Fifth year, second month of his age.
The dusk was still apparent; the sun had not risen up yet.
Maple leaf was rapidly shedding in the middle of autumn.
The windy breeze was rather violent, making the weather at this time unfavorable.
All the people around the town were still sleeping peacefully, except for one.
A young child had been sighted on a particular flower field.
On his left arm, he had wielded a wakizashi. His height didn’t allow him to wield a normal katana.
Taking a step forward and bashed the weapon downwards, then moved a step back raiding his sword up again.
He repeated this stance without a care of the harsh weather.
His sweat that flooded from the body had shown that he trained himself towards the limit.
He was cladded in green aura, which was a [Reinforce] spell he used the other day.
In the multitude of times he swung the sword and ignoring the passage of time. The gentle morning light replaced the dusk.
‘It’s time…’
After he put the sword back to its sheath and disable his aura and proceed to the riverside where he took a dip to wash his body before he went home.
Opening the door, a unique smell had invaded his nose and caused him to look at the direction of the kitchen.
Steams hovered above the pot, as well a presence of his mother cooking gracefully.
“Morning mom, curry?” Ryuu approached her; he took a glance inside the pot.
Her mom smiled back at him, “Yup, today we will have boar curry”
Ryuu had confirmed his breakfast, he felt down a little bit and approached the front door, taking a bag in the way, and said languidly.
“Such great food, im depressed…”
“Oh, you’re leaving early to the forge?” She inquired
“Isn’t it obvious? Oh mom, leave some curry behind for me” A nonchalant answer from the child and he opened the front door and quickly left with his weapon strapped on his waist.
“Sure” She happily waved her free hand towards the leaving young kid.
Ryuu slowly disappeared from the house with a smooth and gentle movement, yet swift and agile like the wind.
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Ryuu’s house was a little bit detached from the village area because it was nearby the forest area which was reachable from the backyard.
The front door Ryuu took was a direct path leading to the village which was about 15 minutes walking distance.
It didn’t take him too long before he arrived at the village.
Fuku village itself was kept hidden, thus the buildings were kept in its minimum size and the great buildings were all located in the central area.
It was early in the morning but he could already observe some people were already doing their activities. There were few children at his age that was pumping water from a distance, as well some mothers gossiping about the rumors and news around the village.
Ryuu recognized as some of them frequented the shop, one of the gossiping mom gazed at his presence and he bowed to the person in response and hastily moved away.
She seems to understand and replied with a gentle wave and spoke.
“Be safe”
Ryuu felt a little warm with its reception and he gained some mental strength from there. He would greet exchange with few more other people before he reached in front of a brick house with chimney on top of it.
‘No way…’
Ryuu’s face paled after he saw the chimney was puffing smokes,
With a small sigh he came into the house
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As the door creaked, an angry voice could be heard from inside.
“You’re late!”
With a pale face, Ryuu came inside and put the sack beside the entrance and approached the back of the man who was focusing on the burning forge.
“I’m so sorry, Master Cross!”
With a pale face he tried his best to muster his earnest voice in the morning.
“You will temper that as a penalty, in addition to today’s class” He raised his hammer and then pointed to a distance, Ryuu traced his movement and looked at the mountain of utensils and hunting tools.
Looking at the mountain of junks waiting to be repaired, Ryuu was unable to keep his word and said
“I wouldn’t be able to finish that much within ---“
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” The man interrupted the child’s speech and turned his angry head towards him.
His long beards, small stature, rough and ugly face had glared at him with a threatening pose.
‘Holy Shit!’
‘If face could kill, he would be as lethal as a demon lord’
Coincidentally, the dwarf race was gifted with rough facial structure, like a rock. Although the man in front of Ryuu had taken it a little bit further.
Ryuu was surprised and shocked as a single idea passed his mind. But he quickly changed his hid his expression .
“No-nothing…”
“Then get to work!” He then faced back towards the furnace and resuming his job.
“Yes…” He had lost his will fighting over the domineering person and took the first knife on the mountain and starts to do his job.
A memory resurfaced from his mind, the reason of why he was here.
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Certain one night,
“Ryuu… I think it’s time for you.” A voice could be heard as I was chewing a piece of meat.
I looked at the person who said that, he was none other than Taiyou, my father.
“What time?” I asked him after I gulped the piece of meat.
