This Isn’t the Type of Paradise I Expected

Chapter 6: A Royal Misunderstanding

“Alright, enough of that.”

I shrugged off Arturio’s arms. I felt my face heating up. I was a very embarrassing display.

 I could hear the knights in the distance snickering at the sight.

“It’s fine. Forget about it.”

After the “moment” was over I lift my sore body off of the ground. Arturio take the moment to compose himself as well.

I finally found my way up to my feet, albeit a bit ungracefully though. I pat the dust and dirt off of my clothes. I look up and see Arturio looking at me in deep thought. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable, but I shrug it off and raised my eyebrow at him, giving a look that screamed “what?”

Arturio inhales deeply and sighs heavily.

“I think I need to relieve you of you duty to Mercidia, squire.”

That was sudden, I’d have to admit that I was getting used to the idea of staying with the Falsas, but I came here on a mission.

One that was sidetracked by Arturio, ironically.

“The lady Ericka tells me you people were just passing by, looking for a fellow by the name of Datenshi, who is planning on doing something unjust to the world.”

Arturio takes off his glasses and fixes them, which became slanted after the fight. It showed his green eyes that rivaled the color of a grassy plain.

“I think your abilities would be better suited to the rest of the world. If this fellow is as dangerous as she says he is, then you should continue to give chase.”

Well I guess I owe her one. Saves the time of me having to explain the situation. But I wouldn’t mind staying longer.

“Are you sure? I can—“

“Not at all, I think I can handle the rest of this town. It was mine at one point. Well, not really, but with the amount of paperwork I filled with Aria, I could be..”

What do you mean could be? You should’ve been. You had a child with the late queen, I’m not sure how inheriting the throne works in this world, so I refrain from mentioning it.

“Why don’t you?

I couldn’t help myself. Always in other people’s businesses. When will I learn? Before I can take back my comment Arturio lets out a soft chuckle as if he was thinking “I knew he would go there.”

“I just don’t think it would work out. When the queen had Ai, the current queen in training, she didn’t tell anyone about me. We planned on doing it, but she…”

He gripped his sword so tightly, I could hear his hands rubbing against it, turning into a reddish hue.

“Even if I could become the king or be with my daughter as her father, she wouldn’t want to know that her father was the man who couldn’t protect her mother. She always asks me of her.

That sounded ridiculous to me, but I’m not in his position, so I wouldn’t know exactly how he’s feeling. But either way, hearing it makes me cringe a bit.

“There’s no such thing as a kid who doesn’t want to know their parents! If she asked about her mother then tell her. Maybe you can’t be king, but you can always be her father. That will never change. I know you want her to know, no matter how hard it might be on you two.”

If anything, he could just tell her not to tell anyone. And have a secret to themselves.

I scratch at my head, messing up my already disheveled silver-like hair.

I think I knew someone who went through this before, but as I remember a face, my head was greeted by a strong migraine.

Arturio had his eyes closed for a moment and after a couple of seconds he quickly opened them and looked in my direction.

“Alright…”

Alright?

I tilted my head.

“I will talk to her, but I will not tell you the details until you finish your business with this other man. It is as you said, I really do want her to know, but let’s solve your problem first.

Good. That was one thing I didn’t have to scramble my brain over. I look straight at the horizon and see that the sun was rising, basking the town in an orange glow. Must be morning.

“Now, I think I may know the next location of that Datenshi fellow you went after.”

“Seriously? Where?”

That was convenient. My eyes lit up in response.

“The strength of previous leader of the thieves’ guild was nothing to laugh at, and that goes for his men as well. I doubt that man would’ve bested him that easily since you and the lady Ericka captured him without much trouble.

What a well-hidden insult. I’m impressed and hurt by the statement.

“Gee thanks…”

Arturio waves his hands in front of him, apologetically.

“Not that I’m insulting you or the lady’s skillset. Anyways…”

Great defense…

I shook my head, trying to figure out how I’d sleep at night knowing this fact…

“Thus, I think he may have had help from an outside source.”

