The sun rose brightly on the morning, thus marking the beginning of a new day, When I woke up a familiar sight came to me. My little brother was already doing push-ups on the floor.
"Do you even sleep?".
"Three hours a day is enough!".
Ignoring that muscle freak I lazily started stretching, even though he was 3 years younger than me I'm not sure if I could beat him.
After doing some basic exercise and meditation I went to wake up that old man.
"Master, the sun has already risen".
Ozile rolled around the bed for a couple moments before finally waking up.
"It seems that every day we wake up earlier, where did my depressed and gloomy student go?".
It was morning but my master was already getting on my nerves. We ate breakfast together and went to the church of light, it was Sunday after all. After the prayers I accompanied my brother to the town guild while master returned home.
"Good morning Eidan! Finally applying to become an adventurer?".
"You already know the answer, after all he's the talented one". I said while looking at my brother.
Myla chuckled a bit and then recommended us some quests.
"Well, lately a lot of wolfs have been seen in small groups, it's an E-rank quest so you need a certified adventurer to accompany you".
Realizing that, I sighed. I wasn't and adventurer and my brother was 14 years old, one year below the minimum to officially become an adventurer.
"Myla, could you help us in this one?". My brother asked, and he was right, after all she had done similar things in the past.
"Well, I already anticipated this situation, so I prepared this for you Ethan, just don't tell anyone". She wore a playful smile while saying that.
"Thanks Myla!". My brother thanked her while she handed him a quest card.
I still didn't understand how she could always get away doing this. Taking a glance at the quest card I realized that she changed the quest rank from E to F, really clever from her.
Swoosh!
While my brother was doing a one-on-one against a quor wolf I sat on a nearby rock and gave him emotional support. During one of the clashes, he perfectly repelled the wolf's claw, being in a vulnerable position, the wolf desperately charged at him, a fatal mistake followed by my brother side stepping and swiftly cutting the wolf's neck.
shivers ran through my body as I asked myself, how he could improve that fast?
"Brother, I think I'm ready, let's spar!".
Shit, how could he notice my uneasiness? I hurriedly created an excuse about me feeling weak these days, that didn't work.
"Now that I think about it, it's kind of sad being you". My patience was running out but as a benevolent and understanding older brother I accepted Ethan's flaws wholeheartedly.
"Well, there's nothing that can be done if you're afraid of me, how can you consider yourself a man?". I understood that this little brat needed a beating to regain some sense back.
I unsheathed my blade and took a stance. A moment after Ethan rushed at me and swung towards me, I easily parried his attack, and I followed with a thrust to his gut. Smiling, he blocked my attack and the sound of metal echoed through the forest.
I noticed that his technique had already surpassed mine, but I still held a significant advantage thanks to the age gap, this meant that my overall strength surpassed his.
But still, he dashed faster than last time. The corners of my mouth rose slightly, He has already gotten this good at using mana for body reinforcement.
I did the same and we clashed again, only that the sheer speed and strength of the exchanges rose quite a bit. It was an even fight, I started thinking that he might really beat me this time. We both were focused on the fight, but a crackling sound made us stop.
Scanning our surroundings, we took our stances and suddenly a quor wolf appeared and rushed at us.
I prepared to fight, but something was wrong with the beast. It tried attacking me, but I easily cut it down. Something was off, normally quor wolfs are passive beast that, when engaged with, would be a cunning adversary doing all sorts of tricks to win. But this one was just recklessly advancing.
"Ethan, be wary, they are rushing like in some enraged state".
"Got it".
Around 20 wolfs charged from all sides. It would really be a hard fight.
***
We both entered the guild injured pretty badly, Ethan in particular was in a better state than me and helped me to walk all the way there. After we arrived Myla hurried towards us and asked in a worried tone what happened.
"The number of wolfs was a lot more than we expected".
"We ended up with 29 cores instead of the 5 the quest demanded". Ethan brought this up and I immediately hit his head. He seemed to understand what I wanted to say
"That's fantastic! I'll make sure to improve your reward accordingly". All the worry leaved her eyes as she swiftly tried to grab the bag, but I held a firm grip of her shoulder.
