Hunter Academy: Revenge of the Weakest - C.600 133.2 - Kieran

"Kieran!"

As Maya called the name, the sound of breaking glass followed, then a faint curse. Moments later, the door to the backroom swung open, and a young man with a short stature stumbled out, dusting off his hands.

His disheveled appearance contrasted sharply with the store's valuable contents. His messy brown hair and wide green eyes made him look a bit younger than he likely was, though there was something sharp and calculating about his gaze.

"Maya?" the young man, Kieran, exclaimed, his voice tinged with a combination of annoyance and disbelief. "Couldn't you have waited a second? I almost dropped an entire batch of... never mind."

Kieran straightened up, fixing his shirt and trying to appear more composed despite the evident chaos behind him. He was short—not much taller than Maya's shoulder—but there was a certain confidence in his posture, as if he was fully aware of his own importance, regardless of appearances. His hands were still covered in what looked like glittering dust, likely the remnants of whatever experiment or work he had been conducting.

Maya grinned, ignoring his complaints. "It's been a while! And here I thought you were too busy to see me," she teased lightly before gesturing toward Astron. "This is Astron Natusalune."

At the mention of Astron's name, Kieran's eyes flicked toward him, narrowing slightly as if assessing him quickly. Then, something seemed to click, and his gaze sharpened with recognition. "Astron Natusalune..." he repeated slowly as if rolling the name around in his head. "What a fricking weird name."

Maya's grin faltered for a moment, her expression shifting to one of slight embarrassment as she quickly stepped forward and tried to cover Kieran's mouth with her hand. "How can you say it like that, Kieran?" she said, her voice laced with playful scolding, though there was an edge of seriousness in her tone.

Kieran simply shrugged, pulling her hand away from his face with a nonchalant grin. "What? I'm just saying what's on my mind," he replied, unbothered by her reaction. He shot a glance at Astron. "No offense, man, but you've got one of those names that sounds like it belongs in a mysterious prophecy or something. People must do double-takes when they hear it."

Astron, for his part, remained completely unfazed.

"None taken," Astron replied calmly, his violet eyes gleaming with a flicker of amusement. "I've heard stranger."

Maya gave an exasperated sigh, shaking her head, though she couldn't help but smile at the exchange. "You never change, Kieran," she said, glancing at him with a mixture of affection and frustration. She looked at Astron, who was clearly unbothered, and relaxed.

Kieran shrugged again, his confidence unshaken. "Why should I? Being straightforward keeps things simple."

Maya chuckled softly. "Simple isn't exactly your style, you know."

"Fair point," Kieran conceded with a smirk, his eyes gleaming mischievously as he ran a hand through his messy hair, still dusted with glittering particles from whatever he had been working on. "But that's why people like me. They know exactly what they're getting."

Astron observed the dynamic between the two with quiet interest. It was clear they had a long-standing familiarity, the kind that allowed for banter without taking offense.

Though Kieran's words were unfiltered, they lacked malice, and Astron could sense that Maya found his candid nature refreshing, even if it occasionally exasperated her.

'But…..'

However inwardly there were many questions that were popping on his head.

'Kieran Valis... Could it be him?'

Astron's thoughts shifted inwardly as he recalled a specific NPC from the later stages of the game, a dwarf who bore the same name. In the chaotic period when wars raged across the world and factions were locked in brutal conflict, this dwarf appeared at a critical juncture. The plot at that point was intense, with the player tasked with capturing a demon stronghold that had been terrorizing nearby regions.

Once the stronghold fell, the player would discover a prison deep within its fortress. Among the captives was a bitter, angry dwarf. At first, the dwarf harbored intense hatred toward humans, cursing the player and treating them with open hostility.

The player would escort the dwarf to their own battlefront and then from there the dwarf would be sent to the dwarf camp.

And following that the player would come to learn to the fact that the dwarf that they have saved named Kieran was actually a talented blacksmith and a magic engineer.

From that point on, some things in the store would also become available with new formulas as the shop would expand.

Though the NPC named Kieran's backstory would never be revealed and the players would be left in the dark.

Astron remained outwardly composed, but internally, his thoughts raced as he studied Kieran. 'Kieran Valis… could it really be him?' Though there wasn't enough evidence to make a definitive conclusion, the pieces gnawed at his mind, lingering like a half-formed idea.

