Chapter Seven: Power can be both a Blessing and a Curse

Larson spun around in front of the mirror a few times. “Well goodness, look who’s gotten bigger again.” Hasson chuckled while watching him spin like a top. Hasson wasn’t kidding, over the course of one night, he’d gone from looking barely a day over five, to looking like a slightly thin ten-year-old. With a thought, he opened his stat menu to check his suspicion.

Character Information:

Name: Larson Reed

Titles: The First Born, Avid Reader, Big Kid Now

Race: Dragonling

Main Job: Apprentice Mage

Secondary Job: None

Level: 12

Experience: 110/120

HP: 1200/1200

MP: 1300/1300

STR: 130 (+10)

INT: 160 (+10)

DEX: 140 (+10)

WIS: 160 (+10)

CON: 130 (+10)

CHA: 140 (+10)

LUC: 112 (+10)

Status: Healthy

Element Affinity: Light, Dark, Unknown

Bounty: 0 Gold

Spells:

Light Spells:

[Protection] [Holy Shot] [Basic Heal]

Dark Spells:

[Void Shot]

Skills:

[Appraisal] (passive) [Light Steps] (passive) [Fast Casting] (passive)

Special Traits:*

Child of an Archmagus: As the child of an Archmagus you are blessed with a natural talent for magic. As such learning spells are easier.

Child of an Assassin: It’s rare for the keepers of the shadows to have children. As such, for you, to of been born is a blessing. With practice, you may inherit your parent’s skills.

Blood of the Dragons: Born with the blood of the dragons running through your veins, your body is naturally healthy and strong.

Title Bonuses:

The First Born: Rewarded to the first person to choose the Natural Born option.

Bonus 50% to all Experience All stats receive +10

Avid Reader: Gained by reading more than a hundred books in a short period of time.

Improves memory

Big Kid Now: A unique title. Rewarded for being a big kid now.

Let’s others know that you’re a big kid now

Noting the asterisk by special traits he clicked on it, before nearly facepalming. This system was a little too much.

Congratulations!

You have officially passed through the Early Childhood Phase. Since you have put in the effort to grow up as a normal child in Waylin, you have been awarded the unique title:

Big Kid Now

He was pulled from his thoughts by a sudden sharp pain in his back. With a yelp, he turned his head to see a grinning Galdon gripping a long scaled gray tail in his hand.

“With that, we can be considered even.” Galdon snickered before Larson yanked his newly grown appendage from his grasp.

“I wasn’t aware it hurt so much…” Larson grumbled as he released his tail, after which he spent a few moments just wiggling it in wonderment. Even though the added tail and growth spurt where the biggest changes, when he went back to examining himself in the mirror he discovered a few more. Like his frame, his horns had gotten a bit larger. His ears had also grown longer, with scales now covering their tips.

Pulling up his shirt he looked at his back in the mirror. With a touch of disappointment, he sighed, “I was kinda wishing for wings, but I guess that cool mark will do for now.”

“Natulis have mercy. Boy, even Dragonlings blessed by Bersus don’t grow wings on their first bloodline awakening. Besides, you were born under the blessing of Lumos and Drakus, so you should consider yourself lucky.” Hasson muttered from the door as he shook his head.

Larson looked at Hasson with confusion, but Galdon beat him to the punch, “Is that why Larson’s Blessing Mark is gray?” With both boy’s staring at him questionably Hasson smiled bitterly, he’d been trying to avoid this conversation ever since he’d taken Larson in. “Let’s talk about this over some food.” He finally said reluctantly.

As they all gathered around the table in the tiny dining room, the two boys continued to stare eagerly at the old elf. Hasson took a few bites out of his lunch before caving under the pair’s inquisitive gaze. Returning his sandwich to his plate, he rubbed his temples, “As you both probably guessed, the reason Larson’s mark is gray, is because he has a mixed blessing. So, he’s what’s known as an Admixus.” His expression grew gloomy as he continued, “Though these days admixus are looked upon with fear. Most people believe admixus' to be unstable.” Yet contrary to his expectations, the two kids across from him seemed completely unfazed by his words. If anything, they looked even more excited than earlier.

