The morning light began to illuminate every corner of the dark room, creeping in through the narrow gap of the window. In that silence, a gentle, soothing voice could be heard.
"Father, you should wake up. Mother is already waiting at the dining table."
That was my daughter's voice, Orima Yui. With her beautiful face and endearing manner, I loved her dearly—even more than everything else.
"Alright, I'll follow shortly."
I am a former soldier from Aether Defend, one of the seven generals of the strongest forces of that time. But to me, it was just a meaningless title. I decided to retire early because I wanted to spend time with the people precious to me.
Currently, the world is facing a great disaster. Dimensional creatures began invading the human world a hundred years ago. They are called Aeron. Aether is an entity that protects humans from these attacks, but since Aether began to weaken, many Aerons have successfully entered the human world. To prevent human helplessness in fighting the Aerons, Aether bestowed special energy upon chosen humans to break through their own bodily limitations. That energy is called Dynis.
From a hundred years ago until now, humans have experienced much development in terms of combat—using Dynis to create and strengthen battle equipment.
"You took so long, Yeast. We've both been waiting for ages."
"Sorry, I took a bath first."
She is my wife, Elaria. Her face is very graceful with long black hair. They are the reason I left everything I had experienced before. I met her when Elaria became a new recruit at the training camp. At that time, I was her trainer. During training, I always paid attention to her because her innocence and kindness were very attractive to me.
Before me now was a dining table that had been arranged very neatly. Indeed, they had both prepared this since earlier.
"I heard there are new soldiers joining. You must be ordered by them to train, right?" Elaria started the conversation.
"Yes, I was contacted yesterday," I answered while chewing my food.
When I submitted my retirement application back then, they actually didn't allow me to leave at all. For them, it was a very big loss, but I didn't care about that. As a condition for my retirement to be approved, they asked me to train new troops who still lacked experience. It was troublesome, but I couldn't refuse it.
"Alright, Yui and I will visit the city park to play. Can you catch up later?"
"Hmm, I'll try. It depends on whether they allow me to go home early or not."
"Is being a soldier fun?" Yui interrupted the conversation. "I want to become a soldier like Father and Mother."
"It's not fun, Yui," I replied.
"Then why did Father become a soldier?"
I chuckled softly hearing Yui's question. "You have to grow up first."
"Father, you must come and play with us," Yui said enthusiastically.
"Alright, I'm leaving first."
With Yui and Elaria still finishing their meal, I immediately left for the central headquarters.
---
The automatic door opened with a distinctive sound that broke the silence. Now, before me stood an orderly line with their hands folded behind their backs. There were about fifty people.
I looked at them with boredom because I always heard the same reasons why they joined. Those reasons were very clichéd—like wanting to protect or become the strongest.
"Train them well, Yeast. They are future assets," said Garon. He was the deputy defense commander at the central headquarters.
"You don't pay me enough for that," I replied casually.
Now only I and these cadets remained. Garon had left earlier—as a deputy, he was quite busy here.
I directed my gaze one by one toward them. Actually, I didn't understand how to train either. I was just assigned because the others were also busy here.
"Ahem." I coughed deliberately to break the silence. "So what do you want from me?"
"Excuse me, Captain! I really idolize the Captain!" A male soldier at the end of the line shouted loudly. This made the tension decrease slightly. His face was very cheerful, full of confidence with messy red hair.
"What's your name, Cadet?"
"Zion, Captain!"
"Interesting. I'll make sure you suffer the most in this training."
The change in Zion's expression was very clear—there was a bit of panic in his expression. Now, they moved to the training field located outside the central headquarters. With its quite spacious size and the view of towering buildings, the place was ideal as a training arena.
I held a square device—data from the new soldiers.
"Alright, I'll see your strength first, one by one. Starting with Zion, and you, Reo." A cadet with a mature face and short hair.
"Begin!"
Reo lunged forward with a deadly right punch. Zion dodged with minimal movement, his body spinning elegantly before retaliating with an elbow to the ribs. Reo blocked with his forearm, then immediately threw a knee toward Zion's stomach.
*Thud!*
Zion jumped back, his breath slightly labored. Reo gave no pause—he launched a combination of quick punches like rain.
Left, right, left again. Zion blocked the first two punches, but the third hit his jaw. Blood flowed from the corner of Zion's lips. He smiled thinly.
"Good," he whispered.
Now it was Zion's turn to attack. He moved like a shadow—his left leg swept low forcing Reo to jump, then with the same movement he spun his body and struck Reo's chest with an open palm.
Reo was thrown backward, almost falling from his footing. He rolled and got up with an annoyed expression.
"Don't underestimate me!"
The fight reached its climax. Both exchanged punches at amazing speed—fist met fist, kicks blocked kicks. The sound of body impacts echoed across the training field.
Reo launched a high kick to Zion's head. Zion ducked, caught Reo's leg, then spun his body to throw Reo. But Reo used that momentum to do a backflip and landed perfectly.
They both stepped back, breathing heavily, bodies full of wounds.
Seeing that intense fight, I was slightly surprised because this year's new soldiers had good talent.
"Enough!" I muttered, stopping the match.
"You're amazing, Reo!"
"So are you, Zion!"
They shook hands as a sign of sportsmanship.
The duel training proceeded with very intense tempo. The soldiers showed their respective strengths, although some lost quickly even without resistance. There was one more person who caught my attention—she was Keryl Ema, a woman with a cold face, black hair, and distinctive bangs.
"She comes from a sword-user family? Very interesting!"
Ema fought against a male soldier with quite prominent muscles. Ema started the duel with very fast movements, targeting the blind spot behind her opponent. But that attack could be avoided with quick reflexes—her opponent ducked. Her opponent launched a counterattack with a right leg sweep that made Ema fall, followed by a follow-up punch directed at her body.
