Hello readers! As I promised this chapter contains a time skip, albeit a small one. This one works to put Nova closer to the significant six year old point in the lives of children.

This chapter includes some information on the adventurer system which I would appreciate you guys letting me know what you think.

It also features a lot of dialogue that I'm still gaining experience on writing, and I would like to know what you guys think about it as well.

Hope you guys like it though :)

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V1: Wild Child

C7: An Unrefusable Offer

It has been a little over one and a half years since the day that Leilatha, Amber, Anderson, Anna, and Muiredon discovered Nova in the Eternal Night Forest.

These one and a half years Nova spent with them were about learning of the society of adventurers and the world beyond the walls of this outpost. For there were so many things he could learn simply by talking with people, Nova became well known throughout the outpost.

Not only for the fact that it became known he had tamed an Azure Tiger, but also because he was always interested in the stories of adventurers. Nothing boosted an adventurers ego more than having a young kid excitedly listening to their tales of exploring the terrifying dungeons filled with monsters, traps, and dangers.

His lessons with Leilatha also continued on as she taught him the common language to the point where he could fully speak sentences instead of just single words that implied what he meant to say.

Whenever Nova had questions about some of the things adventurers told him, he would also go find Leilatha to find out what they meant. In doing so she taught him about many types of monsters, dungeons, places, and treasures that adventurers saw in the world.

Anything and everything to do with adventuring, he learned by heart. To a young kid, living in a city filled with people whose lives contained the thrill of exploration, danger, and fighting was an inspiration to aspire to be an adventurer himself.

He often spent his days dreaming about the day he would become an adventurer. To explore the unknown wilderness, travel through exotic lands, and exploring dangerous dungeons all the while fighting in a constant state of life or death. A thrill he could not find within the confines of this outpost.

About a week after Nova had first arrived at the outpost, Lielatha took him back to the Adventurer’s Hall to officially register into their party. He was given his first Adventurer’s Plate, which is a complex magical item shows to a certain accuracy the statistics of an adventurer.

At four years age, Nova’s plate looked like this:

Adventurer’s PlateName:NovaRank:NoneProgress:0%Level:0Progress:0%Statistics:Strength:8Stamina:7Vitality:4Agility:16Dexterity:11Intelligence:10Wisdom:6

Statistics were determined by the complex spell contained within the plate that would test the owner’s capabilities when they applied their blood to it. If the owner did not apply blood to the plate again to check, the statistics wouldn’t change because it wouldn’t be able to reassess the changes in the owner.

Generally stats would naturally increase once a year from birth until ten years age except for intelligence and wisdom. This way an average ten year old child who never received early training would only be at ten in strength, stamina, vitality, agility, and dexterity.

Rank refers to adventurer rank, which is increased by killing monsters. The clerk who who gave Nova his adventurer’s plate also went through all the adventurer ranks and requirements with him:

Adventurer RanksRankRequirementWoodLevel 1 Warrior or Mage. 100 confirmed kills of Wood-Rank monsters.Stone1000 confirmed kills of Wood-Rank monsters inside the Wood-Ranked floors of a dungeon.CopperLevel 2 Warrior or Mage. 100 confirmed kills of Copper-Rank monsters.Bronze1000 confirmed kills of Copper-Rank monsters inside the Copper-Ranked floors of a dungeon.IronLevel 3 Warrior or Mage. 100 confirmed kills of Iron-Rank monsters.Steel1000 confirmed kills of Iron-Rank monsters inside the Iron-Ranked floors of a dungeon.GoldLevel 4 Warrior or Mage. 100 confirmed kills of Gold-Rank monsters.Platinum1000 confirmed kills of Gold-Rank monsters inside the Gold-Ranked floors of a dungeon.MithrilLevel 5 Warrior or Mage. 1000 confirmed kills of Mithril-Rank monsters inside the Mithril-Ranked floors of a dungeon.AdamantineLevel 6 Warrior or Mage. 1000 confirmed kills of Adamantine-Rank monsters inside the Adamantine-Ranked floors of a dungeon.DiamondLevel 7 Warrior or Mage. 1000 confirmed kills of Diamond-Rank monsters inside the Diamond-Ranked floors of a dungeon.ElementiumLevel 8 Warrior or Mage. 10 confirmed kills of a Elementium-Ranked Boss.GodwoodLevel 9 Warrior or Mage. 10 confirmed kills of a Godwood-Ranked Boss.GodsteelLevel 9 Warrior or Mage. 10 confirmed kills of a Godsteel-Ranked Boss.Legend1 confirmed kill of a Legendary Boss.

