That is if he can get a handle on his trauma and not let it affect him physically,'' the teacher thought. He talked with the trainer about a few more things in the sheet and walked away.


    * * * * *


    Stanley walked into the training area the next morning where they were told to gather. He saw people that were not only Defenders and third-year trainees but also second-year and first-year trainees as well.


    ''Everyone is gathering once more huh?'' he thought.


    "What are you doing here?" Desmond asked from one side with disbelief clear on his face. "Why haven''t you left already?"


    "Why would I leave?" Stanley asked the man.


    "You are a Dull, you should leave," Nale who was beside him spoke up.


    Stanley shook his head and ignored them. The few people tried to make a ruckus, telling the teacher that he was still there, but were instead made to shut up by the teachers.


    "We''ve already tested Stanley. He has awakened his powers and is no longer a Dull," one of the teachers said. "Focus on yourself instead of others from now on."


    "What?" Desmond couldn''t believe it. "But he¡­"


    He didn''t know what to say anymore. He still refused to believe it until he saw Stanley''s new powers, but he could no longer create any problems for him. At least, not directly.


    "Since you are all here,e and find out who you are shadowing today," one of the teachers spoke, calling out to trainees that were gathered in the field.


    One by one, everyone walked forward and were handed some information on a piece of paper. Stanley got one of those papers too and saw what it wrote.


    There were 3 pieces of information exactly.


    The first information held the Defenders they were going to be shadowing to learn from them. In Stanley''s case, it was someone named Garry Walker and George Shawn.


    Stanley recognized this fellow named Garry, even if by just name. It was a tall, bearded young man with short ck hair. He wasn''t aware of what his powers were, but he didn''t need to know that.


    As for George, he thought he knew the guy, but wasn''t sure if he did. He would have to meet the person to recognize him.


    The second information held the date and time at which he had to work. As a third-year trainee, he would have 5 days of work in a week. Of the remaining two days, only one of them would be a rest day while he would still have to train in the other one.


    The third and final piece of information was the amount of time he would have to shadow the two people.


    2 months. That was it.


    For the next two months, 5 days a week, Stanley was supposed to go along with either Garry or George, depending on who didn''t have to patrol the veil and learn from them.


    After two months, they would all have to start working on their own.


    Stanley looked at the 2nd information that told the time. From 11 am to 5 pm, he had to work with Garry today.


    He looked around the field for the short-haired man and found him standing next to a couple of trainees already.


    He walked up to the guy and greeted him. "Hello, brother. Are you Garry?" he asked as he held out the piece of paper.


    "Yeah, that''s me," the man said and looked at the note. "Oh, you have George too huh? You''ll learn a lot soon enough."


    "Yes," Stanley said softly. He looked at the others that were next to him and saw 3 younger people whom he didn''t recognize.


    "I''m still missing 2, where are they?" Garry said while looking out for the ones that would be under him.


    Stanley made some small talk with the 2 that were there and learned that two of them were from the 2nd year while the youngest one was from the first year.


    Another first-year joined, and finally, thest 3rd year joined as well.


    A young man named Freddy arrived by their group and greeted everyone. "Oh, you''re still here?" he asked with genuine surprise when he saw Stanley.


    "I awakened my powers so I don''t have to leave," Stanley mentioned.


    "Oh, congrats," the young man said.


    Stanley felt weird hearing something that was so clearly genuine from someone in his batch. But then again, he never tried to talk with anyone before due to being Dull and thus didn''t know everyone''s personality.


    He knew Freddy was one of the weaker people in the third year, but aside from that, he was unaware of what hisst name even was.


    Garry pped to get everyone''s attention.


    "Okay, since we''re all here, let''s go start our work."

 Chapter 22: Up the Slope

    <h4>Chapter 22: Up the Slope</h4>


    Garry walked on ahead with the others following him. They were walking straight up through the main road that passed in between two quadrants that rarely anyone used.


    This road had two small streams flowing down on either side, which went around the Defenders headquarters that was at the cross-section of the four quadrants.


    It wasn''t that people weren''t allowed to use this road, but that no one needed to. If someone had something to do in another quadrant, they could simply cross the road over to the next quadrant and didn''t have to walk through any of the rest of the road.


    Stanley had been on this road before, but never for this long and never this far up.


    Every few steps, they woulde across a small set of stairs as thend was elevated because of the slope already. The stairs were on either side of the road, while the main road was instead of the slope so that carts could be pushed and pulled without having to carry.


    Stanley looked around at the houses and the higher he went, the better the houses became. Not only were the houses better built with seemingly stronger architecture, but they were also starting to have colors on their wall, something that wasn''t avable for people of the lower quadrants because of the steep price of colors.


    Stanley didn''t know how the colors were made, but he had heard it had something to do with the many flowers that the Mayor had gardeners grow in his garden. They apparently grew the flowers for their colors.


    ''The mayor''s mansion,'' Stanley thought and looked toward the top of the road. At the very top of the slope, he could see a wall and a gate. Beyond the gate, he could see a tall, thin pir of some sort that he couldn''t make out from this far down.


    He had never been up there, at least not while conscious, so he wasn''t even sure what the mansion actually looked like. All he knew was that people generally weren''t allowed there and only those that had work inside could ever go in.


    Even those weren''t that many in number.


    "Straighten your back, boys," Garry spoke. "You are going to be a Defender soon. You can''t walk around as if you have no backbone. These people depend on us, so the least you can do is show that you are dependable."


    The group suddenly all seemed to get taller all of a sudden with straighter spines and puffed chests.


    "Since I have actual work to do today, instead of just walking around the town, I''m afraid I won''t get to show you much about what it means to be a Defender but worry not. I will still try to do my best," Garry said. "Now, let''s finish this thing quickly so I can go back to my wife."


    "Brother Garry, you''re married?" one of the 2nd year boys asked curiously.


    "Haha, yes," Garry said. "I''m not just married either. I have a child on the way. My wife is already 5 months pregnant."


    "Woah, congrattions brother Garry," the group started congratting him one after another.


    "Haha, you guys pass the Defenders exam too, and you will get have girlsing after you in droves. You can then marry any girl you want to," Garry said proudly.


    "I can''t wait, brother," one of the 1st years said.


    Stanley was quite surprised about it all. "Brother Garry, you don''t stay in the quarters, do you?" he asked.


    "Quarters? No, I left the quarters long ago. I bought a home in the lower half of the 2nd quadrant. It''s close to the headquarters," Garry said.


    "If you don''t mind me asking, how much did your house cost?" Stanley asked. "My brother has been thinking about buying a house of our own for a while, but I''m not sure if he should if it costs a lot."


    "Hmm, you can just rent a ce instead of buying the whole thing. There are ces around town where older men and women live without anyone, so they are usually agreeing to have people rent out their ce," Garry said. "That way, they have a sense of security too and they can earn some money without having to do any actual work."


    "Hmm," Stanley thought. "But buying would still be better, wouldn''t it?"


    "It would, but¡­" Garry turned around. "Your brother, he''s Bradley, right?"


    "Yes, that''s him," Stanley said.


    "I remember hearing he was a big help in Crawler attack a few days ago," Garry said. "Aside from your brother, do you have anyone else?"


    "N-no," Stanley said. "Our mother¡­ she died 3 months ago during the attack. Our father died a long time ago."


    "My condolences," Garry said and the few others beside him gave theirs as well. "But if that''s the case, then I don''t suggest getting a home."


    "Why?" Stanley asked.


    "The truth is, a house is useless without anyone to tend to it," Garry said. "With both of you being Defenders, a house would be useless for the most part. You won''t even have someone to cook or clean for you, and after a long day of working out in the streets or next to the veil, you need that."


    "If you rent a ce with an older man or woman, they will stay at home all day and with a bit more money, they will even make food for you," Garry said. "So, I suggest looking into that."


    "I see, that makes sense," Stanley said. "Thank you for the insight, brother."


    "You''re wee," Garry said. "The truth is, I found out about the troubles too after I bought myself a house. Thankfully, my wife epted my marriage proposal and I didn''t have to suffer for much longer."


    Garry suddenly stopped walking and looked around. He looked to the top of the slope and started counting houses.


    "This is the 4th row, isn''t it?" he asked. "2nd Quadrant, 4th row. This is it."


    The group looked at the houses next to them.


    "Herees our first job today. Be sure to watch me closely and learn from what I do."

 Chapter 23: First House

    <h4>Chapter 23: First House</h4>


    Garry arrived outside the very first house that was on the left side of the 4th row of the 2nd quadrant of the town. His task was to collect the census for as many houses as he could on this row.


    Since the Mayor had ordered a census, the people of a few select rows of the upper two quadrants had been made to stay at home. Because of this, they couldn''t stay at home all the time, the Defenders would have toe back again the next week, or some other day they were free.


    Garry walked up to the house and walked to the porch to knock on the wooden door. The door opened and a man and woman walked out.


    The man wore clean brown trousers and a white tunic, while the woman wore a simple, long gown with long sleeves. She had a small piece of clothes wrapped around her head, and a small piece of metal jewelry around her neck and wrists.


    "Hello, I''m here for the Census, do you have some time to spare me?" Garry asked with a bright smile on his face.


    The two people greeted Garry and then greeted the ones that were behind him, out of the porch. "Yes, we were waiting for you," the man said.


    "I see, would you mind stepping into the porch so we can get started, please call out anyone you have in your house as well," Garry said.


    "We''re a newlywed couple. We don''t have anyone else," the man said.


    "Fantastic, let us begin then," Garry said and brought out a piece of paper, which already had rows and columns, all of which were ready to store information for the census.


    "Let''s start with your name," Garry said and asked the two for their names. The two gave their names one after another, and Garry asked for their spelling as well so he didn''t write it incorrectly.


    He turned back to the group and said, "remember, always be thorough. Don''t assume stuff because you''re most likely going to be wrong."


    He wrote down their name and then their date of birth. After that, he noted down where they lived. The house numbering system was quite simple. It went Quadrant, Row, and the number of the house from the left side.


    In this instance, he wrote down ''2-4-1'' for the house number.


    Stanley was surprised not only because of how quickly Garry was doing his task, but also how well-spoken he was. There was no awkwardness in the way he asked questions ormunicated with the couple. Everything felt so natural.


    ''Did he learn this, or was he always this good?'' he wondered. ''Can I be this good if I keep working?''


    "Where do you work, sir?" Garry asked.


    "I''m a teacher, I teach kids over on the 1st quadrant," the man said.


    "Oh, a teacher? You must have only be one recently, right? You''re quite young," Garry said.


    "Haha, yes. My father was a teacher, so I just followed in his footsteps," the young man said.


    "I see, and miss what do you do?" Garry asked as he noted down the man''s job.


    "I''m a housewife," she said.


    "Thank you," Garry said as he finished writing. "Last but not least, would you please tell me what your powers are?"


    "Our powers?" the man asked. "Uhh¡­ I can levitate small objects. My wife can see clearly in the dark."


    "Oh," Garry said. "Would you mind showing me your power, please? Levitate this pen for me."


    "Okay," the man said and put his hands before him. He made a grabbing motion and made a fist, which was his activation ritual. A momentter, the pen slowly levitated, fully under the control of the man.


    The man ced it back down on Garry''s hand and he wrote down the man''s powers. Following that, he also wrote down the woman''s powers without asking her to show it to them.


    Stanley was a little surprised at that. ''Is it because it''s a difficult power to prove?'' he thought. ''No, it''s just seeing in the dark. We can go in and check.'' He looked at the woman and couldn''t tell if she was nervous or not. She almost looked relieved that Garry didn''t continue.


    "Alright, your information has been noted down. Let me repeat what we have written so you can confirm that it is all correct," Garry said. He started mentioning all the information one after, which the man and woman confirmed as correct.


    "That is all the information we need from the two of you," Garry said and looked at the two of them. "You are sure that you are the only ones I need information from, right? You''re not hiding anyone else? It is a crime to lie on the census."


    "Y-yes," the man said. "We are the only ones that live here."


    "Please forgive me, but I will have to check for myself to be sure," Garry said and turned around to the 6 that were just watching. "You 6, go in and check every single ce someone could be hiding in. Leave no stone unturned."


    "What?" Stanley was a little surprised and so was Freddy. The other 4 felt slightly awkward doing what was asked of them as well.


    "Brother Garry, isn''t¡­ isn''t that a little intrusive?" one of them asked. "To just go into their house like that."


    "It is, but it''s part of the job," Garry said. "If you ever find out that a criminal could be hiding somewhere, would you not enter that ce to check just because it is intrusive?"


    "I would," the young man answered. "But that''s because there would potentially be a criminal hiding inside."


    "Evading the census is a crime. So, if there is potentially a person hiding inside the house, then wouldn''t that make it the same situation?" Garry asked.


    "I¡­ I suppose," the young man said.


    "Now, stop wasting time and go in and check," Garry said. "Sir, miss, please go with them and show them around the house so they can check."

 Chapter 24: Busy Day

    <h4>Chapter 24: Busy Day</h4>


    The couple didn''t like the fact that random people were entering their house, but they had no choice. Going against a group of Defenders would be stupid after all.


    The group of them finally went in and looked through the entire house, taking nearly 10 minutes to do so.


    Stanley looked under the bed, checked inside the closest, or in the pile of clothes that was on the chair. He opened cabs that could be hiding someone and even checked the bushes at the back of the house.


    He was surprised, not by what he was doing, but by what he was seeing. The 1st and 2nd quadrants were where the rich lived, so it was quite an experience for him to see what the inside of their houses looked like.


    Unlike his house, the inside of the house wasn''t brittle or even uneven. It looked like the walls had been covered with some even mud ster. There was more furniture in this one house than there was in his entire house previously.


    There were closets full of clothes, tables and stands in every room, and massive shelves full of books and whatnot. Even the toilet was wide and clean.


    Stanley wondered if he could ever afford a ce like this and if a ce like this was even worth it in the first ce.


    After they were done thoroughly checking throughout the house, they finally left. Garry apologized for what had to be done and walked away.


    The entire ordeal had taken the group about 20 minutes toplete. Noting down information took no more than 5 minutes, but searching through the entire house took quite a time, especially because they had to knock on walls and ground all over to make sure no one was hiding.


    As they left, Stanley walked close to Garry and asked, "why didn''t you test the woman''s powers? She could''ve been lying."


    "Why would we care?" Garry asked. "It''s not like she''s going to be sent to the farms anyway."


    Stanley felt a little weird. "Why?" he asked.


    "What do you mean why?" Garry asked. "Have you never realized that female Dulls don''t have to go work on the farm?"


    Stanley paused for a moment. "What?" he asked.


    "Yeah," Garry said. "Females are usually weak, so they aren''t allowed to join the defenders. At the same time, they don''t have to go work on the farm either."


    Stanley took a moment to take in this information. It was apparent to anyone that Defenders didn''t take in females at all. There were females that worked closely with the Defenders, whether it be as cooks, cleaners, or tailors, but they were never the Defenders themselves.


    That much he knew. However, how could it be that the female dulls weren''t sent to the farm? After all, his mother was a Dull and she was on the farm. There were many other women on the farms too.


    "That can''t be true right?" Stanley asked. "There were so many women on the farm."


    "Those are usually mothers, wives, or daughters. It''s always the male that is sent to the farm and the females follow," Garry said.


    "Is that true?" Stanley asked. "What if the man that was sent to the farm died? What would happen to the women?"


    "I think I remember reading they are allowed to request to move away from the farm," Garry said. "But I don''t think anyone knows this or even does this. After all, what is a Dull supposed to do in the town with no money after living their whole life on the farm?"


    Stanley felt a little bad when he heard that. ''If we had money, if we had any money, mother could''ve left the farm,'' he thought. "If she had then¡­''


    He shook his head to get rid of the next thoughts that were popping up.


    They arrived over at the next house where a family of 5 walked out and the process began all over.


    Some houses were small, some were big. Some houses had few rooms, some had many. Some houses were empty with little ces to hide, while some were filled to the brim and had to be checked all over.


    The houses took somewhere between 20 to 30 minutes each to go through and in 3 hours after being on duty, Garry managed to gather information from exactly 10 houses.


    The next house they arrived at was one that was upied by an older man and woman. They seemed to be in thete 60s and were living alone.


    Garry started recording information about them as well and asked them for their powers as well. The old man had a simple wind maniption power, while the old woman could strengthen any objects she touched.


    Garry asked for a simple demonstration, and once the old couple showed it to him, he closed the book.


    "Go do it quickly," Garry said and the group behind him walked into the house.


    "Wh-what are you doing?" the old man seemed horrified.


    "Please don''t mind them, they are only going to search and see if they can¡ª"


    "There''s someone here," one of the trainees immediately shouted. He pped twice and his palm glowed brightly while also giving off a little heat.


    The trainee pointed the light at a man that was hiding in the darkness in the corner of the room. The other trainees gathered and watched him as the man grumbled under his breath with a nasty look on his face.


