"Since you've heard his tale, come and listen to my woefully sad tale too" Galleo said as he and the two men in front of him sat down on a small camp they had set up.
"I was never lucky in life... My mother was cruel, and she always worked me to the bone..." Galleo sighed as if his story was true.
[["Galleo! My son! Why are you so lazy! Get up and help your Papa out in the fields!" Galleo's chubby mother carefully urged her son to work the fields with her Italian-like accent.
"But Mama! Can't you see I'm resting? I promise to help out later when I finish my afternoon nap"
"Ok my son, but make sure to help out you're father ok?" His mother said.
"ZZzzz" Sadly Galleo was already asleep...]]
"Kuh! Such a hard life!" Duke cried out as he saw Galleo's stern face.
[What horrors must he have experienced to show such a pained face!] Duke felt sorry for Galleo.
"I never knew how much you've suffered... here have my piece of chicken" Benjamin regretted his earlier show of immaturity as he gave away his precious share of garbage chicken.
"And my father... My father never became proud of me... He only stared at me with those eyes of disappointment" Galleo spoke with a grave voice.
[["Hey Papa, I've come to help you out!" Galleo lazily picked his nose as he went towards the olive farm his father was tending.
*Yawn* [Mamita wouldn't stop nagging me to help, couldn't even sleep properly. How is a healthy growing boy supposed to have his 16 hours of sleep eh?] Galleo grumbled in his mind as he yawned.
[G-Galleo! You've come to help me out by yourself?! H-Have you finally grew up to be such a reliable man?!] Galleo's father thought in his mind, sadly he was too embarrassed to say it out loud so to Galleo he just looked like a serious man with strong glaring eyes.
[When will I ever gain my father's recognition!] Galleo lamented in his mind...]]
"Yeah... I too fought hard for my mother's recognition... I know how you feel" Duke sighed as he remembered his mother.
"Indeed, my father was such a stoic man too" Benjamin added as the three men continued to misunderstand each other.
"But life started to slowly get better... yes. Through hard work and dedication, I got a scholarship from Venicia's University..." Galleo started to reminisce.
[["Galleo! Ya think ya got in?" One of his past classmates asked.
"I don't know, I kinda slept through the whole test really... I just guessed the answers" Galleo, once again lazily picking his nose, answered honestly...]]
Of course, now that Galleo became old his memories were... a bit distorted.
"Yes, 5 days and 5 nights straight without sleep just for that entrance exam!" Galleo proudly murmured. (When I said distorted a bit... I meant VERY distorted)
"Oh! Amazing! I guess Genius really is 25% talent and 75% effort!" Benjamin praised.
"I hope to one day reach your level of dedication" Duke added with full sincerity.
"Well... I guess my parents were pretty ok in the end. After I got a scholarship from the University they were at least a little bit proud of me..." Galleo sighed.
[["Galleo! Mama's proud of you my little pumpkin!" Galleo's mother ran to him as she pinched his cheeks.
[My son... Although I can't tell you. I'm very proud of you!] Galleo's father thought as he nodded once towards Galleo's direction]]
"That was probably the only time my father acknowledged me..." Galleo sighed...
But deep down he knew how much his parents loved him.
"After I got into the University there I started to work even harder! The first place I entered was the Engineering department!" Galleo continued to tell his distorted life story.
[["What???"
"You heard me right, young man! You're being transferred to the Engineering College department! You might think you're quite intelligent, but no lazy buffoons can stay in MY College of Magic!" An old professor with a long white beard shouted to Galleo]]
"At that University, that's where I first met my teacher. We hit it off quite well due to my respectful and hardworking demeanor, kukuku" Galleo began laughing... forgetting his true first meeting with his beloved teacher.
[[*Yawn* Galleo lazily entered the weird small room filled with gadgets, gizmos, and cogs as he fell onto the sofa and slept.
"Y-You LAZY Youngin' I don't need no sleepers in ma College!" A very old and skinny man shouted as he feebly trembled.
"Eh? Who's this old man?" Galleo picked on his nose as he saw the old man.
"W-Why I'll teach you!" The old man tried to hit Galleo, sadly his feeble arms were too weak and it didn't really do any damage to Galleo.
"Argh whatever... Go back to sleep!" The old man gave up as he began to tinker back and forth with the tools he had.
As Galleo was about to go back to sleep he saw the old man have trouble with the hard metal parts. Feeling guilty at just staring at the old man as he suffered, Galleo tried to help out.
"ARGH! What're you doing???" The old man at first tried to protest but eventually let Galleo handle the metal parts.
"Yes yes, put the two together. Slowly now! Argh! Perfect!" The old man happily smiled.
"You did marvelously! Amazing! You're a natural at this!" The old man praised]]
For the first time in Galleo's life, he was praised for doing something. The teachers at the other Colleges only embarrassed him or belittled him when he tried to stand out.
But surprisingly this old man encouraged and praised him.
And for the first time in Galleo's life...
He was passionate about something.
[["Say, teacher, why is our College so small? And why are there only the two of us?" Galleo asked as he worked hard on a machine he designed.
"Ehhh sadly the University doesn't think Engineering will make it big... They believe Magic's the way to go" The old teacher sadly murmured.
The small room indicated how much the University belittled the Engineering department.
"I see"]]
"Kukuku, every memory's still 100% intact... Like that time my teacher carried 4 machines by himself!" Galleo told Duke and Benjamin stories of his teacher... His memories of that time were quite jumbled... Like... a lot.
"Huh... Teacher Sisario sure was the best teacher a young man could ever have... He had the strength of a thousand boars! And the wisdom of a hundred sages!" Galleo sadly reminisced about his youth.
[["Where did I put that thingymajig? Or was it a thingymabob? Hmmmmmmm" Galleo's teacher stared at the piece of wood, mistaking it for the metal part he was trying to find due to his eye Cataract.
"Teacher! Let me handle that" They young Galleo worried for his teacher as he was aging worse by the day.
"Okay okay" Sisario nodded, acknowledging his limits due to age]]
Galleo and his teacher Sisario happily continued to work in the Engineering Office day by day, it was a great time of learning and happiness for Galleo.
Until one day...
[["Teacher!" Galleo shouted as he saw Sicario collapse on the floor...]]
Until one day, Sisario was too old to work any longer.
Galleo was devastated by this. But sadly, Galleo's miseries just worsened from there on.