Beltane and I soon reached the front entrance to Feldrast Manor. We were about to turn into the garden in front of the manor when I said, “Hey, are you going to talk to my father looking like that?”
Beltane suddenly halted as if he had suddenly realized the state of his outfit and general hygiene. He looked down with a somewhat embarrassed look before saying, “Yeah, is that not a good idea?”
“I assume you haven’t spent much time in the presence of Etronian nobility?” I stated with the cadence of a question.
“Not exactly, no,” Beltane scratched his cheek. “The leaders of Hinnom are particularly pragmatic when it comes to matters of appearance.”
“Well, my father isn’t,” I said. Good man he may have been, but he still strictly abided to noble standards of propriety. “He’ll understand if you take a day to clean yourself up.”
Just as Beltane started to reach for a pouch at his belt, I grabbed the only thing in my pocket and flipped it in the war mage’s direction. With a much greater dexterity than I would usually expect from a mage, Beltane caught the object in his grasp. Curiously, he looked down at the object, seeing a single Etronian gold coin shining back at him.
“Consider it a down payment on my future lessons,” I said before he could remark on the gold coin.
Beltane let out a low whistle before he said, “Wow, I didn’t know nobles gave their kids such generous allowances.”
“Here’s what you need to do: go to the Smoldering Flame Inn, ask for a room and a bath, keep most of your supplies in the room, buy some nice clothes from the local tailor, and then come talk to my father.” As I spoke, I pointed in the general direction of the stores to which I was referring. The Smoldering Flame Inn was near the market in the center of town, and the tailor was near the river.
“Sure, sure,” Beltane said, smiling. “You’re a weird kid, you know that?”
“I am aware,” I said without an expression on my face.
----------------------------------------
Beltane didn’t return to Feldrast Manor that day. The sun was low in the sky when we parted, and I suspected that the tailor was already closed. It was probably better that he become somewhat accustomed to Sableton before he met with my father.
The next day, I was reading a book under an old oak tree in the front yard while Merrick and Walter sparred nearby. Sparring is perhaps the wrong word. It would be more accurate to say that Merrick would try to tap Walter’s knees with a small wooden sword, and Walter would casually parry Merrick’s attempts with a thick tree branch. Since Merrick was seven at the time, he was humorously outmatched against the grizzled war veteran.
Stolen novel; please report.
I tried to focus on my book, The History of Hinnom, but the fight in front of me kept diverting my attention. The miniscule wooden sword held in Merrick’s hand was originally bought for me, but my frail constitution and general disinterest in sword-fighting resulted in its disuse.
Whereas I took after our father, Merrick Feldrast took after our mother. He had light brown hair, green eyes, and slightly tanned skin. The tan was an early sign that he had not inherited [Hellfire], but this fact was not dispositive. It was theoretically possible to inherit [Lesser Hellfire], which did not confer fire resistance. Naturally, I had already used [Observe] on my little brother, so I knew the truth. Just as Merrick’s wooden sword cracked against Walter’s wooden branch, I targeted Merrick with [Observe].
[Observe, Lvl. 5]
Name: Merrick Feldrast
Class: None
HP: 5
MP: 4
Fortitude: 9
Strength: 12
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 6
Willpower: 7
Charisma: 12
Talent: [Future Sight]
I noted with annoyance that Merrick’s physical stats were much higher than mine, even though my physical development was much further along than his. It was especially annoying knowing that my physical stats would never again be greater than Merrick’s. In the novelization of [Ferrum Online], Merrick eventually became a Swordmaster who enhanced his already prodigious physical abilities with a [Skill] known as [Battle Aura]. After being cast out of his home by Thale, he traveled the world as the de facto leader of a four-man adventuring party. By the time he returned home, he was strong enough to shape the world in his image.
The original Merrick was shaped by his background and his Talent. The death of both his parents before he was fourteen years old instilled in him a desire to prevent others from suffering in the same way. The same event instilled in Thale a desire to enforce his will upon the world so that he could never be hurt again.
Merrick’s Talent, [Future Sight], sounded a lot better than it actually was. Without extensive combat training, the only advantage [Future Sight] conferred was the ability to occasionally catch glimpses of future tragedies. [Future Sight] was less useful than one would think because the visions granted by this Talent would alway come true. The person with the Talent would be powerless to prevent their vision from occurring. Somehow, the original Merrick Feldrast was able to find a combat application for [Future Sight], but I didn’t know how he did it.
After several minutes of wood cracking against wood, Tabitha exited the manor and stepped into the garden. She witnessed Merrick breathing heavily, holding his sword in a low guard. Standing next to Merrick, Walter was completely unphased by the physical activity. His branch was low to the ground, prepared for another one of Merrick’s attacks.
“Merrick!” Tabitha Sellack Feldrast called out in a disapproving tone. “Stop bothering Sir Walter!”
Upon hearing my mother call out, Walter turned to her, completely taking his eyes off Merrick.
“Lady Tabitha,” Walter said with a bow of his head.
“Ha!” Merrick called out as he swung hard at Walter’s shin.
Without ever looking at Merrick, Walter sidestepped the attack. Just as Merrick had fully committed to his swing, Walter disappeared completely from his vision. Merrick’s momentum carried him several steps forward, where he fell onto his hands and knees.
“Merrick’s been no trouble at all,” Walter said, a rare smile motivating his expression. “He’ll be a fine knight one day.”