As he finishes his sentence, he walks towards the gates of the grounds.

I pick up my katana and put it into its sheath and proceed to follow Arturio out of the gates.

“So you think our guy may have been the one who helped him?”

“No…I’m sure he is. When we talked to the members of the thieves’ guild they mentioned eavesdropping on a conversation Pocket was having with someone. The young man mention sowing seeds of discord in a land on trees and that he’ll leave this area to him.”

A land on trees? What does that mean? Probably a settlement with trees as a foundation.

“Hmm, he may be talking Evergreen village east of here…”

So guess that’s our next destination then?

“So I suppose we’ll be leaving tomorrow then. We don’t have time to waste.”

I don’t know what he’s planning, but I’m not going to wait and find out. What did he mean by “sowing seeds of discord.”? 

 I’ve got to get moving soon.

“Might you mean today, Shinji? It’s well past morning.”

Arturio looks at me with a smile.

I look up at the sky and see the sun rising and beaming on my face, making me squint my eyes. It covered the town in an orange glow. 

“Might I offer a suggestion, then?”

“Uhmm…sure…”

We continued at our usual pace, nearing the bridge to the castle.

“I think it may be a good idea to rest for now. You haven’t acquired any rest since you’ve arrived from the guild so you must be weary from your battles.”

As he finished his sentence I started stumbling.

“See…”

He said knowingly and starts to push his glasses up with his hands.

“And whose fault is that? You’re the one who attacked me out of nowhere.”

“I know, I know. But that was necessary.”

I let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of my nose.

“And also before you set out you should gather some information about Evergreen and the creatures around there. I will allow you to use the castle library for this.”

He shows his hand into his pocket and takes out a key ring with many keys of varying sizes. I also notice that one of the keys are adorned with a key chain shaped like a book.

“Here. This is a key to the Royal Archives from within the palace. I’ll allow you to use it as you wish for today. The soldiers by the gate know of you and will guide you there. ”

He tosses me the key.

“And where are you going?

He turns around.

“To attend to “Her highness” of course. Farewell! Don’t forget to rest.”

I see him walk into castle as the guards salute him.

I guess I should get some rest, but I’m really interested in what I can learn about this world.

The guard walks towards me and leads me into the castle taking me past the courtyard, which was adorned with flowers. I continued to match his footsteps, following him into a hallway fitted with a long red carpet and very expensive vases that would surely put me into debt if I broke them.

“Steady steps Shinji, Steady... You don’t want to work here for the rest of your life…”

The knight in blue turns around and makes an odd face.

“W-what are you doing sir?”

I was walking with my hands at my sides in a very stiff manner, like a robot.

“ehh, avoiding a life sentence of service, nothing at all…”

“Ok?”

He seemed even for nervous than I am in this environment.  And being called “sir” reminds me of my father and makes me feel old. When I was around him people would always call him that. I visualize my father making that ditzy face while pointing his “finger guns at me”.

I groan at the thought…

“Just call me Shinji. I’m just a normal person, just like you, and you should lighten up a bit. What’s your name?.”

“B-Byran sir—I mean Sir Shinji. Oh no wait! Shinji!”

“Hey…one step at a time I guess…”

“Ok, ….Shinji.”

He slowly turns away and continues leading me to the next door with a new pep in his step.

Well, I guess that ended as well as it could have.

“Well here it is. Sir Arturio said to let you stay here as long as you like. I’ll be waiting out here for your return.”

“You sure you don’t want to come in? It would seem awfully boring to stay outside.”

“Thank you for asking, but my orders were to make sure no one but you gets through the door.”

He turned around he stood straight in position. It looked as though he was made of stone.

I better not disturb him.

I use the key that Arturio gave me and entered the room. I was welcomed by a large room with many tall windows and rows of bookcases separated by floors. There were also many tables scattered throughout the room. I began my search through the massive library and gathered the many books related to the creatures of The Ark. The library even had maps to use. I also took books related to magic and Evergreen history, and monster books.

