1 Chapter I

Outskirts of Azmar Village

20:21

"Kenji, don't you dare close your eyes. I beg you... Don't you dare leave me like this."

"I'm sorry," The young man named Kenji curved his lips which formed to a weak smile, before coughing out blood, "But Nagisa... Continue the Symbols' legacy. I apologize... But you're... You're on your own.."

Nagisa grabbed Kenji's body and hugged it tightly, as tears streamed down his puffy eyes and his hands clutched onto his shoulders tightly, mouthing the words don't you dare over and over again.

Kenji's pale body weakly let go of Nagisa, his hand tousling on his tangerine hair. He let out a soft chuckle as he removes Nagisa's glasses, using his spare hand to wipe the beads of tears. Nagisa wouldn't unhand him, he couldn't. Kenji was all Nagisa had, thus creating a clingy relationship.

"I can't go on without you... The rest of the Symbols are... Gone." He sniffles. He closed his eye shut, and gritted his teeth, holding back the tears in his eyes. He felt miserable, having the last member of the group of wonderful heroes he looked up to.. Slowly losing his life in his embrace.

Everything else was a blur to Nagisa, his focus was all on Kenji who was getting fragile and weaker. The giant wound on his gut, spreading blood got all over the orange headed boy, but he didn't care, "Nagisa... You're still the same as ever." The hero chortles, as his hand reaches out for the pendant he wore. It was the symbol of the Earth element, painted in a beautiful brown color that shone in the moonlight, "Nagisa... Here is my last order... Take care of the rest of the Symbols."

Nagisa takes the symbol from him and nods, "I will... And I vow to take righteousness to my own hands... Kenji." He pledged. The proud hero grinned once more, using his hand to close Nagisa's that bears the Earth Symbol with the last of his strength. He mouthed a thank you before his body gives in to death.

Nagisa took in the sight of Kenji's now lifeless body. He blinked twice, processing what had just happened in his mind then tears shone in his eyes. Sadness clouded his features as his bottom lips quivered, wanting to say something but all he let out were whimpers. The sobs were stifled at first but then was overcome by the wave of emotions flowing in.

Without any hesitation Nagisa pulled Kenji's body tightly in his embrace, The tears flowed unchecked down his cheeks and dripped from his chin. He wailed, noisily and deafening. The vast grassland they were in to escape the strong man that slaughters, was once quiet, resounded to the loud cry he let out. His loud cries of agony were heard and the small creatures around fled.

A tall man dressed in black came out of the shadows, snickering with a hood covering his face. He approached the poor boy who has lost the strength to express the painful and gloomy state he was in. He pulls out a special weapon, The blade has a large, curved cross-guard, adding just enough weight to make sure the blade sits firmly in the owner's hand and protecting those same hands as well. The name "Jophiel" is engraved onto the blade's handle.

The mystery man named Jophiel raised his hand to strike Nagisa, but before he could plunge it on his back he saw something glowing in front of him. The moment his curiosity perked up, it was too late as Nagisa lifted his hand, then the ground below Jophiel upraised, flying to the sky. Nagisa let go of Kenji, then jumped up to the same height as the ground he rose. His saffron eyes glowed in this dark, breezy night as he kicked him with his leg.

The battle of the two men lasted on for hours, exchanging kicks and punches, using their magical abilities to their extent until it reached midnight. Rain began to pour down as Jophiel went on to his knees and hits the ground. Nagisa dazed at his unconscious body before removing the cloak he was using to cover his facial features and using it for himself.

Nagisa took one last glance at Kenji's body, "I'll have vengeance.."

Two years later,

Fantasia Isle

On a small island, there was a crowd exiting a circus. Children ran around happily, heavy footsteps of both men and women marched out of the giant colorful purple tent. There were tall trees, red and blue fairy lights dangled from its branches, along with stalls selling different types of street food.

There also is a young teen, standing at 154 centimeters with dark purple-colored hair, tied to two pairs of pigtails, with a tear mark under her dark brown eyes of different colors. She gleefully grinned and waved at the crowd as they exited the tent, "See you next time! Wonderland Cirque will be opening again next month!" She continued bidding goodbyes to the crowd as it slowly lessened as time passed by.

