The Strongest With Nothing Left

The receptionist let out a heavy sigh before turning to Arin. "Wait here. I'll call my friend to heal you up."

Arin blinked. "Huh? Oh—uh, I'm fine, really—"

"You're covered in bruises, Arin. Just sit still." She walked off quickly, calling in a healer to tend to him. After a few minutes, Arin was patched up, and the receptionist returned, placing his reward on the counter.

"Here's your reward for completing the quest," she said, offering him a gentle smile. "And… you should probably head home and rest, okay? You've been through a lot today." 

Arin hesitated, but eventually nodded. "Yeah… you're probably right. Thanks, miss!" He grabbed his reward and cheerfully walked out of the guild.

The receptionist, however, couldn't shake the thought of Li. "Training him to death? Making him fight an Alpha Wolf alone?" She bit her lip, conflicted. As her shift finally ended, she made up her mind.

I need to find Li and get some answers. With that, she stepped out of the guild, scanning the streets, hoping to spot him.

The receptionist wandered through the town, her eyes scanning every corner. She checked the weapon shop no sign of him. The marketplace nothing. She even passed by the training grounds, hoping he might be there. But like always, Li Vrak was nowhere to be found.

"Where the hell is he…?" she muttered, frustration growing. "How hard is it to find one guy in a small town?"

Minutes turned into an hour as she searched. She asked passing adventurers if they had seen him, but most either shrugged or simply replied, "Li? He doesn't really talk to anyone." Which only made her more annoyed.

"Damn it…" she sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead. "Why am I even trying this hard? He's always been like that — cold, distant, unreachable. Why do I care now?"

But she couldn't shake it off. Something about how Arin described his training… how brutal it sounded… it didn't sit right with her. She needed to know.

Just as she was about to give up, she passed by a small, quiet restaurant on the outskirts of town. Through the window, she spotted him.

Li Vrak sitting alone at a table, quietly eating his meal. His katana was leaned against the wall beside him. His expression, like always, was devoid of anything. Cold. Emotionless. Lifeless.

The receptionist blinked in disbelief. "Seriously? He's just… eating here?"

Without thinking, she pushed the door open and stepped inside. The air was filled with the smell of roasted meat and freshly baked bread. The place was quiet, only a few people inside. Li barely even glanced up when she approached his table.

"…You're hard to find, you know that?" she said, folding her arms.

Li didn't respond. He continued eating, not even acknowledging her presence.

The receptionist narrowed her eyes. "Seriously?" she scoffed. "You're just gonna ignore me?"

A brief silence. Then, without looking up, Li finally spoke.

"What do you want?"

She gritted her teeth. "What do I want?" she repeated, her tone a bit harsher than she intended. "I want to know why you put that kid through hell." 

Li paused mid-bite. Slowly, he lowered his fork, his cold eyes finally meeting hers. "What?" 

"Don't play dumb with me," she snapped, leaning forward. "Arin told me everything. You trained him to the brink of death. Made him fight an Alpha Wolf alone. Didn't even give him a weapon. What the hell is wrong with you?"

Li's expression remained unfazed. "And he won." "That's not the point!" she nearly shouted, drawing the attention of a few other customers. "He's a kid! You can't just treat him like some war-hardened soldier!"

Li let out a cold, lifeless chuckle. "If he's too weak to survive that, then he doesn't deserve to be an adventurer." The receptionist froze, disbelief washing over her. "How can you say that so casually?!" Li's gaze darkened. "Because that's reality."

Silence. For a moment, neither of them spoke. The tension between them was suffocating. 

"You… really don't care, do you?" the receptionist finally muttered. "About him. About anyone."

Li went back to eating. "I don't."

Her fists clenched. "Then why did you take him in as your student?"

Li didn't answer. "You could've just walked away. You always do. So why?" 

"…I don't know," Li admitted coldly, his tone devoid of care. "Maybe I was bored."

That answer infuriated her. "Bored?!" she hissed. "You're lying. I know you are."

Li said nothing. 

"Arin looks up to you," she pressed. "He idolizes you calls you his Master like you're the greatest person in the world. And you just… treat him like that?"

Li stopped eating. Slowly, he placed his fork down, his hands clenched slightly. "I never asked him to idolize me."

"Yeah? Well, he does anyway." Silence.

The receptionist let out a bitter scoff. "You know what? Fine. Keep pretending you don't care. But sooner or later, you're gonna break, Li. And when you do? You'll realize just how much that kid means to you."

Li said nothing. His face was stone-cold, but his hands under the table trembled ever so slightly. 

Without another word, the receptionist turned on her heel and stormed out of the restaurant, leaving Li alone once again.

But her words… lingered. "You'll realize just how much that kid means to you." 

Li clenched his jaw, his chest tightening. "…Damn it…" he muttered under his breath.

As the morning sun crept over the horizon, painting the sky with hues of orange and gold, Li Vrak awoke like he always did cold, numb, and unbothered. 

Without a word, he rose from his bed, grabbed his katana, and stepped outside. His usual routine was simple: clear his mind, hunt a few monsters, and drown himself in silence.