“Last month on my tenth birthday, when I had my awakening, I was only Blessed by Metalas. My mom said it was fitting since my dad named me Galdon. She always complained that I was cursed to become a piece of gold one day.” A hint of grief flashed in his eyes before it vanished and he turned to Larson with a grin. “I think two blessings is so cool!”

The pure happiness in Galdon’s eyes when he said that nearly made Larson clutch his heart. ‘Ah, I don’t deserve to be friends with this cinnamon roll.’ Larson thought. Unlike him, who was technically twenty-five years old, Galdon was a legit ten-year-old. As he remembered what Galdon had been through the past few days, he could feel a hint of anger growing in him. The fate of his parents was unknown, and he’d been chased from his home by bandits. Yet, here he was, grinning like an idiot, and telling him how cool he thought two blessings were. Looking at Galdon, he made two silent vows. First, that he would protect this kid, and secondly, that he would wipe every bandit from existence.

Getting back to the conversation at hand, Larson turned back to Hasson, “Gramps, if people with mixed blessings are known to be unstable, why did you insist I become an apprentice mage?”

“Because it’s complete poppycock.” Hasson stated in aggravation, “Those in power fear the strength an admixus could amass if given the chance, so they started the rumor that they were unstable monsters. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been living alone in the woods for the last three-hundred years.” He said as his ears twitched in anger with a look of disgust on his face.

Taking a deep breath, he gradually calmed himself down, “However as I said earlier, Larson’s lucky to of been blessed by Lumos and Drakus. Because it was just a mix of them two, his mark is a pure gray. As such he’ll be able to pass off as someone simply blessed by the Forgotten. It’s not much better than being known as an Admixus, but at least he won’t be hunted. Also, since people marked by the Forgotten can use basic spells from every element, as long as he only uses simple magic around other’s, none will be the wiser.”

Larson sunk into contemplation, he’d noticed the mark on his back before but he’s never put much thought into it. But according to Hasson, it was a big deal. Suddenly his impromptu choice to start his adventure in Zerxon didn’t seem like the wisest one. ‘Choosing the mixing pot territory makes you mixed too, thanks, system.’ He thought sarcastically.

You're Welcome!

When that random text box flashed in his mind it caught him off guard, causing him to choke on his food. A startled Galdon quickly pat him on the back while reminding him to eat slower.

Similar to how Larson had decided to protect Galdon, the little tiger had come to his own decision as well. As far as Galdon knew, Larson was just a weird little dragon with more power than most. And after being saved by him twice, in his heart, he already considered Larson as an important family member. Hearing Hasson say that there would be people out there willing to hunt Larson down, he was furious. His father had always said that a tigerkin must be proud and strong to protect his family. Even though he knew that he was currently weak, he vowed to change that.

As he watched the two kids eating and joking with each other, Hasson smiled warmly. Relieved that Larson had managed to make such a good friend, he figured now was as good a time as any. Snapping his fingers, he brought their attention back to him. “Alright, now that you both know the meaning of a gray mark, what do you wish to do?”

“Wish to do?” They both echoed in unison, not really understanding the question.

“I mean exactly as I said. Surely you both don’t intend to spend the rest of your days here in the border forest with a boring old man.” Hasson said with a laugh.

Thinking it over for a moment, Larson was the first to speak, “I kinda wanna visit a town. What about you, Gal?”

Galdon nodded, “Isn’t the village Duio close by? Can we visit it? I’d like to see if I can hear anything about my parents.” Sadness could be heard in his voice as he finished his sentence.

“Yeah let’s do that! Gramps, we wanna go to Duio. Let’s go right now!” Larson exclaimed as he hopped up from his seat, his food long since finished.

“Alright, alright, calm down. We can head to Duio. But it’ll probably take a couple days to get there. And since Larson's already over level ten, we can hunt a few slimes along the way to level Galdon up some too. So, Larson, go pack some clothes for Galdon and yourself, while I lock everything up, then we’ll head out.”