Emerald City, Ranger Quarters Room No. 32
A nineteen-year-old boy with gray hair slept peacefully, a faint smile lingering on his lips.
"Hey, that's not fair! Two against one!" Sarina puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms as Darius and Kai stood in front of her.
She had long white hair tied into braids, crystal lavender eyes, and a small, fragile frame.
"Why are you pouting? You'll win anyway!" Kai said with a smirk.
Sarina giggled. "Okay, but next time, one of you has to be on my team!"
"I'll be on your team next time!" Darius said quickly.
"Hey, you already betrayed me for a girl! Pervert!" Kai teased, tickling Darius's waist.
Darius burst into laughter, trying to push Kai away as Sarina giggled at the scene.
"I wanna join too!" Sarina said, joining Kai in tickling Darius on the ground.
"Wait… stop!" Darius gasped, panting. They finally let up and helped him to his feet.
"Can't we just start the game instead of this? I hate it!" Darius muttered, brushing off his clothes.
"We love this!" Kai and Sarina said in unison, grinning.
The field was divided into three parts. The middle section was a forbidden zone—players weren't allowed to enter it.
Sarina vs. Darius and Kai.
Each team had ten water balloons. Whoever landed a hit first would win. The winner got to choose the next game.
"They're playing their weird games again. Why the hell are they playing with that trash? Playing without magic is too boring. They should just join us," several students murmured as they watched from the sidelines.
For a moment, Sarina gave them a deadpan look.
"Let's go! We should play somewhere else," one of the students said as they all left the field.
Oblivious to the comments, Darius launched a water balloon at Sarina. She leapt and dodged effortlessly, hurling two balloons back at Kai.
A few minutes later...
Sarina was laughing like a maniac.
"She's too scary when she gets like that!"
"Yeah, agreed!" Darius nodded—then an evil grin crept onto his face.
Kai instantly tensed, ready to flee, as Darius flung a water balloon straight at Sarina's face.
"Ruuun!" Darius and Kai yelled in unison, sprinting away as Sarina wiped her face.
"You two!!" she shouted, chasing after them.
Suddenly, a bell rang—and Sarina vanished. The world turned upside down.
Darius's heart tightened as an image of a bloodied Sarina lying lifeless flashed through his mind. A lump stuck in his throat.
In a silent void, Darius cried—until he heard a familiar voice.
"What the hell are you doing? We have to find Sarina! She might need us!" It was Kai.
"Sarina! Sarina, where are you?!" Kai's voice echoed in Darius's mind. Together, they scoured all of Violet City, asking anyone and everyone.
"Her entire family is gone!"
Weeks of searching passed—without a single clue.
In the void, there were four figures: Darius, his father Ray, his mother Lilia, and his best friend Kai.
But a year later, Kai left too—promising to find Sarina no matter what.
"Darry! Take care of yourself! Don't forget, we have to find Sarina, no matter what! I'm going to be a Ranger after graduation—it might help us find her! I'll wait for you!"
Now, in the void, only Darius remained with his parents. But when he turned sixteen, they disappeared as well.
---
Suddenly, he was back in his house. "Mom... Dad...!" Darius shouted as he walked downstairs from his room.
Looking around, he noticed a book laying on the table. Title: Elemental Manipulation.
"Is it some sort of spellbook?" Darius thought as he opened it.
The book disintegrated into white energy particles and disappeared into Darius.
"What the hell is this? What just happened?" Darius muttered, touching his body in confusion.
Suddenly, a holographic screen popped up in front of him. Something within him snapped—like chains breaking.
All at once, Darius felt lighter, more alive. The air felt fresher than ever before.
"What the hell is going on? What's this?" He reached out, but his hand passed through the screen.
A couple appeared on the screen, their faces filled with sadness, regret, and guilt.
"Mom, Dad!" Darius blurted out as his mother began speaking.
> [Darry! You've been trying to form a soul core for years, but you never felt any soul essence! It's because your soul uses every bit of it. Your soul sea is too powerful to imprint runes.
You can't use magic, and no matter what you do, you'll never form a soul core. That's because... you're a Zerai—one of the races that lives in Quana!
Forget about Quana for now—Zerai have wings and a strong soul that can hold pure elemental essence.
This system will teach you how to create essence cores in your body and how to use elemental essence to manipulate elements—without runes or a soul core!
You want to find your friend? You want a peaceful life where no one can bully you? Now, you can do those things.
We're so sorry we had to leave you alone when you needed us most. We didn't want you to feel different from others, so we never told you the truth.
But there's no point keeping secrets if they cost you your life... and your happiness.]
She stopped as the man beside her continued,
> [Darry! Take care of yourself! Live your life to the fullest—and never try to find us!
You're a smart kid. You know what to do with power. Don't you?]
> [We love you!] they said in unison.
> [Status] Name: Darius Ren Age: 16 Race: Zerai
Essence Cores: Fire: Not Formed Water: Not Formed Earth: Not Formed Wind: Not Formed Thunder: Not Formed Ice: Not Formed Space: Not Formed Flora: Not Formed
"Why? Why are you leaving me too? Please… come back!" Darius screamed, tears streaming down his face.
"This kid is cursed! First that girl, now his family! I'm telling you, he'll devour our entire city!" someone once said.
"She's probably dead. Some beast must've eaten her!" another voice had muttered.
"Nooo!" Darius screamed, bolting upright as he opened his eyes.
"Are you okay?" asked a handsome man with jet-black hair and hazel eyes.
"Yeah... I'm fine. Just a bad dream. What are you doing here, Kai?" Darius asked, rubbing his eyes.
"It's your first day in the squad. I figured we could walk to the station together—since some sleepyhead would probably sleep all day," Kai said with a grin.
A few minutes later, as they strolled through the bustling streets of Emerald City, Darius suddenly said,
"I have a plan to find out where Sarina is."