"I wonder... why are you two so alike?"
Like a scene pulled from a fairy tale, the great castle stood tall, its towers adorned with the imperial banners. Vibrant flowers painted the landscape, and crystal-clear waters danced with the reflection of the sun. It was a realm of supreme divinity—a sanctuary where no common mortal dared to tread. The floating island hovered far above the high seas, perched atop the clouds, where the blue sky was purer than the ocean itself.
The empire's flag bore a unique and iconic design: a cross marked by three central slashes. This banner represented more than the world's most feared power—it represented the one who ruled it all.
The DIVINE PALADIN TRINITY, also known as the D.P.T. It was the alliance of the three greatest world kingdoms, enforcing the will of the Gods over mortal governance.
Inside, a red-haired man in a crimson cloak stood beside an elderly lord. Though the old man's steps were frail and trembling, he carried himself with the heavy dignity of a true ruler. The hall was filled with representatives of countless races—beings with beast ears, towering horns, and pointed ears—all debating world politics, haunted by the past actions of a certain man.
Bored by the chatter, the red-haired man yawned and slipped away. He wandered the palace halls until he reached a secluded garden. Here, extinct flowers that would never touch the filth of the earth bloomed with rare vigor. The man didn't care for the flora; he simply crossed his arms and approached a child who was staring at the petals as if they were the most precious things in existence.
"What do you think you're doing?" the man asked, his gaze stern. "Didn't I tell you to stop playing with these... flowers?"
"Father!" the child replied, his eyes wide and innocent. "I-I'm sorry! It's just... these flowers are unique. I've never seen anything so beautiful."
The man's expression hardened, but his resolve quickly crumbled. For a fleeting second, the silhouette of a woman seemed to overlap with the boy's. The man shuddered at the resemblance.
"Why are you two so alike?" he whispered to himself, his eyes locked onto that ghostly image.
"Father? You seem distracted... did something happen in the meeting?"
The man started, annoyed at having shown a moment of weakness, and quickly masked his face with a stoic expression. "No... I just decided to get out of there," he gestured dismissively. "There's no real threat, but the King still insists I play the part of his bodyguard."
He sighed, letting the tension bleed away as he focused on his son. He looked toward the sky, looking utterly bored. "When there are no strong opponents left, everything becomes so tedious..."
"You could find a hobby, like me! Look." The boy touched the flowers with absolute tenderness. "Every flower has a meaning. Some represent freedom, others beauty... and some even represent love itself. You can see it all in this rare species."
The man listened in silence, his expression darkening for a moment before he knelt to the boy's level. "You really should give up this pathetic hobby. What if you trained and got stronger instead? Then you could become a Captain, just like your father."
The boy's face fell, the words stinging like needles. "Father... I told you. I'm not like my brothers. They want to be Captains and protect the kingdom. But I'm weak. I don't even have magic. The only thing I know how to do is guide the lives yet to come..."
The man stared intently at his son. The answer wasn't what he expected, yet a faint smile tugged at his lips. He reached out and ruffled the boy's hair.
"Son... promise me one thing. One day, you will show the entire world your potential. Your true power lies in your heart. You are... hope."
A FEW DAYS LATER...
"JACK! WATCH OUT! THE SHIP'S ABOUT TO CAPSIZE IN THIS STORM!"
The red-haired man smirked with unyielding arrogance. "Relax! I'll never lose to a beast like this!"
He stood against a colossal sea-terror amidst the raging waves. Ships splintered in the storm as his comrades screamed, fighting for their lives—a scene of pure, unadulterated chaos. Yet, Jack held the upper hand, grinning through the carnage. As he fought, flashes of the past flooded his mind; he saw himself smiling at his young son.
"Son, I promise you. On your seventh birthday, I'm going to give you the finest weapon in the world!"
The boy had been nervous, but he offered a gentle smile. "Hahaha, okay, Father. But I don't think a weapon will be very useful for me."