Lielatha explained to Nova that all of these ranks are a type of material used in blacksmithing. The founder of the Adventurer’s enclave was a famous dwarven blacksmith, and people assume he named the ranks like this so that people would understand how rare certain materials they can find in the dungeons are.

Also just as the list implies, there are only wood, copper, iron, gold, mithril, adamantine, diamond, elementium, godwood, and godsteel ranked monsters with only elementium, godwood, and godsteel containing boss type monsters. However the Legendary rank is… legendary. Whether or not they can even be found inside dungeons, no one knows save for those who have killed them.

The level system however, was something different from adventurer ranks as it has to do with the training Warriors and Mages undergo.

For warriors to level up, they had to slowly fuse the mana that comes from the world into their blood streams. For every 10% that is fused, the warrior goes up a level.

For mages, they had to purify the soul energy within them by channeling mana through it. In doing so they would be able to increase the amount of elemental energy they could control using their soul energy. Similarly, for every 10% of their soul that is purified, they would go up a level.

The higher the percentage goes, the harder it gets, and after 90% progress takes years to even gain one more percent.

All this information only served to further hype Nova up towards becoming strong. However, no matter how hard he pushed, he still couldn’t get anyone to train him because he was too young.

Even when he pestered Leilatha, Anna, or Amber to teach him how to fight and be strong they would tell him he was too young. To remember the promise that he had to learn everything Leilatha wanted to teach him.

Eventually they told him that when he turned six years of age they would begin training him, as that was the customary age to begin the minimal amount of training for children who come from families of fighters. But finally, Nova could see a finish line in the long wait that had plagued him.

He only had to reach six years of age.. But he didn’t even really know when his birthday was..

When he asked Leilatha about this, they too realized the hole in their promise.

And so, although they were unsure as to when his actual birthday was, they simply agreed that his birthday would become the day they found him, and then two years from that day is when he would be old enough to be trained.

Meanwhile, he pursued everything he could about learning to be an adventurer.

He learned the basic skills of camping, skinning, tracking, reading and writing, sneaking, and perception from Leilatha. Although Nova already knew well how to track and sneak from his mother, some of the things Lielatha pointed out gave him a better grasp on it.

He learned how to identify a lot of the known herbs and ingredients useful for making potions, and even how to make a lot of basic potions from Muiredon.

He learned what the mental aura is, how to control it, and to use it against his enemies from Anna. She also taught him weapon and armor maintenance which she said was essential to do while going on long expeditions.

He learned how to identify what kinds of things found in the wilderness are edible based on their look, smell, and touch along with how to cook using the ingredients you could find while traveling from Amber. Also, in an attempt to spend more time with him, she secretly taught him ways to stretch his body and to practice his breathing so he could keep a calm mind during battles. By telling him that it was a form of training for getting stronger, he was rather excited every time he would go visit Amber.

Anderson however, taught Nova music. Anderson told Nova that while knowing how to do everything else he was learning was important, a key factor in how well a party of adventurers would do on a trip is how good their mood was. And the best way to improve the mood is without a doubt through music. Or so Anderson says. So Nova spent his time learning all the different cords to remember; how to identify a note by its pitch; how to play the guitar; and how to control his vocal cords to sing well.

And just like that a year and a half went by.

….

It’s currently morning, but life does not rest in this outpost of adventure and those who have things to do are always up bright and early.

Currently the group is sitting a round table booth, with Nova as usual sitting in Lielatha’s lap. Bahina is at the edge of the booth, eating raw meat from a plate on the floor.

In the one and a half years this group hasn’t gone outside the outpost to kill monsters, but their cash fund could only last them so long. So, despite their wishes (mostly Lielatha’s) to stay with Nova, they had decided they would ask another party they were familiar with, and knew would be staying in the outpost for a month or two, to look after Nova.

Today was the day they would be heading out, however Nova showed no signs of being sad.. Instead he was brutally begging for them to take them a long with him.

“Pllleeasseee.. I’ll be really useful! I can help Muiredon pick herbs or Amber cook the meals or help pack and unpack the camping equipment! I didn’t learn all this just for show, you know?! It’s a bit unfair to leave a party member behind, you know?!”

