It was dark and cold, a soft step could be heard.

"Have you now learned the importance of fear?" a man's voice asked. It was old and stern but caring voice.

"Fear made us survive, so you must learn how to control your fear, as long as you have it, you are a human being, living and continuing to improve to live"

"The fear you are experiencing right now are the fear you need to remember and control, to survive"

"We know you can do this"

"You are our son, we are proud to have you" they could only coax from afar

"I fear pain and misery, I dont want this, how do I overcome this?" a broken voice said the tiredness is noticed in the tone

"That's right son, you can do it, you'll be able to defeat our demons" they cheered

"Then you must have the greatest potential of abilities to survive any situation, you are my son after all" a proud man's voice could be heard.

"Ken, we are blessed, we are strong and we have what the most powerful couldnt have and wished they have, which is death that even gods couldnt grant them" a woman's voice chimmed in.

"So when will this be over?" 

"Soon as you get to finish the training each member has to be done, youre free to go, you'll be free"

"Just always remember how to deal with death, and the power we got"

"You must NOT do the forbidden, or it'll be a tragedy"

"We are doing this for your survival, we hope you understand, as you have the blood of the demon slayer clan, you must survive, and you'll be granted happiness"

And their voices became hazy

"Ken!" 

"Wake up!"

"The port is near, we have to get ready to off the board"

Getting up, it was an odd feeling. Getting up from the bed is easy but his mind goes to wonder why he dreamt of the past.

'Why did I dreamt of my training days? Weird, is there still many lesson to learn?'

Boarding off the ship, a familiar long silver haired person is waving welcome to them.

"Alex!" Cale shouted as he ran to this long silver haired person like he hasnt seen him for a decade.

"That is Alex? Wow, a beautiful person!" Mel breathed out the words out just seeing an unnatural  beauty because he couldnt even compare anyone he have met to this person's beauty.

"Alex, we have a new friend, this is Mel, we met him in the exam" Cale introduced Mel to Alex.

"Hello Im Mel" Mel couldnt help but to be dumbstruck by Alex's beauty. He didnt knew he stuck out his hand to Alex

"And I am Alex" Alex shook Mel's hand that made Mel blushed. "She's really pretty" Mel whispered to Ken

"Thats normal to beings like that, theres nothing to be awed at" Ken deadpanned stared at two

As they became comfortable to each other Alex pulled them into a hug..

Ken looked at Cale who's head is like on a cloud nine. He's very happy to reunite with his favorite person.

Mel is enjoying the group hug

Meanwhile Ken is about to explode in embarrassment. Yeah, he is a cold person, and embarrassed of much skinship with the others even if his own family.

"I miss you so much Alex, why didnt you contacted me for the whole time?" Cale pouted

"Of course you have to grow up, you know, I'm never always by your side, and you have the most competent and trusted companion with you the whole time, and I know you will do well"

"..." Ken blushed more as Alex indirectly compliment him more.

"Hohoho" Alex giggled 

"Of course I will do, I do well more now" Cale happily reported

"Really, lets see how much youve grown" Alex coos on Cale

Then 3 loud growling stomachs are heard.

"Lets eat first, I bet you are all hungry, not even bothering to have breakfast huh?"

"Yes we havent eaten yet hehehe"

"Then lets got where I reserved us a seat" then Alex released them from the hug.

They came in a simple inn that Alex reserved. They eat while talking what happened in the exam and Alex brought out some things from her dimensional pocket

"This is my gift for you Cale, congrats to pass the exam" she said as she hand a ball crystal to Cale.

"Thank you!" Cale replied excitedly accepted the crystal ball

"This is for the promise Ken, you did a great job and congrats for passing the exam" she handed him a strange pouch and a strange book, then ruffled his hair

"Thank you... I just did what I promised" Ken answered and fixed his hair but blushed from getting a head pat other than his family. He is annoyed since he didnt felt bothered by her touch

"And for this newest friend member, here you go, congrats Mel, though we may have met for the first time now, it is a tradition for a senior to give a new passer a gift for passing the exam, so accept it proudly" she said and gave Mel a small box that looks weird but smelled good.

"Is this food, it smells good" Mel asked

"No, we are eating right now so food as a gift is out of question, just open it " she answered. "Also you two if you to open it now, so I could change the gift if you wont it"

"Not that I will not want it Im just excited to open your gift for me" Mel said and opened the box.