“It’s time for you to contribute for the society.” He crossed his arm and closed his eyes as he acted like a upright person.
At this point, a woman voice replied,
“Oh right, Ryuu is almost at his working age.” She put down her spoon and came into realization.
Taiyou nodded a few times in agreement and then suddenly opened his eyes.
“So! You should quickly find some work!” He pointed his right hand to me.
I was speechless at the speed at which this topic was going, but after I had thought about it before, after I saw all of the children above certain in the village were certainly working.
I had my suspicion that people who finished [Soul Link] would have to work in this village.
Therefore I started to open my mouth
“Where should I –“
“I have thought of a job for you!” Father interjected in the middle of my question.
I was surprised by this statement and retorted at once,
“Eh?! Can’t I pick my–“
“This job should be perfect for you!“ He then took out a letter from the pocket of his ragged cloth and dropped it with excitement.
I took the letter and read the content; it was actually just a simple statement
[I, Hoshino Ryuu, will contribute to the society under Mastersmith Cross Fulcrum]
I jumped out from my seat and shouted at him in unhappiness
“Dad! You completely decided on my job already, aren’t you!”
“Taiyou… You really…” Her mother made a wry smile as read the content.
My father looked at her with a grinning face,
“It’s just that when Ena asked me, I couldn’t really reject her.”
Then he faced towards me and smirked,
“Don’t you think it would be fun to have Ryuu contend against that old dwarf.”
“Oh that’s true” Hana said in agreement.
Then a carefree laughter filled the dining room, completely leaving me out from the loop as I gave out fighting against them.
‘Although, a dwarf?’
Dwarf was a famous race gifted with strength and artistry. They were known for their legendary equipment. Also, they were known to garner the closest relationship with the Ent race, a plant species that had gained enlightenment and granted life with intelligence.
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‘What a nightmare’
Ryuu thought to himself, as he wanted to put out the knife he burned and heat it on water.
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“Hold it” The huge arm suddenly pressed Ryuu’s arm, making it unable to move
“Kid, it’s still lacking heat. You need 8 more seconds before you cool it off.” He started to do sermon for him.
Afterwards, he released his arm and continued at his own job.
‘Well, he’s definitely a Master smith’ Ryuu wryly smiled as he continued at his job.
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“I’m home” With a tired voice; Ryuu took the sack back to the house.
“Welcome home” Hana smiled at him
“Did you have fun?” Taiyou asked as he chewed at the curry.
At his nonchalant attitude, Ryuu gave his response as he took the seat opposite them in a tired mood.
“I tempered the whole village utensils to the point I don’t want to see knife anymore today”
Hearing that, Taiyou was startled
“H-he’s really uses you...”
Ryuu didn’t bother to answer ate the leftover curry heartily without hesitation. Soon enough, the mountain of white rice and sauce disappeared into his stomach.
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“Father, how’s this?”
Ryuu took out a red fluid inside a vial from the sack he brought out to the forge and presented it to his father
Taiyou took the vial and held the reddish colored potion high up with his right hand as he inspected the content.
“Hmm…this is on the 6th tier grade”
“You can put them on the case and send it to our clients. It’s safe to consume”
He put down the potions and then he look at the person in front of him,
Ryuu had been sitting down while trying to understand the method his father was inspecting. He had been brewing potion on his little break time at the forge using the materials from the sack.
Potions are graded by its effectiveness, which to a certain extent can be inspected through the 5 senses, particularly the smell and eyes.
“This is tough… I can’t even discern the quality of my own potion.” He grabbed his head and rustled his hair in irritation.
However, this require handful of experience as each potion have different way to tell its standard and so Ryuu was not able to determine the grade with certainty.
“If the job is that easy, I wouldn’t have anything to eat during my previous life!”
Taiyou made a painful smile to him and say,
“At this rate, you would beat me as soon you mastered the stuff in the [Alchemic Journal] that I wrote. How terrifying… Is this talent?”
Taiyou then pretended to be depressed and wondered about the unfairness of the world as he made a self-dialogue.
Ryuu ignored him and instead told him clearly,
“How so? A 6th grade means nothing in front of a person that could create 1st tier potion without even being serious. More like, how long you would hang me to the basics. I think 3 years is more than enough.”
