-CRACK!
After everything cracked and disappeared, Kyle's vision became blurry again. His eyes were slightly red due to crying.
It's been a long time since he saw his mother. He remembered that day he returned home, only to see his mother's lifeless body lying on the bed.
His father and brothers were sitting around the bed and crying.
How can he forget that day? The day when his family became incomplete.
With a deep breath, Kyle shook his head and looked in front of him.
It was dark but in the next second, he found himself standing in front of a fist-sized silver orb.
Kyle looked back, he was inside a large hall. The hall was devoid of any antiques or paintings but its structure was decent-looking.
Many young and old people were standing a few meters behind Kyle in groups.
Inside the large crowd, he also spotted his father who waved his hand at Kyle with assurance.
"What was I doing?"
With a confused expression, he ruffled his black hair. They were completely black.
"Was I crying?"
Kyle frowned when he saw his reflection inside the silver orb.
"Kid, what are you doing? Put your hand on the orb."
An old voice resounded and Kyle looked up. A brown-haired middle-aged man, wearing a black robe was looking at him with a frown.
"Ah, sorry.."
Kyle hurriedly apologized and placed his hand on the orb. The orb shone brightly for a while.
The middle-aged man standing behind the orb gazed at Kyle and sighed. He expected a better result but alas.
"(B)-Rank talent."
The man spoke and asked Kyle to leave the platform, so he could test the talent of other kids.
The silver orb was used in every small city to awaken talent after the young kids turned 15.
Kyle heard the man and nodded.
'(B)-Rank? It's not that bad.'
With an expressionless face, he stepped down from the platform and started walking toward his father.
Suddenly a golden-haired kid stopped Kyle midway.
"Hey, Kyle."
There was a mocking smile present on the face of the golden-haired youth. Kyle looked at the boy.
It was Sen, his neighbor. When Kyle was young, he played together with him sometimes. But after his mother's death Kyle stopped playing with him and others his age.
Sen's father was a (+S)-Rank hunter that's why they were respected around the city.
'What does he want?'
Kyle didn't like Sen at all because his personality wasn't good.
"I thought your talent would be better than your father's as you are always wearing a cold expression but it's trash. Just like your father, it's better you became a merchant!"
"Because with such a low talent, you won't be able to achieve anything in your life."
Kyle heard Sen's words but didn't say anything. A few days ago, Sen's talent was tested and just like his father, he awakened (+S)-Rank talent.
It was enough to give Sen a bright future but Kyle wasn't jealous because even if he cared, it's not like his talent will change.
Someone's talent was destined from birth as it shows a person's potential or how much power people can achieve in their whole life.
Kyle turned around and started walking toward his father. He wasn't in the mood to hear the blabbering of a spoiled kid.
Getting no reaction from Kyle, Sen's face turned red.
"Are you ignoring me?"
He shouted but Kyle didn't stop.
"Huh? Tsk, I heard your mother was a beauty and also a (-S)-Rank hunter."
Hearing about his mother, Kyle stopped and frowned.
'What the hell does he want?'
Sen raised his brow. Finally, he got some reaction from this emotionless guy.
"It's truly a waste she married your father who was only a (B)-Rank merchant and gave birth to you and your useless brothers."
With a dark expression, Kyle turned around and looked at Sen.
Sen's smile widened when he saw Kyle's reaction. For some reason, he didn't like the aloof mask Kyle wore, it's like he didn't care about anything.
Sen was rich and liked it when others sucked up to him because of his powerful father and wealth, but among all the kids his age Kyle was the only one who never showed any reaction to Sen.
Today he finally saw a crack in the mask Kyle was wearing!
"What did I say anything wrong? She would have been a little useful if she fuc.... "
Sen's words were cut off because Kyle punched his face.
"Ahh..."
With a shout, Sen grabbed his jaw with both hands. His front teeth were broken and blood started pouring out from his mouth. He looked at Kyle who was glaring at him with a dark expression.
"If you don't know how to respect others you should learn to keep your mouth shut."
A cold and chilling voice came out of Kyle's mouth.
The crowd gasped with shock when they saw Kyle punching Sen out of nowhere.
