The following day, Lan couldn’t leave the house fast enough, the only person who seemed sad to see him go was his mother, and even then, she couldn’t hide the relief that lay under. This repeated for the next two days, with the only change in his situation being the number of people he could talk to and even listen to him. At the end of the second day, Lan got to meet his little brother's future wife, the daughter of an armourer, who, despite looking like a little doll, planned on taking over her family’s business and class item. She tried to be polite, but when Lan tried asking how they had met, Silas dragged her into the living room before storming up to him and sticking his finger in Lan’s face.

‘You stay out of my life. Don’t act like you just get to come back because you failed. No one wants you here.’ As he stormed off, Lan just stood there. Stay out of his life. The irony in those words was finally enough to make something snap. His life… Half of the reason Lan had agreed to marry Eliza was so he could have a life. Lan walked to his room, closed the door behind himself, and sat on his bed. His life… the only reason why he had it was that Lan had spent ten years living a nightmare to buy his life, and Lan had never even gotten a thank you. Instead, he was treated like he was in the wrong. Like his return was an inconvenience to their lives… and truth be told, it was.

As long as Lan was there, Silas’ right to inherit would be in question, and not to mention that his being there was a burden. Although they had never been in a bad financial situation, their father would have scaled back his work so he could train Silas and even though Lan was sure they would have saved up for it. Materials cost a lot, and the prices were only going up. He couldn’t stay…

So what was he going to do next? No class was going to take him at this point, and staying there much longer wasn’t going to work. If he stayed, he could fight for the right to become the heir, but he would be a terrible successor, or he could work under Silus and live a life where he worked for his own little brother in a resentful relationship.

Lan didn’t realise he had any pride left, but just the thought of that made him want to be sick. Not only would he still be all but useless, but the time that Silus would have spent growing his own skills would need to be spent on training Lan. Their father could do it, but that would only bring up questions of succession again. Taking out all emotions of how he was feeling then, it was still off the table. Lan couldn’t even become a Criminal because of his Level. So he was back to finding another apprenticeship or selling himself into servitude for all a level one could do. Sitting in the dark, Lan found his thoughts drifting back to that night at the bar surrounded by so much energy.

Even in the middle of a fight, they had been enjoying themselves. The very idea of that was puzzling. That someone would enjoy fighting. Try as he might, the thought he had in passing kept coming back to him. Adventurers Guild… although most that joined came from combat classes that wasn’t a requirement. It was common sense. But that wasn’t something Lan had the luxury of. Destitution or slavery, both roads that led to a slow, painful death.

So… why not? Why not try to become an adventurer? Even if it was a slim chance, it was better than this, wasn’t it? Even if it was rare, not all guild work could be fighting, and if it was, there had to be some way to make it work. At least, that was what a fool would think. Even if small, if there was any chance a normal person could become an adventurer, more would, and he was far less than normal. Even as a flight of fancy, it was pathetic when all that he would be accomplishing was adding another shame to his name before being eaten by some monster. He couldn’t think of any worse fate than being eaten by that large bird the adventurers had celebrated killing. What could he do against something like that?

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lan was snapped out of his thinking by a knock at his door. Opening it, he was greeted by his mother, giving him the same sad smile.

‘Hello, my sweet. Dinner will be ready in a moment.’ she started.

‘Thanks, but I’m not hungry. I think I’ll just get some sleep.’ Her smile faded.

‘Don’t be upset with your father and brother. they… are just trying to adjust.’ She said, but Lan was distracted by something.

‘Where is your hairpin?’ Lan’s first memories of his mother were one of her singing him to sleep, one time that he had gotten really ill, and in that memory and all others until that morning, she had had the same silver pin in her hair. The gift from his father that she had once said she would not take out even if the gods themselves asked to look at it.

‘Oh, that.’ she looked away. ‘never mind that right now. More importantly, I know that you have been trying your best…’ she paused, taking a breath before continuing. ‘You must not have much money left so. I managed to scrounge up a few coins to help you,’ she said, placing a small piece of cloth into Lan's hand, and he reeled from the words as they hit him like a punch in the chest. There hasn’t been much to sell right now with Silas' training. She started to explain, which only managed to make Lan feel like his heart was being ripped apart. She had sold her pin for him. Were things so bad to get to that point? Forcing a smile, Lan pulled her into a hug.

‘Thank you, mom. But you don’t have to. Just the thought means so much to me.’ her shoulders tensed before she relaxed and hugged him back. ‘You should really hold onto it. I have a little leftover.’ Lan added, breaking off the hug. With tears welling in her eyes, she smiled again, this time without most of the pain that had been there a moment ago.

‘You keep it. You are going to need it on your search.’

‘About that… I think I might have found something.’ she had sold her pin, and the relief on her face… did she think he blamed her? It wasn’t like there was much that they could have done. After Lan had accepted to become Dell’s apprentice, in the eyes of the world and the law, Dell had more authority over Lan than even his mother and father. Only Lan and Dell could have ended it, but Lan had been made to feel like everything depended on him becoming a merchant and now he knew why Dell had kept him around. He couldn’t blame them. No one in their right mind could have expected someone to take an apprentice only to treat them like Dell had to him. It just wasn’t done.

‘Really?’ she said, daring to hope.

‘I can’t get into it too much, but I think there is a good chance. But.’ Lan looked away. ‘it does mean that I will have to be in the city for a little while.

‘Oh, are you going to be okay? you know with your Level.’ She asked, her worry returning.

‘Don’t worry. I’ll be alright.’ Lan smiled. She had sold her pin…

‘Then you shouldn’t go to bed without eating.’ She said, grabbing his arm.

‘I’ll have something in the morning, I promise.’ Lan said, trying and failing to convince her.

‘I’ll bring you something small just in case you get hungry.’ She said, giving him a kiss on the cheek and heading to the kitchen, returning a few moments later with some bread, cheese and tea. Thanking her again. Lan returned to sitting on his bed with a cold clarity to his thoughts. What a fool… despite knowing what his being there would do, Lan had been happy to wallow in his own sadness and pretend He was the only one suffering. What a fool he was. With cold acceptance ringing in his mind, Lan lay back. This was far worse a fate.