Early in the morning, at blue hour, a spear tipped forward, diagonally upwards, as if aiming to pierce the eyebrows of an opponent. One short thrust and it receded back. What followed then was a series of thrusts, spins and sweeps as Aeron's feet moved in intricate footwork.
Or so it seemed, but Aeron knew, it was far from right. He wasn't able to keep a steady balance, couldn't optimize the momentum, nor could he perform an optimal footwork. His hooves were not nimble enough. His form wasn't steady enough. The resultant output was pathetically weak. He was disappointed.
His body was not yet suitable for an intricate maneuver.
"Oh my…"
Aeron reflexively pointed his spear toward the voice and saw Eirenia, the lady with big titties, standing there, amazed.
Careless! How could he be so self-engrossed? He hadn't heard a single step. Has his senses dulled?
For a few moments, they both stared at each other. Then, Eirenia displayed a bright smile. "You can continue your training. There is no one else here besides me," she said to put him at ease.
Eirenia understood that Aeron had developed a deep grudge for the Grey Minotaur who had taken his mother away from him. That must be why he was waking up so early and training so diligently. More than his extraordinary skill, a little child displaying such determination amazed her.
Half an hour passed and now Thalia was also out to watch Aeron train. She had been watching him train secretly, but didn't need to anymore.
"You knew this, didn't you?" Eirenia asked.
"Yeah."
"Since when has he been training?"
"Since the first day."
Eirenia raised her eyebrows. "Don't tell me he hasn't cried even once?" She whispered. Thalia nodded.
"This… what do we call this?" Eirenia was at a loss. "Are you saying that even at the loss of his mother he never cried, but instead picked up the spear and trained with it?"
"Isn't he strong?" Thalia puffed out her chest. She was so proud of him.
"He is… but that's… too strong, isn't it?" Eirenia murmured.
"Yes, he is much stronger than all of us combined," Thalia said.
"No, I meant it is not good for his own mental health. He should be acting normal to his age. What if this has repercussions in the future?" Eirenia put forth her doubts.
"We all have been acting normal ever since. What has it brought us? Pain and misery. At least, let's allow someone to act out of the ordinary. Maybe he will end up teaching us what we have been lacking all along." Thalia responded with a content smile, looking at Aeron dance with his spear.
"What he is seething with is hatred and resentment. Do you think it won't have repercussions?"
Thalia turned to Eirenia, her eyes sharp. "Let it be."
"Huh?" Eirenia wouldn't believe that the kindest of them all would utter such words.
"Let his thirst for vengeance drive him towards extraordinary strength and honor. Let him grow beyond what's normal, so that he does not end up like us old hags. And if that path has its consequences, I will be there to bear them with him."
Such resolve. When did this development happen? It's only been a few days since Aeron came into their lives, and it had such an impact on the crybaby Thalia?
…
One morning, all the ladies gathered together to witness Aeron's training with their own eyes.
"What do you think? Should we suggest him to a childern's teacher?" Eirenia asked Xanthe who also practiced spear arts.
"His spearmanship is not at a child's level." Xanthe replied.
"What? How can that be? Oh, do you mean he's at the level of a teenager? That's quite incredible for his age." Eudora spoke from the side.
"No. I mean he's at the level of an adult." Xanthe corrected her.
"What? You are joking, right? Then you'd also say he has the strength of an adult." Eudora spoke out loud.
Xanthe just smiled at her. "The hints are already laid out. You are just not ready to accept the truth."
Everyone recalled Aeron picking up the milk pot which was half his size.
"Look, I will show you." Xanthe took her spear and went before Aeron. "Can I spar with you?" she asked.
Aeron was bewildered. He glanced at the ladies. Were they just trying to test his strength? Or were they doubting him? Either way, he will have to make things clear to them. Acting weak was such a pain in the ass!
Aeron and Xanthe stood before each other, holding their wooden sparring spears, looking into each other's eyes.
The Vintaur race was naturally taller than many races. Aeron, being a child, hardly reached Xanthe's belly. As a result, even in her low stance, her spear pointed towards his chest.
Aeron pointed the spear forward. His aim was her heart.
Aeron thrusted forth, just to be casually deflected away. In the opening came her spear, thrusting at his face. He sidestepped and countered with another thrust, taking advantage of her extended position.
She deflected it with the butt of her spear. Aeron retreated to maintain the distance.
This exchange happened in a few moments, and the spectators watching it were already convinced of Aeron's skills.
Xanthe looked at his eyes. They were calm. She didn't feel like she was fighting with a child.
Aeron's spear was relatively shorter, suitable for his height. Although it shortened its reach, it allowed him faster maneuver.
He spun his spear overhead and held it to the side. It was an open invitation for attacks.
"Quite bold, aren't we?"
The earlier was just an introduction. Now the real fight starts.
Aeron made the spear spun free as it deflected her attacks. With intricate footwork, he maintained his distance, but when he had to go on the offensive, he would exploit the gap in their speed to cover the distance and deliver a blow.
But Xanthe was an adult alright. She hadn't trained with the spear for so many years just for show. She handled him with grace.
Aeron leveraged the momentum of his spear, and his spear would come crashing down from above and from the sides like a staff.
