The loud crack of tal breaking echoed for a few monts before being drowned by the burning flas of the furnace. In the Forgemaster Rosett Evergold's workshop, Oscar's hand trembled, gripping his hamr; if not for the gloves he wore, his nails would surely pierce his skin. Before his eyes was a cracked piece of tal, a layered tal of four sheets that he had worked so hard to maintain, but now he had ruined it.
"Another failure." Rosett shook her head and placed the failures back into the crucible to lt. "Do you know what you did wrong?"
Oscar let out a restless cry, letting go of the tension that gripped his body like a python on its prey. His body slumped down on the stool, with tiredness hovering in his mind like a disease. "I had the Ein separate the four sheets well enough, but I put too much force into my Ein nail, and it cracked all the sheets."
"Good. Before, you were too lax and let the sheets ld together, and now you were too eager and destroyed them by reckless use of Ein." Rosett dusted Oscar off to give him a refresher. Her black glass visor stared straight into his as if their eyes could see each other. "I can't say when you might achieve mastery of this, but the only thing to do is keep trying. That's what you did all your life as an Exalt, right?"
Oscar smiled and nodded. "That's true."
Rosett laughed; her laughter rang lodiously across the workshop. Oscar thought such laughter belonged more in a field of flowers rather than this bleak place of earth and fire. Then her hand reached out to pat him on the head; he didn't know why but all the elders, like his master and her, seed to have that tendency.
"It's getting late. This session took all day. You should go back ho to rest. When's the next ti you want to co? I'm sure as an Exalt, you must be busy with many other areas of study." Rosett cleaned up her hamr, putting it away in her space orb.
"Well, this is my schedule so far," Oscar told her about the seven hours he spent on Reis training, on Ein and spars with his friends, and fabricator work, leaving himself only three hours to sleep at the end of the day. "And that's about it."
Rosett did not respond but stared blankly at Oscar.
Oscar didn't know what was wrong and waved his hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Uh, Aunt Rosett. What's wrong?"
"Are you kidding ?!" Like an erupting volcano, Rosett let out a shockwave of a shout that shook the entire room.
Oscar nearly fumbled on his feet, and the furnaces spewed out large flas that nearly engulfed the room. Thankfully, he was protected by Aunt Rosett's Ein before the flas could burn him to ash. He stared in confusion at her. "What was that?"
"Are you serious? Only three hours of sleep? How are you not tired every day?" Rosett jabbed her finger at Oscar's chest, making him flinch.
"Well, I'm used to it because master forced the sa kind of schedule on for six months," Oscar explained that he was fine, but it only fanned the flas that were Rosett's frustration.
"That is not ok!" Rosett grabbed Oscar's shoulders and shook him around. His head bobbed all over the place, nearly causing him to hurl. "That bastard. I thought he had recovered so sense around you, but this is insane."
"Aren't we supposed to do everything we can as Exalts?" Oscar sighed. "I'm only a Grade Four, and I'm learning several things at once. I cannot keep pace unless I do this."
Rosett sighed and led Oscar outside. Like before, she flew him up and away through the silo of smoke and straight to his house. She tossed him to the front door and said, "Go get as much rest as possible. Just co back when you are ready."
"Yes, Aunt Rosett." Oscar coughed from the sudden flight. He bowed to thank her for taking him ho. "Do you want tea like before?"
"No. I have sothing to say to that maniac." Rosett turned around, and Oscar gulped at the pressure he felt emanating from her fierce figure. She faced slightly back to him. "Make sure to get rest."
In an instant, she disappeared into the air, flying toward the direction of the Abyss Prison. Oscar took off his fabricator helt, wiping the sweat off his brow. "How many tis did she tell to rest?"
He turned around to walk inside but found a basket by the front door. In it was a note from Serena, saying that the food shouldn't go to waste and it was for . Oscar's mouth curled into a small smile at the food in the basket, thinking about Serena's stubbornness, but it was also one of her good qualities.
However, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, not just from the Reis forging efforts but also the thought of how cruel he was for rejecting soone like Serena, who showed so much care for him. Oscar didn't want her to be stuck to him because he knew he could not love her in the sa way.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
"Tomorrow might be a bit awkward." Oscar got into the shower and pulled out his inhibitor, allowing the ringing pain to wash away his guilt. His face turned pale white as a ghost, and he shivered under the cold waters raining down on him. Leaving the inhibitor by his bed, Oscar slept away the rest of the night.
The next morning, Oscar opened the door to the familiar sounds of knocking and the sll of hearty food. Serena swayed her hips with her basket hanging from her hands and greeted Oscar before entering his ho. They had done this many tis to the point it beca a routine.
"How was the Foundry yesterday?" Serena tucked her red hair behind her ears as she bit into her sandwich.
"Tireso." Oscar munched on his food with a tired expression. Then he turned to Serena and bowed his head. "I have to tell you sothing."
