When Faro opened his eyes, he saw a familiar ceiling. It was a déjà vu moment for him. This time, he immediately realized where he was although he had no recollection of how he got home.
“Heh,” he let out a chuckle. “Here I am again…”
His last bits of memories was him collapsing while piloting the Fat Lady amid heavy flurries of snow. And then tears welled up in his eyes immediately.
“Amanda…, Meizei….”
He just realized that only Duman and Roseline survived out of the group. They were like his extended family for him. If Vilma took care of him at home, they took care of him when outside. He was especially shaken by the fact that Amanda didn’t make it, who acted like a mother figure for him.
“Damn it …”
As he attempted to cover his eyes with his forearm, he realized that something was amiss. He wasn’t feeling anything from his left arm. He tried to move the arm, but there was nothing. When he uncovered himself, he found his entire left arm missing. It was gone from his shoulder joint.
“It’s … missing…” He looked flabbergasted. “It’s … gone…”
Unexpectedly, he didn’t overreact, and a sense of calmness showered over him, finally recalling what exactly happened.
“At least, I survived,” he said to himself although he couldn’t help feeling down over the loss. With his knee crippled, there was no denying that he was a clearly disabled person now. And he was only fourteen years old. He had a long road ahead of him and was already severely crippled.
“Survived … but at what cost…,” he mumbled. In a corner of his mind, he wondered whether it might have been better for him to have perished. “I should be glad that I survived but …”
He wasn’t glad because he could picture how his life was going to be. With just one arm and limping, there would be very limited choices of career for him. Heaving a long sigh that lasted a good five seconds, he dragged himself out of his bed.
“.... What?”
His crippled knee bended as if fully healed. He sat down and up a few times. It was one of the basic exercises he was unable to perform a while ago.
“My knee… works?” A sense of joy filled his heart. “My knee works! I can walk like a normal person!” He walked around just to prove the point. He always hated the eyes on him whenever he walked limping. “I CAN WALK!” He howled. “I CAN WALLLLLLKKKKK!”
Subsequently, a maid opened the door to investigate the commotion.
“Young master! You are awake! I am going to inform the lady now!”
Vilma rushed in and ran toward him to hug him affectionately. It was at this moment where he realized his arm was really gone because he could not embrace her fully with just one arm. Tears filled his eyes once more.
“Mommy…,” he whimpered, choking in tears.
“You are alright now… You are alright…,” she told him gently while stroking his hair. The ordeal was over for him. He had returned - alive - from a journey that took the lives of three veteran adventurers. The mission was a success, and the dragon was defeated. Given the fact that he lost his arm, nobody could dispute that he tagged along as a freeloader.
“Let’s go eat something. You were out for over a day.”
His stomach growled very loudly as if it agreed with her.
“Mommy, could I have … a roasted boar?” He asked her very carefully as if fearing rejection.
A roast boar was a new top tier dish for commoners and wealthy merchants alike in Ceres. It became popular after local hunters caught enough wild boars that were smaller than those found elsewhere, which made it ideal to roast it and eat it in one sitting. Even for nobles, it was considered good and healthy food, the reason being was that it was a whole skinned boar cooked under direct fire without adding anything. It was eaten with salt but tasted amazingly good for what it was. It was certainly healthier than cheese and bacon, the former wasn’t even available in Ceres due to the lack of cows. Bacon was labor-intensive to produce and was eventually overshadowed by the introduction of roasted boars. Regardless, it wasn’t cheap to purchase a whole skinned boar. It cost upwards 25 iron coins, which wasn’t something a commoner could dare purchase on whims. Faro had eaten roasted boars before but only once in a blue moon. He also knew how much it cost, which was something he found out after working at the guild. Fully knowing how much it cost, he still asked because he really wanted to eat it.
Beaming a gentle smile, Vilma patted his head. “Of course, Faro. Anything you want.” Then she beckoned a maid nearby. “Go get a boar and have it ready as soon as possible.”
The maid bowed at once and dashed out.
“Yay, thank you, mom!”
