“Cy? You back yet?” Max called out as he entered Darius’s home. Following the strict orders given by Darius, he changed his muddy shoes and outerwear. “You’ll never guess who I ran into in the community. It’s a shame you missed him, maybe next time the butcher’s boy comes-”
“Quit your yelling!” Darius shouted back from the kitchen. Max dragged his feet until he found Darius pulling out some fresh, slightly burnt loaves from the oven. He gave a brief glance at Max’s direction. “Cy ain’t back from the labs yet, boss.”
There was something about the mood of the room which put Max on edge. The sun had already set. Where was Cy? Usually, he was back before sunset. “Are you sure? We didn’t try anything substantial today… Should I go looking for him?”
Darius thought about it for a moment. “One of the other Elders might be talking to him about your extension. You’ve still got a few enemies lurking about.” They gave each other a hopeful look. It was a nicer suggestion than the most obvious answer.
“I thought it was more or less sorted.” Max took a seat on the stool located in the far corner of the kitchen. It had been deliberately placed there a few days after his acceptance into the community. Lured by the constant bowl of fresh grapes placed on the windowsill next to the stool, it wasn’t hard for Max to accept it as his own. Being far from the cooking ingredients and tools could only benefit both of them. It was a mutual agreement that was accepted without question.
“Elder Aris and Elder Obi are kicking up a fuss,” Darius admitted, as he checked the crispiness of the semi-burnt loaves. “But Elder Charaka has swung around with your behaviour. There’ll be no problems even if Elder Edric doesn’t come back for the vote.” Max didn’t need to say anything. Both of them knew Elder Edric wasn’t returning to this community, and that Elder Ji-min and Elder Nova’s votes were already bought. “But that doesn’t mean they aren’t looking for other ways to get you kicked out.”
Max took a couple of grapes. “It’s not Elder Aris, I checked-in with him on my way back.” It was their normal interaction. A shout met with silence. “Do you think Elder Obi would try to talk to Cy about my application?”
“Perhaps. She was his mentor before me.” Darius made eye contact for a second before turning around and pulling out a couple of onions to cut. Was that a test? To see if he knew from the files? In the last month, Max noticed Darius would sometimes have a strange look or tone in his voice, but he was never too sure about the intentions behind them. “She might ask you two to leave for the greater good of the community.”
From his time in Tsujuma, a request like that wouldn’t surprise Max. Elder Obi was heavily concerned with raising the youngest members in a beneficial environment. Even though she was usually at odds with Elder Aris for his stricter methodology, the two were in complete agreement about their newest, temporary addition.
“What do you think? Should we leave?” It was a genuine question. Despite his barbed tongue, Max gained a significant amount of respect for the hairy beast of a man. “I’m meeting a friend in a few days. I could leave with her if you think it was best.”
Darius didn’t say anything for a bit as he struggled to endure the eye-watering effect of the onions. Max thought his question was going to be ignored, when the silence was suddenly broken. “Are you gonna cause trouble for us, boss?”
“… I have no plans or intentions of causing trouble.”
Just as Darius was going to reply. They heard the front door to the house slam open. They waited patiently for the peacekeeper to come and alleviate the situation, but there was only another slam after a few minutes. The two exchanged looks. “I’ll go see if he’s-”
There was another slam. Cy came out of his room already? Max kept himself preoccupied with his grapes as Darius dutifully chopped the onions, which had already turned to mush from over processing. Neither said anything or made eye contact with Cy as he marched into the kitchen with his hood covering his face again. Mechanically, he took some snacks from the cupboard before leaving. Not a word was spoken until they heard another slam of a door.
It was irritating. Why was everyone willing to turn a blind eye to trouble within this goddamn community? Having to play ignorant in order to keep the peace… It made Max feel sick with anger whenever he thought about it. But what could he do? Especially since Cy never acknowledged it or indicated he wanted help. The only thing Cy asked him to do was avoid getting in trouble over the last month. Max complied with this request. But how many times had it been? Sometimes the peace shouldn’t be kept-
“Maybe you should cause a little trouble, boss. How about we make a little agreement? One between you and this humble one?”
