Chapter 12: Orion Past

Chapter Twelve

Cryosis. It was a sickness caused by Iris’s early awakening. In order to stay alive, she had to constantly fight against the power within her, suppressing its growth before it could reach a level her body could no longer withstand.

After all, if Iris ever failed to suppress her power and it grew beyond the threshold her body could contain, the consequences would be terrifying.

Her body temperature would rapidly plummet, her blood would begin to freeze, and her organs and tissues would gradually be frozen from within, turning the very power that should have been her strength into a deadly curse.

And the constant suppression itself placed an immense strain on Iris’s fragile body, causing her severe pain, overwhelming weakness, and gradual physical deterioration.

In simple words... she was suffering deeply.

Orion continued staring at her sleeping face. His hand slowly clenched into a fist at his side.

He wanted to find a cure for her, and there was a way. But getting Iris treated would require an enormous amount of points.

Even obtaining a pass card to enter a Two-Star City, where doctors capable of treating her lived, would cost several thousand points.

And that wasn’t even the money required for her actual treatment, which would cost several hundred thousand points.

That amount of money was simply beyond Orion’s current reach. He had no idea how long it would take him to gather that much, but one thing was certain... he would not give up.

"Orion..." Mrs. Anna, the middle-aged woman whom everyone in the orphanage called Mom, spoke quietly.

Her gaze remained locked on Iris’s sleeping face. She paused for a moment. Her gaze trembled, not because she was afraid for herself... but because she was terrified of losing Iris.

"Orion... I’m scared of losing her." Her voice was barely a whisper. "She has suffered too much. She needs peace."

Anna slowly looked up. The moment Orion saw the tears gathered at the edges of her eyes, his chest ached.

He immediately walked over and tried to console her.

"She’s in so much pain..." Anna whispered, her voice trembling. "Every day, I have to watch her suffer like this, and I’m totally unable to do anything to stop it."

Her hands trembled as she lowered her head. "I don’t know what to do..." A tear finally slipped down her cheek.

"I’m scared I’ll lose another one." Her voice broke. "I’m scared I’ll lose another member of my family."

More tears gathered in her eyes. "I’m scared..."

The tears began falling freely, but they never reached the ground. Orion quickly pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped them away.

He looked at Anna and flashed her a reassuring smile.

"No, Mom." His expression was calm. His voice was firm and reassuring. "Your fear will not come to pass."

Anna looked at him silently.

"I won’t allow it to happen." Orion’s gaze shifted toward Iris. "I will save Iris. I promise."

He looked back at Anna. "So please..." His voice softened. "Please put your trust in me."

Anna remained silent for a while, then she slowly nodded. After a moment, her gaze suddenly fell upon Orion’s hand.

A small wound was visible on it. Her brows immediately furrowed.

"I told you to be careful. Now you’re wounded again."

"Mom, it’s nothing," Orion tried to stop her.

But Anna was absolutely not going to give in. Without giving him any chance to argue, she immediately stood up and went to get some medicine.

Orion could only sigh helplessly. Without any other choice, he allowed her to apply ointment to the wound before carefully dressing it.

"Please be careful, Orion," Anna said softly as she finished wrapping the wound. "Don’t make us worry."

Orion nodded. "I’m careful. Always."

The two continued chatting for a while. Though, most of the conversation consisted of Anna asking whether he was alright, whether he had been injured anywhere else, and urging him to stop if things ever became too difficult.

If things became too much for him to handle... he should stop. His peace and safety were their wishes, after all.

And, as always, Orion continued reassuring her that he was fine. There was no need for her to worry.

Eventually, Orion sat beside Iris once more. He silently watched her sleeping face.

The pain that had twisted her features earlier had gradually disappeared, leaving her peaceful for the moment.

Orion reached out and gently brushed her snow-white hair away from her forehead. His fingers lingered there for a moment, then he spoke softly.

"Hang in there, Iris." His gaze was filled with determination. "Big Brother promised."

A faint smile appeared on his face. "I’ll cure you... no matter what happens."

His hand gently rested against her white hair. "I’ll raise enough funds."

His eyes hardened. "And I’ll get you cured." No matter how many points it took.

After a while, Orion finally left the room. He quietly made his way toward the backyard and leaned against the side of the building.

Under the faint moonlight, his grey eyes revealed an emotion he rarely, if ever, allowed himself to show others: sorrow.

And beneath that sorrow... a hint of helplessness.

What else can I do?

Orion lowered his gaze. Iris’s condition is worsening day by day. She can’t hold on much longer.

He slowly pulled out his phone and checked his account balance. After sorting out most of the bills and other necessary expenses, there were only... 5,000 Points.

Orion stared silently at the number displayed on his screen. Five thousand points.