"Gou! Gou, time to wrap everything up!" A voice from the inside of the giant tent yelled.

Gou glanced at the direction of the voice, and then back at the shore, just across from where she was, "Just wait! I'll be back!" She bawls and rushed over to the sand. Her shoes left footprints as she ran on the sand.

She grabs a pebble and stretched her arm back, and threw it onto the vast ocean. One, two, three, four, five.. The pebble only lasted for five skips. She sighs and sits down, hugging her knees as the tides almost hit her shoes.

"I'm so jealous of Adventurers... They can explore out to see the miraculous wonders of the world first, across the border to the world unknown." She frowns, looking down. It was a dream of hers to become an Adventurer, a person who has access to the world outside. But she couldn't achieve her dream, For her fate is to continue the family business.

She sighs, looking back at the horizon, "This is so cliche.." She lets out a soft chuckle, continuing to daze at the ocean, illuminated by the setting sun, "Someday I'm gonna be an adventurer." She furrows her brows, looking at her balled fists.

"Yeah, sure you will."

Gou looks at the direction of the voice, and a boy with white messy hair and ocean blue eyes enters her field of vision.

She blinks two times and tilts her head, "What do you mean?" She asks the boy, sitting next to her.

The boy chuckles, putting his hands behind his head, laying down on the sand, "Well... I don't see why not." He grins cheekily.

"But I can't... I'm in a family business and I have to continue the legacy." She told him, groaning afterward. She rests her chin on her palm, pondering about the option to discuss it with her parents.

The boy looked at Gou and began, "A philosopher once said, following your dreams are one of the priorities of life." He made hand motions and sits up straight.

She furrows her brows and clocks her head, "I didn't quite get that. Who's the philosopher?" She questions him as the white-headed boy begins to stand up and get something from his bag.

"Umm.." He stops, putting a hand on his chin, then glances at her with a giggle, "I don't know. I just made it up." Gou smiles and laughed a bit.

He pulls a paper out from his bag and gave it to her, "Also here. Consider going there!" He stands up, putting the light blue backpack on his bicycle's basket and hopping on it.

Gou stares at the paper. It was a poster, a poster of a place called Zero, a battling arena for people who wish to strengthen both magical and physical abilities. It was located in Ashia's capital, Loretteville. Zero, apparently, is known for being the birthplace of many Adventurers. The girl's face lit up as she thought of the idea of joining this Arena.

When Gou was just about to thank the mysterious boy who gave her the Zero poster, he was already gone. She furrows her brows and her eyes scanned the area, then a silhouette riding a bicycle entered her field of vision as she gazed at the horizon of the road. She pouts, looking at the poster, "I forgot to ask his name."

Days later, Gou mustered up the courage to discuss her dream to her parents, built up based on what the mysterious boy said to her who now only lies in her memories. The living room ensued silence as the Lennox family sat down on the two cyan sofas facing each other.

Gou takes a deep breath, closing her eyes and clenching her plum-colored skirt which her hands rest on. She opened then narrowed her hazel brown eyes and furrowed her brows, before opening her lips, "Mom... Dad... I want to tell you about something important." She begins, maintaining eye contact with them. Both her parents look at each other broodingly before glancing back to their child, "I just want you to know that I have a goal too. And that goal doesn't involve our family circus business. You might have already noticed this but... I want to be an Adventurer."

Her father blinked twice, supposedly processing what he had just heard,".. I- I'm sorry, what? Can you repeat that, Gou?"

"I want to be an Adventurer," She repeated.

Gou's dad looked down on the ground, putting a hand on his chin and closing his eyes. Her mother takes a deep breath and held her husband's hand, but still looking at her daughter, "Gou... You know we simply can't allow that. Wonderland Cirque is the Lennox family business, it's been up for more than fifteen years, please understand that you have to let your goal go." She pleads and clasps her hands with Gou's father.

