For as long as I could remember, I hated blood. It didn't made me queasy or anything like that, but I still hated it. The way it looked, splattering everywhere or trickling from a corpse. The way it smelled so strongly of iron, which would itch my senses in the wrong way. The way it felt and how it slowly solidifies.

  That's why I became a scout for the IUP. It was easy for me to look for things with my senses. Almost too easy. And from my perspective, everyone else seemed slow, as if they weren't really trying.

  Only my brother seemed to meet my standards. Well, only when he was fighting. Honestly, it was beautiful. Even I wasn't able to mimic his skills, despite my advantages.

  While I was also a Runner, I didn't have to do any fighting, which gave me a lot of opportunities to watch them in action. No one really cares that I didn't fight since I did my job well.

  One thing I found my self enjoying was watching the wildlife. Animals were much more fun to watch. They move quicker and all function according to their instincts. The babies also grow up faster and can pretty much take care of themselves.

  My little brother, Monzu, really took his time. He's cute sometimes but I'm worried he won't grow up properly if he takes too long. It's been a long time since I've seen him. Hopefully, he's big now.

  We finally returned to camp after an infiltration mission that took 4 months to complete. My older brother, Tahan, got really angry and ran off into the jungle. He probably went to vent but didn't come back for a few weeks. I think he might have figured out the truth.

  While Tahan was gone, I found out that the camp sold off Kasia to the IUP. They didn't tell me at first, so I had to do a bit of digging. Apparently some IUP agents gave away a stockpile of rations and supplies, saying that they would bring Kasia to the Great States to study medicine. I doubt they could teach her anything.

  She probably knew more about the human body than most doctors. She dealt with thousands of patients and basically resurrected them back from the dead.

  The first time I saw it, I was baffled. I've seen my fair share of death and I'm quite confident in my perception, but by some miracle Kasia slapped the death away like it was some bug. I'm exaggerating a bit but considering what she had to work with, it wasn't too far off.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Anyways, when I returned to camp, Monzu was left all alone. He recognized me right away and ran over, with his face stuffed with food. He tried to recount what happened while bawling like a baby. Apparently he's been having to steal food to survive for the past few days after Kasia was taken.

  I spent some time looking after Monzu and waiting for Tahan to return. That kid was a bottomless pit, so I was very busy.

  I learned that the other refugees would hit Monzu whenever they caught him poking around their food supplies. That's why he had marks all over his body. Fighting isn't really my thing and Monzu seemed like he was fine so I didn't really care to do anything too crazy about it.

  After a week of entertainment, Tahan came back with a subtle scar on his lip and a solemn face. He probably had a lot on his mind.

  When he came back, I told him about Kasia and Monzu and his eyes shifted from hazy to unfiltered rage.

  If he could run through mountains and on the surface of water, he probably would have ran all the way to the States to get Kasia back. Sure, he had inhuman skills but not enough to defy gravity just yet.

  He instead focused on using his staus as a Runner to get information on who had taken Kasia. His name was Ben Wills, the son of one of the people taking advantage of the war. He was able to figure out whoch plane they took and the destination, but for some reason no one knew anything else.

  Facing a dead end, Tahan had no choice but to wait.

  Watching over Monzu was a big help for him. Monzu was what tied us together, even now. Better yet, he had mom's eyes. I could tell how much he reminded Tahan of her.

  As I watched my brother pick up the pieces of himself that he lost, I felt something inside of me change too. I always treated everything like a game, holding myself back from what I was truly capable of, only going through the motions.

  I thought that the world did not deserve my effort. But I was wrong. Tahan showed me that I should, instead, force the world to function at my pace.

  My brother was special. When he is lost, he'd become a pitiful creature. But when he finds the courage and belief in himself, each step he takes creates a ripple that spreads to others.

  And it's because of these ripples that I started trying a little harder, using my senses to its full potential instead of just to fulfill a role.

  Within a month, we heard that the IUP and LSP were pulling out from the war. This had a devastating effect on the inhabitants.

  With no motive to fight, the war slowed to a crawl but nothing was the same. Too many people were killed, leaving bodies upon bodies scattered around the warzone.

  Millions of people were displaced and separated. Homes were razed to the ground and villages were emtpied out.

  We learned about the HRA, which swooped in and quickly took control, going great lengths to resettle, rebuild, and establish order.

  Tahan stayed and joined their efforts. It was later that we learned that Kasia was safe and had been saved by the HRA.

  We shortly got in contact with her and planned to meet up.

  The reunion felt strange, because we were like completely different people. Kasia had become the leader of her own team, gaining a level of confidence that was unlike her past self.

  Tahan, on the other hand, grew softer, no longer resembling a brick wall.

  As for Monzu, I think he might have doubled in size.

  There was a lot to catch up on. But one thing was clear: everything was going to change. Little did we know.