《One Body Two Minds》 Chapter 1 - Second Chance Chapter 1 ¨C Second Chance ¡°Blake here are the papers your father asked for.¡± He grabbed the papers as he walked past and sighed. ¡°Thank you. You are dismissed.¡± He said as he turned and walked into his father¡¯s office. There was a desk right in the middle with papers piled on top papers. He could barely see the name tag. Mr. Young ¨C CEO which was almost buried underneath all of them. His father is the CEO and founder of YP, Young Publications. Everyone expects him to take over but he would much rather write or read a book, than be in charge of publishing one. To be able to escape to a world of imagination sounds way more thrilling to him than just being in charge of getting it published. At the same time there is pressure to not let his father down ¡°You called father?¡± A head pops out from behind the huge stack of papers. He could see a huge smile on his face. . ¡°Indeed I did Blake. I was wondering if you could pick up your mother¡¯s birthday present and cake.¡± ¡°Yeah no problem but couldn¡¯t you just have someone pick else them up?¡± He asked. ¡°I guess I could but I¡¯d rather not; things like this are a little more important and delicate.¡± Blake nodded and started to head out. ¡°And don¡¯t do anything reckless please.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t do anything dangerous. Don¡¯t worry.¡± He replied. ¡°I wish he would trust me a little bit more though. I¡¯m almost 17; how reckless could I be?¡± he thought to himself. He drove his car to the store where his mother¡¯s cake had been ordered from. He walked in and quickly came out with the cake. Next he went for the present. He wanted to know what the present was but decided he could wait to see. ¡°Probably some perfume for mom.¡± He figured. He got home and took the things inside without his mom noticing and then he attempted to sneak out. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going young man?¡± He turned around from the doorway and saw his mother looking at him. ¡°I¡¯m just going to take a walk, you know I like to take one from time to time.¡± He replied ¡°Well okay, just be back soon. Your father wants to talk to you about something.¡± His mother leaned in and gave him a hug and he was off.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°I just need a nice walk. Some fresh air would is nice.¡± He thought. He suddenly got hungry in the middle of his walk so he made his way to the store. On the way there he saw a child sitting on a bench all alone all alone. He couldn¡¯t leave him there so he walked over to the small boy. ¡°Are you lost? Where are your parents?¡± The boy turned to him but then turned away without speaking. He was a little confused but he kept asking the boy questions. ¡°Do you need help? Why don¡¯t you answer?¡± The boy turned to him once again. ¡°My mom said that I shouldn¡¯t speak to strangers, especially wired looking people like you.¡± The boy replied. Blake tried not to think too much of that added comment. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I just want to help you look for your parents. Do you know where she went?¡± He asked the boy. The boy just pointed across the street to some store. ¡°Bathroom.¡± The boy said. Blake could understand that his mom went to the bathroom but he couldn¡¯t understand why his mother couldn¡¯t take him with her. ¡°Mom.¡± Just then a woman came out from the store. ¡°Wait here and she will come get you. Don¡¯t try to cross the street by yourself.¡± He turned around and started to walk off but he heard a heard a screech that made him turn around immediately. The woman was screaming and he soon understood why. The child ignored what was said and was in the middle of the street with a truck incoming. He didn¡¯t have time to think of what he was doing. He shouted to the truck driver but he could see that he looked drowsy. He ran to the kid and pulled him back away from the truck. He then tried to turn back but it was too late and was hit by the truck. He blacked out as he bled out. He woke up and looked around but there was nothing, just empty darkness. ¡°Is this the afterlife? It must be, I remember jumping in front of the truck to save that kid.¡± He thought. ¡°So close but ultimately wrong.¡± He heard. The voice filled him with warmth but he felt incredible pressure all around him. ¡°You are in the world of purgatory or in other words, limbo.¡± He looked around but saw no one, still just empty darkness. ¡°Who are you, show yourself.¡± He yelled. ¡°I cannot show myself because I am not hiding. I am everywhere in this world if you just look for me; for I am God.¡± ¡°Well I guess there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡± He thought to himself. ¡°So what do I do now?¡± I asked. ¡°Your life was cut rather short so I would like to give you a second chance at life. I must warn you that this second life would be different from your last one. You will be sent into another world. A world of magic, elves, and dragons.¡± ¡°The typical Isekai story huh.¡± I sighed, ¡°Better than nothing I guess.¡± ¡°Well there¡¯s not much to discuss so let¡¯s just get it over with.¡± God exclaimed. ¡°Wait, can I just say good bye to my parents.¡± ¡°I guess if it¡¯s through a dream then you could.¡± God then sent him to his parents who were asleep. He allowed him to enter their dreams, and tell them he has to go but that he was fine. Blake hoped it would allow his parents to move on. Then God sent him through this weird portal looking thing. He blacked out but then woke up. He looked around. Everything looked almost like medieval times. He was fascinated but at the same time he had no idea what to do with his second life. He doesn¡¯t even know how old he is right now. Just then he saw a woman come into the room, he could only imagine that she¡¯s his mother in this world. ¡°Considering that I¡¯m like this it looks like it really is a different world huh. How should I live my life I wonder? I guess I can take my time and learn of this world as I grow.¡± He thought. ¡°You need to become an Adventurer, study magic, swordsmanship, grow stronger; a great crisis is coming.¡± Chapter 2 - Blacksmith Chapter 2 - Blacksmith ¡°Who said that? Was it my imagination? It probably was so I¡¯ll just ignore it for now. I guess for now I should just find out more about my new family. One problem, I seem to be getting tired. I can¡¯t hold out much longer¡­.¡± He thought to himself. He lied down as he slowly passed out. He woke up early the next day. The day had yet to rise but he was ready to get up. He noticed that he had awoken in bed next to the woman he had seen and some guy who he then assumed was his father. He tried to get out of the bed but was stopped dead in his tracks as he felt an arm wrap around him. ¡°Where are you going you little rascal?¡± Blake turned his head and saw the sleeping man next to him had woken up. The man pulled Blake closer to a hug. ¡°It¡¯s still early in the day for you to get up. I¡¯m about to get up to work; if you insist on not sleeping I can show you something cool.¡± The man had piqued his interest so he just nodded yes. ¡°Ok son, let¡¯s go. Just remember, don¡¯t tell your mother about this.¡± His new father grabbed him in his arms and started to walk through the rooms until he reached this beaten down door. His father opened the door and walked in. Swords, axes, shields, and other tools hung from the walls. ¡°Listen Blake, your mother didn¡¯t want me to show this to you until you were at least seven years old but I just can¡¯t hold myself back so I guess six years will have to do. I am a blacksmith, pretty darn good one if I say so myself.¡± He slowly let Blake to the ground and started to work. He lit the fire in the fireplace and grabbed a piece of steel with tongs and put it over the fire. After he took the steel out of the fire he started to swing at it with a big hammer. He kept going on for over an hour, but no matter how much the piece of steel was hit, it wouldn¡¯t change its shape at all. Blake was so confused when the steel wouldn¡¯t change but that¡¯s when he noticed it. There was what appeared as a blue pop up near the steel. There appeared to be writings on it so he started walking closer until he could read what it said.
Completion 90%
¡°What is this?¡± he thought. With every couple hits the number kept going up. Blake¡¯s father kept hammering until it reached 100%. As soon as it hit that 100% his father stopped hammering. ¡°E novo mutare ipsum.¡± As soon as his father said that the steel started to change form. Before his very eyes the piece of metal had changed into a fine sword. His father held it up and kept looking over it until a smile appeared on his face. ¡°Look at that son. It took a while but I just finished making the sword. It¡¯s a fine quality sword which I can now sell for money.¡± He put the sword down and tried to pick Blake up, but he refused. ¡°I want to learn how you did that dad.¡± His father¡¯s face lit up with joy. ¡°That¡¯s my son. I¡¯m so glad that you want to learn more. I wonder if it¡¯s too early though. Okay how about this. I tell you what I did and then you go back to sleep before your mother wakes up.¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. He then went on to explain that what he used to make that sword was a special skill. All blacksmiths start out welding just like normal, every hit changes the shape a little. However with every hit, with every tool that you make, you get experience. With more experience you can use more and better skills which you can use to make a weapon. His father expected Blake to forget everything he said so he didn¡¯t go into too much detail. After he was done explaining he started heading for the door with Blake by the hand. ¡°Remember Blake, don¡¯t tell your mother.¡± A figure appeared at the doorway. ¡°He doesn¡¯t have to. I already know.¡± Both Blake and his father just stared at the doorway without moving. His mother was standing there, tapping her leg, and with a scowl on her face. ¡°Come Blake, let¡¯s get you some food, but your father doesn¡¯t get any.¡± Blake ran to her and she grabbed him by the hand and started heading to another room. His father started to follow after them. ¡°Aw come on honey. I couldn¡¯t help myself. I just wanted to get him started. I love your cooking. Don¡¯t make me eat mine. I might just die of poisoning.¡± She didn¡¯t respond but she gave in and cooked for him. As Blake was eating the food his mother had cooked for him. A realization hit him. His name was still Blake. It hadn¡¯t changed even though he had been transported to another world. ¡°Did God have something to do with it?¡± he wondered. ¡°It was Aaron before.¡± Blake surprised looked all around him to see who could have said that but he saw nothing. ¡°What¡¯s wrong Blake? You look shaken up.¡± His mother asked. She had a worried expression on her face. ¡°Nothing.¡± Blake replied with a smile. It seemed to be enough to convince his mother. ¡°Well I¡¯m going to forge some other stuff. If you need me. You¡¯ll know where to find me.¡± Blake¡¯s dad said. He quickly left the room. Blake was about ready to go too but his mother stopped him. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going?¡± She asked him. Blake pointed to the doorway. ¡°Dad.¡± She walked over to Blake and picked him up. ¡°I know you want to go with your father but you can¡¯t. I need to do some shopping. Come with me and I might buy you a treat.¡± Blake gave up easily as he was also curious about everything else. ¡°I do want to learn more about blacksmithing though.¡± Blake thought to himself. ¡°You don¡¯t have time to play with blacksmithing.¡± Blake looked all around again but there was nothing. ¡°Did God send me a guardian angel? No I don¡¯t think so, but I can¡¯t explain where that voice is coming from other wise.¡± He thought. He worried but decided to deal with it when it comes. He was more excited to see how this world differed from his previous one. He followed his mother outside of the house. He immediately noticed that there were two suns instead of one, but the temperature wasn¡¯t any different. His mother went all around the town buying a variety of things: cloth, fruit, vegetables, meats, and jewelry. Blake never did get his treat but he was happy just observing the place. While observing his mother buy things he learned that the currency of the world consisted of just coins. ¡°This really is like an isekai story huh. Mother used bronze and silver coins and I assume that there must be gold ones too.¡± He thought to himself. While they were going all around the town Blake decided to take a good look at the surroundings. The town wasn¡¯t too small but it wasn¡¯t very big either. You could see plains on every side. Not much could be seen in the distance besides heard of animals and in one particular direction a big city could be seen. ¡°Mom what¡¯s that.¡± He asked as he pointed in the direction of the town. ¡°That¡¯s the capital of our kingdom. A lot of people live there. It¡¯s the biggest city you¡¯re going to see here. I¡¯ll tell you more when you¡¯re older. Anyway it looks like I¡¯m done shopping so let¡¯s head home.¡± As soon as he returned home he was drawn to the blacksmithing but he could do nothing in the presence of his mother. He conceded and decided it would just be best to wait until he turned seven. Strange things kept happening. He continued to hear a voice say random things but it didn¡¯t end there. As the days kept passing he started to have strange dreams, which turned into nightmares. Chapter 3 - I Am You Chapter 3 - I Am You It started with a black figure. It didn¡¯t have any facial features or any limbs. It was just a lifeless shape. It didn¡¯t move, it just stayed there in place. Then one night it started to move ever so closer. Each night it got closer and it started to change. Arms, hands and legs were slowly formed. Eventually the face split open horizontally to form a mouth. When the figure reached Blake it raised its hand to his eyes. It was only for a few seconds but Blake couldn¡¯t tell what was going on. The hand was removed and Blake could see again. The figure was gone, but he found himself able to move around unlike before. He looked around but didn¡¯t recognize the place where he found himself. Everything looked desolate and grey; everything around him was in shambles. Only the burned ruins of the buildings that once stood tall remained. ¡°This is what awaits if we do nothing.