Another morning came by, a morning with happiness and brand new dreams, some villagers were already preparing for the big night that was waiting for them, for all of them, this night was dedicated to the win they had against the bandits, the bandits that opposed the villagers and abused their power for over a month

At this time all of Teras's friends had woken up but decided to stay at the house because they knew if they left then they would have been busy with all of the happy villagers, Har and Lia were already in the shared area cooing food, Teras wanted to join them but he was unable since he had a sleeping Cara on top of him

'When did she get here? I'm sure that last night I slept alone so when did this happen?'

Teras thought as he was blushing, he was still not comfortable with how he ended up with Cara but he was... happy?

'Everything is perfect now but why do I feel like... empty... Yeah empty is the only way I can describe this feeling, I don't specifically feel sad but not happy enough to consider myself happy'

Teras thought as he stared at the ceiling, before he could notice Cara gave him a little smooch

"Wake up! We have an amazing day in front of us!"

Cara said as she quickly got up, she quickly went to the shared area and joined the others on breakfast, Teras on the other hand moved into a sitting position and started training his mana, but he had other intentions, he wanted to talk with the shadow figure and after some minutes his attempts were heard

"What is the reason you summoned me child?"

the figure asked him

'This thing only talked to me when it wanted to, so I feel kind of weird trying to talk to it, what was it that I needed anyways?'

Teras thought as he looked at the figure

"What happens now? I saved all of them and I also got stronger, what else can I do here?"

He asked

"I'm not the one to guide you kid, you shall find your own destiny"

The figure said, Teras quickly snapped back to reality after hearing that, He then decided to join the others

"What do we have to eat?"

Teras asked them

"Lia prepared us apples! Better eat fast friend"

Har said as he quickly ate apples, Teras went to the bathroom and washed his face with water, and when he came back he noticed that everyone was eating kind of fast, Teras then tried to pick up a piece of apple but he couldn't because they were all eaten

"Sorry friend, you were late!"

Har said with a mouth stuffed with apple pieces

"HOW DID YOU EAT THE WHOLE APPLE IN ONE BITE?"

Teras asked shocked

"Sorry! We just couldn't contain ourselves! If you are okay with it I can try to make you something"

Lia said in an apologetic tone

"It's okay! I was about to leave anyways"

Teras said as he left their house, this house became theirs after a hard fight, Teras then went to Julian's tree, and to nobody's surprise he found Zak there, he was staring at the tree

"I bet he would have been happy"

Teras said, Zak, turned around and smiled

"He IS very happy! Our village is free and his house is once again filled with happy faces, he couldn't ask for than that"

Zak said to Teras

"I'm happy I can make you both happy! Well... Not just you but the whole village, everyone walks around with a smile on their face, and to think if Jem didn't talk to me we would have never met is insane but also proves how small the world really is"

"That's true, you will quickly understand that more after you travel to the other kingdoms of this world"

Zak told him as he patted Teras on his shoulders

"How about we go back to the village so we can help with the preparations?"

Zak suggested to Teras

"Alright, but allow me to call the others too"

Teras said as he began running to his squad's house, he quickly told everyone and they all met at the bar Zak had, Zak and his family were relaxing there

"Teras! Teras! I heard that you killed the monster! How did you do this?"

Rex asked excited, his blue eyes were shining from excitement

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You see your big brother used these weapons to defeat the monster with no sweat at all!"

Teras said jokingly as he pumped his arm muscles

"Whoa! I wish I can become like you when I grow up!"

Rex said while he too tried to pump his muscles, the girls found it cute but Rex's mother didn't like it

"You have a lot of work to do before becoming like me, plus you need to go to school first before becoming an adventurer"

Teras said as he patted Rex's head, the group then sat at the same table as Rex and his mother were

"I don't know how to thank you all for saving us! I'm Ami, Zak's wife, I was surprised to see you when you first came by but after you showed me how much of an influence you can have on everybody to improve, you made me change my views about you, you truly are a god-sent gift"

Ami said as she bowed her head to them

"We did what was right! Plus you also gave us money and a house to stay so you shouldn't feel bad, just think of it as a trade!"

Teras said, he felt bad to see a woman older than him bow like that

"Thank you Teras! Even though you are this young you act very maturely!"

Ami said with gratitude

"Yeah, it's embarrassing to us, seeing someone our age to act this mature, even if we tried we couldn't act like this"

Lia said as she laughed

"Same age as you? You know I'm 14 right?"

Teras said with a smile (He doesn't know his real age but he was right nonetheless)

"WHAT!?"

Everyone screamed, even Zak from inside the bar was shocked about what he heard

"YOU ARE FOURTEEN AND YOU CAN DO ALL THIS?"

Zak asked from inside the bar

"Yeah... I thought everyone was about the same age at first but after spending time with everyone I realized that I looked a bit younger than everyone, but I don't really know your age"

Teras said so they all told them their age

"I'm 16 and Har is 17 and if I'm correct Cara is months younger than me so she should be 15 but 14? You are way too young to fight golden-ranked monsters"

Lia said while still trying to process Teras's age

"Ah what wouldn't I give to return to my adventurer years, where I fought with all of my heart! Do you remember this era darling?"

