Entering the adventurer’s guild, a sudden chill crawled down Taryn’s spine. His beastial instincts warning him of an imminent danger to his well-being. Yet after a brief scan with his eyes and even a few sniff, no threat has presented itself. Assuring himself that no harm could possibly befall him, the boy continued into the private training room, his home away from inn for the past three months.
Only to realise the premonition his subconscious was sending him involved the seated Monica that greeted his entrance.
Her smile was far too wide to be normal. The way her bow hand twitched at every step he took was even more jarring. And her eyes were ones of an oppressed slave given both a sword and his master tied up.
The overall image sent warning bells through Taryn’s entire being. Yet his inherit trust in Monica built through the months prevented him from fleeing, whispering to him “She won’t kill you. She’s a friend. You’ll be fine,” as he sat down for the morning lessons. The soothing words from his mind easing the tension from his body’s warnings.
He was ultimately betrayed by his own trust, a lesson he will learn many more times in the coming future. Even if his trust was correct, it was only partially. And the missing part was rather pivotal.
Monica would not kill him, she was his friend, but he was not fine. Trust never assured him of physical harm. Nor did it warn him of the bombardment of arrows that would rain down upon him after Lanna left and Monica uttered the phrase, “I have some new things I want to try in our training,” in her sweetest voice yet.
Initially, he believed her demonstration the other day was only possible through her and him remaining stationary. That belief was quickly killed off after he tried to block one, only to have it phase through his wooden sword, and earned a blunted tip to his chest knocking the wind out of him. With blocking removed from the equation, the boy then spent the rest of his morning unwittingly doing agility training against a very motivated and faster shooting Monica.
By the time lunch rolled around, Monica was standing over a panting Taryn, hands on her hips in a triumphant pose as she spoke out.
“How does feel now huh? To be at my mercy oh great swordsman. Bow down to your betters.”
“Where. Did. You. Pick. Up. That. Silly. Line?” the dog panted out.
“It is not silly. And I pick it out from a story I read yesterday from our new bookshelf. An elven lady of great power said that as she defeated the hero.”
“Oh really. How did that one end? The lady elf and hero got together, didn’t they?”
“Yes they did get together after the hero grew stronger and challenge her again. But not before the two joined forces to fight a great evil. It is so much better if you just read it yourself instead of asking me like that,” the girl replied, oblivious to the hidden sarcasm within the statement.
“Yeahhh. No. All of your stories sound the same. Some people got together and fought something and then fell in love. I’d rather stick to training.”
“Urghh,” finally noticing the jab, Monica retorted, “This is why I was shooting you. Besides vengeance of course. I needed to get you this tired before I can have some peace to read.”
“Eh? But I don’t make any noises when I train,” the boy shot her an incredulous look.
“Hmp. You just standing there training is enough to bother me.”
“That’s because you’re a busy body. We have been over this before. You can’t keep it to yourself. It’s not my fault.”
“It is. You are my friend, friends have to do stuff together like the books. So I train when you do. And since you are tired now, I can get you to read.”
“Hah. Fine. Lunch is here anyways. Looks like you won’t get any reading in early.”
“Heh? No. Looks like I have to be faster to knock you down.”
“Yeah, yeah. Lanna is coming in with the food anytime now.”
Taryn announced as he smelled the food and heard Lanna’s footstep heading towards them.
A few seconds later, Lanna opened the door with a tray carrying two plates of mashed potatoes with accompanying drumsticks. Monica, quickly noticing her empty stomach, moved over to receive her share. Taryn was about to join, only to pause as another betrayal hit him.
His body was too used to state of inactivity after the strenuous morning to move again. Still, Taryn stood up eventually with determination. Or rather his body complied temporarily in the presence of food.
As the wolf wolfed down his meal, the elf next to him suddenly remembered something.
“Right, I forgot something. Mom told me if Thomas is not there anymore, you can come to her for help. Not sure why she said that though. Anything happened to him yesterday?”
Taryn swallowed a mouthful before replying, “Hmm. No, He seemed fine. Just a little more silent. But he gets like that when I smell orc blood on him after a request. So it’s not too uncommon.”
