The Harukian Chronicler 22 Life Continues Chapter 22

Another year has pa.s.sed by, and things have been pretty train hectic as of late; since we three boys will be able to gain our first cla.s.s at the end of the month. We'll be five years of age at that time, which will also mean I can finally put my ideas into action instead of writing them all down in my notebook. Though I have a fatal weakness when it comes to my… unique… battle style; keeping the distance with Hopper Jump and throwing things at my sparring partner. The weakness… is the fact that I am kind of a sitting duck when I am up in the air. Jumping is dangerous until I can find a remedy to this dilemma; which is what I have had Mala and Hann thinking about for a while now.

At least until I stopped my training for the day;

["Holder, we may have come up with an answer. Since you have learned all of the Elder Futhark runes, you can utilize those to create something. Though you will need another mana spirit to make the more powerful items… maybe two if you have the time."] She gives a matter of fact tone, nodding to herself as Hann brings up his information;

("The ones she has in mind are rather… difficult to please really; so don't expect to get out of the negotiations for a long while, then there's the fact of finding the Mana required to summon them into the forge. The second is mitigated with the map feature of Life's Guide, but your curse makes the first half harder.") Hann sighs to himself, shaking his head as I set the map feature to stay in my eyes as a transparent, waiting to hear what Mana I have to be looking for; ("The first one you will want to find is… Chrono; time manipulation mana. It's relatively rare as one of the Divine mana elements. This will help you do many things if you can think about it; and knowing you, that's not difficult.") Did I sense a hint of pride in his voice? ("The second… is a bit trickier. This will be one of the two dimensional elements; Aether. When used in combination with Chrono, many amazing avanues of equipment can be opened. The problem being… finding the Mana close by.") I can feel him bursting a vein…

["That is where I come in with my guide, if we're lucky, then the ever moving mana of both elements will be within the town before you are able to go out and enjoy the world."] She says enthusiastically…

Maybe a little too enthusiastically…

…

…

That is why I am currently sitting next to the adventurer's guild, on a bench staring into the park; currently working on my gift I chose when I was born into this world. Taking a knife and some wood to begin working on my carving skill, with minimal attention to the little message in the corner of my vision;

Carving Skill: Level One

Progress: 00 / 05

-Create 5 Normal Works [00 / 05]

Which means I need to create ten normal works in order to evolve the skill, like I have with the other ones I currently know; though none got lucky like unarmed. Currently with small blades, I am am able to know proper critical points equal to the skill level; with throwing my skill allows me to throw an amount of throwables equal to my intelligence divided by a number, so three currently with my accuracy. I also have archery at level one, the evolved trait pretty much increases the damage I do with missile weaponry; lucky for me it has that stipulation.

But with the carving skill, I am required to crate some normal quality items with it; which is actually showing to be rather difficult even with everything I have stacking in my favor. It's a decent time sink though, as I let my horns and breathing take in the ambient mana around me, collecting the minuscule amount of Aether and Chrono mana that is in the area.

Let us say that there is at most a total of ten units of either of those mana types in a particular area on a day; I am able to absorb at most five of it into my forge at this time. The number of units required to summon a spirit is a decent twenty… for a low end spirit. Gaotha and Talamh are spirits that were summoned with the maximum amount of fifty… they're rather high end spirits. So I have to spend my time finding the mana, absorbing the mana, and finding it again; I am lucky right now that there's a place with both that I can absorb. However, that is not always the case… these two bits of mana are very fickle and annoying to find; this is the second day since I began searching, did not find any of the first.

Luckily mana fluctuates at a decent rate; every eight hours the mana of the world will move and change, so I have three tries per day to find what I am looking for, and absorb. Hence why the carving skill currently; which I am told is a deceptive name for the skill, as it is just the first form of the Sculpting skill; which is a mixture of multiple different basic skills.

