After a sumptuous meal at the dinner, Eldric was expecting to have a chat with his father Cedric, but to his surprise, neither his father nor mother said anything to him.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. Looking at the starry sky outside his window, Eldirc was silent. Even the stars in this world were different.
He was still unsure of his future in this new world. He didn't know anyone or anything, perhaps due to his own ignorance he didn't even try to get admission into a university, and now that there was nothing for him to do, Eldric was lost about his future.
"And she hasn't shown herself." Thinking about the girl who kept on floating beside him constantly, Eldric was getting anxious.
It would be a stretch to say that she was important to him, but in this world, she was the only one Eldric was familiar with. She was the only one he would talk to, would share his worries with.
And now with her absence, Eldric seemed even more confused about his next course of action.
And just when he was sitting there in silence, he heard someone knock on his door.
"Come in." Coming back to reality, he looked at the door before whispering.
Soon the door to his room was pushed open and the familiar figure of his father stood there with a smile on his face.
"Care to join me?"
"Hmm..." Nodding, Eldric stood up and walked behind his father as they both made their way towards the balcony.
Reaching there, Eldric could already see a carpet on the floor along with two cups, a wooden bottle, and a small plate full of roasted cashews.
"Come sit beside your father." Sitting on the ground cross-legged, Cedric patted the ground beside him.
Eldric did as he was told. Walking beside his father, he sat down in silence.
"You know..." As Cedric opened the bottle, Eldric could smell the overwhelming fragrance of an aged wine from it.
"Today both father and son are going to have a long heart-to-heart conversation." Cedric already seemed drunk as he poured the wine into both cups and pushed one of them towards Eldric.
"....." Eldric picked it up but didn't drink. His eyes were still stuck on Cedric who was gulping down one mouthful after another.
"Tell me, son... Do you resent us?"
This sudden question from Cedric stunned Eldric. Though he was expecting a conversation he wasn't expecting such questions.
"No." Shaking his head, he replied, "Why would I resent you?"
"Because we couldn't afford to send you to a better school... Because we couldn't buy you the gear for your trials... Because we couldn't buy you the potions."
The more he spoke, the hoarser his voice got. By the end of his sentence, Cedric was almost whispering.
"....." Eldric didn't reply immediately but looked at his so-called father before letting out a short chuckle.
"No... That doesn't matter. With or without them, the result wouldn't have been much different."
"...." Cedric looked at his son who was sitting there in silence with a smile on his face before gulping down another mouthful of wine and shaking his head. "We have wronged you."
Thinking about how his son never complained about anything from the start, Cedric couldn't help but be overcome with emotions. He had seen children cursing and throwing fists at their parents because of the lack of these things, but his son never complained about anything.
From his childhood, he would have a calm expression on his face as he would accept any situation with a smile.
The more he thought about it, the more Cedric felt like he had wronged his son.
"There is nothing that you could have done." Shaking his head, Eldric spoke further "I failed because I am afraid of getting hurt. I died in the trials and don't know what to do.
There is no reason to blame yourself over my failure."
Eldric didn't know whether he spoke these words to comfort his father or himself, but he felt a lot more comfortable after speaking these words.
From the day he died, he hadn't been able to share his feelings with someone else. The girl tried talking him out of it, but instead, he blamed her.
Now that some time had passed and Eldric reflected upon it, he realized his own mistake.
"There is no shame in being afraid of pain." Looking at the expression of his son, Cedric had a rough idea about what was going on in Eldric's head. So, instead of encouraging him and telling him to do it again, he sympathized with him.
"You know, when I first went through my trials, I died a lot to those bastard bulls.
They would impale me and then tear me apart. There was even a time when I thought of giving up the trial."
Speaking till here, he went silent. His eyes were dazed as if he was lost in the memories of that time.
"So... What did you do?"
"Heh..." With a chuckle, Cedric gave an answer that Eldric wasn't expecting.
"I ran away."
"Huh!?" Startled, Eldric looked at him wondering whether he was telling the truth or merely fabricating a story to comfort him.
"I ran away... Gave up on joining a university and started working as an assistant."
Eldric placed the wine cup beside him and picked up a handful of roasted cashews before throwing them in his mouth and looking at Cedric, waiting for him to finish his story.
"For almost three years I didn't complete the trials, as I was too afraid to go there.
