A Hero and A Mage...*
As the world was busy confronting the unending waves of monsters, within the walls of Merlin University, a million souls quaked in terror as they bore witness to their worst nightmare.
Encased within a shimmering blue barrier, they watched helplessly as a horde of monstrous creatures relentlessly assaulted their protective shield. Each strike threatened to shatter the barrier, yet it miraculously healed itself with unnatural speed.
Outside, the onslaught continued unabated, leaving no doubt that without intervention, they would soon fall prey to the ravenous beasts.
"Summon the Neo Guild," echoed the desperate cry throughout the trembling halls.
That shout worked as the waking call for everyone, urging all of them to took out their phones to call...
Crack!
Before they could even make the calls, a dreadful sound was heard. Their nightmare had come true! The barrier was broken!
"RUN!!!"
"RUN, EVERYONE!"
Seeing death approaching, they all ran in random directions. The fear of death was evident on their ugly faces and shaking bodies.
Right now, all they wanted was to remain as far away as possible from the entrance.
The monsters, however, lazily walked toward them.
There was a faint smirk on their mouths that couldn't be easily seen.
The humans were both relieved and horrified that the monsters were approaching slowly.
In their eyes, they could see the reaper slowly coming to reap their lives.
They all felt helpless!
Despair!
Anxiety!
Fear!
These were their current feelings. All their memories of life played in front of them.
Shush!
A demon couldn't wait to kill!
It lunged at a nearby human, but it couldn't be seen by normal humans or by newbie High-humans.
The monster stopped above a teenager, looking at him with a cruel smirk, frightening the heckout of him. "AHH!!!"
The boy saw the beast's sharp teeth approaching his head and shouted with all the force he could muster. He wanted to call for help, but he was not mentally stronger. Instead of a plea, only a loud scream escaped from his mouth.
Seeing no way to escape, his body had long gone limp.
Despair filled his mind!
He gritted his teeth and waited for the inevitable pain of his head ripping from his body. He had already lost hope that someone would rescue him! Around him, rather than heroes, only lifeless and terrified faces could be seen!
In their eyes, there was no intention of saving the poor fellow, only a little pity for him, shadowed by endless regret for their weakness. 'Argh! Why am I born weak!!!' was the sole thought they had.
Clang!
However, instead of his death, the boy saw a teenager with black hair blocking the beast with a sword!
"R-Run."
The black haired youth was clearly being pushed back by the beast, and yet, reminded the brown-haired boy to run, who was sitting with a dumbfounded look on the ground!
"Run away!"
Seeing that the frightened boy failed to hear him, the black haired youth shouted again.
"H-Huh... Y-Yes! Thank you!!"
The black-haired youth's words awakened the brown-haired boy from his stupor, and he ran away like his life depended on it!
Yet, he did not forget to thank his savior... Despite being weak, he was a good fellow.
Slam!
Seeing the black-haired guy, who was, Chu Tianyu ignoring his presence, the leopard-type monster, the size of a car, slammed one of its claws at the careless Chu Tianyu.
"Huh!"
Shush! Thump!
Crack! Thud!
Chu Tianyu was startled by the sudden attack.
Unable to withstand the impact, Chu Tianyu was thrown through the air.
He was stopped by the wall of Hall no. 7, in which he was staying before.
Due to the force of impact, both, Chu Tianyu's bones and the wall collapsed!
By the stroke of luck, Chu Tianyu was not harmed by the collapsed wall.
While this was happening, the monsters on the side were quietly watching the battle.
Some of them were even lying on the ground, lazily growling.
It seemed like they were all just watching an early morning show.
Thump-Thump!
The leopard-type monster slowly walked to the half-dead Chu Tianyu.
Slurp!
While walking, its saliva kept falling on the ground.
Shush!
Growl!
When the beast was only a foot away from Chu Tianyu, his survival instinct kicked in!
He moved away from Chu Tianyu and growled!
Shine!
The same golden light from before originated from Chu Tianyu. His injuries disappeared at an alarming rate!
"Huu... Huu.. Haaa.."
Chu Tianyu started breathing frantically. It was like he had just come from the door of death!
Clang!
He stood up on his feet with erratic breathing.
Shush!
He grabbed his fallen sword and charged at the beast at the speed of a bullet!
Pierce!
The beast tried to run away, but its head was pierced by Chu Tianyu's sword before it even turned around.
"Growl!"
"Wooo!"
...
The beast witnessing this event, started running backward in fear!
"Hero..."
"He's the hero!"
"We are saved!"
"Yeah! Hero!"
"Long live the hero!"
"HERO!"
...
On the human side, they started a round of frantic shouting.
Hope was ignited in them!
Chu Tianyu's win against the horrifying creature filled the despaired audience with newfound hope!
Hope to live!
Dreams to survive!
Thud!
Alas! Their hopes were broken.
