It was dinner time the next day, that the door bell finally went off. Carl and his father were seated at the dining table while his mother was busy moving the food from the kitchen to the dining table.
"That must be him." Jason Reed, Carl's father said, as he stood up from his seat and left to answer the door bell.
Carl just watched, a hint of curiosity piqued his eyes.
"Wow, you actually made it." Jason said immediately he opened the door.
"Well I couldn't miss it for the world. It's just as you said, 'it all depends on the moment we decide to take the first step', and that's exactly what I want to do. And besides, this kids need a symbol of inspiration. I want to become a better godfather… and grandfather." Steve said in a deep voice, a bit of emotion evident in his indifferent expression. He stepped aside, revealing a little girl beside him. She looked timid and shy, and was clinging on to the edges of his suit, tightly.
The little girl had a nicely kempt blonde hair, blues eyes, and she wore a dark blue flowing gown with flower patterns as designs—the gown was reaching below her knees.
"G-good evening, sir." She said in a timid tone, her voice trembling slightly.
"I hope you don't mind feeding an additional person? My granddaughter decided to tag along. She's very fond of me and she's a huge fan of yours." Steve said placing emphasis on the "yours".
"... Really?" Jason was taken aback for a split second, he then nodded his head in realization, laughing sheepishly. He crouched down to the girl's height, and added while smiling: "You must be Layla? Your grandpa told me a lot about you. Do you want to hear about more amazing tales of Iron Knight? How about his signature moves?"
Layla quickly nodded her head in excitement. This response made Jason smile even more.
"You must be a huge fan? Well, come on in, let's talk more about it while we've dinner. There's someone I would also like to introduce to you." Jason said as he created a path into the house, gesturing for his guests to come inside.
Steve was upfront while Layla gently followed from behind, Jason closed the door and walked towards them.
"So how old is she now?" Jason asked as they walked into the living room.
"Well, I guess she should be the same age as your boy." Steve replied.
"Oh… Isn't that just great? They're going to be good friends together. Carl doesn't have much friends anyway."Jason said as he led them to the dining table, "Right this way, the dining room is over there."
They approached the dinning room, and Jason was the first to strike up a conversation. "Carl this is Layla, Layla this is Carl. I hope you two become good friends. Carl why don't you say hello to our guests."
"Hello, nice having you both over for dinner tonight."
"He's a smart one, isn't he?" Steve chuckled.
"Hi." Carl said with indifference. He didn't know why his parents would want him to become friends with a kid. 'Hell no.'
"Hi…" Layla muttered in a timid voice.
Jason offered them a sit and they settled down. Helen was bringing the last dish over, she exchanged greetings with Steve, a pleasant smile engraved on her lips.
Carl's gazes were glued to the middle aged man that showed up in their house. He recognized him. He had seen his face plenty times on TV.
'The No. 5 S-Rank Hero, Ichor? Dad invited a celebrity over.' Carl thought. 'He looks very different up close. No, it's not his appearance, it has something to do with this man's aura. It's intimidating—terrifying even.
So this is the aura seeping out from an S-Rank Superhuman? The current me feels as fragile as a glass. I need to become stronger. At least as strong as I use to be in my past life… even stronger. That's the only way I can survive this dreadful world.' Carl concluded to himself inwardly.
Helen was already dishing the food. Everyone gathered over the table clasped their hands and prayed for the meal before digging into the meal happily.
After dinner, both families chatted for a while before Steve and Layla bid Carl's family goodbye as they retire for the night.
That night Carl was awake longer than usual. He was deep in thoughts. Somehow he could sense how dangerous this world was. And he believed that its dreadfulness was only in the beginning stage. He was worried of how his life would be in the later years, he couldn't get his mind off it.
"As long as I get to awaken a powerful ability at the age of thirteen, then I should be fine. Right now i guess I'd have to continue living my life as a normal human." Carl said.
"I wonder what happened to the other guys? Where they sent into the abyss like me? Did they get to the Gate of Rebirth? Hehe, I bet not. I shouldn't bother about those cowards, I should focus more on becoming stronger in this life too. Hmm, but I wonder why his aura felt familiar? Have I sensed it somewhere else before? Might've been my instincts deceiving me. I can never get use to this human body." Carl added with a quiet sigh.
Carl stared at the ceiling with hopeful gazes. He hoped for the future ahead of him. However, he had never anticipated that the future was full of many surprises.
He'd never guessed that the most important thing in this world to him, would be taken from him. Worse, he couldn't even lift a finger to stop the perpetrators. And that his whole world would come crashing on the floor, and that he would grow up to become a trash to the rest of the world.
Indeed fate was a sneaky bastard!