But everybody could only give him an awkward smile.. once again they would have to quell his requests to take them with them. It’s not that they didn’t want to though, it’s just that they all still remembered what the Adventurer’s Hall Head had told them when they first brought him here.. By no means was Nova allowed to leave the outpost.

“Nova, please.. We can’t take you wish us. You surviving in the forest was already incredibly lucky, but the dungeon is far more dangerous than the forest. You.. you would only be a burden to us.” (Forgive me, Nova! It hurts so much to even say it…) (Leilatha)

“A burden.. So I’m just a burden, huh.. fine.. I get it.. I’m always going to be useless..” Nova slouches down in depression, hiding his face from Leilatha.

“Ah! Th-that’s not true! I didn’t mean it like that! You’re not useless Nova! You’re incredibly smart and talented. It’s ju-” (Leilatha)

“Then you’ll take me?!” He immediately beams up at Leilatha while smiling widely in excitement.

“Ah, geez. I don’t even know how to say no anymore..” (Leilatha)

“Hnn, maybe we could just sneak him out.. hide him in a bag or maybe inside my clothes..” (Amber)

“*Tsk* Shameful women. And then where do you suppose who hide this giant lump of fur on the ground over here, eh?” (Anderson)

“Hmm.. You’ll fly her out?” (Amber)

“Haah? Do I look like a berserker to you? Carrying her for one foot would be an incredible feat, let alone several hundred.” (Anderson)

“Hmm, Nova. I know it’s hard to accept, but we really, really can’t take you. But one day in the future, we’ll definitely go adventuring together, okay?” Anna gives Nova a pleading look, saying that she really doesn’t have a choice.

“.. You really can’t take me at all..?” (Nova)

“We really can’t Nova. Even if we wanted to, we wouldn’t be able to. But like Anna said, in the future we’ll go adventuring together all the time!” (Leilatha)

“.. Fine. I’ll.. stay here.” (Nova)

“*sigh* Thank you for understanding Nova.” (Leilatha)

The next few minutes are spent with the adventurers discussing their plans, arrangements, and gear needed for their trip to make sure everything was in order. However, during their talks, a group of guards walks into the inn.

The inn goes quiet.. these are the guards of the Adventurer’s Hall. Guards that rarely ever go outside unless to catch a criminal adventurer or welcome a high-ranking adventurer to the outpost.

They walk up to the table Nova and the others are sitting at.

“Nova is to come with us to the Adventurer’s Hall to meet the Head. No refusal is allowed. Please follow us.” (Guard)

All of their faces are in shock.. could this be.. someone has finally come for Nova?!

“Ehm, I understand Nova has to go, but I also want to go. As his guardian I wish to be present for him if there is any difficulties.” (Leilatha)

“That’s fine. As long as Nova comes.” (Guard)

“I see, well then. We’ll be back guys, but please put preparations for the trip on hold until we return.” (Leilatha)

Everyone gives a silent nod, not knowing what to say or too afraid to ask to come along as well. The guards escort Leilatha, Nova, and Bahina out the doors of the inn… instant pandemonium.

Talks and discussions of what’s going on instantly break out, everyone trying to figure out why the head was to talk to Nova. People repeatedly come up to their table to try to ask them if they know anything, but they can only shake their heads in silence.

Truly such bad timing, and bad luck. They had long ago believed that there was no longer a person coming for Nova, as they hadn’t heard anything else from the Adventurer’s Hall Head.

When Nova turned six they would begin training him, and then ask the Head to allow them to take him out adventuring with them.. But all of these plans came to a standstill as their worries set in once again..

….

Leilatha, Nova, and Bahina arrive once again in front of the doors to the office of the Head of the Adventurer’s Hall. The guards open the doors, and the familiar office greets them once again.

Only this time, aside from the large, muscular man with large horns protruding from his head, are two other men.

The moment she sees there are other people, Leilatha tightens her grip on Nova’s hand.

Both of the men are facing away from her, so she can’t see their faces.

One of them is extremely well built. Not incredibly muscular like the Head of the Hall, but with such defined muscles that he looks incredibly lean and powerful. Currently he wears a simple set of black everyday clothes. He has short black hair, even shorter than Nova’s but with a similar fluffiness. He has two ears of the cat-people race, but his tail is only a stub as if it’s been cut off. He seems taller than most men of the catpeople race, she thinks to herself.