Max kept his face turned towards the windowpane, as he pretended to look outside at the Autumn leaves. If this angered Max, then it must be infuriating for an overprotective father. “Who in Elder Aris’s bunch? Lux?”
“Bingo. Seems like you’re already one step ahead, boss.”
“How much are you willing to look the other way?”
“Depends on how much you are thinking about.” Well, that wasn’t helpful. “But for some reason, the clacking of heels keep ringing in my ears. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you, boss?” Max struggled to keep the smile threatening to twitch up into his face. It seemed like Cy wasn’t the only one with a silver tongue. “I’m sure we can come to an exchange for your efforts.”
Max thought about it for a second while all the system prompts surrounding Cy, Darius, and Tsujuma went off like a siren in his vision. He was curious, but now wasn’t the time to ask his desired questions.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, as he plucked another grape. “Think of it as a gift. A present for letting me stay here.”
“My, my, aren’t you generous?”
Cy made his way quickly through the teleports with his hood covering his face, choosing to head home instead of his usual route. Ever since leaving the labs, he felt the horrible sensation something was following him. But he couldn’t see any fates around him. The tension from the unknown pressure made him reluctant to continue his route, so he decided to take sanctuary in the courtyard outside of the Elders’ Hall, where Max had his trial. If anything were to happen, at least one Elder would be nearby to help.
Cautious, Cy began searching through his pockets. It didn’t take long for him to find a slip of parchment in his magic pocket. It caused his blood to run cold. There were runes on it. Did Max put it in there, hoping he wouldn’t find it? What did these runes do? Cy couldn’t recognise any of them. Since Max broke the rules set on him, should he report it to the Elders?
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“What a surprise to see you here, freak.”
Cy only briefly glanced up to see Lux coming out of the Elders’ Hall. Elder Aris must be the Elder inside right now. As big of a problem as Lux was, the parchment full of runes was a bigger issue at the moment.
“What you got there?”
“Nothing.” Cy didn’t hesitate to ignite the parchment, covering for Max. “I was just leaving.” Cy was about to walk away when he suddenly smelled heat. Instinctively, he teleported himself five meters backwards before he could get injured by the sudden thick wall of flames blocking the exit.
“There you are!” Cy and Lux jumped out of their skin as the flames went down to reveal Max. “I’ve been looking all over for you.” The former friends exchanged a confused glance with each other. Max wasn’t there a moment ago. How did he suddenly appear without any magical assistance? “Bell gave me the day off, so I thought… What’s going on here?” Max couldn’t hold back his smile from the situation.
“We were having a little talk. That’s all.” Lux’s voice was just as gruff as his mentor’s.
Story Name:
Prophecy
Genre:
Adventure
Description:
The prophesied hero must receive proper training from the MC if they want to save everyone.
Goal:
Achieve victory at any cost.
Difficulty:
★☆☆☆☆
How to Start:
Offer to teach Lux!
Story Name:
Yggdrasil
Genre:
Fantasy
Description:
After growing for centuries in a magic rich land, the sacred tree has finally chosen who is to receive its divine power.
Goal:
Rewrite the meaning of magic.
Difficulty:
★★★★★
How to Start:
Touch the tree!
Good, it was still there.
“Let’s go.” Cy put up his hood for a dramatic exit.
The moment he walked past Max, he suddenly found himself being pulled closer. “Play along,” he whispered before increasing the volume of his voice for Lux to barely hear. “Are you really not going to tell him?”
“What?” Cy couldn’t hide his confusion.
“I mean, if it’s connected to his fate then doesn’t he have a right to know?”
“A right to know what?” Lux barked at them.
Max pretended to make eye contact while gesturing to a still Cy, who was at a loss about what was going on, before finally speaking in a loud voice towards Lux. “Didn’t Cy tell you about your fate?”
“What about my fate?”
“Max… What are you doing?”
“I just think he has a right to know. You said he was meant to be a prophesied hero, right?”
“How did you…”
“I already know.” Lux’s posture and voice was cocky. “Little Cyrus had been spouting that reading since the moment we first met.” Clearly, the words were dear to his heart. A true believer. A gullible fool.