¡± Blake looked around but didn¡¯t see anyone. ¡°Show yourself!¡± He yelled. When no one appeared he decided to walk around to look for them, but he didn¡¯t find anyone or anything. The entire place was empty besides the rubble from the buildings. ¡°They were all killed.¡± ¡°What do you mean? Who was killed? Explain yourself.¡± Blake yelled. This time the figure appeared right in front of Blake and grabbed his arm. It started to pull on his shirt. Blake tried to resist but the figure was much stronger. He pulled him near a wall and he was thrusted into it. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes to prepare for the impact, but instead he found himself falling to the ground. He winced but opened his eyes. He was greeted by the sight of a flight of dragons in the sky. All around him were people running and screaming. The dragons were knocking down burning and knocking down buildings. They would come down and eat a person whole. As if the dragons weren¡¯t enough, the people on the ground were being chased by these almost human like creatures. They had horns coming out of their head with huge claws on their hands and feet. They would impale ¡°Demons! Monsters! Creatures of evil!¡± ¡°Are they the crisis that you spoke of? Tell me, you don¡¯t need to do this anymore I¡¯m ready to listen.¡± Blake yelled out. However the black figure didn¡¯t appear. They were chasing people all over the place, not leaving anyone alive. When you were caught then you were dead. Some people were hiding inside the houses but the demons started to enter the houses and kill anyone who had hidden. They kept killing and left no one alive. That¡¯s when one of them took notice of Blake, and started to charge at him. The blood thirsty look and razor sharp claws with blood covering them were enough to make Blake run without a second thought.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. He ran into a house but the demon was close behind. He ran back outside and managed to escape after hiding behind a corner. He started running again, searching for any god - tier hiding place, but he ran into a demon. He was knocked to the ground, but before he could try to get up, he was being grabbed by the neck. The demon lifted him off the ground. He was starting to suffocate so he tried to kick the demon only to be stopped easily with one hand. He couldn¡¯t breathe. He started to feel lightheaded and then his vision started to grow weaker. All of the sudden he was in a completely white room with only the black figure in front of him. ¡°Congratulations, you would have died just now. That¡¯s no good.¡± It smile and started walking closer. ¡°Tell me who you are.¡± Blake yelled. It kept walking closer until it was right next to Blake. It started to lean closer until its face was right beside his ear. ¡°I am a part of you. I am you.¡± Blake didn¡¯t understand what the figure was trying to say. He started to get flustered. ¡°What do you mean? How can you be me? Explain yourself!¡± The black figure started laughing and then started to change. ¡°Why don¡¯t you explain yourself? After all you¡¯re the one who stole this body too.¡± Blake remained silent. ¡°Well I guess I technically tried to steal this body so lighten up.¡± The figure had completely changed. In the place where the figure once was, stood an exact copy of Blake there instead. ¡°Well how do like me now huh. Better than plain black right?¡± he laughed. Blake stumbled back words and started to fall. With a big thud he was on the ground. He had fallen off the bed and had woken up. He got up and looked around and saw that it was already day. His parents were nowhere in sight. He got on the bed, laid down and started to think. Bluntly he was in shock. He hadn¡¯t considered it before but he really did just randomly show up in this body. ¡°What happened? Did God kill him? Did I steal his place in this world? What does that make me then?¡± he pondered. ¡°Don¡¯t feel bad. Even if you hadn¡¯t then I would have. Not that it matters much to me though.¡± An older man appeared next to Blake out of thin air. He looked like an older version of Blake. ¡°Ah much better.¡± He said ¡°Who are you? Why are you here?¡± Blake asked while sitting up. He stared furiously at the similar looking stranger. The man scratched his head. ¡°I guess I have to explain the situation first don¡¯t I. Well you can start by calling me Aaron and I suppose in a sense you could say I¡¯m the original owner of the body you find yourself in. I would have waited until you were older but you gave away the fact that you¡¯re from another world. I¡¯m guessing you got brought here by that ¡°God¡± of yours.¡± He started to explain. ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain why you were messing with my head while I slept.¡± Blake announced. Aaron just started to laugh. ¡°Well I needed time to regain my powers, why not pass that time messing with the one who stole my body.¡± He said. ¡°You keep going on about how I stole this body from you, but I don¡¯t quite understand. Explain!¡± Blake demanded. ¡°Yeah sure thing, then you might listen to me.¡± He took a deep breath and continued. ¡°This is not my first time living this life.¡± Chapter 4 - First Look Chapter 4 - First Plans ¡°Unlike you, I wasn¡¯t transported from another world. I lived my life in this world but then I was cornered by demons like the ones I showed you. Everything was peaceful until the demons, which had stayed to themselves, suddenly started to invade. All the different races were attacked: Humans, dwarves, elves, all of them. No one was safe. Many people tried to face this new threat but there weren¡¯t nearly enough of them. They were eventually overrun by the sheer number of forces opposing them. I had who had never trained for combat before, being a blacksmith, had to start from the beginning, but I kept going and I was able to join in the fight against the demons. Eventually I found comrades, and I kept training alongside comrades. We grew stronger but not strong enough. One by one they all fell in battle. Before I knew it, I found myself all alone. The age of humans had ended and era of demons had begun. In my final act of desperation I disguised myself and snuck onto their land; hoping to find any sort of weaknesses they might have or to find the source of their strength. In the end I didn¡¯t manage to complete my task. I did however find one very useful item. A scroll that would let the user to return to his childhood. I had planned to use it after I had learned more, but alas things never go as planned. I was quickly found out shortly after stealing the scroll. I ran and ran, but I couldn¡¯t get away. I decided to use the scroll before I was killed. That¡¯s how I found myself here but instead of having my body back, I found you were in control instead. I don¡¯t know if the future I come from is a parallel world or if I simply traveled back through time. Although my guess is that we were both reincarnated in this body, but only woke up recently. However what I do know is that we can¡¯t let the demons take over. We have to fight them and win.¡± Aaron explained. Blake was completely fascinated by this, it was almost like he was a summoned hero in one of those isekai manga he liked to read, or in one of those games he heard so much about. While he was quite worried, he felt that he had found a worthy goal to work to in this new life. While he didn¡¯t understand why God had transported him to this world, he was glad. But he had some questions to ask. ¡°Are we going to be stuck together forever?¡± Blake asked. Aaron looked amused. ¡°Well, I know of one thing that might work. There¡¯s this spell that lets you switch bodies so I imagine that it might work. The problem is that it puts a great strain on the body of the user. No worry though, it shouldn¡¯t take too long.¡± He explained. ¡°Well what do you want me to do first? You¡¯re the boss I guess. I have no real knowledge of this world after all.¡± Aaron put his hand on Blake¡¯s shoulder which quite surprised him. He didn¡¯t think that Aaron could physically touch anyone or anything since he seemed so ghost like. ¡°We will aim to get you into the royal academy. It¡¯s the most renowned school in the country. Usually you have to be at least fifteen to become an adventure but students of the academy are allowed to become adventures early. It will be a good experience for you. You can make friends/comrades there and gain experience in combat. There¡¯s only so much you can do by yourself after all.¡± Aaron said. He started to float but he was too lost in thought to notice.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°What about blacksmithing and when would we start the training?¡± Blake asked. ¡°That¡¯s precisely what I was just thinking about. I think it would be best if you did learn from Father. It will probably save money in the future and you won¡¯t have to worry if a sword breaks because you can make a new one or fix it. As for the training, I¡¯m not sure. You might not have the mentality of a six year old but that body definitely belongs to a six year old. I wonder if the strain would be too high.¡± Just then they both heard a knock on the room door. ¡°Blake, if you¡¯re awake then come. The food is ready.¡± His mother yelled. Blake looked over at Aaron. ¡°Just go, but head back here after you¡¯re done.¡± He replied. With that, Blake headed out of the room. Aaron slowly faded into nothing and returned back to Blake. Blake finished quickly, but before he could leave, his mother grabbed his hand. ¡°People are moving in next door in the next couple of days. They have a kid about your age. Isn¡¯t that great, you¡¯re going to get a new friend.¡± She said. Blake was slightly intrigued but he didn¡¯t really care. ¡°We¡¯re going to go greet them when they arrive. She let go of him and left the room. Blake then headed to the bedroom like Aaron had instructed. As soon he stepped inside, Aaron appeared next to him. ¡°I almost forgot that I met her around this time. It¡¯s been a long time.¡± He said with a smile on his face. Blake decided to take a have a little fun. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re into little girls.¡± He said with a face of disgust. ¡°No of course not. Am I not supposed to be happy about seeing an old friend long after their death?¡± ¡°If you say so, but you sounded pretty defensive to me.¡± Blake retorted. He was laughing on the inside but kept a straight face. ¡°Well of course I¡¯m going to defend myself from fake accusations. Now if we can get started. First I need to check your stats and see what I¡¯m working with.¡± Aaron replied. ¡°Changing the subject I see.¡± He said. Aaron was a little fed up and decided to just hit him. ¡°Ouch that really hurt. Ok I get. I¡¯ll drop it.¡± Aaron seemed happy with himself. ¡°Let¡¯s see if this ¡°God¡± of yours gave you any gifts. Statum.¡± A blue pop appeared in front of Aaron and Blake.
Blake Son of Norman and Esmerelda Level 1: Health ¨C 10 Stamina ¨C 10 Strength ¨C 5 Defense ¨C 5 Agility ¨C 5 Intellect ¨C 50 Magic ¨C 5 Experience needed until next level: 25 Skills - Infinita Potentia Titles - One Body Two Souls - World Traveler
A smile came over Aaron and he started to laugh. ¡°Are the stats good?¡± Blake asked. ¡°No, besides the intellect, it¡¯s all painfully average.¡± Aaron responded. Blake just seemed confused. If his stats were average then why was Aaron so happy? ¡°The why did you start laughing?¡± he asked. ¡°I started to laugh because you have an incredibly scary skill.¡± Chapter 5 - Fireball Chapter 5 - Fireball ¡°Blake, while you don¡¯t have great stats, the skill you got will make up for it. At a certain point, everyone starts to have trouble getting stronger. No matter how much they train or battle, progress slows down or just halts completely. A bottleneck of sorts if you will, but few can even dream of getting past it. While I¡¯m not sure how this skill works, as I have never seen it before, I can only imagine.¡± Aaron said. ¡°Why wasn¡¯t told about this. I guess it¡¯s good that he gave it to me I guess, but I don¡¯t know. Would this count as a cheat skill in one of those isekai stories?¡± Blake pondered. He thought about it and reached his conclusion. ¡°Probably.¡± ¡°If I remember correctly, to get into the Royal Academy you need to be at least level ten by the age of ten. That gives roughly just over three years to get to level ten but why stop there.¡± Aaron said. ¡°You know, that sounds like a great plan and all Aaron, but I don¡¯t even know how to level up once.¡± He interrupted. ¡°I was just getting there. Don¡¯t rush me. It might get complicated but stay with me.¡± Blake nodded his head to indicate that he was ready. ¡°Ok. To level up you need to gain experience. There are two ways to get experience in this world, either by fighting and destroying monster or by gaining skills. Fighting to gain experience is pretty self-explanatory, so im going t skip over it. There are certain ¡°quests¡± you can do that will give you skills and a bit of experience. Like Father told you before about blacksmithing, you don¡¯t need a skill to do anything, but skills can raise the effectiveness of what you are doing. For example, anyone can go take up a sword and attack with it. If you swing a sword 500 times you get the swordsmanship skill which lowers the energy output while raising the power. You can see what these quest are by saying inventionibus.¡± Another pop up appeared.