    "Oh, good. We finally found one," Garry said while walking in. He pulled out his sword that he was carrying and pointed at the man. "Please don''t do anything that would incriminate you more than you already have."


    The man was about to talk back when the old man and woman quickly walked in. "P-please, don''t hurt my son," the woman said. "Please, he''s the only one that can take care of us. Please don''t take him away."


    Garry looked at the old couple and sighed. "Fine," he said and looked at the man. "Come out, you need to give us your information too."

 Chapter 25: First Time

    <h4>Chapter 25: First Time</h4>


    The young man looked at each of the Trainees as he walked out. He especially scoffed at the one that had found him hiding in the corner of the room.


    He walked out into the front porch and sat down with a frowning face.


    Garry didn''t mind the attitude, but he did ask the 6 to be prepared for it if the man decided to attack them or make a run for it.


    Thankfully, the man remained docile for the most part as he gave away his information.


    The man was a son that the old couple had when they were old. Their first daughter had died due to some disease that they couldn''t get treated in time. As such, this was the only child they had who they relied upon for the most part.


    He was in his early 30s and survived through the small works he did at the smithy. He wasn''t married yet and that was partly because he never had any free time to find a woman, and partly because no one would want to marry him at all.


    After all, the man was a Dull.


    The man wasn''t even a teenager thest time the census was taken and thus he didn''t have to go to the Farm. However, now that he was old, he worried that he would definitely have to go.


    That was the reason he had hidden. After all, if he were to be sent to the farm, he would be forced to bring his parents along to the farm, and that was something he did not wish to do at all.


    The crawlers attacked two or three times a year, and once in a while they reached the farmhouses and killed whoever lived in them. The young man could ept if it was just him, but forcing such a life on his elderly parents was not something he wanted.


    "Please, young man, can''t you spare my son?" the old man knelt on his knees and joined his hands in request. "Please, if you send my son to the farm, there will be no one to take care of us. Please."


    Stanley watched the father and felt bad for him. He especially felt bad for the mother that stood still with tears flowing down her eyes.


    Garry felt bad as well, but there was nothing he could do. "I''m sorry," he said. "I cannot lie on the census. It is not a guarantee that any and all Dulls will be sent to the farms, so you might get lucky and not get sent."


    The man nodded, but he didn''t say anything. Garry asked the 6 behind him to search the house once more to make sure there was nobody else hiding.


    They went back into the house and started searching for more people once again. As they were searching, Stanley suddenly felt something.


    The feeling hade once again and with that feeling came the memories.


    He took multiple deep breaths immediately to try and stop himself from even thinking about it. He tried to ignore what he was feeling. He concentrated on his own breathing, his own heartbeat, and slowly it worked.


    ''It happens to everyone, not just me,'' he told himself. ''I will be fine.''


    He concentrated on his breathing for a few more seconds before someone nudged him from behind. "Are you okay?" Freddy asked.


    "Yes, I''m fine now," Stanley said. "Thank you." He gave a genuine smile to the man he barely knew. Today was the first time he had managed to control his feelings so well and he was rather happy about it.


    This most likely meant that he was healing and if he was healing then soon¡ª


    A loud sound disturbed his thoughts as both he and Freddy were in the direction of the sound. "It came from outside," Freddy said and without stopping he ran out.


    ''Did the man start fighting?'' Stanley wondered and followed Freddy outside as well. As soon as he appeared, he saw a standoff in the middle of the street.


    There was a man with a knife that had blood on it that looked both angry and scared at the same time. In front of him was Garry who was holding out his sword.


    Off to the side, another man was fighting a Defender with a thick, iron rod. He was swinging the rod at the Defender, which was causing the loud sounds they had been hearing.


    "Drop the knife and no one will get hurt," Garry said softly.


    "Yeah, like hell I will," the man shouted.


    Stanley looked to the side of the porch and saw the old man and woman huddled in the corner with their son protecting them.


    He quickly nudged the ones next to him. "Take them inside first," he said and moved.


    The trainees took the civilians inside their houses and came back out. "First years, get to safety too," Freddy ordered. "If they start using powers, we could be in trouble."


    The first years nodded and walked into the house as well. The 2nd years had a year''s worth of fighting experience and thus could protect themselves if need be.


    Garry and the man with a knife were at a standstill, with neither knowing what to do. Garry looked at the blood on the knife and was worried that someone was hurt and needed help.


    While he wondered what he had to do, someone screamed and jumped from the backyard of the house in front of them. He held a metal rod as well andnded on the road with a thud.


    He looked around and saw Garry next to him. As soon as he saw him, he went for the attack.


    "Save him," Freddy said and shoved Stanley. Stanley stumbled forward and suddenly appeared in the middle of the road, right underneath the metal rod as it swung toward Garry.


    He crossed his arm and put it up to block the rod. The attack hurt, but he could bear the pain.


    "Sorry!" Freddy shouted from far away.


    Only then did Stanley realize what had happened. He had been teleported directly into the middle of the fight.

 Chapter 26: First Task as a Defender

    <h4>Chapter 26: First Task as a Defender</h4>


    Garry btedly realized that someone had tried to attack him from behind. Nothing very bad would''ve happened to him even if he was hurt, but that was not to say that he wasn''t relieved to see Stanley standing behind him, stopping the person that was attacking him.


    "Be on your toes. Don''t jump in without figuring out what his powers are," Garry said in a low voice, while constantly keeping an eye on the man with the knife in front of him. He still didn''t know what his powers were either, so he was being careful.


    Stanley nodded and looked at the man that had attacked him. He was a normal man with average height and average body type. He looked like he was in histe 20s and was already starting to lose hair on the sides of his forehead.


    He had a look of anguish as well as surprise that Stanley had blocked his attack. Stanley pushed away the rod and the man was pushed back along with it.


    The man stumbled a bit as he was pushed backward and looked at Stanley. Then, he looked at Garry behind him and the other two that were fighting in the distance. Without any hesitation, he turned around and ran away.


    "Stop!" Stanley shouted and ran right behind him.


    "Don''te near me," the man shouted and swung behind him without looking. Stanley put up his arm to block the hit, and as he did the peculiar feeling came back again.


    Before he could even respond to the feeling, the rod stopped below the wrist of his left hand and pain red exactly where he was hit. He felt his skin burn from the contact. However, no heat came from the rod at all. Instead, it was ice that burned him, ice that was far colder than anything that could possibly exist naturally in the town.


    The man continued running and took the rod with him. Stanley stopped for a moment to check his skin which was very, very cold right now.


    ''Goddammit, it''s freezing,'' he thought. The feeling he had gotten waspletely overshadowed by the pain he felt as he looked toward the running man in anger.


    He dashed after him again as he was making his way to the main road between the two quadrants.


    Stanley got close to him and the man realized that too. He stopped after arriving in the open space and turned back at Stanley. "Don''te any closer, or I will kill you," he shouted.


    Stanley simply red and made his way toward the man. He slowly walked in his direction while trying to figure out exactly what his powers were.


    ''The rod wasn''t cold the first time around, and no one but he grabbed it, so it is his powers that made it cold,'' he thought. ''Is his powers to just get things cold, or can he do even more with it?''


    Stanley slowly pulled out his sword from his sheath. ''I cannot touch his directly,'' he thought. ''The sword should do fine, but what if the coldness passes through the sword too?''


    "Sir, please give up," Stanley said. "Fighting will only make things worse."


    The man looked at him and scoffed. "Hmph! I''m already going to the mines, if not the prison for what I did. How worse can it get?" he said. His anguish was visible on his face and he seemed desperate.


    The man looked at Stanley up and down. "Where''s your armor?" he asked. "They send Defenders out without armor nowadays?"


    Stanley didn''t answer.


    "Heh! You''re too young to be a Defender, aren''t you? Don''t tell me, did it already happen?" he asked. "Did the mayor start sending goddamn trainees into the field?"


    "I had heard rumors about it, but to think it was true," the man said.


    Stanley continued getting closer, but he was circling him to not get too close too fast.


    "Just stop, kid," the man said. "I was once a trainee like you too, who wanted to be a Defender his whole life. Nothing good wille from that."


    Stanley was a little surprised. "What happened?" he asked.


    "I failed my 3rd year''s exam," the man said with a hateful look on his face. "A single failure because of a single mistake, and suddenly my whole lifees crumbling down. They didn''t even test me twice and let my one single mistake ruin the rest of my life."


    "Had I be a Defender, I wouldn''t have to go down the road of stealing and threatening others to earn my living," the man said. "I bet you that''s the life waiting for you as well, kid."


    "I doubt stealing and scaring others for money is what I have in the future," Stanley said. "But that''s still in the future. Presently, I''m going to be a Defender, and my first task as one will be to capture you."


    "Hmph, fine. Try your luck then," the man said. He did something that caused ice to appear all over his body.


    Stanley didn''t catch what the activation ritual was, but seeing ice form all over the man, it must''ve been something internal, rather than external.


    The man swung his rod like a sword and Stanley blocked it with his own. The frost on the rod traveled to the sword and Stanley pushed it back.


    The ice remained on the sword even after it was no longer contacting with the rod, which caused Stanley to panic a little.


    ''He did not just use his powers once,'' he thought. ''He''s constantly using it, but how? How is he activating his powers?''


    Stanley blocked the attack a few more times and even struck back. He didn''t use the edge of the de and instead the t side, but even then the damage should have been quite extreme.


    And yet, the man didn''t make any sounds at all.


    ''The ice is working like armor around him,'' Stanley thought. Not only was it working like armor, but it was also constantly regenerating each time it was destroyed.


    ''Dammit, do I have to hit him with my sword''s edge?'' Stanley thought. He didn''t want to cut the man in half identally, but what other choice did he have?

 Chapter 27: Icy Battle

    <h4>Chapter 27: Icy Battle</h4>


    Stanley''s sword was half covered in frost and the frost was traveling up the sword. If the battlested very long, he would no longer be able to continue holding the sword.


    Stanley moved back and bit and started circling around to gain some time and gather his thought as well, but his opponent wasn''t letting him.


    The man ran for him and swung the rod again. This time, Stanley didn''t let it hit him and dodged it. He was starting to understand that in a direct sh of weapons, he would be on the losing end.


    The man turned and swung once more, which Stanley dodged by ducking underneath the swing. He punched the man on his torso as hard as he could, and that sent the man flying backward.


    However, Stanley''s knuckles also caught some of the frosts which didn''t seem to disappear at all. He tried to rub off the frost, but even when it ked away, the frost would return immediately.


    ''It''s not spreading, but I can''t get rid of it either. It most likely has to do with his powers,'' Stanley thought. ''For his powers to permanently work, he must be doing something, but what?''


    Stanley looked at the man as he got back up. He could see him breathe, he could see his eyes open. His palms were constantly moving, his feet didn''t seem to be doing anything specific either.


    As he had thought, the man''s powers were not activated by something external. ''What about internal?'' he thought.


    "Give up, please," he spoke.


    The man stood up tall and red at Stanley.


    "Do you want me to help you escape?" Stanley asked.


    The man''s eyes narrowed in confusion at the sudden change of questions. He hesitated a bit for a moment before dashing back into the fight.


    Stanley started dodging left and right. He was faster than the man and had a better reaction speed than his, so he was safe.


    He tried to make sure not to touch the man anymore, but things were getting a little annoying. The man was forcing Stanley to fight in a circle, constantly pushing him back to the area where they had started.


    Because of the coldness, the ground there had frozen over and was extremely slippery. If Stanley walked through there, he would most definitely slip while dodging, which could be a problem.


    "Do you not want me to help?" Stanley asked. "Just ask for help. Or are you that much of a coward to even ask for help?"


    The man continued attacking while Stanley gave out offers and curses one after another. Seeing the man not respond, he came to a conclusion.


    ''His activation ritual has something to do with his mouth,'' he thought. ''Either his tongue is doing something like touching the upper side of his mouth, or he simply can''t make any sound from his mouth while using his powers.''


    Seeing how the man had made zero noises from the start, he was starting to believe that it was thetter one.


    ''Whatever the reason, as long as I can make him make some noise, I should be fine,'' Stanley thought and nodded as he was sure he had understood his powers.


    ''I need to make him scream.''


    He dodged another swing, which seemed to be the only thing the man could do. He needed to contact to transfer the frost, so as long as Stanley didn''t touch him, he was fine.


    Which was why the man expected Stanley to run back this time around as well. However, instead of moving back, he dashed inside after dodging.


    Before the man could react, he kicked the man in the chest. The time of contact between his boot and the chest wasn''t enough for much of the frost to transfer over. There was some coldness, but he could handle it.


    The man fell on his back and slid down the road, even sliding down the t slope that was made every few steps in the process. However, he kept his mouth shut even after all that happened.


    ''I need more,'' Stanley thought. He ran to the side of the road where there wasn''t any frost and rushed down. He jumped down the stairs in the direction of the man who was getting up.


    The man seemed mostly unphased as he quickly reacted to the iing blow. He lifted his metal rod to block Stanley, but Stanley instead struck it aside andnded next to him.


    ''I need to make him scream,'' Stanley thought. ''I need to go for the head.''


    He quickly spun and swung his sword toward the man. The man saw iting and put up his metal rod to stop the attack. Finally, after a long time, the rod and the sword shed.


    As a result, both of them shattered the moment they hit each other. The coldness had made both of their weapons extremely brittle, and it was only a matter of time before it happened.


    However, to happen right now, Stanley could only consider it his bad luck.


    The man was surprised as well, but not enough to ruin his concentration. He kicked at Stanley with his right foot, aiming for his head this time around.


    Stanley was shocked to see his sword shatter, and at the same time as if a curse, the feeling came back. Before he could even think of dealing with the feeling, he followed it and managed to look down just in time to see the frosted footing for his face.


    In a panic, he twisted his body to the side and let the leg miss him by a hair''s width.


    Seeing himself miss, the man punched the second time around.


    Stanley dodged this attack as well by jumping into the air high over the man''s head while spinning from the previous twist.


    As he fell, Stanley used the strength from his speed and aimed for the man''s head. The butt of the hilt of the sword that was still in his hand hit the man on his temple.


    Stanley heard something crack and saw the man''s head move to the side while his eyes seemed to remain motionless for a moment.


    A secondter, the man fell sideways andnded on the ground with only the white of his eyes showing. Stanley moved backward and got ready to fight, but it was all over.


    The frost around his body remained, but it no longer transferred anywhere. Seeing the glistening ice that was starting to melt all around the ce made him realize that he had finally won the fight.


    He dropped the hilt of his sword in relief and dropped to the ground to catch his breath.


    "I guess¡­ knocking him out works as well."

 Chapter 28: Old Man Sam

    <h4>Chapter 28: Old Man Sam</h4>


    Stanley watched as the ice melted around the man. Due to the census, people weren''t leaving their homes at all, and even those that had already given the information didn''t want to walk out to watch the fight.


    Therefore, Stanley was alone during the fight.


    He sat there taking in deep breaths and couldn''t help but reflect on the fight. If at thest moment, he hadn''t jumped and hit the man on the head, he would''ve most certainly lost.


    And losing most likely didn''t just mean a few injuries in this battle. He could have died by freezing over.


    Not only that, but he could also have died had he not had multiple opportunities that took away his attention from the feeling that brought on his trauma. Had he been given enough time to get attacked by his own memories, he would have lost then as well.


    ''I need to keep a handle on it,'' he thought. ''I need to learn to ignore it.''


    He heard some footsteps and turned to see two of the trainees that hade to help him.


    "Brother, are you alright? Are you hurt?" one of the trainees asked. He was a 2nd-year trainee that could light up his palm simply by pping.


    The other one was Freddy who had sent Stanley into the fight.


    "Holy¡­" he cried out when he saw the amount of ice around the man. "Did you freeze him?"


    Stanley shook his head. "His ability," he answered. "He can cover himself in freeze to defend. I barely won."


    Freddy looked around the roadway and from the amount of ice on the ground could tell how far the battle had spread.


    "Why are you guyste?" Stanley asked. "I could''ve died."


    "We needed to help brother Garry and the other brother tied up the two. Honestly, we had thought that this man had already run away, so we didn''t imagine this was a priority, sorry," the young man said.


    "This truly could''ve been bad. Sorry," Freddy said as well. "Although, I probably couldn''t have helped you even if I came. My powers aren''t that helpful during battles."


    "Huh? How is your power not helpful?" Stanley asked. "Can''t you teleport?"


    "Not myself," Freddy said. "If I could, that would be awesome, but as it stands I can only teleport people around me, and that too one at a time."


    "I see," Stanley said. "Is that why your test results are so poor?"


    Freddy felt embarrassed and didn''t say anything.


    "The two brothers have already taken care of the other two," the 2nd year trainee said. "We should take him back too."