“So impatient! There’s really nothing I can teach you anymore. Hmph!” Taiyou pretended to be mad, he was going to avoid the topic as he stood up and moved towards his wife that was reading on the dining table.
“Honey! Would you love me tonight as well?!” He started to flirt towards her on purpose. Hana then made a gentle look towards him and she refused him flat out.
Soon it turned into mindless discussion as his parents were trying to persuade each other. Making Ryuu sighed deeply and starts to read the [Alchemic Journal] once more
‘Perhaps, there are certain things hidden in this journal that I might missed.’
He muttered inaudibly as he wishfully could gain an answer from re-reading the book on how to improve his [Chemist] skill even more.
But, it was soon enough his pace was distracted by a clanking sound beside him which was rather loud.
He looked at the source; his wakizashi has been thrown there and after realizing it. Ryuu quickly closed the book and he tied the weapon on his right waist and stood up, looking at the person that had been waiting for him.
“Dearest Son, it’s time for your night training” A gentle sound echoed to his ear and thought.
‘…I see, my day has yet to finish huh.’ Ryuu resigned and followed her mother that took the back door towards the usual training ground.
…
After few hours of training
“No! The swing motion must be sharper, your swing is causing too much exposure to yourself.”
A shout could be heard and resounded on the empty field.
“Like this”
She swung her katana with a single motion, her posture was very graceful and the slash had caused cut a leaf cleanly in halves.
As she gave out an example, Ryuu took out his smaller blade and tried to follow the example of the woman.
As he slashed the falling leaves in one motion, the leaf was cut uncleanly; the surrounding was a little bit damaged instead of being cleanly cut in halves.
It was a failure, Ryuu sheathe his sword. He became a little bit restless, as he could not replicate what his mother had done.
“That swing was too anxious, it caused some of the power to disperse to the surrounding.”
At this point, Hana had no choice but to sit down beside him and accompanied him in the midst of the grass field, under the tree where they trained.
“Sit down, Ryuu” She patted the ground beside her and Ryuu nodded and followed suit.
“I didn’t think learning the art of Hoshino could be this tough” Ryuu softly asked
Hana chuckled at his blunt comment and gracefully spoke
“Ryuu, your state is like an inexhaustible flame, an energy very aggressive. You should learn to contain those flame and try to be calmer.”
“The basic of Hoshino Art put emphasize on stillness, sharpness and way of the silent.”
Hana unsheathe her sword and start swinging her katana onto the falling leaves as she sat down. Her swing was slow, like it was powerless. But each slash could cleanly cut a leaf into halves.
She repeated her slashes for another two times before she sheathed her weapon.
“Meditate and think about it Ryuu”
Hana stood up and left him alone, she wanted him to reflect on the study today.
Ryuu looked at her as her presence disappeared from the sight.
“Haa~”
He let out a sigh as his tension was released from the earlier sermon. He used the grass as his cushion as he rested.
‘I’ve endured myself on the same training for three months…’
‘I’m having difficulties in grasping the concept of Hoshino arts.’
‘Well… Considering I was too focused on my purpose in the past, I didn’t bother to look at other weapon art’
‘… Now, I am just looking for excuses for my lacking abilities.’
Ryuu made an enjoyable smile as he rested,
A mad alchemist had taught me how to brew potion,
A woman had taught me how to teach how to fight,
Even a dwarf had taught me how to smith.
‘I learned so many things, enjoying myself in mastering them’
‘What a carefree life I am living now…’
‘But… It’s not too bad.’
“Alright!”
He stood up and then he took a posture, this time he took sometime before he wanted to swing his weapon. Trying his best to understand the mystery behind [Hoshino Art].
But as he wanted to swing his wakizashi, a horrifying wail reverberated from a distance.
Not long after, it was followed with an earthquake that caused the surrounding flower field to shake in its tremor.
Ryuu raised his guard and quickly flew up using magic to avoid the earthquake from affecting him. However, his preparation was unneeded as the earthquake stopped few seconds after he was hovering on the air.
He didn’t directly cancel his spell but was starting to look at his surrounding, his irises had turned into blue and gained his ability to read the flow of mana.
It was then he locked his sight upon a direction, a single mountain which had quite an impression to him first time he saw it. He could sense the surrounding mana over that place was moving more violently.
‘That hill… Something must’ve happened over there.’
He cancelled his flight as his mind was deep in thoughts.
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