Galaxy's First Ruler

Greece

Deep within the towering mountains, amid the layer of a dense forest, there was a long and narrow valley. And there was a small house with a beautiful backyard in the depths of this valley.

Baroness Annie laid the blue and white checkered picnic cloth over the vibrant grass in her backyard. The birds and small animals sang a song of longing accompanying her mood. The wind gently swept away the dry leaves, bringing nostalgia.

Two teardrops fell on the blanket as she put the plates for food. A smile struggled to keep itself alive on her face, but its effort was bound to be a failure.

Annie loved Logan.

She never tried to hide it. Annie had always been a girl who liked to do things openly, with a breath of fresh air. She could count things she regretted on one hand. And one more thing was going to be added among those handfuls of regrets.

Annie wiped the traces of tears from her smooth cheeks and waited. Her mind wandered away to the time when Logan had helped her survive during her first raid. But that wasn't the reason she loved him.

She traced back her memories and found Logan asking her to be a part of Black Hand. To help the Dreamers who were considered the scum of Earth, even after the Night. To assist the families of deceased Dreamers who weren't strong enough to get a hefty amount from the government. And yet it wasn't the reason she loved him.

A sudden swirl of Black Fog took her out of her reverie. Before the fog could have vanished, Logan had already sprawled over the picnic blanket. His golden hair shimmered against the surrounding greenery.

"I am hungry."

Annie took out the sandwiches and handed them over on a plate. Logan had become used to Annie, but not to such sophistication. His large hand grabbed two of the sandwiches and munched them down like a hungry wolf. Annie got herself busy making a cup of tea.

"Is there any chance?" Annie asked.

The feebleness in her voice was apparent, but Logan just shook his head.

"Edmund thinks the Masked Menace might have some answers."

"He is always like that."

Even when they were not in contact with each other, the Ex-Party members knew each other very well. Annie felt Logan sitting up and closing the distance between them.

"Annie."

"Hmmm…. "

"I love you."

Annie's hands shook, and her head snapped towards Logan. Her mind had just only processed the words that she longed to hear when the tears broke away from her control.

Snifff!!!

Annie bawled her eyes out. Her hands, on her face, couldn't hide the pain and sobbing sounds. Her entire body shuddered without the chill of winter. Two arms engulfed Annie within their embrace. The warmth of Logan's chest gave her some strength to stutter out a few words.

"I… I…" Sniff!

"I just wanted to spend… some more time with you."

The reason for Annie's love could be called a child's fetish or a whim. Annie loved Logan because he was her Hero.

*

Dungeon, New York

"RECORD."

[…

Record of Aldrich

Time Left: 348 hours

Status: Cursed

Level: 25 (128500/138000 ExPs to next level)

HP: 1249/1249

SP: 1400/1400

MP: 2285/2285

Rank: Baron

Class: Generalist, Blessed Scholar, Spawn of Darkness

Title: Enemy of the Crawler (3)

Attributes -->

Strength: 70

Defence: 67

Agility: 70

Vitality: 60

Perception: 280

Correspondence: 25

Unassigned Attribute Points: 0

Active Skills -->

1. Metacreativity: Lvl 1 (Baron) [0/9 Skill Points to next Level]

2. Target Lock (Common)

3. 3 Miles Shot (Common)

4. Banish: Lvl 2 (Rare) [0/7 Skill Points to next Level]

5. Flaw Detection (Rare)

6. All Proficient (Rare)

7. Summon (Rare) [Bonds: 1]

8. Devil's Whisper (Rare)

9. Supreme Tamer (Baron)

10. Flood Rider (Baron)

Skill Points: 6

Passive Skills -->

1. Shared Vision

2. Intimidation

3. Beginner's Dagger Proficiency

Inventory --> (1.4/40)

…

Equipped Items -->

1. Oldest Change

2. Shadow Homunculus

3. Buckey's Cigarettes (4)

4. Heartburn Venom (1)

…]

Aldrich sighed in relief, seeing his Rank and other Stats. Just killing 1 Baron Ranked Boss had brought him to Level 25. The difficulty of raising levels was going to get even higher, and Aldrich knew the importance of being a step ahead of others.

He eyed the Cursed Status and had a feeling that it wouldn't get removed soon. Two Baron Ranked and four Rare Ranked Mana cores had already made this Raid worthwhile. Let alone the fact that he got the answer to the question he had sought after the most.

Aldrich approached Boomie and looked at the three hovering rewards from the Blue Bellerophon. Aldrich had a hunch that the rewards would be the same, resulting in a clash with his Skills. The best way to put these rewards to use was to give them to Boomie. By killing the Boss Crawler, Boomie must have reached Level 24 or 25 too.

'But what to do with him?'

Aldrich saw the unconscious Baron and could only come up with one way to make Boomie equip the Skills. Aldrich crouched down and hit a few pressure points on Boomie's body to relax his muscles. He held up one of Boomie's hands and touched one of the hovering rewards.

[…

Skill: Flood Rider (Baron)

Nature: Active

…

Do you want to equip the Skill?

…]

'As expected!'

Aldrich saw the Skill and got to know what other rewards would be and touched the rest of them with Boomie's hand, too.

[…

Skill: Flood Rider (Baron)

Nature: Active

…

Do you want to equip the Skill?

…]

[…

Item: Beast Slayer

Type: Spear

Rank: Baron

…

Do you want to equip the Skill?

…]

Aldrich crouched down and whispered in Boomie's ears.

"Boomie, say Yes."

The distinct murmur entered Boomie's ears, but Aldrich didn't receive any response, or not yet. Aldrich aimed at the backside of Boomie's head and slapped it hard.

SLAPPP!

"AHH! Yesss…"

Boomie shouted subconsciously and the first Skill crumbled away. The corner of Aldrich's mouth rose like a villain's evil smile and he brought his hand down again.

SLAP! SLAPP!!