"Is this really a gift not an inheritance?" Ken asked as he felt the golds and the gems inside the pouch

"Thats a gift and the promise"

"Okay.." and Ken opened the book at the first glance he immediately closed it and stared at Alex in disbelief.

"Not your liking?"

"No! Not that!" Ken couldnt believe what he is holding right now. "This... Thank you". 'How could she know I badly need this?'

"Wow

"Um.. Alex, how could I open this?" Cale asked as he carefully put down the crystal ball he is holding, it isnt heavy and it is very pretty that he could not dare to cause a damage to a masterpiece. 

He might have  caught it from Violan to appreciate the beauty of arts and crafts.

"Just break it" Alex answered bluntly

"What?!" Cale reacted, he couldnt believe what he heard

"How could I break a crystal ball?" Cale asked. 'Its beautiful to be destroyed, how could I break this just to open the gift?'

"Dont worry about that its just a wrapper for a gift, I could give you crystal balls if you want"

"Just a wrapper its so pretty to be crushed, why did you have to make a wrapper so pretty, I wouldnt dare to destroy your pretty gift Alex, it will me sad" Cale pouted

"Just break it and whats inside is much more prettier I will give you pretty crystals if you want, here this will help" Alex said and gave Cale a mallet

Hearing his own heartbeat, Cale broke the crystal and a light escaped. The boys tried to shield themselves with whatever they could shield from the bright light. After the light calmed down a beautiful legendary looking knife appeared in front of Cale

"Wow!" the trio exclaimed seeing a legendary knife in front of them.

"What a beautiful knife"

"It isnt just a knife, it is an all around shape shifter weapon, just visualize the weapon while holding that and its good to use"

"Wow! Thank you Alex!" Cale thanked her and kissed her cheek, he appreciated it much because first it is from Alex and second it is a helpful gift.

It made Alex very happy and proud.

Meanwhile Mel opened his box and a pair of black combat gloves met his eyes. He tried it on and the gloves became like a custom made for him and he felt very refreshed and he felt very strong 

"Its unbreakable and strength and mood enhancer, you will be able to change its color depending on you and the  clothes so everything you wear will be fashionable with the gloves" Alex explained the use of the gloves

"Wow! Thank you Alex! This is a wonderful gift"

"You also have other accessories in there, check it out" Alex told them

"Do I have to wear it this way?" Cale asked as he put the unusual earrings on his hair that almost made Alex laugh

Alex corrected the way it is worn and it made Cale much more prettier, it doesnt need piercing and comfortable to wear and it is holding strong on even shaking his head.

Cale looked at a mirror and saw the earrings on his ear, it looks so beautiful and made him prettier.

Alex pointed at Ken's book and got his own earrings. Alex helped him put it on and made him more prettier.

And Mel found the earrings underneath the box and Alex helped him put it on.

The trio has matching earrings that made them prettier.

"And heres the catch these earrings has another function beside making you all prettier. It is a communication tool, you will be able to hear each other even far away from another, no mana or any spell needed just press this gem and you will be able to tell the others what you want to tell them"

"Wow amazing!"

"This is cool and it doesnt hurt to wear"

"And only you are able to hear what is being delivered in that earrings, and pressing the gem on the top will make the earrings invisible to others, putting the earrings on means the earrings recognized you as their owners, and also you will be able to pass it to others like heirloom"

Alex told them that they will be able to pass it like a heirloom because the earrings could only recognized new owners if the owner dies.

They understood it and thanked her once again for the gifts.

After eating, Cale put on a rune spell in case of some inconvenience that might happen.

His hair became brown and but the earrings stayed red.

"Thats because the earring didnt read the change, so be careful on that"

"Okay red earrings are much appreciated anyway" Cale said. "By the way Alex, are you not becoming invisible?"

"I will be out of the continent again for some reason, and will gone after dropping you on your house, dont worry I will visit every week wherever you are"

"Then you knew we will be on adventure after this?"

"Almost all new passers go on adventure, and you got everything resolved on going on adventure with your friends right? Just be safe out there and call me whenever you can to update me your well being or I will be surprising you a visit" she said and ruffled Cale's hair

"Then we are confident to go, since you will be there to support us" confirming that Alex will support them most of their worries are solved. He smiled "Thank you".

"Of course, I may not know the reasons you got to be on adventure but I will always on your side, just do your best and enjoy, and by the way, you have to write all of your adventures on a diary or do it like some report so you could past it to the hunter headquarters so you could raise your ranks, your mother's diary could be the example"

"Then after raising our ranks we could travel more luxurious right?"

