(Birds chirping, the sound of summer hitting the house.) I woke up with the sun in my face. I looked and saw it was early morning. I got up and washed my face off. I then casted an ice ball spell into my right hand. I smiled, then put it in a glass and poured tea into it. I sat in my favorite spot in the house. A bench near the front of the house.
I could see the street and passersby going on with their lives. After some time, we were able to acquire this house. All four of us brought to this world to live, eat, and train together. I was their teacher in the other world. But here, I'm much more than that. Today, as I sit here, I feel my day off might be chaotic.
So this peaceful moment might be just what I need. We've spent three days straight doing quests. So getting out of my armor was a nice change for the week. I watched a woman and her kid walk passed. The little boy saw my sword in the window. "Mama, can I be an adventurer someday?" He asked, and she looked at me. I was smiling and enjoying my tea. Then she looked at my nice house.
"I don't know, ask that man if you could become an adventurer." She said as I looked up, listening to their conversation. I smiled and put my cup on the spot next to me. Then I leaned closer to the kid. "To be a successful adventurer, you need to be strong, fearless, and have some kind of talent with magic or combat. Training is also key to being great. To what you asked your question, yes, you can be what you set your mind to. But, before that, you need to grow a bit and listen to your mother." I said to him, and he took in my last bit of advice. Then he asked, "What's your rank, sir? I hear that you guys are full of A-ranks."
I pointed at myself, "Oh, me? I'm an S-rank kid. The only one for miles. I earned that when I started my journey. But you can earn that rank by doing hard work." The kid heard my rank, and I saw his shocked look on his face. I laughed, then I pulled out a small pin I had in my pocket. I made it back when I was taking extra care of the clothes I got for Little Lucy, my dog-beastgirl daughter.
The pin had a wyvern's crest on it. "Take this and wear it on you, if you want to achieve your dream, earn a spot here, and train," I said to the kid, and he put it on his shirt. "Sir, what's your name by the way, so he can thank you properly." The mother asked, and I stood up from the kid. "My name is Jack Hunt, and I'm the leader of the Wyvern's Pact. I'm also friends with the Queen and her daughter, Princess Mayan." I said, bowing my head a little bit.
The mom looked at me and laughed, "So you're Jack Hunt, I'm Candy, I work for the royal family. I heard some great things from Princess Mayan and her majesty Queen Leeah. This little guy is my son, he's known as Markus." She bowed and made her son do the same. I saw her ears and saw that she was a half-elf. I bowed again and offered to train the boy when he came of age.
Candy didn't want to accept the offer until Lucy came out. She was dressed up and ready for her day. I looked at the little boy, and he looked like he was in love with her. Candy saw this too, and she almost laughed.
"This is my daughter, I adopted her about a year ago. Officially, her name is Lucy." I said to Candy, and she looked at me. "Good to meet you, ma'am, I'm Lucy," Lucy said and ran back inside the house when she heard Joan and Keith. I laughed, "I think she likes you, Markus, she rarely speaks to anyone but at my party." I said to Candy and the boy.
Candy sighed and agreed to let Markus train with me. When he would be ready to go through all that. Markus looked excited, and I headed back into the house. I went up to my office and grabbed my sword. I looked at it and saw it needed a good once-over. I put it on my sheath and headed to the smithing shop near the house. Lucy saw me about to leave and demanded that she come with me.
I caved in and let her come with me. She didn't move too far from me, but she did scout ahead of me. She was trying to be like Andy, who was our archer and scout during quests. He would go about a 20-yard distance from us when traveling. Then hid in the woods nearby until we got ready for dinner. Lucy was even doing his scowl he did when he was focused.
We were about ten feet from the front door of the blacksmith's shop. When we heard something was going on in the city. I could see signs and decorations all over the place. I opened the door and said hello to my friend. "Darrel, you in here, my friend?" I asked in the store. I looked to see that his wife Marry was coming from the back. "Oh, Mr. Hunt, it's great to see you, my dear." The half dwarf said going to the counter.
I brought out my sword and showed her what I needed done. She looked it over and said in a snarky manner. "You haven't seen much battle, have you?" She glanced up to see my expression. "We've been on mission after mission. But the last one we did, my poor sword got all torn up. "Well, let me get Darrel, and he'll start on it tonight." She told me to head to the back of the shop.
I didn't hear anything for about five minutes. Then I saw an axe hit the door. It opened, and Darrel came through. "So you messed up your blade, let me take a look at it." He growled, I laughed, and motioned that it was lying on the counter. He took out his eyeglasses and snorted. "Goblins, their weapons can do a real number on any sword, legendary or not. I'll have to do two all-nighters, but I can get it back to fighting shape in three days. Do you need new armor too?"
He asked, noticing my wounds on my arms and chest. "Yeah, but don't push yourself, Darrel." I warned him, and he chuckled like an old man that he is. I paid him in advance, then was about to head out. But I stopped and asked him. "What's with all the decor and loud noises going on in the city?" Darrel looked surprised. "Well, it's the week of immortality, a fighting festival to determine the strongest fighter in the nation. Surprised you didn't know that, you have been in this world for almost three years." He expressed, I told him that I was on long Quests during this time. But this time I had off to rest. Darrel nodded and headed back, saying to me. "Go and have fun, they all kinds of prizes. Maybe you'll get some money or a new sword to ruin." He laughed as he closed the shop door. Marry, she apologized for his mean words.
