The morning light filtered through the half-closed curtains of Samuele's room, with the latter sleeping wrapped in blankets, unaware of what awaited him.
The long creak of the slowly opening door did not seem to disturb the boy in the slightest, who continued to snore blissfully.
He did not notice the small, plodding steps of a figure entering his room and approaching him stealthily.
The figure stretched out his arm and, with an object in his hand, brought it close to Samuele's face.
The figure burst into a toothy grin and....
BEEEEEEEEP!!!!!!!!
A deafening sound made Samuele jump out of bed and turn wide-eyed towards the shadow he caught a glimpse of.
Her laugh so familiar made his heart, which had been bombarding him for the last few moments, calm down.
"Anna! Why the hell did you do that?!" Shouted Samuele as he tried to recover from his fright.
His sister, little Anna, did not stop laughing for a single moment, enjoying the results of his prank. She was holding a toy horn, which Samuele realised she had used at his expense. Almost the petite girl fell to the ground from possible stomach cramps.
Samuele took long breaths to calm his heart, which would not stop beating rapidly.
"Mummy told me to wake you up and I did!" She said, taking advantage of the moment when she had to get air in order to speak. She laughed again afterwards.
"You couldn't find a sweeter way to do it?" He asked annoyed.
"After all the times you called me 'penguin', you mean? No!"
Samuele had to pin it in his head: never bother little Anna, or she'll make you pay.
"Alright, I get the point. Don't ever do that again."
"Okay! Now get up!" Anna exclaimed, rushing out of her brother's room.
After quickly getting ready, he headed to the kitchen where a steaming glass of milk and a croissant awaited him.
"Good morning Samu." He greeted his mother sitting at the table.
"Good morning." Samuele sat down and took a sip of milk. It was sugary as he liked it.
"What was that noise I heard earlier?" His mother asked curiously.
"You mean Anna's little joke. She seize the opportunity and made me pay for the past few days."
The mother giggled. "I'll scold her later, but for now I'll let her enjoy her moment of glory."
"Oh, please! That peng..."
''Good morning, big brother!" Anna exclaimed, suddenly entering the kitchen and causing Samuele to freeze the words in his mouth.
"Good morning, dearest little sister!"
"Anna, your brother told me about the little joke you played on him. Don't ever do it again, understood?" The mother said in a warning tone, but she could not hide an amused smile.
"I promise not to do it again if he promises not to tease me again."
"Now I'm the one in the wrong? Alright, I promise not to call you that again."
"Great!"
"I'll call you Miss Slippery from now on!" He exclaimed loudly.
"Samu!" BEEEEP!!! Anna brought out the toy horn from behind her back and blew it inches from Samuele's face, with the latter being caught off guard again.
Through it all, the mother laughed and at the same time scolded both her children.
Samuele arrived at the Association camp, ready to face another quest. He looked around for some friendly faces and saw Sofia, with the latter waving to him.
"What luck! Another quest together!" Exclaimed the girl enthusiastically.
"Yeah, without you even calling me. Unbelievable!" Samuele teased her, with Sofia giving a small pout.
"It only happened once..." She mumbled.
"And I wouldn't be surprised if it happened again." Joked the boy, becoming successively more serious. "Who is our leader today? Has it already been decided?"
"Yes, she is a level 19, the highest in our group." Sofia turned to point to the Adventurer who would lead them. She was a very young woman, probably the same age as Samuele. The most noticeable feature of her, besides her slender build, was her long raven black hair. This woman casually turned towards their direction and Samuele had a chance to get a better look at her. She had a triangular face, a nose whose back had a slight prominence and thin lips.
"If you're done eating her with your eyes, we should go." Sofia said, with a slight note of annoyance.
"I wasn't eating it with my eyes."
"Sure, right. You were almost drooling."
"You're exaggerating. I was just curious. What is that behaviour anyway? Are you jealous?" He teased with a huge grin on his face.
"Figures! I only chose you as a friend out of convenience, remember that." She affirmed with mock arrogance. "Now let's go."
"Yes ma'am." Said Samuele with a wry smile, following the girl towards the rest of the group.
Gathering around their leader, the latter spoke up.
