Author’s note: This story is played from Faro’s POV.
“Kiddo! Hang tight!” Duman barked. Faro had his round metal shield on front and was withstanding attacks from three goblins. Each time a goblin hit his shield with a crude wooden club, he felt like being pushed back a little. But that wasn’t his concern at the moment.
‘My arms are shaking like shit!’ He shouted in his mind. Brian had to leave and left Duman in charge of exploring the labyrinth. The big guy in his infinite wisdom brought a purposely cut-down party into the labyrinth.
‘To train my butt!’
The first floor had been cleared already with relative ease. There were only goblins. But even if they were “only” goblins, when over a hundred of them were charging at you, it’d have never been easy. Thankfully, the very nature of the dungeon helped them clear out the horde. Its passages were narrow, allowing Duman to set up a barricade by using Mezei’s magic and pick them out by using his arbalest. His tactics worked really well; His powerful bolts literally tore goblins apart en masse, therefore, Faro didn’t think too much when he chose to go down to the second floor. That was a big mistake. Someone should have scouted first prior because the second floor was an open space. Over a hundred goblins encircled them and were attacking them from all sides. Duman’s arbalest was still useful but was far less effective when monsters could spread out.
“Duman, you fucking dumbass!” Mezei shouted in anger. She was on frontline and literally massacring goblins with her warpick, but there were simply too many of them. “I told you to fucking send a scout before barging into the second floor!”
“Shut it and focus!” Duman retorted. The guy had a point although it was uncertain whether he was trying to change the subject to get away from her criticism.
“Elementals of fire, heed my call. Blast my enemies away with an explosion! Fireball!” Amanda cast a fireball which flew a short distance and went down onto the stone floor at which point it exploded fanatically, swallowing dozens of goblins along the way. A wonderful result, one might say, but it wasn’t enough because they could see dark waves of mobs filling in instantly.
“Duman, can I suggest a retreat?” Amanda exclaimed while reading another fireball. “The kid is not going to hold for too long!”
Currently, Mezei and Faro were acting as tanks. The former was doing a fine job. The latter, however, was buckling badly. He was simply too young and too inexperienced to hold his line. Duman along with Amanda were in the middle. There were only four of them. Occasional goblins that breached Mezei and Faro’s defense line were hopelessly crushed to death by Duman.
“M, my shield arm is feeling numb!” Faro shouted in response, backing her up. His arm was already badly bruised at this point. He’d be out of action for a while if he survived this.
“I am gonna clear the way, hang on!” Duman shouted while reading to fire his arbalest to fire in the direction of stairs leading up. “Take that, motherfuckers!”
His bolt did a good job clearing a path, and Duman signaled others to follow him.
“Kid! You go first!” Mezei barked as others began to follow the big guy to the stairs.
“I, I am sorry, ma’am… I am at my limit.” Panting badly, Faro apologized with a labored breath.
“You don’t need to tell me. Anyone can see that. Bringing a thirteen year old to a fight like this…, that big brute has gone too far.”
The fault wasn’t entirely on Duman, however. Nobody objected when he suggested the idea. Thus, everyone was at fault collectively.
‘If it wasn’t for Mezei’s stoneskin, I might as well be lying on the floor, dead…’
He had already been hit numerous times because goblins were opportunistic attackers. They wouldn’t just attack his shield. They took jabs here and there, and he was wearing only leather armor. It was also the only reason why he acted pretty bravely because he knew the stoneskill spell would protect him from severe injuries. In fact, they were hanging on because their opponents were just goblins. If they were facing even slightly tougher opponents, they would have been under serious duress although Duman and Mezei would have likely survived since they were both physically strong. Faro and Amanda had no chance of survival if left behind, however.
“Kiddo! Get over here! Run, run, run!” Duman barked while wildly gesturing to come over. Faro turned around and began to dash toward the stairs. He was sweating bullets, and his body felt really numb and heavy. He was going to pass out soon. In a desperate attempt to lighten the load, he threw his sword away along with his shield and made a last ditch attempt to conjure every bit of energy from his inner core and made a run for it. And he wasn’t aiming for the stairs; He was aiming for Duman because he distantly realized that he wouldn’t be able to make it.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH - !” Letting out a desperate cry, he lunged toward the big man and promptly passed out afterwards.
‘Damn it… My life sucks, man…,’ was just the last line of his thought before blacking out.
