Seven years had passed quickly at Elina's orphanage.
Alice, now approaching adulthood, had developed into a remarkable healer who could be relied upon thanks to direct guidance from Elina. Her long blue hair was now neatly tied, and her eyes that were once filled with fear now radiated calmness and confidence.
One bright morning, Alice helped Selena and Varesa cook breakfast in the orphanage kitchen. Varesa, who was now skilled at cooking, was demonstrating her abilities with trained movements.
"You're really just like Miss Novy, Varesa," Alice praised while admiring her friend's skills.
Varesa smiled shyly while stirring the soup. "Eh, that can't be true."
Selena, who had now grown into a girl who liked to tease, poked Varesa's cheek mischievously. "Is that really so?"
Varesa's face immediately reddened, she pouted while shaking her head. "Selena!"
"All done! Let's bring it to the table," Varesa exclaimed, trying to divert attention from her still-reddening face.
They brought the dishes to the dining room and had breakfast together with other friends in a warm atmosphere as usual.
---
Some time later, Alice saw Ensei and Andre preparing to go out carrying bags and equipment. She was very curious because for months they had often left without giving clear explanations.
Alice approached them with suspicious steps.
"Ensei, Andre... I'm curious, where are you really going? And I don't think this is just ordinary sword practice, because sometimes you come home with severe injuries."
Ensei was silent for a moment, then answered honestly. "Actually we go to the forest or ancient ruins to look for medicinal plants or valuable items that can be sold later. We give the money from sales to help with the orphanage expenses."
Alice was shocked hearing that answer. "Aren't there often terrible monsters in the ruins?"
"Yes, but we're used to dealing with that," Ensei answered calmly. "Nothing's too dangerous if we know when to retreat. So there's nothing to worry about."
Alice looked at them with narrowed eyes. "You mean you're used to getting hurt?"
Andre, who was impatient with Alice's questions, said in a rather harsh tone, "What do you want, Alice?"
Alice raised her chin with firm determination. "This time let me come with you to look for medicinal plants or whatever they are."
Ensei looked at her in surprise. "Are you serious?"
"I've received direct guidance from Miss Elina for seven years. Yes, I'm serious."
Andre looked at Alice for quite a while, assessing the girl's seriousness. "You can come, but don't push yourself. If I say retreat, you must retreat."
Alice nodded firmly. "Alright."
---
The three of them left the orphanage heading to a small village not too far away. Alice walked between Ensei and Andre while observing the surrounding scenery.
"Why are we going this way? Is there a specific purpose or is there a hidden forest if we go this way?" Alice asked curiously.
"Actually there's one more person who usually goes with us," Ensei explained. "He lives in this village with his mother. He sometimes needs medicinal plants to sell or use himself to treat himself or his mother."
They arrived at a simple house on the village outskirts. In front of the house, a young red-haired man with a sword hanging at his waist was already waiting for them.
"You guys took so long!" the man exclaimed while pointing at Alice. "And who's this?"
"This is Alice," Ensei introduced. "She's a healer and lives in the same orphanage as Andre and me."
Andre immediately responded with a cynical tone, "What do you mean took so long? You just finished preparing that sword." He pointed to the sword hanging at the man's waist.
"Huh?" the man, whose name was Rudes, replied. "At least I prepared it before you came!"
"Oh yeah? This is even your first time being ready on time!" Andre retorted mockingly.
"What do you mean? Are you always on time too, Mr. Discipline?" Rudes replied in an equally cynical tone.
Alice watched the argument with worried feelings. Ensei, who was used to situations like this, patted Alice's shoulder to calm her.
"Don't think about them," Ensei whispered. "This is as usual as daily meals. They rarely get along."
Alice nodded, slightly relieved knowing this wasn't a serious argument. "Oh, alright then."
"Do you want to keep arguing or leave?" Ensei interrupted in a bored tone.
Andre and Rudes immediately fell silent, like children being scolded.
"Let's go!" Andre exclaimed, trying to divert attention from the small argument earlier.
---
From that day on, the four of them often adventured together. Alice began getting used to the dynamics of their group and learned a lot about survival in the wild.
In an unexpected incident, they were surrounded by a horde of bloodthirsty monsters inside a ruin cave. The situation quickly became critical.
Ensei, who was too tired after fending off monster attacks with his bow and dagger, was gasping. "My arrows are almost gone!"
Andre also looked exhausted after continuously releasing his fire power to burn the monsters that kept coming. "There are too many of them!"
At the same time, a large monster lunged at Alice. Andre with quick reflexes blocked the monster, releasing a fire explosion that burned it to ashes.
"We need to get out of here now!" Andre shouted while pulling Alice away.
