"Archie!"
Amara called his name from the garden, she and Milim were doing some gardening as of the time. It was more her teaching Milim the dos and don'ts of such a delicate process. Etymologically, a set of things that one should do or not do in gardening.
Barelling down the stairs caused a commotion.
"How many times do I have to say it Archibald! No running on the stairs! You could get hurt!" Michael shouted from the bathroom where he was taking the gnarliest, most vile, most putrid protein dump known to man. Deadly enough to cause a miscarriage.
In reality, this was merely a hyperbolic expression of how bad it smelt.
"Sorry father!" Archibald reduced his pace and finally he reached the door where he walked past Gadi who'd just finished showering.
"Morning Gadi!" he greeted him, quickly passing by.
Gadi didn't get a chance to relay his greetings, but he could tell Archibald was in a hurry, "Hm. He must be blinded by my grace... as expected." he chuckled smugly before walking into the house.
As he walked past the lavatory room, where Michael was doing his business Gadi immediately fell to the ground. There was no surviving the smell. Now he understood why Amara always used gardening as an excuse to leave the house whenever her husband planned to relieve himself.
Even Archibald described Michael's flatulence as "Strong enough to level the village."
In the lavatory room, sounds of digestive gases exploded from his buttocks, "Phew! Open the window!" Michael said to himself as he drowned in his own gases after cutting one loose.
These noises and odors would traumatize Gadi for the rest of the day.
...
Archibald finally arrived at his mother's location. "Mother, you called?" he elevated an eyebrow.
"Yes honey, I'd like you and Milim to get me some magicubella seeds at the Biltithe streams. Can you do that for me?" she inquired.
"I-I'm not sure mother." Archibald responded but in a more peevish manner, something so much unlike him.
It worried her that Archibald was still afraid to step out of the house, she didn't know what else to tell him. Neither did she know where this fear came from, after all children born into the House Pendragon had the strong adventurous drive. They always wanted to explore their environment.
But not her son.
"Come on Archie? You don't wanna go?" Milim was equally worried as to why he chose to refuse. It equally bothered her and slightly hindered her from getting accustomed to the village.
How? She needed someone to show her around the place, and with Gadi always claiming to be busy the next, best choice was Archibald. But he always rejected her offer everytime. Also, she didn't play with the other kids because she didn't want to make it seem like she preferred them to Archibald. But at some point he had to step out of the house.
"It's just... I..." he didn't know the convenient words to say.
("Leaving the house is tough, man. It's like every time I try to take a step out, my brain starts playing a highlight reel of all my past failures and regrets. It's like, come on brain, give me a break! But no, it's like a never-ending cycle of despair and regret. And don't even get me started on my go-to fantasies when I'm feeling down.")
For a moment, Archibald could see nothing but his former self. Haruto Sakamoto, a fat, smelling gamer, nothing short of being called a pig. As always, isolated from others who laughed at him for two main reasons, he was fat and had a slightly deformed face.
Body shamed all his life, it forced him into solitude. It was then his lack of motivation came to be.
("I mean, who hasn't daydreamed about suddenly gaining superpowers or rescuing a hot girl in distress? But now that I'm actually motivated to make a change, my body just won't cooperate. What if something goes wrong the moment I step outside? It's like my brain is trying to sabotage me. And let's be real, this new world we're living in is no picnic. But hey, at least I know it's all real now. It's just frustrating that my body won't listen.")
"Won't you do it for mommy?" Amara knew what she was doing. Her goal was to try and get Archibald to leave the house. She was trying to help his future. In order for him to become the finest swordsman of the human race and also restore reverence to their branch of the Pendragon family, he had to take a step.
He clinched his fists, still finding it relatively hard to leave the house. No amount of motivation would get him to do that. Perhaps, his mother.
"I'll tr--" before he could even finish his words, Milim grabbed his right hand. Her way of showing support. It was a pleasant surprise for the young fellow.
Milim smiled at him right after, "I'll help you Archie.." her smile was nothing short of enchanting. The way her crystallized blue eyes stared at him purely, it was motivating enough.
The mother originally thought the reason he wasn't too keen on venturing out was because of his fear of monsters.
"As long you both stay away from the forests, Ogres won't be a problem and I'm sure you're strong enough to handle them my sweet boy." Amara put her slightly dirty hands from gardening on his cheeks and placed her forehead against his.
For some reason, it made him feel safe. The support of Milim and his mother was invaluable.
...
"Bye! Be back soon!" Amara waved them goodbye.
As the two walked towards the endpoint of their compound, which led to the plainfields and marked outer territory Archibald feared to cross, his confidence waned.
Although Milim tightly held his hand, he feared still. His mind played tricks on him by conjuring images of students who bullied him during his days as Haruto Sakamoto. "I... I can't...!" he stuttered trying to abandon the attempt of going outside.
"You can Archie! Trust me! I'm right here with you!" she assured him.
He tightly shut his eyes closed as they crossed what seemed like an insurmountable border for Archibald. 'What? I'm safe?' he uttered in his mind, surprised nothing bad had happened.
But he was still on his guard. Something marked by his constant to and fro scanning of the environment, the sweat from his forehead and his fidgety ambulation.
They slowly came across the people of the Berkyl Region who indulged in farming. Their biggest source of income.
("They're not staring at me. They're going about their normal lives..")
It was time he understood that Archibald Pendragon and Haruto Sakamoto were not the same people. He needed to know his chance was no waste, he had a real shot at success if he took the step to first conquer his imperfections. His fears.
"How do you feel now?" Milim wanted to know if he still felt nervous, or if he was feeling a bit confident now.
Archibald smiled at her, his first time he smiled and on his first day out of the house. "To be honest, you and mother were right.." there was serenity, he felt at peace, he'd never felt this way beforehand. "I had nothing to fear." he articulated with a mild-mannered voice.
("Why was I so scared before? There's nothing to fear... Why did I even think these nice people would laugh at me, I'm not Haruto anymore. I have a new life, and I can make it successful, I just have to make sure I don't waste it.")
He had to understand he was a beloved member of the community. Everyone knew his family as nice people and as such they expected the son to be just the same. It was a delight for the community members to get to see him.
Everyone politely greeted them both, and they seemingly knew his name. Because Michael bragged to them about how strong his boy was.
He needed to have more faith in these people. They weren't bad.
...
Things escalated quickly.
Archibald and Milim witnessed a group of boys bullying a child, they threw stones at him which grazed his leg and neck. It caused minor open wounds and they insulted him vehemently. Using strong words like "Orphan.", "Little bastard.", "Why don't you fight back you freak!"
In that moment, something snapped in Archibald. His eyes turned a lighter shade of red as he slowly removed his hand from Milimʼs grasp.
This scene not only triggered the memories of him being victimized by bullies. It also incurred his wrath.