"Yuna's birthday is coming up, what should I buy her?" Aiden pondered as he waited for his team mates to arrive.
There were only so many things that would work out with his income. So he was being somewhat skeptical about it. When it came to her tastes, it was pretty obvious what she likes. But the cheap stuff that he can afford for her, will it even be to her liking?
Aiden sighed.
It would never be an easy path for Aiden. He always knew that.
He was at least successful in paying up for her to study at a proper school unlike himself, and was already piling up money to help her get into a proper university. But would just paying the tuition fees be enough?
One must note, that despite them being poor, Yuna's classmates weren't getting any poorer.
'A teenager like her can't help but compare herself to others.' Aiden had some definite basis for believing it. Her suspicious behavior being one of them.
But there was nothing that Aiden could do to help her with that.
Luxuries were only owned in their dreams and no matter how much he worked as a hunter... with his current rank he couldn't earn any higher than what he does. And there was no way that his rank was going to magically increase either.
Yuna was bound to feel inferior to others.. she was bound to feel out of place. He could probably push her to a school of elites thanks to her talent, but there was nothing that Aiden could do to get her out of those complexities.
'No wonder she always seems to be hiding something.'
Aiden wasn't completely clueless on the matter either. It had been happening for quite a while but it had escalated recently. And Aiden was aware of her unusual behavior though he never got to the root of its cause.
That look of her that seemed to be forcing a smile...
'It was as if she was hiding a lot of things and couldn't bring herself to discuss with me. Sigh. Perhaps she is worried that she would be burdening me with her troubles.'
What disgusted Aiden the most was the fact that she was absolutely right about it!
If Yuna really came upfront and began to be demanding stuff from Aiden, then Aiden would literally break himself from over work. As it is he was already pushing himself quite a lot.
"Perhaps I am a failure as a brother."
Aiden was always worried about her.
Was the reason why her sister wasting her time in weird stuff lately also because of this?
Aiden felt like a failure and couldn't keep his promise to his father.
"If only mother was here..." Aiden whispered as he looked above at the stars
SLAP
Aiden immediately slapped himself awake before he could complete his sentence.
He couldn't let himself drown in sorrow.
He was the pillar supporting their small family.
"Tch, this is why I don't like days when I have a nightmare."
Those nightmares make Aiden more conscious of his situation and failures. it makes him latch onto his past. A past that would never return back.
"Still crying over spilt milk?" An old and musky voice crept into his ears.
Aiden turned around to be greeted by Makayla Parkor. He looked particularly annoyed as if Aiden's troubles were already reaching him.
Makayla was a middle aged man. A D rank hunter in Aiden's party who had a stubby physique. And despite being almost the same height as Aiden he looked smaller from afar due to his slightly budging belly.
Aiden almost instinctively reached out to his cheeks to check if they are wet. Only when he confirmed that there were no tears was he able to calm down and breathe a sigh of relief.
"No, how could I? There is no point in crying over spilt milk. I can't break down. Not when I have responsibilities to keep." Aiden lied.
Aiden said the only line he knew that would cause the D rank adventurer to calm down. Although it would always be embarrassing to accept it, but Aiden used to cry a lot when he was a kid especially after his parents had passed away.
But over the years with the burden that was left on his small shoulders, he had toughened up his heart.
"Hmph" the hunter grunted as he folded his arms waiting for the other members of the team.
They were going to raid an E rank dungeon today and most of the other party members were E rank just like Aiden with Makayla being the only exception.
'Phew, guess he is convinced,' Aiden relieved a sigh of relief.
No one wanted to work with a cry baby.
Had it been Aiden in place of Makayla, he would have probably felt the same. If need be, he would have rather knocked some sense into such a brat with his fists even though he had himself been in such a place.
In fact, Aiden had been beaten up pretty bad because of it in his past. One might call them bullies but those punches were actually highly needed in Aiden's case to knock some sense into his bleeding soul.
And he himself had beat up some newbies for the same reason as well.
Everyone here had their own problems.
No one wants to risk their lives just because they 'want to'. It is the circumstances of their life that force them into such a threatening job. Certainly those working in the bottom of the society like this, couldn't possibly be the priviledged ones.
When someone in the group cries over their troubles, it only makes the others re- live their own 'nightmares'.