And it was then when I met your mother."
Still lost in his train of thought, Cedric continued his story.
"It was love at first sight. The moment I saw her, I knew that she was the one for me.
Unfortunately, she was a member of a rather prestigious faction. So the only way I could go near her or even have a chance with her was to join that faction. And to do that, I had to complete my trials and go through evolution."
Speaking till here, Cedric took a long pause while sipping the wine, looking into the distance.
"I didn't have the courage to pass the trials or go through the evolution. It was your mother who gave me courage.
She was my goal and my reason. She was my inspiration to complete the trial."
With this, the balcony was enveloped in a long silence. Other than the sipping sound of Cedric and the chewing sound of Eldric, there was no other voice.
And in this dead silence, Cedric looked at his son with a smile.
"Do you know why I am telling you this?"
"Uh... Huh..." Eldric just shook his head. Perhaps the man just wanted to share his story and sorrows with him.
"It is because today you are standing on an exact path where I was decades ago.
But the difference between us is that I had reasons to strive forward while you don't."
As soon as he spoke these words, Eldric's eyes narrowed into slits as he looked at the man in front of him.
He wanted to refute him and even argue but after thinking about it, he didn't dare to.
"I have known you since I brought you into this home the very first time."
Thinking about that time, a smile formed on Cedric's face and he spoke further.
"Since your childhood, you never wanted anything for yourself. You were the type of child who wouldn't cry over toys or sweets.
You would always be satisfied with whatever you have."
Emptying the glass, he let out a sigh.
"It is a wonderful quality... Something that is rare to see.
But unfortunately, this is also your shackle."
Looking at Eldric with a helpless smile, Cedric couldn't help but add further. "Truthfully, you don't have any goal or aim. You have no future plans.
And this is exactly what's stopping you. "Since you don't want anything and have no goal, then why would you even want to get stronger?"
Eldric heard every word in silence. Even though he wanted to refute it, he couldn't. Deep inside, he knew that the man was speaking nothing but truth. So other than clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, there was nothing that he could do.
Cedric looked at Eldric who was sitting there in silence with clenched fists and swallowed the words that he was about to say.
Thinking for a moment, he shook his head and spoke softly.
"You are a wonderful child and we love you, even more than our own daughter.
You know, from the day we adopted you, we never considered you to be an outsider. You are everything that a parent can wish for but I still wish you were a bit resolute. I wish you were a bit greedy."
Seeing no response from Eldric, Cedric could only shake his head. This was the only shortcoming of his son. He wouldn't refute or speak against anyone ever.
"I have made some arrangements, if you wish, then from tomorrow on, you can work where I used to work."
"Go now, take some rest, son, you seem tired."
Eldric didn't speak but stood up and headed back to his room. His mind was still filled with everything that his father said.
.
.
"Really?" Just when Eldric left, the sound of his mother Elara came from behind Cedric.
"You have the habit of talking about completely irrelevant things." With a face full of dissatisfaction, she reached out for the wooden wine bottle before gulping down a mouthful from it.
"You talked about so many useless things and the one thing that mattered the most... You never even thought about mentioning it?"
"Just how long are you going to avoid his topic? Sooner or later he has to face it.
And perhaps you might have forgotten it, but we don't have much time."
It would be better for all of us if we complete it as soon as possible.
"....." There was a trace of unwillingness on Cedric's face as he let out a helpless sigh. "Soon. I will talk to him about this matter after a few days.
Let him have some time to gather his thoughts. He just came back home after a failure, and shoving down such a major decision about his life doesn't seem fair to me.
Let him spend a few more days by himself, let him overcome his failure. Then we will talk."
Even though he was drunk, every word he spoke was firm and showed his determination.
.
.
Reaching inside his room, Eldric sat on his bed in silence while the voice of Cedric still echoed in his ears.
"He didn't say wrong, you know?"
Eldric didn't know when, but the figure of the young girl was floating beside him as she spoke softly.
"You..." Looking at the girl who suddenly appeared beside him, Eldric had a thousand words but he couldn't speak any.
He just looked at her in silence as a sense of relief overwhelmed his body. He was afraid that after their last fight, she wouldn't show up and was even regretful because of it.
But now... Looking at her, a smile ran through his face as he softly spoke.
"You are here..."