It turns out that Evergreen is home to the Elven race, who are mostly masters of the wind and earth type spells and also prefer stealth and long range typed fighting styles. At least, that’s what it says here… Also it says that in the past elves were not seen in a positive light due to their differences, so they were kept as slaves when found or mistreated in society. Once there lived an elven hero named Vir Fortis, who grew up a slave.  When was escaping from a camp where he was kept he saw a group of people attempting to assassinates the king of Fior, Ignis. With his limited fighting skills and the element of surprise he managed to defeat the assassins with a makeshift bow he enchanted with fairy magic. Ignis, impressed by the display, saw elves differently that day forward. The king had the former elf slave work for him and had all of the elves in the camp freed and the cost of miners. As people of the Ark saw how the king treated elves now, most of the world just followed suit.

…put simply of course.

 The book named Elven Lore Part 1 hand about 1000 pages, and I wasn’t going to read the others. I was never much of a reader. I just get the information I need and go. I never was the type of person to read casually.

And now the next book. The Record of Magecraft. I went through the book, standing at the edge of the table. It was a book that has a great deal of incantations and spells within it. It notes spell uses and elements. I skim through it, trying to memorize a handful of wind spell and enhancements. The book also states that there are incantations to a spell, along with hand gestures and thought.  The incantations, naturally, take longer to do than the gestures. Casting with incantations take more time but gathers a lot more mana, but quick casting, as Arturio taught me, is a Mid-level technique that delivers speedy casting at the cost of efficiency.

I walked over to a giant podium carrying a large book. The book read Master’s Arts. I attempted to open it but it seems to be locked by a gold lock on the sides. I reach forward and tap the lock and it springs open suprising me.

I instinctively grab at my weapon and leaped back.

“Haaaa…. What am I doing?”

I let out a sigh. Must be a really old lock.

I hesitated to look at the book again. It was locked for a reason right? Maybe I shouldn’t…

Is what I would’ve thought if my eyes weren’t glued to the contents of the book. As I flipped through it I saw sections labeled forbidden spells. One spell was labeled as one use and exhausts all of the mana in one’s body. Another changes one into what looks like a monster. So all of these spells have setbacks to using them. I continue to read through the old book whose spells seemed to get worse, until I saw a spell that peaked my interest.

It was a spell called Familiar Bonding. It didn’t seem to have any setbacks as drastic as the others, and could probably use them. The spells description was:

_______________

*Familiar Bonding*

Binds a living creature to ones will, causing them to assist their caster in battle.

Time limit: Infinite

Uses: Infinite

Dangers: Can be used on humans. This spell is forbidden for its possible usage on humans and infinite uses. The caster and familiar(s) share damage. If the familiar dies, the caster would die as well.

Cast: To cast on humans, the caster must interlock hands with the target, joining the little and index fingers together and making contact with the targets lips. This symbolizes and forms the close bonds of that will continue to exist forever.

To release: No known release methods.

History: Was used by the Rokul tribe in the southwest regions of Ark. Symbolized the marriage of two members of the tribe. Was later found in use for use by a Fiorian mage in an attempt to keep a prisoner from escaping.

What a spell. I suppose all of these spells here are dangerous to use. This one doesn’t seem that bad. It started out as a way of showing affection for another. It’s like a contract, but life threatening. Or it can be…

…..

I shake my head. I looks like I nodded off a bit. I wonder what time it is. I close the book and walk away from the podium 

and started following the the sound of the ticking clock that echoed throughout the empty room. I look up and see it over the front desk. It was 6:00pm in the evening. Time flies when you’re busy I guess.

I guess I’ll go after a few more pages.

Might I add that the desk, that was empty from the time I came in, was now sporting a book that seemed to sprout red wavy crimson hair.

*SNOOOORE!* (*Note* Shut up I don’t know how to write someone snoring! Baka…)

…along with a new set of lungs.

