Damien was inside a room meditating along with the old man that took him in. He slowly opened his eyes that are now filled with a calm spirit, no longer shining brightly. He looked over to his side to observe the old man. Surprised he didn’t feel anything, he quickly asked him a question.

“Have I finally done it Grandpa Veron?”

He looked over expectantly and saw his grandpa snap his eyes open and put his face directly in front of his. With a laugh Veron responded back.

“The time has come kiddo, you can finally control your eyes! Now I can allow you to venture into the outside world with me.”

Damien has been living here with Veron ever since he was taken in. Every person who interacted with him was inflicted with pain deep inside of them. This led Veron to help him find ways to control his eyes since he could walk and talk. Staying cooped up in the middle of a forest led him to almost go insane from the lack of social interaction except with his grandpa. To take his mind off his depressed thoughts, he would study and train everyday. Veron prescribed him his daily routines of physical exercise, swordplay, and various types of books. As time went along Damien noticed that his grandpa was a master swordsman while also being proficient in wind magic. Veron never really talked about magic to Damien. All he ever told him was that building up your body will help you create your vessel to better house and use magic.

Aside from the same daily routines, he would meditate everyday to try to control the power behind his eyes. He never knew how he got them nor was he told anything about his origins, aside that his parents died young and his grandpa took him in. All that led to today where he made a breakthrough in his mental state. He is able to quench the power in him by achieving a water-calm state where nothing could affect his mental state.

With a sudden slap on his shoulder he awoke from his stupor and looked up to his grandpa. He wore a simple armor set that hugged his body with a straight sword on his side. He had gray hair that was pulled back and tied up. No one would tell that he was actually 72 years old but he was still exuding formidable strength with his simple getup.

“Can we leave this forest now?”

Veron smiled, but deep inside his eyes he had a glint of gloom. He knew Damien had been suffering from living a sheltered life.

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“Yes, pack your things. We will leave for Gats tomorrow morning. I still have a few connections there. Also I have a gift for your accomplishment, come find me when you are finished.”

As Veron left, Damien’s smile turned to a self pitying smirk. He has never had any friends or an experience beyond talking with his grandpa. Now he is expected to take it all in with no understanding of others. These thoughts ran through his mind for a few seconds until his excitement of leaving isolation came back to him once again. He quickly grabbed all of his possessions and placed them into a suitcase. Once he finished he went to go find his grandpa in his study. Veron sat there facing the door as he was expecting him to come already.

“Gramps, you said something about a gift, right?”

He asked shyly becausehe never really received any, not even for his birthday. In an instant a sword and glasses appeared in his hands. The sword was a large bastard sword with many engraved runes. Next to it were glasses that had dark tinted lenses.

“These items are my gift to you. This sword has magical properties that allow you to manipulate its weight with the mana injected. It is a bit big for you now but I’m sure you will grow into it. Now these glasses help shroud your eyes just in case you lose yourself.”

As he was handing them over Damien quickly interrupted him.

“Wait, so you had a method to conceal my eyes? What was the point of me staying in my entire life!?”

Veron calmly looked at him before speaking.

“There is a difference between personal ability and assisted ability. You would rely so much on these glasses you would’ve never learned anything. You would be a prisoner to them and what would happen if they were to break?”

There was a long silence until Damien looked up and just nodded. He walked over to receive the items and asked him a question.

“How did you make these items appear anyways, Gramps?”

Veron smirked slightly and pointed to one of his many rings.

“It’s a spatial ring, something that’s beyond you for now, little one.”

Damien looked at the ring with open eyes. He then controlled his emotions and bowed towards his grandpa.

“Thank you gramps, in no time I will acquire my own artifacts with my own hands.”

Without another word spoken he turned around and went straight into his room. He took out the sword and poured a bit of mana into it. It instantly fell to the ground due to its weight. It was too heavy for his current physique and he needed to learn to control the weight minutely. After a bit of experimenting he sheathed the bastard sword and put on the glasses he received. He felt a shade of dark energy veiling his eyes.

“I should wear them all the time, to be safe.”

He put away the items and went straight to bed. The excitement of tomorrow's adventure kept his mind awake until he used meditation to lose all thoughts and fall into a deep slumber