Van Astrea

Luke who heard Charlotte's words instead grabbed Charlotte's hand firmly and leaned the girl's body against the wall.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Charlotte raised her voice while looking at Luke's face full of emotion.

"You, because of your family everyone in the district died."

That's right, District 25 belongs to the Astrea family's guard area and on that day there wasn't a single troop from the Astrea family standing guard and caused the wall to collapse. The toxic mist took a few minutes to turn humans into predatory creatures thirsting for fresh flesh and blood. However, it is different if it is handled quickly before the poison fills the human body.

"Sorry…" Charlotte could only say those words. What else could she say in a situation like this because after that incident the Astrea family was stripped of their peerage. Reportedly, the entire Astrea family was executed the day after the incident. But, if it was true that Charlotte and Charles were members of the Van Astrea noble family then, why weren't they executed?

"Just sorry? How many human souls do you think floated that day? And you can only say sorry? Really, you nobles don't care about us commoners."

"So, what do you want me to say? Do you think if I condolences they can all live?" The girl's eyes began to water. Luke, who saw that, was awakened from what was initially full of emotions, slowly the emotions turned into guilt.

"Sorry." Luke turned his face away from Charlotte.

"It's fine, I also understand what it feels like."

"What do you understand? You still have a family and a home to return to. Unlike me."

"No, my family is only Charles."

"Huh? What do you mean? Aren't your families just stripped of their peerage and exiled somewhere?" What's going on here? Why did Charlotte say that? Aren't their families just exiled?

"It's a very long story and also, I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, if you don't want to talk about it."

"Tell me Luke, what kind of life do people live now?"

"What do you mean Charlotte?"

"No, don't think too much about it Luke, if you find the answer then you find the truth." After saying those questionable words, Charlotte left the confused Luke to his room which was right next to Luke's. What did the girl say? The life that people in this world are living? Why did he even ask that and what would happen if he found out the truth of the question?

Luke, who was full of questions, could only enter the elevator and press the B1 button which was the training ground.

"Hey, Abaddon do you understand what Charlotte just said?"

"Of course I understand what the girl said."

"So tell me what her meant by that."

"No, I won't say anything to you. You are still far from strong partner."

"What does his words have to do with my relation become strong?"

"Of course there is, if you're not as strong as or beyond that disgusting human then, you're just digging your own grave." Hearing that made Luke flinch. He was stricken with confusion as if he was in a fog without knowing any right direction. If, he made a wrong move he would only end up in the grave. True, he is currently still far from strong. Although he often trained at the academy and swung his sword while training his body muscles, in reality he had never been directly involved in a battlefield. In the midst of that confusion the elevator door opened and without him knowing he was already on the floor where the members practice. He walked deeper into the spacious room and saw a man who was doing push ups with a body full of sweat. There was no one other than the blonde haired man.

"Oh hey kid... Can you get a towel over there please?" A familiar sound came out of the mouth of the man who was still doing push ups.

"Ah..yes." Luke thoughtlessly took the towel that was folded untidily which was sitting on a bench made of mild steel. Luke walked towards the man who was still doing push ups and saw that his muscles were strong and his back was covered with scars and the veins in his hands were clearly visible. How many times has this perkid done push ups?

"Here's the towel."

"Oh thank you… You're really good, aren't you." The blonde haired man stopped doing his push ups and started to stand up while taking the towel brought by Luke. It turned out that the perkid who had been doing the push ups was Kento.

"Why didn't you come with us last night?

"I'm quite tired today, so I can't come with you."

"I've heard it from Charles too. In fact, it was a huge loss for you not to come with us last night. You didn't see how stupid Charles was last night."

"What did Charles do?"

"I'll tell you whenever we go together."

"Okay."

"So, do you want to practice too?"

"Yes, I want to practice in the morning."

"You're so hardworking. How about we practice sparring."

"Battle practice?"

"Take the wooden sword that is on the shelf over there and put down your sword. Because we can't spar with real weapons."

Luke put down his sword and took out two wooden swords. One he threw at Kento and the other was in his hand.

"Let's put all the power you have, kid."

"Of course."

Luke got into a stance and Kento just stood casually with a wooden sword in one hand. Luke started to lunge forward towards Kento and threw his sword from above but, Kento immediately parried the sword. Luke quickly turned his body and threw a kick that aimed at Kento's right side but, once again Kento managed to predict the movement and grabbed Luke's leg.

"Heh... Kid you seem pretty decent too but, your moves are still easy to read."

"Damn it." Luke released his foot from Kento's grip and jumped backwards.

"Hey kid... I'll tell you one thing. If you want to beat your opponent, don't ever show your killing intent. It will only make it easier for your opponent to read your moves."

"So, what should I do?"

"Eliminate your killing intent, act calmly and look for loopholes from your opponent. Examples like this."

Instantly Kento was right in front of Luke and attacked Luke from above just like what he had just done. Since when that perkid was there, he was moving very fast and Luke put on a defensive stance to fend off the attacks coming from above. Kento spun around just like Luke did and kicked him right in the stomach with the heel of his foot.

"Arghh…" Instantly Luke flew because of Kento's kick. Luke quickly stood up while sticking his wooden sword down and holding the part of his kicked stomach. This guy named Kento on the outside looks like someone who doesn't have any intentions. However, the aura he was emitting right now was completely different. He could have killed Luke with one hit. Damn, this guy is quite dangerous, thought Luke who was still holding his stomach.

"Oh yeah I almost forgot to tell you something, if you're fighting never show where your eyes are going."

Luke stood up slowly and once again charged at Kento and this time he attacked blindly in all directions.

"What do you want? Have you lost your temper?"

"Shut up…!!" No matter how many times Luke attacked this man from all directions Kento recognized every attack Luke made and parried it casually, as if he wasn't serious about Luke. However, it was different from Luke who brought out all the results of his training during his time at the academy.

Luke kept attacking from various directions and Kento who was getting bored launched attacks from below and flew Luke's wooden sword.

"You're dead." Kento pointed his wooden sword at Luke's face

"Unlucky..."

"Well… well… Take it easy kid… Besides, this is also useful for you. See you later."

Kento threw his wooden sword at Luke and he took his clothes on the chair and walked towards the elevator.