The other stands quite tall however, with long flowing red hair and pale red, pointy ears that belong to fire elves. He wears a long, decorative, red robe hiding the features of his body underneath. The air around him seems to hold a superior feeling that belongs to the elder elves that live in the Elf-Forest Kingdom of Falirwe that Lielatha is familiar with.

She leads Nova up to the desk of the Hall Head, but she doesn’t sit down like last time. She simply waits until someone speaks to her.

When she gets there, she senses that both of the two men are looking over at Nova. Unable to resist her curiosity, she took glances over.. The first man has the same golden eyes as Nova!

“Ah? Could you be related to Nova?!” Unable to contain her shock at the development, she blurts out this question.

The man looks up from Nova for a moment, looking into her eyes. Then he looks back to Nova.

He walks over to him, and reaches out towards the necklace on Nova’s chest.. but Nova flinches back towards Leilatha, hiding behind her.

“*Ehem* Can I.. ask what you summoned Nova for?”

This time the red-haired elf man walks over, watching Nova who’s behind Leilatha. “Pardon us, miss. We should introduce ourselves. I am Myrin Ruunya and this man here is-”

“Richard.” The black-haired man interrupts.

“.. Right. As you guessed this man is indeed related to.. Nova. He is his uncle from his father’s side. I am also related to Nova. I am his grandfather, from his mother’s side. I can assure you we don’t mean any harm to him.”

Leilatha is shocked. The name Myrin Ruunya is quite famous in Falirwe, as one of the elders of the Ruunya clan which is known for its powerful fire magic. How could she not know this name, but this man is also Nova’s grandfather?!

“Uhm, Nova.. These two men want to greet you, they won’t hurt you. I’m sure they have plenty of stories to tell you as well.” She tries to coax Nova out from behind her.

She is still wary of any developments that could happen that would part her and Nova, but she can at least for now see how the situation plays out.

Nova, seeing Leilatha give him the go ahead, walks out from behind her. He stands before the two men, staring at them.

Nova knew well that although his mother would always be his mother, he had another mother. The mother who had given birth to him. And beside her was a man called his father, and the brother of his father would be an uncle while the sister would be an aunt. Then the father of his mother or father would be his grandfather and beside him would be his grandmother. He understood this, but to him, his mother would always be his mother and Bahina would always be his sister.

He had thought of how it would be to meet his birth parents, whether he would be able to like them or not. He thought about what kind of story could’ve lead to them getting separated. He wondered if he would be capable of having two mother’s, and what that would be like. But standing before him right now were two individuals he had never given any thought to meeting. His uncle and his grandfather.

What should he say? What should he do? What exactly does it mean to have an uncle or a grandfather? Are they expecting something of him? Why do they just keep staring? What is he supposed to do…?

“Nova..” The man called Richard kneels down to Nova’s height, and looks him in the eye. “Nova, what do you want to be when you get older?”

“An adventurer.” He replies bluntly. To him, his entire mind is filled with nothing but the life of adventure. There is no debate, question, or doubt within him that would lead him away from being an adventurer.

“An adventurer, huh.. Tell me Nova, do you want to be strong? Strong enough to explore all of the places of Elementia?” Richard asks him, although not with a curious tone, but one as if asking a question that can only be answered with a yes or no.

“Yes. I want to be strong like Liela.” He replies again. Behind him Lielatha gives a warm smile, while watching Nova. She too wanted Nova to become strong, and to be his role model was truly heart warming for her.

“Like Liela?” He gazes up at Lielatha, sending shivers down her spine. “Liela is not very strong. You could become much stronger than her, Nova.”

“... Stronger than Liela?”

“Much stronger.”

“... Then.. you want to train me?”

This time Myrin responds, “Mmm, at least he can use his head. Yes, Nova, we want to train you. Will you come with us?”

(Go with them? Then..they want me to leave Liela and the others? As if! Liela is much closer to family than these two goons. I’ll see if I can take Liela and the others with me, if not then I definitely won’t go.)

“Can I take Liela and the others with me?”

“”No.”” Both men answer sternly.

“... Then I’ll have to refuse. I will not leave Liela.”

“I see.. Well.. We already decided we’ll take you anyway, so you never really had a choice. I just wanted to see your response.” Myrin answers casually, as if the conversation is as casual as discussing dinner.

“W-wha, you can’t just take him by force! He belongs to our party. Unless you plan on insulting the Adventurer’s Enclave, don’t even think twice about trying to steal Nova.” Leilatha, infuriated at this response, pulls Nova to her side.