Without drawing attention to himself, Astron focused inward, drawing mana into his eyes. His vision sharpened, shifting from the mundane to something far more intricate as he tuned into the flow of mana around Kieran. To the untrained eye, Kieran was just a short, messy blacksmith covered in glittering dust. But Astron's enhanced perception saw deeper.

The mana that moved through Kieran was unusual. It wasn't chaotic like most Awakened individuals, nor did it have the smooth, controlled flow of a human. Instead, it was compact and concentrated, as if his very form was made not to be used in combat but more for longer and stable consumption.

Even more telling were the faint biological markers Astron noticed—dense bone structure, slightly stouter limbs, and a resilience in his aura that hinted at the race.

'Indeed, a dwarf,' Astron concluded, the certainty is settling in his mind.

While Kieran's appearance might not fully match what most would expect of a dwarf, the clues were there. His mana structure and subtle physical traits were unmistakable to someone with Astron's level of perception.

But if Kieran was indeed a dwarf, what was he doing here, in the heart of Ardmont's Awakened City Center, running a shop that catered to Awakened? And why was there no indication of his heritage, no outward display of the pride dwarves typically took in their craft?

'Interesting…..First an elf and a dwarf….'

After the reveal of Maya's past, making the connection was not that hard.

'Maybe related to Aelion?'

While dwarfs and Elves hated each other, there was still a certain kinship that they felt being from the same planet and traveling somewhere else.

There could be many points where an elf met with a dwarf. Heck, Aelion might even have ties with a dwarf family of hard circumstances and could be hiding them there.

Or this matter could be completely unrelated to Maya, though seeing her like that, it did not seem to be the case.

As Astron pieced together the fragments of Kieran's past, his mind circled around the possibilities. The Kieran from the game had been bitter, almost consumed by his hatred for humans, and it made sense. If he had indeed been betrayed by those he once trusted, or even by humans who were supposed to protect him, that could explain why he ended up in the hands of the demons.

'But how did it all begin?' Astron wondered, his thoughts racing. Kieran wasn't the type to simply fall into a trap. For a dwarf of his skill—both in magic engineering and blacksmithing—he must have had enemies, people who saw his talents and wanted to exploit them. Perhaps someone had discovered his talents and made a move, or maybe his connection to Maya's family, or even to Aelion, had placed him in a precarious position.

The possibility that the Evergreen family had failed to protect him loomed large in Astron's mind. Maya's lineage, her connection to Aelion, and the tensions between different factions could have easily played a role. The fact that elves and dwarves, despite their historical enmity, were from the same planet and had ties that could surface at critical moments, only deepened Astron's suspicions. If Aelion had a connection to Kieran's family, that might explain why Kieran was here, hidden away in Ardmont's bustling market, quietly working under the radar.

But it didn't stop there. If Kieran had been betrayed by humans—perhaps even sold out by those who coveted his talents—his capture by demons could have been the result of such treachery. It would explain the deep, almost irrational hatred he harbored against humans in the game. And, if Maya's family had any involvement in trying to protect or hide him, it would also explain the complex dynamics Astron was witnessing now.

Still, these were just speculations—possibilities that lined up but lacked hard evidence. 'I need more proof,' Astron thought, keeping his demeanor calm despite the whirlwind of thoughts swirling in his head. He couldn't jump to conclusions, not yet. While everything seemed to connect on some level, he knew better than to rely solely on assumptions.

Astron kept these thoughts to himself, his expression remaining calm and unreadable.

If it was really him, Kieran could be a crucial figure in the future—someone whose talents would be needed when the chaos erupted.

'For now, let's see.' Just as Astron's mind processed all these thoughts in a matter of seconds, his violet eyes flicking briefly toward Kieran, Maya turned toward him with a curious look. She could always sense when Astron was deep in thought, even when he masked it perfectly on the surface.

"We're here to check out some of your products, Kieran," Maya explained, her voice returning to its usual casual warmth. "Astron is looking for something that might complement his abilities, and I thought your shop would be a good place to start."

Kieran's mischievous grin faded, his demeanor shifting into something far more serious as he entered "business mode." His eyes, still gleaming with curiosity, locked onto Astron's. "I see," Kieran said, his voice steady. "Looking for something in particular? A weapon, armor, or maybe a custom item? I don't stock the usual run-of-the-mill stuff here. Everything's got a little... extra."

Astron gave a small nod, still maintaining his composed exterior. "I have something in mind."

He said that he had grabbed something from his spatial storage.

CLANK!

And then spilled it to the ground.

'Let's test your capabilities first.'