“It has finally come,” Grok said, nearly screaming. Veil awoke, being shaken awake by Grok. “Today, together, brother, we become true warriors of the Ketki clan, and tomorrow we will journey to Helix to join the adventurers guild.”
“The adventurers guild?” Veil asked.
“Yes, the adventurers guild. They pay heroes like us to go forth and handle any troubles society may be dealing with,” Grok replied.
“Troubles? What kind of troubles?” Veil asked.
“Dungeons, monster attacks, evil mages—you know, the normal stuff. Our village handles our own, but not every town is as strong as ours. So they hire the adventurers guild, and they dispatch heroes to deal with it,” Grok said.
“How do they pay us?” Veil asked.
“With gold,” Grok said inquisitively.
“No, I mean who pays them?” Veil replied.
“Oh, the villages pay them,” Grok replied.
“What if the village doesn’t have the money?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ve never thought about it,” Grok replied.
“I hope the guild would still help,” Veil said.
“Me too,” Grok said, running a hand through his hair.
“Wait,” Veil exclaimed. “When did you get a mohawk?”
“Oh, this?” Grok replied, running his hand through it again. “Last night, I visited the barber while you were out with Dad. How’s it look? Does it make me look tough?”
“I mean, it’s something, isn’t it?” Veil said, looking closer at his brother’s new haircut.
“You should see the barber after the ceremony.”
“Dude, I didn’t even know there was a barber here until just now. You’re horrible at being a guide,” Veil replied.
“Wait, what? I’m horrible? Do you really think that?” Grok replied with tears stinging his eyes.
“Wait, I didn’t mean it like that,” Veil quickly responded, realizing he had hurt his brother’s feelings.
“Oh, okay,” Grok replied, wiping the tears from his face. “Veil?” Grok asked.
“Yeah, bud,” Veil responded.
“What is ‘dude’?” Grok asked.
“A dude is a friend. It’s an American slang term,” Veil replied.
“What is a slang term?” Grok asked.
Veil took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “A slang term is a word that’s used instead of another word, brother. Like ‘dude’ or ‘bro.’ They both are different, but they are both the same. Both are also slang. ‘Bro’ is short for ‘brother,’ and ‘dude’ means ‘bro.’ But most people think of ‘bro’ as for guys only, and ‘dude’ is largely considered gender neutral. So, do you understand, bro?”
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“Hmm,” Grok replied. “I believe I do. Thank you, dude.”
“Hey, dude,” Grok turned and yelled, pointing at Tank, awakening the sleeping puppy. “Dude!”
“You’re both stupid,” Tank responded, although only Veil could understand. Tank stood and walked across the room towards the front door.
“Hey, where are you going?” Veil asked the pup.
“Hunting,” Tank replied. “But do not worry; I will be back in time for the trials.”
“Some soul bonded you are. You keep leaving me alone,” Veil responded.
“Have you not realized?” Tank asked with a growl.
“Realized what?” Veil responded.
Tank spun around quickly, and in a single bound, appeared near Veil’s leg. “Look, what do you notice?”
“Notice?” Veil pondered the puppy’s response, and then it hit him. The puppy was no longer a puppy; he had nearly tripled in size. Judging by what he had just seen, that size jump translated to pure speed. “Woah, when did you get so big?” Veil blurted out, reaching down to pat the puppy—no, the young wolf—behind the ear.
“My species grows by taking life force. When you tamed me, you took my life force from me to bind our souls. I’ve been hunting in the forest every day. While you trained to learn to fight, I’ve been training to stand by your side. We’ve been together even though we’ve been apart, training in solidarity to be the best we can be for the trials. Do you understand?” Tank asked.
“You’ve been training that hard just to keep up with me?” Veil asked, dropping to his knees and embracing Tank in a hug.
“I have given it my all,” Tank replied.
“You’re so awesome,” Veil responded.
“Thank you, human. Now, if you’ll let me go, I must get back to the hunt,” Tank replied.
Veil let Tank go, and the wolf walked across the room and out of the door.
“See you later, bud,” Veil called out to the retreating wolf.
“That was really weird,” Grok responded.
“What was?” Veil asked.
“Well, honestly, it’s weird the way you talk to him. Can’t you just speak to his mind?” Grok asked.
“Yes, I can,” Veil responded.
“Then why don’t you?” Grok asked.
“You’re here too,” Veil responded.
“Wait, you speak to him like that because of me?” Grok asked. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want you to be left out,” Veil responded casually.
“Oh,” Grok responded. “That’s actually really nice of you. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Veil responded.
“Veil,” Grok said.
“Yes, brother,” Veil responded.
“You’re the best little brother an orc could ask for,” Grok said.
“You’re the best brother a human can ask for too, bud,” Veil responded.
Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Grok sauntered over and checked who was there.
“Who is it?” Veil asked.
“It’s a courier. They have stuff from Dad,” Grok said, thanking the man with a small box tied with a ribbon.
“What is it?” Veil asked excitedly.
“It’s a unicorn,” Grok responded.
“Wait, really?” Veil asked.
“No, we do not have unicorns in this land,” Grok said.
“That’s unfortunate,” Veil responded.
“I know, they only live in Berghamshire,” Grok said.
“Wait, unicorns are real here?” Veil responded.
“No,” Grok responded, chuckling. “You make this way too easy, brother. Let’s open this box though.”
“That really wasn’t nice,” Veil responded, crossing his arms.
“Ah, there it is,” Grok said, finding a knife on the counter and slicing the ribbon off the box and opening it. “Woah, this must be a dimensionally magicked box. Look,” he said, tilting the box so Veil could see inside.
“Is that—” Veil started.
“Yup, fresh armor,” Grok replied.
“There are two sets: one for me and one for you. Look,” Grok said, holding up both chest plates. “Yours is so much smaller than mine.”
The armor was made of some kind of leather but seemed well-appointed. The rivets were made out of some kind of metal that appeared to be some kind of bronze. “This is beautiful,” Veil said, taking his chest piece.
“It truly is,” Grok replied. “Let’s get suited up and then get some food.”
“Let’s,” Veil said with a smile.
“Hey grok,” Veil asked “what kind of stuff is this armor made out of?”
“It is dragon leather it is magic and protects against most damage types but especially magic based attacks,” Grok replied. “Dad must have spent a fortune on it.” They both put their armor on, facing away from each other.
“3, 2, 1,” Grok said. Both of them spun at the same time to see each other in their new armor.
Grok’s brown armor on his green skin made him look like the heroes from the mural in the hall. “Wow, brother, you truly look like a hero now,” Veil responded.
“Veil, you too look like a hero, but you always do, albeit a very small hero,” Grok said, slapping his brother on the shoulder. “Let’s go get some grub. It’s time.”
“Let’s go,” Veil responded.