Nevertheless of her mother trying to be pitiful, the young girl who determine to become an aspiring Adventurer only let out an awkward chortle, scratching her hand on her head, "Sorry Mom, but a friend told me to follow my dreams." She giggles.

"How can you laugh at a time like this?" She furrowed her brows, releasing her grasp of the father of the family. She glares at Gou menacingly, abruptly rising from her seat.

She was about to strike her but the father suddenly spoke, supposedly finished his pondering, "Don't, Jona. Sit back down." Her eyes glanced at him, with eyebrows forced together into a pronounced frown. She was going to open her mouth to speak but he glowered at her and she sits back down.

Gou's eyes widen and sit up straight, because of how he managed to handle her mother who was going to go around in a rage so well. She shakes her head for a bit and braces herself for what her father has to say about her. They lock eye contact and it remains quiet for a few moments, then he grins, "I'm quite amused that you're brave enough to go and settle a family meeting for this. I can tell you quite planned this all out and that you're straight-forward," He lifts his brows and smile in amusement, "You plan on becoming an Adventurer... But do you have what it actually takes to be one?" He questions her, folding his arms.

The question made Gou hesitate, she was becoming a bit unsure and pause for a moment. Then she stretches her lips, "I'm not certain that I'll actually become one, but I'm sure that I maybe have the capabilities to be one." She answers, raising a finger as well.

Her father smiles back at him, "Alright Gou. I'm going to test you. If you win, you get to pursue your dreams. But if you lose.." He stands up and puts his hands on his waist, "You gotta have to remain being the ringleader of Wonderland Cirque." He challenges her.

Gou's eyes flash with hopefulness and lift her brows. She rises from her seat then stances, grinning competitively at him, "Deal." She accepts, determination firing her up for the upcoming trial just handed out to her.

The two of them separate ways for the time being, in order to prepare whether Gou will continue going after being an Adventurer or not. As the young purple-headed girl heads out of the room to exercise her reflexes for a bit in order to do the exam later.

After a few hours later, Gou was called to the inside of the giant circus tent, since it will serve as the site for the battle. Her feet march towards the entrance while pulling her lavender butyl gloves with her lips curved to a determined smile. Although despite that, she still managed to trip over something. She groans and looks around, confused as to why she would trip on something. A black thin wire was the reason why she stumbled a few moments ago.

Before she could think about it, she hears her Father's voice, bawl out from the inside of the tent, "Hurry up, Gou. The clock is ticking." Having heard this, she picks up her pace and quickly runs a hand through her hair, using the other to lift up the curtains that blocked the view of the inside of it.

"Sorry, Dad. I got a bit caught up with my thoughts." She apologizes before the girl's hazel eyes wander around the empty area. She heard her dad's voice loud and clear earlier, but why is it that she can't seem to find him? The thought of that made her confused, looking up. Besides her were two separate staircases that leads to where the circus crowd spectates the whole presentation.

The Wonderland Cirque tent is very spacious and wide, by its edges is where the audience sits to watch the show. The tent is circular, and on the other side of the entrance lies the gate, where the circus performers enter and leave the grounds for the performances, also there was another door, which leads to the AV room but it was locked from the outside. There are two pillars, where you can climb on and walk on the tightrope. The girl's hand brushes the metal railing as she climbs up to the audience area. This must be a hard one for Gou because there isn't much place for someone to hide. Maybe a bit confusing.

"Find me first, then I will fight you."

Gou narrows her eyes and lowers her brows for a bit, transfixed to where he might be possibly hiding. With not many options to pick, she decides to search by the tightrope. Her hands tightly grasp on the bars of the ladder, but considering the height of the pillars, it took her a while to reach the top. Upon doing so, she wipes the small sweat on her palms on her shirt since she had nothing to rub it on. She takes a few steps forward and feels something by the end of her shoes. Looking down, an arnis enters her field of vision. She goes down on one knee and picks it up with her hand. She furrows her brows confusingly, puzzled.

"I see, you discovered the arnis I placed. I wonder what you plan on doing with it?" Gou's dad's voice echoes through the vacant tent she was in. Although this time, his voice was nearer than when she was on the ground. Does it have to do with being high? She looks around once more and sees the long and giant light rods dangling from the ceiling.

