So, before we start, yes, sorry for the disappointment.
I have quite a few side chapters that I need to release, but I never find the opportunity to do so, so I decided to do things like this:
I will post two chapters a week and one side chapter until we are finished with all of the ones I have on my backpack.
If possible, I will drop two side chapters.
As I said, there is no need to read these for the main story, or at least, that's what I want.
But I recommend you to check it out if you are bored.
I plan to use these side chapters to show a bit more into other characters' lives and to expand on previous explanations about the world.
There is too much to cram within the main story, so as to not make things too lengthy, this side story will be here to help with that.
If you have any ideas and recommendations you can say them in the comments since there is a big chance I will read it and I might turn it into an idea for a side chapter!
In terms of timeline, this happens before the Mc first month as an adventurer but after he fought Frederic, so we have this two-week interval where many things happened but I didn't do much since it was a time-skip.
And yes, I plan to make joke chapters and special commemorative chapters, for example, I have one planned for valentines day.
There is no need to get angry at bonus content like this, if you don't like it, just wait for the next chapter Sunday!
Really, it pains me to read people saying "I don't care about this!" or "I preferred a normal chapter /smiley-face/..." Urg...
Anyway, what are you doing here? Go read!
.
.
.
------------------------
'Deep in the mountains North of Orario…'
/Clang!/
/Clang!/
"Marcus, pass me the hammer." Said an Old and strong man as he pulled a hot bar from the burning fire
"Here." Said Marcus as he passed the hammer to his dad
/Clang!/
/Clang!/
…
'After several dozen hits, the old man once again picked the bar and put it in the fire.'
'The two were now waiting for the metal to heat again.'
"... You have been very silent lately." Said the old man
He must be tense from everything that happened recently...
"... There is simply a lot on my head." said Marcus as he cleaned some tools
'The two stayed there in silence until Marcus opened his mouth to say:'
"It has been several months since I last saw my son and I had to leave the place I used to call home... The place that I was born and grew..." Said Marcus in a low tone
"I can go on without my house, but I can't even leave to go see how my son is doing."
"And I just learned that my parents are being hunted down by some sort of criminal organization. How could I be feeling good?"
"Rubia isn't doing any better, I know she worries about him everyday, but thankfully, she has found something to distract her."
Thank the skies that little kid is here...
'After saying that, Marcus stopped talking.'
"... I know how you feel." Said his father
"I won't try to defend myself, my choice of actions so far weren't… Exactly wise."
"I mean… It all started several decades ago when I chose to walk down this path. And I didnt exactly tried to do anything to fix this situation during this time, prefering to hide instead of acting." Said Saphos
"When I thought everything had ended when we fled and that time would eventually fix everything, that these… Fucking mistakes would end up with me and your mother…"
"When I thought all of that... It was then that the past came back to open up these old wounds…"
"We were forced to go away from our home to avoid the danger and I sent the boy away so he could achieve his dreams."
That's a lie... We chose to leave...
I didn't have the courage back then to end it all...
"Now... I… I am old and not strong enough to protect you all anymore. In the end, we were being played by that bastard… He waited… for over 40 years…" He said
Even after so long he still seeks that unreasonable dream of his...
'Marcus looked at his father and asked:'
"I will ask you again. What is this all about?"
"..."
'Saphos stayed there, gazing at the fire for a few more moments and he said:'
"Are you sure you want to hear it? It isn't as phenomenal and special as you think. In fact, you might end up hating me even more."
"Yes, I am sure of it… Just what the heck did you do to cause all of this?" Said Marcus
"... Sigh… Fine." Said Saphos as he picked the metal from the fire
"But let's finish this first." He said as he grabbed the hammer
/CLANG!/
…
"Hup!" Said an old man as he plowed the fields
"Haa… I am too old for this." Said the old man as he rested a little on the ground
'He looked at the sky and saw that the sun was starting to set.'
"This is enough for today." He said as he got up
'He smiled, looking at a small hill on the horizon as if waiting for something…'
'And sure enough… A small white dot slowly ran in his direction.'
"Kids are so energetic." He said as he smiled and opened his arms
/Step step step!/
'The small dot slowly got bigger and soon, the old man could fully recognize who it was.'
'Although he already knew what it was…'
"Grandpa!" Said the small boy as he ran with a thick book on his hand
'He jumped and crashed against the old man who hugged him.'
'The old man smiled, patting the head of the silver haired boy.'
"Are you alone this time?... I see, did you flee from her? HAHAHA!" Said the old man as he placed the boy on his shoulders
"No I…" Said the boy in embarrassment
"It's okay I understand, women can be scary sometimes… HA! How time passes… Did ever tell you about that time when I and a few others…" said the old man as he walked on the stone path
"Oooohhh! Tell me!" Said the old boy in excitement
"Alright calm down, so… That was… 12… 13 years ago!" He said
"You weren't even born during that time!"