Sighing to myself, as I try to clumsily work on the small wood in my hand with the small carving knife I got for my birthday a while back, finally getting to use it. Considering everything I have carved so far have has been of poor quality, this is going to take some time… but my ideas require me to be able to use my craftmaster gift; and create things to sell. So for the time being, it's going to be me sitting around random places and carving bits of wood so I can learn the skill… luckily I don't get bored easily…

…

…

Walking back into the long house after the tenth day of continuing this lovely little "training" and "absorbing" I am doing, I sit at the table and take stock of everything that has transpired so far. I am lucky that nothing happened during these days to slow me down, people probably just seeing a little half demon sitting around and carving as nothing more than someone who is trying to make some pocket coin. Anyway, I crack my neck and pull out my notebook and a quill pen to take some notes on everything…

Carving Skill: Level One

Progress: 10 / 05

-Create 5 Normal Works [10 / 05] {Alert}

I have completed the skill's parameters for learning level one to the point I can evolve the skill; took me all ten days to do this, and they're pretty… normal really. I also created some other qualities, having taken notes whenever I had created something that was above the grade of Normal; grand total of all grades are…

-Twenty-One Poor Quality Carvings: These have been used to feed the burning fire for cooking during the evening, there really is no other use for these anyway. I am no merchant yet, but even I can tell that I couldn't sell these if I tried.

-Ten Normal Quality Carvings: I was able to gain this level of quality if I had a basic understanding of the subject I was trying to carve at the time. That or I was thinking of something ambiguous and took the time to add minor details to make them look nice; so I just made pretty much ten different totem idols of things I saw in books from my previous life. They're no good for anything to enchant, but they are pretty when you look at them and would make good conversation pieces.

-Four Decent Quality Carvings: Now these were a surprise to me that I was able to gain this level of quality, seeing as I am quite inexperienced at carving things… even in my previous life. Guess we can give thanks to my gift for this, but I found that if I add intricate details and take my time carving them, then I get this. Each of these are modeled after some of the guards I saw wandering around town, though they don't have facial features so they are simple soldier trinkets… gives me an idea to carve some more and make a special gift for Father.

-Three Extravagant Quality Carvings: Honestly, I don't have any idea how I was able to create these works… though I do have a few theories for them. First of all, I utilized a higher quality wood for these; instead of pine or oak, I had gotten my hands on some Cedar wood and carved these three works from them. Took some extra time to add better details and some finer bits to each one as well. Well, as much as you can with a regular carving knife; if I had some finer tools I could probably make something better. For these I just decided to go for something a little simple as well; using the image of a wolf, rabbit, and a bird for the modeling.

Now then, with the seventeen different carved works in my pocket, I can start selling them for some money, though I would like to finish the idea for Father; he would like it. However, that would have to wait for later, as I have a randomized skill wheel to get done, then I have to finish finding the two mana that I am searching for…

…

…

Of course those were my thoughts; but two days later here I am in my forge once more as the Chrono mana that I had built up reached the number required to summon a greater spirit. Sitting in the chair with an annoyed expression, fiddling with a marble on the desk as I wait for the spirit to form; thinking about what has happened the past two days. I can see why my variant type is a Wrath Demon now, as anger wells in my heart rather easily over stupid things. With a sigh, I flick the marble away from the table, growling softly to myself and my own stupidity; though I hide the emotions deep inside as it forms before me…

Sitting on my desk now… is a rather dapperly dressed white rabbit, holding a pocket watch before clicking and putting it in its breast pocket. Its nose twitches before looking around the forge, not really seeing anything wrong with the way it is set up… then it turns towards me… before giving a dubious expression;

"So I have been summoned from the void by a child… that's odd, it's not really the norm; but I have been summoned by worse." The rabbit whispers to itself before looking me right in the face; "h.e.l.lo there child, you seem to have some talent for summoning us spirits; I can sense the presence of an Aero and Terra, but you now sit before a Chrono. I don't know how you were able to collect the mana necessary to summon me, but I am in a good mood today. State your conditions, and we can work on getting you started on some powerful magic." The rabbit was rather full of itself; though you couldn't blame the thing, as it is considered one of the four Divine mana. It twitches its nose some more before… a smile? The thing is smiling for some odd reason as it looks around the room; "Ah, I can sense Hannash's influence in here, so you hold the father of all mana as a Patron inside this small forge. Then I shall act favorably upon you."