I waved it off, telling her not to worry about me, that I'm a grown man and can handle a little teasing. She bowed, and I left with Lucy still on my side. I have forgotten that she was with me. "That man was mean, is he actually your friend?" She asked me and I laughed. "Yes, my dear, he was just being friendly in his way. Didn't you see him smile as he went back into his shop?"
I asked her and she didn't see it, but I saw him smile back at me. Sometimes in life, people can be mean as hell. But that's not truly who they are. Sometimes people can have a hard time expressing how they feel. Knowing a person can help you know yourself. I told Lucy this, and she didn't understand what I was talking about. I was going to head home, but the arena in the city was getting louder. As I was about to head over when Joan showed up at the smithing shop.
"Ah, Mr. Hunt, I mean Jack, are you heading to the arena?" She asked me and I nodded, "Let me grab my order from Darrel and I'll tag along." She said not giving me a chance at telling her "No." She only took a minute, and she was ready to go. She took me right to the arena and showed me what the festival was about. I saw match cards and people signing up to fight. The reward for beating the champion was a chest full of gold. Enough to change someone's life.
We needed the money for the house. We needed to fix a bunch of things in the back. The kids also wanted to build a proper training hall. So this money would help us greatly. "They say this champion is a man who was once a S-ranked adventurer like you. I wonder if he'd give you the fight you'd like." Joan said, pulling me to the table to sign up. "I'm not some battle-crazed man, I just like a good fight," I said, having her let me go.
I looked at the lady at the front desk. "Fine, let me sign up for them." I said getting me a pendant and head into the arena. I had Joan take care of Lucy as I got ready for the festival. When I was getting ready, I saw a familiar scaly tail. I popped my head out of the waiting room to see Princess Mayan. She saw me and pulled me aside.
"Jack, you're a contestant in this year's games?" She asked me and I nodded, telling her why. "We need a new addition to our home. This seemed like the fastest way to achieve that." I told her and she agreed, then I told her about the little kid who wanted to become like me. Mayan sighed, "You're too kind sometimes, Jack." She added, and I agreed with her on that. We chatted for a while until I got called for my first match.
Mayan stopped me before I left, "Jack, can we talk after this match. I know you've been busy, but I like it when we converse." She requested, and I nodded, leaving the room. I headed to the huge corridor to the fighting arena. There was a large square ring, made of metal. To my back, I could hear Lucy and Joan yelling for me. I turned to see that they had front row seats. I also saw that Princess Mayan found them, too.
I walked onto the ring and checked it out. I felt it was cold, and I then looked up and saw an Elf mage. He glared at me with golden eyes and a golden crown and threw off his cloak. I took my shirt off and put tape on my hands. "Much like a human dog, you don't hold a real threat here." The Elf said as he charged at me before the bell rang. He struck at me and I dodged it with ease.
He backed up and threw an Ice spike at my face. I caught it and crushed it into dust. The elf then casted another spell, but I took my chance and hit him right in the face. He backed off and launched another ice spike at me. This time, it moved out of the way and summoned all of my lightning. Then through it at him with everything I had.
The elf seemed to get scared and lashed out. "Humans like you deserve to be in chains. Villains, all of you, why did they let you participate in this festival?" He said, looking right at Joan. He was about to launch another spell. But I ran up to him and grabbed him by the throat. "I dare you to go after my student and daughter. I'll end you right here. I don't care that you're a King."
I said to him, and he was surprised I knew who he was. I looked at Princess Mayan and saw she was scared of me. My face wasn't full of emotion. Or even smiling like I normally was, I was cold like my magic. I let the man go, but I did tell him. "If you target them, I'll fry you where you stand." He seemed to get angrier until Princess Mayan came down from her seat. "King Xume, you will not do this again!" She said getting up and coming down to us. I didn't know what she was talking about. Then I heard what I thought might of been the issue.
"I will not let a human be let loose on this world. They all deserve to be in cages, not after what they did during the Great War of Nations." King Xume said, looking back at me. "This man is too dangerous, he needs to be monitored." He added, and Mayan laughed. "He's not like the others, he's not even from our world. He's a human from another realm." She explained, telling him about us being brought here.
He looked back at me and saw my scars on my arms. He then sighed, and his ears slumped down. "You're from another world, but I don't trust your kind. Your people have enslaved and killed thousands of people. Who's to say you won't do that one day?" He conveyed, and I shrugged as he left. The crowd looked confused, but then saw my name move up on the leader board.
I went to the waiting room and gathered my things. I went out and saw that Joan was waiting for me. "I'm going to take Lucy back to the house. Princess Mayan wants to talk to you, sir." She told me, and I waved goodbye as I caught up with Mayan. She was leaning on a railing overlooking the city. "I've never told you why few humans are running around in this city, have I?" She asked me and I shook my head.
"No, but I can guess what happened. From what that Elven King said." I replied, and she told me the history of that Great War. Ten years ago, a human empire ran through the continent. They took land, taking the people, and killing everything they could. Their King was mad, crazed with world domination. But with an army of six separate nations. We took the land back, but we lost sixty percent of the civilians. Even though King Xume lost his kingdom, he is the last of his people. Though there are other Elves, he is the last of his people.
That is the reason he hates humans. With me understanding that, I felt my heart get weak. I looked at Mayan and said to her. "I'm sorry you all went through that. Human kind can be ruthless, murderous, and downright dangerous individuals. But, they're those like myself that believe all life is sacred." She looked at me and said goodnight. I stopped her and told her. "We should do this more on my days off." She agreed and left for home, I did the same.
When I got home, I saw that everyone had gone to bed. Even Lucy went to bed in her room. So I cleaned myself up and I headed to bed for another day of fighting.