'A war? This is interesting....I honestly thought he was just racist. But I asked to make sure and boy am I glad I did.' "A war? But why? How many kingdoms are there? And what is the scaled kingdom?"
My dad looks at me with a calm face, "Calm down, I'll answer them one at a time. First, I am told the war was started over resources. Second, there are 6 but I'm gonna refer to them by the races they hold, the Elf kingdom, the Human kingdom, the Beastmen kingdom, the Reptilian kingdom, the Monster kingdom, and then there is the Restard kingdom. What makes the Restard kingdom different is because it doesn't shun other races, it let's all races live here equally."
I sit there contemplating while I pet Winter, him jiggling happily. "Could I enter other kingdoms?"
My dad nods, "Of course you can enter other kingdoms, but be prepared for anything."
I nod my head, "Alright, thanks for the information dad." And I hug him, "Anyway, I have everything I need to go to the King's Castle." And I raise my hand, showing him the ring.
"That's good, but you better be ready because I'm gonna teach you everything I can about our world's history over these next few days." I nod while I start complaining in my mind, 'Seriously? I can't relax? I know I want to learn about this world but seriously?'
And then I remember something, 'I should probably call Kasuni, after all, I said I would take her on a date. But I don't think I will be able to while being trained. I guess I gotta break the news to her. But I have no experience with breaking bad news, more or less to someone who has interest in me.'
I look at my dad, "I have something I need to ask you about." He nods, "Alright, shoot." I then explain how I met Kasuni and my current problem. The farther I get into the story, the more pleased he looks of some reason until he says this when I finish. "Finally, a normal father and son advice situation. From my experience of giving bad news, first, make a mental space. Prepare yourself for what your about to say so you don't mess up. And do not get distracted. Second, be direct and specific, you don't want any misunderstanding, so don't be vague. And last but not least, listen and be receptive. You want to hear and take in what they say but no matter what, don't get defensive. That is my advice to you, so use it well." I nod and hug him one more time, "Thank you." I then walk up to my room and shut the door.
'Ok step one, make a mental space, okay, I'm gonna say that I am going to be trained by the king and I don't know if I can date her during this time.' I pull out the stone and think of her name all of a sudden, her runs glows and starts pulsing while I feel mana leaving my body. Then I hear her voice, "Hello?" She sounds slightly irritated. 'Okay so I need to say what I planned.' I introduce myself and she asks how I have been. We make a little small talk before I get to what I needed to say.
I prepare myself and say calmly, "I am going to be training under the king and I don't know if I will be able to date you during that time." She responds with a slightly disappointed oh but then asks me how I am going to be working under the king, I simply say it's confidential and she pushes no further. After an hour or two of talking we hang up.
'That was surprisingly easy. I am not sure if it was the steps or the simplicity of the matter but having a dad who will have to give bad news often can be useful for advice on certain situations.'
I am now laying in my bed and look over at Blossom who is licking her one of her paws. 'I want to see this hair growth in action.' I call her over and she gets up and walks over to me, happy to be called over. "How much can you increase your hair length?" In response she jumps down from the bed and stands in the middle of my room, which then she starts growing her hair till she looks like a walking cotton ball with a face, she walks around the room and her hair flops from side to side with each step she takes.
I struggle to not laugh at the scene in front of me. Seeing her owner in what she thinks is distress she hogs over and goes to jump on me. I react using shadow manipulation and create a small bouncy shield in front of me. She hits it and goes bouncing back and lands on the ground on her legs. 'I could start a circus! Behold! The six legged monster who can grow it's fur at will! Along with the slime who can take the shape of almost anything!'
I look at her, "Ok, thank you Blossom, can you change your hair back to normal length?" She chirps in agreement and her fur grows back to normal length. And the she jumps at me again. And starts play biting my hand while grasping my arm with her four front legs. She then starts licking it and I don't dare move or she starts biting and kicking it. 'Seems I'm stuck here.'