Gou moves by the edge of the platform she was on, her feet swinging loosely. Dad could be hiding in the backstage, actually, the holes between each bar are big enough to fit one person, which is the trick to a performance where a group of acrobatics suddenly disappear by diving inside the holes. It could also be possible that he's hiding in the AV room, but it's locked from the outside and there's no one who could have locked him in. Maybe he ordered someone to lock him in? Then there's the other pillar that I haven't checked out yet. He could be hiding there.

The young girl was listing all of the possible ways of how Gou's dad could be hiding, "But still! I don't know where he could be, but I heard dad's voice near when he last spoke.. Where could he be?" She questions herself.

It was very clear that what her dad was pulling off was a mind game. She sits down and furrows her brows, putting a hand on her chin, beginning to ponder what has happened to her.

"Are you giving up? Too bad, if you give thought of what happened earlier then you could have had everything solved." He chuckles before it fades back into emptiness.

Somehow he can manage to see what she's doing like he's watching her every move. But it seems like he gave off a hint. What happened not too long ago? Gou groans and runs both hands through her hair as her whole life up until now basically flashes in her mind.

The girl whines, she wasn't the best in these mind games. She rests her chin on both her palms and begins to arch her feet back and forth. She stares at the emptiness in front of her as she continues to ponder where he could be.

"Hrng... I don't wanna give up." She says, then suddenly she felt her heel hit something. She furrows her brows in confusion, what could be under there? She fixes her position, her hands grasping on the edge as she lowers her head, to look under the platform she was on. It took her a few moments before she discovered a speaker underneath the circular platform.

She blinks twice before realizing what it was for, "Ah! So this must be where Dad's voice coming from. That explains why I can't seem to find him." She spoke, giggling afterward, "Man... I use this speaker in every performance we present ever since I became a ringleader. It was used against me." Her lips curved to a smile and her eyes narrow.

"Since he's using the speaker. He must be somewhere none other than.." Her eyes wander around the place and lands on the AV room door, "The audiovisual room. And he knows what I'm doing because of the security cameras! I get it now!" Gou looks down back on the ground, then back to the arnis. She forces it in between her belt so that she wouldn't have trouble getting down the ladder.

After a while, she reached the ground by jumping off the ladder three bars early. She pulls the arnis from her belt and made her way to the AV room. Her eyes gleam with confidence as she closed in the distance between her and the door.

She took a closer look at the door and sees there was a metallic padlock. She doesn't know who owns the key to this place, but how did Gou's father manage to lock himself inside the AV room?

"Ehh.." She stares at the padlock for a few moments before removing the pin that tied her hair to a small pigtail, which falls down. She begins to lockpick the padlock, then after a few seconds later of twisting it in different directions, the lock opens.

She smiles victoriously and quickly ties the pigtail again before grabbing her hand on the handle. She takes a step back and opens the door and her dad, sitting on a swivel chair, his back facing her.

"Well done Gou. You managed to find me, although it was an easy riddle if you just considered why you tripped." Gou's dad turns the swivel chair around, with his legs crossed he faced her. "Now that you've discovered me, Let's battle." He stands up and grabs another arnis that was sitting on the corner next to him.

Gou flashed a smile determinedly, wrapping the wooden arnis in her palm tight. The battle which decides Gou's fate, whether she'll remain a ringleader or she will go to the Zero Arena in order to become an Adventurer is just beginning to take place.

Gou's father begins the battle by dashing forward and swinging his arnis horizontally in her direction. Instinctively, Gou blocks it with her arnis as well, grasping both ends of it. The two arnis clashed together in a battle of strength which Gou's father won, pushing her out of the AV room. 

"In order to win, you have to make the arnis I'm using fall of my grasp!" He bawls, before dashing out of the AV room. 

She grins as she knew what to do if someone dashes towards her. When he got close enough, Gou positions her leg behind the other, evading Gou's father's move to tackle her. She puts a hand on his nape, and the other on his wrist. She pushes his nape, putting him down on the ground.