Max pulled a face. Neither of them quite knew the meaning. “If he told you then why haven’t you done it already?”
“Done what?”
Whispering again, but in a loud enough voice for Lux to barely hear. “You didn’t tell him about that magic tree? The whatchamacallit?” Max pointed over to the mystic tree in the courtyard.
“The Yggdrasil tree? What about it?”
“Well, how’s he supposed to become a prophesied hero if he doesn’t get the divine power from touching the tree?”
Cy glanced over at the tree again. “How do you know that? The Yggdrasil tree isn’t ready for us to harvest anyway-”
“I’m sure you told me it was that tree-” Max dropped the act and regained his smile when the ground began to shake. Above them, the sky turned into a rich pink shade as a divine light shot into the air.
Lux had touched the Yggdrasil tree.
Running out of the Elders’ Hall, Elder Aris looked confused as he took in the situation. He was about to launch an attack at Max and Cy’s direction before realising Lux was under the Yggdrasil tree. “What’s going on?” The divine light subsided, and the sky returned to normal as Lux instinctively retracted his hand from the sound of his mentor’s voice. “What did you do?”
“I… I don’t know.” Lux looked lost as he glanced over at Cy for answers.
“It looks like Lux got some divine power from the Yggdrasil tree.” Max offered as an answer. It was exactly what it looked like. “Maybe he should get checked out by Elder Charaka.”
Elder Aris grunted in agreement. “You two wait here. I have questions.” The mentor began dragging his confused, but elated pupil away in search for another Elder to help with the situation. Out of earshot, but in sight, the Elders raced together by the exit of the courtyard so they could examine Lux’s state properly.
Max noticed how silent Cy was after Lux accidentally started a five-star story. It was a blessing doomed to turn into a tragedy. A future practically set for a bitter end without Max doing anything directly.
“His fate changed.”
Cy finally said something, but his voice sounded shaky in disbelief as his hood turned to Max.
Max had a hunch where the disbelief was coming from. For a moment, his mask slipped completely, and he couldn’t contain the cockiness within. “Since he’s such a ‘prophesied hero,’ I’d give him a week. Wait… no, five days.”
“Three days, huh.” Max struggled to contain the bitter laughter threatening to erupt. He kept himself perched in the corner of the kitchen, behaving like a model citizen. “I thought a prophesied hero blessed by the Yggdrasil tree would do something great. How can he lose control of a spell and die within three days of receiving such power?” Even the shepherd boy lasted longer than three days.
“An unfortunate consequence of a divine blessing, boss.” Darius shared his suppressed jovial mood. “Usually, we harvest the power and distribute it, but it seems like the tree bloomed unnaturally quickly this time. Such a tragic accident.”
Max turned his face, so they couldn’t see the grin beginning to spread. It was distasteful taking out a local inhabitant. But in his own perception, he had been kind. Max had given Lux the opportunity to become the main character of a story and gain a phenomenal amount of power. It wasn’t his fault if it all just blew up in his face.
The one who should be celebrating the most sat in silence at the kitchen table. Cy’s hood was down, and he kept his gaze on the half-burnt breads in front of him. Occasionally, his eyes would flick up at Max’s reflection in the darkened window.
Lux’s death date had changed the moment he started the five-star story.
Max enjoyed the setting sun as he finished repairing the last of Farmer Bell’s damaged gates. Looking over the fields, it was peaceful to see the cows grazing. Everything was right in the world for a moment.
Max had a temporary home and two jobs.
Cy’s magic was steadily improving, his next treatment was already arranged, and he could finally relax in his own home.
Edric was here and busy playing boss with his followers.
Darius was warming up to Max.
Lux was dead.
The Elders were set to approve his extension.
Delrid solved his riddle.
Elder Nova got her computer.
BB was coming back in three days.
Kurt, the butcher’s boy, wasn’t dead.
And, Bessie had her Ma girls.
For the time being, Max had a rare moment of peace.
Story Name:
???
Genre:
???
Description:
???
Goal:
???
Difficulty:
???
How to Start:
Cy is still alive when the sun rises!
… Fuck…