"Yes, and be careful since you are newbies, dont tell anyone your rank since it is rude to ask and dangerous to answer, remember your card will be updated each time you pass a report, and even the lowest ranking card is valuable, so some creeps are lurking around trying to steal your cards and worst do anything harmful to you, so be careful"

 "Then what about if I lost my card misplaced it in my house or something?" Ken asked

"Didnt the celestials told you? You could only have one card, if you ever lost it then you dont have the right as a hunter since you will also lose your life"

"Then why do I have your card?" Cale asked

"I said lost, I just lent it to you, and I dont think I would even die in that way hahahaha. Remember that, a hunter's achievement is on their card" she answered

"Then its alright to have your card  right?"

"Hmmm, if you want that, then you could still have it, I dont even have the need of it but I might take it back it for sometime"

"I will hold on this to give it back to you then" Cale promised. 'I will stay alive' his indirect message.

"Good good!" she said.

They walked around to buy somethings and then Alex bid her goodbye when they past the Tolz territory.

It was a very short time since they reunited but it is Alex's time to go and they have separate adventures.

Ken looked after Cale, watching him if he will cry after the parting but Cale didnt and just smiled and enjoyed their travels.

They have fun travelling on foot for they are also training their power as well and pranked each other using their abilities and their newly acquired weapons.

While travelling Ken have other things on his mind, that bothered Mel as he is the first to feel it.

He confronts Ken after theyve gone into the woods to harvest herbs for Cale to use into their dinner.

"Is something bothering you Ken? Can you talk it out?" Mel asked as he continued to dig up the soil.

"So you noticed"

"I have since you opened that book" Mel replied

".... It wasnt any important to the two of you.." then he was cut off because Mel pinned him down.

Ken is so shocked that Mel pinned him down.

"We are friends and your worries must be shared to us, we are friends and that must be it, if not, then how is friendship is supposed to work? Cale and I will be hurt because of your selfishness to exclude us in your problem that will eat you away and might be the reason for you to be hurt, we will also be hurt, so dont be selfish and tell us what is there for you to be bothered? I hope Cale will not notice it before you tell us" he said annoyed and gets up. "You are important to us Ken you arent an anybody" and he walked away while pouting.

Ken is left there, processing what happened, thinking if he did the right choice, to make his two friends left in the dark. After half of an hour he stand up and dusted his clothes.

"Should I tell them? It might work out if I tell them then" he said and he smiled recalling what Mel to him last.

"You two are also important" he murmured and walked to where their camp is.

Ken came back to the camp like nothing happened and chatted and laugh with them, but Mel's acting made it more suspicious. Ken really liked and hated Mel's acting skills, it was shit but it made clear that Mel is a trusted friend but a bad accomplice. It made Ken to talk out his burden out earlier than he planned. 

'What could be wrong?' he thought

"Ahem!" he started

"I think Ken has something to say to us, hehehe" Mel said as he scratch his nape smiling silly to avoid questions

"Then what would it be?" Cale asked catching on to what Mel intended.

"This book..." he said and opened it on a page where he is bothered the most.

The two looked at the book, it was the book Alex gave him.

"Whats wrong in that book?" Cale asked ready to take out a scroll to message Alex something

"It was a good book so that I want to have whats written inside"

"May we take a look?"

"Yes you can"

They couldnt help but ask since they dont know anything beside that the page is only showing about a certain flower that is unknown to them.

"This flower is my goal in this adventure, it will help my family alot" he said and turned the page. "This is what I will make, it is needed but not immediately"

The two boys didnt go any deeper since they knew how secretive Ken's family is, and what danger it will be if it is spilled, it may be like that but they support Ken and they would gladly help him

"Then its good, since you have another goal to have this adventure, but is this really existing? I never saw anything like this even in the wild nothing looked like this" 

"Because it will never grow up in this kind of land, there are other land than the east and west continent and I plan to wander in it with you if you are still wanting to have an adventure"

"Count us in then,  after we visit Mel's home" Cale said

'Im so excited to bring them home, my aunt will be happy to meet them' Mel happily thought as he put his arms on the shoulders of his friends.

"Then after we visit my home, we will find this kind of flower, and we could also find my father while wandering around" Mel happily said

"And  I want to find some clues about my mother's family, I want  to know something"  Cale added

"Our adventure will be fun"

They continued their travel and they reached the Rain city