The Awakening of Inverse Attributes: An Old Adventurer and Young Heroes - The Twilight of an Old Soldier—A Resignation Letter and Faint Darkness

The morning sun painted Blaze's cobblestones red. Firen Cazaal stood at the entrance of the Iron Ring Alliance's branch office and took a deep breath. Thirty-eight years of life, twenty of them spent as an adventurer. He unconsciously traced the old scar on the back of his left hand—a relic from the age of the Attribute Great War. "All right..." He pushed open the door. The familiar air tickled his nose. The scent of weapon oil, the faint shimmer of magic stones, the fervor of young adventurers. Once, he had spent every day immersed in this very atmosphere. Not anymore. Firen stopped before the bulletin board where morning light streamed in. Request tickets were arranged in neat rows. Iron-rank, Copper-rank, Silver-rank... Even he, who once held a high position among Silver-rank adventurers, now found many requests beyond his reach. He read the ticket before him. "Monster Subjugation in Ash-Green Forest—Silver-rank Upper Tier." Once, he would have finished it in three days. Now? —His judgment had slowed. His body felt heavy. Even after receiving healing magic from the Holy attribute, fatigue lingered into the next day. A murmur escaped his lips. "...Is this the limit?" Rolling up the sleeves of his white shirt, Firen proceeded deeper inside. The office of Blaze's branch director, Gordel Bahn, was on the second floor. He climbed the stairs. Only his own footsteps echoed. He knocked on the door. "Come in." A voice responded. Dull, yet powerful. Gordel Bahn. Once a Gold-rank adventurer. One-armed—his left arm was missing. During the age of the Attribute Great War, he had charged through the battlefield just as Firen had. Firen opened the door. Gordel sat behind the desk. Gray hair, broad shoulders, and an empty left sleeve. When Firen looked up at his face, one sharp eye fixed upon him. The other eye was obscured by an old scar. "What do you want?" Gordel Bahn asked. Firen placed a single sheet of paper on the desk. Carefully folded. Something he had rewritten many times over several days. "A retirement notice." In the Iron Ring Alliance, an adventurer's formal withdrawal from the registry required the branch director's approval. A retirement notice—an official document requesting removal from the Iron Ring Alliance's registry—only became valid once the branch director accepted it. In other words, Firen's retirement would not be finalized unless Gordel nodded in agreement. Silence. Gordel didn't even glance at the document. He simply stared at Firen's face. "Rejected." Gordel Bahn said. "Why?" Firen asked. "Your handwriting is terrible." Gordel Bahn replied. Firen sighed. "...Understood. I'll rewrite it." He opened the door. When he returned to the first floor, Firen held his head in his hands. His relationship with Gordel was long. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. Perhaps it was how things should be. Even as he thought this, a faint sense of urgency gnawed at his chest. He went out into the town. He headed south through Blaze's streets. Walking along the cobblestone path. Shops lined both sides, and peddlers called out their wares. It was the morning market. The aroma of freshly baked bread drifted through the air. Firen stopped and closed his eyes for a moment. —It was twenty years ago. The campfire. Red, fierce, merciless. Enemy fire attribute magic. Screams and the roar of flames surrounded him. His squad members fell one after another. Klaus. Maria. Tohr. All engulfed in flames... "Please, stand up..." An unfamiliar voice. An old woman selling bread was holding Firen's hand. "Are you all right? You look pale." the old woman said. "...I'm fine. Thank you." Firen withdrew his hand. The flames of memory faded. Now he was here. In peaceful Blaze's morning market. He continued walking slowly. As he headed toward the South District, the crowds thinned. This was the outskirts of Blaze. A place where many adventurer requests were issued. The time was approaching evening. Street lamps began to light. Here too, light from elemental conduction stones dimly illuminated the surroundings. The latest technology of the Zeelicht Kingdom. Something unimaginable during the age of the Attribute Great War. As Firen was about to enter an alley in the South District, he stopped. "...What is this?" Silence. Too quiet, even for this place. No one was around. Had the residents evacuated? No, that wasn't it. There was no life here. And... A black shadow flickered from deep within the alley. "Black-wing moths..." Firen murmured. Dark attribute monsters. Moths with black wings exceeding three meters in body length. Their scales were darkness itself. Inhaling those scales would steal one's vision. They were weak to Holy attribute light. But their numbers were abnormal. In the depths of the alley, black wings swarmed. More than ten of them. A density that shouldn't exist. An attribute divergence—a phenomenon where monsters of a specific attribute abnormally accumulated in one location and proliferated explosively. A conversation with Gordel from before came to mind. Recently, this attribute divergence had been occurring frequently in various places. Monsters gathered in swarms, ignoring their normal habitats. It might eventually reach Blaze too, he had said. That "eventually" was today. Then it happened. In the distance, white light flickered. Holy attribute. Holy light. Beyond the swarm of black-wing moths, deep in the alley, someone was wielding Holy attribute magic. Someone was resisting the dark attribute monsters with Holy light—likely a Holy maiden or a Holy attribute user. But judging from the strength of the light, it was clear they were facing more than ten black-wing moths alone. The light wavered. They were on the defensive. Firen's experience told him so. The opponent was exhausted. The weakening of the Holy light to this degree was proof that the user's magical power was running dry. Even a skilled Holy attribute user couldn't last long against this many black-wing moths alone. "This is bad." Firen's hand moved to the Gevalt at his waist. An attribute-less ancient sword. His companion for twenty years. Together, they had overcome many desperate situations. The light dimmed further. In that instant— A faint glow seeped across the back of Firen's right hand. "!?" Firen stopped. He stared at his own right hand. On its back, a thin dark-colored light was rising to the surface. A shape that was neither blade nor light, but something ambiguous. Yet it was undeniably there. "What is this...?" Twenty years. Twenty years living as an adventurer. The elemental measurement facility in his hometown had determined he was attribute-less. He belonged to no attribute. That's why he couldn't imbue his sword with attributes and had fought with pure cutting power. That was who he was. Yet... A faint warmth lingering in his palm. A definite sensation. "...It can't be." The distant Holy light finally vanished. "Damn...!" Firen stopped thinking. He gripped Gevalt in his right hand and ran. Into the alley of the South District. A familiar sensation returned to his body. The air of the battlefield. The scent of death. Yet his body moved of its own accord. Thirty-eight years of life, twenty years of combat experience—they drove his legs forward, bypassing thought. The swarm of black-wing moths came into view. Beyond them, deep in the alley, white light was about to release its final radiance. "Make it in time..." Firen drew Gevalt. The blade reflected moonlight. And— The sword turned dark. A brief moment. Just an instant. But unmistakably, Gevalt's blade changed to a deep shade of darkness. That light radiated with a contradictory brilliance, enveloping the Holy attribute's glow. "This power...is mine...?" A question. But there was no time for answers. Firen Cazaal, wielding this strange power, plunged into the alley. Toward the swarm of black-wing moths. Toward an unseen enemy. And toward the source of that Holy light. The force coursing through his body shattered the retiring thoughts of an aging adventurer, right here and now. What had happened? Why did such power manifest in his hand? And who was the source of that light? Leaving these questions unanswered, Firen Cazaal disappeared into the battlefield.

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Episode 1

Name: The Awakening of Inverse Attributes: An Old Adventurer and Young Heroes
Author: Novelia

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