    "How do we do that?" Stanley asked. "If he wakes up, he will freeze you just bying into contact with you. He can even activate his powers simply by not talking."


    "Let me drag him," the young man said. "My palms are hot and won''t freeze over unlike the two of you."


    Stanley nodded. "Can you melt the ice around his leg? I will help you carry him," he said.


    "Forget about that," Freddy said. "I can take care of the transport."


    He knelt down and touched the man on his back. The next moment, the man vanished, appearing halfway up the street. "Let''s go," Freddy said.


    Stanley was a little surprised as to how exactly it looked when someone else was teleported away. Freddy had kept his skills hidden during training, so it was only now that he was getting to see it all.


    The unconscious man had to be teleported multiple times to bring together back to the seniors. Seeing the frozen body, both Gary and the other man were surprised.


    Stanley quickly notified them of his powers, which caused the seniors to be cautious.


    "No wonder," the other senior said. "I clearly remember tying his hands with ropes. He must have frozen them and broken out of it."


    "What do we do about him then? We will be in trouble if he uses his powers again," Stanley said.


    "Hmm, we might have to call old man Sam," Garry said.


    "We don''t have any other choice," the other senior said.


    They turned toward the other 2nd year and asked him to run back to the Defenders headquarters and call for the old man Sam.


    The young man nodded and ran away.


    The group took the time to bring the other people they had captured from the 3rd row of houses and gathered them all together.


    "What exactly were they doing?" Garry asked the other man. "How did a fight break out?"


    "These bastards were threatening a poor old couple and living in their home. Not only were they not paying any rent, but they were also forcing the old couple to pay them instead."


    "If not for us looking through the house, we wouldn''t have found them at all," the man said.


    "Bastards!" Garry grumbled as well.


    Stanley and the rest went around the houses to tell the people that there was nothing to worry about, but they still had to keep hiding just in case.


    A whileter, the trainee ran back, and with him came an old man that panted as he walked towards them.


    The man was in his 60s and had a hard time walking up the road to get to where they were. Not only was it hard because he was old, but he was alsopletely covered from head to toe in ropes that were wrapped around him.


    The multicolored ropes fully covered his skin and added a lot of weight which made it impossible for him to walk easily on in ground, let alone an incline.


    "You little shits," the man cursed as soon as he appeared. "Couldn''t you just bring them down? Why did you have to make me walk here?"


    "Old man Sam," Garry and the rest reacted. "You''re here. Please tied these people up."


    "Why are we bringing an old man here?" one of the younger trainees asked. The other first-year trainees were confused as well.


    "Do you not know about old man Sam?" Freddy asked them. "He is one of the most important assets of the Defenders because of his powers."


    "What powers?" one of the trainees asked curiously.


    "Anyone that is wrapped by his ropes loses their power temporarily."

 Chapter 29: Tony

    <h4>Chapter 29: Tony</h4>


    "What? They lose their power?"


    The trainees were surprised, to say the least. They were new, so they hadn''t heard about the old man Sam just yet.


    Stanley himself remembered when he first learned about the old man from his brother. He couldn''t believe someone like this existed.


    A person like the old man Sam could only live a life that was no different than a Dull if he was by himself. But when he was with the Defenders, he was one of the most important people in the town, besides the Mayor.


    The old man turned to the trainees that were looking at him with surprised looks and got angry. "Stop staring at me and go back to work!" he shouted at them.


    He then arrived next to tied-up people and started pulling out the ropes that were tied around his arm. He unraveled a rope that was about half a meter in length and ced it on one of the man''s hands.


    "Don''t let him drop it, and tie it while keeping contact with his hands," Sam said and moved toward the other person.


    Garry wrapped the rope around one of the hands of the man that was already tied up. The only important thing here was to keep the ropes in contact with the person it first came in contact with and their powers would remain suppressed.


    No one truly knew how exactly Sam''s powers worked or what his activation ritual was. All they knew was that he was a man that had ropes wrapped around his body and any one of those ropes could get rid of one''s powers.


    After going through the 6 people that were captured, every single one had their powers suppressed.


    "Goddammit!" the old man cried out again. "Now I have to walk all the way back again. This wouldn''t have happened if I got to live in the mansion if that damn Damian had kept his word."


    The old man grumbled even as he left.


    Garry and the rest shook their heads when they heard the old man. Stanley and the rest couldn''t understand why they were acting the way they did.


    "Did he say something about someone not keeping his word?" one of them asked.


    "Who''s Damian?" another person asked.


    "Isn''t that the Mayor''s name?" Freddy spoke to himself.


    "Stop talking about the old man Sam," Garry spoke. "Somebody run over to the prison and tell them to send someone over."


    "What about the Census? Do we stop here?" Stanley asked.


    "We have no other choice," Garry said. "Where are the papers?"


    "I have them, brother!" one of the 2nd years spoke up and brought out the papers. Garry took the papers and checked them over before nodding to himself.


    "Who here is the fastest?" he asked.


    "I¡ª"


    "I am," a young man spoke up before Stanley could.


    Like Stanley, he was a third-year as well. He was under the other senior and was tasked with the 3rd row of houses for the census.


    He was definitely one of the fastest runners amongst the third-year trainee thanks to his powers.


    "What''s your name?" Garry asked.


    "Tony," the young man quickly spoke with a straight posture. He was smaller than almost everyone in the group, even the first years,ing at around 5 feet and 3 inches, nearly 4 inches shorter than Stanley.


    "Alright, Tony. Go and call them," Garry said.


    "Yes, sir," Tony said and jumped once. As soon as hended, he dashed forward.


    Garry was taken aback for a moment when he saw Tony run, all because Tony didn''t run at all. Instead, he glided through the ground seemingly not losing any speed as he did so.


    In fact, he sped up as time went on and very soon he disappeared onto the other side of the main street in the 1st Quadrant.


    "The hell is his power?" Garry couldn''t help but ask.


    "He can make all parts of his own body and whatever he is touching frictionless. The ground doesn''t stop him and the air doesn''t block him, so he can run easily, so long as thend is rtively smooth," the other third-year trainee exined.


    "I see," Garry said.


    "Huh? I think Renny had that power too," the other senior beside Garry said. "He could remove friction from his body too, but he never glided like that."


    "Had?" Garry turned to ask.


    "He died during the one attack 5 years ago when 2 Crawlers entered at the same time during the night," the other senior said.


    "Ah, right," Garry said. "Many people died that night too, didn''t they?"


    "Is two people having the same power something unique?" one of the trainees asked.


    "Not really," Garry said. "The specifics can be different and the activation rituals can be different, but many people have the same type of powers."


    "Just think about how many people have powers that have to do with fire or water or ground," the other senior said. "There are only so many different things that are possible. It usually differs in the way it can use though."


    They talked about people that they knew had simr powers, even pointing out a few that had some healing powers like the Mayor, but not to his level.


    After a while, Tony came back with a few people and a cart pulled by a few bulls.


    Bulls and Cows were the only farm animals not taken care of by the Dulls. Instead, they were domesticated in the town itself by the everyday people.


    Bulls were mostly used to pull carts while cows were used for their milk and to give birth to more bulls and cows.


    They were rarely used for their meat, which was why they weren''t taken care of on the farm where only chicken and pigs were raised.


    Stanley helped with putting the unconscious people onto the cart. Once everyone was on there, the other senior left with the cart to the prison area, while Garry and the rest of the trainees returned to their quarters as the first day of their work came to an end.

 Chapter 30: Rumors

    <h4>Chapter 30: Rumors</h4>


    Bradley ran back to the Defenders headquarters after hearing what had happened during the census gathering today.


    He rushed to his brother''s quarters and started knocking on the door. When he got no response, he used his ability to go through the wooden door, dropping his shoes outside.


    Hended inside and was finally relieved to see his brother sleeping carelessly in his own bed.


    He sighed in relief and walked up to Stanley to nudge him awake.


    Stanley woke up with a sleepy mind that could barely understand what was going on. He yawned for a moment and finally saw his brother standing next to him.


    "Brother? Is it time to train already?" he asked.


    "Train? Do you think it''s morning right now?" Bradley asked.


    "Hmm? Is it not?" he asked while rubbing his eyes. He slowly remembered what had happened and came to realize that he had slept aftering back from his first day working as a Defender today.


    "Are you okay? I heard you guys were attacked today," Bradley said.


    "Oh yeah," Stanley replied. "There were a bunch of men living in some old folk''s house, and they got smoked out when we went around to gather census."


    "I see. Nobody got hurt right?" Bradley asked.


    "Mm¡­ no, everyone was alright," Stanley said. "I did have to fight a guy with ice powers that was quite strong, but I managed to beat him in the end."


    Bradley was about to ask his brother to go on and exin more when he paused. "Wait¡­ you won a fight?" he asked.


    "Yes," Stanley said.


    "A serious one? One where you could''ve gotten hurt?" Bradley asked.


    "I could''ve died if I wasn''t careful," Stanley said. He lifted his left arm and showed a small blue mark on the otherwise fair skin of his left hand. "He had ice powers. His frosted metal touched me for a second and now I have this wound. I can''t imagine what would''ve happened if he had gotten a hold of me."


    Bradley was surprised to hear that. His brother really had been through a tough battle. "And you weren''t affected by that feeling during the fight?" he asked.


    "I was," Stanley said. "But with how dangerous the fight was, I couldn''t focus on the feeling. I think if I can learn how to ignore the feeling, I won''t have to worry much. Although, I will need to practice a lot more with it."


    "Forget about that, tell me more about what happened," Bradley asked.


    Stanley went on to exin what had happened in detail. Bradley heard everything and frowned when his brother mentioned that the person he had fought was a Defender trainee that had failed during thest test.


    "Bastard! There are many people like him, and they don''t fall to bing a criminal just because they failed," Bradley said. "Defenders trainingsts 3 years at most. By the end of it, you''re not even 20 years old. Saying that you can do nothing else is bullshit. He just didn''t try hard enough."


    Stanley nodded since he agreed. "Even so, why do you think they failed him? His powers were quite strong and could''ve been very helpful against the Crawlers," he said. "Especially if he manages to touch them, he could easily turn any fight around."


    Bradley shrugged. "I don''t know. It''s just how it is," he said. "If someone fails once, they fail forever," he said.


    "Why not give them another chance? Maybe they just got unlucky the first time around," Stanley said.


    "Maybe," Bradley said. "But that doesn''t change the fact that they failed. Luck is a relevant factor in someone''s life after all. If you got unlucky, then you have to deal with it yourself."


    Stanley didn''t agree with what his brother said, but he didn''t say it out loud. He simply nodded and let the topic change.


    "Right, let''s go eat. You can sleep again afterward," Bradley said and took his brother to the dining area.


    It had gotten dark already outside, but the streets were alight withmps that covered most of the roads. The dark alleyways were still dark, but the proper roads were all covered.


    There was still a bustle of people around the streets with many going from one ce to another.


    Stanley and Bradley entered the dining area which was filled to the brim already. They struggled to find a ce for themselves and had to wait outside and wait for alongside the rest that waited for some people to leave.


    Bradley joined a conversation between these people and Stanley stood behind him simply listening.


    "Man I don''t like this at all," one of them said. "We don''t have nearly as many people to work during the nights too."


    "But we have to if we''re ordered to," another person standing there said.


    "What''s going on?" Bradley asked.


    "Some people have imed that they were attacked during the night when no one was around," one of them said. "The seniors are nning to add more Defenders to the night patrol to keep the streets safe."


    "They should know themselves that if they make us work this hard, we will soon stop functioningpletely," the first man said. "We are going to implode on ourselves."


    "Wait, people are being attacked during the night?" Bradley asked. "Is anyone hurt?"


    "Yes, a little," one of them said. "It''s usually some scratches or cuts. They say the person attacks them in the dark and runs away after a bit."


    "Where did this happen?" Bradley asked.


    "By the 4th Quadrant," one person answered.


    "Hey, do you think it has anything to do with that resistance stuff? They are still going around right?" one of them asked.


    "No way, not this one," Bradley said. "This sounds way too open to be those rebels. They hide so well that we don''t even know where they operate from, let alone who they are."


    "Also, isn''t the resistance dying? The mayor announced that after the Census wasplete, he would send more Dulls to work on the farm. If that happens, will there be any more reason for the resistance?"


    The group nodded after they thought about it.


    "Then," Bradley continued. "This person must be someonepletely unrted to the resistance. Either way, we have to find them and stop it all before the conflict esctes."

 Chapter 31: Training

    <h4>Chapter 31: Training</h4>


    After dinner, Stanley went back to his room and tried to sleep, but he couldn''t fall asleep at all.


    It seemed that he had enough sleep during the day and now he wasn''t feeling sleepy at all. He stayed on his bed trying to fall asleep, but all that happened was his mind wandered to various things he had experiencedtely.


    It still felt surreal to know that he had some sort of power now and was no longer a Dull. It had only been 3 days since he had figured it out, but so much had happened in just these 3 days.


    The Mayor had announced for all Dulls in the Defenders to immediately be sent to the farm. As a result, about a dozen or so people in total had already been sent to the farm.


    If not for his powers, he would have gone back there with them as well. He didn''t mind being back in the farm. That was never really a problem for him, unlike the other people. After all, he had grown up on that farm.


    What would have bothered him was that he could never have had the chance to avenge his mother''s death if he was sent to the farm.


    Thanks to his powers, he had managed to stay as a Defender trainee.


    He remembered his battle today as well. Without his stronger and faster body, there was no way he could''ve won against that man today.


    His thoughts led him through everything that had happened today. He remembered everything from the adrenaline during his fight to the anger he felt when the old men and women were forced to have their son be recorded as a Dull and most likely be sent away.


    While it was what they were meant to do, it still felt a little unfair to Stanley. Why did a Dull have to go to the farm when he was perfectly wealthy right now? Why couldn''t a poor non-Dull go?


    Weren''t the people at the farm currently ones that were useless to society? Why instead were hardworking Dulls being sent to the farm? Just because they were Dulls? Just because they didn''t have powers, they were useless?


    Stanley continued with that line of thought for a while before he fell asleep.


    He woke up to the sound of his brother knocking. "I''m up!" he shouted and the knocking stopped.


    With his eyes half opened, he quickly dressed up in fighting gear and went for his sword. However, he remembered that his sword had broken yesterday and he needed to go get a new one from the smithy today.


    The smithy was on the side they were going to train on, so Stanley took a small chit that he could give to the cksmiths to get himself a new sword on the way back.


    He walked outside to his brother who was waiting for him. "Where''s your sword?" Bradley asked.


    "Destroyed in the fight yesterday. Can we use some sticks today? Or maybe get some wooden swords from the training area?" Stanley asked.


    "Okay, let me get some."


    After they got the swords, the two brothers walked in the foggy morning to go to the other side of the bridge on the fourth quadrant.


    Arriving on the grasnd, they quickly got ready to start their training.


    Stanley stood on one side with a wooden sword, while Bradley stood on the other side with his iron sword. Realizing that it wasn''t fair to his brother, he changed to a wooden sword as well.


    The fight started with Bradley making the first move. Stanley got on the defensive and blocked his brother''s attacks.


    He was fast and had better reaction speed than his brother, so stopping him was quite easy. However, Stanley was still surprised that he was struggling a bit against his brother.


    ''He''s not holding back at all,'' he realized. Perhaps because Bradley was using a wooden sword to fight this time around, he didn''t have to worry about identally wounding his brother.


    With how strong Stanley was, he didn''t need to worry about hurting him either if he was hit by the wooden sword. The most it would do was leave a small bruise on his brother''s body and seeing as how Stanley no longer had the dark spot on his left arm from yesterday''s ice burn, his body could heal any wound in less than a day.


    Stanley remained on the defensive, not because he couldn''t attack back, but because he chose not to. He was too strong for his brother, and a fair fight was never what they were here for.


    Although they called it training, they weren''t training to be better fighters at all. They were here to train so that Stanley could get a hold of himself whenever his trauma surfaced alongside the feeling.


    For thest 3 training sessions, Bradley hadn''t managed to evoke any sort of feeling from Stanley at all. He could only hope today was the day.


    Because his fighting had gotten serious and because he was using a wooden sword, instead of a metal sword, Bradley could do something this time around that he couldn''t during thest 3 training sessions.


    He could finally use his powers,


    He crossed his fingers over the hilt of the sword and struck toward his brother.


    Stanley obliviously moved his sword to block his brother. As he did, his eyes widened as the feeling finally came for the first time.


    Time passed slowly for Stanley as he saw everything that happened in front of him one moment at a time.


    The sword was supposed to be blocked by his sword simply passed through it as if it were an illusion.


    He saw his brother''s eyes which were staring directly at him, meaning that his brother had used his powers on him.


    As the sword arrived near his chest, the intangibility of his body had already gone, so the sword struck him right on the chest.


    Stanley felt pain re through his chest and the world seemed to revert back to normal speed. The feeling he had received had also disappeared.