It wasn’t something that could be prepared quickly as the boar was required to be cooked under fire for at least an hour. It had to be certain that the boar was thoroughly cooked.
“Are Taro and Abel joining?”
It was a big meal. It was only logical that the whole family would gather.
“Faro, it’s only morning. Taro is already out working with your father. And Abel is studying. So, it will be just us two. They will have leftovers.”
“Abel is studying?” He tilted his head. The only period he studied was to read and write. He assumed that his brother was learning how to read and write, which was far from the truth. Abel was studying to become a page at Kamil’s court to become a scholar one day. This involved more than just reading and writing. Thankfully, Abel had an aptitude as well as willingness. It became increasingly clear to Vilma that he was a scholar material.
“While they prepare the boar, let’s talk, Faro.”
The mother and her son hadn’t had a private talk in years. It was overdue.
“Tell me about your adventure.”
Once they arrived in the living room, which was simply too luxurious for a farmer’s house, they sat down at a rectangle table meant for five people. Normally, Grent and Vilma would sit on the narrow sides, and their children would sit on sides. On this occasion, they sat on the narrow sides, thus there was some distance between her and Faro. She had very sympathetic eyes when she noticed that her son tried to drag the chair with his left arm, only to realize that it was missing. Regardless, she remained quiet until her son sat down and readied himself before telling his tale.
As he started to tell his mother his adventure, his story began brightly. He told her how awesome it was to fly and look down from the sky. He told her excitedly how small things were when looking from the sky. He told her that he almost touched the clouds. His tale began ever so brightly. However, the excitement in his voice progressively died down. He told her how utterly helpless he felt when Duman and his group left him behind. He told her that they went on even when they knew that they were very likely to meet their doom. He said that he was duly determined to live up to their expectations and match courage, thus he repaired the Fat Lady however he could and flew toward the direction of Siwen mountain. In order to avoid giant eagles, all he could do was shove a lot of wind crystals into the airship’s propulsion boiler and hope that he would be able to control the airship. As the Fat Lady knifed through the sky, he told her that he could barely steer it.
“I had no way to stop the airship. The only way I could think of was ramming it into the dragon, so I did,” he explained with a bitter expression on his face. “I think I rammed it into its eye. I think so, not absolutely sure, though. I passed out, I think. When I opened my eyes, I saw flurries of snow.”
He recalled being surprisingly calm back then even though he couldn’t feel the half of his upper body. He was in severe shock and wasn’t even aware of the fact that his left arm was missing at that time. Unknown to him, he had already lost a considerable amount of blood. The cold temperature was what kept him going until Kamil arrived.
“I am gonna get the hell out of here, was all I was thinking,” he said, looking down at the table. “I was certain that I would die, though… How …, ah!”
He looked up at once as if he realized at once with light returning to his eyes.
“Mom, my knee works!”
Her eyes went wide as well. She failed to notice him limping. He stood up and walked around. He was indeed walking fine.
“I think Roseline healed me?” He wondered aloud. He wasn’t sure. In fact, he wasn’t sure of anything at the moment. The whole event felt like a fever dream to him. She beamed a smile, sort of pleased with the fact that he no longer limped. A missing arm can be somewhat hidden with a well designed wardrobe. Limping wasn’t something that could be hidden.
“Come here, Faro,” she said as she dragged her chair backwards, opening up space for him to sit on her lap. As a fourteen year old, he was getting a bit too big for such a thing but he nevertheless complied and sat on her lap. She stroked his left shoulder joint where his arm used to be very gently.
“My poor son…,” she lamented, sobbing ever so lightly. Tears welled up in his eyes as well.
“I am sorry that you had to go through such painful experiences,” she told him gently.
“Others suffered worse,” he told her with his head leaning sideways on her chest. “I feel for Duman. He lost his wife and dear friends.”
He and Meizei were never married. However, for commoners, marriage was when they moved in together. There was no fancy ceremony. Therefore, for others' eyes, they were married. Nevertheless, she had no idea who he was but nodded along anyway.
