Shadow parasite

Looking around he saw the twins and their miserable appearance. Within the next second, he appeared beside them.

"Here, drink these, it will help you."

Gorn gave them a few healing potions.

"Thank you, Lora!"

He was very grateful to her. From his swift movements, it was clear that his power level was beyond what he previously told them. Gorn straightened up while laughing weirdly.

"Would you look at this?! A group of six animals bullying three girls."

"How dare you call us..." retorted Mattew. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to finish his words.

The nearby air started to distort, and it was getting increasingly hard to breathe. Everyone looked in shock at the fireball that was forming in Gorn's hand. Strangely, the heat avoided the twins and Lora. This was thanks to his fire control skill.

In the next moment, without any notice whatsoever, Gorn launched the ball of fire. Sara quickly reacted with a lightning bolt. The Impact of the two powerful attacks caused a thunderous sound, and the force created blew away everything in the proximity.

Sara's lightning bolt was slightly more powerful than his fireball, so a part of her attack went through and hit Gorn. A violent force went through his body but was swiftly suppressed by his energy. It was painful but tolerable. Part of the building started to collapse, the force used was just too much. Gorn took advantage of the chaos and grabbed the girls. In the next moment, they disappeared.

'What in the world is this?' thought Lora full of incredulity.

They suddenly appeared outside the school in the blink of an eye. Before being able to say something they disappeared again, and again. In a very short time, they were very close to the higher part of the city.

"Do you perhaps have a spare phone?" asked Gorn.

"I...no." She was focused on the present weird situation so his question was too trivial.

"I broke my phone so I'll go buy another one real quick so you can call me if something happens."

Nora took out her phone: "Here, use mine."

"Thank you, I will buy you a better one after we deal with this situation."

Mara also looked towards him. "You saved us yet again."

Gorn was a little embarrassed. "I did, but this happened because of me in the first place, so I don't know..."

"Stop, there is no need to say those things. We are a family after all."

"Yes, we need to be united no matter what," continued Nora.

Lora also felt bad but did not say anything. Her facial expression and actions spoke more than words.

"Listen up girls. There is no point in staying in this shitty place anymore. From now on we will live in the higher part of the city."

Pausing a little he continued: "I'll quickly go bring Elisa and Ella. We will talk about the details later."

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A few moments later, all of them were gathered in front of the Mercenary Guild.

"I'm sorry for the sudden changes. This, however, will be the start of a new and better life for all of us," said Gorn with confidence.

"This place is so beautiful. Can we please stay here from now on?" asked Ella with big round eyes. Her reaction was very similar to Gorn's when he first came to this place. The others were also stunned by the beauty of the place. They had a lot of questions, but the answer to some of them was easy to figure out.

"Come here for a moment," said Elisa while going to the side.

"Those who did this to my precious daughters...they will pay right?" whispered Elisa.

Gorn smiled slightly: "They will!"

Her serious face turned calm yet again: "Do what you need to do, we will support you until the end."

"Thank you!"

It was heartwarming having such people next to you. Without delaying any further Gorn entered the Mercenary Guild while everyone else waited eagerly for him. The inside was very spacious, and a lot of people were moving around doing various stuff. What first caught his attention was the big board placed in the middle.

Missions!

There were a lot of missions written on top of it and a number next to them. Their difficulty was rated with stars. All around the wall were multiple rooms with special purposes. After a glance, he noticed what he was looking for.

Mercenary test!

Gorn entered the room. Once inside he saw a man yawning at a desk.

"That is the punching machine. You need a minimum of five hundred to become a one-star mercenary."

The room had no other people in it. Gorn analyzed the device.

'I'm not that unfamiliar with such a thing.'

Wanting to finish this whole process as quickly as possible Gorn stepped in front of the device. Focusing, he struck with all the might he could muster. The sudden noise from the punch startled the nearby people. They knew what it meant. The numbers kept going up and finally stopped at one thousand and one hundred. It wasn't perfectly accurate, but close enough.

"Congratulations sir!"

The worker's bored expression vanished almost instantly.

"I need to go inform my boss so please wait here for a moment."

Rushing through the door, the worker disappeared into the crowd. Soon, he came back with another man.

"Hello sir, please follow me."

Gorn followed the middle-aged man. They got closer to the tree trunk, and using the stairs climbed towards another area under the curious gaze of quite a few individuals. In a few short moments, they entered a room that was situated a few dozen meters above the testing area. The room was very extravagant and had walls made of glass, something that allowed a great amount of light to come inside, and at the same time made it very easy to see what was happening outside.

"Congratulations on becoming a two-star mercenary!"

The man then handed Gorn a badge with two stars carved on it. At first glance, the item seemed to be made from a certain rare, and durable mineral.

"I must inform you of a few rules, as well as tell you about your new benefits."

Gorn listened carefully. Thankfully, the whole process didn't last long. Most of the rules were of a common sense. What interested him the most were the rules about the mercenary's family. You were able to bring them with you, and their protection was guaranteed by the Mercenary Guild inside the higher part of the city.

A very important aspect of that place was that no matter what each member did, their family would not be involved, and their protection would still be valid. In case of the mercenary's death or disappearance for a very long period, his family would still be protected for a certain amount of time, depending on the individual's contribution.

"Next, I will need some basic information about you, and your family members. Additional information such as skills and abilities are optional."

Gorn was satisfied by how things proceeded.

"All the missions that you complete will be recorded. If you become inactive for a long time, your status will be nullified, and you won't be able to become a mercenary for a certain period."

"I understand!" said Gorn. It was only natural to do something for all the benefits received.