    However, the feeling of the feeling remained, and with that surfaced the trauma of his mother''s death once more.

 Chapter 32: Trigger

    <h4>Chapter 32: Trigger</h4>


    "Oh, sorry! Did I hit you too hard?" Bradley asked. "Does it hur¡ª"


    His words stopped in his mouth when he noticed that his brother wasn''t paying attention to him at all. He wasn''t paying attention to anything.


    Stanley''s eyes were moving everywhere, unfocused at anything. His body shook while his left arm trembled far more than anything else.


    "Stanley? Stanley!" Bradley quickly grabbed his brother. "What is it? Did the feelinge up?"


    Up close, he noticed that Stanley''s breathing was unstable as well. He was short on breath and was sucking in air through his half-opened mouth.


    Stanley remembered the moment once again, the moment when his mother had died. His left arm was stretched toward her and yet he couldn''t reach her.


    He was quite aware of his surroundings and even knew his brother was calling out to him, but the fear and pain from that time seemed to emerge in him once again that made it impossible for him to respond.


    "Stanley, you can do it. Take deep breaths," Bradley started saying. "Take long and deep breaths."


    Stanley''s eyes finally focused on his brother and he did as he was told. He started taking deep breaths and started telling himself that it was fine. Everything was fine.


    The pain and fear slowly faded away, leaving him with an emotionally drained body. He slumped to the ground while continuing to take deep breaths.


    "Did it finally happen?" Bradley asked. He had only ever heard about his brother''s trauma before this. This was the first time seeing how bad it was.


    Stanley waspletely frozen from fear and barely responded to his words when the thing had happened.


    Stanley slowly nodded. "It did, for a brief moment," he said while still taking in long breaths. "But that was all it really needs."


    He felt a little down. Just the other day, he had taken control of his fear, taming it just enough so it didn''t falter him. However, it seemed it didn''t work in the midst of battle. He neededplete focus on himself to maintain level-headedness before he could try and face the trauma he suffered.


    "Hmm, weird¡­" Bradley said as he thought a bit.


    "Huh? What''s weird?" Stanley asked. "Me?"


    "No, not you," Bradley quickly exined. "It''s weird that we''ve been training for so many days and today is the only day you''ve had that feelinge to you."


    "How is that weird?" Stanley asked. "It was bound to happen at some point anyway."


    "Yeah, but it''s still weird that it just so happened to happen today," Bradley said. "Because as far as I remember, today is the first time during our training that I have used my powers."


    Stanley paused for a bit and looked at his brother. "Your powers?" he asked. "Are you saying that I got that feeling today because you used your powers?"


    "Yes!" Bradley said. "It makes sense, doesn''t it? Think about all the times you''ve had that feeling. Was someone not using a power around you?"


    Stanley thought for a bit. Yesterday during the fight, the other man was clearly using his powers. During the training fights, people used their powers as well.


    ''Can it really be?'' he wondered. It would be massive if he actually found out the reason behind why he got those feelings.


    "Wait, that can''t be," Bradley said himself, pulling Stanley out of his thoughts.


    "What''s wrong?" Stanley asked.


    "It doesn''t make sense that you can only get the feeling when someone used their powers. Otherwise, you would be feeling it all day long, which hasn''t happened, has it?" Bradley asked.


    "Uh¡­ no," Stanley said. "Actually, now that I think about it, the first time I got the feeling was when I was alone with Mother. There is no way someone''s power should trigger it."


    "Right," Bradley said. "Then there must be another reason."


    The two brothers thought for a while before Bradley came up with an idea. "Maybe¡­" he thought. "Does your chest hurt? I hit you quite hard."


    "Hmm? It stings a bit, but I wouldn''t call it hurt," Stanley replied.


    "Good, then close your eyes," Bradley ordered.


    Stanley trusted his brother, so he closed his eyes, wondering what was going to happen. As he waited, the feeling popped up in his once again.


    Before he could tell what the feeling was about, a sharp pain appeared out of nowhere on the left side of his arm. He quickly opened his eyes to see that his brother had hit him.


    Immediately, he took a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. He had just gone through the same things, so he was still a bit too drained emotionally to feel anything from some leftover feeling.


    Still, he needed to calm down a little before talking. "Why did you hit me?" he asked.


    "It worked, didn''t it?" Bradley asked with shining eyes that seemed to be filled with childlike wonder. "I did it, didn''t I?"


    "Yes," Stanley answered. "I did get the feeling again. How did you know?"


    "Because I was trying to get you to feel it again," Bradley said.


    "Oh," Stanley was surprised. He thought for a second and asked, "Then¡­ does pain bring forth these feelings?"


    "Most likely," Bradley said. "It has to be a pain, doesn''t it? That''s the only thing that makes sense now."


    "Actually, no. That doesn''t make sense," Stanley said. Unlike his brother, he knew when the feelings came and they didn''t necessarilye when he was in pain.


    He was clearly never in any great pain during the fight yesterday. Even just now, the feeling came before the pain. It was the pain that distracted him from the feeling really.


    It did mostlye during fights, but not always. In fact, the first time he got it was when he was with his mother, and he wasn''t fighting at that time.


    "Actually," Stanley spoke. "I¡­ I think I know what triggers these feelings."


    "Hmm? What?" Bradley asked curiously.


    "Danger," Stanley said. "This feeling alwayses right before I''m in some sort of danger."

 Chapter 33: Danger Warning

    <h4>Chapter 33: Danger Warning</h4>


    "Danger?" Bradley found that a little strange. "Really?"


    "Yes," Stanley thought. The more he thought, the more it made sense to him. Every instance he had felt the feeling was followed by something that was dangerous for him.


    It wasn''t just a danger to him physically but to his existence.


    "Was it a warning?" Stanley asked slowly. Were the feelings he got warning him about the dangers that followed?


    "Warning for danger," Bradley repeated. "That makes sense. The two times you got hit today, you felt the feeling, didn''t you? That must be it then. I think we figured it out."


    "Maybe," Stanley said. "But we can''t simply trust a conclusion we came to just moments ago without evidence that we''re clearly biased about, right?"


    "True," Bradley said. "Which is why we will have to gather more evidence."


    "Do you mean¡­" Stanley looked at his brother and the wooden sword in his hand. "Are you really going to hit me again?"


    "I have to, don''t I?" Bradley asked. "I can stop if it hurts, but I thought you could stand it."


    "I think I can stand it, but it''s the feeling that I can''t stand," Stanley said.


    "The more you get used to it, the more you will be able to stand it," Bradley said. "Now, turn around and let me know if the feelinges again. We will have to figure out if it is a warning or not."


    Stanley sighed and turned around. It was time to get beat up and suffer his trauma many times if their conclusion turned out to be true.


    Still, he was curious if they were correct, so he somewhat looked forward to what happened. He closed his eyes and waited for his brother to hit him.


    He heard a swiss sound from behind him but nothing hit him.


    "Anything?" Bradley asked. He had stopped moments before his swing hit his brother.


    "No," Stanley said.


    "Alright, let me try again," Bradley said and continued. He attacked once again, this time not stopping at all. However, before his brother was hit, he became intangible thanks to his powers.


    The sword went right past Stanley and he waited for his brother to react. "Still nothing?" he asked.


    Stanley shook his head. "Did you attack?" he asked.


    "Hmm¡­" Bradley thought. ''So it''s not reacting to my power at all. And it did note when the hit was obviously not going to be a danger to him. Was he correct then?''


    Bradley hit his brother with a hard swing that cracked the wooden sword on impact. "Oh shit! I struck too hard. Are you alri¡ª"


    Before he could ask, he saw Stanley stumble to the ground, taking deep breaths to control himself.


    "Did¡­ did it happen?" Bradley asked.


    Stanley nodded wordlessly. He couldn''t find it in himself to speak at the moment as he was controlling his fear. It wasn''t as bad since it had already happened multiple times this morning, and it even felt like he had gotten used to it somewhat.


    "It worked," he spoke after a few seconds. "I think we got it right."


    "Wow," Bradley thought. "Wait, I need to test a few more things. Turn around and don''t look back."


    Stanley gave his brother a weird look. What else was there to test? Still, he trusted him and turned around.


    He wondered what was happened when suddenly he felt something fly past his ear, as a rush of wind alerted him.


    He saw a small stone the size of an eggnd a bit further away from him in the grass. "What are you doing?" he asked while quickly turning around, only to see his brother standing about 15 meters away from him with his left arm tucking about a dozen or so simr stones in his arm.


    The wet stones he had pulled from the stream still dripped with water. Bradley gave a confused look. "What are you doing? Turn around."


    "No, what are you doing?" Stanley asked. "Isn''t this the same as hitting me with a sword?"


    "No, this is different, trust me," Bradley said. Stanley trusted his brother again and turned around.


    Bradley took one rock at a time and threw it at his brother. He threw it all with the intention of hitting him on the head, but he didn''t have the best aim at such a far distance and ended up missing a lot.


    After 5 misses, Bradley threw another stone on the 6th throw that went straight for Stanley''s head. However, before it could hit Stanley, Stanley suddenly ducked and the rock flew past him.


    Bradley stood there for a few seconds wondering what had just happened before he put the pieces together.


    "You¡­ you did it!" he shouted. He dropped all the stones and ran next to his brother who looked back at him with a pale face. It was clear that he had trouble paying attention and was still feeling fear.


    "How did you dodge?" Bradley asked.


    "I¡­ I waited for¡­ for the feeling," Stanley said while taking short breaths in between. "I was ready to duck the moment I felt it."


    "You waited for the warning," Bradley said and startedughing out loud. "Haha, see? It is that."


    "I¡­ I thought we learned that already. Why did you have to use the stones again?" Stanley asked.


    "To see if it mattered whether I intended to hit you or not," Bradley said. "The first 5 times I tried to hit you, I didn''t miss on purpose. Those didn''t arouse the feeling, did they?"


    Stanley shook his head.


    "And yet the 6th one did, which means regardless of whether someone intends or not, you will be warned of any danger that will affect you," Bradley said. "I believe we did it. We fully understand now what those feelings are."


    "Not really," Stanley said. "We still don''t know if they are my powers or not."


    "That¡­" Bradley didn''t know what to say. So he sighed. "This is definitely rted to your powers. We will just have to hope that it''s in the process of awakening and your activation ritual wille after you have fully awakened."

 Chapter 34: Steel Sword

    <h4>Chapter 34: Steel Sword</h4>


    As the sun approached the edge of the cliff and started spilling its yellow rays across the town, Bradley and Stanley realized that it was time to return.


    Stanley was going to return back to the quarters directly when he remembered something.


    "Oh right, I need to get my sword," Stanley said. "Go on ahead, brother. I''lle after I get my sword."


    "Hmm, oh the smithy must have opened already," Bradley noted. "Go quickly, or you''ll bete."


    Stanley ran to the smithy that was upstream. He didn''t even have to cross the river to get back to the town''s side.


    The smithy was arge building with many people working in it. Even before entering, Stanley could already feel the hot air wafting out of the door as well as the sounds of many hammers hitting metal.


    The nging sounds resonated throughout the building inside Stanley now entered.


    Even though it was only morning, the people working inside were hard at work. There was a significant number of absent workstations from what Stanley could see, which was most likely from the people that couldn''te to work today due to having to stay back home for the census.


    Stanley walked around the smithy for a while, looking at the buff men hitting metal, before he found someone he could talk to.


    "Hello sir, can you help me?" Stanley walked up to a person that wasn''t working but was clearly a cksmith.


    "Hmm? What do you want?" the man asked.


    "I''m here for a new sword and sheath," Stanley said while handing over the chit that allowed him to get a new sword.


    "Hmm,e on over," the man said and took him away from the ce, to a room that was in the corner of the room. "Choose any sword you like inside."


    "Okay," Stanley nodded and walked into the room. The room was filled from top to bottom with weapons of all types, most of which were swords.


    The swords were of all shapes and sizes and thus of various weights. Stanley walked by the swords, trying out the various ones.


    "Hmm?" he stopped by a bigger sword that was different from all the other big swords. He picked up the sword easily and moved it around a little to test it.


    After he was done, he ced it back and went to check the other big swords. After testing them a bit, he came back to the first sword to test it a bit.


    "Hey, aren''t you done? Just pick a damn sword," the cksmith outside shouted.


    "Oh, sorry," Stanley quickly said. "Can you help me for a second? Why does this sword look different from the other ones?"


    "Huh?" the cksmith walked in to see the sword that Stanley was holding. "You''re going to choose that sword?"


    "I don''t mind using it," Stanley said. "It''s just different from the other big ones."


    "That''s because this one is not an iron sword, unlike the rest," the man exined. "This is made of a new metal we recently learned to make. It''s called Steel. This is a steel sword."


    "A Steel sword?" Stanley looked at the de in his hand. The silvery sword was about as wide as his palm and nearly a meter long. Unlike other swords where the de came to be about 50 to 60 centimeters long, this one was nearly twice as long.


    The weight was simrly quite high as well, but Stanley didn''t mind it. He was strong enough to swing it around normally, so it wouldn''t matter anyway.


    "Steel is stronger than Iron, so you should take a steel sword now that you''re here," the cksmith exined.


    "Oh! so, I can take this, right?" he asked.


    "Are you sure? That might be too big for you. We have smaller swords made with steel too," the cksmith said.


    "I''m sure,'' Stanley said.


    The cksmith had no reason to refuse. He walked into the room for a few seconds and found a sheath for the sword. Simr to the sword, the sheath wasrge as well.


    Stanley tried to strap the sheath around his waist, but he found that the sword would hit the ground a little too often if he did that.


    Instead, he strapped the sheath around his back and ced his sword in from the top.


    "Thank you for the sword," Stanley said and walked away from the smithy.


    Having a weight on his back made him feel slightly awkward as he wasn''t used to it, but it wouldn''t be very long before he was.


    He returned back to his quarters quickly and changed into his trainee outfit before leaving for his work today.


    After the 1st day''s Census took ce in the 1st and 2nd quadrants, the 2nd day''s census was going to take ce in the 3rd and 4th quadrants.


    The other two quadrants had their people free to go back to work so the society didn''t just shut down for a couple of days while the census was taking ce.


    This time around, the 1st years had been switched to a new group of people, while the 2nd years had remained the same. From what Stanley learned, due to the number of 1st years, multiple ones were assigned to the same Defender and would switch from one day to another.


    With them, Stanley went along the 4th quadrant to help Garry with the census. He was a little worried throughout the day, wondering if he was going to be attacked once again by people that were hiding in other people''s homes.


    He spent the entire day, waiting for the feeling toe to him so he could be ready for it. Since it was a warning of the danger he would face, falling into his panicked state due to the trauma was something he desperately needed to avoid.


    Fortunately, there neither was any danger today nor any feeling that caused him to suffer from his trauma again.


    The day ended without much else happening at all. Stanley returned back to the headquarters, and after a hearty dinner, went back to his room to sleep.

 Chapter 35: George

    <h4>Chapter 35: George</h4>


    Stanley trained with his brother again the next morning. This time around, instead of figuring out why his feelings came, they tried to figure out what those feelings were exactly. They wanted to see what Stanley felt exactly when that feeling came.


    Stanley was all but sure that the feelings weren''t random and each of them told him something. If he could just figure out what it was, that would probably help him a lot in understanding just what they were and how they came to be.


    Sadly, it didn''t work for him the way they hoped at. Stanley was left in fear most of the time without even being able to focus on his feelings at all. When he wasn''t in fear and just a little out of breath, the feeling would already be gone from his body, leaving him with nothing to feel all of the time.


    They returned after an unsessful session of training and went to get their lunch.


    "What are you doing today?" Bradley asked. "I don''t have to patrol the veil, so I will be in town for most of the time. Do you want to meet me for lunch?"


    "I don''t know what I''m doing today," Stanley said. "We don''t have Census for 5 more days, so I will be hanging around with the defender named George. He''ll tell me what our task ister."


    "George?" Bradley frowned a bit. "He''s the one you''re shadowing today?"


    "Yes," Stanley said and was a little intrigued to see his brother frown. "What''s wrong with George?"


    "Well¡­ what''s not wrong with George?" Bradley sighed. "I''m sure he''ll make it apparent, but try not to get on his bad side. And don''t try to tell him your background. As far as I''m aware, he hated Dulls."


    "Oh," Stanley reacted. "Okay."


    "Let me know if he tries to bully you or something," Bradley said. "Alright, I need to go. Take care."


    Stanley stood where he was for a few seconds after Bradley was gone. He wondered just how bad this George could be.


    He had only seen the person from afar and hadn''t talked to him before. He had his own house, so it was impossible to see him in the quarters too.


    He arrived in the training area and quickly found the man.


    George was about as tall as Bradley, who was a few inches taller than Stanley. He had a normal body that wasn''t overly thin or muscled. He had long, brown, frizzy hair that came to his shoulders.