"Have you ever met a girl named Alice?" I ask before even thinking; this is the fabled white rabbit… right? Almost dumbstruck by the very… off nature that this spirit has taken…

"Oh, no one told you? That is odd, but allow me to explain; I have some time after all." Funny, I might have to give him a name befitting this humor… "We spirits become a form that comes from your memories; your notions of our form is what creates us. You ask me if I ever met Alice, but I wonder what you mean by that." Well, that's some interesting information if I ever heard it;

"Well, I was reborn into this world with all my old memories intact." I state while crossing my legs, leaning back in the chair with a smile; "In my previous world, a man wrote a book called 'Alice in Wonderland', and in this book, she follows a white rabbit who is constantly saying that he is late for something. It's a really good book… though the reason it was written has much to be desired…" My eyes kind of drift to look in the corner for a bit;

"Interesting, so this is why I am currently in this form within your forge. That is fascinating, perhaps other spirits will take forms that come from certain books from your world." It nods silently before perking up and looking at me, "Would you be willing to tell me more about this world, I am willing to sign a contract of equal terms if you wish."

"I can tell you all you want to know; though I would prefer a different contract, the same I have signed with each of my spirits." I hold out my hand to the little rabbit, glad he didn't need to rush off to a tea party somewhere. "All the spirits that will inhabit my forge will have the same contract, that being one of Familial. I understand the terms of the contract, and have thus prepared myself to come to the aid of Chrono's grand spirit if that time is ever needed." When I state my terms, the rabbit gives a look of surprise, then a soft smile spreads on its face;

"Interesting indeed, a child like you makes such brash decisions, though I would expect no less from the Holder of Hannash himself; very well, I agree to your terms. What is my name, my sire?" The rabbit gives a bow, though now I have to think of a name now…

"Uine, it seems to most fitting from my past knowledge. It's rather simple, but I believe you'll live up to the namesake itself." As I give it a name, we shake hands, and it bounds off to do whatever it is it wants to do in my forge; as I leave and go back to getting the final b.a.s.t.a.r.d… then I can work on my item later when I get the skills necessary to create them. A sigh escapes me, as I think now would be a good time for a good drink; d.a.m.n me for having to be a child.

…

…

Wandering around town a day later, enjoying the sights of the people mulling around and buying their daily rations; watching people walk in and out of the adventurer's guild for jobs and booze. This is truly a blissful life, everyone here is quite enjoying living peacefully within the walls. Freyjan is a rather simple town though; buildings mostly made with stone and wood, either thatch or turf roofs. I have seen how well these people can survive as well; winter is like nothing for the hardy people of the country Handrak; it's quite amazing.

Though from my wanderings as of late, I have noticed a few of the darker elements of the town as well. The tavern and the bar in the guild both have drunks coming out and causing fights at the wee hours of the morn. Then there's the lesser darkness of the town itself… sighing as I can see them coming towards me… three young boys about a couple years older than me.

"Well well, did not learn your lesson before, half-demon?" The older of the boys snidely comments towards me, causing me to tilt my head slightly at the memory of them apparently having thrown rocks at me while I was carving… seriously, downsides to that Death's Patience ability are numerous. "The rocks not enough to get through your thick head that you're a nuisance around here?" Again I tilt my head…

"Yeah, I don't think he's that smart Kevin." One of the goons laughs, causing me to roll my eyes; seriously, I had thought people would tell their kids about my brothers and I… unless…

"Quick question; did you three just move to Freyjan?" I had to ask, though the answer was probably obvious;

"What of it? Our parents are a wandering party, so we go along with them." Again, the leader gives me a snide look, "Our previous hub town would have kicked out the likes of you, half breed." Yup, just as I thought, and of course no one has told them anything… as a rather mischievous fanged grin spreads over my face; this could get fun.

"Wandering party? So they're at the guild right now right?" I feign interest in their lives; "What are your parents like? Are they well known adventurers?" Best to ask questions, maybe they're stupid enough to answer them…

"Our father is, as he is a summoned hero from a far off land!" The leader says enthusiastically, lord I just want to punch all three down into the ground, but best not cause problems for my family; "Our mothers follow him cause he is like super strong. I saw him defeat a pack of wolves without breaking a sweat!" Okay, now he is rambling, and the other two look excited as well.. well, I guess every young boys hero is their Father…

"Yeah, and father can even use some rare magics! He is able to bathe his blade in… holy flames I think he calls them." The third child speaks up now, telling me that the guy has at least Pyro and Holy spirits contracted to him…

"If you met our father, he would end you, demons and their like are an abomination of the church he was summoned by." Leader boy, better not being saying things like that in full hearing range of guards;