"Myla, we already completed the quest I'll give you the 5 cores we've hunted". I couldn't contain my grin.
"B-but you know it's illegal to hunt without permission". Myla, knowing what I was planning tried to intimidate me with the power of the law.
"mhm? But I had permission to hunt these 5 cores".
"And the other 24?".
"What are you talking about??". Ignorance is bliss.
"Ethan help me make your brother regain reason".
"What are you on about? He seems completely fine to me". Following my scheme, Ethan replied.
I understood why she wanted to take all of the monster cores, after all that's how the guild worked, and if we brought this many cores she would surely get paid a lot. But I wouldn't let my precious hard-earned money slip away. Not even by the hands of a dear friend.
"Buy my silence".
"I'll give you 2".
"3".
Our gazes met with none of us wanting to resign. The guild was starting to get more active and they were starting to notice us. Seeing this I accepted my defeat.
"Okay 3".
"Thanks Eidan!". She smiled radiantly and continued to work.
After we bandaged ourselves Ethan went to school like usual and I went back home.
"You're late".
"I had some trouble when hunting".
"Ha! You really are a shittty warrior". What a shitty master I had.
We went to the workshop and readied ourselves.
"Today I will teach you how to make longer weapon's".
Grabbing a bunch of metal and a hammer my master started with his work.
"First you'll have to heat up the metal, because I'm quite adept at magic I'll heat it myself".
A small fire was created and directed towards the metal and its color started to change until it acquired a bright orange. He then started giving it form with his hammer, then he reheated it and smashed it again, and again, and again. Then he cooled it and sharpened the longsword.
"This isn't anything special, the handle still needs to be done, and the sword hasn't got any mana conductivity, but it still can be used".
He threw me the sword and I caught it.
"Keep it, in later lessons you'll complete it with the handle".
I gave the sword a look and couldn't help to admire the mastery to create effectively this blade, It always surprised me his skill.
"Heh, don't watch too much, you'll never arrive at my level". he would be a great master if it wasn't for his immense pride and ego.
"Your sense of self isn't... 'Realistic' to say". I told him what I thought with a hint of Irony.
"Listen closely Eidan. The more power one has, the stronger his ego will be. Right now you're weak but you still have also an ego, right? When I talk about power I don't talk about only strength, wealth also counts as power, so does influence. In the end, an ego in my eyes, is just the manifestation of someone's power, but if your ego surpasses your own power, you'll fall victim to it.
I pondered for a moment and then replied.
"I still think you should keep your ego in check, you're not that strong". Ozile chuckled at my response.
"It's your turn now".
I focused and tried forging a sword that I would want to wield.
A hit.
And another.
Reheat.
Give it the form I what.
mold it, twist it.
I could feel Ozile's gaze at my back, but it didn't affect me.
clank*
clank*
..
....
.....
It's done, I caught my breath as the act was more tiring than I thought. I observed the longsword I made with a proud look. Ozile looked at it and smiled a bit.
"It's shit". I frowned at his words, I already know that the blade was bad but I still thought It wasn't complete trash.
"For an amateur this is great, but for you it's shit. You shouldn't go for average when you're better than that". This old man couldn't compliment someone directly.
"Tomorrow we'll do this again".
Shortly after we had dinner and slept.
The next weeks were as peaceful as they could be, my blacksmithing skills were improving steadily, and I trained my swordsmanship on my free time. It seemed that everything was perfect. On these times I thought about my parents, during these days I felt that they would really be proud of me if they were watching.
During my visits to the guild, they had a lot of work. Myla explained to me that something weird was happening with the monster, they started to appear everywhere. This gave the adventurers an overwhelming amount of quest. the Baron even gathered a small army if the city was attacked by the monsters.
The guild really needed a hand and so my brother became a voluntary. I tried convincing him to not do anything for the time being, but he kept insisting that he would go in a big group against goblins. In the end I gave in because 4 D-rank and 2 C-rank adventurers were present. I just told him in a serious tone than if anything happened, he ran for his life. After all there's a thin line between bravery and foolishness.
...