    He stood on one side of the area with an unhappy look on his face.


    Stanley approached him and greeted him. "Hello, brother George. I''m Stanley and I''ll be shadowing you today."


    The man''s eyes moved to Stanley and he scoffed. "Why are youte?" he asked.


    "Late?" Stanley was a little surprised. "I''m sorry, I thought I was on time."


    "On time means you''rete," George said with an angry look. "Where''s your other buddy?"


    "Freddy? I don''t know," Stanley said.


    "Why don''t you know?" George asked.


    "I¡­ I mean, I think Freddy lives in his own ho¡ª"


    "Think? Why do you think? Forget about thinking while I''m around. Just follow me and learn," George said.


    ''This motherf¡ª''


    "Are you brother George?" Freddy came asking around. "Hi, I''m Freddy. I''ll be under you t¡ª"


    "Finally," the man said. "Follow me and learn from me. Ask questions if you don''t know anything but don''t slow me down."


    The man started walking and the two trainees quickly followed him.


    George seemed annoyed to have to take care of two trainees and was constantly cursing someone under his breath. Stanley and Freddy looked at each other, wondering what was happening.


    George wouldn''t even say what they were doing and had them simply follow him for now.


    The 3 of them walked straight through the main road between the 1st and 3rd quadrants, going toward the cliff on the right-hand side of the town.


    Stanley could only wonder what they were doing on this side of the town. As far as he was aware, this was the cliff that they used to get themselves rocks that were necessary for the town''s development.


    The cliff on the left was the one with iron ore, and that was where Stanley had gotten his sword on his back from.


    "Where are we going, brother George?" Stanley asked halfway through. The silent journey wasn''t the most fun when 2 of the 3 people didn''t know what was happening.


    "The prison," George answered.


    "The prison?" Freddy was surprised. "Is our mission today to help in the prison area?"


    There were two prisons in Last Hope. The one that was normally referred to as the prison was next to the cliff on the right side and was taken care of by some specific people that were hired to run it as well as a group of defenders that patrolled the area every day to make sure no one escaped before suffering their punishment.


    The criminals were punished by forcing them to mine the rocks on the cliff.


    "No, our task is simpler than that. You will find out after we reach there," George said. No matter how much he seemed to hate it all, the one thing George didn''t do was not answer the question he was asked.


    "What are your powers?" George asked after a few seconds of silence.


    "I have superior physical strength," Stanley quickly said.


    "Strong?" George paused and turned around. "How strong?"


    "Uh¡­ about twice as strong as a normal human," Stanley said quickly.


    "Hmph!" George scoffed at the two again. "Useless power. Might as well walk around with 2 Dulls instead of you."


    Stanley felt a pang of anger grow in him. As his brother had said, this man had quite a lot of things wrong with him.


    ''Does he think he can just get away with being angry all the time?'' Stanley thought.


    "What''s your power?" he asked Freddy.


    "I can teleport someone other than me to a short distance away," Freddy said.


    "Short distance? You won''t be of much use either," George said. "Sigh, I can''t believe I have to be stuck with two weaklings."

 Chapter 36: The Prison Gate

    <h4>Chapter 36: The Prison Gate</h4>


    Neither Stanley nor Freddy wanted to discuss any more with George. Talking to him was worse than remaining silent, so they chose silence over all.


    After a short way to the other side of the town, they had to take a few congested roads to go to the prison area. That was when they truly got to see just how obnoxious George was.


    George walked around the city as if he owned the roads. He would scold people who were just a littlete to make way for him and even curse them out if they didn''t see himing.


    The people couldn''t talk back to him either, so they could only wallow in hatred and stay away from the man.


    Stanley heard words such as ''the crazy one'' or ''the shitty one'' as he walked past the group of people that hade across George. He very soon realized that George had a reputation in the town for being a very shitty Defender when it came to manners alone.


    Stanley hated George too and found his obnoxiousness hard to stand. However, since he was shadowing him at the moment, there wasn''t much he could do except follow him.


    They arrived at the prison not long after which was on the other side of the stream.


    "Who''s in charge here?" George quickly shouted as soon as he reached there. A man in Defender clothes walked out and frowned when he saw George.


    "Oh, is it you that''s in charge today?" George asked. "What''s your name again?"


    "What do you want?" the man asked, clearly angry at George.


    "Hmph! Don''t show me your attitude and hide your anger. You weren''t good enough to be an actual Defender and are stuck here working as a prison guard. Hah, I knew you weren''t any better than this back when we were just trainees anyway," George said.


    "The fuck do you want? Tell me or leave," the man ordered.


    "God damn, talk about hidden anger," George said. "No need to get worked up. I''m here for the prison registry. We need every bit of information about who is currently in the prison, whether as a guard or as a prisoner."


    "Alright, just wait a minute," the man said and walked away.


    Stanley looked beyond the prison gates to see what it was like inside. He had heard that the prisoners were forced to work in the stone mines beyond the gates, so he wanted to see what it was like.


    Beyond the gates, he could see a long stretch ofnd with a few people walking through before seeing another stretch of emptynd, which surprisingly have multiplerge indents on the ground.


    From what he could see, that area had been warded off with metal posts and wires going around the area.


    "What''s that for?" Stanley couldn''t help but ask. "Are people restricted from going into those areas?"


    "Hmm?" George looked at what Stanley was pointing at. "Oh, that''s just the danger zone that people have to be wary of here. You have a chance of dying if you stand there at the wrong time."


    "The wrong time?" Freddy couldn''t help but ask. "What is considered a wrong time?"


    George pointed up. "When the crawlers fall from the cliff andnd," he said.


    "WHAT?!" both Stanley and Freddy were surprised at the same time. "What do you mean by that, brother George?"


    "Huh? Are you two that unaware?" the man asked. "Do you not know that there are crawlers lurking around the top of the cliff?"


    "We know that," Stanley said. That was something they were taught from a very young age. The Ink Crawlers weren''t just outside the veil, but also on top of the cliffs. However, unlike the veil, the ones on top of the cliff never came down.


    It also meant that one couldn''t try to climb their way to the top of the cliff, but that was something anyone would be willing to give up to not die immediately to the crawlers.


    However, now he was hearing that they actually fell from the top of the cliff too. Just what was going on?


    "The cliff is over a kilometer high," Stanley said. "If the crawlers really do fall, then they must kill anyone that is caught beneath them instantly."


    "They do, that''s why that area has a clear warning. It''s so that the people who have to go through it know that they have to hurry their way out of the danger zone. Multiple people have died from the crawlers falling on them in just the 3 years I have been a Defender. Many more must have died before that," George exined.


    Stanley still couldn''t get over his surprise. "I don''t think anyone in our batch knows about this," he said. "Why aren''t the Defenders stationed here then? They should be stationed on the other side too, don''t they?"


    "There''s no point in stationing anyone here at all," George said. "After all, every crawler that falls from such height dies the moment it crashes onto the ground. Those indents you see are from the crawlers falling and usually, they disappear just seconds after falling so not many even get to witness the Crawler''s death."


    The two 3rd year trainees were more than amazed at the information they had acquired. As they were busy being amazed, the man from before returned back with a bunch of papers in his hand.


    George took the papers and looked through them. "Is everyone''s information here?" he asked.


    "All but the 4 people that were brought here 2 days ago," the man said. "Their information isn''t confirmed, so they are listed as nks. But since they are prisoners, that shouldn''t matter."


    "Alright, that works for me," George said and turned around to leave. However, Stanley spoke up at the same time.


    "Wait, 4?" he asked. "If these are the people that were brought here from the 2nd quadrant 2 days ago, there should have been 6 here."


    "Huh? Oh yeah, there were 6 before," the man said. "But since 2 of them had powers we couldn''t handle, they were taken away from here to a more secure prison."


    "Where is that?" Stanley asked.


    "That''s none of your business," George quickly interjected. "Now stop this nonsense and let''s go."

 Chapter 37: Next Task

    <h4>Chapter 37: Next Task</h4>


    Stanley and Freddy followed George who seemed to be grumbling on his own as he made his way down to the 3rd and 4th quadrants.


    After delivering the registry from the prison camp, George had been given another task for the day. However, he hadn''t ryed what the task was to either of the two and simply expected them to follow him without question.


    Stanley was very curious as to just what it was that had gotten George in such a bad mood. Did he perhaps not like going down to the lower quadrants?


    "Goddamn idiots! Can''t even be a little grateful," George spoke just loud enough that Stanley could make out what he was saying. "Do they not understand how much he has done for this town?"


    ''What is he talking about?'' Stanley wondered.


    "Just wait until it''s my turn. I''ll make sure to punish each and every one of them," he continued speaking.


    Neither Stanley nor Freddy could understand what was going on.


    The people on the road moved away as George made his way through. Everyone here knew of his ego and attitude as well, so they knew to not be in his way.


    Unlike the upper 2 quadrants, the lower quadrants didn''t have proper arrangements for houses. They were built wherever there was space with a very small pathway to be used as roads.


    Houses were small and cramped, holding many people in them despite their size. The poption of the lower quadrants was significantly higher than the upper quadrant as a result.


    From what Stanley knew about the situation, the upper 2 quadrants were the original ce where thest humans had settled in this town. That was also why most of the houses there wererge and spacious, with the arrangement being quite good.


    The Defenders headquarters had formed right below the two quadrants as well, to protect the people from the crawlers.


    It was only once the poption had increased by a lot that the lower quadrants had to be formed, and that was why the Defenders headquarters ended up being in the center of the 4 quadrants, rather than below it.


    Due to theck of straight roadways, Stanley found it hard to keep track of exactly where he was walking. He was unsure if he could reach this ce again if someone dared him toe here.


    George stopped right in front of a small rundown house with a group of people ying cards outside of it.


    "Is your leader inside?" George asked.


    The group of ruffian-looking people quickly moved aside to make way. "He''s on the 2nd floor, sir," one of them quickly replied.


    George nodded and walked in. Stanley and Freddy were unsure exactly what was going on, but they followed George inside nheless.


    A wooden staircase led them to the floor above with more menying around. They moved aside when George walked through.


    "Hmm? Oh, if it isn''t sir George," a man who was sitting behind a table full of scattered paper spoke when he saw George.


    The man was shorter than the average man in the town and was a little chubby as well. He looked to be in his 30s and had a steep widow''s peak that he tried to hide with his thin hair.


    He wore a normal gray tunic and trousers, but there was a bandage on his left arm that wasn''t part of what he wore at all.


    George walked up and sat on the other side of the table, uncaring about the men around him. He looked at the papers scattered throughout the room and scoffed a little. "I see business is running well," he said.


    "It has been amazing, sir George," the man said. "What to others was a tragedy was nothing but a business opportunity for us. The mayor has paid quite a hefty sum to have us help rebuild the town and the farm."


    "Hmph," George refused to find pleasure in the man''s pleasure. "It won''t be for long though. As soon as theye here, you know that you''re going to the farm too, right?"


    The chubby man''s face changed a little. "Certainly I can be exempted. Even though I don''t have any powers, I''ve been rather helpful to the town," he said.


    "Heh, if it was even a yearter, I might have been able to help you," George said. "But since it is happening within thest 3 months, I cannot do anything for you at all."


    "Please, sir George, you should be able to do something, right?" the man asked.


    "Even if I could, why do you think I would want to?" George asked.


    The man''s eyes narrowed. "You''re here for something, aren''t you? Surely if I helped you with the task, you could help me a little too, right? It should be a fair exchange."


    George tapped on the table a few times as he thought and shrugged. "Why not? If you are useful, I''ll put in some good word," he said. "Only if you are useful though."


    "I promise I will be, brother George," the man said. "So, what exactly can I help you with?"


    George looked around at the men that were in and outside of the room. "Your men, they are out and about a lot, right?" he asked.


    "They are," the man nodded. "That is their job."


    "Then they must have brought along the news they heard from outside too then," George asked.


    "Which news exactly is it that you wanted to learn about, sir George?" the man asked.


    "You know which one," George said. "The one that''s the most threatening to our society. The one that if true will disrupt the life of so many people that it would not even be funny."


    "Ah¡­ I see," the man spoke. "You want to hear about the resistance, don''t you?"


    George straightened up and got closer.


    "What do you know about it?"

 Chapter 38: Snap

    <h4>Chapter 38: Snap</h4>


    The chubby man smiled a little. "You will be happy to hear that there is nothing to worry about at all," he said. "After the recent actions from the mayor, the resistance and all activities surrounding it have died down as well."


    George paused for a bit. "What?"


    Stanley was finally understanding what their task here was. They were here to get more information about the resistance that had formed amongst the people after the mayor had forced people to go work on the farm, regardless of whether they were dull or had powers, were rich or poor, or even if they had any experience of working in a farm or not.


    From what Bradley had told him, that had caused a bit of a stir amongst the people, especially amongst those in the lower quadrants who were more prone to getting sent to the farm just because the Defenders were biased against them.


    ''The resistance really is dying down huh?'' he thought. That was something the Defenders had talked about around dinner time a few days ago, which Stanley had happened to hear.


    ''Does he not know because he doesn''t interact with people a lot?'' Stanley thought while looking at George.


    "The resistance is dying?" he asked.


    "Yes," the man said enthusiastically. "Everyone who knows they are safe no longer holds any intention of going against the mayor. Only a few Dulls still remain, but they won''t be able to do anything, so they''ll disband in no time at all."


    George nodded to himself as he heard that. "So¡­ I came here for nothing, huh?" he spoke softly, but with clear anger hidden in his voice. "At least tell me who instigated it all. Do you know the main figure behind the resistance?"


    The chubby man shook his head. "I''m afraid I don''t have such information. We do not know how the idea of resistance spread at all. By the time my men were aware of it, it had already spread through the 3rd and 4th quadrants," he said.


    "Dammit!" George kicked the leg of the table, making it slide around the chubby man as the papers on top of it scattered onto the floor. "So you have nothing for me, is that so?"


    "Bu-but I told you what I knew, sir George," the man said. "I swear, that is all I have."


    George kicked the table even further away and got up to grab the short man by his cor. "And you expect me to help you out with just this bit of information?" he asked, staring directly at him with his angry look. "You will be lucky if I don''t tell the mayor toe for you first."


    The people standing outside and inside saw the scene and reacted immediately. The men from outside rushed in, while the men inside the room moved to protect their leader.


    Freddy moved at once, touching the man next to him. In the next instance, the man was teleported outside the room, on the way of the iing men.


    Stanley moved as well. He put his foot in front of the other man, tripping him. Before the man fell, he grabbed him by the back of his clothes and pulled him back before pushing him onto the wall.


    He pulled out his sword and put it between himself and the man, keeping the man at the sword''s point. As much as he hated George, he couldn''t let these men attack him at all.


    "Not bad," George said before letting go of the man he was holding. In the next instant, his hand moved to the side, with his thumb and middle finger pushing each other.


    Then, he snapped.


    Suddenly, an illusory wall formed right in front of the door, one that seemedpletely transparent like ss, and opaque at the same time.


    The men tried to push against it, break it, but no matter what they did, they could not even put a crack in the wall that had formed in front of them.


    Both Stanley and Freddy looked to the side in surprise.


    "A barrier!" Freddy almost eximed in shock. Stanley was simply too stupefied to say anything.


    He hadn''t expected the arrogant man they had been following to have a barrier to his ability. On top of that, his activation ritual was so simple. It was just a snap.


    "P-please, don''t hurt me," the man started begging the moment he got a hold of himself. He held onto George''s leg while begging for his life.


    "Let go of me," George said and pushed the man back before walking away from him. "You were useless."


    The man watched George turn around and knew that if he didn''t do something, it would be bad for not just his business, but also his life.


    "Wait!" he shouted. "I have something else."


    George paused and turned around. "Something else?" he asked.


    The man furiously nodded. "It''s something as big as the resistance information too," he said.


    "What is it?" George asked curiously.


    "Y-you see, while the idea of resistance had died down in the past days, another notion had begun emerging from the people in this region," the man said. "This time, the women are angry that they don''t have any rights and that they should be able to do what they want too."


    "What?" George gave a confused look.


    "Yes, the women want equality, sir George. The idea has been moving around in the lower quadrants, and I believe it won''t take long before it reaches the same level as the idea of the resistance," the man said. "Only this time, I don''t see how easily the mayor can fix this problem."


    "Why the hell would these women be trying to¡­ this makes no sense!" George was getting angrier and angrier by the second. However, if this was true, then it was a huge deal that they would have to solve nheless.


    George thought for a bit. "How legit is this information?" he asked.


    "It''s 100% true," the man answered quickly.


    "Good," George said. "You''ve done well with giving me this information. I''ll see what can be done with it."

 Chapter 39: Be It

    <h4>Chapter 39: Be It</h4>


    Stanley put away the long sword back into the sheath on his back while the barrier at the door dissipated away as well.