Faro did not like farming. He did not like the very act of picking leaves all day long. Not only was it a boring job, it was also a back bending job. Interestingly, however, his father, Grent never complained about any sort of back pain. Whether the guy was born for this job or he was hiding the pain was what he thought. Either way, whatever his excuses may have been, the bottom line was clear: He did not wish to inherit his father’s farm. And he made it clear to his mom that he did not wish to become a farmer, fully expecting to be scolded. Laufeld was a farming community, and every eldest male child was sort of bound to carry on his dad’s farm. He knew this even as a child because every other kid he was playing with was eventually dragged back by their mothers to work on their fathers’ farms. From that alone, he knew that he would be dragged to the tea farm to work. And he was indeed dragged back to the tea farm and was forced to work. He could no longer protest and was almost resigned to his fate until his mother, Vilma, called him one day and asked -
“Do you really not wish to take over your father?” She asked softly while having him on her laps and caressing his well combed blond hair. Being an innocent child, he answered earnestly without any second thoughts while hugging onto her chest.
“No, mom. I don’t wanna.”
“Can I ask why?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t wanna.”
“That’s fine. That’s fine.” She embraced him harder, dragging him into her chest more.
“Mommy.” Likewise, he enjoyed the affectionate hug and let her be.
“Normally, the first son takes over his dad’s business, but I suppose this family is not normal,” she said, half-jokingly. Faro had very faint memories of Kamil. He remembered that there used to be another boy living in the house but wasn’t quite sure who it was. He never found out who he might have been since neither his father nor mother talked about the boy. By this point, the images of him were a mere distant memory.
“If you do not wish to be a farmer, what would you like to become?” She asked him very softly.
“I wanna be an adventurer!” He proclaimed proudly and joyfully.
“An adventurer, you say? How come?”
“They look cool!”
As far as she was aware, there was no adventuring guild in Laufeld. This was before Kamil, Ewald at that time, was appointed as the governor. Faro may have seen adventurers who were escorting traveling merchants. Clad in nice armors and weapons, for an ordinary farmer’s son, they may have indeed looked “cool”. However, Vilma knew, for a fact, that theirs were not glorious lives.
“Darling, we don’t have a guild here.”
“Whoa…?” The child was confused.
“A guild is the organization that employs adventurers. Our town does not have one.”
“But…”
“Fear not, honey. When you grow old enough, I will send you to Lux. It’s a big city where there is a guild. Meanwhile, I want you to work.”
“I can be an adventurer?”
“You can if you want to. Just not right now. You are too young.”
“Then when?”
She honestly didn’t know. She was a noblewoman who knew not much about the world of commoners. But, by using common sense, it was obvious that no one would send a pre-teen kid into a battle with monsters. She roughly guessed an age between 13 to 15 years old to be just barely fit enough to engage in an active combat; She wasn’t wrong.
“I don’t know, dear. For the time being, please work with your dad. If you don’t want to do farming at all, then at least do something else under someone. I will not see my first son slacking when everyone else is out there working.”
The child pouted but could not argue back. He had no one to play with since every other kid of his age was already working on their fathers’ farms. There were still some girls of his age to play with, but he was at an age where males and females started to have different interests.
“I will work with dad,” he replied weakly.
“Good boy. Good boy.” She patted his head affectionately.
……………….
………….
……..
When he opened his eyes, he instantly realized that he was inside a tent. Duman must have successfully gotten him out. The guy was big enough that he could carry him like a log.
“Awwww! Damn…!”
When he tried to move, he felt excruciating pain from his left arm, below his elbow. This was expected. He controlled his breath a few times and regained control of his motion soon enough. Although he’d never admit it out loud, he had been under Brian’s brutal training for years. While he lacked first hand experience, he was quite experienced enough at controlling pain and such, which was why he ran toward Duman instead of stairs; He knew he’d pass out, for he knew his limits.
“I heard you moaning. Are you awake?”
It was Roseline’s voice, the healer of the party.
“Yes, ma’am. I am fine. Did everyone make it?”
“Yes. Come out to have something to eat when you are ready.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The very first thing Brian taught or drilled into him was manners, which was something his parents never really taught him. His father was always out farming and, when he did return in the evening, he didn’t do much other than conversing with his mom and sleeping, which was honestly understandable since the man was out working the whole day. His mother didn’t also really teach him anything other than how to speak formally. He wasn’t neglected however. Vilma frequently cuddled with him in her arms. He loved being in her arms and often fell asleep while listening to her humming.
