'I'm sorry, father.' An unexpected, fading voice entered his mind, and Arthur slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes to the orb again, but it had a green smoke forming inside it.
'I can't believe that he has an aptitude; even though it's level one, it's still impressive. Nonetheless, he is below me, and I can use him to my advantage, which I doubt it's easy based on how much he changed. I need a plan.' Leitus touched his chin as he thought.
"Congratulations, handsome. I'm not surprised at all." Talia spoke charmingly.
"It's unbelievable that my friend has an aptitude. I'm proud of you." Leitus clapped his hand as he complimented Arthur.
Arthur's eyes were set on the orb, and he was not paying attention to any of them and was instead in deep thought.
'What is happening to me, and why do I see these? I felt his pain and emptiness after his father died. It must be the visions that caused a change in my emotion. Besides, his father had six wings; the man I saw chained also had wings but not six. Everything must be related, but why me?' Arthur pondered over everything he saw. He felt a touch on his right shoulder that caused him to escape his thoughts.
"Arthur! Are you okay? I know it must be a great shock." Talia put her hand on Arthur's shoulder, troubled as she asked.
He turned his head slightly to the right and looked at Talia, irritated by her action, which sent a chill down her spine and removed her hand from his shoulder shortly.
Arthur realised that it wasn't a good idea to ruin his relationship with Talia; she could be a great pawn in Arthur's mind. He decided to put everything aside for now and pay attention to what was in front of him; it must be confusing to them to behave like this.
"I'm great; it can't be better than this. Thank you, Talia." Arthur smiled lightly at Talia and placed his right hand gently on top of her left hand.
She reddened and looked at Arthur again.
Leitus was so perplexed by the development of Talia's and Arthur's relationship. His proud sister that didn't even look at nobles at the capital had now fallen for a farmer.
"How old were you again, Talia? Excuse me for not remembering." Leitus tilted his head, looked into her eyes and asked.
"It's not an issue if it's you, Arthur. I'm 14, and I'll turn 15 very soon. I'm sure you'll come for my birthday, right? You have aptitude now, which is rare, and my mom won't be against it." She gave him a wink before she answered him.
"It's impossible for me to say no to a beautiful lady, especially you."
All of this puzzled Leitus even more. He didn't even interfere with their conversation and just decided to think of a strategy to use Arthur. He knows that his mother and father wouldn't mind having him come to their house now that he has an aptitude, even if it's only level one.
Around ten minutes went by, and Leitus thought it was time for Arthur to go back.
Cough, cough.
"I think it's time for Arthur to go home, sister. I'm sure that he will come back again, we need to talk later. Surely, you know about what. I'll accompany you till the gateway." Leitus crashed their conversation and looked into his sister's eyes with a serious look.
'Hoisted with his own petard, truly laughable.' Arthur chuckled as he said it in his mind.
"Yes, I think it's time for me to leave. You truly made my day more than my aptitude, Talia, and hopefully, it's the beginning of our more to come meetings." Arthur spoke tenderly and bowed slightly.
"I'm certain that I won't be able to forget this moment. God willing, we can meet again. I apologise for my inappropriate behaviour at the beginning. Please don't take it to heart. Be careful on the way home, goodbye." Talia expressed her feeling as she bid him farewell.
'I'm not ignorant enough to not see the obvious. There's a difference in me. I can feel it and see it. Talia's action from the start till now painted everything to me. The things I say or act are natural to me; I know myself to tell I wasn't like this. Only time can explain everything. Don't get me wrong; I don't lament a single thing.' Arthur reflected on everything except his aptitude; he decided to concentrate on that later.
"Tomorrow, take a day off the farm and let's go explore that cave with me; it's pretty far, so we should go early. Even though I should focus on my studies and search for academies, I want to check that out first. There seemed to be something written on top of it, but I think I'm mistaken since it was far away. Anyway, we reached the gates; I'll see you tomorrow." Lseitus addressed while placing his right hand on his shoulder.
"Okay, come to the forest, our usual spot; see you tomorrow, Leitus."
...
Arthur reflected over the events that transpired today and were trying to plan his next move for the future since he had an aptitude now. Even though it was only level one, it didn't affect his mental state at all. His rapid personality change baffled his parents and the people around him.
His movement, confidence and elegance screamed that he had lived for a long time, yet he was only ten years old.
Arthur cleared his thoughts and looked at his parents, that was sitting around the table beside him. His parents glanced at each other like they were pondering over something and stared at Arthur without uttering a single word like he was the elder on the table.
"The table has been with us for all these years; the lines formed on the table due to age shows the struggle we went through together as a family. I am thankful for all you have given me, and I promise to return it to you both. I have a level one aptitude now, and I think I have to leave this village and pursue a better future."
"Did I understand that right? You have an aptitude?" his parents spoke, at the same time startled by this news.
"Yes, I do have an aptitude of only level one. I tested it using Leitus's orb. Are there any questions regarding my decision? As I promised, I will support you when I am ready." Arthur said with no emotion and detached from his parents; it seemed like they were strangers.
'Even though I have no feelings towards my parents, it doesn't hurt to support them since they were nice to me during my stay. I don't mind helping people, but I will not sacrifice for anyone; how times have changed. I don't even know who I am anymore; all answers will become clear in time.' Arthur deliberated in his mind.
"We are so happy for you, my son. If there was anything, let us know. All we want is a great future for you, and that's enough for us." Fei forced a smile as he said, it was clear as sky that he was no longer the Arthur he once knew. Yet, he couldn't comprehend.
"Thank you; I will go to sleep. I'm going out early tomorrow for a trip with Leitus. Therefore, I won't be available tomorrow. May I be excused?" Arthur got up from his seat and respectfully asked his parents.
"uhh, Yes, good night, Arthur." Fei replied with a puzzled appearance. Arthur got up and left upon his response.
"He is not the Arthur I knew. His movement and the way he talks is not of a commoner. How is this possible?" Fei brought his hands up and covered his face in shock as he asked Sara. However, Sara only sighed and left.