    "I will ry back the information," George said. "Try and find more if you can. Every bit of information will help you with not having to go to the farms."


    The man nodded and made an effort to smile. "Thank you, sir George," he said.


    "It''s no matter," George said. "Also, go get some medicine for your arm. Why the hell are you even hurt? I didn''t even hit you."


    "Huh?" the man turned to look at his bandaged arm and noticed that it was bleeding quite profusely. He quickly grabbed his arm and smiled. "Oh, it''s nothing to worry about. Someone crazy attacked me two days ago, but I''m fine now."


    "You call that fine?" George scoffed a bit. "Whatever, don''t die. I still need you to gather as much information as you can on what''s happening amongst the civilians."


    "Yes, sir George," the man nodded.


    "Let''s go," George spoke, and walked out of the room with the chubby man''s men standing on either side of the hallway as they walked out.


    Stanley made certain to note anyone who could attack at any moment. They were all angry, so being attacked wasn''t an impossibility here after all.


    Thankfully, no one attacked them and they safely walked out of that shady ce.


    After walking outside, George stopped right outside of the house and scoffed once again. "Those fucking women are trying to go at it this time? For what? Equality? Rights?" the man spoke to himself.


    "They think they don''t have enough rights already? Why do they want to be equal when they are treated as better? It''s us men that have to go and fight the crawlers while they can stay safe. It''s the men that have to go work on the farm, while they enjoy life in the town," George spoke to himself. "Fucking rights! They want the right to kill themselves, don''t they? Argh, this is making me angry."


    Stanley and Freddy said nothing and let the man vent for a while in front of them. After they were done, George took them around the city to find out more about this other resistance that had been forming for women''s rights.


    However, apart from hearing rumors about it, none of the others that he went to be helpful at all.


    Stanley was still following George around the town when he heard someone call out his name.


    "Hmm?" he turned around to find Bradley making his way toward him alone. "Brother?"


    George turned toward Bradley and made a weird face. "He''s your brother?" he asked Stanley.


    "Yes," Stanley quickly said before turning around to his brother. "What are you doing here, brother? Aren''t you supposed to be working?"


    "No, my work isplete for the day," Bradley said. "Speaking of which, why are you guys still working? It''ste already, isn''t it?"


    "I work until I don''t want to," George said. "What''s it to you?"


    "You''re overworking my brother. That''s what is to me," Bradley said.


    "They''re under me today," George said while staring back at Bradley. "They work until I let go of them."


    "Their working hours are already over. They can leave as long as they want to," Bradley said while staring directly at George as well.


    The two seemed to have some sort of tension between them. Stanley understood that his brother thought that George wasn''t a very good guy, but he didn''t expect him to be so openly hostile against him.


    "Heh! Are you talking back to me?" George asked.


    "Why not?" Bradley asked. "We have the same rank as each other, so there''s no reason for me to be polite. I could be respectful, but we both know I''m not going to give you any."


    George only smiled in response. "You must think it will be you, don''t you? That''s why you think you can afford to be disrespectful. I can''t wait to see your stunned face when it will be me."


    "We''ll see who it will be in due time," Bradley said and looked at Stanley. "Let''s go. You don''t have to keep working anymore."


    Stanley was practically dragged away from the group by Bradley. He went with his brother a bit further away before stopping.


    "What''s going on?" he asked. "Why do you sound angry?"


    "Angry?" Bradley asked before shaking his head. "No, I''m just annoyed. Did he treat you two wrong?"


    Stanley thought for a bit and shook his head. "Not differently from how he seems to treat everyone," he said. "He might even have been a little generous to us, most likely because we''re Defenders."


    "That''s good then," Bradley said.


    "What did you guys mean back there?" Stanley suddenly asked. "What did you two mean that it will be either of you?"


    Bradley shook his head. "You don''t have to worry about that right now," he said. "Let''s leave."


    Bradley started walking away and Stanley followed behind him. "What are you hiding from me, brother?" he asked.


    "Nothing," Bradley said.


    "Come on, you''re clearly hiding something," Stanley said and annoyed him so he would give up and say.


    However, it didn''t look like Bradley was going to budge at all. After walking a few ways up the slope, Stanley finally gave up.


    "Fine, if you''re not going to tell me, then ept my demand," he said.


    "Huh? What demand?" Bradley looked at his brother weirdly.


    "I want to eat those noodles again," Stanley said. "I''m craving for them."


    "Noodles? Oh, the one in the 3rd Quadrant?" Bradley asked. "Actually, you know what? I''ve been craving them too. Let''s go eat."


    Stanley gave a wide smile as he was happy to hear his brother agree to his demands. "Oh right, you made me payst time because you had to leave. I don''t have much money, so you will have to make sure to pay this time."


    "That was the money I gave you in the first ce," Bradley felt wronged. "Whatever, juste. You won''t have to worry about money. I have plenty."


    Stanley happily put his arm around his brother''s shoulders and started walking down to the noodle shop that he had been wanting to go to once again.

 Chapter 40: A Simple Life

    <h4>Chapter 40: A Simple Life</h4>


    The sky was reddish-purple around evening time when Stanley and Bradley reached the noodle shop that was on the rightmost side of the 3rd quadrant.


    Crossing the small stream, the two brothers walked up to the noodle shop and were surprised to see that even now it was just as popr as ever.


    Perhaps because it was close to dinner, however, there weren''t as many people waiting for the noodles which could be mostly considered snacks.


    When the spots opened up, Bradley and Stanley walked into the shop.


    "Wee, please have a seat. The noodles will be ready in a few minutes," She said before looking up to greet her guest.


    She was taken aback for a moment when she saw two people in Defenders armor. She got a little meek and nodded toward the two.


    "Hello, She," Stanley said with a bright smile. "We came back for your noodles."


    "Huh? You know me?" the girl was a little surprised. Her blue eyes widened in shock before she remembered who Stanley was. "Ah! It''s you, the one that burned his hand, right? What was your name again?"


    "Stanley," he answered.


    "Right, right, Stanley," she said. "Take a seat, I''ll get the noodles ready quickly."


    Stanley nodded and walked away, while Bradley looked at him weirdly.


    "How do you know her name?" he couldn''t help but ask after he was seated. "Have youe here on your own when I''m absent?"


    "Huh? Of course not," Stanley answered. "She helped me when I had burned my hand thest time, so we ended up talking a bit and learning each other''s names. Although, it doesn''t seem like I made much of an impact in her mind."


    "Don''t mind that, she deals with hundreds if not thousands of people a day. It would be weird if she remembered everyone''s name and face. The fact that she knows you burned your hand means you definitely made an impact," he said.


    Stanley gave a small smile and let the topic drift away. He looked around at the people that were either waiting for their food or were busy eating what was already served.


    Not a single person that was eating was forcing themselves to eat at all. She''s noodles were just that good.


    "So, what did George do today? Was your job difficult?" Bradley asked.


    "No, it was simple. Mostly we just followed him around as he searched for information," Stanley said. "Oh right, speaking of which. Brother, did you know that crawlers fell down from the cliffs? I just found out today and had no idea something like that happened."


    "Oh that, I learned that quitete too," Bradley said. "One of my tests during the 3rd year''s exam was to send someone to prison and deal with the paperwork. I found out about the falling crawlers then."


    "I think it''s kept a secret so that people don''t get nervous during their daily life. Learning that there are crawlers living not just outside the veil but also above the cliff does make it hard to fall asleep when every single sound makes you think it''s a crawler," Bradley exined.


    "Hmm¡­ that does make sense," Stanley said.


    "Does that mean you went to prison too?" Bradley asked.


    "Yes, but we didn''t enter. George just had to take back some documents from there for the census," Stanley said. As he said that, Stanley remembered something that had happened back then.


    "Oh right, brother, of the people I and the others caught a few days ago, 2 have been apparently sent to a different prison because of their powers. Do you know what this prison is, or where it is?" Stanley asked.


    Bradley looked at his brother with a slightly surprised face. "You¡­ you learned about the 2nd prison too?" he asked.


    "Yes, was it supposed to be a big secret?" Stanley asked.


    "It''s¡­ definitely meant to not be learned by everyone," Bradley said. "I only learned because¡­" He stopped speaking. "Anyway, you don''t have to think about this prison if you don''t know about it. Let the others deal with these things."


    Stanley frowned a bit. "Why does everyone get so defensive about the 2nd prison? Why aren''t you telling me?" he asked.


    "It''s a secret, okay," Bradley said. "I''m not authorized to give you any information about the second prison. Just drop the topic, okay?"


    "Sigh, okay," Stanley said and stopped.


    "Anyway, what after the prison? Why were you in the 4th quadrant?" Bradley asked.


    "That''s because George had another job," Stanley said. "Brother, have you heard about the girls trying to fight for equality? Apparently, something else is going on after the previous resistance against the mayor."


    "Yeah, I''ve heard," Bradley said. "Honestly, I don''t know what''s going on at all. It wasn''t like this before. But after the Crawler attack 3 months ago, it feels like everything is slowly going downhill."


    "When you think one problem is taken care of, another one pops up. I can''t wait for the town to go back to normal so we can live a simple," Bradley said.


    "Can someone whose job it is to uphold thew even live a simple life?" a girl''s voice spoke from behind them. "Here''s your noodles. Sorry for the dy."


    Bradley watched as She ced the meals on the table in front of the two and then turned towards her.


    "What did you mean by that?" he asked her.


    "By what?" She asked.


    "You said we can''t live a simple life," Bradley said.


    "Can you?" she asked. "You have to constantly ce your life on the line to catch criminals just to keep the civilians safe. Do you call that a simple life? Because I don''t."


    "Unless you can ever just give up on this lifestyle of yours, let alone a simple life, I don''t think you can ever even live a worry-free one," she said.


    She walked away to serve the other customers, leaving both Stanley and Bradley something rather profound to think about.

 Chapter 41: Why?

    <h4>Chapter 41: Why?</h4>


    Bradley gave her words some thought for a moment but quickly forgot about it. He had a responsibility on his shoulders now that their parents were gone. He would be the one to take care of his brother.


    If he was lucky, he would even be responsible for the whole town in the future. There wasn''t much need for him to worry about not living a simple life as he knew after a while, his life wouldn''t be as simple.


    Stanley on the other hand was simply stunned by what he heard from the girl.


    ''Why am I trying to be a Defender?'' he asked himself.


    Was it because he wanted to save people? No, as much as he didn''t like to think about it, he didn''t care much for the others. He would help them if he could, but he would never go out of his way to do so.


    Then why did he want to be a Defender?


    When starting out, it was because Defenders made a lot of money. If he had enough money, he could give his mom the easy life that she deserved.


    However, now that she had passed away, his reason for bing a Defender had died with her too. Now, there was only a single reason why he wanted to be a Defender anymore.


    It was to get his revenge.


    He wanted to kill as many crawlers as he could, to satisfy the anger in his heart, the one that hid deep within him and would only show up when there was a Crawler in front of him.


    He didn''t care about the money he would earn or the people he could help. He only wanted revenge.


    But¡­ did he need to be a Defender for that?


    "Eat up!" Bradley nudged him. "Or else it will get cold."


    Stanley jerked out of his thoughts and nodded. Then, he started consuming the noodles in front of him that seemed to hold the vor of life itself in it.


    He savored every single bite, taking his sweet time as he ate.


    "Hey, little sister. Is the shop closed yet?" a voice asked loudly from outside the shop.


    "No, I have enough for about 20 more people," She answered the man. "You cane in."


    "20 huh? You are way too popr. You should get more ingredients so you can keep the shop open untilte evening," the man spoke and walked in.


    "It''s fine. It''s too much work anyway," She answered. "Please sit around, I''ll get you your noodles soon."


    "Okay," the man answered and looked around the room. "Oh? If it isn''t Bradley."


    Stanley turned around when he heard his brother being called. He looked at the man that had arrived and was surprised to see that it was another Defender.


    The man was slightly taller than Stanley and had a thin build, no different than his brother''s. He had slightly brown hair and looked normal for the most part.


    His eyes looked a little weird, however. Stanley couldn''t tell what it was, but there was something wrong with his eyelids with how smooth it all was.


    "Brother Yasu?" Bradley turned around. "Off to work?"


    "Yeah, I have patrol duty today for the entire night," he exined while he sat on the empty seat next to Bradley. "You like the food here too?"


    "It''s great," Bradley said. "Do youe here often?"


    "Yeah, no one does it like She does. There have been others trying to copy her apparently, but not a single one of them has been able to make something as savory," Yasu said. "I wonder what she uses to make it all taste so good."


    "I don''t think she''ll tell anyone that," Bradley said. "Oh, this is my brother. I don''t think you''ve met him before."


    "Oh, hi," Yasu went in for a handshake.


    Stanley quickly shook his hands and introduced himself.


    "That''s a strong shake," Yasu said. "Youths these days are strong, aren''t they?"


    Yasu ignored Stanley for the most part after that, talking only with Bradley. Their conversation was simple, neither delving into any deep topics.


    Yasu''s food arrived a few minutester and he started eating too. He seemed to be in a hurry, so unlike the two brothers, he finished his meal as quickly as he could.


    "I''ll be leaving first then," Yasu said and got up from his seat. Heplimented She on her food and left after paying.


    "Oh, it''s dark out already. We should leave," Bradley said and started eating quickly as well. Stanley increased the pace and in the next two minutes, both brothers were done eating their meal.


    "Thank you for the meal," Bradley spoke as he walked up to She. "I had to leave in a hurryst time, so I couldn''t tell you how good this food tastes."


    "Thank you," She said softly while taking the money she was given.


    "We''lle again," Bradley said and walked away. Stanley nodded as he walked out as well.


    Themps dimly lit the streets this time around as the sky had gonepletely dark. "Wow, we spent a bit too long in that shop, didn''t we?" he asked. "Let''s go back quickly."


    There were a lot fewer people in the streets now that it was night. The ones that were also rushing back home.


    As they made their way up the town, a figure in a hooded cloak ran up to them. "A-are you two Defenders?" A desperate-sounding woman''s voice could be heard from beneath the cloak.


    "Yes," Bradley said. "What''s wrong?"


    "M-my child! P-please, help my child," the woman spoke and rushed away.


    Stanley and Bradley quickly ran behind her to help her child. They followed her into an alleyway, where she took a turn toward another alley with bright lights.


    The two brothers quickly ran after her. Stanley was ahead of his brother, so he arrived at the alleyway just a few seconds earlier. As he turned around the corner, a deep sense of fear filled him.


    The feeling hade back which meant so had danger.

 Chapter 42: Gibberish

    <h4>Chapter 42: Gibberish</h4>


    A figure jumped out of the darkness while Stanley was distracted. Something reflective glinted in the dark and the next thing he knew, a sharp pain flooded his arm.


    "Argh!" Stanley shouted loudly while the figure quickly changed direction to attack Bradley that wasing in.


    Bradley grabbed his own hand on instinct and closed his eyes. He felt the attack go past him without touching him at all. A momentter he opened his eyes and quickly grabbed his brother before pulling him back.


    "Stanley! Are you hurt?" Bradley asked.


    He could hear his brother panting and knew that his trauma was attacking him again. "Can you speak?" he asked again.


    "Y-ye," Stanley said and slowly got up.


    "You!" Bradley looked at the figure in the dark that was rather hard to make out. There were lights in the alley, but it was in the distance, so nothing could be seen as clearly.


    Bradley pulled out the sword on his hip and looked at the man. "Why did you attack my brother?" he asked the figure.


    "How is it?" a woman''s voice spoke from around the corner. It was the voice of the panicked woman who wanted them to help their child. Only, she wasn''t panicked at all.


    It was then that Bradley realized that he and his brother had been baited intoing here. For what? Were they nning to kill them?


    If that was the case, then he needed to disarm the man and neutralize him before he could do anything else.


    "Bad luck," a man''s voice came from the figure in front of them with the sword. "This one is only a trainee. He knows nothing at all. Poor kid, his mother only died 3 months ago and they''re already making him work."


    "Ah, poor soul," the woman''s voice came with concern filling her voice.


    ''Are they mocking us?'' Bradley thought. ''How do they know about our mother?''


    Without wasting any time, he charged for the man.


    The man turned around in time and moved aside as the sword fell where the man previously stood. The knife flipped in his hand and used it to stop Bradley from moving his sword up.


    Bradley went to pull the sword instead and the man took the opportunity to sh at his arm. Bradley barely dodged the knife attack and moved back.


    "Shouldn''t we run?" the woman asked.


    "The trainee''s blood is useless. I need the other ones," the man said. "Don''t worry, that kid is quite the fighter. I can defend myself for now."


    ''Blood?'' Bradley was surprised when he heard that. ''Why do they want our blood? For their powers? What sort?''


    Bradley needed to know if the man had powers, and if so, what it did, and how it could be activated. Without those answers, things could get a little problematic in the dark.