“I miss mom…,” he whispered to himself. He loved hugging her, and she always smelled very nice in his memories.
Clenching his eyes due to the bright sunlight, he lazily exited his tent. There were over ten tents alongside the crater. It wasn’t just Brian’s team. Several folks arrived here after smelling business opportunities. A bit further out, there was a crudely constructed platform for an airship to land made of bamboo.
“I can’t believe the guildmaster bought an airship…”
Brian purchased a used airship since he didn’t want to wait. He paid two gold coins for the oldest airship Ceres had. It was the “Rev 1” airship in Cezary’s words. He had already sent more supplies via the airship along with people.
“Hey, Faro, come over here!” Mezei waved at a campfire a short distance away. She was apparently roasting some meat on skewers. Pulling one skewer out, she handed it over to him. “Better than jerky. Here.”
“Where did you find animals?”
“We didn’t find one. We brought them in via the airship.” She pointed at a small fenced area. “Over there, we have some livestock.” Several sheeps were peacefully grazing. They weren’t generally found within the Kingdom because they were normally found in the North. The guild, being originally from the Siwen, knew how to use sheeps. Duman, Mezei, and Amanda, they were all from the Siwen.
“Thank you.” Taking the skewer, he sat down and devoured it. He was very hungry because he didn’t get a chance to eat when they ventured into the dungeon and then he was knocked out for who knows how many hours.
“Here, take as many as you want, kiddo. Kids need meat,” she said, grinning.
After devouring five skewers, he drank a whole mug of water and laid down on the ground.
“I feel alive!” he exclaimed, looking satisfied with his stomach full. The meat was good as well. Mezei salted it just right.
“How is your arm?”
“It’s painful.”
“Give it a day or two, it will get much better. Roseline did cast healing water on your arm, so it will heal a lot faster.”
His arm was bruised and swollen, but he experienced this before while being trained by Brian, thus he wasn’t making a big fuss although this was the first time he genuinely felt that he might have died.
“I really thought that was it down there.”
She chuckled in response. “It was a close call, yes. Won’t be the last, kiddo. It is a part of being an adventurer. Nothing is guaranteed. That’s why we eat well when we can. Better to enjoy your life when able.”
Adventurers at the guild really didn’t hesitate to spend good money on good foods even if it meant paying over the odds. He always wondered why and now he had the answer. Life was short, and they were enjoying it in a way they could. In the end, it wasn’t all that glorious stuff.
Starting vacantly at the sky, he changed the subject. “The duke’s magical arrow… That was something, wasn’t it?”
She snickered. “That’s an understatement. You saw how many elementals surrounded him, right? That was nuts. You don’t see anything like that often.”
To him, magic was something a caster would say a few lines and then zap! What Kamil demonstrated was far beyond what mages did.
“............”
He looked around to see that several people were busy doing something in the distance.
“What’s going on?”
She followed his attention and snickered. “Ah, them. They are trying to clear a site to build a tavern.”
“A tavern here? In the middle of nowhere?”
“Not for long. The guildmaster is out there to spread words that there are adventures to be had. People will flock to this location soon. It may have been not possible, but we have an airship now.”
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It was the early beginning of a settlement which Faro failed to realize at the moment. Looking back at the sky, he asked Mezei.
“Miss Mezei, I have a question to ask.”
“Shoot, kiddo.”
“I want an honest answer.”
“Ask away.”
“Do you think I have a future as a warrior?”
“No, you don’t,” she replied promptly. “You are average at best.”
“Average at best…,” he repeated slowly. “Then what should I do?”
“You can continue as you are. Being average doesn’t deter you from becoming an adventurer. It’s just that you won’t be able to climb higher.”
He retorted, “But I want to climb higher.”
“Not as a warrior. I don’t see the raw talents as a warrior from you. You have affinity level one with earth, so you can’t cast any magic, either. You wanted my honest advice, so I am giving it to you. You should consider a career change.”
He frowned. Ever since he was a child, he wanted to become an adventurer. He became one eventually but was just told that his ceiling was low as in “average at best”. It was a heartbreaking moment for him.
“You do have one thing going on, but it has nothing to do with adventuring.”