But today… something felt off. As he stepped into the forest where he trained Arin before, his eyes narrowed when he noticed movement in the distance. His pace slowed. His hand subconsciously hovered near his katana. Another monster? he thought.

But as he stepped closer, his cold gaze landed on a familiar figure. Arin

The kid was there in the exact same clearing where Li trained him before drenched in sweat, his fists bloodied, his breathing ragged, and his body bruised. Yet he kept going. Punch after punch, kick after kick, the boy continued to push.

"HAH!" Arin roared, throwing a solid right hook against a tree, his knuckles splitting open from the impact. Blood smeared against the bark, but he didn't care. "Again… again… again…" he grunted through clenched teeth. 

"…What are you doing?" Li's cold voice finally broke the silence. Arin flinched, his breathing still heavy as he turned around. The moment his eyes landed on Li, his face lit up with a wide grin. "Master!" he called out, stumbling slightly from exhaustion but still standing. "Good morning!"

Li didn't respond. His gaze flickered between the bruised and battered body of the boy and the bloodied tree behind him. "…I asked what you were doing." 

Arin wiped the sweat from his forehead, still grinning. "Training, of course! After I heard you took down those S-rank monsters like it was nothing, I realized I was still too weak! So I thought… why not come back here and do more training?"

Li's jaw tightened. "…Idiot." 

"Huh?"

Li walked toward him, his sharp eyes glaring down. "You're still injured from yesterday. Your body hasn't fully recovered, and yet you're here breaking your body down again like a fool." His tone was harsh. Unforgiving.

Arin laughed nervously. "Ahaha… yeah, well… I can't get stronger if I take breaks, right?"

"…You'll get yourself killed." 

"But you didn't die when you pushed yourself, right?" Arin suddenly shot back. Li froze. "…What?"

Arin smiled weakly. "You told me before, didn't you? Reality is cruel. The weak die, and the strong survive. I get it now. I don't wanna be weak anymore… I wanna be like you, Master. I wanna get so strong that no monster or person can ever make me feel helpless again." 

Li's hand clenched slightly. "…You'll never reach my level like this. You're just destroying your own body." Arin grinned, despite the pain. "Maybe. But my ability's built for this, right?" He raised his battered fist. "The more I get beaten up, the stronger I become. So I'll keep doing it… until I can stand by your side without slowing you down."

Li didn't know what to say. His heart the one he thought had turned to stone did something he hadn't felt in years.

"…Idiot," Li muttered, his cold voice cutting through the morning air. Without warning, he turned toward Arin. "Open your mouth." "Huh?" Arin blinked, confused. "Why—"

"Just do it."

Reluctantly, Arin opened his mouth. Without a moment's hesitation, Li shoved a strange, bitter-tasting Elixir inside. Arin gagged. "W-What the hell is thi—!?"

"Chew. Swallow." Li's tone left no room for argument. Moments later, Arin's entire body jolted as a warm sensation flooded through him. The bruises and aches from his intense training slowly began to fade his body healing rapidly. Arin's eyes widened in shock. "W-What the hell was that!?"

"Healing Elixir. Works fast. Tastes like shit." Li turned his back again. "Go home. Rest. I won't tell you again."

Arin was still stunned, touching his now-healed body. "…Seriously, what is that stuff?" "Doesn't matter. Now go."

Arin hesitated… but then smiled. Even if Li acted cold, Arin could tell. Li did care. Even if he wouldn't admit it.

As Arin made his way back to town, he couldn't help but grin. His body, which was screaming in pain just moments ago, now felt brand new thanks to whatever the hell Li had shoved down his throat.

"I swear… Master's something else," Arin muttered, shaking his head with a smile. 

Instead of heading straight home, he turned toward the Adventurer's Guild. A thought crossed his mind I should tell that receptionist lady about this. After all, she seemed pretty interested in how mater trained me.

Pushing the door open, Arin spotted the receptionist from yesterday busy with paperwork. "Yo!" he called out, waving. The girl looked up, surprised. "Oh, Arin! Shouldn't you be resting? You were pretty beat up yesterday."

Arin laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah… about that. I'm all good now." She blinked. "…Huh?"

"Yeah! My Master found me training early in the morning and he, uh… kinda shoved some weird herb down my throat and bam, I was instantly healed." Arin gestured animatedly, trying to explain. "It tasted like crap, though. Like, really bad. But damn did it work!"

The receptionist raised an eyebrow, already catching on. "…Wait. When you say Master, you mean—" "Yeah, yeah. Li Vrak." Arin smiled proudly. "He saw me training, called me an idiot, and then shoved the herb down my throat without even asking."

The receptionist's face twisted in disbelief. "…Wait, wait, wait. He healed you?"

"Yup."

"…Li Vrak… actually helped someone?" "Yeah! I mean, sure he was a jerk about it, but still. Dude just casually had some super rare healing Elixir and fixed me up like it was nothing." 

The receptionist leaned back in her chair, utterly dumbfounded. "I… I don't even know what's more shocking the fact that you're still alive after training with him or the fact that he actually did something nice for once."

Arin laughed. "Both, probably."

The receptionist chuckled weakly. "…You must've really made an impression on him, huh?" Arin smiled warmly. "I like to think so."