“Yes, think positively,” she told him. “You may have lost your arm but you no longer limp. Perhaps, the God of Life has blessed you.”
Neither knew that it was Kamil who had healed him. Faro was simply taken home by soldiers. No further information was given to them.
“Yeah, I can finally run. Oh, how much I missed running.” He smiled, taking some comfort that, even though he lost his arm, he regained the ability to walk and run.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Do you want to go back to the guild?”
He nodded weakly.
“Yeah, I have lots of friends there. Besides…,” he trailed off, hesitating.
“Besides?”
“I, um, am seeing a girl in the guild. She is a bit older than me, but I think we get along.”
“How much older?”
“By two years, I think.”
She had to smile, knowing that his elder brother, Kamil, was married to women who were four and five years older. Additionally, his brief relationship with Esther was another relationship where the girl was older.
“That’s fine. It could be worse,” she said, smiling.
He had a lavish meal with his mother. It was just him and her. The living room was as good as any other noble’s manor at this point. The wooden floor was squickish clean, and the room was well decorated. Nobody would think that this was a living room for a farmer. Vilma herself was in a fine dress although it wasn’t overly decorated with accessories. Faro was in his beige pajamas.
“So good…!” He said while holding a piece of well roasted boar flesh. It was generally accepted for men to consume the roasted boar with bare hands. Vilma was using a knife and a fork, gently slicing off pieces of a boar hind leg that had been roasted to a glossy golden color.
“How are you feeling? Is everything okay with your body?”
“I feel fine. Actually… I feel more than fine. It feels like I’ve been reborn.”
It wasn’t actually too far from the truth. When water elementals healed him, they essentially reconstructed a lot of his body parts because most of his internal organs were severely damaged. In other words, he would have not survived if it wasn’t for Kamil. The healing spell that was cast on him was akin to a miracle. In fact, Faro had 14 years of additional life added to him. He was essentially reconstructed.
“Mom, what happened to the dragon? Do you know?”
“It was defeated.”
He froze, unable to quite believe what he was just told.
“Defeated? Did Duman defeat it somehow?”
“The Duke has defeated the dragon.”
Furrowing his eyebrows, he looked utterly confused. “How? He wasn’t even there? There was nobody around?”
It wasn’t as if she knew the answer.
“Faro, you have been granted nobility. It was a part of the deal. It means you have to pick a last name.” She changed the subject.
“Oh, yeah…”
“You may not know but you already have a last name.”
“Huh?” He froze, holding a piece of bone with bits of flesh on it.
“My full name is Vilma Fenchel. Faro, you are a son of the Fenchel.”
Looking quite confused, he replied, “The Fenchel? But .. that’s the Duke’s last name, isn’t it?”
“Kamil Fenchel is my first son. You are his younger brother.”
With his mouth agape, he remained speechless with his eyes wide.
“Haven’t you found it strange that a farmer couple could afford this level of living standards and the fact that we are allowed this level of luxury to begin with?”
He hadn’t because he grew up in such an environment. He took the high living standards for granted. In reality, under normal circumstances, Grent and Vilma would have been told to know their places. Even if they had the wealth, they would have been forced to downgrade their living standards so that it wouldn’t surpass nobility. At the moment, however, their living standards were on par with Kamil’s if not better.
“Why wasn’t I told…?”
“Because I wanted you to have a normal life. A noble’s life isn’t all that glorious. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, Faro. I still want you to lead a normal life. Your title is only titular, so you can still live the life the way you want.”
Duman and Roseline were given titular titles as well, meaning they had nothing attached to their titles. They had become unlanded nobles essentially. With the wealth they were going to be rewarded with, however, they would never need to worry about working unless they spent foolishly. Vilma stood up, approached her son, and placed her hand on his shoulder at which point he looked up at his mother.
“Faro Fenchel, live your life. Don’t look down on others just because you have become a noble. That is a horrible way to act. You may not have your left arm anymore but walk proudly, for you were a part of the hunt that took down the dragon. Treat others with respect if you want to be treated with respect. Heed my words, son, because this is my first lesson to you as a noble.”