"At that time I used to live in Orario! Oh… What a place it was!"
"High houses everywhere! The smell of food and spices! The people and the pretty girls!"
"Listen to me Bell! I will tell you today about the woman I fear the most in the world!" Said the old man with passion
"Why do you fear her?" Asked Bell innocently
"Don't be hasty… Let's go over this slowly..." Said the old man as he climbed the small hill
"It all started several years ago… No… Many, many years ago…" Said the old man
…
/Several hours later…/
"Here we go…"
'The old man finished putting the blanket over the kid and smiled warmly.'
'But his face soon grimaced as he remembered some sad memories.'
"..."
'He shook his head trying to get those useless thoughts out of his head.'
"Once he wakes up he will ask me for one more story, better get one ready for then… Hum…" He said as he looked at a shelf filled with books
"This one?... No, too long… This one?... No, too sentimental…"
'He looked below the shelf and saw a thick book.'
"Sometimes, the Classics are the best." He said as he picked the book and sat on a chair
'He started to go over each page little by little, until he stopped at a particular one.'
"Hum… Perfect… But I wonder if he is ready for this sort of story?" He said as he read the Title of the story
'It read:'
/The Boy with the Slingshot/
"Not all Heroes start with a dream, and not all end in happiness…"
Will he continue to wish to be a Hero after hearing this story?
'The old man smiled and closed the book.'
"I have decided…"
/Creeek…/
'As the old man got up from his chair and prepared to do something else, the door to their house opened.'
"Hoho… Training until late again? Aren't you going to get tired?" Asked the old man
"No. I won't." Replied the girl unemotionally
"You need to take a rest from time to time, else your body won't be able to keep up…"
'The girl remained silent as she entered the house.'
"Sigh… Did you eat? There is some bread and…"
'The girl immediately ran to eat…'
"Take a shower first." Said the old man as he smiled
'But the girl only looked at him.'
"What? For the last time! I am not interested in young girls' bodies! Much less my granddaughter!" He said with conviction
'But the girl only looked at him with a poker face.'
'With a small piece of bread on her mouth, she ran somewhere to take a shower.'
"... Sigh. One is overly excited yet timid, and the other is serious yet insecure…"
"Taking care of kids is so hard…" Said the old man
"But that's the joy of raising one isn't it?" Said a voice from the door
'The old man turned around with a surprised expression.'
"Oh?... I see, welcome Miss, thank you for taking care of her today as well." Said the old man
"Stop it, I am not that young anymore to be called a miss… And It's nothing, I don't have much to do anyway, so I'll help where I can." She said with a smile
'She looked to the side to see Bell sleeping on the couch and said:'
"Did his energy finally run out? Sigh, this is what a kid should look like." She said
"Hohoho! Remembering about your grandson again? I heard a lot about him." Said the old man as he went to the kitchen to make some tea
"That kid still gives me nightmares sometimes…" She said as she sat down on one of the chairs
"Then? How was he? I heard he went to Orario right?" He asked
"Yes… No matter how many times I tried to change it, he never even considered doing something else apart from becoming an adventurer."
"Is it? He looks like an excited lad."
"Excited? Don't even begin…"
"Since he was young, he would spend most of his time reading and 'practicing' with wooden objects around the house."
"A broom as a spear, a piece of wood as a sword… He would even break the fences for the wood! He ended up getting hurt many times but even so, he rarely cried… He was a very strange kid." She said with emotion as she remembered the past
"I guess we were lucky since this meant he was easy to predict, different from some kids who like to run around the place and cause trouble... You just had to give him what he wanted and he would shut up for days."
"HOHOHO! Is that true? It's like a fusion of these two!" Said the old man as he laughed
"When he was 5, we started to give him some proper training, and that was when my nightmares started…"
"He is… Very hardworking. So much so he would stay awake deep into the night to study and train… Thankfully, I knew a sleeping spell so I could force him to go to sleep every time I found him awake when he shouldn't."
But that cost my own sleep schedule...
"Are you saying he wanted to be an adventurer ever since he was small?" Asked the old man
"Yes… I imagined this came when he read one of the old books in his room… To this day I don't know what was the damn book or reason that made him this much focused on becoming an adventurer…" Said Misty as she frowned
"It isn't uncommon for a boy to dream of becoming an adventurer someday as they grow." Said the old man as he passed a small cup of tea to Misty
"I know that… But is it normal for a boy to grow older training very hard every day to go to Orario to…" Said Misty as she hesitated with a grim face
"To what? Did he actually have a purpose? That's rare, most only want to become an adventurer for the fame and money." Said the old man
'Misty noded.'
