Life didn't get easier, even in another world.

It hadn’t been long since he had been using his power, so there were a lot of things he still didn’t know about it.

For example, he knew nothing about those crack-like things that appeared every time he used his power.

At first, he was really confused. Until then, he had only thought of the cracks as some signs to show that monsters would appear soon or something strange would happen. He had seen those cracks once while he was thrown into this world and once when there was a monster breakout in the capital.

Back then, he assumed that those cracks were related to whatever had made him come to this world and also to the monsters.

But then, his power also had those cracks with it. The cracks he could create with his power didn’t look the same as the cracks he had seen before.

Kairen’s cracks were more beautiful!

Almost everyone that saw those cracks for the first time said that. They all agreed that his power was stunning.

The second thing he didn’t know was the usage of those things.

.....

Why would some cracks appear in the air when he used his power? Were they also created by his power, or were the cracks his power themselves?

After training with his power for a while and using it little by little, he could understand a little bit about the cracks.

One thing was that they were like a secondary part of his power. Somethings that accompanied that strong energy everywhere. The more he used his power, the more cracks would appear around him. So he assumed that the cracks were the result of that power being used.

The second thing was how he could use them. After trying for a while, he found out that the cracks had no offensive power, or if they had, Kairen wasn’t able to use it.

When he was wondering if the cracks were just for show and were there only to make his power look more sparkly and something like that, he accidentally found that he could use them for defense, just like a shield.

A sparkly and shiny creepy shield.

And a really strong sparkly and shiny creepy shield that could block almost every attack.

No, he didn’t want to use it if possible. His magic shields were good enough he didn’t want to go around being wrapped in some freaking sparkly cracks.

But, what could he do?

In a situation like this, were there any other choices?

A fucking bomb was about to explode and there was nothing they could do. Their powers were useless against that thing and most of them, if not all of them, would die if the bomb exploded.

Couldn’t they just teleport?

That thought crossed Kairen’s mind for a moment, and the answer was ‘no’. There wasn’t enough time to teleport and run away. And also, only a small group of them would be able to teleport at a time and the rest would have to face the bomb nonetheless.

So Kairen released his power. His power and the cracks that appear with it. The more power he used, the more cracks would appear. So Kairen used as much power as he could. Almost all of the power he could draw from his soul.

ONNNGGGG

The bomb was still vibrating. The power inside it seemed to be out of control.

SHHHH

At the same time, some dust rose into the air. The dust was moving towards where Kairen and Kain were standing. Kairen knew it wasn’t the dust actually, as he could see the soil dude run towards them after throwing the bomb high into the air. He was sure that the dust was also created by that man.

BAAAAAAAAANGGGGGG

With the loud sound of something exploding, everything went white.

“Argh.”

Kairen lowered his head.

The inside of his head was rambling.

“Huff.”

He thought he would experience some pain due to him using all of his power, or he would at least feel weak and maybe cough up blood, but none of them happened.

Instead, a splitting headache made him lose strength in his body and lean limply on Kain.

“Ah!”

“Kairen?”

-Kai...ren? Kairen? Is that your name?

A voice echoed in his mind.

The picture of a young boy sitting on a chair beside him, who was on the bed, flashed before his eyes.

-He is my brother! Do you have any problems with it?

-Um... Well... You won’t laugh at me if I say that... My mom... Had invited you to our house... Will you?

-The fact that you are my teammate in this assignment doesn’t mean you can stick to my side all the time! So fuck off!

Different voices kept echoing in his mind. Alongside them, some pictures of different places and people flashed before his eyes. The voices and the pictures were making him dizzy. He felt as if his mind would really burn at any time.

‘This shit again-‘

Kairen placed his head on Kain’s arm that was holding his limp body.

He had experienced this before, hadn’t he? The last time he used his power he saw some strange memories about the previous Kairen.

“Huff.”

The weather had turned hot after the explosion. It was too hot to breathe. Kairen’s brain was also hot. It was burning.

He could feel the powerful energy collied with the cracks he had created. Some of his cracks were disappearing as the energy hit them, but they kept regenerating again and again. The more they regenerated, the more weakened Kairen got.

Still, the huge amount of strength leaving his body didn’t bother him as much as the headache he had.

Tap

It was when he was wondering if he just had to close his eyes and try to faint somehow that he saw a figure approach him and Kain. He didn’t need to think much to know who that person was.

“I don’t know-”

The soil dude grabbed Kain’s arm.

“I still don’t completely know how to read and write your language-”

His voice shook a little bit as he talked. He glanced at Kairen’s face and paused for a moment before moving his other hand towards Kain. He was holding something in his hand.

“So you might have difficulty reading my handwriting.”

He showed a piece of paper to Kain’s palm.

Shhhhhhh

The dust was covering them completely and there was still the fuss about the explosion.

“Ah? Huh?”

Kain looked at the paper and the man with a puzzled face. An enemy had suddenly showed him a piece of paper while saying something about not knowing the language properly while he was holding his little brother who, for some reason, seemed to be about to pass out.

“The locations.”

The man muttered as he stared at Kairen’s pale face.

“Ah!”

Kain’s eyes opened wide. He grabbed the paper and glanced at the man with widened eyes.

Tap

The man took one step back. He was still staring at Kairen as he walked back while still clenching the white stone on his cloak.

“Wait! When will the bombs go off-”

Kain moved to ask him that, but by the time he did that, the man had already disappeared into the soil and dust.

“Wait!”

He wanted to go inside the dust and chase after the man, but he stopped himself after looking down at Kairen once again.

“Argh!”

Kairen’s body curled up.

Drip

Drip

Blood was dripping down from his nose.

‘It hurts.’

Kairen wished he could just cut off his head and throw it aside. That way, he wouldn’t experience this pain anymore.

“Huff.”

.....

He closed his eyes. No, his eyes closed on their own.

“Kairen!”

Kain shook his body.

“Hey!”

By now, the dust had settled down and the others were starting to realize the situation they were in. After a few seconds of confusion, they all turned towards where the two of them were standing.

The others were injured. So were Kairen and Kain.

The two of them were closer to the bomb so their injuries were more severe. Kain, who had been shielding Kairen the whole time had his back completely burnt. As the one who was being protected by Kain, Kairen had only some minor injuries, but he seemed to be in a worse situation than anybody else.

As he closed his eyes, all the strength left his body and he fell limply on Kain.

“Kairen...”

Kain grabbed the limp body.

“Hey, Kairen!”

Kain sat down on the ground while still holding Kairen.

“Can you hear me? Hey!”

Slap Slap

He slapped his face.

SHHHHH

SHHHHH

The sparkling golden-silver cracks in the air started to turn to dust. The whole shield that had just saved the lives of everyone here slowly turned to dust. A silver powder scattered into the air and fell to the ground, covering the area in a silver color that didn’t suit the black burnt marks on the ground at all.

Kain raised his head and looked around. He looked for the soil dude who had just given him the locations of the capital’s bombs.

But no matter how much he searched, the man was not there.

He had already left.