“Saygak, you are a Gak,” Kaygak stated, calmly. “You should use a sword and shield.”
“I want to be a Blood Mage!” Saygak shouted again, but seeing his mother motion with her hand, he repeated it, but quieter. “I want to be a Blood Mage.”
The other children nearby remained silent, sitting at their typical place during lunch. They glanced between the adults and Saygak.
“Cousin Jaygak is so strong,” Kaygak began. “She is… cool?”
Saygak sniffled. “Jaygak is cool.” He nodded affirmatively.
“So you want to be a warrior that uses a sword and shield like Jaygak, yes?”
“Yes?”
“Good,” Kaygak said, rubbing his head. “You will become a great warrior.”
“I want to be a Blood Mage!”
“Saygak, you…” Kaygak began, frowning towards her son.
The hair on the back of Adam’s hair tingled, and he tried to step back, trying to hide behind the other Iyrmen.
“Cousin Adam!” Saygak cried. “Oo! Woo!” The boy gasped for air between crying, but he continued to stand tall, even widening his stance the way Taygak would when she would state something definitively.
“What’s this?” Adam asked. “Who is bullying my adorable little Cousin?”
“Who is bullying my son?” Kaygak asked, glaring at Adam, who had been the root of this nonsense.
“Saygak, you want to be a Blood Mage?” Adam asked, walking over to the crying boy. Adam ruffled his hair gently, trying to understand what had happened.
“Yes.”
“Hmm,” Adam hummed quietly, trying to figure out his own thoughts. “Why is that?”
“I want to learn magic,” Saygak said, still gasping for air.
Adam brought out a cloth and wiped the boy’s wet face, allowing him to blow his nose into it. “You want to learn magic?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Magic is good,” Saygak stated, simply, no longer crying quite so hard. He continued to sniffle, but no longer did his tears fall.
“Is magic good?”
“Yes. Magic is good. I will learn magic.”
“Hmm,” Adam hummed once more. “Well, let’s say that magic is good then. Why else do you want to learn magic?”
“I am Iyrman. I learn the magic for Iyr.”
“Ah. You want to help the Iyr by learning magic?”
“Yes.”
“How will you help the Iyr if you learn magic?”
“I learn magic and help Iyr,” Saygak confirmed. “I will enchant.”
‘This is one hundred percent my fault,’ Adam realised, looking up and sighing. He could feel the gazes of the Iyrmen against his back. “So you want to learn magic to help the Iyr, and you want to enchant to help the Iyr.”
“Yes.” The boy nodded. “I learn like Cousin Adam.”
“Right, right,” Adam said, nodding his head as he thought. ‘I’m trying not to die, Saygak. How can you do this to me?’ “Yes, but, don’t I also know how to use weapons? I use an axe and shield, don’t I?”
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The boy blinked. That was completely true. However, recently, the emphasis had been on Adam’s ability to command magic. “I learn Fireball.”
“Why?”
“To help Iyr.”
“Hmm.” Adam racked his brain, trying to find a way to fix this issue. “Well, you know, I don’t think anyone can be a Blood Mage, unfortunately. You have to be born a Blood Mage, I think?”
“I can be Blood Mage,” Saygak confirmed.
Adam narrowed his eyes. ‘Right. This entire time they didn’t say he couldn’t be a Blood Mage because it was impossible.’ “Really?”
“Yes. Iyr will make me a Blood Mage.”
“I don’t think it’s that easy to make a Blood Mage, even for the Iyr,” Adam said, looking to Aunt Sonarot for support.
“The Iyr can do it,” Kaygak said, though she did not elaborate.
“Of course it can,” Adam whispered, shaking his head. “Alright. Well, then what’s the issue?”
“We are Gak,” Kaygak stated. “We use the sword and the shield.”
“Is it wrong for Saygak to become a Blood Mage?” Adam asked, ruffling the boy’s hair still. Saygak looked up to his mother, his lips puckered together as he tried to resist crying.
“No, but being a Blood Mage requires certain promises. If you become a Blood Mage, Saygak, you will have to remain within the Iyr. Do you not want to explore the world as a great Adventurer?”