"Oh? That does sound scary. Actually, I was heading to the guild myself, my mother is there right now doing some work." I give them my kindest smile, "Why don't we go there now and see just what this hero does, huh?" Not giving them time to answer, I head straight for the guild; noticing that a couple of guards are now following as well. People in the market are shaking their heads and laughing, they definitely heard everything these children have said…

…

It has been a while since I've been in the guild, mother having taken us children here in our swaddles a couple years back to introduce us to all of her friends in here… and I mean ALL of them. She is a well known adventurer in Handrak, especially since she can heft around that giant f.u.c.k off hammer. Course when we came here to be introduced as her babies… all the guild attendants were cooing at us and giving us much love. Not much work got done that day…

Anyway, as I walk into the building, a giant of a man walks right up to me and crouches down before giving me a smile;

"Hey there little Zeri, here to check in on your mother?" This man here is named Jerik; he's an Arbalist hunter who takes on mainly quests that deal with bringing back meat and furs. I need to remember to ask him to teach me how to clean animals when I am able; "She should be behind the counter doing some paperwork, but I think they'll let you back there. The girls do enjoy seeing you boys here every now and then, makes an old man jealous." He laughs at his own foolery, but it's not the kind that I dislike, still having to look up at him even though he is crouched… guy has to be like seven feet tall, and those muscles cannot be ignored… he would have to be developed, with how big his f.u.c.king crossbow is.

"Hey Uncle Jerik; yeah, here to see mom and make sure she gets home." I smile back to the big man, "Also came to see the father of these boys; they say he would be able to end me if we met." I innocently say… knowing full well what happens next…

Jerik's friendly smile disappears rather quickly, and a few of the adventurers around us stop their drinking to look over at me… I can even see some of the guild attendants stiffen up at the words I just spoke. The boys behind me, they can feel the atmosphere become chilly, and their faces flash a quick look that I can translate as; they f.u.c.ked up. Jerik stands up and cracks his knuckles as he begins to look around the room;

"Excuse me everyone, we have three small boys here looking for their parents; would any of them be here in the guild right now?" As the man says this, a few people look towards the door, and a man stands up to come forward… and I can feel my eye twitch slightly as I look at this "summoned" hero…

"Yes, I am their father; is there a problem?" The brunet man says, what hair that can be seen from the sides of his fedora… oh G.o.d he has a fedora… and he's wearing a trench coat, baggy pants with chains on them… I can feel the edge from here. This man is pretty much a twig of a man, and I curse the day I got the beast scent ability; someone cut off my nose please. Then the man's eyes turn to look at me, before he sneers with disgust; "G.o.d, why is there some filth here. Does this town let anyo--" He doesn't get to finish that sentence as Jerik launches a full fist into the man's face, sending him flying back into the wall a good twenty feet back… the hero seems a tad weak…

The boys instantly run towards their dad, as well as three different women, seems they are his wives. Good lord… so not only is this man an edgelord… but he also decided to make a harem. f.u.c.k I hate people that come to a different world, and first thing they want to do is make a harem. Way too many men want to do that from my previous world…

"Well now, good sir, you should learn to keep your mouth shut in this guild while you're in town." Jerik cracks his knuckles once more, grinning very friendly towards the small group; "This child is rather favored in this town, and is a rather good boy. He does good work around town, and I am sure if word got out that you called him filth--" Jerik can't finish his sentence as mother walks out from the back room just in time to hear that… probably coming out to check on the disturbance. As her ears pick up that someone had called one of her precious children 'filth', her usual smiling face instantly turns cold… no emotions showing as she walks over to Jerik…

"Excuse me Jerik, but could you kindly tell me who dares call my child… 'filth'?" Indra could feel her whole body become cold at the very thought of someone saying that about one of her children; especially the ever happy and curious Zeri. She knows that as a half-demon, and one that shows the blood as strongly, he would face some people that would look horribly at him because of this; she didn't want it to be as a child. There is a rather loud silence filling the room, as a few of the adventurers who were rowdy just a bit ago begin to motion towards the clumped up man against the wall. As Indra's eyes move to look at the man… even I can say that I can feel a chill run up my spine… her eyes are extremely cold, and looking at the man as if he is just some creature that is to be quelled.

