“Mom, mom! Look what I got! Leave the shoes to dad, we’ve got a feast to make!”
“What do you mean, ‘leave the shoes to dad’ you rascal? I guess that big one is mine on account of all the extra work I’ll be doing.”
“Mom, mom! Look what I got! After fixing up the shoes with dad, we’ve got a feast to make!”
“Psh.” Their father hardly looked up as he punched holes through some rare leather. Asher could still make out a smile on his face; he was the source of Evan’s gluttony, no doubt he felt just as happy and proud as Evan did. “Go on dear. There’s only Ardsde’s boots that need to be completed by tomorrow. We’re not swamped with work, and it’ll be good to celebrate that haul.”
“If you absolutely insist Roland.” Rolling her eyes, their mother smiled at Evan. “Come on then, let’s bring them into the kitchen to prepare them. Why did you decide on taking him with you this time? No, it’s a good thing, but you’d best not be hoping I’ll be holding him back for you when you want some time to yourself.”
“Well...” Asher didn’t know how to share his knowledge of the future without sounding crazy, not to mention putting it in a way that wouldn’t worry his mother. He’d accomplished great deeds before she realized what danger he was putting himself in the first time around, which pacified her somewhat. Saying he wanted to go out to fight evil now looked like hot-headedness. “Uriel had a messenger sent ahead and will be passing through at some point. He wants me to go with him to Paupers’ Blades.”
“Hm, I’d say that’s nonsense and your a fool to go, but I actually met your father there. He knocked a single man down before losing in the free-for-all. A sword’s nothing like a spear. Better for you to get it out of your system, so you can focus on taking up the business.”
“Thanks mom.” Consent was the closest thing to support she would give. As cobblers of renown in Pelia, his parents frequently worked with passing knights or adventurers to craft footwear out of beast-hide. Pelia wasn’t all that large, so those that came through weren’t usually exemplars of their profession, and thus his mother viewed them as vagabonds.
Asher himself traveled with the pinnacle of humanity, so his view may have been somewhat skewed. Only the most righteous dared to hunt down a genius madman bent on destruction. Those unsavory and untrustworthy defected and fled at the first sign of trouble; how could any be left after decades of fighting? The number of heroic spirits of adventurers rivaled that of the chivalrous knights, if not for the abundance of both, Yuviol would not have been pushed back in the end.
That needed to be different this time. They couldn’t simply purchase victory with blood again.
Asher set aside two large black fish for himself to eat. He needed to train and regain his strength, he needed to circulate what little mana he had to try and increase his affinity for magic, he needed to remember all those details, every moment that cascaded into a larger failure, and every foothold that gave them an advantage. Remembering fine details from a quarter century ago was an absurd task, so Asher needed to be able to pull himself through what had once been coincidence with his own power.
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“I’m going to be training until he gets here. Have Evan help around if you need anything.”
“Hey!” Evan looked back over from the stove, the weak flames almost dying as he looked away. “I can’t believe it; you get to go to the tourney, and now you make me pick up all the slack?”
“Oh, so you’re going to be picking up the slack around here, then? I sure hope that means we’ll have enough kindling in the future, since Asher won’t be around to do it.” Their mom glared at her youngest, who frequently shirked his chores, leaving them to his elder brother. That was one of the reasons she felt comfortable letting Asher go to Paupers’ Blades, he had a strong enough sense of responsibility not to go running off like a hooligan as soon as he got his hands on a sword.
However as they prepared dinner, she couldn’t help but get a rising sense of unease. Asher felt much more tense than he did yesterday. He wasn’t moving stiffly, in fact he moved more fluidly than she remembered, he wasn’t jittery, in fact he appeared forcefully calm, her son simply possessed an air of gravitas that hadn’t been present the day prior.
But he was almost a man grown now. Whatever the situation with Peasants’ Blades and Uriel, if he didn’t ask for help, she would offer none in turn. Though he didn’t like to show it, she knew her son’s pride.
Taking the fish from her sons’ hands, she could at least make sure they were well fed for their futures.
“Mmm, is that the smell of the famed lemon-pepper red-black fish dish?” Ambling in, their father joined them in the kitchen as Asher finished washing up the green beans. Their house wasn’t exactly small, but four was a bit too many to move about easily. Still, it felt cozy together with his family.
Asher wondered if he could feel the same thing with his comrades in the future. He missed them, but unlike family, their bonds were only forged after the journey began. When he first saw them again, it would be like meeting strangers. Even Uriel and Leila, while friends even now, this far in the past, all of them experienced so much over the years of fighting. Uriel no longer remembered standing by his side for nights on end against endless hordes. Now it was all just a one-sided memory of a relationship.
…
Elena…
His very mind froze up, unsure of how to process his next thought. He knew what he was about to think, yet he didn’t want to think it. Instead, he tried to just let her face, and the fact that she was alive again overwhelm any other thought in his head.
“Hey, if you daze off like that, you’ll get knocked out before you can do anything at the tourney! Get out of the way Asher!” Evan kicked at his brother’s foot while carrying a large plate of roasted fish fillets.
“Yeah! I want to experience what you two managed to catch together!” Cheering on his son, Roland snatched a piece of fish off the plate.
“Wait, stop, the red ones are mine!”
“Hahaha!” Evan’s kicking was redirected towards their father’s feet, his hands too occupied by the large tray to defend from above.
“Both of you stop it, or I’ll sell the rest and buy trail rations for dinner.”
“Why son, pride of my life, would you like a taste of your mother’s delicious cooking?”
“Why father, man who I look up to more than any other, mother’s cooking is something even divines wouldn’t turn down.”
“Just get to the table.” The two grinned as they scurried off, mouths full of fish. “While you’re gone, I’ll have to take care of those children by myself. Make sure you come back as soon as you can.”
Asher nodded. While it might not be as soon as she hoped, it shouldn’t take as long this time around. Time had been wasted on gathering information, and even if Yuviol returned as well, he couldn’t simply ‘speed up’ his accumulation of power either.
Leaving the red ones to his brother, Asher dug into the black fillets, trying to cram himself full of energy. There were no shortcuts to power. He wouldn’t waste a moment this time. He would aim straight for Yuviol’s black heart.