Swordsmanship Level 1 - 2% less energy usage & 1% more power Swing a sword 500 times 0/500 25 experience
Fireball Level 1 ¨C 1% less stamina usage & 3% more power Use the fireball spell 100 times 0/100 50 experience
Monster Hunter Level 1 ¨C 2% more damage against monsters Kill 10 monster of any kind 0/10 100 experience
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¡°Question. Why does it say level one?¡± Blake asked ¡°Because there are different levels. After you unlock swordsmanship level one then there¡¯s level two, three and so on. Each level subsequent level will have better stat buffs.¡± Aaron answered. ¡°Let¡¯s head outside.¡± ¡°What for?¡± He asked. ¡°I want you to do something. Now go.¡± Aaron responded. Blake didn¡¯t question him further. With his parents off doing something else it was quite easy for Blake to leave the house. Now outside Blake looked all around but he didn¡¯t know what Aaron could want him to do outside. ¡°Now what?¡± he asked.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Aaron once again appearing beside him said, ¡°Go grab a stick and swing it at a tree.¡± Blake seemed confused. There were no sticks to grab and no trees to hit. ¡°Did you go senile, look around you, there¡¯s no trees or sticks.¡± He said. ¡°What are you talking about, they¡¯re right there. The entire town is in the middle of a forest.¡± Aaron responded. Aaron seemed confused but the realization came to him. ¡°Oh that¡¯s my fault. I apologize, here let me fix this. Iterum constituetur vision.¡± Slowly the trees starts to fade in. Blake rubbed his eyes but surely enough there were tress all around. ¡°Why?¡± he asked. Aaron scratched the back of his head. ¡°I was just messing with you, and I forgot about it.¡± He laughed. ¡°Well anyhow let¡¯s go.¡± Blake started to walk further from the house and closer to the trees. Soon enough he saw some branches on the ground but they were too big. ¡°Over here.¡± Aaron yelled. Blake walked over to where Aaron was and there was a small stick that he could pick up. ¡°Well since you have a six year old¡¯s body, I don¡¯t think you can swing a sword so try the stick. After you swing it a couple times, check the quests.¡± Blake nodded and started to swing the stick at one of the trees. He managed to swing the stick 10 times before he felt that he couldn¡¯t go on anymore. He dropped the stick and felt aching in his arms. ¡°I guess is the best I can do in this body right now.¡± He thought. ¡°Inventionibus.¡±
Swordsmanship Level 1 - 2% less energy usage & 1% more power Swing a sword 500 times 10/500 25 experience
Fireball Level 1 ¨C 1% less stamina usage & 3% more power Use the fireball spell 100 times 0/100 50 experience
Monster Hunter Level 1 ¨C 2% more damage against monsters Kill 10 monster of any kind 0/10 100 experience
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¡°Yeah it seems like it worked, it says ten out of five hundred now.¡± He said. ¡°Ok that¡¯s good. You seem tired so we¡¯ll move on to the next thing for today, magic and spells. There are seven elements that form the foundation to magic: Life, light, dark, water, earth, fire, and wind. All spells are categorized depending on which one they fall under. Everyone has a high affinity with one or two elements. I have high affinity with fire and I would assume that you do too but since your name changed to Blake I can¡¯t be sure of it. Say, quae est potior pars corporis, and it should reveal what element you have the most affinity with.¡± Aaron said. ¡°Quae est potior pars corporis.¡± Blake waited for something to happen but nothing did. Suddenly he started to feel an immense wave of heat, and started to sweat uncontrollably. ¡°What¡¯s up with that heat? It came out of nowhere.¡± He said. He looked over at Aaron and he smiled. ¡°Fire affinity after all.¡± Aaron laughed. Blake thought about it and realized that the heat he felt must have been the indicator. ¡°Okay look at me closely now. I¡¯m going to teach you the spell for fireball.¡± Aaron lifted his arm and aimed at the sky. ¡°Augue.¡± Fire started to appear at the palm of Aaron¡¯s hand. It started to pile up and it formed a giant ball before being shot upward. It kept going up for quite a while until it dispersed into nothing. ¡°If you can do all that you have done then why do you need me?¡± Blake asked. ¡°Well even if you can see what I do, I can¡¯t affect the outside world. Don¡¯t you think I haven¡¯t tried? Look at this.¡± Aaron started to form another fireball in his hand but this time he pointed it at the trees and launched it. Blake was expecting to see the entire forest burning down but there was nothing left of the fireball. It had vanished into thin air. ¡°See. The things I do can only affect you and nothing else. That¡¯s why it¡¯s important that you learn quickly. Go ahead and try it; make sure you don¡¯t hit a tree though. We don¡¯t need an actual fire.¡± He laughed. Blake lifted hand and made sure to aim to the sky. ¡°Augue.¡± A ball of fire appeared at Blake¡¯s hand and then he released it. It was much smaller than Aaron¡¯s and it didn¡¯t reach nearly as high. ¡°Now again.¡± Aaron exclaimed. Blake did just as Aaron said. He pointed his hand up, made another fireball and released it. ¡°Once more.¡± Blake was starting to feel fatigued but again he put his hand up. ¡°Augue.¡± He said, but nothing happened. ¡°Augue.¡± Nothing happened. ¡°You ran out of stamina. Every spell requires stamina and when you run out, you can¡¯t use magic. Fireball is a basic spell so it only requires five stamina to cast. You have ten stamina so two fireballs is the limit it for now. That¡¯s enough for today, let¡¯s get you back home before Father and Mother notice that you¡¯re gone.¡± Aaron said as he started to fade. ¡°Wait, one question. Why was your fireball so much bigger than mine?¡± Blake asked. ¡°It¡¯s quite simple, I just used more stamina to make mine. Yours took five stamina but mine took the equivalent of twenty but you can use as much as you want. You can use more stamina on a spell to increase the power, simple as that.¡± Aaron responded. Blake went back home. Fatigued as he was, made his way to the bedroom, hopped on the bed, and drifted into a deep sleep. Chapter 6 - Spirits Chapter 6 - Spirits Over the next couple of days Blake continued to go train every day. He would swing the stick as much as he could and then he would use the fireball spell twice. It was extremely taxing on his body but he wasn¡¯t unhappy. He didn¡¯t leave the house for too long but he still expected his parents to notice. However they weren¡¯t around at all. He had to wonder where and what his parents were doing every day. He would see them in the morning and in the night but each time he was going to sneak out, they vanished. He thought about looking for them once but something told him that it would probably better if he didn¡¯t. One day, as he was about to leave to go outside like always, there was a knock at the door. Almost like a flash of lightning his father appeared out of his blacksmith dungeon and right behind him was his mother. ¡°I can only hope that it¡¯s not what I¡¯m thinking of.¡± He thought. They opened the door; a man, a woman and a little girl were there. ¡°A married couple and their child perhaps?¡± His parents invited them inside and gestured them to take a seat. The little girl followed after her parents almost hiding behind them. ¡°Must be shy.¡± He thought. Blake was about to leave but his hand was grabbed and he was pulled away from the door. He looked at the owner of hand that was pulling him; it was his mother. She set him down on a chair, then sat down herself and started to listen to the talking. ¡°It¡¯s nice to see you again after so many years Helen, Sean.¡± Father said. ¡°Likewise. How many years has it been? Ten years? Eight?¡± Sean questioned. ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell from looking at you guys. You haven¡¯t seem to have aged in the slightest.¡± Mother exclaimed, and they all laughed. That¡¯s when Blake noticed it, they had pointy ears, elves. ¡°It¡¯s both a blessing and a curse.¡± Helen laughed. ¡°Blake looks so adorable. How old is he now?¡± ¡°He¡¯s six but his next birthday is coming up fast. It¡¯s kind of sad, they grow up so fast.¡± Mother responded. ¡°But what about that adorable doll that¡¯s hiding besides you?¡± ¡°Yeah my little Anna is almost seven too. I can hardly believe it.¡± Helen responded. ¡°Why don¡¯t we let them play outside while we talk? We wouldn¡¯t want to bore them with our talk.¡± Sean suggested. ¡°Outside? Wouldn¡¯t you be worried?¡± Father asked. He received laughs from the other married pair. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s fine, we let Anna outside all the time. She enjoys being outside in the presence of nature and she never goes far from the house. It¡¯s better than having her stay inside every single day. ¡± Sean responded. ¡°Well if you say so.¡± Norman turned to Blake. ¡°If you want to go and play outside go ahead but don¡¯t go too far.¡± Blake immediately stood up from his seat and headed right for the door. Anna followed closely behind. Blake could tell that Anna was a shy girl so he didn¡¯t have hopes for any sort of conversation. As soon as he stepped outside, Aaron materialized next to him.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I guess we¡¯re going to have wait to go hunt that monster.¡± Aaron said. ¡°I guess so. So how does it feel to see your friend after all this time?¡± he mocked. ¡°Are you trying to imply something?¡± Aaron asked. Blake nodded his head no. ¡°I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. I just asked a simple question.¡± He said innocently. Aaron almost hit him on the head again but stopped himself. ¡°I think you know this but when you talk to me, it looks like you¡¯re talking to yourself. She might think you¡¯re weird in the head.¡± He laughed. ¡°Might be a good idea to try and talk to her.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± he responded. Blake turned to Anna. ¡°So what do you like to do?¡± She didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Something wrong?¡± Still nothing. Blake shrugged and turned around and started walking in the direction of the forest. Anna followed silently. Blake immediately went for the stick but stopped went he felt a tug from behind. He turned around, Anna was standing there with her head down. ¡°Can you see the spirits too?¡± she asked. Blake was dumbfounded. ¡°Spirits? What is she talking about?¡± he thought. ¡°Statum.¡± Aaron said.
Anna daughter of Sean and Helen Race ¨C Elf Level 2: Health ¨C 15 Stamina ¨C 20 Strength ¨C 7 Defense ¨C 5 Agility ¨C 8 Intellect ¨C 10 Magic ¨C 50 Experience needed until next level: 37 Skills - Spirituum Auxilium Titles - Friend of the Spirits
¡°I can hardly believe my eyes. I knew she was a strong one but I never got to know how she got her strength as she died before I even started my training.¡± Aaron admitted. Blake was quite confused. ¡°What do you mean? What do the skill and title mean?¡± He asked. ¡°Blake this is what a person with an immense amount of talent looks like (unlike yourself). The skill would roughly translate into spirits help. It¡¯s probably a direct cause of her title. Spirits are magical creatures; they deal with the purest form of magic, but they rarely show themselves to anyone, much less get close to them. But if they like her, then it¡¯s not farfetched to say that they would give her help in times of trouble, and they give her experience over time. If she continues to be on friendly terms with them then she will grow strong, no doubt about that.¡± Aaron responded while nodding his head. Blake turned to look over at Anna and he just couldn¡¯t believe it, but he had no time to think about that since he need to come up to an excuse to why he was talking to himself. ¡°Well not exactly. I can uh see ghosts.¡± He told her. Anna¡¯s face lit up a little bit. ¡°Not far from the truth.¡± Aaron laughed. Just then, the world faded into nothing. Blake could only see white all around. Before having time to panic, several voice started screaming at him. ¡°Hey you.¡± Blake looked around, he saw a few small dots of color around him. ¡°Yeah you. Stay away from our girl.¡± ¡°Yeah we found her first.¡± ¡°Stay away.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get close.¡± ¡°Great, the Spirits are possessive.¡± he thought. ¡°Have you told your dad and mom that you can see ghosts?¡± Anna asked. Blake came back, snapped back into reality from that weird experience with the spirits, or at least what he assumes to be the spirits. ¡°Ahh no, not yet. Why?¡± he asked. She sat down, knees to her face. ¡°I want to tell them but I am scared.¡± She said. Blake patted her on the head. ¡°Tell them when you¡¯re ready.¡± He told her. Anna looked up and smiled. ¡°Okay.¡± She answered. Blake redirected his focus back to the stick and went back to swinging it. ¡°I heard what the spirits said. Seems like it¡¯s going to be an uphill battle.¡± Aaron laughed. ¡°Yeah, sure, whatever you say.¡± He responded. ¡°Oh come on, it¡¯s no fun when you don¡¯t react.¡± ¡°Shame.¡± He said. Blake finished swinging the stick, and shot two fireballs up into the sky like always. Anna was watched closely with amazement in her eyes. Blake finished and started to head back. ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone about this. Secret.¡± Blake said. ¡°Secret.¡± She responded. Chapter 7 - Slime Crystal Chapter 7 - Slime Crystal The sun¡¯s rays were coming down on everything, only stopping with the occasional cloud. It was an extremely hot day; not that it mattered. Blake found refuge in the shade coming from the trees, but his mind was on the task at hand. He thought back to what Aaron said the day before.