“I do…? What do I have?”
“You are pretty.”
He blinked his eyes a few times and raised his upper body, looking confused. “Excuse me?”
“You are a pretty boy. I am sure that you will grow up to be a handsome dude. I am pretty sure a lot of female adventurers will have their eyes on you.” She, then, shrugged. “Then I don’t know what kind of career a guy could have with his pretty appearance. Maybe, become a guild receptionist? It’s usually a woman’s job, though.”
A guild receptionist was often the face of a guild branch. Therefore, a beautiful woman was almost always chosen. At the same time, when it came to adventurers, roughly half of them were women as well. Thus, it made some sense to use a handsome male receptionist also.
“Anyway, kiddo, talk to Brian about it in the near future. For the time being, just train and get stronger and gain knowledge in combat. I know a guy whose abilities are average but does pretty well due to his deep knowledge.”
“R, really?” His eyes lit up with positivity.
“Yep, being a warrior doesn’t always mean being physically strong. A group leader isn’t always someone who is the strongest but the wisest. Besides, you are still young. So, keep at it for now.”
“Thank you.”
“Take it easy, kiddo.”
Thanking her again, Faro stood up slowly and took a walk around the crater where he eventually reached the cleared site where supposedly a tavern was to be built upon.
“A tavern… A new settlement…,” he mumbled. He was going to stay here for a while because of the dungeon. The best way to train was live combat experience, and it was right there. Now, he started to wonder whether he should settle down here instead of Ceres. He really didn’t have his spot in Ceres. If he stayed here, however, there was a chance that he could become someone as a founder. It was a rare opportunity indeed.
Duman called up for his group the very next day which included Faro. His arm was not at 100% but the pain as well as swelling had both subsided, thanks to the healing spell. In short, he could use the arm. Mezei, Amanda, and Roseline were also present.
“Duman, we seriously are not going down there again with this group,” Mezei argued to which Amanda agreed.
“The child has not fully recovered yet,” she added. “And I do think we need an additional frontline fighter as well as another support.”
“I hear ya loud n clear,” Duman said with his hands on back. “I am going to send a word to the guildmaster for a reinforcement, but the most we can expect is one more person. The guild isn’t idling after all.”
Ceres was a rapidly growing city. It was no longer just a mere town. Numerous merchants arrived and left, meaning the demand for escorts was rather high. The Ceres guild had about twenty five members, five of whom were present here. That was a significant number.
“Then what’s your plan?” Mezei asked.
“First and foremost, we need frontline warriors, so I will turn into one. Roseline will join us as an offensive mage. Meanwhile, Faro -”
“Yes?”
He threw a normal-sized crossbow at him. “You take my former position as a crossbowman.”
“But I don’t -” It would be his first time handling a crossbow. Duman threw a quiver full of bolts afterwards, which he did catch.
“You’ve practiced archery, no?” Duman interjected. “You know how to aim. A crossbow is easier to use.”
A crossbow was indeed easier to use because one had to simply aim and shoot. However, unlike a bow, a crossbow required some engineering know-how to fix it when it jammed and had some other mechanical issues. Duman was a siege-weapon engineer, and that was why he chose a crossbow over becoming just a warrior when he had the physique to become a fine warrior. He designed his own weapons and knew how to construct things out of rubbish. Meanwhile, Faro had indeed practiced archery but was a poor shot unlike his elder brother, Kamil. Basically, Brian was trying numerous things to find what Faro was good at. In the end, he was given a sword and a shield, the most basic job. The bottom line was that he was a talentless child when it came to combat prowess. Mezei was correct in her assessment that he’d become “average at best”.
“Kid, your job is to stay with Amanda and Roseline and shoot anything that comes near them, got that?”
“Yes, sir,” Faro replied with a subtle shrug. He felt like being demoted.
“Alright, guys, we are diving into the second floor of the dungeon today. Mezei and I will stand in front. I will be the main tank with Mezei being a backup.”
“Fine,” Mezei replied, accepting that they were going to explore the dungeon.
“Our goal is to clear the second floor. Let’s move out!”
It wasn’t an impossible goal. They were just caught by surprise the last time, not to mention that they were somewhat unprepared.
“Man, there are goblins already on the first floor. Didn’t we exterminate them?” Mezei complained as she cracked a goblin’s head with her warpick with ease. They weren’t abundant but occasional goblins were showing up already.