The follow-up attack was blocked by her sword blade, and Ema retaliated by kicking her opponent's chest until he staggered. The opportunity was not wasted—with a quick movement, Ema's sword tip was already pointing at her opponent's neck.
"I surrender."
I was slightly surprised by this batch of new cadets—there were so many interesting talents. The boredom that had been spreading before now disappeared just like that after witnessing it all.
"Alright, next…" Before I finished my sentence for the next agenda, an emergency siren was heard echoing throughout the headquarters area. The sound was accompanied by an announcement: "Attack occurring! Aerons suddenly appeared in the city park. Soldiers prepare immediately, use your combat uniforms. Head to the location now!"
"City park? That's where… Damn!" Without heeding the orders from headquarters, I shot off at full speed, leaving the cadets at the training field. I didn't think about anything except getting there quickly, because they were there.
Passing through crowds running to save themselves, I was briefly blocked by the many evacuating residents. Without wasting time, I took shortcuts to reach the city park faster without any obstacles.
The situation was very chaotic. The Aerons attacked indiscriminately, destroying surrounding buildings. Basically, Aerons are a group of human and monster entities. Of course, they have very different characteristics from humans on earth. The difference is very dominant in the face area—Aerons have flat faces with very white and slightly pale skin. Meanwhile, their monsters are four-legged, almost the size of tigers with scaly skin and very long ears. They usually attack in groups and are led by a general.
"Elaria! Yui! Where are you?!" I shouted very loudly, searching for their whereabouts. "Damn, I mustn't be late."
The battle finally broke out. Aether Defend soldiers began arriving using full combat uniforms, led by a squad leader named Balak. His appearance was very gallant with a sturdy body, fitting his current position. "Everyone scatter! Each form groups of four people. Scatter immediately!" His voice rang out commanding the troops.
In the midst of my busy search for them, Aeron monsters came blocking my way. "Get out of my way, all of you bastards! I don't have time for this." I immediately shot off at very high speed, killing all the Aeron monsters with one movement and one punch—even without them realizing it.
Far at the edge of my vision, I finally managed to find Elaria and Yui. They were trapped and blocked by Aeron monsters. In the middle of the fight I was having, I immediately ignored the monsters and rushed toward them. "Elaria, Yui…" Just before the monster launched its attack, I managed to reach them and with one focused punch, the monsters died together.
"Are you both alright? I'm sorry for being too slow." With deep regret, I hugged them.
"Yeast, you should help the soldiers. They must need your help."
"Yes, I'll finish this quickly. You must go to a safe place."
Just before they were about to hurry away, an Aeron walked casually toward us. His body shape was neither big nor small, his face still typical of Aerons and he had long hair. The weapon he used was very striking—a large war hammer that he gripped with one hand. "Such a touching moment. I almost cried earlier."
"What! He can speak human language?" I muttered in my heart. At the beginning of their appearance, no Aeron had ever spoken using human language. "Very interesting, bastard. I just found out that some of you can use our language."
He chuckled softly. "Come on, friend! No need to be so surprised. I really enjoyed today—finally I can enter this world even if temporarily."
"Who are you really?"
"Do I have the right to…"
Before finishing his sentence, I was already behind him, ready with a kick aimed at his head.
*Crack!*
"What?" Quickly he managed to block my kick with the tip of his war hammer that he moved.
"Not bad, human," he said with a small smile.
His success in blocking my quick attack made me immediately retreat back toward Elaria and Yui. "You go now!" There was a bit of shouting in my voice.
When they had started to flee, he attacked with a strong horizontal swing. I jumped backward—the wind from the war hammer hit my face. Without hesitation, I advanced and launched a quick punch to his ribs. My punch hit the target, making him stagger. But he immediately retaliated with a vertical swing. I rolled to the side—the war hammer hit the ground with a loud thud.
I took advantage of the momentum and jumped, kicking his chest with both feet. He fell backward, but still gripped his weapon tightly. Rising quickly, he swung the war hammer in a circular motion. I was forced to step back several steps, looking for an opening to counterattack. When I saw that opening, from behind Yui screamed loudly: "Father! Help me!"
That voice made me panic. Behind, Yui was being carried away flying by a white-haired female Aeron. "I've got her. We must leave immediately."
"She can also speak human language?!" At that moment, I really didn't expect there to be two Aerons who could speak. But my surprise didn't compare to the emotions that exploded when I saw Yui being taken by them. I immediately shifted my attention toward the flying Aeron, ignoring the Aeron in front of me. When I almost reached them, the war hammer almost hit the side of my body. With quick reflexes, I managed to jump over that attack. "Don't get in my way, bastard!"
"I can't let you approach her, human!"
With emotions and fear that were very accumulated, I stood still with an empty stare, and…
"Awake."
The air around now changed drastically—very strong wind spun and centered on me. Straight-patterned lines began to appear from my face to my entire body.
I raised my hand. Instantly in the sky appeared many magic circles, filling that city park. There were a total of seven colors—each color representing each element on earth: fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, light, darkness. With that very powerful magic, I lowered my hand again and…
"Die."
Instantly all the magic circles released very terrifying elemental effects. Red circles released very large fireballs, blue circles released ice arrows, brown circles released sharp rocks, white circles released wind waves as sharp as swords, yellow circles released straight light that pierced heads, purple circles released smoke that manipulated minds. All that magic was directed at the Aeron monsters causing the chaos. And I created seven more magic circles on a larger scale, directing them at the two Aerons around me.
"Die."
Magic on a larger scale targeted both of them with terrifying attack power. Now the battlefield had changed into a one-sided attack—the Aeron monsters were instantly annihilated, and I collapsed unconscious.