    Stanley clutched his arm and focused on the pain to stop thinking about his mother right now. Since the feeling had faded away, he could focus on the danger in front of them.


    He slowly stood up and looked at the fight that was taking ce. "Let me help you, brother," Stanley said as he pulled hisrge sword as well.


    "Hey, hey! That kid is strong. I can''t fight against two at once," the man shouted.


    Something shed in the dark and Bradley saw the knife flying toward the woman that he couldn''t yet see. "Take care of the trainee for me," the man said.


    Neither of the brothers knew what was going to happen and was worried. In the next moment, however, Stanley suddenly dropped to one knee as his mind went dizzy for a second.


    "Stanley?" Bradley quickly grabbed his brother with an arm. "Are you okay?"


    "No," Stanley said. "My entire body hurts all of a sudden, my head more than anything. I can''t focus."


    Just then, he heard a voice speak to him. He couldn''t tell what the voice was telling him, but he could hear it quite clearly. With his head hurting so much, he thought he was unable to understand what the person was saying because he couldn''t focus. However, even when he clearly heard it, he still couldn''t make sense of what the voice was saying.


    Whoever was speaking the gibberish made it sound like they were speaking directly into his ear canal too, like they were inside of his ears right now.


    "What did you do?" Bradley shouted at the man.


    "Huh?" the woman''s surprised voice came from the alleyway. "How has he not fainted yet? Everyone fainted after I drank their blood."


    ''Drink our blood?'' Bradley thought. ''The knife?''


    "Do it again, more," the man said.


    "Argh!" Stanley felt the pain increase by twofold while his brain felt like it could split in half at any moment, but he still held on.


    "How?" the woman''s surprised voice sounded. "How is he still not unconscious?"


    Whoever was spouting that gibberish inside Stanley continued speaking, regardless of whether he was listening to it or not.


    "Don''t worry, he will only faint for a few hours at most," the woman''s voice came. "We are not here to kill, or even hurt you."


    "You expect me to believe that?" Bradley shouted while getting ready to attack again.


    "It''s true," the man said. "Give me two drops of your blood and we will let both of you brothers leave."


    "You expect me to believe that?" Bradley asked the two.


    Stanley continued grabbing his head as it red in pain, while the gibberish continued. "Stop speaking!!" he shouted. "I can''t understand you!"


    "Tranting to Old Eylish," the voice suddenly became clear. "Host is showing signs of being poisoned. Varinox is unable to locate the source of the poison, so the poison cannot be removed. Attempting to call nearest medical aid."


    "Varinox is not paired with any of Host''s devices. Unable to call any medical services."


    "Please visit the nearest hospital as soon as you can if you believe your life is in danger. You can also upgrade your shot of Varinox to thetest version avable at any Varinox-affiliated store."


    "Thank you for using our services."

 Chapter 43 Blood

    43 Blood


    Stanley heard the wordse from deep within him, one he could understand this time. However, they still sounded gibberish to him as he couldn''t focus on it due to his whole body feeling as if thousands of needles were piercing him at the very same time, while his head hurt just the same as well.


    He was on the verge of going unconscious from the pain, but he was just that short of it, so all he could do was suffer.


    The woman saw Stanley struggling in the dim light and was genuinely surprised. She had used twice the amount of blood as would normally be necessary for a person to copse into unconsciousness from the pain.


    But somehow, the young man that was only a trainee was still not unconscious.


    She quickly looked at the knife in her hand and decided to use more blood. However, to her surprise, the blood had already coagted and dried up.


    She needed fresh, liquid blood to use her powers, and unfortunately, there was none anymore. Still, her previous use of power still kept Stanley down, which she had to hope would be enough time for them to draw blood from the other one.


    The woman hated her own powers. Ever since she had understood what her powers were, she had hidden them in fear that the town would shun her for it.


    Being able to bring pain to others by simply using that person''s blood was anything but useful to the town. People would even fear her if they ever found out.


    That was why the woman had hidden it all this time.


    However recently, after learning a truth that had shocked her world, she decided to use it. She was going to use it to help the ones that were fighting for the good.


    Seeing his brother in pain, Bradley''s rage reached its peak. He no longer cared about apprehending them without much violence. He was going to fight the best he could.


    He charged at the man in front of him with his sword in his hand.


    "Shit!" the man cried out. He was currently without a weapon since the woman had taken his kitchen knife.


    He dodged the sword and kicked it with his feet. He then went in for a punch, only for his fist to go in through the young man''s skull without touching anything.


    Bradley brought back the sword while deactivating his powers. As two matters couldn''t upy the same space, the man''s hand and his head jerked away in a different direction from the repelling force.


    The man stumbled backward, not in a position to defend himself from the iing sword. However, at thest second, he kneed the base of the sword, redirecting it just a little above so that it went past him.


    He quickly stepped back for and few seconds and restored his stance again. "Phew, I nearly died," the man said. "Young man, are you really that keen on killing us?"


    "I see no reason why not when you are trying to do the same here," Bradley said.


    "I told you, we''re not here to kill. Give us a bit of blood and we''ll leave right now," the man said.


    Bradley ignored the man and continued his assault. He attacked the man with his sword with every intent to kill. However, the man dodged most of his attacks.


    ''How is he so good at fighting?'' Bradley wondered while he fought. ''Was he a trained Defender that failed? Or are there people who''ve secretly trained themselves to fight others?''


    The man was a little slow for the most part, his body not used to moving so quickly and precisely. However, he seemed to have experience with what exactly it was he needed to do.


    ''Why is his fighting style so familiar?'' Bradley couldn''t help but wonder. As he continued fighting, an answer came to his mind. ''That''s Stanley''s fighting style!''


    He stopped for a moment out of shock. He stood his ground and look at the man in shock. ''How does he know Stanley''s fighting style? It doesn''t make sense. Did he learn it from somewhere? Did he copy it?''


    ''No¡­'' an answer came to him. ''He knew about our mother and he knew about Stanley being a Trainee despite the horrible visibility in the darkness. It must be his powers then.''


    ''His powers must allow him to learn about someone, and maybe even learn what they''ve experienced,'' Bradley thought. ''If that''s his power, then what''s the activation ritual? Why has he not already stolen a copy of my memories and powers too?''


    That was something Bradley had to think about. If the activation ritual was something simple like blinking or even clicking the heel of one''s feet, the man should have done it already.


    The fact that he hadn''t stolen from him meant that the man hadn''t activated his technique yet. At a moment''s notice, he coulde up with only two possibilities as to why that was.


    First, the man couldn''t learn about someone back to back. There was a period of time when he "You''re ke''s father, aren''t you?" he asked, realizing just how closely the two resembled each other.


    15:52


    The old man''s face changed at the mention of his son. "You knew my son?" he asked with a surprised couldn''t use his powers once activated. This was a genuine possibility that Bradley couldn''t ignore. However, given what they were asking for, there was one more possibility.


    ''Blood! They need my blood,'' he thought. ''That''s why they keep asking for my blood. Is it to learn about my techniques? No, it''s to learn about me.''


    Bradley had to be careful now. The woman was staying where she was as she wouldn''t be of much help to the man, so it was going to be a 1 on 1 fight. With his brother still struggling, he wouldn''t help him either.


    Since he was almost sure what was going on now, he started attacking again, only this time he knew what he needed to do.


    He switched up his attack patterns so that the man couldn''t keep up with it. ''You only just learned the fighting style today. Your mind might know what to do, but your body certainly can''t keep up.''


    Between attacking, activating, and deactivating his techniques, the man in front of him could not handle him at all.


    Soon enough, Bradley started getting the upper hand.


    When he saw the opportunity, he kicked the man in the side of his chest and sent him stumbling toward the light where he fell to the ground.


    Bradley quickly rushed after him and prepared to stab the man. The woman screamed to the side, but he ignored her. He simply went in for the stab.


    At thest moment, however, he faltered. The sword fell to the right, hitting the ground next to the man''s shoulders.


    "Y-You!" he couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Now that the man was in the light, he could recognize the man''s face.


    "You''re ke''s father, aren''t you?" he asked, realizing just how closely the two resembled each other.


    The old man''s face changed at the mention of his son. "You knew my son?" he asked with a surprised look as well.


    "ke was one of my closest friends during our time in the Defender''s training," Bradley said with a hollow voice. "I saw you during the funeral."


    This chapter and the following will be locked starting tomorrow. Read for free while you can.


    Snoring_Panda

 Chapter 44 The Next Mayor

    44 The Next Mayor


    ke was one of the many people that had died during the chaotic battle against the Ink Crawlers 3 months ago.


    Bradley remembered the old man since ke''s funeral had taken ce in the cemetery on the same day as his mother''s. Multiple bodies, or what remained of them were buried that day.


    Bradley clearly remembered the sobbing cries the man had made for his son. It had put an impression on him.


    "Why are you doing this?" Bradley asked with a shocked look. "Why are you trying to hurt us?"


    "I told you, boy, I''m not trying to hurt you," the man shouted.


    "Then what are you trying to do? Gain information from me?" Bradley asked. "What are you going to use it for?"


    "I''m going to dismantle this falsehood that killed my son," the man shouted even louder. "I''m going to get revenge for my child."


    "What revenge?" Bradley asked. "If you want revenge, go attack the Crawlers. Why are you hurting us? We are only¡ª"


    "Brother!" Stanley shouted suddenly.


    Bradley''s attention shifted and he saw the womaning at him with the knife. At thest moment, he activated his power. He instinctively used it on the woman rather than himself as he didn''t want to close his eyes.


    The woman''s body because ethereal, but the knife she held was still in her hand. She shed it at Bradley and cut him on his right arm.


    The pushback the knife felt on Bradley''s skin was enough to dislodge it from the woman''s ethereal hand. However, it was enough to draw blood.


    Bradley jumped back in pain and panic. He watched the woman quickly go for the knife, but since his powers were still active, she couldn''t get a hold of it.


    The man, however, was finally free and got hold of the knife. He quickly collected the blood from the knife on his finger and licked the blood off the finger.


    Bradley couldn''t help but feel disgusted at the behavior. However, at the next moment, he understood why it was being done.


    "You¡­" the old man couldn''t believe it. "You''re one of the people that is going to be the next Mayor?"


    Bradley''s eyes widened in panic far more than they had before. That was the one thing he did not want others to know about. And somehow, the man had learned about it first.


    "This kid knows more than we could have imagined," the man said. "We need to leave and note down this information before I forget."


    The man immediately moved in front of the woman, blocking her from Bradley''s sight.


    "Stop!" Bradley rushed toward them knowing he couldn''t let them go with the knowledge they had acquired. But before he could reach them, the woman had already gotten her hand on the knife and used the blood on it.


    Once both of her palms were bloody, she joined them and activated her power.


    Bradley immediately felt a massive pain shoot through his body and mind, and in the next moment, he lost all consciousness.


    Stanley barely got a hold of him a minuteter. The pain in his body had lowered to the point where he could barely stand up.


    It still felt like a thousand needles were poking him from all sides, but it was a pain that he could somehow handle.


    "Brother?" he called out for Bradley. "Brother!"


    He dragged his body to his brother and saw him lying there unconscious. He quickly checked to make sure he was breathing all right.


    Once he was sure, he tore off a piece of his cloth to wrap around his brother''s cut. He looked at his own cut, but that had somehow already stopped bleeding.


    "What was that voice?" he wondered, remembering the voice that came from within him. "It said something, didn''t it?"


    He ignored the thought and quickly hauled his brother onto his shoulder. He then took both of their swords in one hand and started walking out of the alleyway.


    As he got out, he saw a small group of people, sneaking nces inside, afraid toe in. There were children that were holding the adult''s clothes, scared.


    Stanley couldn''t tell if he should be angry or not that these people just stayed and waited for the fight inside to be over. They should have heard the shouting and screaming, but they didn''t do anything.


    ''I can''t fault them,'' he thought. ''They aren''t trained to fight.''


    In the end, he couldn''t be angry at them.


    "Go back to your houses, it might be dangerous outside," he said to the people and walked past them.


    "Sir Defender¡­ is-is someone dead in there?" one man asked.


    "No, no one is dead," Stanley said. "But don''t go in to check. Some Defenders shoulde to look at the scene soon enough."


    "We''ve called for some. They should being soon," another person said.


    "I see. Thank you," Stanley said and walked away with his brother on his shoulder.


    He had tried to focus on what was going on, but he couldn''t help but think about what he had heard from the man at thest moment.


    ''My brother is going to be the mayor?'' he thought. He couldn''t imagine how that was true at all. Had he been hiding that information from him? Was that the main secret that he had said he couldn''t tell anyone?


    "Stanley?" someone shouted and ran down the slope towards them.


    Stanley saw a small group of Defendersing toward him. "Are you guys okay? Are you the ones that were attacked?" one of the people asked.


    The ones that hade were the trainers that usually didn''t have any other responsibilities and thus hung around the headquarters.


    "We''re hurt but we should be fine, sir Jerry" Stanley answered.


    "Who attacked you?" another person asked.


    "It was¡­ a pair of man and woman," Stanley answered. "I couldn''t see them properly, but my brother saw the man''s face. He should be able to tell once he''s awake."


    "Alright, let us take him," one of them tried to take Bradley, but Stanley shook his head.


    "It''s alright. I can handle it," he said.


    "Alright, you guys take them. We''ll go see if there are any clues left behind," the trainer Jerry said and walked away with a small group of them.


    Stanley walked back to the headquarters with his brother on his shoulders and ced him in the infirmary. Since he was unconscious, it would take him a while to wake up.


    "Let''s see," the old man Sam was the infirmary doctor that was there for small wounds. He looked at Bradley''s arm under the amateur first aid job. "That''s a nasty cut. We need to clean it before it gets infected. What about yours?"


    Stanley showed his cut as well. "Hmm, yours isn''t as bad. Was it just a scratch or what?" the old man asked.


    "Uhh¡­ something like that," Stanley said.


    "Alright, let me get the herbs. I''ll be right back," the old man said and walked away.


    Stanley sighed and leaned back on the chair while looking at the ceiling as many thoughts flooded his mind. He was only trying to make some sense of the situation when he saw a moment from the corner of his eyes.


    His brother had woken up.


    This is for the 100+ PS we reached once again


    Snoring_Panda

 Chapter 45 Support

    45 Support


    Bradley stirred awake and looked around in the bright light.


    "Brother!" Stanley called out. He stood up and quickly went up to his brother and helped him get back up.


    "Wh-where are we?" Bradley asked. A dull pain still remained in his body from the fight, but it was fading away even as he spoke. However, the sharp pain in his arm didn''t leave just yet.


    "The infirmary in the headquarters," Stanley said. "I brought you here to get treated. Old man Sam went out to get some ointments for our wounds."


    "Wounds? Oh right, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Bradley looked toward his brother. "How''s your wound?"


    "I''m fine, brother. You should worry about yourself. You are the one that fainted," Stanley said.


    "Let me worry about my brother," Bradley said and finally looked at his own wound. He sucked in cold air when the cut stung a bit while trying to move his arm. "At least it''s not bleeding. Oh right, what happened to them? The man and woman that attacked us?"


    "They ran away," Stanley said. "I was in pain and you were unconscious, so neither of us could do anything. The Defenders were notified, but they got there a littlete too."


    "I see," Bradley said with a downtrodden face.


    "They asked me if I saw who they were, but I said no," Stanley said. "The man was your friend''s father, right? Should I have reported him? I told the Defenders that you were the one who saw the man''s face, so you should prepare an answer."


    "That¡­" Bradley felt conflicted when he heard the question. He remembered the old man from the funeral and could only imagine what he must have gone through after his son''s death to reach a point where he was attacking people.


    He didn''t feel right reporting a hurt man who was most likely going to get sent to prison to work in the stone mill for many, many years. However, when he remembered what the person knew now, Bradley couldn''t remain hesitant.


    "I need to report what happened at least," Bradley said. "If I''m not wrong, they are from the rebel group that is trying to overthrow the mayor. The man said it so himself, he wants to destroy the system that resulted in his son''s death."


    "Because of me, they have knowledge that is confidential, so I need to let the Mayor know as soon as possible," Bradley said. He wondered if he even had time to wait. Should he act right now? Should he go up the mountain right now? Surely the mayor wouldn''t be asleep this quickly.


    It was then that Stanley asked the question that he was burning to know the answer to.


    "Brother, are you going to be the next Mayor?"


    Bradley turned around to look at his brother''s face. He could see the curiosity and fear both hidden behind those questioning eyes of his.


    "I''m one of the ones," Bradley said. "I''m sorry I didn''t tell you sooner. I wanted to wait for the Mayor to make the decision before I told you. I was also told not to let this information out, but it seems I failed at that."


    "One of the ones?" Stanley asked. "What do you mean exactly?"


    another one named Jack, but he died during the recent Crawler attack," Bradley exined.