Baron Ohan, Kyle's father was also shocked because Kyle rarely harmed others.
He hurriedly left the crowd and ran toward Kyle to stop him.
At the same time, Sen gazed back at Kyle with anger.
"How dare an ant like you hit me!"
Sen shouted and pointed his middle finger at Kyle.
'An ant?'
The word 'ant' resounded inside Kyle's head again and again. He hated this word.
Kyle's anger rose again and he clenched his right hand into a fist.
He was going to punch Sen again but suddenly a loud shout resounded, and someone grabbed his hand.
"How dare you hit my son?"
Kyle looked at the person who grabbed his fist. It was a muscular middle-aged man. His hair was golden just like Sen.
'Uncle John?'
While Kyle was looking at the man, a huge pressure descended on his shoulder before he fell to his knees with a painful expression.
With a serious expression, Baron Ohan arrived in front of John and tried to stop his pressure.
However, he failed miserably because he was only a (B)-Rank merchant while John was an experienced (+S)-Rank hunter. There was a big gap between their strength.
The crowd looked at them and started whispering.
Even the man conducting the talent test looked at Kyle and Sen with a frown. He sighed and stopped John's pressure because he was stronger.
"If you want to fight go outside because I need to finish my job."
The man conducting the talent test spoke coldly and looked at John and Baron Ohan.
With a nod, John grabbed Sen's hand and started walking. He glared at Kyle and Baron Ohan before gesturing for them to follow behind him.
Under the watchful gaze of the curious crowd, they left the hall and arrived outside in an open area.
John gave a healing potion to Sen before looking at Kyle with anger.
Even though Sen was a little spoiled, he was his only son!
Kyle glared back at John.
Meanwhile, Baron Ohan looked at Kyle worriedly. He knew if Kyle punched Sen, it was definitely the latter fault. But he wasn't powerful enough to protect his family if John wanted to take out his anger on them.
'I can't let anything happen to Kyle.'
While Kyle was glaring at John, Baron Ohan suddenly lowered his head and apologized.
Kyle looked at his father with wide eyes. His anger dissipated within a second.
'Ah...They are stronger than us.'
With a blank expression, Kyle grabbed his father's shoulder and stopped him.
"I was the one who hit him. I will apologize for my mistakes."
Kyle looked at Sen with a cold face and apologized. He was angry that's why he forgot to consider his limits.
The world they were living in was ruled by the strong and Kyle was among the ordinary people. If he didn't apologize, who knows what consequences his family had to face because of him?
Sen scoffed at Kyle and looked at John.
"Father, there's no need to get angry because of some ants!"
John looked at Sen and sighed. On the other hand, Sen gave Kyle another disdainful glance and mumbled under his breath.
"Tsk, lowly Ant!"
Seeing Kyle's expressionless face. Sen's face because sour.
"What are you looking at? Don't you want to punch me again? Here Puch me now. Let's see if you have any balls."
Sen started taunting Kyle with a mocking smile but no matter what he said, Kyle didn't do anything.
With a deep breath, Kyle took a step back. He gazed at Sen with cold eyes.
'I with punch you when we meet again in reality.'
Sen's smile froze and with a loud sound, everything started cracking like a mirror.
Kyle looked at the broken pieces and sighed.
"I almost fell into the trap. If not for the fact that my talent isn't (B)-Rank anymore, I would have accepted the illusion as reality."
He gazed at the broken pieces.
"I wonder what he's doing after leaving the Kingdom?"
Kyle shook his head with a laugh.
"I remember, after John insulted my father I somewhat lost the will to work hard."
Fate is a very powerful existence. In the past, Kyle laughed it out after the incident but it left a bad taste in his mouth.
When his brothers asked him to learn swordsmanship in the past, Kyle just lazily said,
'The world is not ending nor the Kingdoms are waging wars so why do a (B)-Rank talent like me need to work hard?'
Kyle did get beaten up a little after his remarks but his lazy nature never changed.
"Sigh, I said I am not jealous but in the end inwardly I always wanted to become someone strong."
He looked in front of him and saw a bright white portal.
"So the illusion is finally ending?"
With a serious expression, Kyle gazed at the broken images one last time and stepped inside the white portal.