¡°Okay Blake, today we had a slight diversion, but tomorrow will be the day. There¡¯s many creatures to hunt in the forest. There¡¯s quite a variety but we¡¯ll start small. A slime perhaps; yes, a slime will be perfect. You can find them almost anywhere and most are easy enough to kill. One fireball should be enough to kill one but it doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯ll be easy. For having no legs they happen to be surprisingly fast. Catch them off guard and shoot it; you are a hunter and they are the prey.¡± Aaron said. ¡°Do they fight back at all?¡± he asked. ¡°Most don¡¯t but some do. Don¡¯t go wasting a shot because you get surprised if it charges at you. I understand since it will be your first try at this, but your opponent will be a slime, one of the weakest things around so you shouldn¡¯t have a lot of trouble.¡±
He planned to head deeper into the forest but it didn¡¯t take long before Aaron spotted a slime and pointed it out to Blake. He started sneaking toward the target, slowly and quietly. He had to be careful, he had only two shots to kill it. He was staying close to the ground, using the advantage of being in a small body to stay hidden. He reached a good position to fire from and he started to observe the slime. It was hopping all over the place. Just when it seemed like it would stop, it kept going up and down all over the place. It seemed to be overly energetic. After a while it seemed to have tired itself out and Blake started to aim his arm at the slime but a crunching noise from behind startled him. He turned around only to see Anna standing there, half hidden behind a nearby tree. He pretended not to notice her and turned back to look at the slime. It wasn¡¯t where there. Instead it was charging straight at Blake. In the spur of the moment he said, ¡°Augue.¡± A fireball was launched straight at the slime but it dodged to the side and kept going at a rapid pace. It was incredibly fast compared to what Blake expected. Before long it had reached him. With one big jump it tried to attack Blake. He ducked and the slime missed landing right on the ground. The slime quickly recovered and went for another attack. Blake attempted to dodge to the side but the slime hit him square on the chest; he fell to the ground. Blake started to feel a slimy painful sensation on his right hand. He looked over and saw the slime stuck to it. He tried to shake it off but it only made the pain even stronger. Without a second thought he muttered, ¡°Augue.¡± As the fire kept gathering in Blake¡¯s hand, the slime started to boil. Then it evaporated until there was almost nothing left. Only a small blue crystal remained; it fell to the ground. Aaron materialized and gave Blake a hand to help him stand back up. ¡°I never expected you to kill it that way, but it works so it¡¯s fine. Go and pick up that crystal.¡± Aaron motioned. Blake did not ask why, he went over to the crystal and picked it up. ¡°Now what?¡± he asked ¡°Eat it.¡± Blake turned to Aaron but he had a completely serious face on. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. ¡°What does it do?¡± ¡°No questions. Just do it.¡± He hesitated but slowly put it in his mouth. ¡°Now bite down.¡± With a big gulp, he quickly bit into it. He expected it to hurt his teeth, but it came apart easily. As he bit into it, he was able to notice that it had a really bad taste. He almost threw up but he managed to swallow it.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Why did that taste so bad?¡± he asked. A smile came over Aaron¡¯s face. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it, you just ate the slime¡¯s feces.¡± Aaron laughed. Blake just stared back with his mouth hanging wide open. ¡°What the heck. Why did you make me do that?¡± He charged at Aaron but he moved to the side and Blake went crashing into a tree. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I was messing around with you again. What you just ate was the essence of the slime that you killed. It gives you experience and while extremely rare, has a chance to give you a skill. You can also sell it for money.¡± Aaron stated. Blake was still trying to get the taste out of his mouth. ¡°I know this is supposed to be good but if it tastes this bad then I don¡¯t know if I can go through with this.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you can swallow it whole and you won¡¯t taste a thing.¡± ¡°The why did you specifically make me bite into it?¡± he asked furiously. ¡°I thought I already told you that I was just messing with you.¡± Aaron laughed again. Blake wasn¡¯t satisfied but there was little he could do. ¡°So that¡¯s one slime down. It should be enough experience to get you to level 2, which means that you should be getting it around...now.¡± ¡°If you say so but nothing is popping up.¡± As to make him eat his words, a pop up appeared.
Level 1 --> 2 Health ¨C 10 +5 Stamina ¨C 10 +5 Strength ¨C 5 + 3 Defense ¨C 5 + 2 Agility ¨C 5 + 2 Intellect ¨C 50 + 1 Magic ¨C 5 + 3 Experience needed to next level: 40
He turned around to head back but saw Anna half hidden behind another tree. He decided to sneak around and surprise her. She poked out her head but she saw that he wasn¡¯t there. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder and she almost jumped. She turned around only to see Blake, and got a little angry. ¡°Why did you scare me?¡± She asked. ¡°Because it¡¯s funny.¡± He responded. His response only resulted in her pouting. ¡°Don¡¯t get mad, I didn¡¯t mean bad.¡± She didn¡¯t stop. ¡°Let¡¯s go back and we can do whatever you want.¡± She stopped pouting and instead started to smile. ¡°You mean it?¡± She yelled. ¡°Yeah, I mean it.¡± ¡°Yay!¡± Blake started walking back and she followed. They weren¡¯t too far from the house but farther than any day before. ¡°I wonder why the slimes don¡¯t get closer?¡± he thought. He was thinking about what other creatures or monsters he could go after but the little girl next had some questions to ask. ¡°What happened to the cute monster that you were playing with?¡± He wasn¡¯t ready for this kind of question. He didn¡¯t feel like explaining death to her. ¡°It left because it got tired.¡± He answered. ¡°Oh. Can I play with the monster next time too?¡± ¡°Maybe when you¡¯re older.¡± ¡°Aww, why Blake?¡± She asked. He shrugged his shoulders. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Then just take me with you next time¡± He turned his head planning to refuse her but she had puppy dog eyes. He couldn¡¯t refuse. ¡°Maybe.¡± He answered. With a smile she grabbed Blake¡¯s arm and started skipping, pulling him along. ¡°Where did she learn puppy dog eyes?¡± he wondered. It didn¡¯t take them long to get back. They entered into Blake¡¯s home, but she started heading to her house. ¡°I will be back soon.¡± she said. Aaron appeared behind him. ¡°This will probably be quite the sight to watch.¡± He laughed. Blake didn¡¯t understand right away but he had an idea as soon as she walked back in. She was holding a baby doll. ¡°I will be mommy and you will be daddy.¡± She said. ¡°I always play with this doll but mommy told me that I need a daddy if I am a mommy.¡± ¡°What kinds of things are you teaching your daughter?¡± he thought. ¡°What about hide and seek? You hide first and I look?¡± He asked. She tilted her head seemingly lost in thought. ¡°I do like hiding. I also like playing with my doll.¡± She pondered. ¡°Fine, we will play what you want but I get to pick next.¡± ¡°Just barely saved.¡± He thought. Blake started to count and she went hide. ¡°Remember to restrain yourself.¡± Aaron mocked. Blake turned to look at him with disgust. ¡°She¡¯s a little girl. Besides I¡¯d be more worried about what the spirits might do to me.¡± He shivered. ¡°You won¡¯t be able to say that she¡¯s a little girl in a few years, but I do agree about the spirits. Might be best to keep as little contact as possible.¡± He laughed. Blake played hide and seek with Anna until she got tired and her family called her home. Being decently fatigued himself, he went to sleep early only to be woken up early the next day. Chapter 8 - Curved Sword Chapter 8 - Curved Sword Blake was woken up by a very weird creepy laugh. It sounded like someone was trying very hard to hold back huge laughter but failing. Flustered he looked around but saw that he was alone in the room; that is until he looked up to see Aaron floating above him. Having been surprised by the sight, he nearly fell off the bed but he just barely managed to catch himself. ¡°Why were you laughing. You scared me half to death?¡± he exclaimed. ¡°Well I was bored since I don¡¯t sleep so I was looking at your stats and noticed that you gained a new skill, limus. It¡¯s from the slime, I couldn¡¯t help myself. It¡¯s extremely rare to get a skill this way, and you get one first your first time but it¡¯s from a slime.¡± Aaron laughed. ¡°It¡¯s a real pity.¡± ¡°What does it do?¡± Blake asked. ¡°Why don¡¯t we go try it out?¡± Aaron suggested. Blake didn¡¯t feel like it but still got up, out of bed. He was sure to be quiet as he went outside. The sky was still dark, the sun had yet to come out, and there was a nice breeze. It was a refreshing change for him. He walked into the forest as always. ¡°Okay, we¡¯re here. Any idea of what to do?¡± he asked, but Aaron shook his head no. ¡°I¡¯ve never had or seen someone who had this skill. The only thing that I know is that limus means slime.¡± Aaron said. ¡°Just great.¡± Blake thought. He had no idea of what to do, so he thought back to the sensation of the slime on his hand. It was a weird sensation, squishy and slippery. As he remembered he started to feel it again. He looked over at his hand to see a weird slimy substance coming out of his hand. He tried shaking it off but it had started gushing out. Aaron just kept laughing at the mess Blake was making. He started to think about wanting it to stop coming out and it stopped. ¡°Do I just have to think about it to activate it?¡± he pondered. He tried again, slime was coming out of his hand once more and then it stopped when he wanted it to. ¡°Oh wow.¡± Aaron clapped. ¡°You actually figured out how to use it. Too bad that it¡¯s probably useless.¡± ¡°No it¡¯s not useless, I can think of one good use for it already.¡± Blake responded with an oddly creepy smile. ¡°If you say so. Are you going back to sleep?¡± Aaron asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know if could right now. I might as well get the fireballs and swings out of the way now.¡± Aaron nodded and watched as Blake continued the training. He launched three fireballs and swung the stick twelve times before he called it quits. ¡°Let¡¯s go back, we¡¯ll go hunt another slime soon.¡± Aaron said. Blake walked back to the house and laid back down on the bed, drifting into a peaceful sleep. The days passed and he continued to practice every day, before he knew it, a month of waking up in the morning to train had passed; he kept leveling up. Before he knew it, the shy Anna had gotten very comfortable around him and kept forcing him to play with her. (He would give in as soon as she brought out the puppy dog eyes.) One day early in the morning after doing his training he turned to Aaron. ¡°Hey Aaron, are birthdays a big deal here?¡± he asked. Aaron scratched the back of his head. ¡°I don¡¯t seem to understand what you are asking.¡± He responded. ¡°It¡¯s just that where I come from, birthdays are treated as important events. They are celebrated with family and friends.¡± Aaron now understanding the question shook his head side to side. ¡°Not really, here they strictly represent the day you were born and not much else.¡± Aaron responded. Blake didn¡¯t mind that there was no party but he was secretly hoping for some kind of present so he was a little bit down. He made his way back with his spirits low. ¡°Although thinking back now, there is one thing that reminds me of your so called birthdays.¡± Aaron grabbed all Blake¡¯s attention at once. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°Do you get a present?¡± he asked. ¡°I don¡¯t remember the exact details.¡± Aaron admitted. ¡°What I do remember is that it¡¯s when a boy turns fifteen, he goes out on a few days journey to hunt a bear or other large creature. If successful, the entire town will have a party and the boy has become a man.¡± ¡°That¡¯s definitely deserving of some kind of present or reward.¡± He thought. ¡°Well I guess I can hope.¡± He continued his walk back and opened the door. Before he could even take one step he noticed that someone was blocking the door. He looked up to see Norman. ¡°It¡¯s time son.¡± Blake just tilted his head in confusion, but he took him by the hand and started walking to his man cave. ¡°Your seventh birthday is actually two days away but I convinced your mother to let you start today.¡± If Blake had been excited before, now he was ecstatic. The day had finally arrived. He had an idea of what he what type of sword he wanted to make, but first he had to learn about it. Upon entering the room, Blake could see that it had changed very little from the first time. There were still tools and weapons hung on the wall, the only difference was that now instead of one anvil in the middle of the room, there were two. Norman let go of his hand, ¡°Okay! I want you to do as I do.¡± he grabbed two hammers that were laying on a table; one was smaller than the other. He handed the smaller one to Blake. Norman had been carrying it so easily but it wasn¡¯t as light as it looked. It took a lot of Blake to just hold it. Without delay Norman lit the fire in the fireplace and, he put two pieces of metal in the fire. He moved a stool closer to the anvil so Blake could reach. After 5 minutes he took them out and laid them on the anvils; the pieces of metal were glowing a bright orange color. Norman took a swing at the metal; unlike last time when he used a high level skill, it completely flattened the metal. ¡°Don¡¯t just stare, you can hit it too.¡± he said. Blake looked at the hammer in his hand and then at glowing metal. He took a swing and made the slightest dent. ¡°This is going to be tougher than I thought.¡± He kept hitting it for a while. ¡°Good, now that you have done that, you should have gotten the basic blacksmithing skill. Just imagine what the sword you want to make and hit the metal according to what the skill tells you.¡± Norman said. Blake looked at the glowing orange in front of him but saw nothing. He tried to visualize the sword he wanted to make and he immediately knew where to hit. Not that it did much of a difference since he could barely make a dent to the metal itself. After a few hours, he had finally made a little bit of progress. He could see it taking shape; he could hardly wait. Although he did think it was annoying that he had to keep heating the metal since it always cools down. By the end of the day he had only finished half of it. ¡°Not bad son. I¡¯m impressed you got so much done.¡± Norman told him. ¡°Easy for you to say, you finished like five swords.¡± He thought. The next day was another tough day for Blake. He woke up early and couldn¡¯t go back to sleep. He had to wait until Norman woke up and started to work so that he could continue from where he left off the previous day. He immediately started to work and kept trying to finish his sword as quickly as he could. ¡°Don¡¯t rush, take your time or it won¡¯t come out correctly.¡± Aaron warned, but Blake didn¡¯t listen. He finished the blade but it was extremely crooked. ¡°What did I tell you?¡± He felt a pat on the back right when he finished. ¡°Don¡¯t worry son, everyone has a failure or two at the start. Take your time and make your sword.¡± Norman told him. Blake immediately got started on another piece of metal but told himself to take his time. He took him three days to finish but he it came out exactly how he imagined. Blake hadn¡¯t noticed it with the first sword but when he finished, the sword already had a guard. ¡°Got to love these game like mechanics.¡± He thought. He left the room and headed to his. It was late and he was going to sleep but, Aaron appeared. He looked at the curve in Blake¡¯s sword and shook his head. ¡°I guess you just don¡¯t have talent for this. I also had one failure right at the beginning but my second one was okay. Just keep trying I guess.¡± Aaron said. Blake started to laugh. ¡°No, this one came out fine.¡± He responded. This just seemed to confuse Aaron, and the realization hit Blake. ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t consider that you hadn¡¯t seen this before. This is a sword that comes from my world. The curve is supposed to be there. It¡¯s a type of sword called a katana. Granted I never had one since it was never available, but I¡¯ve always wanted one; so this was the perfect opportunity to get one.¡± ¡°If you say so.¡± Aaron shrugged. ¡°Let¡¯s test it out tomorrow.¡± Blake exclaimed. Chapter 9 - Goblins Chapter 9 - Goblins He woke up early like always. He grabbed his katana and started for the door but he was drawn to a noise coming from the other side of the wall next to his room. He could hear what seemed to be two people talking. He leaned in to hear better. ¡°Isn¡¯t he still too young?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s ask him if he wants to go then.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, nothing will go wrong, I¡¯m going to be there with him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly why I¡¯m worried.¡± ¡°You could have tried to word that a little bit better.¡± ¡°I know, I would just feel better if I went too.¡± ¡°I wish you could come with me but we need someone to watch the house.¡± ¡°Well what about Sean and Hellen, couldn¡¯t they do it.¡± ¡°I guess we can try and ask them.¡± Blake heard all he wanted and left to go outside. He was wondering what they were talking about; he hadn¡¯t heard the entire conversation after all. ¡°We¡¯re going to the city.¡± Aaron said as he materialized. ¡°I only have a vague recollection of the trip but we¡¯re going to that city from that you saw when you arrived.¡± ¡°Oh so they were talking about whether to take me or not.¡± ¡°About right. I had nearly forgotten about it though. I was wondering how to get us over there but I didn¡¯t need to.¡± Aaron responded. ¡°Well let¡¯s go see how well that sword of yours works.¡± ¡°Yeah let¡¯s go.¡± They headed further and further into the forest until they found a slime. Blake snuck up right next to it. Before it even had a chance to react, he slashed it. It cut right down and the slime split into two. Instead of dying, it turned into two smaller slimes. Not wanting to have even more slimes, Blake quickly got rid of them with two fireballs. Two crystals dropped down. He went over to them, picked them up, and swallowed them. ¡°That makes ten.¡± He thought.
