The God of Pure Strength, that was the nickname given to Xain in respect for his power.
At first, his awakening was undetected by people around him, they just thought he's stronger than kids his age. But as he grew up, his overwhelming strength started to shine. He could fight children twice his size and even adults.
Because of his circumstances being the only survivor in a gate outbreak – which took away his parents from him – Xain grew up in the orphanage unsupervised and he often got into fights. Because of that, he earned the label of a thug – isolating him from other kids.
His awakening was noticed by a passenger watching him fight on the street. The fourteen-year-old Xain was immediately tested in the bureau and adopted by a family of three.
Xain thought he could finally settle his life with the help of his new family. But life wasn't as good as he expected, his family asked him to raid gates nonstop as they exploited his status as an S-Rank to make more money.
So once Xain reached adulthood, he ran away from that family.
"I'm sorry Cedric, I shouldn't have been angry with you."
"My words were also going too far. Sorry, I said it without considering your position."
Both of my teammates reconcile with me as the witness. They were proud and strong-headed people, but that's what made the act of communication more meaningful.
They stood awkwardly after that, trying to hide their embarrassment by pretending to do something else, so I decided to lighten the mood.
"Want some tea guys?"
"Sure."
"I want coffee."
Boiling the water and preparing the cups, I skillfully served them to Cedric and Xain. We enjoyed the silent moment while sipping our cups.
That tranquility was broken when my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was Wilson calling me, thinking it was just another short call, I answered the phone in the room.
"Yes? What is it? If you are going to say I miss you one more time, I'm going to end the call."
I jokingly said with a light tone, but Wilson's voice was dead serious this time.
[Ethan, I'm coming to your office right now, there's someone you must not meet- Oh no, he's already heading toward you, anyway, act like you don't know what he's saying when you meet him!]
"What?"
BANG!
The door to our office was opened with a kick, with it came a man with glistening silver hair. His sharp eyes swept over the room before landing on me.
He approached me before bending down to meet my eyes.
"Are you Ethan?"
"And who are you if I may ask?"
I could still hear Wilson shouting over the line. When the man noticed the phone, he grabbed my hand and he spoke into the microphone.
"I've met your dear brother, Wilson." He then gazed at me silently, "He's indeed as cute as you say."
A slight tension formed between our eyes. He was watching me while smiling, while I gazed at him with eyes full of caution.
"Hey! What are you doing barging into someone else's office!" Xain shouted in protest.
He's right, the man indeed just trespassed in here as he pleased.
"Ah, where are my manners? Please forgive my intrusion, I'm Marcello Lorenzo, an S-Rank esper from The Federation, I came here at the invitation of my precious friend."
'Marcello? That Marcello?'
There's not much information about Marcello in the internet because he lived a secluded life and rarely raid gates, but I do recognize the name. It's because he's one of Federation's billionaires. I didn't know Wilson had him as a friend, they might have become close when he was researching in The Federation.
Marcello turned his eyes to me, without even realizing it, my chin was already held by his hand.
"And I have found a gift for me to bring back home."
My reflexes jumped into alert and I immediately backed away from him.
I was confident in my speed, and all this time I was never caught off guard by any other espers in this aspect, but for this person to touch me without me noticing meant he used his skill and that skill was faster than my perception of speed.
"You're fast too, I like that."
Marcello licked his lips. I stared at him with indifferent eyes as I dusted my clothes.
"Go away, we are not expecting visitors here."
Xain shielded me with his body, stepping up on my behalf. Cedric also stood up, glaring at the man with hostility.
"Seem like you have loyal guard dogs around you." Marcello observed Xain and Cedric's movement, a glint of murderous intent flashed in his eyes.
A sudden shout broke the tension.
"Marcello! Stay away from my brother!"
Wilson came running while panting. Spotting Marcello standing inside the room, he grabbed his collar and yelled at him.
"I told you! You're here to build a diplomatic relationship! Why are you bullying someone else's brother instead?! Ethan! Stay here while I bring this weirdo to your bureau's leader."
He dragged Marcello away from the office and Marcello winked at me while whispering 'See you around' before willingly got pulled by Wilson.
After their footsteps were no longer heard, Xain spoke up.
"Who's that creep?"
"Definitely someone I don't want to meet again."
"Agreed, I don't want you to meet him again. I have a feeling he might snatch you away from us." Xain said, arms on his hip.
"Are you worried I might move to another country?" I asked with a grin.
I didn't expect Xain to worry about me that much, so I used this opportunity to tease him. He stared at me wide-eyed, probably didn't expect me to tease him further.
He answered me while scratching his neck, flustered, "Uh, no, that's not… Hmm... To be honest, yeah."
He shyly looked up at me, "I don't want anyone else to be this team's captain other than you."
I widened my eyes at his words. After all this time together, it's not only me who grew fond of them, they also share the same feeling as mine.
Moments like this made me appreciate their willingness to change and marveled at the potential of human's relationship. We had now become great friends and comrade in arms.
This touching feeling almost moved my heart to tears.
At least that's what I thought until Xain dropped a bombshell on me.
"After all, I like you."