Later that night, I found myself a nice little spot near the edge of a cliff. Everyone's asleep now so the only company I have are fireflies that flutter about and the occasional hoot of an owl. The moon and stars shine brightly on the sky with brilliance that I never saw 83 years ago. I guess something good came out of a world catastrophe.
"Hey there, bud," my quiet time is interrupted by dreadlocks guy who's approaching me with some beer bottles.
He hands me one and sits beside me.
"Haaah, nothing like a cold beer after a long day," he says after a satisfying sip.
It's not the brand I usually drink but beer's beer.
[Divine Body Activated]
[Poison Neutralized]
Figures...
"So, what got you and your guys out here?" he asks.
I shrug and reply, "Training mostly. For the two."
He looks at me like I said something absurd.
"Training? You one of those hard-core Spartan types?" he says as he chuckles.
"Heh you could say that," I reply. "What about you? Why are you four out here?"
"What else? Making money by killing monsters," he replies.
I scoff and say, "Bullshit."
"Excuse me?" he says with an offended tone.
"Oh, sorry if I'm being rude but you're just not the type," I reply.
He puts his hands on his hips and stares at me in disbelief.
"And how exactly, Mr., did you come to that conclusion?" he retorts.
"Same way I know that your story about how animals stole your food was bullshit too," I say and down the rest of the bottle. "So tell me, dreadlocks guy, why you lying to me? And why are you out here?"
He pauses briefly but then sighs in defeat.
"Lie detection magic?" he asks.
"In a way," I reply.
He opens another bottle and offers it to me. I decline so he takes a swig out of it himself.
"Name's Sergeant Rocco of the NYPD," he reveals. "Look, for the record, I lied because [Explorers] don't really like cops."
"We're not [Explorers]," I correct.
He smiles and says sarcastically, "Clearly."
I turn to look at the peaceful camp below us. The fire's still up so wild animals don't wander into our camp. I chuckle at the thought that even in a fantasy world, fire is still unfamiliar for animals that live in the forest.
"So those kids..."
"Trainees under my wing," he answers my question before I could ask.
"Kinda young to be police officers," I point out.
"Haha in case you haven't noticed, we're all [Halfers]," he replies. "Age laws do apply to us but in case of being police officers, being strong is more than enough to exempt someone from that."
I look at him curiously.
"But y'all look human to me," I say.
"Human traits are quite dominant but unlike regular humans, we can manifest one of the four great energies without tools," he explains. "Oh, of course, no offense to your kind."
"None taken," I reply. "My kid's also a [Halfer]."
"Oh? Which race?" he asks.
"Fey."
*Whistle*
"Damn boy, how you manage that?"
I shrug.
Quite the friendly character this guy. I wasn't intending to act buddy buddy with him but I ended up being swept into his pace. Police officers are terrifying. I guess time for me to get to the point.
"So tell me officer, why are you roaming around so deep into the forest?" I ask.
Upon hearing my question, his eyes hesitate for a bit.
"Ah... well, I guess you haven't been back to the city to hear the news huh?" he says.
"What's on the news?"
"Folks have been disappearing around these parts lately," he replies. "Mostly women. We're in charge of investigating where they could've gone and how to find them."
Interesting. I'm not one to watch the news since it was all useless shit that didn't apply to me. But now, I might have to get started.
"Be careful," he says as he pats me on the shoulder. "You got a daughter with you and there's a maniac out there nabbing women."
"Heh, I dare them come at me," I reply.
"Hahaha. If you're that confident, then I got nothing to worry about," he says and stands up. "Well, I guess it's time for me to sleep. We're heading to Adirondack Mointains at dawn and I don't wanna lose my subordinates' respect by sleeping in."
"Night, old man," I say playfully as I watch him slide down effortlessly.
[Halfers] huh. Makes sense that humans will be interested in cross-breeding with fantasy races. For nerds like me, it's even a dream come true. But why did the other races intermarry with humans who are objectively inferior to them in every way? In Garden of Days, humans are able to perform magic so the other races didn't look down on them but from what I heard from Michael, the humans had it rough at the beginning. And what are the 4 great energies? Argh!! I have so many things that I don't know the answer to!
After my brain short-circuitted, my attention goes back to the silent night and the twinkling stars once more.
"One thing at a time, one day at a time," I mutter to myself.
Grace's question earlier brought my mind back to those dreadful days. During that time, there was one person who said those words to me over and over again. When I was feeling overwhelmed by existing, those words echo in my mind, picking up the pieces of my humanity one by one.
"Nifa...I wonder where you are..." I whisper longingly in the wind. "If you're alive somewhere, I have so much to say to you. So much to apologize for."
Fuck... I'm not the type to be this emotional and shit but the moon just reminds me of her.
She's not the type to die easily so I'll eventually find her. But for now, I need to get these two into their next phase of training. Adirondack Mountains huh. I guess that's not a bad place to head to next.