Burning Orphanage

The Hero Society holds 50% of the known world while the Empire and the Religious Sects hold an equal power of 15%. Then there is 15% to the hermits, super strong people that live a reclusive and independent lifestyle. Then, the remaining 20% is held by the underworld like Zentury and a lot more like-minded organizations.

It is a rough estimate but Alfir made this estimate and decided it to be just like that when he was wringing his novel. From that angle, it could be said that these 'ough estimates may be more accurate than the intelligence various organizations possess.

Still, it cannot be excused that such estimates are perfect. Estimates after all are called 'estimates' for a reason. The many 'parties' are grouped and made factions according to their interests in this world.

All of them have their own agenda.

Even the kingdom such as the one Eron came from has an agenda despite being;\ labeled as a neutral party. Many kingdoms adopt this attitude. Such neutral parties are not truly neutral at all. This is a facade commonly implemented by many nations to survive in this world.

This neutrality is a necessity for many governing bodies, and small organizations. It is because of the world overlords represented by the Hero Society, the sects, hermits, and the criminal world.

Openly admitting subservience might result in their country being swallowed. Not respecting the wishes of the known world overlords will make enemies. This might pose harm to their kingdoms creating unnecessary hardships.

...

Eron arrived at the burning orphanage his father so much loves. He searched the blaze unfettered from the heat.

Because of too much smoke, the visibility is too low, so the search is not going any smoother.

"I haven't seen any corpse yet. There is still hope." Eron carefully flew around the burning manor for fear that his presence might cause more debris to fall. Further unwanted deaths are the last thing he wants to happen.

For now, Eron has no helpful means to search for survivors in the burning orphanage. The thought of losing the orpha-, no, his siblings, will be catastrophic for him.

Eron specializes in pursuit and not rescue. He is aware of the extent of his abilities. As a hero, he knows that overdoing things might result in more harm than good.

He arrived at the main hall. There's a dead body, guts spilled. It's still fresh. Eron frowned at the sight.

He knows this executive, Palnes Palmer, an infamous merc of Zentury.

According to their data bank, his tapped potential is at 78%, not an ordinary dude.

Eron is at 82%, it's impressive for someone at his age.

However, Palnes doesn't pale in comparison to that. Though the notorious merc have a lower potential grade than him, Palnes is someone known to have killcount exceeding three digits. What makes the criminal more fearsome is his 'history' of defeating a higher potential-grade mutant.

So.

The sight of the dead Palnes made Eron nervous. Whoever did this to Palnes is certainly not an ordinary guy.

"Who killed this guy?" Judging from the wounds inflicted on the merc. It was an amateur swordsman at best who he fought against.

Eron estimated the assailant to be about 50% potential, which is pretty weak if compared to the Hero Society's standards. He can tell this, because of the insight he has been sharpening since his academy days.

Other than having a good eye for swordsmanship and different artifacts, the rising star, Furious Flames also have excellent deductive abilities. With a single glance, he was able to gather enough information from the dead body to even have a slightly less than 40% chance of guessing how the fight occurred.

"Powdered Fiery Garnets?" Discovering the trace of the phosphorous substance, Eron held on to the clue of who might've caused this fire. Though the clue is vague, now that Eron has a target for his anger, he felt better. He has an idea of how the battle occurred between Palnes and the assailant.

"Just. you. wait." Eron sinisterly said under his breath.

...

The fire is big, but it will get bigger, sooner than one might think. Eron knows that, for he has handled fire since he was young. For a mutant like him who has fire-related powers, it is apparent that his observation will greatly benefit him for this abrupt rescue operation.

"Looks like the fight started here."

Eron traced the blood trail of the fight, leading to the wine cellar. Even with the flames and smoke impeding his sight and other senses, he still managed to gather the little bits of clues around the burning manor.

With small explosive bursts of flames, Eron flew like a swallow drifting in the wind as he hurries to the wine cellar. The flames are uncannily persistent in these parts even with the damp soil.

Eron smelled the trace of wine. Eron has a guess of what transpired here. Eron calmed the flames in front of him. If it were his teacher, he can easily absorb these flames with his power.

It took Eron a lot of his concentration, but he forced himself nonetheless. With a thought, the flames in front of him slowly receded like the retreating tides on the shore.

Sadly.

The flames easily returned to burning like it once were. The flames are just too strong.

First, Eron needs to see someone, just someone, anyone... Perhaps, in the back of his mind, he is starting to lose hope. Eron fears for the worse, but such fears are unnecessary for hero business. But… Eron is just human too… so if in some instances, he feels scared, it just proves that Eron is a human first before a hero.

The flames are becoming weaker as he further advances. To his surprise, on the other side of all this scorching hell, there is a sanctuary guarded by one boy. No, in this case, the boy looked like more a man. The 'man' held an extinguisher that is barely puffing smoke… If Eron were any later, these kids could have perished.

