Chapter 276: Obsessed With Strength [2]
"Mom! Dad!"
Hiro said, his voice laced with sadness as he looked at his parents lying in their hospital beds. He dearly missed his parents and was concerned about their health.
Even after conquering countless dungeons, Hiro still could not find a legendary S-Rank Elixir. He even commissioned multiple guilds to find information about the S-Rank Elixir but S-Rank Elixir was really an item that randomly spawned wherever it wished.
"If only I was stronger ..."
At the time when devils attacked his parents, he could only hide and could not do anything. He could only hide and wait as his parents suffered at the hands of devils.
They suffered severely after the devils attacked them. Although his parents were not completely dead, they were unable to come out of a coma even with the help of Rank-A healers and advanced equipment.
His parents could not recover and there was also a medical bill to worry about. With the condition of their bodies, if advanced medicine and equipment were not used regularly then Hiro's parents would truly die without any chance of recovery.
For Hiro, who was just 10 at the time, that was the beginning of a nightmare. Fortunately, with his parents' savings, he was able to keep them in the hospital for a few months, but that was not enough. There was no telling when his parents would wake up and without money, he could not afford to keep them in the hospital.
Hiro needed to earn lots of money or he could not afford to keep his parents in the hospital. Moreover, he still had to look after his little sister who was just 8 years old at the time.
Hiro faced the immense pressure of not only caring for his little sister but also finding a way to pay for his parents' medical bills and keep them alive in the hospital. The burden weighed heavily on the young boy's shoulders as he struggled to find a way to juggle his responsibilities and cope with the stress.
The news that his parents were in a coma with no hope of recovery shocked Hiro, but he did not have time to be depressed. He had to work hard to keep his parents in the hospital.
Hiro, despite being 10 years old, found various odd jobs and started to earn money and support his family. He took on any job he could find, no matter how small or difficult it was. He worked long hours and saved every penny he could. Despite his hard work, it was still not enough to keep up with medical bills and the cost of living.
Luckily, his parents' guild members were willing to help them. They also encouraged Hiro to continue studying rather than working. This was because he could earn more if he could become an Explorer later and it was also possible for The Authority to sponsor him if he showed amazing talent.
Taking their advice, Hiro continued to attend school while also working after he finished school. Hiro was able to cover his parents' medical bills with the guild members' help, but his parents did not open their eyes even after years of waiting.
After 5 years, even with the help of his parents' guild, there was no money for Hiro to keep his parents in the hospital. He had to give up on them. However, for Hiro, giving up on his parents was not an option.
To earn more money, Hiro went to the dungeons to work as a porter for people going into the Rank-F and Rank-E dungeons. However, Edolas' law didn't allow small children like Hiro to enter the dungeons.
That's why Hiro had no choice but to go with Explorers from Black Market who possessed illegal dungeon gates. The Black Market was controlled by various strong people, including some high-ranking guilds, and they controlled a large number of gates that were not known to The Authority.
The reason for that was because they didn't want to pay taxes and wanted to monopolize every profit that they would get. That's why even kids like Hiro were allowed in the dungeon and there was no one to stop people from entering the dungeon.
Despite that, the money Hiro earned was not very high though it was much more than what he used to make from his part-time job.
But that was also not enough to cover his parents' medical bills for a long period of time. That's why after gaining experience in exploring the dungeon by being a porter, Hiro decided to try to conquer the dungeon by himself.
Not only would he get much more money that way but there was also a possibility of obtaining a legendary S-Rank Elixir. That was when he entered a dungeon and got the system that changed his life.
After getting the system, earning money became easier and he also received lots of resources from the System to help him grow stronger. He even managed to become Rank-E + in less than four months since he got the System which could be said to be a miracle.
Hiro's talent had always been high, and he had even qualified to take the Ace Academy exam before getting a System, but that was nothing in comparison to after he got the System.
With the help of Level-5 Art and Rank-E + power, Hiro easily managed to get first place in the entrance exam of the number one school in Edolas. Not only that he had also managed to score the highest points since the establishment of Ace Academy.
After showing such talent, The Authority decided to sponsor Hiro. Because of his potential, they even gave his parents special treatment and shifted them to their headquarters hospital where even Rank-S healers were available.
They knew that by making Hiro owe them when he was still weak, they would be able to gain his loyalty easily when he grew up. With the rate that Hiro was growing, The Authority had no problem pouring tens of thousands of Ethan for him. The Authority knew that Hiro was qualified to receive such treatment from them.
Finally, Hiro's financial situation changed and he was able to solely focus on getting stronger rather than earning money. In order to get high-ranking healing potions and herbs, he had to enter high-ranking dungeons. In addition, there were also devils who attacked his parents.
He did not forget the Devils who attacked his parents. To get his revenge and prevent such things from happening again, Hiro knew that getting strong was the only way to go.
And he had a System that was helping him with that objective. With rewards for completing System quests, Hiro was quickly able to grow at an exponential rate. He also had the resources from The Authority and their training room where he could train as much as he wanted.
Until the devil's invasion, Hiro believed that Lilith was responsible for the attack on his parents, but the true perpetrator was revealed to be another devil.
"Xalvar, I will never forgive you!"
Hiro exclaimed, his eyes filled with rage.
After the invasion of the Devils, one thing was clear, Xalvar was the one who made his parents like this. With the enemy's identity revealed, Hiro finally knew who to take revenge for all the suffering that his family suffered.
While he could not forgive Lilith, who had attacked his parents, the one he really wished to kill was Xalvar who was the mastermind behind the attack. However, he fought with Xalvar and knew that he was far weaker than him. If he wanted to exact his revenge, he knew that he had to become stronger.
He returned to The Authority headquarters where his parents were kept. It was because the doctors called Hiro to tell him that his parents' condition was deteriorating and he must get legendary S-grade Elixir or they would have no hope.
Despite using costly equipment and investing all of the resources available to The Authority, they were unable to stop the damage inflicted on his parents' bodies.
"Hiro, what are you doing?"