In a small forest, a young man with scarlet hair was whizzing along, slaying beast after beast in quick succession. He was followed closely by a small baby dragon who would occasionally let out seemingly harmless frost fire. The two would only stop occasionally to gather cores from the magic beasts but would not spare their victims any more time as they continued in their trail of carnage.
Not far behind them was another young man with dark hair who was desperately trying to catch up. Zac was beginning to appreciate just how much stronger Silver was. He had asked his new friend if he could come along and train alongside him and the baby dragon, but even after a week of relentless running and mass murder, he still hadn't been able to reach the same level as him.
After the Academy's trials concluded, they were told they had two weeks to prepare. And so, after finding out Silver only had the intention of training alongside Ghost, Zac decided to join him.
The first time he witnessed the two in action, Zac began to question whether giving the cute baby dragon away to a monster like Silver was an intelligent choice. But after seeing how much the little monster seemed to enjoy the whole affair, he realized the error in his thinking. It seemed that Silver was the one losing out, as the heartbreak was evident each time he watched the baby devour another magic core.
"Okay! Let's stop here for a bit," Silver said as he approached Zac, who was evidently tired.
"Sure, that's a good idea," Zac replied. Although the only real contribution he had made to the week of carnage was the killing of a few runaways here and there, Zac was still reluctant to show Silver any weakness. He made it a goal to push himself passed his limits and continued on each day with zero complaints.
"The number of beasts seems to be reducing. We are encountering less and less each day," said Silver as he sat down and started feeding Ghost, who obediently sat beside him.
[ No shit, what do you expect after killing so many? ]
Zac wanted to say but decided against it as he also sat down and began to take out various food items from a small bag on his person.
"I guess we killed too many. The rest are probably aware of a dangerous predator nearby and have decided to flee or go into hiding," Silver sighed.
[ That tends to happen when you attempt genocide. ]
Zac thought to himself but chose not to voice his opinions again.
"Hey! Have you gone mute? Why are you so quiet today?" Silver asked after looking at the blank expression on his friend's face.
"Just tired, focusing on replenishing my stamina," said Zac between mouthfuls of food.
"Hmm, anyways. Are you excited for the Academy?" Silver decided to change the subject. He had been closely examining his friend's progress this past week and was giving him pointers here and there to improve his physical strength. This was why he knew that Zac couldn't have been too tired for a conversation at this point.
"Of course! I've never been so anxious about something in my life. The anticipation has been so unbearable that this past week felt more like a year. I can't believe there's still another week to go."
"Hahaha. Are you sure that's due to anticipation and not because of the training?" Silver asked as he knew Zac wasn't too fond of his training methods.
"Yes, I'm sure. If anything, the training has helped increase the progression of time. God! To think what would become of me if I had to wait these two weeks out in Blue city. I would probably turn to a life of debauchery."
"Hey! What's wrong with a life of debauchery?" Silver asked in a seemingly upset manner
"Err... you can't be serious..." Zac began but stopped after noticing the teasing smile on Silver's face.
"HA-HA, very funny."
"Well, there's always a bit of truth in jest, dear friend. A life of debauchery isn't all bad for those who have the chance to live one. Tell me, what motivates you to take this hard path instead?" Silver caught Zac off guard by following his joke with a serious question.
"What motivates me?..." Zac hadn't thought of this question before. It was as though he were being asked what the purpose of his life was. He never really considered these things or put much thought into them.
All he knew was that he had some goals he wished to achieve and that he had chosen the quickest path to accomplish them. In that case, his motivation would then be his goals? Which was the biggest one then?
"I guess it's my father. Ever since I was little, he has been my biggest role model. I want to become a great man like him someday, and I hope to achieve the same things he did in my lifetime," Zac concluded.
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"Admirable indeed. As you know, I have been living under a rock my entire life, so I haven't really heard of most of the great figures. Hopefully, You will tell me about him someday." Silver felt a hint of pride for his friend and wondered if his father would also turn out to be a great man. What if he wasn't? Would he still be able to accept him?
"Thanks, I will let you meet him instead so you can ask him yourself. However, that will probably be a long while. How about you, though? What are your motivations?" Zac threw back the question to distract Silver as he remembered parents were a taboo subject.
"I guess we are similar in this regard. I am motivated by a goal to find my birth parents," Silver Said.
"Holy shit, man. Your parents are alive??" Zac jumped in excitement
"Err... yes, I mean no... I mean, I don't know."
"Dude! I thought they were dead this whole time" Zac was confused at Silver's reply, but the fact that he was unsure meant there was hope. That was better than nothing.
"I mean they could... no! They are alive. I'm sure they are."
"That's it! Never lose hope, man. As long as they are alive, we will find them."
"We?"
"Of course, we will. Do you have any clues to their whereabouts, such as where they were last seen or their names? I will send the information back home as soon as possible, and we will search the entire Blue-sky continent for them" Zac held onto Silver's shoulders as he reassured him.
"I... their last names or rather my house name is all I have" Silver had emotion welling inside him as he realized he had truly found a valuable friend. However, his cautious nature would still not allow him to display any of his family's treasures bestowed to him. It wasn't that he didn't trust Zac but instead didn't wish to bring him any harm.
"Okay, that should be a good start. So, what is it?"
"Uhm... It's... Silver"
"Oh? Of course, it is. It all makes sense now," Zac said as he began to piece things together.
"So, what will you do with just a name?" Silver was curious about how a simple name could bring about any news of his parents. Surely countless houses shared the name.
"Well, my family has a rather impressive network of spies specializing in these matters. I will just forward the information to my father, and he will let us know the progress they make" Zac took out a little piece of paper from his bag and started scribbling notes on it. After he finished, the paper began to fold itself and turned into a small eagle that flew away without warning.
"Thanks, I really hope they can find something" Silver was no stranger to magic apparatus similar to these, which were used for long-distance communication, so he was not surprised by what he saw.
"No need. And I hope so too. Anyways isn't it about time we get back to training?" Zac said as he got up.
"Ha-ha, I never thought there would be a day that you would voluntarily end your break time," Silver joked, but he knew that Zac was only making the suggestion to change the depressing atmosphere.
"Well, there's a first time for everything."
"Oh? That's rather profound coming from you. So will today be the first time for you to lead the charge as well?" Silver asked
"Uhmm..."
"Hahaha," Silver's laughter and the cute roars of a baby dragon resounded throughout the forest.
In the following week, the three continued with their mass murder under the pretense of training. The only differences were that Zac was slowly beginning to increase his contribution to the battles, and the number of beasts they encountered each day was getting less.