    15:55


    ''Was that what they were fighting about earlier today?'' Stanley wondered. "Wait¡­ since when were "Me, George, and brother Yasu were chosen as candidates to be the next mayor. There was another one named Jack, but he died during the recent Crawler attack," Bradley exined.


    ''Was that what they were fighting about earlier today?'' Stanley wondered. "Wait¡­ since when were you a candidate?"


    Bradley stopped to think for a second about whether to answer or not. In the end, he decided to be truthful.


    "3 months ago," Bradley said. "Right after our tests ended and the results were out, the Mayor asked me and the 3 others to the mansion to tell us that he was going to pick one of us 4 as the next mayor."


    "That¡­" Stanley''s eyes widened and his breathing got a little uneven. "That means¡­"


    "Yes," Bradley said while he sighed. "The reason I wasn''t home that day when the crawlers attacked was that I was in the Mayor''s mansion. By the time the news of the attack had reached us that day, it was already toote."


    "So that was the important thing you mentioned back then," Stanley said.


    "Do you think¡­ I could have saved Mom if I hadn''t gone to the mansion that day? If I had instead rejected the offer and had returned home with you?" Bradley asked.


    That was one of the things he still regretted. He wasn''t at home that day when the crawlers attacked. Could things have been different if he had made any other choice than the one he had made that day?


    "We can''t tell, brother," Stanley said. "It''s possible that you could have saved Mom. But, it''s also possible that she would''ve still died, and you along with her. If things turned out differently, I would have most likely been alone in this world."


    "I don''t want that, brother. I am d that even after that tragedy, you are with me," Stanley said.


    Bradley could only tear up hearing those words from his brother. The regret he held in his heart reduced a little this day since his brother didn''t regret his decision at the very least.


    "Thank you," Bradley said softly.


    "Do you really want to be a Mayor?" Stanley asked.


    "I don''t know really," Bradley said. "Bing the Mayor... it''s not an opportunity I feel like I can skip out on. Its a once in a lifetime opportunity. Imagine how much I can help the people if I became the mayor."


    Help the people. That was what his brother wanted to do. That was part of the motivation that led him to be a Defender.


    ''He''s not like me,'' Stanley thought. ''He genuinely wants to help others while I just¡­''


    All he ever wanted was money and revenge.


    "If that''s what you want to do, then you should do it, brother," Stanley said. "I will support you on your decision to be the next Mayor."


    "Mayor?" a voice spoke from the doorway, making both brothers jump at the same time. "Are you going to be the next mayor, young man?"

 Chapter 46 Change

    46 Change


    The old man Sam, with his dozens of ropes tied around his body, had arrived with the ointment at some point and heard their conversation.


    ''How much did he hear?'' Bradley wondered.


    The old man increased his pace and quickly closed the door. "Are you going to be the next mayor?" the man asked as if it were a urgent question.


    "Uhh¡­ no, it''s not certain yet," Bradley exined. "I''m just a candidate for now, sir."


    "I see," the old man said. "Then, I suggest you don''t be one. Give up."


    "Huh?" Both the brothers were surprised by what they were hearing.


    "Why do you say that?" Bradley asked curiously. As someone who had lived so long, Old man Sam was bound to have a lot of wisdom.


    The old man looked at Bradley and sighed. "When you be the mayor, your personality will change drastically to the point you will be unrecognizable."


    "It''s alright if you were alone and without family," the old man said. "But since you have a brother here, I don''t think you will want that."


    "Unrecognizable? What do you mean by that, sir?" Stanley asked.


    "I mean¡­" the old man turned toward Bradley. "Do you know what is going to happen when you be the Mayor? Has Damien exined yet the process of bing the next Mayor?"


    Stanley looked at his brother to see if he would exin what the old man meant. Bradley seemed to know what was going to happen and felt a little conflicted about it.


    He nodded slowly to affirm that he indeed knew what was going to happen.


    "What is the process, brother? Is it dangerous?" Stanley asked. "I don''t want you to do it if its dangerous."


    "It''s not dangerous," Bradley said.


    "No, It''s not," the old man said as well. "But it definitely isn''t something one can decide so simply either."


    He narrowed his eyes and red at Bradley as he spoke. "Are you prepared to lose it?" he asked. "Your powers."


    "I¡­" Bradley didn''t have an answer just yet. He was still in the process of deciding in the first ce.


    "Lose your powers? What does he mean by that, brother?" Stanley asked. "Why would you lose your powers just to be a mayor? How is it even possible lose your powers?"


    "Because he''s going to get a new one," the old man Sam said. "He''s going to get the mayor''s healing power and be the mayor himself."


    "What?!" Stanley shouted unintentionally at the words that came out of the old man''s mouth. "Is this true? Are you really going to get the mayor''s healing powers?"


    Bradley sighed. "Only if I''m chosen," he said.


    "That''s amazing," Stanley said. "Isn''t that great?"


    "Are you listening?" the old man suddenly sounded angry. "If he gets the healing powers, he will lose his own powers. On top of that, he will also lose his current personality. In a year''s time, he won''t even think of you as a brother anymore."


    "Oh¡­" Stanley''s excitement disappeared immediately. "So you have to give up your own powers to inherit the Mayor''s healing powers?"


    Bradley nodded. "The mayor''s healing power is one that is transfered through the many mayors before him," he exined.


    "Damien''s powers had to do with sound. He could see the world through his ears just by the sounds he heard," the old man exined. "He wasn''t fit for fighting directly, but he was still a capable Defender."


    "He and I were both in the same scenario due to ourck of offensive capabilities," the old man said. "We were both chosen by the previous mayor as candidates too."


    "What? You were a mayor candidate?" Bradley was surprised.


    "Yes, I was," the old man said. "Me, Damien, and one other person that died many years ago were the candidates. I was certain I would be chosen, but in the end, Damien became the mayor."


    "When it was confirmed that he would be the mayor, I was quite happy. No matter who became the mayor, we had made a deal to let the other one stay in the mansion with them," the old man said.


    "However, after bing the mayor, Damien''s personality changed. He, who was once an honorable man, went back on our deal. He started ignoring me openly. When he did talk, it would be when he was giving me an order," the man said.


    "As you can see, I have too keep these things on me all the time to let them fester in my power-negating power. I wanted to stay in the mansion in some part so that I could rush down to any ce that needed me. However, that damn Damien didn''t even care about it. His personality changed to be the worst."


    "If you want your personality to change in such a drastic way too, then you can be the mayor. But, if you care about caring things you care about currently, be careful as to what you choose," the old man said.


    Bradley could only sit there and ept what the old man had told him. Was his personality going to change? He didn''t believe so, but who was to tell?


    If a power recing another power was possible, then a shift in personality was also possible. Even so, he couldn''t imagine not caring about things he cared about now.


    The mayor hadn''t be a heartless person after his personality switch. The only thing that had changed was what he cared about. That was to say he now cared about town as a whole rather than just a person.


    Stanley started thinking about his future where his brother would be the Mayor. Would he also live in the mansion with his brother? Or would his brother be cold and force him to find a way on his own.


    Or maybe he was over thinking it.


    The old man started treating Bradley wound finally. He applied the ointment as well as he could and wrapped his arm with a fresh piece of cloth. He did the same to Stanley as well, even if his wound was much, much smaller now.


    Just as he finished treating them, someone knocked on the door.


    The Defenders were finally here to ask the two brothers about what had transpired earlier than evening.

 Chapter 47 To the Mansion

    47 To the Mansion


    "Really? ke''s father?" one of the Defenders that questioned him couldn''t help but feel bad when they heard the situation.


    "He had the power to learn stuff from my blood. He could copy my brother''s fighting style and could go toe-to-toe against me," Bradley exined. "As for the woman, she had the power to bring us so much pain that we just fall unconscious."


    "Did you see the woman''s face?" someone asked.


    "No, but she should be in her 30s if not 40s," Bradley said. "We should assume that she is also the mother of someone that was a Defender and died. I don''t see why else she would agree to help the man."


    "Hmm, this is serious," the trainer named Jerry said. "They must be working with people that were spreading the rebel ideas. We should inform the mayor."


    "I''ll go exin everything right now," Bradley said. "You guys should go and find out about the man. We should know which house he lived in, right?"


    "We''ll look up the info and go check," the Defenders said.


    "Alright, I''ll leave as well," Bradley said and started walking.


    "Brother, wait. I''lle with you," Stanley said.


    Bradley stopped and turned around. "You should remain here and rest. I''ll go up ande down quickly," he said.


    "You''ve lost a lot of blood. What if you fall unconscious on the way? Let me help you," Stanley said.


    "Take your brother," Old man Sam cried out. "I''m not going to treat you twice thiste if you end up hurting yourself."


    After that, the two brothers left the headquarters and walked up the straight path to the mansion.


    This was Stanley''s second time climbing up these roads to go to the top. Walking between the 1st and 2nd quadrants at night, alone in the street with nothing butmps showing them the way to the top.


    They walked until they arrived past the final line of houses, standing outside the gates that were ced in between the massive walls that covered the mansion.


    It was dark, but Stanley could still see therge building in the distance. It was lit up with warm lights from the inside.


    Some guards quickly came forward, each one of which looked nearly 10 years older than the two brothers.


    "Defenders? What''s your reason foring here thiste?" one of the guards asked.


    "We have urgent news for the Mayor. Please ry this message so I can go talk to him," Bradley said.


    "Hmm? Aren''t you Bradley?" one of the guards recognized him. "Hey, wait here while I go tell the mayor. He knows this kid personally."


    The man ran away, leaving the other guard behind.


    ''That''s the ce I had been to before,'' Stanley thought to himself while looking inside through the gate. He couldn''t see much due to the darkness, but as he looked around the mansion, he saw some dim light going in and out for some reason. "Brother, do you know what''s up with that light over there?" he asked.


    Bradley looked up as well and saw it. "Oh, that''s the lookout tower. It blinks on and off like that to let the people working here know that someone is there," he exined. "People stay up there to make sure no one sneaks into the mayor''s mansion without being allowed to."


    "There''s such a thing as that?" Stanley couldn''t help but ask.


    "Of course," the remaining guard spoke up. "Don''t you know how important this ce is? Half of the town''s grains are stored here. The power station that lights up the entire town is here. The flowers that go into bing colors grow here. Hell, even coins are constantly getting coated here. If they don''t put someone on the lookout, the town would be in shambles the very next day."


    "No, I understand that," Stanley said. "I was just surprised that there are people at ces other than the gate to guard."


    "Yes, we have to," the man said. "We don''t know much of many people''s power after all."


    "That makes sense," Stanley said.


    The other guard quickly returned with approval from the Mayor to let Bradley in. But, only Bradley.


    "Stay here, I''ll be back soon," Bradley said and walked in.


    Stanley waited for about 10 minutes outside in the dark while talking to the guard about various things regarding the mansion.


    "So you haven''t seen the entirety of the mansion either?" he asked the guard.


    "It''s very strict here," the guard exined. "Each person has a specific task and they have to stick to that task and that task alone. The regions inside the mansion are separated as such as well and an individual is allowed to go into only a few ces."


    "How many people do you see each day?" Stanley asked. "Are there a lot of people working inside?"


    "On the contrary," the guard said. "There are barely any people working in there. But, I can''t tell you the specific numbers, even if you are a Defender."


    "That''s understandable," Stanley said.


    "Yeah, well I hope the mayor decides to employ more people soon," the guard said. "Even if it''s just for his sake. He''s so old that I don''t understand why he''s not employing people just to take care of him."


    Stanley thought he knew the answer.


    ''Well, that''s because he''s not going to be a mayor for long, isn''t it?'' he thought. He imagined his brother as the mayor, living inside this mansion, andmanding the city.


    ''That would be great for him,'' Stanley thought. ''I can only hope he beats George and Yasu somehow.''


    If he were to be honest, George was probably most fit to be the mayor than any of the two. Even with his twisted personality, he truly cared about the town.


    ''Still, I have to support my own brother,'' Stanley thought.


    As for what he would do in the future, he had no idea just yet.


    Bradley walked out of the mansion with the guard after informing the mayor, and the two brothers walked back down to the Defenders headquarters.

 Chapter 48 The Mayors Dilemma

    48 The Mayor''s Dilemma


    "Goddammit!" the Mayor shouted and banged the table in front of him in frustration. "How are they still not satisfied? I did what is best for them."


    He was angry that even after the announcements he made regarding the census hadn''t affected the public perception at all.


    "Weren''t they starting to calm down? What''s up with this rebel force? What''s up with this female equality? How is it that these people are suddenly acting up so much," the mayor thought.


    He sat in the warm, brightly lit room with his hand and his head. He was stressing so much about it that he didn''t know what to do.


    He tried to understand why these people were being so stubborn. Why were they trying to fight him so much? Revenge for their dead kids? He wasn''t the one that forced them out to fight. Those kids were the ones that made the choice to join the Defenders themselves.


    Where were the parents when those kids decided that? Why was he being med now?


    "Unless¡­" a thought came to his mind. "Someone is riling them up. These docile townsfolks have never been so proactive, and yet they are now starting up a resistance? There has to be a main culprit."


    He needed to find that person.


    His frustration lowered a little after guessing what was most likely going on. ''I will have to find out who is doing all this,'' he thought. ''Thankfully, they don''t know much yet.''


    Even with the knowledge that Bradley had, the main offender would not be able to do anything at all. What were they going to do? Kill his 3 candidates?


    When he thought that, the old man''s heart skipped a beat in fear. ''What if they do that?'' he thought. ''If the 3 die then¡­ no, I can''t let that happen.''


    "What''s got you so worried?" a voice spoke from behind him.


    "Who?" the Mayor quickly turned around and found a youngdy with an apple in one hand and a book in the other.


    The youngdy had fair skin and a small, cute face along with very dark eyes. She was no taller than 5 and a half feet, with her stark silver hairing down to half her height.


    She looked rather young as if she was no older than 20 years old. She wore a ck dress with a red inner shirt that made her look quite feminine as well.


    A simple smile hung on her face as if the content she read from the book made her rather happy.


    "Oh, I didn''t see youe in," the mayor said to the woman. "Can''t you learn to knock?"


    "Nope," the girl said. "Why? You got something to hide?"


    The mayor started feeling slightly frustrated. "What are you doing here?" he asked.


    "Why? Can I not be here?" the girl asked. "I''m sorry, I wasn''t aware this was your house."


    The mayor tried to control his anger. She was always like this ever since she was a child. She always loved doing things that made annoyed him to no end.


    "What are you doing awake? Shouldn''t you be sleeping right now?" he asked thedy.


    "I found this book and started reading it," the girl said. "It''s quite interesting actually. Have you read it? I decided to sleep after I finished it."


    18:03


    The old man narrowed his eyes and looked at the book. "Doesn''t that book have like 4 more books in the series?" he asked. As soon as he did, he regretted speaking at all.


    "Oh," the girl didn''t let slide the implications of those words. "That means I will have to wake up much longer then."


    "Just go to sleep," the old man shouted and stood up to leave.


    "Hahaha, I was joking, okay? Come back," she said.


    The old man looked at the girl who took another bite of the apple while swinging her legs alternatively.


    He sat back down on the chair with a sigh.


    "So, who was that kid just now?" she asked. "I didn''t think you would let someonee in thiste."


    "You saw him? He was here to tell me a few things," the old man said. "It''s annoying out in the town right now."


    "Want my help?" the girl asked.


    "Absolutely not," the old man said. "I don''t want any bloodshed."


    "Okay," the girl simply shrugged. "You still haven''t told me who he is. No one is allowed inside thiste."


    "He''s¡­" the old man hesitated. "He''s one of my candidates."


    "Oh?" the girl stopped chewing her apple for a second before resuming. "Right, I forgot how old you were already."


    She looked him up and down before nodding to herself. "Hmm, he does fit the criteria. Why not just choose him then? Is something stopping you?"


    "It doesn''t feel like a good time for a Mayor change," the old man said. "Doing it right in the middle of all this problem."


    "I do have an idea," the girl said. "Want my help?"


    "Does it include killing people? Then no," the mayor said.


    "Tsk!" the girl looked away. "Then when should I do that? I am tired of waiting."


    "You are still young, you shouldn''t be tired of waiting," the old man said. "You can do it when you''re a little older."


    "So you''re going to make me wait so many more years, huh?" the girl said. "Then I have a suggestion for your current problem," the girl asked. "Everyone is angry at you because you made a mistake. So if you just apologize and resign after naming someone else the new Mayor, they will forget about it all in just a few days."


    "They will look forward to the new Mayor''s rule and no one will continue hating you or causing more problems," the girl said.


    "Hmm¡­" the Mayor''s eyes widened. "That''s¡­ not a bad idea. I can make Bradley the new mayor, and everyone will stop hating me."


    "See? I was quite helpful," the girl said. "Now give me my reward."


    "You''re getting nothing," the old man said and walked away. "Go back and sleep. It''s my time for bed."


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