Level 3 --> 4 Health ¨C 18 + 3 Stamina ¨C 20 + 5 Strength ¨C 11 + 3 Defense ¨C 9 + 2 Agility ¨C 9 + 2 Intellect ¨C 52 + 1 Magic ¨C 11 + 3 Experience needed to next level: 250
¡°Looks like we¡¯re making nice progress. It might seem like it¡¯s incredibly fast and easy but that¡¯s mostly just with the first levels, it gets much harder from now.¡± Aaron stated. ¡°You have gotten the fireball skill to level two so I guess I can teach you another spell now.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Is it a fire one or what?¡± he asked. ¡°Yeah for now, we¡¯re going to stick with fire. Pay attention now.¡± Aaron looked down at his hands and then he extended them. ¡°Murus Ignis.¡± A wall of fire sprang from the ground. It was nine feet tall and nine feet wide. ¡°It takes twenty stamina to cast this so it¡¯s kind of a last resort kind of thing for now. You can go ahead and try.¡± The fire wall he cast dispersed into the air. Blake went ahead and said, ¡°Murus Ignis.¡± Another wall appeared. He had expected it to be smaller but was surprised when it wasn¡¯t. ¡°Awesome!¡± he exclaimed. He was going to keep going but he heard his name being called. He went in the direction of the noise. He saw Anna looking around. ¡°Over here.¡± He said. Anna ran over to Blake, grabbed his hand and started to pull him toward the house. ¡°What¡¯s the hurry?¡± ¡°Mommy said that we are going on a trip, but we can¡¯t go without you. Hurry.¡± She said. ¡°Okay, okay let¡¯s go.¡± They made their way back and exited the forest to see a big wooden wagon waiting for them. Norman and Esmerelda were waiting to get on. ¡°There you are.¡± Esmerelda said. ¡°Come here, I¡¯ll get you on, and then let¡¯s go.¡± Anna was first and then Blake. When he got on, he could see that there were swords and tools in the back with them. Norman and Esmerelda got on in front. ¡°We¡¯re lucky that they agreed to watch the house, and all we have to do is bring Anna along.¡± She whispered to Norman. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Anna yelled. They started off on a dirt path through the forest. Anna kept looking around but she could only see the bushes and trees. She looked down so Blake started to point out the birds and animals that they were passing, even the slimes he could see. Eventually Anna exhausted herself and fell asleep resting her head on Blake¡¯s shoulder. He was going to listen on to the conversation going at the front but decided against it. Instead he decided to stare out into the forest, and see if he could spot anything interesting. He couldn¡¯t see anything he hadn¡¯t seen before, but he kept going. As the hours kept passing, he started to nod to sleep himself but that¡¯s when he saw a green, hunched figure far in the distance. ¡°Is that a¡­ goblin?¡± He thought. Within the second Aaron had appeared. ¡°Yes your thoughts are correct. That is a goblin and if you saw one then it means that there are many others. There¡¯s one thing that bothers me though.¡± Blake gestured for Aaron to go on. ¡°This never occurred in my life.¡± Aaron said ¡°Does that mean?¡± Blake asked. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m not a professional in this time travel business but I doubt that learning magic at an early age would cause this kind of change. It¡¯s highly likely that someone else came back and caused this change. Anyway we can leave that for later, tell Father and Mother right away.¡± Aaron told him. Without an inch of hesitation he did as told. ¡°Dad.¡± He said. ¡°What son?¡± Norman asked while turning back to see Blake. ¡°I saw a weird, short, green person by the trees.¡± He said. Norman¡¯s face grew worried. He stopped the wagon. ¡°Where did you see it?¡± Norman asked. Blake pointed to the place where he had seen it standing but it was gone. ¡°Wait here, I¡¯m going to check it out.¡± He quickly headed in the direction but headed back just as quickly. ¡°There were hundreds of footsteps. This is a serious problem. Let¡¯s hurry.¡± He quickened the pace that were traveling at. With all the commotion, Anna woke up but she was just confused. The day quickly grew into nighttime but they didn¡¯t stop to rest. Norman kept on going throughout the night. Blake stayed awake for most of the time but he fell asleep for a while and woke up when they had exited the forest and the city was in sight; there was a giant gate at the entrance to the city. ¡°It looks so much bigger up close.¡± Blake thought. They arrived at the gate. ¡°Luckily there isn¡¯t a line.¡± Aaron said. They were stopped by the guards. ¡°Identification.¡± Norman took out a card and showed it to them. They moved aside and let them pass. Blake and Anna were looking around, amazed by their surroundings, buildings everywhere. ¡°Hey Blake look at the building at the center.¡± Aaron said. Blake turned his head inward. In the distance there was a hill with a big building on it; it looked majestic. ¡°That¡¯s the king¡¯s home, a castle, but it¡¯s also the royal academy. The king acts as the principal. That¡¯s where we¡¯re aiming to be in three years.¡± As Aaron finished his sentence, the wagon came to a halt. ¡°We¡¯re here. I¡¯m going to go inside.¡± Norman said. ¡°Blake follow him, he¡¯s going to enter the guild.¡± Aaron commanded. Blake jumped off the wagon and started after Norman. Esmerelda noticed but she couldn¡¯t leave Anna alone so Blake was free to follow. He expected a kind of run down place but it was surprisingly clean and organized. There were many tables and chair with people occupying them. There was a board with papers filling the entirety of it. A counter with multiple attendants. Norman walked right up to the counter. A woman came to attend Norman. ¡°Hello. What can I help you with today Norman?¡± ¡°I have some things to sell like usual but I also need to place a quest.¡± He responded. ¡°What will the quest be?¡± she asked. ¡°A goblin elimination quest.¡± He responded ¡°How many?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be sure but at least one hundred.¡± All the eyes in the guild were on him. ¡°That would be a rank B quest. I¡¯ll have it posted right away.¡± A man stood up from his peers, walked up to Norman, and put his hand on his shoulder. Chapter 10 - Cant be Trusted? Chapter 10 - Can¡¯t be Trusted? The man leaned in slamming his hand on the table. ¡°I can take that quest right there.¡± He said. Norman turned to look at the fellow besides him and smiled joyfully. ¡°I see that you¡¯re still a muscular as ever, you even have a few more scars on your face. It¡¯s good to see you again Jack.¡± Norman said. ¡°Likewise old friend. I¡¯ll need a couple of hours for my party to prepare. Let¡¯s head to the inn, tell me the details there.¡± Jack turned to leave but stopped. He turned and looked at Blake. ¡°I have to assume that this brat is your kid.¡± Jack said as he pointed down at Blake. Norman quickly looked behind him to see Blake and then back at Jack. ¡°Yes he is but I didn¡¯t know he followed me in.¡± Norman responded. Jack turned back and started for the door. Norman grabbed Blake by the hand and started to pull him. ¡°Are you making him a blacksmith?¡± Jack asked. ¡°That is what I would prefer but if he wants to join the guild and become an adventurer when he¡¯s older then I won¡¯t stop him.¡± ¡°Sounds just like something you would say.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡± Norman responded. Blake continued to be pulled but he was curious about this man. ¡°Hey Aaron, do you know this man at all?¡± Blake asked. Aaron appeared next to him but he was clearly furious. A sour expression filled his face. ¡°Whatever you do, don¡¯t trust that man; He killed Father and Mother in cold blood.¡± Aaron responded. ¡°Are you sure that you didn¡¯t imagine it? Look at them, they look like old friends.¡± He asked. Aaron shook his head. ¡°No, I¡¯m sure of it. This man killed Father and Mother. I saw it with my own two eyes. It¡¯s a sight I wish I could forget.¡± Blake turned to look at Jack and saw him staring at him. Jack discretely turned away. Blake was weirded out but they left the guild and went back to the wagon. Norman grabbed Blake and put him on the wagon before hopping up front without halt. Jack quickly jumped in behind and sat down opposite of Blake. Jack kept staring at Blake. Blake felt an uneasy feeling but it quickly went away as Jack turned his attention away to Norman and Esmerelda. Jack directed them in the direction of the inn where his group was staying at. Blake turned to Aaron who was on his right. ¡°Hey Aaron tell me more about how Jack killed your parents.¡± He thought. ¡°Well I don¡¯t really know why but I can tell you what I saw. It wasn¡¯t long after the first attack. People were fortifying the cities in an attempt to fight back against the demons. I was traveling to one of these cities with my parents and Jack, who was tagging along. Everything was fine until I left to hunt one day. I returned only to see that man holding a sword that ripping into Father¡¯s flesh. I didn¡¯t even have to look for mother as she was laying right at Jack¡¯s feet. Father¡¯s limp body fell to the ground. Pools of blood gathered around but Jack just stood there silently before he turned to face me.¡± Aaron responded. ¡°Did he go after you too?¡± Blake asked. ¡°No. Well more like I didn¡¯t stay around to find out. I was terrified so I ran away. For a while I could almost swear that I heard footsteps behind me but I just kept going. I made it to the safety of the city and that¡¯s where I started to train myself, but I never saw Jack again.¡± ¡°So you never found out the reason he killed them?¡± ¡°No but I can never forgive him for it. No matter how much my parents may trust him, I will never allow myself to trust in him. Stay alert, don¡¯t let him get too close.¡± Blake acknowledged what Aaron said and turned to Jack in response only to find him looking back in his direction. He was taken aback but upon a closer look he noticed that Jack wasn¡¯t looking at him but slightly to the side of him. He turned his head only to see Anna trying to hide herself behind Blake. He had almost forgotten about her. She just kept poking her head behind Blake.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. ¡°Blake who is the scary person?¡± she asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± he told her. She wasn¡¯t willing to say much more with Jack in sight so Blake continued to listen in on their talk. ¡°Whose kid is that?¡± Jack asked pointing to Anna. ¡°You guys babysitting?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just going to say that you know the parents very well. I guess you could call it babysitting but she and Blake get along so it never hurts.¡± Norman stated. Jack looked confused. He leaned closer to Norman and whispered something into his ear. ¡°How did you know? It was going to be that but we suddenly changed our minds.¡± He responded. Jack put his finger to his mouth telling him to be quiet. Blake gained interest in their conversation but they started whispering everything so he wasn¡¯t able to get anything from it. It didn¡¯t take long to reach the inn. It was only a few blocks down from the guild. Jack hopped off. ¡°Do you guys want to eat something?¡± he asked. ¡°We¡¯re fine.¡± Esmerelda answered. ¡°We still need to do some things before leaving. We¡¯ll do that while your party gets ready.¡± Jack shrugged and started for the door. ¡°Actually Jack.¡± Norman said; Jack stopped and turned his head back. ¡°If it¡¯s not too much trouble, can you take the kids with you? I have no idea when Blake might wander off so I¡¯d rather if he didn¡¯t get that chance.¡± ¡°Yeah sure.¡± Jack started walking back to the wagon. Blake just stared in disbelief. ¡°Aaron, is this okay?¡± Blake thought. ¡°I doubt that he would do anything right now so it¡¯s fine for now.¡± Aaron said. Jack tried to pick up Anna first, but she just didn¡¯t want to. She kept running away when he tried to grab her. ¡°Why don¡¯t you want to go?¡± Esmerelda asked ¡°He looks scary.¡± Anna responded. ¡°He looks scary but he¡¯s not bad.¡± Norman responded. ¡°Go or Blake will be alone.¡± She finally agreed and she went off the wagon. Next was Blake, he didn¡¯t resist but was tempted to. As soon as they were off, the wagon took off. Jack started for the door once again with Blake and Anna hand in hand. He opened it and they were greeted with the aroma of food and the sight of people. Jack looked around and started walking toward a table with a group of three; two women and one man. They were all eating and laughing. ¡°How nice of you guys to start without me.¡± Jack said. The man swallowed the food in his mouth; he looked displeased. ¡°What about you Jack? You were supposed to go get a quest. Instead you come here with two kids. Sorry to break it to you but I¡¯m not babysitting.¡± ¡°Oh real funny. I got us a quest but I¡¯m just looking over them while they come back.¡± The other two finish eating. One of the women speaks up. ¡°So what kind of quest is it? An extermination? Guarding? ¡°Goblins.