“Could be those from the second floor,” Roseline said. “Do we even know how deep this place is?”
“No fucking clue,” Duman replied. He had a bastard sword and a fire crystal lamp in his other hand. Amanda did have a small ball of fire above her head to give light, but he wanted more light to deter small games. Likewise, Mezei was also carrying another lamp, making their overall vicinity fairly bright.
“The first floor should still be safe regardless,” Amanda stated. “This is probably an ideal place for newbies to train.”
Meanwhile, Faro had his crossbow out and was on full alert with his eyes darting around to spot anything that breached the defense line formed by Duman and Mezei. He was determined not to make any mistakes. He felt that he was already demoted from the frontline. He wasn’t about to get demoted further. Navigating the first floor was easy since directions had been written on stone walls by chalks. The first floor was a maze but an easy one. The second floor was an open space. Presumably, a path to the third floor was on the opposite side.
“Alright, we are here,” Duman declared; They were at the stairs leading down to the second floor. “Amanda and Roseline, I want you to use area of effect spells as soon as we get down there.”
The two women nodded in unison.
Mezei was also a mage. However, her element was earth. Using a powerful earth spell underground was a risky endeavor since it would pose a real risk of cave in. She could still use minor spells fine, but a big spell was utterly out of the question. When they were about to reach the bottom of the stairs, Roseline began their spell incarnations in anticipation of a goblin horde.
“Elementals of water, hear me! Gather tears of fallen comrades and summon them here. Give them the whooping they need! Seiche!”
Water out of nowhere rose up, creating a wave of water that expelled itself outward, dragging anything caught within away. At this point, Amanda began her spell.
“Elementals of fire, heed my call. Bring down feisty doom to my foes: fireball!”
She didn’t cast a single fireball. She cast five fireballs that fired into the darkness and then explosions shook the ground. Seiche pushed them away, and then fireballs hit them when they were gathered and down. This was clearly not the first time these two women worked together.
“Woohoo, look at that. Looks like the floor is almost clear just like that,” Duman said gleefully, letting out a whistle.
“Uh….” Faro was speechless. He anticipated a gruesome fight. The reality was so anticlimactic that he was dumbfounded.
“There will be some survivors,” Mezei pointed out.
“We are spreading out. Let’s finish them off and secure the second floor,” Duman suggested. He and Mezei vanished into darkness shortly after, and the two women acted together with Faro in front of them. Pieces of goblins flesh, along with severed arms and legs, were scattered around on the stone floor. Since he saw no burn marks, he assumed that Roseline’s spell finished them off. Seiche was a high level water spell that utilized a pressured wave of water to push and dismantle whatever it would come across. It was a highly destructive spell that was often underestimated because, unlike fireballs which looked menacing from getgo, Seiche looked relatively harmless in the beginning. By the time someone was hit by it, he would be a goner before realizing too late. For goblins that was the size of children, they stood absolutely no chance.
“Oh, there is one!” Amanda exclaimed. “Kiddo!”
“Y, yes, ma’am!”
A goblin that was wandering around spotted them and began charging at them at once. The crossbow was already loaded, so all he had to do was aim and shoot. With a flinging sound released from a highly tensed string, it fired out a bolt and pierced through the goblin’s shoulder. He meant to aim for his head.
‘Dang it!’
He should have really finished it off in one shot. He rushed to reload, but the goblin was running away while holding his badly bleeding shoulder.
“Elementals of fire, heed my call. Pierce my enemy with an arrow: Fire arrow!” cited Amanda while pointing her finger at the fleeing goblin. A flaming arrow shot out of her index finger and headed straight to the goblin. It hit the back of its head which exploded, burning his skin. The impact knocked it out cold on the floor. It was still alive however. Faro dashed toward the goblin and finished it off with a dagger by shiving its throat.
‘Damn it, dang it!’
He knew that he was being discreetly tested. Like Mezei claimed, they seemed to have determined that he wasn’t fit to become a frontline warrior, thus they were trying to find him another role. He did practice archery but never really made a passing grade in accuracy. What was really frustrating him was his own age. He was well into being thirteen years old. He was at a point where his role should have already been defined. Fifteen years old was the general coming of age for males, and he was getting too close. He had to find his role in society before then. Things were starting to look dire for him although, in the absolute worst case, he could always go back to the farm.