“Oh. Ok then. Mom is weird like that sometimes. Told me to be nicer to you too.”
“Eh? Be good girl and do as your mom said then.”
“Bleh? Fat chance. I’m still going to get you back for the two months of chasing.”
“Welp. Worth a shot,” Taryn shrugged as he kept up with the eating.
Lunch continued for a few more minutes as the two settled into a comfortable silence.
Meals finished and plates returned, the two got into their usual spots as Lanna gave them the second lesson of the day. The lessons, Taryn noticed, were getting duller each day. After the his first month learning words, the following two learning the rather exciting history with Monica, these days they mostly worked with the more recent history. Something that was inherently boring due to the peaceful nature of the current relationship between the nations. There were no more wars between the races. Monsters now only had quantity instead of quality with the ones from legends mostly in hiding. This lead to the child’s mind wandering.
He thought about the things that might be wrong with Thomas from Monica’s point earlier. The old man seems fine to me. He talked to me the same. The training is going a bit faster. But I asked for it. So that couldn’t be right. Did he smell any different then. No. Then what is it. Maybe I should ask him later. Yeah, I should. His conclusion reached, Taryn pulled his mind back to reality. Though it was not entirely there as he still fretted subconsciously over the questions he was going to ask
The lesson and following nap was a blur to the child as the grip Thomas’ unknown condition grew ever-stronger. It spiked exponentially when Monica was picked up before him and Taryn was left alone to his thoughts. Stop worrying about the old man. He’s probably fine. He’s always been. But what if he’s not. What would be wrong with him then. Was It something I did. Did he get like this because I didn’t run enough. It could be. Then I’ll run more. That should fix things. But if it’s not the running. Then it could be me not doing well enough with training. Monica is even beating me now. Right, that could be it. Agatha knew Monica was going to beat me. That means Thomas should too. They’re both adults. So I need to get better then. But how. I could learn to roll better. That kept the arrows away the best. I can ask for some new training from Thomas. I can ask him to…
The boy’s musing was cut short by Lanna opening the door to call him out to Thomas. His thoughts processes died down as he realized the impending moment of truth was on the horizon. Steadying his resolve, Taryn walked out of the room determined to find out.
Seeing Thomas proceeded to kill his momentum. He looked like he always did,not a feature out of place. His manners were not different either. He still carried an easy smile. He still made a snarky comment at the child’s stare. Taryn reconsidered the whole situation. He is still the same. Nothing seems wrong. Asking would just make things weird. Monica’s mom is just wrong. Things are fine. And if there was a problem, it’s probably with my training. I just need to step things up. It was with those assurances that Taryn buried his worries and went on with his life.
The days of the following three months passed in much the same manner. Taryn would spend his morning dodging Monica’s increasingly faster arrows, the afternoon learning more on the boring current affairs and night pushing himself even further. Monotony was slowly growing, only to cease when Taryn’s own sixth birthday was around the corner. The boy grew even more energized in his training than usual in what was probably a last ditch effort to shape his [blessing].
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Finally, the morning of the fateful day arrived. Taryn started his day with an even larger spring in his steps compared to three months prior when it was Monica’s ceremony. The morning routine was finished with well practiced ease. Breakfast was eaten like it was his last. And the trip to the guild house even faster than every one of his runs from it to the inn. All of them done with an excited grin plastered to his face. Entering the guild with his grin still in place, Taryn called out to Monica.
“Hey, you did show up early. Thought you would be sleeping more.”
“Hmp. Who do you think I am to leave you waiting like that.”
“The same one that might not like watching me get better than them again.”
“Hah. You won’t. I will still have the better [blessing].”
“We’ll see, Miss reads-a-lot.” the boy replied before turning excitedly to Lanna at the desk.
“Can we start now? I know I’m a bit earlier than Monica last time. But it should be fine. Right?”
The receptionist simply rose from her chair and gave the boy’s head a pat before saying.
“Of course you can. We were just waiting for you. Now let’s get going.”
The two children and adult headed up the stairs to the same room that was used previously. Upon entrance, the sight that welcomed them was likewise the same, magic crystal at the center with a magic circle encompassing it. Differences only came to the surface when Lanna began to make the adjustments necessary to the ceremony. The crystal was glowing with a softer light than the one in Taryn’s memory. Lanna’s further words only confirmed things.