He was frozen, unable to act and think straight for a good while. Eventually, he blinked his eyes repeatedly as if coming back to his senses and inhaled a deep breath.
“Yes, mother,” he replied eventually. She sat back down and told him how it all began with Kamil. How he distinguished himself from an early age, how he was eventually adopted by Edmund Fenchel who was her older brother, at which point Vilma had to be forced to consider her first son as no longer being hers.
“That is why I’ve never told you about him to any of you,” she said with a bitter expression. “Legally, he is no longer my son, and his life wasn’t supposed to be mixed with ours like now.”
Faro nodded along, finally understanding the logic behind the secrecy.
“I fully expected him to embrace his new, more luxurious, life…” She had a distant look in her eyes. “But the child never forgot his roots…” Then she smiled as her eyes came back to a focus. “That is my son,” She said proudly. Grent, her husband, always maintained that Kamil was the son. She couldn’t disagree although she never agreed with him verbally because it felt unfair to look down on their other sons.
“Faro, don’t rely on him at all. He will not acknowledge you as his brother publicly.”
“Why not?” He cocked his head in confusion.
“He has come back but, on paper, he is still Lord Edmund’s son. Of course, once he is crowned the king, he can finally rip that contract off for good. Even after that, he still won't acknowledge you as his brother. He and I agreed that he wouldn’t meddle in his brothers’ lives a long time ago.”
That was when Kamil’s age was still a single digit. She had to chuckle internally at the fact.
“I am proud of you, Faro.”
“You are?”
“Yes, because you came back alive. That’s all that matters, for me at least. Mothers and wives desire their boys and men to come back home alive even if it means defeat.”
He had a mixed look on his face as he looked down. He was prepared to die and was almost dead. Not once did he think about coming back home to his mother’s arms.
“Heed my words, son,” she told him firmly with her eyes fixed on him. “We, women, want their men back safe and sound. Nothing else matters. Do not die on us.”
He was taken back by how fiercely she was looking at him. “Y, yes, ma’am,” he replied rather involuntarily.
After having eaten his lavish meal, he had a thorough bath, and maids took great care of his hair, nails and whatnot. A new set of wardrobe was tailored for him as well because he was no longer a commoner. His plain shirt and pants were tossed out, and he was given a new tunic and a higher quality pair of pants. Because of his missing left arm, the tunic’s left sleeve would dangle around. To remedy this, it was sewn to the side. Once all of these were done, which took a few days, he was scheduled to meet the Duke in order to be recognized as a nobleman officially. He knew the basic etiquette already, and Vilma educated him further. When he and Vilma visited the gate to the Fenchel manor, the pair of guards recognized them at once and guided them in. As expected from a manor constructed in a mountain, everything inside was made of bricks or flat stones. The air inside was unusually chilly as well, which made Faro shiver a bit.
“Remember what I told you,” she told him as they were guided into Kamil’s study.
“Yes, mother.”
She had repeatedly told him that Kamil would not recognize him as his brother and that he needed to treat him as a stranger.
Once inside of the study, Faro walked toward Kamil who was sitting behind a desk. Vilma stayed by the door. He was still fourteen, yet to come of age. She was acting as her guardian therefore. He kneeled down and looked up to face the Duke.
“Faro, the first son of Grent. It is you, correct?” Kamil spoke indifferently.
“Yes, Duke.”
“I commend you for your courageous deed and I am sorry that you’ve been permanently wounded.”
“It is nothing, Duke. It was for the good of mankind.”
Kamil nodded firmly.
“Faro, the first son of Grent. You are to be granted nobility. Have you chosen a last name?”
“I have, Duke.”
“Then speak your name.”
“My name shall be Faro Fenchel.”
“Very well. From henceforth, you are of the Fenchel. Arise, Lord Fenchel.”
Faro stood up accordingly.
“You will be given 15 gold coins by my advisor. Use it wisely, Lord Fenchel.”