‘But I don’t want to go back to the farm!’
He hated farming. He’d do anything else but farming. He didn’t know why he had such a disdain toward farming; He just did. Wanting to prove himself, he left the two women behind and searched around for any remaining goblins.
“Hey, don’t go too far!” Amanda barked. Ignoring her call, he ventured forth. He did have a lamp on his belt, providing light.
“I have to prove myself…,” he whispered while gritting his teeth. He had to show them that he could take care of himself at least. He felt he was almost demoted to a backup role. If he was to be demoted even further, that would mean being kicked out of the group entirely and be back to becoming a pack mule of some sort. He fanatically searched around for goblins to kill, and he did manage to kill several with a combination of crossbow and his shortsword. Every goblin he killed, he sliced off its ears and placed them in a small pouch on his belt. He felt energized and renewed as he dispatched more and more goblins with relative ease.
“I can do this!”
He saw two goblins appear in front of them as soon as he said so. Firing a bolt right to its forehead, instantly killing one, he lunged forward and shoved his sword directly into its neck.
“Yeah!”
He was getting fired up and was becoming more confident. He dispatched several more goblins and was feeling probably the best in a while. However, he was blissfully discarding the fact that goblins were one of the weakest monsters. Their sizes were somewhere between toddlers and pre-teen at best with their raw strength never matching an adult human, and there were different kinds of goblins as well. Common goblins were spotted in warm climates. Dire goblins were spotted in the North; They were tougher and bigger with a disproportionately larger upper body. Just as he was running around, searching for more goblins to kill, he ran into dire goblins, a group of three.
“What?”
It was his first time seeing dire goblins. They were slightly larger than him with a well-built upper body. Their faces looked far more menacing as well with two large fangs shooting out of its jaw. Like common goblins, they were holding crudely-made wooden clubs. Not thinking too much about them, he fired a shot, and a bolt made its way toward its forehead. It did hit but failed to penetrate.
“Uhm -” He immediately realized that he had run into tougher foes. What made the situation worse was that they were clearly faster and more agile as they quickly surrounded him by the time he reloaded his crossbow.
‘I should have retreated when I had the chance!’
He fired his bolt. Since this was virtually point-blank distance, he didn’t think they'd be able to dodge. To his surprise, using its wood club, it blocked the pathway for the bolt. One of the dire goblins swung its club from behind. He didn’t even see it coming and took the full brunt. Thankfully, the quiver on his back helped to reduce the damage.
“ACK!”
He was pushed forward while feeling intense pain. Then from the sideway, he saw another swinging its club. In a desperate attempt to block the swing, he used his crossbow as an emergency shield to block it. With a loud crack, he felt a sharp pain from his side. He immediately realized that his ribs cracked along with the crossbow. But that wasn’t all, he was flown away by the swing and landed a bit further away from the trio of dire goblins. Unfortunately, he handed his shoulder first and cracked his shoulder bone as well. Feeling excruciating pain from all over his body, he rolled around, moaning loudly. He realized that he could no longer put up a fight and was crawling toward … somewhere. He had lost his sense of direction and had no idea which way was the exit. He didn’t even know where the others were.
“Damn it…,” he lamented. As he crawled away, he glanced back over his mangled shoulder and saw the three dire goblins approaching him. He wasn’t certain but he felt like they were smirking at him. Turning his back, he whispered.
“Is this the end -”
Even before he could finish his sentence, he heard loud cracks and then waves of further unbelievable pain showered him. One of the dire goblins had apparently crushed his knee by stomping. He screamed in sheer agony, and his knee was throbbing in pain. Another dire goblin swung its club to his side, cracking more ribs. He could no longer scream properly because one of his lungs had just collapsed. Worst of all, he was starting to lose consciousness.
“.... - Waterball!”
A ball of swirling water clashed into a dire goblin, sending it flying away after the highly pressurized ball of water took a large chunk out of the dire goblin’s chest which included his lungs.
“.... - Fire lance!”
A spear made of fire pierced another goblin in his chest, and its body started to enveloped in flames. Fireball was explosive, which would have risked friendly fire in this scenario, whereas fire lance had piercing power and was effective against a single target. Seeing two of his friends gone in a matter of seconds, the last dire goblin turned around and fled in haste.