“Since we do not know what your [blessing] will be, the mana output of the crystal will be lowered a bit to make sure there will be no accidents. But...”
Before Lanna can continue, Monica has already pointed a finger towards the boy and began to gloat.
“Seee. I have the better one. Hahahaha.”
“Ehem. If you would let me finish Monica. The crystal’s intensity is only to speed up the process. Otherwise idiots would just hire mages to pump them with a lot of mana to try and get a stronger connection and pull a better [blessing]. So don’t worry Taryn. You will just pull whatever you connect well with.”
The boy nodded and moved over to the crystal. He still remembered the procedure Monica went through. He put his hands onto the crystal, felt the mana at his fingertips and let it flow into him. Taryn then went through last step imagine pulling the tingling energy from his chest. Unknown to him, his process was different compared to Monica’s. He had multiple funnels with energy waiting for him to synchronize with and pull into reality. He felt around for them and eventually found one that felt right. And so he pulled. The process was slow without the aid of excess mana. But he eventually pulled through and received his [blessing]. Unlike Monica who rushed through the epiphany for just her power’s abilities, He lingered for a bit longer and saw how it was shaped by him. From what was just a type of aura that enhanced his strength, the countless hours of practice and mental dependence that the child had for the sword enabled it to stretch over and strengthen his blade. From the ever burning desire to be able block Monica’s rain of ethereal arrows, the aura condensed into something that can. Eventually coming out of his visions after two hours, Taryn looked up and smiled brightly to Monica. Through the girl’s eyes, she saw an empowered man ready to oppose his oppressor in honorable combat, a similar visage no different from hers back then. Ready to reassert herself, Monica knocked a spirit arrow and loosed it. Only for taryn to swat it away with an arm swathed in a pulsing aura of gray.
“Hahahahaha. I can finally block. No more knocking me down for reading. We will do exciting training again with my [Aura shroud],” Taryn’s eyes glowed with purpose. The desire to swing a sword in retaliation after three months of just dodging was spilling forth. And Monica decided to switch topic before Taryn decided to just drag her down to their training room and duke it out there and then.
“Anywayyy. Where are we having party part. I wanna eat at the food center again.”
“Ehehe,” Taryn laughed sheepishly, ”I was too focus on getting the powers. I kinda forgot to ask for anything. Thomas is out already. I think your mom is too. Sooo.”
“Ehhh. You did not actually forget to ask for something.”
“I thought the training platforms installed were already an early gift for me. And Thomas doesn’t really take me out to eat. So I didn’t ask.”
“So what are we going to do now,” Monica tiredly asked.
A third voice joined their conversation.
“You kids can just go back to the training room and have lunch there. I won’t bring in any lessons. You can just relax for the afternoon. Thomas also said he will bring a cake when he is back, It’s your birthday after all.”
“Yayy. At least we still have cake. Now let’s get lunch. Maybe I can even get you to read with me.”
“Fine.”
With acceptance of the boy, the trio traveled down into the room after picking up lunch. As the two spent their time eating, Monica decided to ask more on the boy’s power to better prepare for the coming days.
“What exactly can you do anyways? Besides just blocking my shots.”
“Well, I have this piece of aura the size of my arm. I can wrap it around things like my arm or sword. It can harden to block things or make whatever it wrap around sharper. Only one type of enhancement at a time though. I can shape it a bit. And it can grow with practice too. Pretty cool huh.”
“But it’s not a full body shield now right?” the boy nodded, “Good, I can still shoot you then.”
“You are weird. You know that right Monica.”
“Shut up and get to eating. I know just the story we can read after this.”
“I’ll pass. It’s just going to be another hero and princess thing again.”
“No, I read ahead. The hero gets betrayed and sided with the demons.”
“Ooh. Cool, does he have demon sword with that.”
“He does. Now let’s finish this so we can get started on that.”
Thoroughly enticed, Taryn began clearing his plate with gusto. His thoughts set on the fascinating new storyline involving demons.
