Hero Scout 74 Chapter 2 - Journey Begins

Grey and Gold Beans nodded.
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"And are those even your real name? Like come on Almanac, you named your own CHILDREN Grey and Gold Beans?"

The handsome wizard laughed, little wisps of his golden mist swirling as if to mirror his amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Heavens no! 'Grey' here is actually called Anabel," Almanac said gesturing to the stunningly beautiful girl bound in drab grey clothing and with a look that made her always appeared halfway through reading a dictionary. Her hair bound in a librarian's bun and her belt hooked with various the machinations of a scribe reinforced that look until the teenager appeared an old lady cursed to forever appear young, or the like.

"Met her mother when she came to me at night - a succubus who didn't realise I was well aware of how to prevent my soul from being siphoned. Well, we hit it off, had a kid rather unexpectedly, and had to hide her in a library for most of her early years. You'd be surprised how many n.o.bles attempt to steal away a half succubus girl, even as a kid. The Church wasn't very helpful either, but I think it should be rather safe for Anabel to go on her own way now," Almanac shook Grey's hand stiffly, patted her on the head and that was that.

"I like being called Grey, Tenko named me that. It's nice," Grey said in a static tone and her eyes squinting as if yearning to stare into a dusty old tome.

"Well, sure. Also, 'Gold Beans' here was normally named Arthur, but I admit naming him after those golden eyes of his is rather fitting," Almanac said, ruffling the golden-haired elemental boy. A body of pale grey stone, teeth of bright pearly white marble, with real solid gold eyes and wispy golden hair the boy was one of the odder races that Kenji had met.

"I met his mother on a quest, an Earth spirit to be precise. Well apparently she had a thing for humans, one thing led to another, and I woke up after a week-long honeymoon to a stone child and a note," Almanac shrugged as if that was a normal way to spend a week. "While Grey is great at magic, learning and studying being her specialty, Gold Beans is a little more unique. He can control 'magic' in a more fundamental sense, to steer others' spells through the air or even within their own body. To say he would make for a great arcanist would be an understatement of the century, although, without the same dedication as Anab-Grey, I do worry he might not do so well at school."

Sighing dramatically, Almanac's stoic uncaring nature crumbled as real worry shone through.

"It's alright, the Wizard College is a well-defended area very much outside of the Church's influence. They'll be just fine," Kenji said while he held Almanac's powerful shoulder, the two children looking at Almanac as if for the first time.

Then the fallen angel floated around the corner, and suddenly Almanac's sudden concern made a whole lot more sense. Kenji pulled away, the two kids who's eyes had shone with wonder now withered back into distrust.

Almanac continued the act all the same.

"Dearest Alutha, my poor babes are going off to a faraway place. Could you console me in this trying time?" Almanac pleaded of the heavenly fallen angel, with black wings, silver armour etched with the tapestry of a thousand battles and a razer sharp sword taller than she was floating behind.

The two had been...dating? Yes, Kenji supposed that the right word, they had been dating for several weeks now. While initially arriving to help in Tariak's defence against the aggression of the King of all Fae, she had stayed awhile at the people's beckoning, and awhile longer at Almanac's own.

"About consoling, I have news," Alutha said with rosy cheeks and pulled out a cream white egg the size of her head. Behind it fluttered a tiny little crow black wing, and letting go the egg bobbed and weaved in the air.

"What's this...darling?" Almanac whispered, having gone paperwhite.

As soon as the egg touched Almanac's hands, silver cracks spread across its surface. In the next moment blinding light pierced the sh.e.l.l, and when everyone could see again they found a little black-feathered birdman looking up at Almanac with angry falcon eyes.

"Father, I have hatched. What is your bidding?" the birdman baby said with a voice deeper than a blacksmith and a stiff back that somehow made Kenji feel as if this baby had experience serving in an army.

"You guys do you," Kenji said, as he pulled his fiery red hair from obstructing his golden eyes, and made his way towards the exit. "Just wanted to pop in and see how you were doing, gotta catch up with Tenko now, lots of quests to be done and all."

"Kenji please - take this one with you, I can't afford the tuition for three!" Almanac pleaded, the bird boy staring at Almanac and then Kenji in turn. Kenji actually flinched when the angel-human hybrid looked at him, although Gold Beans happily plucked the baby from his father's hands.

"h.e.l.lo," said Gold Beans, his hands glowing softly with holy light.

"Yes, organise by power brother. My growth will improve by a rate of 17% if this action is continued regularly," the angel baby declared, his eyes starting to droop at the same time. "My time of awakening has left my...energy reserves...depleted...", soon the angel baby fell asleep, and before Kenji could get caught up any more in Almanac's problems, he left his quarters onto the top floor of the Golden Goose Adventurer guild.