I take off my coat and drape it over the person’s shoulder. As I do so, I notice how chilly it is in here.

“Sleep tight, I guess?”

Rubbing my gloves against my arms, I go walk back to the open books that I had on the tables. I continue reading them, disregarding the time and the loud snoring.

As I read I start to lose my place along the text and start to nod off. I shake each of the urges to sleep off, but each time I nod off longer leading me steadily into sleep.

                                                                      **************************

As my sleep lifted I hear footsteps coming from a few feet away from me. It must be that librarian from earlier coming to wake me.

I groaned. I didn’t want to open my eyes due to a lack of sleep.

“Hey!”

I ignore the girlish voice, wondering if they’d go away if I didn’t answer.

“I know you’re awake. I heard you groan. This isn’t the best place to sleep you know”

Ironic considering her situation. Knowing playing possum wasn’t going to work anymore, I abandon my façade and shake the sleep off of my face.

Looking up at her, I realize she was pretty cute. She had hair as red as a cherry matching her eyes that was also messy due to her sleep. Her face looked fairly childlike, like you would see in a fairy tale. Although, it was ruined by the stain of drool on her mouth. She was wearing a sleepshirt that barely concealed her hips. Her shoulders were still covered by my trench coat that was sliding on the floor, showing how short she was

“You’re one to talk,with drool on your face.”

I pointed at her with a grin.

“Hwaa?!”

She spastically wiped her face, with it in turn getter brighter by the second.  

“And doesn’t that shirt barely show your blue bunny underwear? A lady should be more modest, don’t you think?”

I button the coat up to cover her.

“S-shut it you idiot! Is that any way to talk to the princess?”

Her face welled up in anger and embarrassment.

“Hahahah!”

I couldn’t help but to tease her. But in my moment of defenselessness, I feel lighter at my waist all of a sudden.

“Ha! I’ll take this.”

I look down at my swords that were no longer at my waist. Quick hands on this one…

“Very funny, now give those back…”

I hear the door opening. Who could that be?

“Pardon-me… lady Ai---”

Oh, a guard.

“Excuse me!”

The redheaded girl left a trail of dust behind in her wake, leaving out the door into the hallway.

“Darn kid! Come back here! I’ll take it from you!

I walk past the guard and continue to walk down the hallway after her.

“Take it? Take what?”

I overheard the guard talking to another.

“What else can you take from a lady as pretty as Ms.Ai?”

The guards turn towards me with their eyes getting wider.

Oh…crap.

They start running after me.

“I WON’T LET YOU TAKE HER VIRGINITY BEFORE US!!!”

“Not even close!!!”

How the hell did they come to that conclusion?! And one part of that statement doesn’t seem legal! I start running even faster to catch up to the girl. And running.

And running…

…And running

…and running.

This hallway is way too long! I felt like I was running fovever. I can see the turn but it’s not getting closer. I stop to conserve energy.

I take a moment to see if anything looks out of place. A repearting room, created by marking a point A to B. This must be illusion magic, separate from the 4 elemental magics that most people can use. If I read correctly, since she didn’t touch me there must be a catalyst maintaining the magic.  My eyes dart around the hall.

“Hmm…There!”

I look up at the ceiling. There is a glyph drawn into it. I read that runes get their power from their form. If I erase any part of it, it should lose power. I jump up and gather wind magic in my hands and smear one of the lines of off the symbol.

There! It should be done.

“COME BACK HERE LOLICON!!!”

They’re still behind me?

“And you’re one to talk!”

I finally turn around the corner and I see her struggling to run.

I see. Maintaining the spell also drains you of your mana. I think I can catch up to her now. I see turn into a room on the right side of the hallway. I follow suit and open the door, leading me into a large pink room. The door closes behind me from the force.

“Gotcha!”

“You’re not getting away this time!”

She collapses on the bed breathing heavily. I take the time to catch a breather as I take a look around the room. This room is… very much a girl’s. Wherever I look I see pink and if not pink, I see stuffed animals. It’s hard to tell if this room is actually a part of the castle or a part of some separate dimension made for girls.