That amount wasn’t even enough to purchase a pass card into a Two-Star City, not to mention the enormous cost of actually getting Iris treated.

Two hundred days. Two hundred days of grinding.

Two hundred days of constantly entering dungeons, fighting monsters, facing danger, and risking his life... and this was all he had managed to amass.

Orion’s gaze became solemn. If he continued at this pace, there was a very real possibility that he would never gather enough points to save Iris.

What should I do?

His teeth clenched. How...? What can I do?

Orion desperately tried to think of a way to obtain enough points, but nothing came to mind.

The Level One dungeon he had access to simply gave too little. The Magic Crystal he had obtained today was already the best reward he had ever gotten from clearing that dungeon.

There was simply no way he could gather hundreds of thousands of points by continuing to clear the same dungeon over and over again.

His eyes moved across his phone. There were several messages waiting for him. Messages he had received but never opened.

He already had a pretty good idea what they were about, and he was going to hate it.

Still, Orion tapped on them. The moment they opened...

Application Rejected.

Then, another message.

Application Rejected.

And another.

Application Rejected.

The words continued filling his screen. Every dungeon raid he had applied to join... rejected him.

And this wasn’t the first time. No. He had always been rejected.

If only I were a higher level... if he were stronger, perhaps they would accept him.

And if he could get accepted into those dungeon raids, he would have access to far greater rewards, more points, more opportunities, and eventually... he could get Iris treated for Cryosis.

But no. He was weak. And he lacked talent.

To those warrior groups and guilds, there was no difference between him and trash.

They wouldn’t even consider him twice the moment they saw his profile, especially his talent grade and his level.

Damn it...

Orion lowered his head. He hated this feeling. He hated feeling weak. He hated feeling helpless.

Was this the destiny of being a G-grade Awakener? To struggle endlessly while the world looked down on him?

To be rejected simply because of a letter attached to his talent?

To hell with that.

Who cares what they think? Who cares what they think?!

Orion sucked in a cold breath. His grey eyes gradually sharpened beneath the moonlight.

"If my current effort isn’t enough..." His voice was quiet. "But I’ll just have to double it."

His fists clenched. "If that still isn’t enough..." A fierce determination appeared within his eyes.

"Then I’ll triple it."

Orion raised his head toward the moon. "No matter what it takes... I won’t fail Iris."

His expression hardened. "I won’t fail my family."

Heat began radiating from Orion’s body. The stress, frustration, and countless thoughts swirling through his mind had pushed him to his limit.

And whenever Orion became stressed... there was one thing he always did.

He worked out.

He dropped to the ground. Push-ups. One after another. Then sit-ups. Squats.

And countless other exercises. He trained his body relentlessly before moving on to practicing his fighting styles.

His kicks. His movements. His strikes.

Every single motion was repeated again and again. Several minutes passed, then half an hour, then an hour.

Yet Orion didn’t stop. Sweat drenched his body as his muscles trembled from exhaustion, but he continued.

He needed to become stronger. Even if, after everything, he only managed to gain a tiny increase in his Strength... even if it was merely 0.1... it was still an improvement.

And Orion would consider that a victory. He would never give up. Not now. Not ever.

Just like he hadn’t given up when his own family had chased him away, when they had abandoned him, when they had left him to die.

"Trash."

That was what they had called his talent. Orion’s teeth clenched.

"G-grade, useless, worthless."

Fuck them all.

He would prove every single one of them wrong. He would break through his limits.

Again. And again. And again.

Until one day... he could shut every one of those mouths himself.

While Orion trained endlessly through the night... on the roof of the upper floor, two figures silently watched him.

A young man and a young woman. Their gazes were solemn, filled with complicated emotions as they watched Orion continue training below.

"He’s just like us, Elias." The girl with dark-brown hair spoke softly.

Her dark eyes remained fixed on Orion, and within them was an emotion that was almost impossible to conceal: respect and wistfulness.

"You’re right." Elias also looked at Orion. The young man’s gaze was equally complicated.

"We were all dealt the same trashy talent..." He paused. "And yet the difference between him and us couldn’t be any clearer."

The girl remained silent.

"Everything we lacked..." Elias’s gaze followed Orion’s sweat-covered body as he continued training without rest.

"...he possesses."

His voice carried a hint of admiration. "Courage. Skills. Willpower. And the talent to learn. He has all of it."

Elias’s eyes became wistful. "I really do believe..."

He stared at Orion for a long moment. "That he didn’t deserve to be someone with a G-grade talent."

A faint silence settled over the rooftop.

"No." Elias shook his head. "Not at all."

His gaze remained fixed on the figure training beneath the moonlight.

"He deserved a better talent."

His voice became softer.

"He deserved far more."