Back in the present, Jack made a fatal mistake: he underestimated the beast, betrayed by his own pride. The creature was only heartbeats away from devouring him. The blood dripping from his wounds matched the crimson of his hair. Tears of agony welled up as he thought of his son one last time, knowing he would never keep his word.
"I'm... I'm going to die!"
For the first time, the face of the world's strongest man was etched with despair. Overcome by fear and sorrow, he could do nothing but accept his fate.
"JACK!" one of his comrades screamed, watching as the beast swallowed the man whole.
In the not-so-distant future, the child's birthday arrived. But whispers and sudden news turned the special day into a nightmare.
"What? You mean my husband... died in battle?!" the woman exclaimed, surrounded by knights. "Impossible! My husband would never die such a pathetic death!"
"Mother... is Father dead?" the young child asked, only to be ignored by the adults.
The woman, whose beauty captivated even the highest royalty, was the widow of the fallen hero. His elder sons stood stunned by the news, but their gazes soon turned toward the small, innocent Giyo. As always, he knew what was coming: his mother's cruelty. The abuse was soul-crushing; his hands shook at the mere sight of her approaching disdain.
With a cold, mocking smile, she drove a fist into the boy's face. Blood flowed from his nose to his mouth. His mother and brothers beat him mercilessly and, following the act of brutality, they cast him out among the commoners. Naked, covered in wounds, and drowning in terror, his future died then and there.
"Help me... someone help me..." the child whimpered, through sun and rain, day and night.
Two years passed. Under a heavy downpour, the kingdom was shrouded in silence and grief. A boy wandered through empty streets, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the alleys. His sobs dominated his restless soul; his eyes were blind to a future that would never come.
"How long... how much longer will my body keep fighting? Enough! Just accept it... just give up!"
He reached the great wall that divided commoners from nobles—the boundary of status. He stared at the wall and collapsed, crawling into a dark alleyway. The heavens wept crystalline tears that soaked him to the bone. His face was scarred with spiral-shaped marks, and he wore nothing but rags scavenged from the trash. Despite the look of defeat in his eyes, his body fought by instinct, seeking a way to survive. His heart burned with a flame that grew for reasons unknown. Beneath the filth, his physique was lean and muscular, as if hardened for self-defense.
"You promised... you promised you'd come back..."
Memories of his father flickered in his eyes before the reality crushed him again. Tears mingled with the rain.
"DAMN IT ALL!" he screamed, huddling against the storm, trying to shield himself from the agony of his own past.
Suddenly, the desperate clicking of heels echoed through the alley. Giyo instantly stopped crying, retreating away from the light and deeper into the shadows of the dark alley.
"Dammit! I'm going to be late again!" a female voice cried out. "I can't miss the time again, or the school event preparations will be ruined because of me!"
The woman's appearance was revealed as she stepped closer to the alley: hair as black as the night and eyes the color of coal. She was running desperately, checking her watch repeatedly while clutching a simple satchel. As she passed the dark gap between the buildings, the sound of someone sobbing caught her attention. Worried, she stopped and doubled back.
"H-h-hello? Is anyone t-there?" she asked, her voice trembling with a hint of fear.
As she moved closer, her eyes adjusted to the gloom. She saw a boy sprawled on the ground, watching her every move. When she took a step forward, he scrambled back, cornered like a frightened animal. Paola knelt with a look of deep concern, fearing the boy was homeless. But when she reached out to touch him, he slapped her hand away.
"STAY BACK!"
Startled, Paola didn't flinch. She looked closer at him. "Are you alright?" she asked. "I heard someone crying... You look like you're in a lot of pain. Let me help you!"
Again, he recoiled with even more aggression. "I already told you to get ba—" Giyo was cut off by a violent fit of coughing. Blood splattered from his mouth, and the spiral-shaped scars on his face began to bleed, staining his rags crimson.
"What is this?" Paola moved in, ignoring his protests. "I've never seen anything like this! It looks... dangerous."