…I wouldn’t put it past this world to have something like that. I look out the window and see that it’s night time already.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to just examine a girl’s room like that!”

…just full of hypocrisy aren’t you?

“…and who is the one who steals swords. I recall it being a certain redheaded girl with a plushie addiction.”

“Water under the bridge…”

“Says who!?”

“Hahahaha.”

She breaks out suddenly into laughter, catching me off guard. When I look at her face I can’t help but to smile. She looks as though she’s having fun. Just the thought of that brings a smile to my face.

“So you can be a normal girl when you want.”

“Hey! I am a total model of normal.”

Somehow I doubt that.

The room grew quiet. So quiet in fact that if you tried you could hear our breaths.

“I’m sorry….”

What? I gave her a confused look and tilted my head.

“I said I’m sorry! For taking you things you know?”

Oh? She felt bad about it?

“Oh, that’s it? No worries, It was kinda fun while it lasted.”

“I know right! Everyone in here is so stiff and when I pull things like this that jerk Artie is the only one that scolds me. They call me Miss Princess, or Her highness and just looks the other way. I just want to make friends with everyone in the kingdom, just like my mom.”

She didn’t feel that bad about it… and like her mom? Looks like this girl has big dreams.

“Nothing wrong with that. It’s a great goal.”

I pat her head out of habit.

“Hmmmrhhmm”

As I rub on her head she makes a purring sound like a kitten.

“Stop that! I’m 15 years old. I’m not a kid who takes pleasure in this sort of thing.”

I lift my hand from her head and she grabs my hand and forces it back on her head.

“But I’ll allow it, just this once…”

Alrighty then…

But who is this girl anyways. She knows Artie…I mean Arturio, and she’s a little girl in a giant castle.

…wait.

“So who are you anyways, and how were you reading that book?

Book? Oh, she must mean the one that was locked.

“I’m Shinji. I guess you could call me a friend of Arturio’s?”

“Oh, you must be the new recruit he was talking about yesterday. Or should I say…ex recruit…”

She had a grin on her face.

She had to say it. It looks like Arturio talks with her a lot then. Baby steps then.

…This must be his daughter Ai. Based on the description he gave me, she looks just like her mother.

I recall the time it was before I came here. Since I fell asleep it must me at least midnight at the moment. Crap, I’m so late.

“I think I should get going.”

I get up and head towards the door. I feel something tugging on my sleeves. It was Ai.

“Why don’t you stay a little longer?”

“I would, but I’ve been keeping another person waiting for a while and it wouldn’t be fair to keep them waiting longer.”

…any longer than she already has, I guess.

I turn around and grab one of my blades off of her pillow. Where is the other one?

I see Ai stand on the bed and hold the broken sword up high. She begins to wobble.

“You’re gonna fall if you’re not careful. Come on, give it back before you hurt yourself.”

“I have wonderful balance. I haven’t taken months of etiquette classes for nothing. I can even balance books on my head now.”

She has etiquette?

She stands on one foot and places the sword’s hilt upright onto her head. I started to sway a bit but she managed to keep it steady.

I clap for the good display.

“I see your classes have been paying off. Now if you could juggle balls, you could join a circus.”

“A cir-cus? What’s that? Is it fun?”

She continues to balance my sword on her head.

“Yes, its lots of fun. It’s a place where people go to have fun and clowns and other performers do tricks and juggle like I told you about. They also have trained animals like tigers jumping through hoops of fire. “

I see her eyes widen. It seems like she’s interested, but then her face distended, looking melancholy.

“I wish I could go one day, but I’m stuck here.”

Hmm…She does have a duty here as the next queen, but she should be happy too.

“I have an idea.”

“What is it?”

“You could make a circus yourself.”

She looked puzzled.

“Come on, you could do it. You want to make this kingdom happy right? This way, you could watch it with everyone.”

