Episode 5: Revenge

"How do you like it?" - Ratel asked Kenso.

"I love it. But why are there so many rooms for only a few people?"

"There used to be more." - Ratel suddenly changed his expression. He started to look serious.

"What do you mean?"

"I think i have to tell you since you live here. Prefer the story long or short?"

"Make it long." - Kenso almost instantly replied and got serious.

"Okay, then. It started two years ago. As you may or may not know, all of us are now sixteen years old, except for you. We started this academy the same age as you did. However, the B-2 class used to have ten students. Two of them were 12 years old. Their names were Lairen and Qune. They were siblings. 1 Week after starting the academy something unusual happened. Lairen and Qune found a dungeon in this apartment's basement. It was here since many years ago, it has been sealed by an unknown person, but Qune accidentaly unsealed it by training his active magic in the basement. He was an unordinary 12 year old boy. His level of active magic could match Ezark's current one." - Ratel was explaining while Kenso interrupted.

"Does this mean you too used to train magic back then?" - Kenso asked of curiosity.

"No, they said we weren't ready yet. We first used magic one year ago, and it was to test if we are ready to start taking classes. As you may know, we only just tested if active magic is suitable for us, and we are going to test the other ones in the next classes. Back to the story, Qune and Lairen were the only ones able to use magic properly back then, we've been told they first used it when they were nine years old. After Qune has unsealed the dungeon entrance, Lairen noticed it and came to check out what's going on. They decided that they will go inside to check what's inside. However it didn't go as they planned. We don't know much about the dungeon, but it's at least ranked C.

Even for them, it was way too much to handle. We still don't know under what circumstances they died, but they screamed so loud it could be heard all the way from the dungeon to the second floor.

Me, Ezark, Kasaya, Tarin, and Aria weren't present at the house back then. The only ones were Kalo - just a regular student, Kaya - Kasaya's sister and Boris - Tarin's cousin. As you may have guessed, they all died. We got back home two hours after the incident. We searched the whole house looking for them, and we finally got to the dungeon. We walked down a few steps into the dungeon, and we saw a massive beast devouring our friends and siblings. We got so shocked, we couldn't even move, the beast looked at us with a murderous intent. We could feel it's sight on us. It's aura was so intense, our eyes started to bleed. We managed to escape, but i got hurt in my back. To this day i have a massive scar. Every one of us got traumatized by this incident. However the trauma lasted the longest on Kasaya and Tarin. They couldn't stand the death of their siblings. Tarin is still traumatized by this incident, i think you noticed it. Kasaya isn't in as much pain as she used to, but i bet she still has the nightmares. The teachers noticed the change, but we never told them the truth. About the students' dissapearance, we told them that they left without a word to become unofficial adventurers. And they believed us. The dungeon is now barricaded, and no one ever comes down to the basement." - Ratel explained - he was both serious and sad he had to remind himself of this story.

"You guys are stupid." - Kenso stated.

"What?" - Ratel got shocked by Kenso's opinion.

"You guys are very stupid. You cried, you lamented, yet you seek no revenge? How stupid. Do you know why i want to become an adventurer? To get a revenge. My uncle was killed at the gate to Paghora. He was the only family i had. I never knew my parents. He teached me swordsmanship, and was killed by another swordsman. It's only my job to take revenge for him. And you? All you do is cry, you don't even try to save your friends from eternal pain. It's a fact, that the monsters eat people's souls to become stronger, and trap the innocent souls in their dark souls. The souls trapped in a dark soul are feeling pain eternally, until the beast is defeated. You've said the dungeon is at least ranked C, however after the monster ate their souls, he possibly became a C+ ranked monster. We will get revenge on your friends a week from now. That's about the time when we get to know our suitable magic and practice it a bit. We will get stronger in a week. Strong enough to defeat that beast together. No objections." - Kenso became as serious as he was back when he received a letter saying his uncle died.

[8 years ago]

A letter flew into Kenso's house through a window. Surprised Kenso not knowing where it came from unsealed it and started to read it. He wasn't good at reading back then, but he managed to do it this time, since the letters were big and easy to read.

"Dear Kenso,

My name is The Hawk and i am the guardian of the gate to Paghora. That might not be my real name but that's what they call me. Your uncle is dead. I've killed him after he challenged me into a sword fight. He was truly a great swordsman. However, he wasn't the greatest. He wasn't strong enough to defeat me, which led him to death. Although i have different expectations when it comes to you. I challenge you. Come to me when you become The Greatest Swordsman. I will be waiting for you, and i hope our fight will be fair.

~The Hawk"

When he first opened the letter, he didn't believe the third sentence. He shed a lot of tears. However, he was reading it for so long, he finally came to a conclussion - He has to get revenge. Soon this became his life goal.

[Back to present]

Ratel started to cry. He was mad at Kenso, but he knew he was saying the truth.

"You are stupid" - Kenso said once again. "You are so stupid." - He repeated himself. The tone in his voice started to get more and more serious. "You still cry. Only fools shed tears. Stop crying and start thinking about the revenge. If you don't, you will be covered in fear while facing the beast." - Kenso explained to Ratel. The tone in his voice proved he was mad.

Ratel wiped his tears and looked at Kenso.

"You're right. My tears won't stop the horrible pain that the innocent souls feel. You're right, i'm stupid... But i won't leave my friends in pain. I accept your challenge. I will get revenge. i won't let the beast harm my dear friends." - Ratel got motivated for getting a revenge.

Kenso smiled.

"That's good. Let everyone know, and get everyone to do training for an entire week!"

"That's what i was about to do." - They both smiled with a serious look.