She said while looking broken and worried,
"Your Father has… he has decided to go back adventuring and has taken his money with him and sold everything of value here."
'Immediately the gravity of the situation weighed down on me. Aside from the fact my Father and her husband has deserted his family, we were now officially broke.'
'He had all of our families wealth in his profile since he was the one who sold artifacts for money and bought all of our necessities.'
Currency in this world was kept in profiles and had no physical form. It could be transferred from one profile to another when a verbal agreement was reached.
'Filled with rage and confusion on why he left so suddenly, or rather left at all, I was speechless. He must truly have seen the weak me and frail Mother as nothing but hindrances, anchors tying him down giving nothing in return.'
'I cursed myself for not being strong enough. Maybe if i was he wouldn't have left us, or at the very least, gave us money to survive. Now mother or I, or us both needed a job immediately. We could no longer afford everyday essentials or tutors. All we had was our house and what is left in it.'
'I contemplated selling my sword, an artifact like this could have me and Mother live our lives in luxury and as long as she is happy and safe, I would glady discard my dreams of becoming an adventurer. She is that important to me.'
'That was when, as if reading my thoughts she said "Don't. I know what your thinking, don't." Then while forcing a smile said, "your gonna need that to become the best y'know."
'I hugged her reassuring her we'd be okay and that I would apply to join the royal forces to get us stable income but she wouldn't listen'
"I couldn't have my 16 year old son working to pay for our needs at a job he doesn't want while I idle at home" she said with a new spark of resolve shining dimly in her eyes "I will apply to work in bakeries or taverns, please dont stop your training, I believe in you, I believe you can become the best."
'They were words I really needed to hear. In Mothers defence she was quite the cook so I was certain she would have no problem getting a job on the Main Street.'
'We spent a while chatting about anything, both attempting to cheer the other up and before I knew it the time was 4:30 and there was knocking at our door. I sent the tutors home and headed back inside to consider my future. Later on it was around the time I would learn enhancing and was disheartened to have to send Jared home after only just starting learning the crucial ability.'
'But it turns out Jared is full of empathy and was devastated to hear of our situation and offered to teach me for free if he could stay in our house. Mother agreed and naturally I had no problem with it so he is set to move in tomorrow. Jared is a really kind man around the same age as Mother, who had no family of his own and rented a small apartment on the outskirts of the city. There were plenty of rooms in the house for him since it was three storeys tall with only two people living in it. It was quite the upgrade for him considering we lived at the centre of the capital.'
'We started our class right away and I could put full focus on it since I had no other classes to take anymore.'
"So Markus, what is enhancing to you, what do you see it as?"
'The only thing that could come to mind was what Ethan had drilled into me since I was young, "A tool for defeating and killing the enemy."
'After hearing this Jared looked at the table we were sitting at with a moderately dark expression and responded' "I see."
"As ive already stated, the key to earning this ability is to have a clear understanding what you see it as. I see enhancing as a form of art, as an expression of your soul. Your enhancement will be as strong as your resolve and reasoning for using it, which is why you must be one in mind and body. Or so I like to say but becoming one in body and mind is actually not a necessity."
"There is rumours that if you do become one in body and mind, your enhancing can take a step to a new level. But ive never achieved it nor seen anyone who has so it could be just rumours after all."
'I listened carefully and I spent the rest of the class learning how to correctly meditate. Mother had left before this class to apply for jobs and had returned just now. She had no problem getting a job and even got employed to a well know bakery on the Main Street. Our money problem was mostly sorted. I can't help but worry for her however, Mother has always been frail since her youth and has been looking a little paler these past 2 weeks.'
'A week went by since Jared moved in and me and Mother like him a lot. He was always helping around the house and even took me around the city just for fun. We casually browsed shops without buying anything, went to a theatre and most importantly, he made me talk to people my own age and socialise. Ethan never did these things with me and wouldn't even allow me talk to other kids in the city as they were 'of lower standing than us'.
'I was pretty awkward at the start but with Jared's help I managed to hold conversations. For the first time in a long time, I felt like a regular young boy and it was all thanks to him.'
'Another week passed and I had been training using a obstacle course I made myself aswell as meditating frequently. I had also started training with the dagger to get accustomed to it just incase. Things were progressing smoothly. Jared helped even more around the house and kept Mother company, all was going well.'
'Or at least it was until Mother returned from work one day paler than ever and coughing a lot. I had suspected she was sick before but now it was obvious.'
'I confronted her about it and she wasn't willing to go into detail but confirmed she was ill.'
'Hoping it wasn't serious I didn't dig any deeper because she looked unwilling to respond if I did. I just trained harder to keep my mind off it, trusting her to tell me if things got worse.'
'Another half a year passed and things were fine until Mother collapsed in a coughing fit at home, leaving her bed bound.'
'I could tell her time left was quickly counting down. The thought of it is so, so painful.'