¡± Jack responds. Everyone at the table start laughing. The other woman starts scolding him after laughing. ¡°I know I said to pick and easy quest this time but come on. We¡¯re rank B adventurers and you¡¯re sending us on a quest to kill goblins.¡± She laughed. ¡°Yeah Jess you tell him.¡± The man said. ¡°Jess and Ralph hold onto yours horses; you too Ivy.¡± Jack responded. They gestured for him to continue. ¡°What if I said that the quest involves over 100 goblins?¡± They stared back in disbelief. Blake just kept looking at them, amused by their reactions. Blake continued to look on at their conversation. ¡°Judging by their reactions then this many goblins is probably not a joke.¡± Blake thought. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s one hundred? How many of each rank?¡± Ivy asked. Jack shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. The quest was given by an old friend so I offered to take it. But it looks like they don¡¯t know much though.¡± He responded. ¡°When do we leave?¡± Jess asked. ¡°In a couple of hours.¡± Both Jess and Ivy bolted up. ¡°You should have said so sooner. We have to pack our things.¡± They said in unison. They hurried past the eating area to their rooms. Jack turned his head down to Blake and Anna. ¡°Do you guys want something to eat; my treat.¡± he asked. Blake was about to accept his offer but he remembered Aaron¡¯s warning and decided to just decline. He said no but Anna answered yes. Jack raised his hand and a waiter came to the table. ¡°One kid meal and two stakes.¡± The waiter wrote it down and started to leave. ¡°Make that three stakes.¡± Ralph said. ¡°Sure.¡± The waiter said as he disappeared into the kitchen. Jack helped Blake and Anna onto the empty seats and then plopped himself down next to Ralph. ¡°Not going to pack Ralph?¡± He asked. ¡°Already packed and ready to go.¡± Ralph responded. ¡°You know Ralph, it always surprises me that you¡¯re the one to be ready before they are.¡± Jack says. ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡± Ralph responded. He turned to look at Blake and Anna. ¡°Do you know if these kids have any potential?¡± ¡°I do not know. They might but they might not.¡± Jack responded. ¡°Why don¡¯t you check?¡± Ralph asked. Jack shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know I just don¡¯t think it would be right.¡± Jack reached over to Blake and put his hand on his head. ¡°Besides the kid¡¯s dad wants him to be a blacksmith.¡± Jack retracted his arm. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t see a reason why he can¡¯t be both.¡± Ralph said. ¡°I guess that¡¯s true.¡± ¡°I forget, does the royal academy have a section for blacksmiths?¡± Ralph asked. ¡°I have no idea but that reminds me that the academy keeps trying to hire us four as instructors. I think I might accept the offer after this job.¡± Chapter 11 - Quae est potior pars corporis Chapter 11 ¨C Quae est potior pars corporis ¡°Are you being serious Jack?¡± Ralph asked. ¡°It¡¯s still not time for us to retire yet; we may be the older two in our group, but we still have a while longer.¡± Ralph looked at his companion in disbelief. Blake was having doubts about what Aaron said about Jack. ¡°Could he really have done what Aaron said?¡± He thought. ¡°Maybe something happens to him from this moment in time to then.¡± Blake expected Aaron to say some remark but he didn¡¯t, so he continued to listen on. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so Ralph. I feel like I hit the wall; it¡¯s been years since I felt I improved. It might be time for me to settle down, start a family, or even become a teacher.¡± He sighed. A heavy silence filled the air around them. Ralph looked like he was trying to find what words to say so Jack was the first to speak again. ¡°I still haven¡¯t made my decision so don¡¯t tell the other two yet. Okay?¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Ralph responded. ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± The noise in the background kept going on but the two men opposite of Blake at the table remained quiet. No one was speaking. Blake was hoping they would talk more but it wasn¡¯t possible as the food arrived shortly after. With the arrival of the food, the mood was lifted and the two were laughing and reminiscing about quests they took together. With Anna busy playing with her food, Jack and Ralph doing their own thing, Blake was left with nothing to do. As minutes passed his mind started to wander. He thought about how Aaron hadn¡¯t said anything for a while. He thought it was weird that he had nothing to say about the conversation that had just ended. He tried to call out. ¡°You there? Aaron?¡± He thought. There was no response. ¡°Are you asleep? Even though you don¡¯t sleep.¡± Still no response. He tries a couple more times to no avail. Everyone was about done eating so was about to give up on Aaron answering him, but he finally did answer. ¡°Sorry I don¡¯t know what happened. I suddenly felt very weak and I kind of just blacked out. Did anything important happen?¡± Aaron asked. Blake sighed breathe of relief. ¡°Well not really but Jack mentioned he might work for the royal academy.¡± Blake thought. ¡°Is that so; we¡¯ll see about that.¡± Aaron said. Blake was about to ask him what he meant but he didn¡¯t have a chance. He felt a hand rest on his head. Startled, he looked up to see Ivy `smiling down at him, she was now wearing a long violet robe and was holding a tall wooden staff. Jess was right next to her, who was now wearing a full suit of armor. ¡°Well thankfully I didn¡¯t have that much to pack.¡± Jess said as she pulled a chair from a nearby table and sat down next to Anna. Jack and Ralph finally noticed that their companions had come back as Ivy removes her hand from Blake¡¯s head and sits down next to him. ¡°So Jack, how old are the kids.¡± Jess asks. Jack scratches the top of his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Six? Seven? Maybe eight. Why don¡¯t you ask them?¡± he says in a sarcastic voice. Jess sends him a few glares before turning to Anna and Blake. ¡°How old are you?¡± She asks. ¡°Seven.¡± Blake answers. Jess slightly nods in acknowledgement and turns to Anna. After a minute she puts on a big smile. ¡°I forgot.¡± She says. Blake almost face palms but he keeps a poker face while Ivy holds back her laughter, and the other three laugh. ¡°I may not like looking after kids but they can be quite funny sometimes.¡± Ralph says. Jess nods in agreement. ¡°At the very least, we can assume them to be close in age.¡± Ivy says. ¡°I have to say, I¡¯m very interested in knowing why you wanted to know their age Jess.¡± Jess stands up and does a dramatic 360 degree spin and sits down again. She tilts her head downward and places the palm oh her right hand on her forehead. ¡°Does a woman need a reason to ask for the age of young children?¡± she asks. She remain in her position for a few more seconds and then lifts her head. Everyone, even the other peers in the inn, just stare at her without saying a word. ¡°We should charge money for this.¡± Blake thought. ¡°It¡¯s almost like some bad comedy skit.¡± ¡°What? Did I say something wrong?¡± Jess asks. Blake turns to look at Jack and Ralph huddling together and whispering to each other, one pops his head out and looks at Jess and goes back. Then they separate and Jack turns to Jess. ¡°After a little bit of discussion is has been deemed that it is wrong because you asked them.¡± He says. ¡°What!! Why?¡± She cries out. ¡°After a few years of being in the same party, we know that the only time that you ask anybody for their age is when you¡¯re after them. We just want to make sure you don¡¯t end up in prison.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just jealous that I¡¯m still young and beautiful, Jack.¡± Jess said. Jack raises an eyebrow. Jess turns her head away from Jack. ¡°But if you must know. I wanted to know how long until they¡¯re eligible for the royal academy.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the reason then I guess its fine.¡± Ivy responds. ¡°Tough luck. Jack said that the boy¡¯s parents want him to be a blacksmith.¡± Ralph informs Jess.. ¡°Is this true Jack?¡± Jess said. Jack nods yes. ¡°Well I guess that¡¯s disappointing.¡± ¡°Just a question Jess, but why would you want to know when they can get into the royal academy?¡± Ivy asks. ¡°Simple actually, as a graduate of the academy, I can be awarded a medal if someone I recommend graduates at the top of their class, maybe I can rise to A rank adventurer. Problem is, I can only recommend three people. The first recommendation I gave out was a waste so now I¡¯m saving my last two.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°First time that I hear that you graduated from there.¡± Jack said. ¡°Well I just don¡¯t really see a reason to bring it up. Anyway I guess I can see if this little girl has any potential.¡± ¡°Not so fast, the boy¡¯s dad said he could become an adventurer if he so chooses. I guess you might have two test subjects this time.¡± Jack said. ¡°Awesome.¡± Jess replied. Blake didn¡¯t really care since he doubted his parents would agree. ¡°Anna¡¯s parents might though.¡± He thought. ¡°Father and mother might actually agree, but if I don¡¯t know the full details then I can¡¯t hope to make a decision; for now you should plan to say no just in case she would require you to do something extreme.¡± Aaron suddenly said. ¡°Okay, if you say so.¡± Blake thought. Aaron said no more and Blake resumed listening to group. ¡°Jack may you please inform us of their names. You should at least know that much right?¡± Ivy asked. ¡°Yeah, we need their names.¡± Ralph agreed. ¡°We can¡¯t just call them Boy and Girl.¡± Jack grabbed the back of his head in response. ¡°The boy¡¯s name is Blake, but I don¡¯t know the girl¡¯s name though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Anna.¡± Blake interrupted. The group of four looked at Blake and then at Anna. ¡°Blake and Anna it is.¡± They said. Jess turned to Blake once more. ¡°Stat¡­¡± She started to say before being interrupted by Jack. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing?¡± ¡°I was just going to see his stats.¡± She responded. ¡°Since they¡¯re kids he wants to ask the parents before we check.¡± Ralph said. ¡°I don¡¯t see why though. Don¡¯t you guys check anyone you want without remorse already? What¡¯s the difference this time?¡± Ivy reminds them. ¡°It¡¯s because of personal reasons and I warn you, I¡¯m not budging.¡± ¡°Can I at least check their affinity?¡± Jack put his hand to his chin in a thinking gesture. ¡°If they can actually say the phrase then yeah sure.¡± Jack responded. ¡°Now this is getting interesting. I bet 2 gold coins that this Blake kid is earth affinity and the girl is light affinity. What about you guys? You¡¯re not afraid of losing are you?¡± Ralph mocked. Ivy raised her staff. ¡°I don¡¯t back down from a challenge. Let me see, I bet 2 gold coins that Blake is water affinity and Anna is wind affinity.¡± Ivy remarked ¡°I got you guys beat. I bet 2 gold coins that the brat is fire affinity and the girl is life affinity. What about you Jess?¡± Jack declared. ¡°Well I don¡¯t know, let me think. Hmm I think Blake is dark affinity and the girl is life affinity.¡± Jess responded. They all took out 2 gold coins and placed them on the table. ¡°Alright. Whoever gets the closest to be correct wins all except if it ends in a tie in which case the money will be split.¡± Ralph declared. ¡°Of all things, they¡¯re using us as entertainment by betting on us.¡± Blake thought. ¡°I don¡¯t know whether to be disgusted or amused. Well I just now that Jack is the only one who guess my affinity right so he¡¯s going to win or at least tie.¡± ¡°Yeah, if I remember correctly her affinity was life. So he¡¯s going to win.¡± Aaron confirmed. Jess got up, left for her room again and came back with a piece of paper and a pen and wrote the phrase, quae est potior pars corporis, and then turned to Blake and Anna ¡°Okay Blake, Anna, repeat after me.¡± Jess said. She pointed to each part and said it. ¡°Quae.¡± ¡°Quae.¡± Blake and Anna repeated. ¡°Est¡± ¡°Est¡± they repeated. ¡°Potior¡± ¡°Potior¡± they repeated. ¡°Pars¡± ¡°Pars¡± they repeated. ¡°Corporis¡± ¡°Corporis¡± they repeated. ¡°Okay now all at once. Quae est potior pars corporis.¡± Jess said. ¡°Quae est potior pars corporis.¡± Blake and Anna said. ¡°Okay now we wait.¡± Ivy said. ¡°I guess I wait until I feel heat. I¡¯m surprised Anna was able to keep up though.¡± Blake thought. ¡°I thought it would be hard for her to pronounce but I guess not.¡± A minute passed but nothing was happening. ¡°It¡¯s taking longer this time.¡± While waiting for something to happen he noticed that a leaf had grown on the table, right in front of Anna. The problem was that no one seemed to have noticed it; they all seemed to be looking in his direction, even Anna, but he couldn¡¯t understand why. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± he asked. Ivy raised her staff. ¡°Cogitatio.