...
...
...
"He died while hunting, I'm sorry".
At that moment I didn't even remember who gave me the news. I remembered not being able to sleep nor eat for days, I became a walking corpse, not even that because I rarely leaved my room.
Days later they held his funeral but I didn't have the courage to show up. Was that an insult to my fallen brother? It indeed was, but more it was an insult to myself. I couldn't stand it, I couldn't stand how pathetic I was in those moments.
Everyday Ozile would leave me food at my door and talk a bit about everything. He told me what was happening to the guild. Some days after his death he told me that the quantity of monster had hugely dropped. That made my Sorrow worse. If I had only rejected his dumb request, If I had just been a little more careful.
Ozile kept talking to me again and again but I never replied. I didn't even hear half the things he told me, starvation started to struck me as each that passed made me conscious of my to choices. Keep living or end it here.
Truly pathetic.
As my condition worsened my thoughts began to wander. It did enough, I could already rest, there was no point in going on. I just stood there for an entire day, mumbling like some possessed demon.
Ozile kept talking to me, but his voice sounded different, it sounded sadder.
That day I thought about my life, I wanted to see if it was worth living. But in that mental state I only felt dread and apathy to life.
My own fall was imminent, but then I heard a voice, it wasn't my own, nor it was a voice I recognized but it was so familiar that I couldn't help but listen.
"Are you going to give up? I thought you were better than this".
These simple words struck me down. For once I ate, I ate like no other day. I could also savor my own tears but at that time it didn't matter I wanted to live so badly. To swing a sword, to forge, to travel, to work, to hunt, it didn't matter.
I cursed the world for taking away my brother. But I cursed it even more for gifting me the desire to live despite everything.
A day after, I decided to finally leave my room, but when I woke up something was up. Leaving my house I found Ozile staring at the horizon. When he noticed me, he tried to collect his words while he was utterly speechless.
"Eidan, run away, run with everything you have, do not wait for me, the town is doomed". His gaze softened as he looked at me.
"You're a smart kid so when you realize the situation you'll listen".
As if these were his final words he sprinted towards the town center, I was dumbfounded until I also gazed at the horizon, and then I understood everything.
Hundreds upon hundreds of monsters crazily dashing towards the town.
We were utterly fucked. Bitting my lips I had to make a choice, well to put it in a proper manner I had to choose between life and death.
My feet were slow, my sword was heavy and my heart was trembling but I still kept going.
"Aagh!!". I heard a little boy scream as three goblins jumped at him.
Going in behind I swiftly took care of them.
"T-thanks!". The boy immediately got up and ran, I wasn't sure if he would somehow survive, but I had to concentrate. 'To defend the town I need to be with a group and with more people, I'll help everyone in the way while I find someone to team up'. Interrupting my monologue, the boy from before let an excruciating scream.
Shit, 3 goblins jumped at me and while I handled them with ease, 3 wolfs appeared. I fought with all I had, barely surviving each onslaught. I continued to advance and even found more people fighting, but our encounters were short-lived.
While dealing with a lait wolf a fireball was shoot at me. I blocked it with my sword but all the accumulated fatigue had started to wear me down.
"kekeke". The goblin shaman's laugh echoed through my ears as I dropped on my knees.
This time another shaman fired a wind bullet to me. I begged for my body to move but it would budge. I crashed at a building and I started losing my consciousness. 'It really ends here?'. As a goblin jumped at me I felt a surge of power course through my body as I did a last-ditch effort to avoid it's attack.
I was standing up through sheer will but that didn't mean nothing. a wolf pierced me from behind leaving me groaning in pain on the floor.
My fate was already sealed, but I tried refusing it.
'I won't die'.
'I will live'.
'I.. will'.
'I..'.
***
"I don't want to keep watching". My gaze directly met the Goddess' and she replied.
"I already told you how it was going to end, what did you expect?". Then she mysteriously smiled.
"Of course, you have the power to change that outcome".
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Random facts:
Quor wolf (level 13) = a black wolf with a height of 140 centimeters.
Lait wolf (level 15) = a golden wolf with a height of 160 centimeters.