That is why Aiden always makes sure never to allow his emotions get the better of him... at least not at his workplace.
And Makayla also shares the same thoughts as him.
They both understand as official 'senpais' of the group, what is needed and what is not needed to keep the group stable and constantly moving.
Aiden for all he remembered had been working ever since the first generation of people started awakening to their 'powers'. And Makayla himself had been working for a long time to feed his children as well.
Every awakened person is identified with a 'special title' they receive. A single awakened can have multiple titles too. And under every title one receives multiple skills that fits the best with that title which they are endowed.
Depending on the ranking of the skills and an awakened's stats they receive a 'hunter rank'.
Aiden himself was an E rank, the second lowest to the lot only second to F rank.
E rank hunters who were lucky like himself, could only work in those small independent groups like the one Aiden was currently working in. No guild would normally accept them as they are mostly useless to them.
And while their group was not important enough to have a name yet. But its members were more or less constant now for quite a while without any causalities. They were the more 'careful' and 'experienced' hunters of the lot of E rank hunters.
And all of them had some sort of consensus that they got to show up when the others come together.
But those E rank hunters who were unlucky enough, had to look for scrapes at all times looking out for an opportunity for someone to hire them in their team. Without proper connections their life was a hell.
'I hope today we get a fine harvest'
The only reason why Aiden wasn't amongst the unlucky hunters was because he was one of the older and more experienced one here with more experience and connections than the others. But even so he was always careful not to do something rash.
This group itself wasn't something that was formed in a day either. Rather it was a lot of coincidences and bad lucks added with deaths piling onto one after another that brought his group to its current state.
At least unlike before, Aiden can now go back home with the assurance that he at least would have work to do the next day and won't have to waste time looking for hunters to dive into the dungeon along with him.
And it was not only him, other E rankers in the party felt the same.
Makayla being the only D ranker was indeed the true senpai of the group, unlike Aiden who was only figuratively called so because of having more experience with dungeons.
Little by little, the other E ranks of their group also began to join along. The fixed time was 9 A. M so no one was late, rather it was Aiden who was rather early.
"Oh, hello Mrs Parkor, it seems you are short on money again?"
Mrs Parkor was one unusual ones of their group, who only joined them occasionally on a hunt.
"Ha Ha, you know it is hard to feed so many kids. You would also come to know my troubles when you marry. When will I meet Mrs Dwain after all?" Parkor grunted with a sneer in her eyes.
Aiden couldn't help but blush. He was indeed a young man and at 'that' age but he wasn't priviledged enough for him to be interested in it.
He shook his head.
"No way, I have a sister to take care of. There is her tuition fees to pay and you know its so much work raising a teenage girl."
It turned out Yuna was the only one Aiden had the luxury to actually care about. For better or worse he was trying his best to keep his promise to his deceased father. Thus, he was keeping himself away from such thoughts.
"Wait you are paying your sibling's fees??"
"Our parents passed away early on, so its just my sister and I. So I dropped out and started working."
"Oh my. Such a young kid is going through so much!"
Aiden took out his phone.
"It's nothing much. Would you like to see this? This is my younger sister."
Aiden showed a picture with him and his sister together.
"Oh my, she is quite pretty. Tall too."
Aiden smiled.
"Of course, she is really cute. And she's also really kind and understanding. She had always excelled in her academics and there was nothing she hadn't been able to do since she was younger..."
Aiden nodded.
"I sometimes can't even believe how I got such a great younger sister. Really if Yuna hadn't been such a good kid then I would have probably not dropped out of college to earn money by doing all this hard work. But she deserves so much better, she is such a good kid with absolutely nothing wrong with him, and he grew as a great and polite woman. She had also never never lost his place as the top student when he takes exam and also never entered any of those so called 'rebellious phase.' I was always so worried when I began raising her that what would become of her later on. But she even listens to every word. I can definitely see the fruit of my hard work showing up here..."
"HOLD YOUR HORSES, AIDEN!!" Makayla screamed at the top of his voice shutting him quiet.
On the other hand Mrs Parkor was already in a total daze. Perhaps she had already lost what was being spoken to her half way through.
"Sorry, dear. He is always like this whenever he starts talking about his sister."
"I see..."
🤗🤓🤣😂😅
But are you actually a twin?