“Y-yeah. Ok, I’ll try”

“But that means you have to do more work to become queen. Are you sure you’re up to it?

“I said yes already!”

“Well then…”

“h-hey. When I make the Circus….could you…watch it with me too?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Eeee.hehe”

She squealing and started to hop, losing her balance and dropping the sword on the bed. As long as she’s happy I guess.

“Ahem, but don’t get too happy now. It’s just to see if everything’s correct, you know.”

She cleared her throat, trying to hide the display she showed.

Says the one who was just squealing… I recall the time.

It should be around 12:30 am now. I need to get going now.

“Well I’ll see you then.”

I turn towards the door, forgetting my blade.

“Wait! Your thing—oops.”

I turn and see red coming towards my face.

We collide, making her fall over on top of me obscuring my vision.

“Oww.  I told you that was going to happen. And if you don’t mind can you get up first? If you don’t, I feel like some cliché from a romantic comedy is going to happen.”

“Wait, my button is stuck…”

She starts moving around frantically making this very uncomfortable.

“Stop squirming already! You’re not helping.”

“Shut it alrea---ahhn!”

Her hips were pressing on my mouth making it hard to breathe. I knew this would happen.

“I mhold hyu ffis wwold hppn!”

My voice was muffled from her sitting on me.

“Stop—ah--- t-talking-mhh.”

Damn it! Stop making those sounds. It’s not helping me. Stay in control man, she’s a kid. I grab at her waist to push her off of me

This isn’t good. if someone walks in on thi—

The door opened. A man dressed in a soldier’s uniform with curly brown hair and glasses came in.

“h-hey Arthurmrio.”

“I—I can’t ----Ahahhhhhmn.”

At that second the halls were filled with what could be heard as the future queen losing her purity, causing the longest lecture I’ve ever heard to be taught for 1 hour.

Yeah… this definitely isn’t the paradise I expected.

…not at all.

                                                                    *****************************

Well after that ordeal, I bid farewell to Arturio and his daughter Ai.

As I walk back from the castle, I see Kyousuke walking with a woman with his hands over her shoulder. It looks like he failed to notice me walk by him.

Back at it again, eh Kyosuke?

I was past the square and I see one of the stall owners looking out towards the gate. He was equipped with a leather vest and a dagger, along with bottoms that were made of light fabric. I watch him pass through the gate and back. He repeats this a couple more times. I walk up to him, wondering what he was doing.

“Is everything alright si----?”

“Uwahhh! Don’t eat me! I have kids…”

What? Regardless, I don’t think they would care. The man was frightened to the point of shaking. He cowered, covering his head.

“I’m not going to eat you. I’m human. I just came to ask what’s the matter.”

“O-oh. Sorry, I don’t wish to bother you with all of my problems. It’s fine.”

He steps out of the gate once more and backs up into the town’s entrance.

“She’s going to kill me If I don’t get that ring back… Damned wolva’s taken the blasted thing.”

Wolva? Ah, I read about them. It’s a creature native to this area. They are fairly large creatures that have high speed, despite their size. They look similar to a wolf in our world but, being as large as a lion.

I decide to head off into the woods to find this wolf.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

“You’ll see, just stay here.”

I head off straight and follow the trail that leads away from the town. The trail itself is lit by lanterns powered by some magical energy. I eventually find large footprints that diverge from the trail and lead off into the forest. They must be the merchant’s footsteps. They are really far apart so he must have been running from something.

I head off into the dark forest, away from the light of the trail, light seeping in from the moon faded through the trees as I went deeper in. I keep following what footprints I could see and tried to avoid stumbling on the tree roots that grew disorganized on the ground. The sounds of what I assume is crickets drown my ears. Such is the night, and is what makes me calm. Oddly, enough the day may be safer, but for some reason I feel at home at night.

 I continue to an opening into the forest. A circular opening was lit up by the lack of trees in this area. The area is covered in mounds of dirt and rock scattered. I see a bundle of stick and rocks where the footprints end. He must have been camping out here. On a giant log near the bonfire I see a shining silver object reflecting light.