"But there are too many of them!" Ensei wiped sweat from his forehead. "We need to find a way to break through this siege!"
Rudes saw his friends struggling. His eyes swept the situation quickly, counting the number of monsters still remaining. With firm determination, he decided to use his last strength.
"I'll open a path for us!" Rudes shouted.
Suddenly, the aura around Rudes changed drastically. He activated his **Divine Mark**—both hands glowed with bluish-white flames, his eyes turned glowing red as if wanting to pounce on everything, and extraordinary power radiated from his entire body.
With fierce and brutal movements, Rudes finished off dozens of monsters in minutes. His attacks knew no mercy, each swing of his sword created fire explosions that incinerated enemies.
In a short time, the exit was open. They managed to get out of that place safely, but Rudes immediately collapsed from extreme exhaustion after his Divine Mark disappeared.
Alice, still shocked by the terrifying power she had just witnessed, immediately knelt beside Rudes and began healing his wounds with gently glowing water power.
Then Andre helped Rudes walk toward his house.
---
After arriving at Rudes's house, Alice continued the healing process until all their wounds healed. Andre sighed in relief.
"Thank you, Alice. We didn't expect the situation would become that bad. Being attacked by so many monsters at once."
Rudes's mother, a gentle middle-aged woman, came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of warm food. Her face showed deep concern.
"I told you not to go too deep when looking for plants in the forest," she scolded with a worried but affectionate tone.
"Yes, sorry Mom," Rudes answered regretfully.
"Please eat the food," Rudes's mother said while placing the dishes on the table.
"Thank you, Ma'am," they said together respectfully.
While enjoying the food, Alice couldn't contain her curiosity. "Rudes, I'm still curious about that power earlier. What is it really and why do you have it?"
Rudes put down his spoon, his eyes becoming serious. "Divine Mark. A powerful force that brings out the user's highest potential, but it also drains a lot of stamina in a short time, depending on the owner's ability." He raised his hand, showing a strange pattern faintly visible on his wrist. "I didn't have this power from birth."
Rudes's eyes became melancholy, as if remembering painful memories.
"My father..." he began with a slightly trembling voice. "When I was little, I went with him to the desert area to hunt desert deer. The meat was for eating, and certain parts could be sold as traditional medicine."
Alice, Ensei, and Andre listened attentively.
"When everything was going smoothly, suddenly a group of giant scorpions emerged from the sand. Father was overwhelmed facing them, and I couldn't do anything because my leg was sprained when I fell." Rudes's voice grew softer. "And Father... couldn't leave me."
"The scorpions kept multiplying. I was very scared, but Father said calmly, 'Don't be afraid, Rudes. We'll be fine.'"
Rudes clenched his fist, eyes tearing up remembering that moment.
"Then an extraordinary power surged in Father's body. Fire blazed all over his body, far greater than the Divine Mark you just saw. He finished off all those scorpions with all his strength."
Rudes fell silent for a moment, swallowing to calm himself.
"But after that, Father was very badly injured. His body was full of burn wounds and severely poisoned by scorpion stings. I cried seeing his condition."
"Despite that condition, Father said, 'I'll take you home, Rudes. Don't worry.' With such severe wounds, he still forced himself to carry me home."
Tears began flowing down Rudes's cheeks.
"When we reached the village entrance, Father collapsed. And his last words were, 'Rudes, be a good child and obey your mother, okay.'"
"Father... father!!" Rudes cried hard then, hugging his father's lifeless body.
"When I hugged Father while crying, suddenly I felt a strange flow of power flowing into my body. Some villagers heard my crying and came to help."
"The next day, Father was buried. Mother hugged me and I cried together. That's when I realized there was a strange pattern on my hand." Rudes raised his hand, showing the faint trace of the Divine Mark. "At Father's grave, I promised... I will always take care of Mother, and everything Father left behind—this power, this responsibility... I will hold and protect them."
The dining room became quiet. Alice, Ensei, and Andre were moved hearing that heartbreaking story.
"After I studied from various sources," Rudes continued, "Divine Mark is an ancient power found in certain people. My father, some legendary heroes, and maybe there are still others out there who have this. But this mark is indeed very rare, and many people don't even know what this really is."
Alice looked at Rudes with sympathetic eyes. "We're sorry for the loss of your father, Rudes."
Ensei and Andre nodded respectfully.
"Don't think too much about it," Rudes said, trying to smile though his eyes were still tearful. "What's important now is protecting the people I can still protect."
They spent that afternoon in warm togetherness. When the day began to darken, Alice, Ensei, and Andre said goodbye to Rudes's mother to return to the orphanage, with hearts that better understood their friend and a bond of friendship that grew stronger.
TO BE CONTINUED...