"It's more common than you think. It hurts, but it's none of your business, lady!" Though he shouted, he stopped retreating. Something about her touch felt... relieving.
Horrified by the amount of blood but noticing the boy treated it like a daily routine, she pulled out a handkerchief and began cleaning his wounds. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you. I was on my way to the school where I work, but I stopped when I heard you."
She offered a gentle smile. Giyo finally went quiet, allowing the kind woman to tend to him. "Good Heavens, where are my manners? Please forgive my rudeness. My name is Paola, I'm a teacher at the Great Academy in the Noble District."
"I-I'm Giyo," he muttered, surprised.
"Gi-yo..." She repeated the name as if tasting it. "What a beautiful name. Tell me, Giyo, what is a boy like you doing here? It's rare to see commoners so close to the Noble District border."
"I... I come here sometimes, hoping my father will show up. He disappeared on a royal mission. I haven't seen him since..." Giyo's gaze fell to the ground, his shoulders slumping at the memory.
Paola's eyes widened. "Wait! Was your father a victim of the Great Incident on the last mission? I'm so sorry... Many knights were lost. Rumor has it only the Captains made it back, but it's only a matter of time before they return to the kingdom to report what actually happened."
Giyo grabbed her arms, his eyes igniting with a desperate ray of hope. "REALLY?! Does that mean... could the news they gave me be a lie?"
"Well... it's a possibility. The information came from third parties," she said with a hint of bitterness. "And involving a sea beast? It just shows how absurd the whole story might be."
Though the sadness remained, Giyo felt a flicker of hope. Paola checked her watch again and panicked. "Good Heavens! I'm incredibly late! The Headmaster is going to kill me!"
"Uh... your watch is wrong." "Huh?" She looked at her wrist. "How can you be so sure?" "Look at the hands. They're stuck. They haven't moved since the moment you touched my face."
Paola let out a long, relieved sigh. "THANK GOODNESS! At least I'm not as late as I thought..." She looked at him, impressed. "I'm surprised a commoner knows how to read a watch. This kind of technology rarely makes it to this side of the wall."
"That's because... I'm not exactly a commoner," he admitted, the words tasting like ash. "I have noble blood... but my family abandoned me. That's why I'm out here, hoping for my father's return so I can go home."
Paola gasped, covering her mouth. As a teacher, she couldn't stomach such negligence. "That is unacceptable!" She pressed a hand to her chest, determined. "Come with me. I'll take you to my dormitory at the school. Think of it as a thank you for telling me about my broken watch."
Giyo felt a surge of hope. "And besides, I can also pay you back in... other ways." Paola's expression shifted, becoming intense, almost unsettling.
"Other... ways?" Giyo swallowed hard, his body tensing up. "Exactly, fufufu..." She leaned in, whispering in his ear. "I can... study your marks and find out exactly why you're so sick! :)"
Giyo burst into a genuine laugh, the tension finally breaking. "Haha, right. That's exactly what I was thinking."
He stood up. Despite the pain, the ember in his chest flared into a flame. They walked through the rain until they reached the colossal gates of the academy. "Welcome to the H.I.R.O. Academy."
Giyo shuddered, his face turning pale. "Of course you'd work here..." He stepped closer to Paola, seeking protection. "There are people here I don't like. My family... they're in this school."
Paola pulled him into a comforting embrace, stroking his hair. "Shhh... it's going to be alright. I'm here. The entrance exams are coming up soon."
"Thank goodness," Giyo sighed. "I hope I don't have to fight anyone. Hehe. :)" "Oh, but you definitely will, fufufu! :)" Paola smiled brilliantly. "The selection is split into three stages: Magic, Physical, and Psychological. Mastering magic and having a strong body is crucial to staying at the top."
Giyo twiddled his fingers, looking embarrassed. "Well... about that... I don't actually have any magic. :)"
Paola froze. "HUH?..."