The door he exited had 'Almanac, Guildmaster of the Golden Goose Guild and Second in command of the Hero Guild Alliance' scrawled on it's front. Kenji shook his head, wondering how someone with some a strange tendency to have short sprints with odd women could possibly be so important.

Making his way down and pa.s.sed the huge number of adventurers, Kenji waved his quick goodbyes. They had already partied last night, some of the vomit still being cleaned up by Satyr maids, while some few adventurers groggily snoozed under the tables. Kenji remembered when he too had slept like that. Good times.

At the door, he was met by Violet, a purple-skinned elf with an amphibious, some would say alien, complextion. Beside her was Tenko, a little white furred wolf girl with literal moons for pupils. Too be fair she had been growing swiftly over the last few weeks, a few inches taller already, but was still the youngest of the three by a wide margin.

Noticably, only Tenko had a travellors pack on.

"I thought you would be coming," Kenji smiled, yet a little saddened that their time had travelling together had for the moment come to an end.

"You've seen how Almanac is, this place would be reduced to shambles if left to him. The Freed Sun Elves and Satyr's look up to me alot too, they wouldn't listen to Almanac if I weren't here," Violet said softly, peering around to find several heavily armed Sun Elves and Saytrs patting down everyone withing bow range. For the Sun Elves having Violet around meant the curse that had plagued their people wouldn't return, while the Satyr had been freed from their mental enslavement due to Violet's direct actions. To say they would die for her was an understatement, and Kenji could appreciate while her staying behind to help lead Tariak would bring a great deal of stability to the still rebuilding town - although it would be closer to a city when construction was finished.

All that didn't mean Kenji felt happy about it though, then again, it was natural to feel sad when you drifted apart from your friends.

"We'll come back, Violet! Tenko swears it!" Tenko said, her bushy white tail wagging as she grinned with a mouth filled with fangs, "you can meet my pack too! They are very nice, and very good at sports!"

Sports was a thing Kenji had introduced to get the sudden infusion of different species to better get along and had quickly become the favourite pa.s.s time for Tariak's citizens. Soccer had proven a crowd favourite, and it now seemed as if every family for miles around owned a pigskin ball with which to practice.

"That reminds me Tenko, have you already said your goodbyes to Grey and Gold beans? They aren't going to be around for a while you know, heading all the way to the Royal Magic college. They - er- they have a new brother too, that might interest you."

"A NEW BROTHER! We talked all last night while Kenji was playing drunk idiot juice, but..." Tenko giggled as she peered between Violet and Kenji with a knowing grin, "Tenko can talk more. Do not be late Kenji, I want to go to my family really quickly!"

Bounding her way inside, Tenko scurried up the stairs pa.s.sed a series of smiling adventurers. Her excitable nature and extreme confidence had quickly set her up as the Hero Guild's mascot while becoming a bit of a celebrity amongst Tariak's very small human hybrid population.

"Do you have to be the one to go?" Violet grumbled. "It's not fair that you've introduced all these amazing things, from crop-rotation to that weird 'Bank' thing and just leave! What am I supposed to do if people ask questions, how am I supposed to fix stuff when it breaks and I don't understand how it works?"

"Remember I wrote a short book on each subject, you'll find absolutely everything you need there. I've also completely trained a series of helpers for you while working far ahead of schedule to leave you without any backlog of work whatsoever. Your a smart girl, Violet, and with the elves and Satyrs supporting you, there won't be an issue you can't overcome."

"It's not fair you don't have to sleep," Violet grumbled, "you can just solve everything like that. So why not stay and keep leading us, huh? Why not send all these adventurers, these 'heroes' you've gathered and send them to help Tenko free her people?"

"For one, Tenko won't allow just anyone to ride her back in wolf form, and no one else has the speed to catch up. Secondly, no one has the flexibility of my mimic powers. And lastly, as long as I have bodies stored in my internal s.p.a.ce to turn into, I can die several times. That's several deaths that I can spare others, several chances for all the people I care so deeply about to grow strong enough they can be entrusted with quests like these in the future. Until then, I want to do my best to give them the best chance at success, even if I can't do everything myself forever."

"You won't need too. You have me, you have us all. You just need too get over your ego and start relying on us a bit more," Violet said, and turned her lilac eyes to admire the golden rays of dawn.

For a while, Kenji did the same, the swarms of construction workers getting started for the day, as Tariak's transformation from ash to glorious city of Heroes continued.

And inside Kenji felt afraid, that after everthing he had done, and everthing he could do.

After all that.

It would still fall apart.