"You'll confess to the princess after Ashen Grove is over." Serena pouted and rested her cheek on her hand.
Oscar froze. His mouth slowly parted as his tired tone spilled out. He didn't expect her to know, and for how long? "You knew all along?"
"I knew the day you spoke about it with Frederick." Serena got off her seat and sat next to Oscar. Their eyes t; Oscar's eyes, full of apology but a hint of firmness, stared into Serena's, mixed with sadness but a fierce unwillingness. Her face drew closer to Oscar, but he leaned back to maintain a respectable distance, making Serena sigh. "That day, Frederick found before your door and led away."
"That guy…." Oscar felt the urge to strangle Frederick at this mont. But his main focus was Serena. "So, is that why you strangely got closer to Celestina?"
"It's always good to make a connection with royalty, and I wanted to gauge her properly, but I can't find a single clue from her expressions at the tis I ntioned you." Serena looked defeated as she thought of the perfect princess who stole Oscar's heart. "Also, if I got close to her, perhaps you'd notice more."
"It was certainly eye-catching." Oscar made an awkward face as Serena leaned in closer. He looked at the clock and was relieved to see the ti. He got up and said, "We should head out. Today is a good day to train."
Serena scoffed and clicked her tongue. "Fine. You are so serious."
The two ca into the training room. Oscar noticed Frederick and grabbed his shoulder. "Fred~"
Frederick turned with a ek expression, seeing Oscar's chilly pair of eyes that rarely showed themselves. "Yes, Os?"
"You never ntioned that Serena knew," Oscar said in a low tone. "Let's spar."
Frederick cursed but was dragged by Oscar to spar in their corner of the room. Frederick fought his all while Oscar sought to beat him black and blue. In the end, Emily stepped in and smacked the two to settle down.
"Get it all out of your system?" Frederick rubbed his arm, which was bruised.
"Next ti, tell if sothing like this happens." Oscar treated the small cuts on his body.
Frederick smiled. "Don't worry. That was a judgent call I made at that mont. You can bla all you want, but I still think it was the right decision. The poor girl was hurting, and I didn't want to bury you in more guilt."
Oscar smiled. "Still, we're friends. Just make feel better afterward, and it's fine."
Frederick propped his fist on Oscar's chest. "Alright."
Emily smiled at the two idiots. "Get back to the training."
Months flew by.
Oscar spent most of his ti in long periods of training. He took slight recesses to go on missions to acquire so contribution points for a new spell and more elixirs, but the key was progressing in Adamasreis and Reis forging. Both were incredibly slow.
He often failed to complete the first step of Reis forging, constantly breaking the sheets or accidentally relaxing his Ein. Still, the progress finally began to show as he used up half of the crucible mixture without ruining it, to Aunt Rosett's applause. As for Adamasreis, he consistently used more Hytr elixirs as the skin around his stomach burst out, trickling blood all over, worrying everyone.
Five months have passed since the last Grand Gathering. Oscar felt more anxious as it was only about a year until Ashen Grove. Today, Oscar was in his room as most others had gone out on their missions.
"Oscar!" Emily barged into his house. Frederick followed behind.
"What?" Oscar patched up the rest of his abdon, a thick layer of white bandages around it.
"I got an invitation from that Elizabeth Raeven to visit her in the northern sea regions." Emily held an envelope with a malicious smile. "I've gotten stronger since then. This ti, I'll smack her face at least once."
"Let's go." Frederick rustled Emily's hair with a warning gaze not to take it too far. "Mary is the only one else who's here. We can take her along."
Oscar wanted to stay and train more, but he saw the empty bottles of Hytr elixirs scattered on the floor. He had run out. "Let's take a mission there as well. I need more points."
"Then it's settled!" Emily jumped up in excitent. "Follow !"
Along the way, they picked up Mary, who was raring to go. At the mission hall, they settled on a mission with great rewards for all of them, and Frederick reached out to grab it, but soone else grabbed it before them.
"Oi!" Frederick shouted. He was about to shout more but soon stopped. The person who took the mission had an eyepatch over his right eye, Austin Taylor, the one who fought Frederick a long ti ago and lost his eye as a result.
"Fancy seeing you here," Austin spoke expressionlessly. He waved the mission details in his hand. "Want this mission?"
"Haven't seen you in a long ti, Austin." Oscar greeted him. "Where have you been?"
Oscar never saw Austin in the Inner Hall, but he could feel the presence of an Elite Exalt from him. Austin was also absent during the Grand Gatherings. However, Oscar felt Austin had beco sharper, like a blade, barely contained in its sheath, ready to strike at any mont's notice.
"If you're going on this mission, take with you." Austin ignored Oscar's question and glanced over the mission details. "It requires a large group."
"Fine." Frederick agreed. Emily did not bother offering her opinion because getting to the northern seas mattered to her.
"Then let's work well together." Austin extended his hand with his expressionless face.
Oscar gripped it candidly. "Let's."
Reviews
All reviews (0)