He couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Why would someone want to kidnap my sister?”
Daniel had no idea who Typhaon was, but he did know Anomalies was a name for the dangerous types of monsters.
If Typhaon was called ‘Father of Anomalies,’ he had to be much more dangerous.
“Why is someone like that targeting my sister?”
His joy of leveling up was replaced by newfound worry.
He started to go out on longer hunts to increase his leveling pace from that day.
As time ticked on, he decided to confront his sister.
“Do you know anything about Child of Mana?” he asked her.
According to the System, his sister was the Child of Mana.
It sounded important.
Unfortunately for Daniel, Selene did not know anything about being Child of Mana.
She asked why he was asking her something like this, but he dodged the topic.
A few days later, he decided to tell his sister about someone targeting her.
She laughed it off, but it only made Daniel feel more unsettled.
When she didn’t believe him, he sought help from the leader of their city.
The leader was a kind man.
He was D-rank, the strongest awakener in the city, and a figure of quiet authority.
He had helped the siblings since they were kids.
It was thanks to the leader’s support that they could rent a house after their parents were lost.
His office, lined with ancient maps and worn tomes, felt almost too calm for the storm Daniel felt inside.
The leader agreed to protect Selene if someone attacked her.
However, Daniel could see the leader had not taken his words seriously either.
The brief nod and reassuring words felt hollow, as if dismissing his fears as overreaction.
“I should try to hire guards from the outside.”
Daniel tried to hire a mercenary.
He needed money for it—money he didn’t have.
After the apocalypse, consumable and luxurious goods had become currency.
Society had reverted to a barter system.
The old world’s wealth was meaningless now.
Daniel had nothing to pay the mercenary.
He had hunted quite a lot of monsters during the past weeks.
The fangs and claws he had collected gleamed faintly in his pack, but they were hardly enough.
With it, he could hire one C-rank awakener at best.
And that might not be enough to keep his sister safe.
“System? Is there a way for me to get stronger fast?”
[Leveling up.]
“I would do that if I had EXP! I’ve been killing monsters non-stop since the last two weeks, but I can’t even reach level 20!”
Daniel shouted at the system.
His anger persisted for hours before he felt fear taking over.
“System, can you please give me skills? Even a good quest would work,” he begged.
Even though he knew only a little about Typhaon, Daniel understood enough to know he couldn’t protect his sister from Typhaon and his subordinates.
He was weak.
“Dammit! Dammit!”
Until the main quest arrived, he had been on cloud nine.
He thought his life was finally taking a turn for the better.
The System was an opportunity for him to stand above others, to rise.
But all of it had been an illusion.
“Selene, let’s run away,” he told his sister one day before Typhaon’s subordinates were supposed to arrive.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his body was trembling with suppressed fear.
For Daniel, his sister was his world.
She had awakened early and sacrificed so much for him.
He wanted to save her at all costs.
“Calm down. Let’s drink a coffee first,” Selene said gently.
She didn’t laugh off Daniel’s worry when she noticed his pale complexion and the way his hands fidgeted restlessly.
The two siblings sat together at the wooden table in their small, candlelit cabin.
The aroma of coffee mixed with the scent of damp earth from outside as rain tapped softly on the roof.
Midnight air hung heavy, filled with unspoken dread.
Daniel was thinking of ways to run away with Selene. Your next chapter awaits on empire
He had trained relentlessly over the past month, pushing his body to the limit.
Against all odds, he reached level 20 in just four weeks.
His efforts had earned him several titles and rare System items.
And yet, in the corner of his heart, he knew.
He couldn’t stop Typhaon.
Running away was their only choice.
Just then, the clock struck 12.
Daniel sensed a foreign presence.
The winds picked up.
They formed tornadoes, ripping apart the city in a matter of seconds.
Awakeners, their weapons, bunkers—everything was torn apart within ten seconds.
The once-bustling city was reduced to rubble.
Dust and debris filled the air, choking the remaining life out of the ruined streets.
Everything happened too quickly for Daniel to make sense of it.
A faceless humanoid monster with a white body descended from the storm-ravaged sky.
The monster’s feet touched the cracked ground.
He looked around, searching for something.
A smile appeared on his face when he found Selene.
The monster tugged at his finger.
The winds howled louder.
They picked up Selene, who was injured and had lost consciousness, and brought her toward the humanoid monster.
“St…op….”
“Mhm? Someone’s alive?”
Chyrabdis, the Sovereign of Winds, was amused when he heard Daniel’s weak voice echo.
He had used enough strength to kill everyone except the Child of Mana.
“I didn’t think there would be a C-rank Awakener in such a backward region.”
Under Chyrabdis’ amused and surprised gaze, Daniel rose, using his sword as support.
Blood dripped from his wounds, staining the cracked earth beneath him.
“Give… my… sister back…”
Chyrabdis didn’t hurry to take the Child of Mana back to Typhaon
. He watched Daniel with interest, looking forward to seeing what he would do.
“Use the…. healing slip.”
[Healing slip used.]
A gentle power burst forth from within Daniel.
It enveloped his body, glowing faintly against the storm-darkened sky.
His injuries started to heal as warmth spread through his body.
The cost of the power made Daniel feel as if someone was squeezing the mana out of his Core.
“That’s a powerful healing ability for a C-rank Awakener. What is your trait?”
“I said!” Daniel ignored Chyrabdis’ question and dashed toward him. “Give my sister back!”
Chyrabdis flicked his finger, and an air bullet shot out.
The compressed wind pierced Daniel’s abdomen before he could react, leaving a giant hole in his stomach.
Daniel froze.
He looked down, noticing the gaping wound where his flesh had once been.
Blood soaked his torn clothes and pooled on the shattered ground.
“Can you heal from that?” Chrybdis asked in amusement.
Slowly, life disappeared from Daniel’s eyes.
He kept trying to claw towards Chrybdis during his last moments.
His trembling fingers digged into the rough, broken soil.
‘Use Healing Slips,’ Daniel tried to say.
His lungs had been destroyed.
The pain made him unable to speak physically or mentally.
He could only struggle, trying to gather his thoughts.
‘I need… to think… use healing…’
He didn’t have much time left.
His vision blurred, and his pulse slowed to a whisper.
At the last second, a glowing screen appeared before Daniel’s eyes.
[Host’s health has fallen dangerously low. Would you like to use a Healing Slip?]