Placing his palm on his chest, he leaned forward and said, “I thank you, Duke.”
When he was about to turn around to take leave, Kamil spoke, “Before your departure, allow me to grant you a small gift.”
“Yes?”
“I see that you have an affinity to Earth. It is weak, only one. I believe I can do something to help you with that.”
Confused and not knowing how to respond, he stood still simply.
“Elementals of Earth, I demand that you bless Lord Fenchel.”
A gray rocky golem emerged from the stone floor. It was the size of a toddler. It walked awkwardly toward Faro and opened its blocky arms wide. Subsequently, Faro’s body shone in light brown very briefly before fading away.
“You should be able to cast a spell or two decently,” Kamil said. Faro’s affinity to Earth had been boosted to two from one, which meant that he was able to cast a spell without exhausting himself. By no means was it a large boost, but the difference between one and two was actually noticeable. A person with an elemental affinity of one could not cast anything without exhausting oneself. Even the most basic spells were beyond them. In contrast, an affinity of two enabled a person to cast perhaps a few low level spells a day. However, for Faro who had never bothered learning spells, the benefit was lost on him, for now. Therefore, he thanked him simply and proceeded to leave the Fenchel manor with his mother.
“Nothing really changes for you,” Vilma told Faro as they were guided out by a guard. “You will go to work as a guild receptionist as usual. I will hold onto the reward until you come of age.”
“Yes, mother.”
He wouldn’t even know what to do with such an amount anyway, thus he figured he’d forget about it for now. Besides, he was raised in an environment where money was never an issue. He wasn’t hungry for wealth.
“Lord Fenchel, we will stop by Sir Vogel’s study for your reward,” the guard informed them.
Fifteen gold coins wasn’t actually enough for someone as young as Faro to be able to live comfortably without ever having to work. If he chose to adopt a more luxurious lifestyle, it certainly wasn’t going to be enough. Vilma realized this in an instant. It was better for him to have a job of some sort therefore. Besides, it was always better to have a job even if one didn’t have to work. Regardless, the lump sum was an inconceivable amount for pretty much everyone. They were eventually given a pristine leather pouch with 15 gold coins in it by Nestor Vogel who was with his wife, Rose, in his study. After that, they were swiftly escorted out of the manor, at which point Faro told Vilma.
“Mother, I am going to visit the guild. I will be back by evening.”
“Behave yourself, Faro.”
“Yes, mother.”
As he walked his way toward the guild, he couldn’t help but feel really light. It was as if he had shed off lots of weights off his limbs. He couldn’t feel this while he was in the manor because he was somewhat nervous.
“I feel like … I could run like the wind…,” he mumbled as he leaned forward to run. When he started running, he could feel that he was running at very fast speed. “Woah!” He uttered in a mix of excitement and amusement. To make it even more amusing, when he tried to stop, he inadvertently cartwheeled with just one arm and made a fancy stop, which made some bystanders clap and whistle.
“What… happened to me?” He looked down on himself and mused. His body felt so light. When the water elementals reconstructed him, they made him faster and stronger; He became enhanced basically. It didn’t feel like the losing of his left arm was going to bother him at all. A smile emerged on his face slowly. New possibilities were popping up in his head.
“Maybe I will take on swordsmanship again…,” he mumbled, looking down on his fist as he clenched it. “And magic, too. I won’t be good at it but, if I could cast stoneskin, it will help me a lot in melee.”
Stoneskin was as tough as plate armor and it lasted roughly an hour or until it took a certain amount of damage, whichever came first.
“I feel like I can do it…” Then he looked down on his left sleeve which was sewn to the side. He pulled out a dagger from his belt and cut the threads so that the empty sleeve would dangle and flap around when moving.
“Like a cloak,” he joked as he placed back his dagger and walked forward. His left sleeve would wave in the air.
“Let’s go!” He exclaimed with his fist in the air. There was confidence on his face, probably for the first time in his life. It was this day that Faro Fenchel started his life anew.