Well, that was easy. I guess I can get it and go back.

“Grrrrrrrrrr….”

“Sigh… It’s never that easy is it?”

I forgot to mention these wolves have an odd habit of scavaging things they find and placing them inside mounds. I think I hit their hiding spot. They fancy wedding rings I suppose.

I see 4 red eyes glimmering through the dark. It looks like I’m surrounded. I press my thumb against my blade, letting it hang out slightly ready to draw.

One of the wolva jump out of the bushes signifying the start of the attack. I keep my stance ready. As the first of the wolva lunges at me I strike it with my sheathe maintaining my stance causing him to roll over into the bushes. The second immediately follows up to the right and I draw my sword slashing at its eye. The creature yelps in pain causing the other wolves to immediately dash forward. They both attack from behind and I gather wind magic in my left hand and place a wind trap on the ground at my feet. I jump backwards as they both attempt to bite at me. They both land near my trap. I activate it, causing them to be launched a couple of feet in the air.

They all rise to their feet and begin to howl. I guess they’re calling for help. After a few moments of starting at my enemies wavering spirit, I hear the trees moving from behind me. I see a blur of black pass by me and I suddenly get hit in the back by the fast moving object.

“Ugh…”

I fall down on the cold soil and the other wolva take the opportunity to attack. They start to tear at my clothing. I start to gather energy, intending to release wind energy to repel them.

“Grrrrrrrrr”

I see the bigger wolva standing in front of me. Unlike the other ones this one had black fur with red paws that looked as though it dipped its hands into a corpse, and its nose was red as well. This wolf-like creature had many scars over its body, namely its eye. It also sported a long scar over its stomach.

This creature has seem many battles, that is obvious enough and from the looks of it, mostly human and it has lived to tell the tale.

Regardless this wolva was now biting its other pack members causing the others to move away. It grabs my blade I dropped with its mouth and places in front of me. It then backs away from me.

Does it want to fight fairly? That’s funny. An animal with honor? But I don’t dislike that, I suppose.

The alpha lets out a loud howl and stands with its legs wide apart as if it’s stancing. A burst of green energy then comes from its legs.

“You can use magic? So that’s how he moves so fast.”

The wolva barks back at me in affirmation, lifting its head, proud of its power.

“You’re just full of surprises aren’t you? Well I guess I won’t give you anything more than my best. You’re protecting something important as well.”

I look towards the dark forest and I see two beads of red lower to the ground.

Well it’s now or never. I stand up to my feet and grab my blade. I ready myself by enhancing my legs with wind magic.

I began to circle around the wolva searching for an opening. I attempt to rush in with my increased speed. I quickly swipe at its legs to hinder its speed and it grazes him before he dodges out of the way. I keep up the offensive and continue to attack, but he effortlessly dodges all of my attacks. The wolva backs up into the dark forest and disappears completely. I enchant my sheath with wind and sheathed my blade once more, preparing for an attack.

Hearing bushes from behind me prepare my sword in that direction and I see a black blur before I get to draw. The attack grazed my waist. One after another, he attacked from the darkness from all directions. I was able to deflect some and dodge some, but doing so whittles away at my stamina. So I guess one choice would be to…

…Not dodge at all.

I wait for his next attack and as I get used to his speed the blur turns into a full figure. He charges at me once more he bites at my arm, but I grab his head in response and use all my strength to toss him at the nearest tree.

I angle my hilt at the scar on his stomach and activate a release a burst of energy from my sheath, launching my sword at him. The attack hits home, causing the canine to growl in anger.

I grab at my arm.

“nngh!”

That hurts like hell. He gripped my arm tightly when he bit me, but the force from be throwing him tore some skin off. I quickly snap to action and approach him. He get up and bites down at a stone on the ground and tosses it at me. It hits me in the eye causing me to stumble. The wolva then picks up the sword I tossed at him and slashes at me. I use my sheathe to block his attack. I continue to push forward and so does he. We both back away from each other and rush forward to clash weapons again. Each time we clash I feel a wider grin forming on my face along with new scars on my body.