“Kiddo!” Amanda dashed toward him. “Oh, my God! Roseline! He’s in a critical condition!” He was bleeding from his mouth, and his body shape was unpleasant, not to mention that his left leg was bent in an awkward direction. Roseline’s eyes went wide as soon as she saw him.
“Get him on my back. We need to get the hell out of here ASAP!”
“Right!”
In his rapidly fading consciousness, he imagined himself in his mom’s embrace on her lap.
‘I miss mom….’
Those were his last thoughts before completely blacking out.
………………………..
…………………
……………
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a room.
“Where … am I?”
He found the room eerily familiar; It didn’t take him long to realize that he was back home. It was his own room. He had been away from his home for a while now, but nothing seemed to have changed and it looked to have cleaned regularly since he saw no layer of dust on furniture.
“My… room?”
A maid who was walking by noticed him. “You are awake!” She dashed in. “I am going to inform the madam.” And dashed right out.
He was utterly confused as to what exactly happened. He did recall being badly beaten by three weird goblins. The details were fuzzy.
“Was it … just a long dream?” He wondered aloud as he tried to get out of the bed … except he couldn’t. His left leg wasn’t bending, and he felt sharp pains all over his body.
“Ugh!”
“Faro!” Vilma rushed in, tears in her eyes.
“Mom…, what happened?” He asked innocently, still unsure what had exactly happened.
The maid provided a chair, and she sat down by the bed. As she began to caress his blond hair, she explained what went down after he lost consciousness.
“Dear, you are here back home to recuperate from your wounds. After you were carried out by your guildmates, the guild healer attempted to heal you the best she could. She did heal most of your wounds, but some of your wounds were too severe to be healed right away. You were eventually transported back to Ceres when an airship came by.”
The maid added, “Young master, you’ve been out for ten days! The madam was so worried!”
“Ten days…,” he mumbled. “Will I recover?”
He actually expected a positive answer. After all, Roseline was a water mage of affinity level nine. She was probably the best healer in the world if not close. However, he was met with uneasy silence with the maid looking away.
“Faro, your knee won’t heal completely,” Vilma broke the news.
“... What?”
“You will limp.”
“What…?! No… no way…” He pulled down the bed cover to find his left leg secured with a wooden plank. “No. no. no…!” He covered his face. An adventure would never limp. There was no limping adventurer. His dream was gone. He could never become an adventurer. Eventually, he began to sob out of shock and despair.
“The guildmaster says you are always welcome back,” she said to which he aggressively retorted.
“AND THEN WHAT?! WHAT WOULD I DO AT THE GUILD?!”
At this point, he wouldn’t be selected to be a pack mule which was the lowest job for an adventurer.
“Dear, you have to do something. You have to make a living.”
Heaving an exhausted sigh, he waved away. “I, I will just inherit dad’s farm.”
“You may not,” she declared promptly.
“Mom…?”
“Taro will inherit the farm. You’ve thrown away the chance, remember?”
He indeed had but he thought that he could always come back. He thought…
“But, mom…”
“Only one son will be allowed to inherit the farm. Faro, you must find a job elsewhere.”
He felt dizzy. He felt as if the whole world was crashing down on him. He thought that he had options. Now, all of a sudden, there was nothing. Where did it go all wrong, he wondered.
“The guildmaster Brian suggested that you should become a guild receptionist.”
He cried, “That’s a girl’s job, MOM!”
Her face stiffened suddenly. She stood up, looking down on him with fierce eyes. She gave him a slap in the face.
“Faro! Get a hold of yourself! A job is a job! You must make a living!” She raised her voice. “You are welcome to stay here until you turn fifteen years old, and that is it.”
Holding the slightly red cheek, he choked in tears.
Her voice turned soft once again. “I do understand that you are right now confused and afraid, so I will leave you alone for now, but do think about what I’ve told you. A man needs a job, and you must find your place. This is not something I can help you with.”
Then she walked out of the room with the maid following her. Faro began to cry, wondering where it had all gone wrong. He knew where it did go wrong, but it was hard to admit outright that it was all his own fault. Even if he didn’t charge in alone in the dungeon, the likely outcome was that he wouldn’t have become a full-time adventurer. Just like Mezei told him before, he didn’t have the raw talents to make it. Even without this event, he would have likely become a staff at the guild.
“Damn it…”
He felt lost, truly lost.