"Before he left, I asked him why he wanted to go to Orario so much… And after a few days of asking, he replied to me with a…"
'The old man waited as Misty seemed really pissed as she opened her mouth to say:'
"Pick up girls in the Dungeon!" She said
"PFFFT!"
'As the sun set in the distance, a large tower could be seen piercing the clouds far in the sky…'
'And in a village hidden in the mountains, the echoes of an old man laugh could be heard everywhere…'
…
/At the same time in the Dungeon…/
"Give me the Chicken!" Said a skinny adventurer
"No man, I got it first, this Chicken is mine." Replied Silver
"ARG! But we were after it for several hours already!" Said a small guy on the skinny man's side, a Pallum
"And? So was I!" Replied Silver
"As fucking if! You saw us running and grabbed the Chicken when we cornered it! Don't you know there is a silent rule that someone isn't supposed to steal another person's prey?!" said the skinny guy
"I don't." Said Silver with a stern face
"HOW THE FUCK NOT?!" Asked the small Pallum
"I mean, it's a silent rule, how am I supposed to hear about it?" Asked Silver with a poker face
"..."
"..."
'The two guys looked at each other with their veins popping in their foreheads…'
"Good! You just learned about it then! Now, politely give us the chicken!" Said the Pallum
"Nah." Said silver
"##!!"
'The Pallum put his hand on his sword, ready to take it out.'
'But the other guy grabbed his arm and shook his head.'
"Look…"
'But Silver intervened by saying:'
"You two might've cornered the Chicken, but there was no guarantee you guys would be able to capture it. After all, how many times did you guys let the chicken escape like this?" Asked Silver
"SO YOU WERE WATCHING US!" Said the Pallum in anger
"I don't know what you are talking about." Said Silver as he tightened his grasp on the chicken's leg
"KOO!" Said the Chicken
"Urg…" Said the Human guy as he grasped his hair
"Let's do it like this!" He said
"Let's go to the surface together and exchange the money! We can divide it in three parts…"
"Nah… What sort of unreasonable division is that?" Said Silver
"???"
'The two guys were confused.'
"Look, you two are in the same group, while I am alone, two familias, equal division." He said
"NO!... ARG! I CAN'T ANYMORE! JUST LET ME!..." Said the Pallum man as he unsheathed his sword
'But the Human once again grabbed his arm and shook his head.'
"In the first place, we aren't on the same Familia, so the division can't be like that." Said the Human as he fixed his glasses
Humph, you can't prove if we are on the same Familia or not!
Why does this always happen?!
We can't blame him for stealing our prey either since he is right, we failed to catch it multiple times…
But that doesn't mean he can leave this place just like that! We spent half a day running after this damn Chicken!!!
"I see… SHIT!" Said Silver as he jumped on the ground
"!!"
'The other two guys unsheated their weapons and jumped on the ground as they got ready to face off against their enemies…'
"What?" Said the Human as he looked around to see nothing
"Don't tell me… FUCK!" He said as he looked to the place where Silver previously was, only to see nothing
"FOR THE LOVE OF… WE SHOULD'VE JUST USED FORCE!" Said the Pallum as he screamed in anger
"My 1 Million Vallis! I swear that I…"
'The two cursed in the dark tunnel as Silver made his way out sneakily under the invisibility of his powers…'
…
'When he reached the surface, he went to the Guild branch on Babel and gave the roster to a Guild worker.'
'And after paying a small fee and writing some papers, he went back to the Guild main building where he received the praises of an Elf and a beast girl…'
'Just another day in the life of Silver…'
…
/One hour later/
"... Fuck… We looked all around and we found no trace of that guy…" Said the Pallum
"We lose some and we win some… It just happened to be that in this loss, we lost 1 Million Vallis…" Said the skinny Human as he kicked a rock on the ground
"Hum?... ?!"
'The skinny man looked to the side to see a girl from the Ganesha Familia carrying on her back a small cage with a yellow Chicken inside…'
"Is that what I think it is?" Asked the Pallum
"Unless another one was captured… It has to be that one…" Replied the Human
"But why would he capture it and give it to the Ganesha Familia?" Asked the Pallum
"I… I don't know." Replied the Human
'And they would never know…'
"KOOO!" Screamed the Jack bird
…
.
.
.
Notes
The Jack bird is a rare monster that looks like a rooster with fluffy yellow-green feathers.
Although it isn't aggressive, it is incredibly fast, and runs away if it senses any enemies.
Its drop item, which is guaranteed, is said to be worth at least 1,000,000 valis
Trivia:
The monster Silver captured wasn't a normal Jack bird, but the female version of this monster.
Side chapters are supposed to be that, side chapters. They are lighter and serve mostly to add a bit more to the world
So I guess that yes, it wasn't as interesting as the main ones. I think it was okay, tell me what you all thought.