“No! I will be a Blood Mage!” Saygak’s word were full of determination. No matter how confused he might be about what they were saying, he was not going to allow them to change his words.
“Really?” Adam asked, raising his brows. “I love going on adventures with my brother, and your cousin too. It’s so fun, and I bring back so many gifts, and stories.”
“I will be Blood Mage. I will help the Iyr.”
Adam sighed once more, but he couldn't help but to smile. “What a lovely boy you are, Saygak. You always are so lovely, and now I can see that it’s true. Staying here and helping the Iyr, it’s such a great honour!” He continued to ruffle Saygak’s hair. “How old until you can start training to be a Blood Mage?”
“Ten,” the boy said, his mother confirming with a nod.
“Then, if Saygak still wants to be a Blood Mage at that time, I don’t see any reason why he can’t. You still have a few years until then, and maybe Jaygak can try to convince you otherwise with her great tales. She has such a great weapon too.”
“I enchant great weapon,” Saygak said.
“I’m sure you will.”
Kaygak sighed. She understood that Adam had no idea how long this had been bubbling within Saygak. For so long had the boy asked to become a Blood Mage, saying it every so often over the course of the year. Then, all of a sudden, it had burst forth. She knew that Saygak would not give this up, not any more.
“I want to learn magic,” Saygak said, sniffling again. “I will be Blood Mage.”
“Don’t worry, Saygak,” Adam said, smiling down at the Devilkin boy. “If you want to learn magic, you can learn magic. If you want to learn the sword, you can learn the sword.”
“Saygak,” Taygak called, pointing at her brother. “You Gak! Sword. Shield.”
Saygak’s face began to scrunch up again as he made to cry, but Adam rubbed his head. “Yes, but Saygak is also an Iyrman, isn’t he? He wants to help the Iyr, and he doesn’t want to earn glory for himself. It’s thanks to such lovely boys and girls like Saygak that you can go out and become so strong, Taygak. What a lovely boy your brother is.”
“Saygak, lovely boy,” Taygak confirmed. She walked over to him and hugged him tight, brushing his hair, letting her younger brother hug her.
Kaygak stared down at her children, sighing. Laygak had been trying to convince Saygak away from such thoughts, but he had failed. Even Taygak had quietened him down, but now…
“Okay, let’s eat, shall we?” Adam asked, picking up Konarot, who had been jealous that her father had ruffled Saygak’s hair so much. “What about you? Will you become a Blood Mage for the Iyr? Or will you become a warrior and make a name for yourself?”
Konarot smiled before she snuggled up against her father, causing Kirot and Karot to tug at Adam’s trousers, before he lifted them up too.
“That was a trick question, of course! You will do neither since you’ll say so small and cute forever!” Adam chuckled, kissing their cheeks and foreheads.
‘He is so good with children,’ Kaygak thought. Adam had defeated her the year before, in a single blow at that, and since then she knew not to underestimate him. ‘He assisted Churot into becoming a Scribe Mage, though it could have cost him his status as an Expert…’ The amount of trouble Adam had caused for them was not small in the slightest, but at the same time, he had always been eager to assist them.
Kaygak watched as Adam picked up his sleepy daughter, who had just awoken. The little Goblin girl reached up to grab his chin, before she squealed happily. Adam had spent so much time with the children, the same time that the older Jarot had spent when he was here.
“You smelly girl,” Adam grumbled, nuzzling her nose. “How can you bully me like this?” He left to go change her, taking the awakening twin brother with him.
The teens returned moments later, noting Saygak’s wet face and red eyes. They glanced to Adam, who was taking away his twins, his triplets settling themselves beside their nana.
Nirot gave her aunt a look, who merely nodded her head, and Nirot understood this was definitely Adam’s fault in some way.
“You guys are always working, huh?” Adam said, returning with his twins cuddled up to his chest, suckling on their thumbs.
“There is much work to be done,” Nirot replied, simply.
Adam looked up towards the sky. “It feels weird not working. I mean, it’s not like I don’t like this, but… I feel like I should be doing more.”
“We will spar with you if you are bored,” Nirot urged.
“Hmm.”