Their comrades grew to 50 — most of them kids and teenagers. After a day of catching sleep, Ryner stretched to find that it was night. Leaves rustled and a little girl jumped down from a branch, landing on his legs hardly. Ryner jumped from shock at the sudden action to see familiar blonde hair.

Sighing, "Enne, stop scaring me like that…"

"Yadda~" The girl grinned cheerfully before turning serious, "I had a vision of you leaving…"

"?" After a thoughtful moment, Ryner realized what that meant, "So I found another hero relic?"

The girl nodded, pointing towards Runa Empire, "And got a cute apprentice."

"…me?"

Another nod and Ryner gave her a disbelieving look, "I'm sure that you are mistaking something."

"No, he's an Alpha Stigma bearer and I saw you teaching him something."

"…ah, whatever. I'll know when I meet this person. Do you know what the relic looks like?"

She pondered for a moment before smiling, "Like an orb! A clear one!"

Ryner mussed his hair in thought, but came to no conclusion on what it may be. Taking his cloak, he ruffled her hair gently and waved bye, "Take care of the others then, Enne."

After he left, a teen with brown hair appeared, "So he left? Why doesn't he ever let one of us help? I'm sure Tiir or Pueka would gladly join."

Enne smiled sadly. Ryner had once told her that the leader should always smile to support the group and calm them down even in chaos. And ever since then, she promised to herself that she will always smile to support Ryner, "Because he's a gentle boy… Always distant and trying to do everything by himself. Ryner just doesn't want to trouble anyone, Lafra."

Lafra, however, frowned, "But in the end, we're the ones that always trouble him."

"That's not true; Ryner truly loves all of us. I'm sure you saw his dreams and noticed his change."

And the brown-haired boy smiled guiltily. He knew that he shouldn't invade the other's privacy, but Ryner was just interesting and dreamed interesting things as well. And since Lafra saw his dreams, he knew the many problems that Ryner had and how amnesia was one of them.

Ryner focused on reading the books in the Runa Library. Trying to find something about the orb… Ah, there it was. The barrier orb that protected anything in exchange for memories of the ones that you wanted to protect. It was perfect for the God's Eye Group that was targeted by many. But no one would willingly give up their memories like that… He had too many memories in his case. But the God's Eye Group needed their protection—as much as possible to survive.

"Hmm… Troublesome artifact…"

The teen walked out of the library, peering at his notebook. Still, what could he do about this… After a long time, his ears detected the sound of tears and he glanced up to see that he had already strayed far away from the capital and the path. A little girl sat on the stone, crying out loud. Ryner closed his book and kneeled down before her,

"What's wrong, little princess?"

The girl looked up in shock, but hugged him tightly at his kind brown eyes. With head burrowed into his chest, her words were almost inaudible. Ryner could hear it with his sharp ears though and he frowned.

"A-arua… T-they took A-arua… C-called him a m-monster—b-but A-arua isn't a monster! M-mister, p-please save h-him."

Ryner broke the hug to gaze at her eyes. Studying their pure intentions, he gave her a warm smile and nodded. His hand soothed her hair and thoughts.

"Then, I will save him, little princess. And thanks for not calling him a monster; can you point out where the people who took Arua are?"

The girl nodded and pointed straight ahead. Ryner nodded, "Stay right here. I will fetch him soon. My name is Ryner Lute."

"Kuku, t-thanks R-ryner!"

Ryner nodded, but made a quiet gesture. Kuku stayed silent and still, watching as the man leave. Ryner sighed as he made his way through the fortress. So was this the Alpha Stigma bearer that Enne meant? The one to become his apprentice? But that does make sense… If I were to lose my memory, then I should pass down all that I know and write down all that I know… I just have to figure out to what extent I lose my memories.

Ryner watched as all the Runa priests surrounded the kid and another man. He growled as he watched the drama play out… until he couldn't take it anymore. Using Estabul magic, he remembered his military training days and took down all the priests quickly, sending Izuchis everywhere. They all quickly fell down and Ryner undid the bonds that tied Arua. The kid immediately ran to his father, but the man was already dying. The father gazed at him,

"Arua, live. Grow and become a good, strong man…" To Ryner, he smiled, "Thank you for saving my son… Please take care of him… Please…"

Ryner nodded, "Don't worry and rest well. Sorry that I couldn't save you."

The man shook his head, "It's a miracle that you even tried… Thank you…"

And he became limp. Arua widened his eyes and screamed, "Dad! Don't die—don't—"

Ryner sighed and closed his eyes before they turned red. And he softly spoke, "Don't go crazy, Arua; if you do, then you die. Your father didn't die to watch you become like this."

Arua growled, "Let go of me! I don't care! I don't have anything anymore—I just wanna die!"

Ryner shook his head, "If you don't have anything, then just get more of something… But you don't need to do that, you do have something, Arua."

Arua's thrashing stopped for a bit as he asked, "I do?"

"Yes… There was a blonde girl that cares a lot about you in the forest. She was the one who asked me to come here."

"Kuku…" A slight pause and Arua silently muttered, "I'm sane, mister. Thanks for stopping me so let me go!"

Arua elbowed him in the stomach, catching Ryner off guard. The kid grinned, making a victory pose, "Haha, my win!"

Ryner smiled and sheepishly scratched his cheek before getting up, "Ah, whatever. Kids recover so fast."

"Hey! You're a kid too!"

He playfully shook his finger, "Teenager. Now, let's go find your girlfriend."

Arua blushed, "G-girlfriend? K-kuku's not like that!"