Lunch finished, the two settle down next to each other as Monica pulled out the book she mentioned. The story began just as Monica has pitched it. The hero was tricked by the empire and thrown into the wilderness to fend for himself. In his blind bid for vengeance, the betrayed took the hand offered by the queen of darkness.
“Oh. This is where it gets even better.”
Urged on by his friend’s forecast, Taryn stepped further down the trail. Only to fall face first as the plot took an unexpected turn. The betrayed and dark one took a liking to each other. Their mutual hatred to the empire blossomed into something more. And at the eventual final battle at the capital, another development soured his opinions further.
The princess was ignorant of it all, left in the dark by her very father. The hero, being the bleeding heart that he was, spared her. She eventually joined hand with the two invaders to usurp the corrupt ruling class.
The story then divulged into more politics, something Lanna stated fairly firmly that her should not get into, and restoration. All of which we interlaced with the systematic falling of the princess and demon queen.
It then lead to a conclusion that boggled the child’s mind. Why would they share the people they liked? Monica seemed to enjoy it and he decided to humour her for once. I can block now. But angry Monica is still angry Monica. And fast arrows are hard to block. So he sat quietly until Monica was done reveling in her book before he made his drowsiness known and asked for a nap to avoid any discussions and eventual sarcastic complaints.
________________________________________________________________________
Out within the guild hall, Thomas entered the guild after the day’s request to find his almost daily annoyance sitting idly by the waiting area.
Agatha has taken it upon herself to show Thomas the errors of his way ever since that talk they had three months ago. From that day forth, the woman can be seen meandering the guild whenever she arrived before Thomas could go and pick up the boy. Constantly telling him how his plan of just bailing once the boy turned fifteen was idiotic. How abandoning the boy again was going to destroy any sort of progress the kid might have made at healing. Even dragging Lanna into things, though the receptionist seemed to respect his decision. And Thomas would always say was that he would sugar coat things, make the kid thinks he is just sending him to the mercs for more training. The trip would make him grow distant from Thomas and smooth the whole dumping procedure over. No chance was there that the boy would see it as abandonment. The elf did not receive the excuse well the first time or any that followed it and would continue to refute.
And today was no different as Agatha’s nagging began anew.
“Have you changed your mind?”
“For the umpteenth time. No.”
“Could you just see reason for once. Taking the boy to the mercenary is not going to cut it anymore.”
“And why is that. It offers a much more stable pay. Friends that he could make besides your airhead daughter. And gives me the freedom to wallow all I want.”
“Before, I would have just said that you would be cruel to just make him lose even more family and how he would turn back to his workaholic ways if he was removed from Monica. But now after your kid got his [blessing], things have changed.”
“What do you mean? I gave him practice on defending mostly so any [blessing], even if unique, is not going to be too conspicuous.”
“That’s not what Lanna heard during their lunch. Your boy had an aura type that grew. It covers things and makes them either harder or sharper. Which would not raise many eyebrows if it didn’t grow with practice. The boy would have a free suit of armor and weapon enchantment when he hits fifteen with the way he is training.”
“I don’t see a problem. Not many people would know.”
“Hah. I still forgot you are new to the whole adventurer business. Guilds provide the info of their [blessing] ceremonies to the higher ups. So someone up there will eventually know of this and pull the boy into service from the Mercenary Union. Especially when the whole Cardinal versus The Pope powerplay in the Church over at Mennes Empire. So just reconsider, please. You don’t want him in this mess. At least let me take him in.”
“And let him visit me every chance he gets and try to persuade me from letting go. No. Now I have a cake to bring to the kids.”
Ending the conversation, Thomas moved over to Lanna to deliver the item that would continue his caring facade for the boy. As the cake was delivered, he went over to the request board to avoid anymore conversations with a miffed mother. As he roamed over the board for a possible job for tomorrow, his mind thought back on Agatha’s offer.
The woman has never put it across that Taryn be left in her care before. The offer was somewhat tempting as he could start forgoing his responsibilities sooner. Yet the possibility of a stubborn dog dragging him by the leg back into activity was not something he would want. Neither was the shame of letting the boy see him buried in bottles. Plans unchanged, Thomas returned to his job searching and quietly thought to himself. She’ll get Taryn over my dead body.