"I got you!' She smiles. She thought it was finished, but she forgot what her father said a few moments ago.

"I said you only win if I let go of my arnis!" He shouts, furrowing his brows that narrowed his eyes. Her eyes widen as it immediately glances to his hand behind his back, holding the arnis. Her face went white and he points it at her abdomen, and before she could react, it had already hit her stomach. 

She wails and falls down to her knees, her hand holding her sides and her arms blocking her stomach to at least ease the pain. Gou's dad took the opportunity to stand up. His looks remained the same, eyes narrowed. The poker face continues on for a few seconds, before the corners of his mouth curved for just one moment. It didn't take long before Gou had recovered from the hit, standing up. 

"GRAHH!!" She yells, rushing towards him with her hazel eyes burned with determination, supposedly that she hasn't given up yet. She plans on hitting his abdomen too, but it was a bit too clear for her father. She raises his hand and was about to attack her father, but their arnis clashed again. He draws his arnis, and so does Gou. 

She attacks him again, he squints his eyes and the corners of his lips quirked up. As Gou's arnis was about to hit his head, he got to grab her arnis as well and places his arnis above her wrist, his palm aligned with hers, then immediately pulls Gou's arnis from her grasp.

"I got your arnis now. What will you do?" Gou's father smiles at her, waiting for her to come up for something that'll supposedly make her win, although he was still confident that he'll still win despite of what she tries. He throws Gou's arnis far from where she was, near the gate to the backstage.

With not many options left for her to choose, she decides to retreat for now. She bolts down the moldy ground, going to the nearest pillar. She thought earlier that this will serve as her last resort if she's losing, because of the lack of space and it will prove challenging. She ascends to the top as fast as she can, as she hears her father say something along the lines of, "You can't escape from me!" A few moments later, she jumps up and skips a bar, using her shoulders to support her, then her foot. 

She gets away near the ladder, close by the tight rope. Not too long later, her father catches up to her, holding his arnis. He plastered a confident smile on his face, his hand swinging. It was becoming obvious Gou needed a plan. She furrows her brows and stances, waiting for him to attack. The plan she was going to use was to fight him barehanded. Gou's father laughs in amusement, "Bring it, Gou." He begins to attack, and all Gou can do was either block or evade. 

This continued on for a long while when she managed to figure out his technique. She remembers watching some performers practice with an arnis, beginning with the basic twelve attacks. He keeps repeating one, that hits the left side of the head, four, right side of the torso, eight, the lower left leg, two, right side of the head then lastly twelve, a strike to the head. Although sometimes he changes it when he feels like it.

All I need to do is manage to steal his arnis.. and I win! She thinks in her mind as her father performs four, which she accidentally got hit because she was thinking in her mind. She takes a step back in order to miss eight and almost lost her footing, which could have made her slip. She continues to dodge until it reached two once again.

She furrows her brows and waits for the right timing. Gou's father swings his arnis to the right, planning to hit me. Here it goes!  Her jaw tightened, determination and confidence glow in her eyes as she suddenly grabs his wrist and hand, stopping his tracks. She moves the hand she held on his wrist, to the other end of the arnis and pushes it upwards, hitting his jawbone, releasing his hand from the arnis.

Her face lit up as everything occurred. It was like slow-motion, yet ironically it happened so quickly. She jumps up and down, giggling like the little kid she was. She puts the arnis close to her and hugs it, "I did it! I can be an Adventurer thanks to you!"

Gou's father claps slowly, catching her attention. She goes up to him and hugs him tightly, before looking up to him and smiles, "Thank you so so soo much, dad!" She chirps him, giggling again afterward.

"No problem, Gou." He just grins at her, and she still wouldn't let go. They fall into silence before he hears her daughter whimpering, "Gou? What's wrong?" He goes down on one knee, nearing her height.

The young girl closes her eyes, shaking her head as she wipes the tears off of her eyes, "N-Nothing, dad. I'll just miss you and mom. Being an Adventurer means leaving your family for a while." She sniffles, then grins afterward with her eyes closed, "But. I'll become an adventurer and make you and mom proud!"