Ryner rolled his eyes, but chose to walk forward than comment. Arua flustered, but chased after him. Before they reached the edge of the base, though, Arua asked quietly,

"Mister… I want to be stronger—strong enough to protect those that I love! Can you teach—"

Ryner grinned, "So you admit it—you do love Kuku!"

Arua gaped and flustered his arms about again, "W-wha—just forget what I said! Geez, you—"

"I'll teach you. Be happy; you're my first student, Arua."

Then, they saw Kuku and the girl ran after Arua, hugging him to death. Ryner chuckled, but then frowned as he thought of something.

Looking at the kids seriously, "Kuku, Arua can't stay in the empire anymore. Alpha Stigma bearers are taboos—monsters. So we have to leave… and you have a choice; stay here or come with us."

Without hesitation, Kuku replied, "Come with you."

Arua widened his eyes, "But it's dangerous and—"

Kuku shook her head and tightened her grip, "I already knew from the start that it was dangerous. And I don't care if you are a monster, I want to be with you!"

"Kuku…"

Ryner smiled, "Then, it's settled. I'll teach you both about magic as we walk."

They nodded and followed the teen to wherever he was going.

For the following days, Ryner would train Arua in martial arts and magic for about ten hours straight. Kuku would watch or wander off to cook food for the duo afterwards. Ryner showed no mercy to his student and pounded in everything that he knew of in the boy. Magic, tales of hero relics, martial arts, empires, stigmas, just plain information. The kid would only sleep for five hours since they spent the rest of the time walking to the Kekkai Orb.

Finally, after seven days, they had reached the temple that contained the orb. With Kuku on his shoulder and Arua close by, he activated his Alpha Stigma and quickly undid the magic traps. Arua followed closely behind with his own Alpha Stigma. It was a tense yet somehow peaceful walk down since they could see all the traps clearly—or in Ryner's case, easily undo them before they did any harm. When they finally reached the center and bottom floor, Ryner grabbed the clear orb carefully and pocketed it. They were about to safely get out when Arua sheepishly smiled,

"Oops."

Ryner narrowed his eyes, "What did you do?"

"…Try to deactivate this trap."

"And failed?"

Arua nodded in confirmation, making Ryner sigh and pick him up. Ryner shook Kuku gently awaken, "Wake up and hold on tight."

No questions asked as Ryner did Estabul magic to enhance his speed and run up the temple, dodging traps as the temple was beginning to crumble and self-destruct. They narrowly escaped the collapsed destruction and Ryner whacked Arua,

"Never do that again. I still have to teach you more about the Alpha Stigma."

Arua pouted, "But you made it seem so easy!"

Ryner sighed, "That's why we're considered monsters. We naturally make it seem easy."

"…oh right… So now that we have the Kekkai Orb, are we going to your home?"

Ryner grinned, "Yeah, our friends are really nice people."

"But what about Kuku? She's not a Cursed Eye bearer."

Ryner paused thoughtfully, "They'll treat her fine. Bearers are the same as humans; just one has more power than the other."

Kuku nodded, "Arua and Ryner are kind, gentle, and nice!"

"Thanks, Kuku~"

"Arua, we're almost at the base."

"Yeah, Ryner?"

Arua was on the ground after heavily training again. Ryner stared at the orb, "Did I tell you what the Kekkai Orb does, Arua?"

Arua got up and nodded, "Makes barriers around the people you wish to protect."

Ryner nodded, "But how does the orb know who you want to protect?"

"…"

Ryner continued, staring at it more intensely, "It takes away the user's memories of those that he want to protect. Or so says the book that I found in Runa."

The kid's eyes widened in understanding, "So are you going to forget about us?"

The teen shrugged, "Maybe. But our kind needs protection especially since we are constantly hunted down by Gastark. If it only needs memories, then I'll gladly do it for our friends. I'll wait until after I introduce you and Kuku to the family, of course. And I'll write a few notes just in case, my memories do disappear."

"But, Ryner—"

"It's a small price to pay, Arua. I can always make new memories anyways."

"…so why are you telling me this, Ryner?"

"Just because. Someone needs to know."

"…Then, I'll tell the others afterwards."

"Mm, thanks."

"RYNER!"

The kids jumped him as soon as he got close to the house. Ryner fell to the ground and chuckled as they all dog-piled him, "I'm home?"

A blonde girl stepped out of the house, "Welcome back, Ryner."

Tiir snorted and whacked him on the head, "Have you really been sleep-walking for twelve days?"

Ryner sheepishly grinned, "Yeah, I found two kids while I was at it. Kuku, Arua."

The two shyly stepped out and everyone observed them. They all introduced each other and left to play. Pueka, Lafra, Tiir, and Enne stayed where they were with Ryner. Tiir frowned, "The girl's human, Ryner."

Ryner shrugged, "She's Arua's fiancé and perfectly harmless."

Pueka scowled, "But what if she—?"

Lafra laughed, "She won't. She's a nice girl… I can sense it."

Enne nodded, "I will allow her to stay. Humans and bearers need to get along anyways."

"Thanks." Ryner yawned, "I need to retire and get some sleep."

Ryner walked away and locked himself in his room, staring at the orb. Then, he wrote a list of important things that he needed to know and remember and activated the orb with a spell. A musical voice filled his mind,

I am the Kekkai Orb. My power will be lent to those who sacrifice their memory for their loved ones. Who do you want to protect?

"I want to protect all of the God's Eye Group, my friends, and people with Stigmas. Please protect them and our home."

Very well.

The teen felt his head splitting and memories slipping. He fell unconscious.


A/N: Alright, peeps. This is what people call a major cliffhanger ending. I'll update if another season of the anime comes out, but this is it... k?