As mother stares off at the man against the wall, his three wives are currently trying to pick him up off the ground, and giving him some form of green potion; probably a health potion. One of the women, turns to glare daggers at Jerik and my mother, looking like she is about to spit venom…

"What the h.e.l.l is your problem? Are all of you people out here a bunch of barbarians?" She stands up straight and glares around the room; "Why are you daring to raise your hand against the summoned hero of the Church of the One? This could be considered an act of war, and what can you people do to defend against our holy church?" I can feel myself slowly becoming sick at this… honestly, why is it that something like this decided to happen now…

"Why should I care about any of those, when you yourself called my son filth?" Mother says with a bit of icy fog coming from her mouth… I can feel the air actually growing colder, and some light icy fog flowing to the ground from my mother's frowning mouth…

"And who are you to think she is greater than the church, and our summoned hero?" Why are you instigating mother with your venom, though I don't feel any regret from this action. It's best to scare people like this into avoiding opening their mouths around others, not knowing who they are…

"Sorry, forgot to introduce myself…" Indra tilts her head, not an ounce of respect in her mannerisms; "My name is Indra Haruk, proud adventurer and daughter to the Jarl Bindi of Freyjan. That would also make me the niece of the High King. Your 'hero' there, has decided to bring his hatred and that of your church to our family, so why should I fear you?" Was it just my imagination, or did the venom woman just flinch slightly… and now she is shrinking back with a look of fear on her face…

Well, this is slightly new information for me… and the fact that the three women are now looking as if they are more afraid of the angry woman before them… is my family that influential? As I think of this, the woman who was spitting venom before, is now slowly getting on her hands and knees in a begging position… giving me an even greater surprise…

"Please forgive the impudence of this one, we would not dare bring harm to a member of your family. Show some mercy on my husband, he is from a world where they know not of your lineage, and has yet to be taught." I can see the woman shaking as her voice comes forth with what almost sounds as sobs… the other two women join in by getting on their hands and knees, heads down in respect. All three have began to ignore their husband who is coming to and looking around with a confused face; seeing his wives now bowed to mother and each near tears. The man stands up and glares at my mother, and begins speaking before anyone can stop him;

"What have you done to my wives, why are they on the floor and bowing to someone who spreads the filth of the world? A tainted wench like you, are only good for the pens at the church." His voice is filled with anger, and a bit of haughty demeanor… and as he speaks his wives begin to move away from him, "The church shall be told of this town, and we will launch a campaign to end the filth that prevad--" Once again he is unable to finish his sentence, as the wife who spits venom smacks him across the face, causing him to look at her as she glares back with unbridled fury;

"Will you shut your mouth already, before causing more problems for the church than you already have." Her face shows more rage and fury than it did before, which is quite impressive if I do say; "Did you not read through the holy texts at the church? They should have taught you that one that comes from the family of death, are not to be looked down upon. Even the church holds them in high regard for their work against the undead, and keeping our graveyards safe." As she admonishes the man, he looks like he is having a crisis of faith, glaring back at his wife;

"So you are telling me, that they willingly turn their gaze away from one who willingly lays with a demon, and gives birth to a wretche--" Another slap across the face, this time by a second wife, this one looking to be more composed with herself;

"There is a difference between the demons that the church wishes to hunt, and one of the Demo-Kin. This has been explained to you countless times; stop acting like a spoiled child." Her voice is cool and collected as she stares into her husbands eyes; "If it weren't for you being one from another world, none of us would have anything to do with a racist b.a.s.t.a.r.d like you. Do keep in mind of that, else you will find yourself alone." With those words, she comes up and gives a polite bow to mother; "Please forgive him, he shall be taught better about Agenai, and how things work. Is there anything we can give as compensation for such a transgression?"

"It's not me you should apologize to, but my son. He will decide things from there." Indra continues to stare coldly at the small party of people, the calm women giving a shudder before she turns to me and gives the same apology and the same offer… and now I have to think about it…

"Well, I accept your apology, but you should know that it was not just your husband. The other day your sons were throwing rocks at me as I was minding my own business." I can see fear cross the boys' faces, two of the mothers turning towards them with anger in their eyes; the one speaking to me gives me another bow of apology; "As for compensation… I don't really know the customs for such a thing… are there customs for this…" I scratch my head slightly, smiling innocently as the woman begins to think…

"Well, we do have an odd book that we cannot decipher. Our idiot husband has been trying to decode it, but since he is as such an idiot, he is unable to. We got it from a dungeon, would that work?" My eyes open wide a bit at this idea; giving her a polite smile and a nod, to which she goes over to their bags; giving the husband a glare as he is about to object. After rooting around the bags for a bit, she brings me a thick leather bound tome; the ridges does make this seem to be a rather interesting book… I activate my keepers eye and examine it…

[Tome of Hunter's Eye]

Quality - Rare

Ability tome that teaches one how to see the world as a Hunter; makes it easier to track prey, forage the wilderness, and makes it easier to carve creatures. To absorb the ability, simple show the will to have it as your own.