"Deron?!"

"... Brother! Kuff! Kuff!"

Deron slumped on Eron's shoulder. Eron saw the other kids already fainted on the ground. There is hope! Brought by this brat nonetheless!

"You did well Deron."

Eron summoned an artifact from his inventory ring.

The artifact called a Radiophone is a modified version manufactured by Communications Incorporated. It's a rectangular black box used for long-distance communication. Its range goes as far as 200 kilometers. That's like 5 times farther than the best Radiophones in Alfir's old world.

"This is Furious Flames. There is a fire outbreak here in Zest Orphanage. I need backup. There are kids in here. I repeat... There is a fire outbreak..."

"This is the command center, copy. The nearest hero in the area is Sword Blue, Mind Link, and King of the Hills. Just hold on for five minutes."

"I can't! Five minutes is too much. They will be brain dead by that time..."

"Just hold on. We can only hope for the best."

Eron fought the flames with fervor. With his special ability, he made the flames submit. It has been a minute since the orphans fainted. Deron did his job, so it is his turn now.

'Helloooo!? This is Mind Link speaking.'

It is a girlish voice with a cheery nuance. It is telepathy, Mind Link's Special Ability.

'Where are you?' Eron asked worriedly.

'Still a kilometer away, but Sword Blue is hurrying. She is literally running on the water's surface right now. But she's still at least short of half a kilometer run.'

'How long? Do you have any specialized rescuer hero with you?"

"3 minutes tops! Just hoooold tight! Sword Blue is carrying King of the Hills to your destination. You can trust that hill-loving dwarf, he is a Destructive-grade hero.'

...

Meanwhile, some distance from Venahama Lake is a lonely figure precipitously treading the rocky hidden paths of the river canals. It was Alfir in his most demented state yet.

"Hey there, boy~o. Are you not tired yet?"

"You look fine on the outside, kiddo, but you seem to be dying."

"LO~L, that works for us though."

"Young man, you could rest you know."

Ugh… It damn hurts. Alfir's eyesight is starting to dim. It seems that he pushed himself too hard fighting Palnes. And now, he's starting to hear lots of voices…

"Ugh… This kid is persistent."

"Yeah, right… If only he'll fall unconscious, we can take control."

The voices, there were a lot of them. "Kid, look look look." "Sheesh, he's persistent, right?" "Ugh, I wish he'd just die." "Kyah, that's too cruel, apologize." "The fuck, it's noisy in here." "The world must be coming to an end." "Just shut up will you." "What!? Do you want to fight?" "Oh god, I pray for the gods' forgiveness." "Hey hey hey! Who wants to hear a riddle?"

Shut up. The noise continued in his head. The voices belonging to all sorts of personalities Alfir just can't grasp who is who.

"SHUT UP!" He yelled, already at his breaking point, but the voices… they don't listen.

"…" "HahahaHAHAHAHA!" "Fuck, I thought he was gonna kill us." "This kid still has the strength to scream, it's admirable." "Are you crazy? Who are you talking to?" "Or screaming to? Hahaha, what a madman!" "Guys, calm down. Clearly, our host is getting irritated." "Yeah, right… that just proves that it's working." "Huh? Ah, yeah, we know, duh..." "Right, right… Let's annoy him to death."

With a pale face, Alfir continued to drag his tired body to the escape route that Palnes planned for them after the operation.

"S.hut..u.p…yo.u.fu..c.k.ing…m.or.ons…"

Alfir's bones creaked with every step he takes, it was as if he was dying over and over again. It was torture. Blood trickles from his nose, as a buzzing sound started to ring in his ears. Alfir estimates his strength to be at most a 40% potential grade, which pales greatly in comparison to Palnes who have a 78% potential grade.

His tricks aside, Alfir's chances of beating Palnes are close to zero. If Alfir were to do what he did again, he isn't certain to come out victorious as how he did now.

Alfir continued to traverse the terrain forwards. Anytime soon, he'll reach his point of contact. And when he reaches there, that's when he'll finally decide whether he'll stay with Zentury or not.

From a far distance, he could see the orphanage burning fervently. The dark smoke arising from it is like a dragon's tail extensively reaching the sky. A forceful smile emerged from Alfir's lips, he thought that the burning orphanage looked strangely beautiful.

…

"Aaagh, what a joyful day to be alive."

***

A little bit of explanation about power levels. It's quite simple, really. It is graded by percentages. Simply put, 1% is weak and 100% is strong, too friggin strong.

Of course, there are some anomalous mutants too whose potential grades don't reflect their power levels, but that will be too much of a spoiler if I explain it now.

More of what is a 'Potential Grade' will be explained in the novel, but that would be in the 20-ish chapter, so stay tuned.