Friends
I never understood this word. When I was a child in my real world, I had no friends. I was always alone, always fighting this world by myself.
But today, I stand with five other people by my side. Among them is a damn demon I want to kill, but not now—not until I learn what he's hiding and why he's here.
There are many things I don't know. Why does this institute employ demons? Yes, I know there was a long period of peace between humans and demons, with many educational and cultural exchanges, but all of that ended after the war. So, why does this institute still do this? And why didn't it participate in the war?
I'm drowning in a sea of confusion. And this guy named Zed, why does he have rare magic like Dark Magic? And how did he acquire the Shapeshifting specialty?
Friends—I do not understand the meaning of that word.
But I promised my father that I would get friends, that I would protect them and make them stronger. And that's what I'm going to do. If they become my friends for real, I will make them conquer this harsh world with me.
But where are we now?
I am standing in front of a relatively large city, and suddenly, a voice echoed:
The voice said this and then disappeared.
We all looked at each other, but Zed was the first to speak.
"There is no time for this calm. There must be a leader for this team, and we need to enter the city as quickly as possible to convince its inhabitants that there will be a major attack by Sky Spiders in 10 days, and we are here to help. We must do all this in one day. Now, I nominate myself to be the leader because I am skilled in strategic thinking."
He said this while looking at us. This man is truly smart; he quickly deduced what happened and what needs to happen.
But Khaled quickly responded.
he said angrily.
"I don't know if I'm weak or not, but I'm not a fool like you," Zed said calmly, looking at Khaled.
Khaled raised his dagger and began to attack Zed, and Zed launched his attack as well.
But Lina's voice suddenly interrupted.
she said, looking at me.
This girl has beautiful eyes and a calm, sad heart. I don't know why, but I felt like I knew her before when she looked at me.
After that, I saw her eyes turn to the ground again.
"I also agree with that," Shard said, looking at me and smiling.
But Khaled and Zed were about to strike each other.
So I whispered:
Shadow Steps.
I moved between them.
Energy Shield.
I raised this shield to level ten. Using it now, I can withstand many strikes and can expand it to the size of a three-story building.
Their attacks hit my shield, leaving no trace except a slight shockwave on the ground.
They are indeed strong; those strikes almost shattered my strong shield, but I didn't flinch or show any reaction.
Everyone was amazed; I just blocked two strikes from distinguished warriors and a magician, not just any, but geniuses.
Shard's face almost hit the ground.
"I am now the leader of this team by majority vote. I don't want any conflict among my team members. We don't have time for this nonsense. Your conflicts must end now," I said firmly, not sounding like a 15-year-old child.
I released my blue aura.
Shard looked at me in amazement and shock.
"When did you gain this much power?" he asked, still shocked.
"Since the beginning," I said, smiling at him.
"Really, I am happy for that, oh leader. I no longer need to worry about you. I will follow all your orders," he said, with a big smile on his face. He always showed fear and worry when he left me.
Lina's eyes indicated she agreed.
But Khaled and Zed were still looking at each other, not putting down their weapons yet.
A blow from the sky suddenly hit each of their heads, from Hind.
Zed looked at me, putting his hand on his head in pain.
"I didn't want to be the leader for any reason, but I thought I was the strongest and smartest here. But I didn't expect you to have all this power. So, I will listen to you and your orders as long as the majority chose you and we saw your strange power," he said sincerely.
"I know that," I said, looking the other way.
Then I saw Lina laughing loudly.
Everyone was amazed at Khaled's angry face and Lina's laughter.
"What do we do now? We need to hurry," Zed said, looking at me.
"Calm down. We will control this city tonight."