Oh, so this world actually has these types of books; that is rather interesting. If you can get these as treasures in dungeons… then perhaps I should visit a few to gain more of these. A grin spreading on my face as I put the book in the crook of my arm;

"This will actually be quite nice, thank you. I would have forgiven you with the two slaps… maybe another… but I just can't refuse this type of gift." I give a polite bow to the woman, who gives me a soft pet before getting the rest of her group together to leave. Seeing as how the dad had f.u.c.ked up pretty bad, I had to guess they would be leaving the town and hurry to the next. I felt slightly bad for the women, having to deal with that… but honestly, that is what you get for summoning one of those freaks from that world…

It was then, as sudden as my own birth came to my mind, I was enveloped in a tight and warm hug by my mother; who was above my head and appeared to be weeping slightly. Knowing her, I could tell what it was that she was weeping about, my poor mother making sure to keep me close…

"I am so sorry, I didn't want that…" Mother began to apologize to me with her full heart of display, it's actually making me quite sad at how much this had affected her over me. Guess a mother's love is something that can never be understood with my own mindset… with my own experiences from my past… why did I have to be blessed with this mother. Dropping the book on the ground, I give her a hug back, but hold back my tears as I cry internally; letting her do whatever she needs to do to feel better. With everyone around us, this was slightly embarra.s.sing, but they were like family as well so it was fine.

…

That night, I was in the training yard going at it with a training log with my own body; trying to work out the boiling rage that was welled up in my heart and keeping me from concentrating. f.u.c.k, I wish I could have beaten that man a bit more myself, causing my mother that much distress… making her apologize to me for an hour for someone that was not her fault. I knew when I selected the race of mine, that I would face that; did not think of those around me.

This is also a curse of mine, the d.a.m.n eidetic memory, for I shall always remember their names and faces for as long as I live; and if I ever meet them while out of the town, I may do something. This was why I am trying to get my boiling rage out before I do anything else… beating this log for a couple of hours now. It was to the point I was becoming numb to everything once more, not due to the influence of that ability, but I can feel myself using past experience to close off my heart. I did not want that, those days and nights of coldness that came from my own body…

As I was about to punch the log once more, I could feel myself quickly brought into a warm embrace from behind; this seems to be happening more often than anything. From the feeling of the clothes and the arms, it was my father who was doing it this time, instantly picking me up and carrying me away from the training yard to a place to examine me. Looking up at his face from the crook of his arm, I can see that he did not look happy in the slightest, thought I can tell it had nothing to do with me and my nightly beat fest.

"I know you take after me in many forms; but could you at least know what the best ways to silence the wrath in your heart are? Honestly, having to care for you and your mother is a day and night job for me." The old demon begins to wrap my cut and blistered fingers, glad to see it's not anything too serious. Though a sigh comes from him as he checks on the other portions… apparently his son is a full brawler; with the elbows, shins, knees… what wasn't sc.r.a.ped and bleeding. "Already heard everything from your mother, and I must apol--" He didn't finish…

"Could people stop apologizing for something beyond anyone's control, please? I'm a half-demon, there are people in this world who dislike demons of all kinds; I wouldn't be surprised if Yehai or Nihlis get some flak for their blood some day." I quickly interrupted my father from apologizing, as he spreads some herbal medicine on my wounds; of course I flinch, but I can still only feel the cold of my emotions; "It annoys me to no end when people apologize for things like that; Mother fell in love with a demon, you both decided to have children, it is bound to happen. I don't hate either of you. I could never hate either of you…" I could actually feel myself slowly break down the walls in my spiritual heart… my eyes growing hot with emotions I have not felt in so long; "You both… are far too great for me. This family is too much, everyone… why does everyone have to be so good…"

Before I could continue, my father hugs me tightly, and holding me like I'm a precious treasure; which to Zekiel would not be far from the truth. To this father, who with his wife had tried for years to have children, who was told young he might not be able to sire children; they were his worldly treasures. If nothing else in this world, he and his wife wanted to keep these children safe from harm and the world itself; but this small child dashed those hopes. With his curiosity, his mindset, and the way he looked at the world without fear but as if he had come home… what parent would stop him from following his heart.