Ami said as she thought of the past

"How could I forget moments like these? They were our golden age!"

Zak said as he too came and sat at the table with everyone

"Wait mama you were an adventurer?"

Rex asked surprised

"Of course I was! That's how I met your father!"

She replied

"You were an adventurer once, so why don't you let me be one too?"

Rex whined

"Because you sir have all of your life ahead of you! Deciding this early is a big error"

Ami said as she schooled Rex, suddenly Rex's friend came into the bar

"Rex come with us! We found a cool bug! Come with us so we can capture it"

They said, Rex quickly stood up and ran with them so they could catch this bug, meanwhile everyone stayed in the bar and kept talking

"Oh, now that I think about it I didn't announce something important!"

Lia said with an excited face, Teras was confused since he also didn't know

"I'm pregnant with a boy! Here is the proof!"

Lia said as she placed another seed on her belly, it once again bloomed as a blue rose

"That's amazing!"

Ami said with a sweet smile, Lia reminded her of her when she was younger

"WHAT? THAT MEANS YOU WILL HAVE A BABY?"

Teras replied with a beyond-shocked expression, everyone reacted by laughing

"THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER! When did you guys even... you know..."

Teras said as he got red, everyone laughed

"Know what Teras?"

Lia asked with a smirk on her face

"You know... the THING...."

everyone laughed once again at Teras's embarrassed expression

"Screw that! What are you going to name your child? You must have thought of a name"

Teras asked, Lia and Har took some time to think

"We have a name planned but I want to hear about what you would have named him"

Lia told Teras with an excited tone

"Maybe Hunter? You know since we are the Orion..."

Teras stopped talking when he saw the face everyone made

Before Teras could say something to justify his name choice everyone started laughing

"W-Whatever, is not like I will have to name a child any time soon!"

Teras said with a blush on his face, he was embarrassed from everyone laughing at his name choice

"You know some time is going to be Cara's and your turn!"

Lia whispered in his ear, Teras was fuming with embarrassment

"S-S-Shut up!"

Teras said as he got up, he then went outside to find peace

He didn't know why but he went to visit the bandits, everyone was tied to ropes, Marco was the exception, he was in shackles, for some unknown reason everyone seemed to be scared

"You have to free us! We didn't do this out of our free will, at the start, it was for us to make some quick buck, but after some time we were forced to raid! Nobody believes me but you have to!"

Marco said as he slammed himself into the cage, his look was very real

"Did you act the same way to Hermie too? You sure are convincing but this doesn't work on me"

Teras said as he started to walk away

"You have to leave! Before it is too late for all of you!"

Marco screamed to Teras, Teras felt a cold shiver running down his spine when he heard his scream

Hours passed and the preparations were almost ready, the sun went down and with it, an atmospheric night started, a big line of tables was created outside the bar and a big load of food was almost ready, it was the village's last resort of food but they used it anyways in this big celebration of their independence

Everything was about to start, and the only thing missing was one of the heroes of the village, and this hero was Teras, Teras was simply sitting at Julian's tree and watching the party from away, he wanted to think about what happened earlier

His silence was shortly disturbed by Cara's appearance, she was wearing a white dress that the villagers made her, and even though it was the opposite color of her hair it still looked good on her

"What are you doing up here alone?"

She asked him

"Nothing special, just relaxing"

Teras replied as he avoided eye contact

"I know you are lying when you look elsewhere! Come on tell me the truth!"

Cara said as she hugged Teras's right hand

"Marco said that they were forced to attack and did everything for our safety, even though I don't fully believe him his face and voice looked so real!"

Teras said as he looked down

"He told his nonsense to you too? Don't worry this guy does this to everyone to gain our sympathy"

Cara said as she laughed it off

"I guess..."

Teras said but he was still bothered about what he said, when Cara noticed it she grabbed Teras's head with both of her hands and pulled it closer to her face

"Look at me! I know you are worried but everything is done! You saved me, Har, Lia, and everyone! You are strong Teras! You don't have to fear anything because you will always overcome it, this is how you are, so please don't give me this look dummy"

Teras was finally calmed after that

"I guess you are right! Now let's forget what just happened and let's go down there so we can enjoy the celebration party!"

Teras said as he dragged Cara downhill, they were both running while holding hands, the night was beautiful

Shortly after they joined everyone and they all partied together, they ate delicious food and drank alcohol, they drank a lot of alcohol, so everyone was drunk

"I forgot to mention something!"

Teras told to Cara

"What is it?"

the drunk Cara asked

"Your new dress really suits you"

Teras said with a big smile on his face

The night continued at this pace and ended the next morning, everyone was too drunk to communicate so they simply went to sleep with a full belly and a free mind...