Xanthe deflected it or dodged. He would force her to take a few steps back.
The exchange went on for quite a while. The both seemed to enjoy the fight.
The exchange ended when Aeron depleted his stamina and his movements became dull. But while it lasted, it showed how powerful Aeron was.
Seeing Aeron's strength, questions popped into everyone's heads. Why didn't he fight with the Minotaur and stalled for time? If he had bought just a few moments, his mother could have been saved.
"Did you fight with that Gray minotaur that day?" Eudora was straight to the point. She asked what everyone wanted to. It was better to make things clear rather than jumping to baseless conclusions.
"Mama and me both fought. Then I got tired. Mama had to pick me up and flee." Aeron lowered his gaze and clenched his fists. He was cursing his own inadequacy, they understood.
Eudora suddenly felt bad for asking that question. A slap landed on the back of her head. "Ow!"
"You see, Eudora here is quite stupid and blunt." Xanthe glared at Eudora and said, "She doesn't know what sensitivity means at all."
She knelt down and caressed his cheek. "Child, it was not your fault. You already did the best you could. You went beyond what children your age could do. Otherwise, your mother wouldn't be able to do the thing she cared about the most."
"What is that?"
"Protecting you."
Aeron looked into her tender eyes. Her words were reassuring. It justified his mother's actions that day.
"By the way, who taught you spearmanship?" Xanthe asked.
"The Emp— my grandma."
"Grandma? Your grandma must be quite a warrior if she can teach you such splendid spear arts at such a young age." She glanced at everyone and then said, "She must be waiting for you at home, right?" It was a probing question. He was too young and they needed to handle the matter carefully.
"She is not…" He wanted to say she is not alive anymore, but declaring the alive as dead did not sit quite well with him. "She is not in this world."
"Oh, dear goddess!" She understood Aeron might have lost everyone dear to him. He was not much different from them, after all. "Don't worry, child. Look, you now have five mommies, alright? You are not alone." She hugged him and caressed his head.
"Hey, I'm not his mommy. I'm his big sister, alright!" Eudora shouted from the side.
"So she says. Now, you have a big sister too." Xanthe giggled.
…
A month passed, and the ladies organized a meeting.
"Aside from the normal meals and a pot full of milk, he needs 2 Xanthyros a day. This isn't sustainable in the long run." The sleepy lady, Kassandra said. "He is still a child. Yesterday, he was eating a mountain of Xanthyros a day in the oracle I received."
Ignoring her last sentence, everyone pondered the right course of action for little Aeron. Even the adults got two tier 3 fruits a week. The five ladies have been feeding Aeron all their weekly quota of Xanthyros.
But everyone knew, this was just a temporary solution. Besides,
"Eudora, unlike us, you have a bright future ahead. You cannot just give away your fruits." Xanthe said.
"What? I have a bright future? Then what about Aeron? Compared to me, he is a monster!" Eudora said.
"He sure is. But you still have to think for yourself, right?" Xanthe said.
"Then, what will happen to him?" asked Eudora.
"That's why we are here, no? We will find a solution. Even if the worst comes to be, we will still have a solution." Xanthe assured her.
"And, what is that?"
Xanthe smiled. "First, let's make some calculations." She looked at everyone.
Thalia was restlessly fidgeting. Judging from her behavior, it seemed she would beg the whole village for fruit.
"Taking two Xanthyros out of account, we still have 4 days worth of the tier 3 fruits per week. We just have to manage for the remaining 3 days."
"If we put aside 2 Atheoras each day, we will have 56 fruits for those three days. Then he could eat 18 to 19 fruits a day. Those would be more than enough, right?"
Everyone looked at each other. They weren't quite sure. 18 fruits seemed a lot, but they were just tier 1 fruits. Even if Aeron managed it somehow, he was still young and they still had to think for the future when his appetite will grow to who knows what ridiculous bounds.
"But he is a genius. No, a monster. With his merits, he will definitely secure his share of fruits when he grows up," Eirenia said.
Even at the age of 15, a normal kid could only digest one tier 3 fruit a day. Even after digesting, they would have to wait for a week to consume another one. But Aeron could digest two tier 3 fruits in a single day. That was truly ridiculous.
"And what if he doesn't meet the expectations?" asked Kassandra.
"Only the future will tell. For now, we have more than enough fruits for Aeron. Besides, it's too early to think about his future. We do not know if his tribe will come to retrieve him."
"That won't happen!" Thalia quickly interjected. She didn't like whenever the conversation went that way. She didn't even want to imagine the possibility that Aeron might return to his tribe. In the past month, her fondness for Aeron has only increased.
"Of course, of course. That's why we have Plan B, right? It will be risky, but let's do it for the boy!" Xanthe concluded.
The ladies' decision naturally moved Aeron. He knew the fruits were valuable resources, yet the ladies were willing to go so far for him.
…
On the other hand, the warrior tribesmen found several dead bodies of gray minotaurs in the wild in the last 30 days. Judging by their wounds, it seemed to be done by a creature with claws. They didn't know if it was done by a single creature or a bunch of them. Nevertheless, it was highly likely that the creature came from the chasm.