Chu Tianyu fell unconscious on the ground...
It seemed like his previous majestic figure was an illusion.
Albeit, no one noticed the little yet dense wisp of mana that escaped from Chu Tianyu's palm!
Thud!
Thud!
One by one, all started to kneel, with hollow eyes.
Their minds couldn't withstand the shock. They felt betrayed by the person they unanimously crowned as their savior...
Shush!
Shush!
But, the students witnessed a weird scene, The abyssal creatures were retreating! They were running away as if afraid of something!
The Monsters instincts were tingling! It was reminded them about their certain death!
Under the fearful gazes of the crowd, the hunters were being hunted!
"Woo... "
Boom!
When they were only a step away from the exit, a huge magic circle with a radius of 10 km covered them.
Sha!
Sha!
Be it big or small, all monsters turned into fine ashes. They all disappeared from the face of Orion. Their ashes were carried away by the wind to some unknown place...
"Hmm."
"T-They... D-Disappeared..."
"Are we saved..."
"We are alive! Wooo!"
...
The surviving teenagers hugged each other. They couldn't believe that they all survived!
They cried for a time unknown, forgetting the person they all revered as a hero.
Until... one of them finally came out from their euphoria and reminded his fellow students...
"Sniff... Where is the hero?"
"Sniff... Yeah, where is he?"
...
They all searched for the hero whom they thought to be their savior.
The cause of the monsters' annihilation!
Alas, even after searching for a long time, they were unable to find their savior.
***
Inside the top floor of the Third Majestic Tower of Origin, also known as the Magic Tower, lies the very hero whom everyone seeks.
An old man with white hair and deep blue eyes, clad in a dark blue magician robe woven with the costliest threads, is currently examining Chu Tianyu, who lies on a luxurious white bed with no obvious signs of injury.
The old man, with a flawless face devoid of wrinkles, is one of the only Saint-Ranked Mages of Humanity—Merlin.
"Hmm, he seems pretty lucky," Merlin muses.
Merlin was present at the Academy when the monsters invaded the campus. Although he could have wiped out the monsters with a flick of his finger, he chose to let them be, only to test the limits of a hero. And this hero proved capable enough to pique his interest.
The previous magic circle which massacred the was indeed originated from his body, sadly, it had sucked each and every drop of mana present inside, leaving with nothing but an empty husk.
And yet, he miraculously survived the taboo state of mana depletion for any high-humans, whick spoke volumes about his future aspects...
Merlin wants to see just how much this so-called hero will grow.
As for the puny games of the mortals or celestials?
Merlin never cared about them.
He would never do...
***
<Status >
Name: Merlin
Hair: Ashen-White
Eyes: Deep Blue
Age: 590
Level: 100 (1000 to Advance Class)
Title: Pioneer of Truth
Position: Elder of Magic Guild
Class: Cluster Mage
Family: Except for a granddaughter, all deceased
Personality: Neutral, Protective Gramps
Talent: Focus (S-Rank)
Past Life: Merlin, hailed as the only Saint-ranked Mage of Humanity, was once a human devoid of any emotions. His only desire was to decipher the mysteries of Mana. He even reached the Saint Realm in just 100 years of life. After achieving this dream, he was awarded with a huge amount of information and a long lifespan of 1000 years. Learning that the Saint realm was the real start of his research, he was very excited. Over the next three decades, he threw himself into its studies. He even joined the organization that mages of all races dream of, "The Mage Guild." With his qualifications, he became one of its four elders.
However, happy times remained short. On his 200th birthday, he discovered that his research could not progress further.
Merlin despaired. He came to Origin and built an academy for youths, hoping to find a breakthrough through them. Instead of a breakthrough in his research, he met a Sage-Ranked Mage named Mel (180 years old). He fell in love with her and successfully married her.
Unfortunately, she, as a Sage-ranked Mage, couldn't live more than 200 years. She left him on the 18th birthday of their son.
Merlin was devastated by Mel's death and lived in solitude for ten years, leaving his son to fend for themselves in Origin with enough wealth.
As if destiny was playing a joke on him, his child was a normal human.
He married a beautiful wife and died with her in a car accident, leaving behind a one-month-old daughter to fend for herself in the world.
Hence, when Merlin emerged from his room after ten years, he was greeted by the graves of his child and daughter-in-law buried near Mel's grave.
He was almost broken by these events, but a small cry attracted his attention.
His son, who had never hated him for leaving him (his own son), had sent his daughter to accompany him.
Even more so, his son was driving to his place... He wanted to show his daughter to Merlin, hoping that maybe... By any chance... Merlin would recover from his grief...
Alas! Destiny had other plans for him.
The daughter of his son, A son whose face he had forgotten, became the new pillar of his strength.
She became the sole reason that kept him going.
Merlin, the Grand Magus of Humanity, is the slave of his granddaughter's smile. Without her, He is just an empty husk...