"Chase away those thoughts, my young son. Family is what family is; everyone will always be warm to you, and will always look at you with admiring eyes. Even if one day you become a dark lord, I will still see you as my son." Zekiel did hope that day never come though, "Your mother is very kind, and can never be happier than you being alive and living your life however you see fit." The old demon squeezes his son tightly, nearly breaking the small thing down to the core; "Now come, dinner is ready, and everyone is waiting for you." With that… we went inside to eat; with the warm and loving environment that I shall forever know as my home… and honestly, it's so much better than anything else.

…

…

A couple of days pa.s.sed by like that, and here I am once more inside my forge… though my heart is still in turmoil as I try my best to condense the mana of Aether to the form it will take. Honestly, with what Uine told me, I can't tell what form this one would take at all… in all my memories, what would Aether decide to form as. High spirits are strange like that I guess, letting out a sigh as the form becomes solid and the spirit lowers onto the table… why is it the table they decide on…

What came though, was but a tiny pixie naught but the size of the center of my palm; its slight purple glow faint as its tiny head begins to turn this way and that. Looking up, I could see a look of awe and amazement as it stairs at the star ocean outside of my forge; then turning to me before tilting its head. Gaotha also expressed such sentiments to me at one point; asking me what kind of creature I was to be so vast… but I just smiled and shrugged since I had no idea what the big deal was.

"Wow… master should have been a long lived monster of some form to have an ocean such as this… but to find out he is but a child; it really makes this one question common sense." With a bell like voice, the pixie gives its general opinion before nodding its head, flitting up to sit on the hourgla.s.s that has sat on my desk for as long as I can remember; "This is the first time I have been woken up in so many centuries; and with your potential… perhaps you can become something great." It smiled at me with pure happiness, crossing its legs before leaning forward to stare at me.

From where the thing sat, I was able to get a better look at the pixie; its dress was simple with a purple hue, but green edging around it. Almost looked like leaves of some form of plant… where did I see this exact image before I wonder, but I shake my head and just continue the conversation;

"I honestly have no idea why it's like that, but if multiple spirits say it is so impressive, then it must be so. I require your power to protect what is important to me, so I ask you accept a contract if it is possible. If not, then I cannot force you to do anything." Slowly I think of the words to speak, this pixie is a spirit of a different caliber than the previous ones; have to keep my words to a certain degree…

"Why are you being so formal? I don't bite those I take an interest in; what contract type have you done with the others, we'll discuss after that."

"Familial. Of the three, each has a familial contract with me." With my answer, this one's eyes grew wide before a soft smile and a giggle with a bell like tone filled the room;

"Then I shall accept those terms; give me a name, and maybe I can shed some light as to why your star ocean is so large… and as to why it seems like Spirits come to you so easily." It smiles ever so sweetly, and part of my soul shook a bit; this one wasn't a higher spirit for nothing, probably having seen something…

"Was thinking about that; I believe I will give you the name Cuan, I think it fits something with your appearance." Looking at the pixie, I could only smile, as this name meant something alone the lines of Ocean of Stars… what else was the element of Aether, than an Ocean anyway. "So what knowledge do you hold?"

"Not much really, master, but I can sense an odd ability in your very soul essence. If I had to hazard a guess, it would have to be 'Spirits Brother', at some point in your past you must have done something really great to have it etched there, probably saved some grand Spirit or someone bigger." Cuan answers diligently; "And when it comes to the Star Ocean itself, it only ever grows so big due to experiences that one has had… and well… you can see planets in that ocean. Your very soul carries with it the experience of many lives, but I can see this will only grow larger." With a sigh, the pixie flits up and sits on the edge of the opening, staring off into the distance before silently whispering; "Thank you for saving us…" before flying off to explore…

Leaving me sitting here, looking off into the ocean to see Gaotha flying around; with Talamh reworking the stone to make it more… comfortable. Uine relaxes in a corner of the forge, enjoying the time it has to itself.

I am slowly filling this place up… have to ask Mala and them if I can expand the room more…

End of Chapter 22