Earth
William was having the time of his life at home, reading all his favourite materials.
Things had been looking good for the family ever since Alex won the competition and brought back that huge sum of money.
Alex had not even become an official hunter yet, but the good fortune he brought to the family made him very proud as a father; he did not fail in his duties.
William did not have to worry about how to pay for the fare of his other son, Aaron anymore and he didn't have to work extra shifts either.
He could afford whatever his son wanted, be it new clothes, learning materials or even getting him a video game console.
Food was no longer an issue either as from time to time, Alex would stop by and bring with him large quantities of meat, and they were high-quality ones too.
They were very nutritious and because they were filled with small bits of mana, it did wonders for their skin.
Sarah was in the kitchen preparing lunch with some of that meant while he read articles on his screen.
Everything was right with the world… Until he got a notification from his device that brought him out of his immersion.
Initially, he thought it was a message sent to him by one of his work colleagues, but the moment he saw it, his heart fell to his stomach.
"What?!"
He exclaimed and abruptly got to his feet, already fearing the worst. On his device was a red notice that only appeared if a member of your family stopped transmitting their signal.
And in most cases, it occurs when the said person dies.
William felt his heartbeat increase as the fear of what he might see when he opened the notification stopped him from moving.
But he pushed away his fears and opened the notification, only to see Alex's signal cut off.
His eyes widened in horror as all the colour drained from his face.
"Honey, is everything alright?"
Sarah appeared in the hall with a napkin in hand, wiping whatever remains were left on her hands. However, the expression on her husband's face scared her.
His face was pale like he had seen a ghost. He didn't even respond to her call and remained standing.
With fearful steps, Sarah approached her husband and saw the notification hanging in the air.
Then and there, Sarah fainted.
"Sarah!"
Luckily for her, William came out of his shocked state and caught her before she injured herself.
William's eyes were already misty as he had no idea what to do at the moment. On one hand, he wanted to call the academy and find out what happened to his son.
Did he die on his hunting missions or was it something else?
He was scared to even ask, but he couldn't remain ignorant either.
Maybe it might be a different situation altogether and may not be what he was thinking.
'Alex, please, be fine. Please, be fine.'
He chanted inwardly as he attended to her wife.
"Sarah... Sarah… Please wake up."
He tried to get his wife to wake up but she was unresponsive. The shock from the message was too much for her to bear, making her system shut down to escape the trauma; at least for the time being.
Willian himself was having a hard time but had to remain strong. Even then, he couldn't calm himself down as the desperation set in.
"Call for an ambulance to his location and the academy!"
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and prompted his AI assistant to call the academy.
His breathing had become rugged from trying to keep his tears from falling but failing miserably.
"Ah… ah… Alexander!"
He cried out, feeling a part of himself fade away as the tears fell freely.
"Y-you're too young to die! You can't be gone!"
He knew the hunting profession was not without its dangers, but to lose Alex when he hadn't even begun to live his life, have a wife and know what it was like to have a family of his own broke him more than he admitted.
As he bellowed in tears the call finally connected.
......
Seraph was in her office, thinking about how to report the incident to the empire. She knew she was in for a world of talking-to for losing the golden boy of humanity.
"Haa… What a mess this has become."
Suddenly, a call came through for her.
[Ma'am, a call from public affairs. Alexander's father is on the line and refuses to speak to anyone besides you.
[Considering the current situation, we judged that you might want to take it. May I forward it through?]
'Great, just what I needed.'
Seraph sighed.
On top of writing a report, she now had to cater for Alex's family and try to assure them. It hadn't even been 10 minutes yet, but the headaches had begun for her.
"Pass it to me."
She said and abruptly the loud voice of a man who was clearly in pain resounded through her office.
[Principle! What happened to my son?! And don't give me any bullshit apology!]
"Please, Mr. Grey. Come down. I will tell you everything but doing it over the line isn't the way to go about it."
[What are trying to say?]
"I'm saying we're already making arrangements for you to arrive at the academy and get the whole picture of what happened. Will that be alright with you?"
Seraph said, putting a hand on her forehead.
[…]
For a moment, no response came as it appeared William was considering his options.
'He has to consider bringing everyone along or coming alone.'
She could tell what the man was thinking and waited patiently for his response to come.
[I'll be there as soon as possible.]
"Of course, I'll be waiting for you."
The call finally ended and Seraph reclined into her chair.
'Alex, oh Alex, where are you?'
It was the question on everyone's mind and will soon be on everyone's once they learned about what happened.
'Don't you dare die on us…'