Old memories....

The shopping area of the academy is much more crowded today than usual because of the New Year celebration event.

The crowd is increasing even more as time passes. Some people are shopping alone, some are with friends and some are couples, shopping for the New Year.

The atmosphere seems to be quite romantic today.

You can see several couples all around the area enjoying their date; on the other side, some people are still waiting for their partners to come, it seems. 

The central square has become the famous waiting and meeting spot for those who are waiting for their partners to arrive.

This area is also a bit crowded, but not as much as the shopping area.

Among all those who are waiting, there is one such fellow with black hair and black eyes. He is also waiting for someone to come; his face is as expressionless as ever.

Sitting at a bench nearby he seemed detached from the world around him.

The scenery is peaceful; if it were on Earth, this peace could have been maintained for a rather long time, but such things are not true in this chaotic world where powerful people are present everywhere.

The weather is also very good today.

A clear blue sky, warm sunshine, and a slow, refreshing breeze of air which is making the trees rustle every once in a while.

A perfect day for lovebirds to have their perfect first date. 

...

A luxury car arrived at the entrance with several black-colored muscle cars following behind it. It seemed as if someone important had arrived.

During this time of year, several big figures like to visit the academy afterall.

The cars stopped, and a team of bodyguards in black suits rushed down from those black cars. They cleared the road, and one of them walked towards the luxury car to open the door.

The door opened, and a beautiful girl in a breathtaking dress came out.

She glanced around and walked towards a particular bench with a smile on her face.

The extravagant clothes and the amazing entry of a beauty certainly caused a commotion.

Lia glanced at the guards, and as if they understood her, the guards immediately cleared the way for her, and after their work was done, they bowed towards her respectfully and left without further delay.

Seeing this, Lia had a satisfied look on her face. She headed towards the bench on which a particular boy was sitting.

"Such extravagant entrance... are you trying to make trouble for me? Making me the target of others envy?" 

A little blush appeared on Lia's cute face after hearing his playful tone.

She glared at Rio fiercely, but that expression made her look even more cute; several random guys around the area were already going crazy.

Lia sat down on the bench while still glaring at Rio.

"Hmph! Who cares! I just wanted to reach the place faster! S-so, I took the car! I-its no-nothing else!"

Rio ignored her stuttering voice and gave a simple compliment so as not to be considered a weirdo by her.

"Well anyway, you look rather good today." 

Seeing the grin on Rio's face, Lia had the urge to punch this idiot in the face, but she decided to just intimidate him with a death glare.

The glare didn't work on Rio at all though, maybe due to his thick skin or shameless personality.

As they both were busy talking to each other, it was impossible for Rio to not get envious stares; some people even seemed to be saying bad things, but Rio ignored them for the time being.

He knew from the moment Lia arrived with such an extravagant entrance that it was impossible that such a situation would not happen.

After a little talk, both of them got up and walked towards the shopping area.

When Rio and Lia both left the area, the place remained silent for a while before a commotion started.

"Oh! Who was she!? She's so beautiful!"

"Maybe she is a student of the academy."

"Heh, what do you know? She is the daughter of an S-ranker, her name is Lia, I saw her on TV! during an interview."

"Amazing! She must be talented then."

"Yeah! It is said that she has the talent to be an S rank in the future."

"But who was that boy with her? Do you know him too?"

"Nope, I don't know."

Nobody knew much about Rio, who was accompanying Lia.

Rumors started to spread around rather fast. After all, this was the first time Lia appeared in public with a boy accompanying her.

Before this, she was only seen on TV, mostly with her father.

Lia's guards, who were still monitoring the situation around the area, also found it strange.

They had assumed that Lia would have come here to just buy something or for a walk. They were all confused when they found that Lia was accompanying an unknown boy.

They immediately took photos, and a thorough investigation started on the unknown boy's background.

One photo was even sent to Lia's father with a report, asking for his further guidance.

This time, Rio seems to have triggered a big event, but does he care? Nope. For someone who dedicated his life to swordsmanship, it doesn't matter much what other's think of him.

Unaware of the coming disasters, the two continued their way towards the shopping area.

While Lia was blushing from all the attention she was getting, Rio was rather indifferent and had the same expressionless face.

Unknown to Lia, several young men had already collapsed along the way due to someone's dangerous aura being released on them. (Rio was taking care of the guys approaching them, behind the scenes.)

The two became the cause of talk for people. Yet, both of them still maintained their pace and didn't pay it any mind.

....

Somewhere near an S-rank dungeon.

A burly man stood near the portal while looking at the portal in front of him. He was unfazed by the dungeon's mana and was lighting a cigar in peace.

He had a huge broad sword hanging behind his back and was wearing light armor.

The man seemed to be in his forties. He had a rather rough and barbaric appearance. A huge scar was on his face, making him even more intimidating to look at.

Suddenly a man in a butler's outfit came running towards him and respectfully bowed towards him. The butler seemed to be in a hurry to report something.

Seeing the butler in such a strange state, the burly man was surprised.

"What happened, Why are you so out of breath?"

"Master, see this photo. It has been taken about a few hours ago."

The burly man looked at the photo with a confused look. But after he saw the photo, his confusion was suddenly replaced by a surprised look.

He looked towards the butler.

"Is this even real?"

"Yes, Master"

The burly man was completely dumbfounded at the moment.

The photo had a girl and a boy in it. They seemed to be a good couple at a glance. But the most surprising thing was that the girl in the photo was smiling.

Yeah, she was smiling.

As if understanding his puzzlement, the butler replied:

"Young Lady seems to be rather happy in the photo."

"Yeah…"

The burly man put the photo in his pocket and he started to stare at the horizon with calm eyes.

Several old memories resurfaced in his mind, but he suppressed those unpleasant memories.

He knew that ever since his wife died, he and his daughter became very distant, but he couldn't do much about it.

When she was young, his daughter had a pleasant smile on her face every time but after her mother's death, his daughter lost her smile and happiness.

He is happy that his daughter can smile once again and is recovering from her depressed self but as a father, he needs to make sure that his daughter is not being deceived by someone.

As if he had already decided, he ordered the butler:

"Did you investigate the boy's background?"

"Yeah, he is an orphan and seems to be one of the top 100 rank students."

"Top 100 rank, means that he has the potential to be an A rank or above in the future. Anything else?"

"Uh, Well, there's not much extraordinary about him, but his past seems rather depressing…He is a survivor of the Drift City massacre."

Hearing about the event, the burly man suddenly recalled some old memories.

He remembered the day when he was in that city…Suddenly he shook his head and stopped recalling that horrible memory.

He doesn't want to remember that event; after all, his wife had died around that time too.

The butler spoke again:

"And well, it seems he has saved our young lady's life once, during that S-rank dungeon event. They must have grown familiar around that time, I think."

"Oh, why don't I know that my daughter was in a life-threatening situation?"

"Well, uh, i-its be-because she w-was rescued safely later, s-so…" 

"So, what's the name of that boy?"

"Uh, his name is Rio, Rio Flash."

Suddenly the burly man faced the butler and looked into the eyes of the butler; a serious look appeared on his face:

"What name did you say?"

"I-Its Rio Flash" 

The burly man again looked in the distance blankly; he was lost in his thoughts again.

"It brings back old memories hearing that surname..."

A name suddenly leaked out of his mouth unconsciously:

"Kevin Flash, the 'Soul splitter'...."