"Well, now we are all here. For those who weren't here before, I introduce myself. My name is Lucia Moretti and I will be your leader for the entire quest. Earlier I asked those present if they agreed with this choice. Now that the group is full, I want to extend this question to you again. Do you agree to have me as your leader?'"
Her voice was strong, authoritative. If there was anyone who disagreed, they did not make themselves known. All of them, Samuele and Sofia included, nodded. The girl's emerald green eyes filled with determination. She brought her hand close to her chest and spoke again.
"I am honoured by the trust you are offering me. I will do everything I can to live up to your expectations." She thanked all her companions and walked away to handle the final preparations before entering the portal.
Samuele turned to Sofia and spoke. "What do you think?"
"I think she will be a good leader." He said confidently. "In your opinion?" Replicated the question.
"I don't know. In words they are all good, but we have to see in deeds how she will perform."
"Oh, sure. For you Marco Terranova is the best leader in the world, though." Said Sofia in a wry tone.
"I never said that." Denied the boy.
"You didn't have to. I could see it in those eyes so full of admiration every time you looked at him."
Samuele stood in silence, as if he was thinking about what to say.
"Why do you admire him so much, then? What did he do that was so exceptional that made you evaluate him like that?"
Samuele sighed and decided to tell him the events of that day that, despite himself, he would never forget. "It happened during my first quest. That time he was the leader and led us into a cave. Everything had gone well, until orcs emerged from the depths of the cave."
Sofia opened her eyes wide in realisation. "Wait a minute, you participated in that quest? The news has been all over social media. Many people said that it was the first time the System showed problems in classifying portals."
"Yeah, it was. It was the first reported fact about this problem. However, those orcs were not the biggest problem, but their leader. Within seconds, he had slaughtered us. One by one, we were all struck down by his fury." He continued in a sombre tone.
"The news said that all the Adventurers who had participated ended up in hospital, but none of them sustained injuries. How is that possible, then?"
"I don't know. All I know is that when Mr Terranova woke up, he saw the orc dead on the ground. All the others, including me, were still unconscious and the portal would soon close, but, knowing this, he decided to take us all to safety anyway. When I found out what he had done for me, for all of us, I saw him in a different light. He allowed me to return alive to my family and for that I cannot thank him enough."
Sofia was impressed by his story. She could not find the words to express her thoughts at that moment. Surely, now she too would see Marco Terranova in a new light. He deserved to be admired, to have become a reference point for Samuele.
"Wow... I understand now. It couldn't have been easy for you to tell me about that event. I... I didn't want to force you to do it. I'm sorry I brought back those terrible memories."
"Don't apologise, you didn't know. And you didn't force me. I simply wanted to tell you. We are friends for convenience, aren't we?" He said with a small wry smile.
"No. You are a true friend, Samu." Said the girl with a note of seriousness on her face, which surprised Samuele. "Thank you for trusting me and telling me something that few people know about you. I..." Samuele noticed that she wanted to tell him something, but couldn't. She bit her lip, as if something was bothering her.
He walked over to her and placed his hand on her arm. "Has something happened?" He asked her with genuine concern. Sofia shook her head.
"No. I just wanted to tell you that... one day I will return this trust."
"When you feel up to it, I'll be there to listen." Samuele assured her. The moment, almost intimate, was interrupted by the call of leader Lucia Moretti.
"Everyone gather around the portal! We are about to leave!"
The two boys looked at each other and smiled.
"Ready to make some easy money?" Samuele joked.
"Ready as ever, you know." Sofia replied in the same tone.
The duo approached the portal and, when the time came, they went inside, receiving the classic warning from the System.
[QUEST!]
SAVE THE VILLAGE OF VERIDALE.
END OF CHAPTER.
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Here we are again. The new adventure finally begins. This will be the longest of all the first part, and also the last. I hope you will enjoy it, also because with this Adventure you will understand what I want to do with my novel. In simple words, I just want to dabble in writing different stories. And this novel gives me full opportunity to do so. Of course, if only I would keep writing, that is xD.
In any case, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Leave comments, reviews and, if you want to support this story, a power stone.
See you tomorrow, same time. Bye!