¡± She used the staff to draw a circle midair in front of Blake. A circle of light slowly appeared in front of Blake. Upon closer inspection Blake noticed he could see a reflection; it was like a mirror. The problem that he noticed was that he couldn¡¯t see his reflection. He looked down at his hands but he could still see them. After a bit of time passed he could start to see his reflection in the mirror before it slowly faded. ¡°Okay everybody it looks like Blake was dark affinity and Anna was life affinity so the winner of our little bet is Jess since she guessed both affinities right.¡± Ivy declared. Blake was confused. ¡°Wasn¡¯t I supposed to be fire affinity?¡± he thought. As the money started getting pushed over to Jess, she put up her fist as a sign of victory. Suddenly Blake heard Aaron. ¡°Sorry.¡± The room started to tilt, but it was that he started to fall sideways. He tried to put bring out his arms but found himself unable to. He closed his eyes but he didn¡¯t feel himself hit the ground. He opened his eyes he saw Aaron standing before him in an empty space. Blake sat up while Aaron took a seat in front of him. ¡°I thought my affinity was fire. What happened?¡± he asked Aaron, but Aaron shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I really don¡¯t know.¡± Aaron responded. ¡°When someone has two high affinities they both show some sign after you say the phrase but it didn¡¯t happen when you first said it; I don¡¯t know why this is.¡± ¡°Okay fine. If you don¡¯t know then why am I here?¡± ¡°I want to make a couple of tests. We¡¯re going to have you repeat the phrase a couple times but I don¡¯t want anyone seeing.¡± ¡°But won¡¯t it show outside?¡± Blake asked. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t, not if I don¡¯t let it.¡± ¡°Can you please explain what you mean?¡± Blake asked. Aaron nodded his head. ¡°In the time we¡¯ve been awake we¡¯ve found out that you have control over the body but I control what the body does. I made you pass out so I could meet you here. In that same way, I can make it so that the effects of anything you do in here, stay in here and don¡¯t affect the actual body.¡± Aaron said ¡°I don¡¯t know if I understood that but I¡¯ll just have to trust you.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s still more of a theory, I don¡¯t know how much or what I can control so what I said might not be entirely correct or accurate. I¡¯ll keep trying to figure how this works but I¡¯ll leave that for later. Go ahead and say the phrase.¡± Aaron commanded. ¡°Okay, here goes nothing. Quae est potior pars corporis.¡± Blake waited for a while and then a plant sprouted out of the ground. ¡°Life affinity¡­ again.¡± Aaron demanded. ¡°Quae est potior pars corporis¡± This time he waited and without warning he burst into tears. ¡°Water affinity¡­once more.¡± ¡°Quae est potior pars corporis¡± His hair started blowing even though there was no wind. ¡°Wind affinity¡­do it again.¡± ¡°Quae est potior pars corporis¡± Blake felt something moving all over his body. He stood up and started to shake it off, dirt and sand fell to the ground. ¡°Earth affinity¡­last one.¡± ¡°Quae est potior pars corporis¡± Light shown out of Blake¡¯s eyes. ¡°It¡¯s as I thought.¡± Aaron said. ¡°Does this mean I have affinity with all seven attributes?¡± Blake asked. ¡°Yes, yes it does. I have a feeling that it might be thanks to that one skill that gave you unlimited potential. It might have transferred into the potential to master all the attributes of magic, but I can¡¯t be sure yet.¡± ¡°What do we do then? Should I try to master all seven?¡± ¡°No, not yet at least. I worry because no one has been able to master more than two, even training al their life.¡± ¡°But I bet they didn¡¯t have high affinity with more than two.¡± Blake remarked. ¡°You make a fair point but even so, if you don¡¯t focus on one or two then how are you supposed to master any. You¡¯d become a jack of all trades but master of none and that won¡¯t work. We¡¯ll start with 2 and go from there and see if you can learn more at a later time. You will continue with fire since I have a lot of experience with it but I¡¯ll let you pick the second one. What will you pick?¡± Aaron asked. Chapter 12 - He Knows? Chapter 12 ¨C He Knows? Blake looked down as he considered the possibilities. On one hand he could imagine that he could learn ice magic if he went with water, the thought absolutely thrilled him. Another hand he couldn¡¯t deny that being able to learn stealthy magic would be really nice to have. For that reason alone he really wanted to go with darkness. He just had too many choices to pick from. Aaron cleared his throat which snapped Blake out of his concentration. He lifted his face to face Aaron. ¡°If I can suggest one, I would say to pick darkness since those people saw your affinity with it. It might be bad if they see you using two other ones besides darkness.¡± Blake briefly considered Aaron¡¯s suggestion but dismissed it. ¡°I don¡¯t think that really matters much. All it would do is prolong the inevitable. There might come a time in the future where I¡¯m forced to reveal that I have all the different affinities, especially when the demons attack.¡± Blake responded. ¡°You make a good point. I still worry but as you said, we can¡¯t keep it a secret forever. That being said, I¡¯d still recommend darkness, along with life and light.¡± Blake raised an eyebrow. ¡°Why those three in particular?¡± Blake asked. ¡°The three I mentioned are mainly used for support type magic. It only makes sense that you pick one of them since you started with fire which is powerful enough by itself.¡± Blake was convinced. ¡°So can you give a brief explanation of what I can learn with each one?¡± He asked. ¡°Sure, life is pretty simple, you can use healing magic. Darkness is for stealth, curses, and deceit. Light is for lifting curses, seeing through deception/lies, and can be used to fight undead monsters. Well that¡¯s just a basic explanation, but it should help.¡± With this new knowledge, Blake tried to pick from one of those three but it was impossible for him. He could see himself needing all three in the future. Frustrated, he swung himself back and laid on the ground. As he kept lying there he started to hear a voice. It sounded familiar but it wasn¡¯t Aaron who he could see next to him. He closed his eyes to blink but found everything to be dark upon opening them. He struggled to get up as his eyes adjusted. Once his eyes had adjusted he looked around and realized he was in the wagon. Everyone, Jack, his companions, Norman and Esmerelda were chatting away. ¡°Where did Aaron go?¡± Blake thought. ¡°You woke up and from the looks of it, a lot of time has passed.¡± Aaron said. ¡°Have you decided yet?¡± ¡°If I keep trying to think about it, I won¡¯t decide anytime soon. So I guess I¡¯ll just go with darkness since I can potentially master all of them.¡± Blake responded. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll tell you more later since you can¡¯t even practice it now in front of other people.¡± Blake immediately goes back to observing his surroundings. He looks outside but only sees dark blurs going by so he assumes they¡¯re passing through the forest and are going back home. He noticed that Anna wasn¡¯t around but he noticed her sleeping next to him. Blake decided that he needed more information, any that he could get. He resolved himself to move closer to try and eavesdrop on the conversations everyone up front was having. Just as he was about to get to it, the wagon went over a bump on the road. The impact caused Blake to get jerked forward. He fell and made hard contact with the wooden floor. He pushed himself back up but his head was throbbing in pain. Nobody had noticed him fall but the wagon shaking had caused Anna to wake up. She had gotten up and was looking around drowsily. After a minute, she finally noticed Blake. ¡°You woke up!¡± she yelled. Everyone in the front besides Norman turned to them. Blake and Anna were called to go join them. They crawled their way over to them. They settled down next to Esmerelda who was sitting next to Jess and Ivy. Blake in particular seemed to have the attention of everyone on the wagon.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°You were starting to worry your parents, boy.¡± Ralph announced. He patted Blake on the head. ¡°Really?¡± Blake asked. ¡°Indeed, you suddenly passed out but you didn¡¯t wake up. A lot of hours have passed by this point.¡± Ivy confirmed with them. ¡°Oh.¡± Blake responded. He didn¡¯t think so much time would have passed in the short time he was with Aaron. Jess suddenly clapped her hands. She turned to Norman but he continued to look forward at the road. ¡°Back to the topic at hand. Norman, I must ask again, would you be interested in allowing Blake to go to the Royal academy.¡± Norman remained unchanging, silently facing forward at the path. Everyone was silent as they awaited a response but not even a word escaped Norman¡¯s mouth. Then they heard it. The smallest snoring was coming from him. Norman had fallen asleep. Esmerelda was getting up and reaching for the reins but Jack beat her to it. ¡°Thanks Jack. I apologize, the stress along with the lack of asleep must have gotten to him. Would one of you be kind enough to help me to lay him down in the back?¡± Ralph stood up and pulled the sleeping man over to the back where he couldn¡¯t abruptly fall off. Jack proceeded to step onto the front. ¡°I¡¯ll take the charge of the reins. It¡¯s getting late now all of you guys should get some shut eye.¡± Esmerelda took up the offer without a second thought. She laid down next to Norman, pulling Anna and Blake with her. The group of adventurers continued to chat a while longer but they also lost to sleep. Before long only Blake and Jack were still awake. Blake closed his eyes shut in an attempt to sleep but it was to no avail. He had too much energy to spare since he had been sleeping for however many hours on end. He found himself with nothing to do so he turned his face to look up at the sky. Blake found himself mesmerized by the sight. Thousands of dots, brightly shining, filled the darkness that encompassed them. In his boredom he had started looking for constellations. After not finding a single one, the realization that he wouldn¡¯t find the constellations in this world came to him. While slightly disappointed, he wasn¡¯t too bothered. Out of nowhere the wagon came to a sudden halt. Blake looked around for any sign of what may have caused it but nothing came to view. Instead he heard the sound of running water which greatly confused him. He stood up and moved over to peer over the edge of the wagon. To his dismay he was greeted with a pair of arms. With incredible speed they wrapped around Blake¡¯s head. They started to pull him and he started to lose balance. He tried to push himself backward but it didn¡¯t work. The arms kept constricting around his head. Almost like a snake with its prey. They kept moving until his mouth and nose were covered. He couldn¡¯t breathe. In his desperation he tried forcing the arms off. He mustered every bit of strength he could but his struggles were in vain. His hands just phased through the arms. He couldn¡¯t touch them, they were like water. They continued to pull Blake further and further. In one final attempt he said, ¡°Augue.¡± Light appeared in Blake¡¯s hand. It continued to gather until Blake could feel the heat radiating off of it. Instead of launching the ball of fire, he brought it directly up to the arms. Blake felt the fireball make contact but there was no scream, no screech, no noise whatsoever; his fireball seemed to have been absorbed by whatever had latched onto him. At the same time, Blake felt his strength run out. He felt himself fall out of the wagon, but he didn¡¯t hit the ground. He felt like he was being carried somewhere. The forest he assumed. With his consciousness waning he wondered what would happen to him. Suddenly he felt being set down on something before being released of his kidnapper¡¯s clutches. He gasped for air, one deep breath after another. He struggled to force his eyes open. When he did, terror filled him inside as he realized he hadn¡¯t been taken one foot away from the wagon. He found himself right next to Jack who looked down at him with a menacing look. ¡°Aaron was right. This man isn¡¯t normal. He seemed fine but then he does this.¡± Blake thought. Blake was about yelling but it seemed like Jack could read his mind. ¡°If you try yelling or running away, it won¡¯t end well for you.¡± He whispered. It was more than enough to keep Blake quiet. Before long Jack had started back on the road. It was quiet for a while, Blake was too scared to speak and Jack didn¡¯t say a thing. ¡°Aaron are you there?¡± Blake thought. ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Any ideas?¡± Blake asked. ¡°None at all, just comply for now and inform father and mother when you can. It¡¯s so frustrating that I can¡¯t do anything. If only I had my own body.