I find myself panting for air. I don’t think I can hold out much longer. I prepare my self by gathering wind magic in my right hand and my left and charging forward. The wolva enchants the sword with wind magic making the sword sharper and longer, rushing ahead as well.

I see, I guess he’s going all out as well.

I see him going for a horizontal slash to my body, so I force my hand into the ground and release the wind from my hands, dodging the strike. As I float in the air I decide to cast another spell. I quickly bring my hands together, forming a circle. Magic then starts to materialize within. I twist the magic inside and it starts to spiral. Compress, twist and release. I push it outward, hoping it works.

“Wind Salvo!”

The spiral sphere of wind expanded and incased both of us within a torrent of blades. The wind slashed all over my leg, while the alpha took most of the damage.

After the sounds of wind died out we both fell to the ground. I found it hand to stand, but I managed.

I stumbled over to the fallen alpha and assess the damage. It was mostly shallow cuts and bruises, nothing too serious.

 Probably due to the incomplete spell.

As for me, the limp should wear off in a few minutes. I just have to wrap up this bite wound and I’ll be ok.

I tear off the bottom of my shirt and wrapped it around his stomach. 

Good as new.

Well I guess I’m done here. I proceed to get the ring. And I hear growling.

It was the alpha. I guess I should explain to him as best I can.

I show him the ring in my hands.

“I just came for this, see?”

He started whimpering, as if apologetically.

“It’s all right though. It was kinda fun. You enjoyed it as well, right?”

I let out my fist.

“Woof!”

He puts his paw onto my fist.

Close enough…

He barks and turns towards his pups in the bushes. His pack follows behind him.

That’s that I guess. But that was no normal creature, it had to be trained for that type of skill. I pick up my weapons and return to the town gate.

                     ****************************************

As I approach the gate I see the merchant walking away from the gate. I shout at him to get his attention.

“Oh boy, what happened to you? Don’t tell me you actually went into that wolva’s den to get that back?”

“Yep, I did. Here you go. And the wolva there was only trying to protect it’s pups so that’s why it attacked.”                                                                                                                                                              

I hand him the ring.

“Oh, man. Thank you so much stranger, what is your name?”

“Shinji’s my name.”

“Here you go Shinji. 10000 pas.” (Approx. $1000 USD

 He gives me a bag of Pas.

“Are you sure sir?”

“Yes, I can’t put a price on this ring. It means so much to me.”

Well ok. I guess I can replace these tattered clothes tommorrow.

The merchant happily walks away deeper into the town.

I decide to head back to the café, but someone looks as though they were having trouble picking something up. So I assisted. After I was done with that the woman I helped told me someone else needed something so I helped them as well.

….This went on for 2 hours. The next day, “The handyman became the next rumor circulating Mercidia.

I headed back to the Café Falsa to get some shut-eye. I went around and looked up at the guest window and noticed that it was open. I jumped up using the tree overlooking the window.

 As I go into the room I notice Ericka sleeping. I resist the urge to play a joke and take a seat on the floor near on the side of the bed. I prop my sword next to my shoulder and began to close my eyes. A couple moments after I thought I was asleep I hear shuffling on the bed and footsteps heading closer. A moment after, I feel a weight on my shoulder.

I slightly open my eyes and see that Ericka has draped the sheets over us along with resting with me on the floor. Her furry ears begin to tickle my face.

I guess she was worried after all. Sorry about that. Soon after, I also fall asleep.

I guess we’ll get moving tomorrow. 

Chapter 6 End

Sorry for the long wait everyone. You know how it is. Life. Anime. Work. Relationships. The usual. 

Thanks for the people who actually read the newbie's work to the end regardless if you loved or hated this fiction, it makes me happy that you guys and gals gave it a chance. Thanks, and there will be more.

PS:  I tried making this chapter a bit longer due to my long absence.