Myrin who’s about to say something is halted by Richard raising his hand, causing Myrin to give an annoyed expression.

“Leila. Nova has a lot of potential, and the world is much bigger than you can imagine. While I was in far away place almost six years ago, my younger brother was involved with a rebellion in this kingdom. During that time, I was not able to protect my younger brother, and he ended up losing not only his life but also his wife’s.

When I returned, discovering that my brother was dead… I was truly at a loss.. but there was one rumor that gave me a way of honoring my brother, since I could not seek vengeance for him against the Pendragon clan. That was the rumor that his wife ran into the forest with a child, a child that was supposedly my brother’s son. However when the soldiers caught her, there was no child with her.

Many say that there was never a child, or that she killed the child before the soldiers could, or that she hid the child somewhere. And even though I searched, I could not find any clues as to where this child was or if it even existed at all.

In the end, I requested that if any adventurer’s find a child with golden eyes within the forest, that the Head here send me a letter. To think that it would take so many years though, I had already given up hope.

But here he is, the child of my brother. One of the few remaining of my clan, but also the only one who is closest to me in family. I know that this request is selfish, but please, let me train him. What he does with the strength I teach him, will be up to him, but in place of his father I would like to train him.”

“*sigh* Leila, I am the same. My daughter followed this child’s father into this troublesome kingdom, and it cost her her life. I too wish to honor her by training Nova, so if you would please, let me train him as well.”

Lielatha opens her mouth.. then closes it.. opens.. then closes.. Before her are two incredibly powerful men, bowing deeply to her.. but they want to take Nova.

(To think Nova’s parents had such a story.. I can feel that neither of them are deceiving me, and truly in my mind giving Nova to them makes sense.. But in my heart.. How can I give him up so easily?

But if I don’t give him up.. won’t I be the one that’s acting selfish? Nova is only a child, and I am only a Bronze-Ranked adventurer. I’m not actually suited to teach Nova in anyway, and what if he has a good affinity for magic? I won’t be able to teach him magic at all. By keeping Nova with me, wouldn’t I be hindering his growth?

With the guidance of these two men, he could probably grow incredibly fast and become a lot stronger than he would with me teaching him.. Is there really no other way..? Why does this hurt so much..)

“.. N-Nova.. listen..” Lielatha’s voice croaks under the strain of trying to go against her own feelings, “I think.. going with these two men is the best option for you.”

“No! I don’t want to leave Liela! Why does Liela say such sad things? You obviously don’t mean what you say!”

“Nova, please hear me out, okay? It’s just as this man said, I am not actually that strong in comparison to the vast world out there. In truth I’m only average, but these two men are more powerful than anybody within this outpost. They could teach you how to become incredibly strong, and then you could explore the parts of the wilderness that even I cannot go.

And Nova, please don’t think this is goodbye, we will definitely see each other again you know? Elves have long lives, so I’ll wait for as long as it takes, okay?”

“*sob* But.. I don’t wanna leave.. I want to go adventuring with Liela..*sob*”

(*sigh* Nova… please, this is already so hard.. you’re breaking my heart.)

“Eh? And who says we won’t go adventuring together? Did I not just say this isn’t goodbye? When you get stronger, you better come find me otherwise I’m going to hunt you down, okay? We’ll go on lots of adventures together, but before then I need you to get strong. If you’re not strong enough, I won’t go on adventures with you.”

“Do you promise? When I get strong, you’ll definitely join my party and go on adventures with me?”

“I promise. I swear upon my very soul that I will join your party and go on adventures with you. But only if you get strong. Do you understand, Nova?”

“I… I understand..” Nova and Lielatha embrace each other, sobbing into each other’s clothes. Their promises of training together and exploring the wilderness with the rest of the group were shattered. With the passing of time, who could say if the group would still be there when Nova finishes training.

But as long as Lielatha would still be waiting for him, he definitely wouldn’t give up.

Meanwhile Richard and Myrin are watching the two of them. The Hall Head has turned around to look out the window as quiet sniffles could be heard coming from the other side of his chair.

After a minute or two, Nova calms down and they release each other. Nova walks before Richard and Myrin, “I would like to accept your offers to train me… Please teach me.” He says as he bows his head, trying to suppress the thoughts of being separated from his friends.

Richard and Myrin both smile,

“We won’t go easy on you, Nova.”

“We’re leaving in an hour.”

“Eh?!”

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