¡± Aaron said. After a few minutes of absolute silence Jack cleared his throat. ¡°It would be in your best interest to answer all of my questions Blake, or should I say Aaron.¡± Chapter 13 - Cleared Misunderstandings Chapter 13 ¨C Cleared Misunderstandings Blake was utterly shocked. He turned his head down, tightly clenching his fists. He started to feel a churning sensation in his stomach. He started to feel light headed. ¡°There¡¯s no way that he should know about Aaron. Just what is this guy?¡± he thought. ¡°That confirms it. I¡¯m right aren¡¯t I?¡± Blake didn¡¯t bother looking up, he was too scared. A feeling of dread came over him as he imagined what might await him. ¡°How did you come back from that hell?¡± Blake unclenched his fists. He raised his head and laid his eyes on Jack. ¡°My name is Blake, not Aaron.¡± He responded. His voice didn¡¯t waver but he quickly found himself facing away once more. ¡°Good job, just keep insisting that you don¡¯t know. As you can assume, it¡¯s highly possible that he¡¯s from the future, similar to me. If it comes down to it tell him that you¡¯re from a different world. There¡¯s not much we can do, just try to hold out. If you can¡¯t convince him that you¡¯re not me then he might kill.¡± Aaron exclaimed. Not even having time to respond to Aaron, Blake felt a rough, hard hand rest upon his shoulder. He looked up at Jack. ¡°There¡¯s no point in playing dumb. I know who you are.¡± Jack stated. Out of seemingly nowhere he spun his head and looked into the darkness as if scanning for something before turning back to Blake. ¡°Looks like we¡¯ll have to have this talk at a later time.¡± Blake could only stare blankly as Jack vaulted out of the wagon. He tied the reigns to a tree so the horses couldn¡¯t run. He immediately made for the woods. At the same time the horses started freaking out. They tried running away but couldn¡¯t get away. ¡°They look spooked; any ideas why Aaron?¡± Blake thought. ¡°Are you telling me that you can¡¯t feel that murderous intent being directed over here?¡± Aaron asked. ¡°It¡¯s coming from the direction that Jack headed off into.¡± Blake stared off into the woods but he couldn¡¯t feel a thing. ¡°I can¡¯t feel a thing. Do you know what the source of it is?¡± ¡°I do have an idea but I hope I¡¯m wrong. Go on head after Jack, he might need any help you can give him.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that he isn¡¯t to be trusted? Why should we help him?¡± ¡°He can¡¯t be trusted but I¡¯d much rather deal with him.¡± Aaron yelled. ¡°Whatever you say.¡± Blake thought. He carefully and slowly hopped off of the wagon. He circled the wagon until he found himself staring at the direction that Jack had ran off into. He stood there a few moments contemplating but he ran in after Jack. ¡°Just a question Aaron but how am I supposed to know where he went. I can¡¯t feel this intent you speak of.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, It¡¯s just up ahead. All you need to do is go in a straight line.¡± Aaron responded. Blake kept going forward trying to look for any sign of Jack. He went on for a few minutes until he heard Jack¡¯s yells. Blake quickly spotted two silhouettes standing face to face. He inched ever closer and saw Jack who looked to be speaking to someone. As Blake got near he saw what Jack was talking to. He felt his heart sink to his stomach. A humanoid figure with horns on his head, claws on his hands and feet. ¡°It was as I feared.¡± Aaron said. ¡°It¡¯s one of those demons but I have no idea why he¡¯s here. Get closer to listen in on their conversation.¡± Again Blake closed the distance once more until he was able to hear them speaking. He hid right behind a tree making sure not to make any noise. ¡°Tell me why you¡¯re after Norman!¡± Jack yelled. ¡°Norman?¡± the demon questioned. ¡°They¡¯re after Norman?¡± Blake thought. ¡°The human that you¡¯re targeting.¡± Jack informed the demon. ¡°Oh that human.¡± ¡°Yes him. Tell me why you¡¯re after him.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just following orders.¡± After hearing the demon speak Blake was surprised by how human is sounded besides the monotone. ¡°Orders from who?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any reason to tell you.¡± The demon stated. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll have to beat it out of you then.¡± Jack mocked. He stretched out his hand and water burst out of it. The water rushed to the demon but it dodged to the side. The water took no time in turning and it quickly found itself clutching onto the demon. It started to cover him head to foot but it seemed unfazed. The demon raised his arm. With one smooth and fast swing, all the water dispersed onto the ground. He took a running stance before leaping toward Jack. . It raised its leg and kicked Jack in the stomach. The claws appeared to dig in. He went flying until he hit a tree. The tree snapped in half. It started falling but Jack stood back up. He was bleeding from his head and stomach but that didn¡¯t stop him. Water spilled out of his outstretched hand. It slowly started to solidify. After a few second his hands held onto a sword made of ice. Jack charged at the demon as he swung his sword.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The demon raised his hand, trying to block with his claws. It seemed to work for a moment but the sword cut through. Blood started gushing out from the demon¡¯s hand. Jack raised the sword for another swing but missed as the demon leaped backward away from Jack. ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood to fight. I guess you win for today, but you better hope you never run into me again or you will die.¡± With that, the demon disappeared from sight. Jack lasted no more than a few seconds before falling backwards, landing on the ground. He laid there unmoving. He was breathing heavily. As Blake continued to look on, Aaron appeared next to him/ ¡°Either the demon just wasn¡¯t in the mood like he said or he wasn¡¯t at full power. Either way it was lucky. Let¡¯s go back before Jack notices that we¡¯re gone.¡± Aaron told him. Blake didn¡¯t move. He stood there in thought. ¡°Blake?¡± Finally Blake turned to go back the way he came and took a few steps before coming to a complete halt. He rotated 180 degrees and starting walking in Jack¡¯s direction. ¡°What are you doing Blake!!?¡± Aaron questioned him ¡°Aaron we need information; any information helps. If he really is from the future like you then we can¡¯t risk one of the others waking up and listening in. What a better place to talk then out here separated from the rest.¡± Blake said as he increased his gait. Aaron scratched his head. ¡°If you say so but watch yourself. He might kill you if you¡¯re not careful.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Blake reassured as he stepped closer to Jack. ¡°Are you still going to deny that you¡¯re Aaron?¡± Jack asked. Blake flinched for a moment, but he clenched his fist and continued forward. He felt each step he took grow heavier. Jack sat up like almost nothing had happened. Blake was astonished, he stopped a little bit away from Jack. ¡°There¡¯s no way the damage isn¡¯t there.¡± He thought. ¡°Fine I won¡¯t deny it anymore. I¡¯m Aaron.¡± Blake responded. A look of confusion filled Aaron¡¯s face as he heard Blake speak. ¡°Augue.¡± Fire burst from his hand, forming a ball. It looked overloaded, ready to blow and to consume anything in its path. Blake pointed his hand directly at Jack. ¡°I¡¯m going to do the questioning now. I¡¯ll decide what I tell you after hearing you out. Starting with the reason that you murdered my parents who trusted you so much.¡± ¡°Let me say that using fire against water is not very smart but I¡¯ll talk. I have no reason not to¡± Jack responded. He took a few breaths before his face twisted with anger. ¡°I just want to say that I wasn¡¯t the one that killed your mother but I was forced to kill your father. Everything appeared to be normal that day that you left to hunt for our food. I was left with your parents at our camp checking over our map and modifying the route that we would be taking. All of the sudden your father¡¯s hand started twitching. His hand sprouted these claws. I was left in a daze. I wasn¡¯t able to respond to his screams telling me to run away.¡± Jack made a fist and hit the ground so hard that his hand started bleeding. ¡°Before I knew it. He looked just like one of those creatures from hell. He looked me straight in the eye. I felt myself staring for an endless amount of time but I realized that he wasn¡¯t Norman anymore. He turned to look at your mother and disappeared from my sight. I stood up in a haste and turned all around. As I reached for my sword I heard your mother¡¯s blood curdling screams. I turned to see her impaled by claws coming from your father. I felt helpless as I saw tears running down Norman¡¯s face.¡± Blake and Aaron alike stared in disbelief. ¡°It only took a few seconds for her lifeless body to fall limp to the ground. I didn¡¯t know what to do so I did the only thing I knew. I charged at him with my sword. I felt my sword make contact. I gave him a shallow cut as he turned sideways to dodge. I didn¡¯t give him time to get away. I followed up with a thrust to his chest, impaling him. That¡¯s when I noticed you far off in the distance. You ran away immediately and I was tempted to go after you but I decided to stay by my friend¡¯s side. The horns and claws had disappeared. He was barely hanging on. He thanked me and told me that years before that a monster like creature had approached him. It had muttered something before disappearing. He could only assume that his transformation was caused by it.¡± Blake could hardly believe what he heard. If people could turn into demons than they were much more dangerous than he first thought. ¡°Hey Aaron tell me, is he telling the truth. Can people turn into these demons?¡± he thought. Blake didn¡¯t get an immediate response. ¡°I¡¯m afraid so. I apologize I intended to tell you later. The real reason I tried sneaking myself into their land was to try to find a way to turn them back into humans. I had said that all my comrades had fallen in battle but that¡¯s not all. The full truth is that some of them were captured. The ones that were captured were turned into demons. I was a coward, I couldn¡¯t even kill them knowing some could have been human before¡­ I¡¯ll trust that you can handle Jack. I need some time to myself.¡± Aaron admitted. He disappeared into nothing leaving Blake to focus his attention back at Jack. ¡°You ready to talk yet?¡± Jack asked. Blake stroked his chin as he wondered what he should say. ¡°Just two questions, I have two questions.¡± ¡°What are they?¡± Jack asked. ¡°How did you know I was Aaron and how did you come back through time?¡± Blake asked. ¡°About how I knew it was you, it was just a hunch to be honest. When I first saw you I felt something was off. On a whim I used a skill to see through deception. I looked over at you only to see you as the Aaron who ran off that day. About how I found myself here I have no idea. Several years after I last saw you, I ended up being fatally wounded in a fight against the demons. I could feel myself dying. I felt strangely at peace as my life ended but all of the sudden I found myself here.¡± Blake felt weirded out. All of it felt weirdly convenient. ¡°Ready to talk now and can you point that thing somewhere else?¡± Jack said as he pointed at Blake¡¯s fireball. ¡°Oh right.¡± Blake shifted his hand to the sky and shot the fireball. ¡°Let¡¯s start heading back. I can tell you on the way. Can you stand?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s go.¡± Jack planted a foot on the ground and used it as a crutch to stand up. He started walking after Blake who had already started. ¡°I guess I should start by telling you that I¡¯m not Aaron.¡± Blake heard Jack groan in response. ¡°Are you still going on about that?¡± Jack retorted. Blake turned around and looked up at Jack. ¡°Hear me out first. It might sound confusing but just listen. After all you¡¯ll have more worth as an ally if I don¡¯t keep things from you. As I said before I¡¯m not Aaron, I¡¯m Blake. I¡¯m not from this world.¡± Blake went ahead and told Jack about everything that had happened to him. How he had died but gotten a second chance at life. How he found out that Aaron existed. Jack didn¡¯t quite believe Blake at first but he assured Jack that he had no reason to make any of this up. Before long they were on they were back to the wagon and on their way once more. ¡°So where did Aaron go off to then?¡± Jack asked. Blake shrugs his shoulders. ¡°I have no idea. He just vanished when he found out the truth about you killing his parents.¡± Blake responded. ¡°It must have been a big blow to his pride.¡± Blake nodded in agreement. Before long Blake finally started getting drowsy so he hopped into the back where he had been laying before. As he started to drift into sleep he had a thought. ¡°Did the goblins show up by coincidence just in time for Jack to tag along or¡­..?¡±