CHOP

The log split with a resounding thud as the two halves fell effortlessly to the ground.

"Solid work kid, only another three hundred to go now!" chuckled Angus as he watched Leon's steely expression begin to falter.

Leon's shoulders slumped as he dropped the lumber axe to the ground letting out a deep groan. Over the past two months, he had been living with the Drakes, and to make up for their hospitality he had been trying to help out Angus with his job.

Angus, as it turned out, used to be a veteran soldier from the army, which explained where the giant war-axe came from but after his retirement two years ago for some unknown reason that Leon had decided not to press for, he moved with his wife Viola to the outskirt town of Grendel in the northern part of Dern to live out his life in relative peace, away from the hustle and bustle of the cities they had been used to.

He became a Lumberjack and Hunter and sold his goods mainly to the local village in return for a humble but stable living.

Honestly, it wasn't much, but it was an honest days work that kept him active, and the couple had found themselves, for the most part, happy with life.

Furthermore, over the months of hard work, exposure to the sun and regular healthy meals Leon's physique had improved a lot. His complexion was no longer sickly pale but had a nice darkish sheen and his weight had been getting better, he was still a bit on the underweight side, but no one would bat an eye if they walked past him on the street, if not for his weird golden-eyes and midnight black hair that was uncommon for the area.

Leon had also begun to open up to the couple a bit more, happy to converse with the two but still remained tight-lipped about his past despite the gentle probing questions that the two had tried to slip in every now and again. However, they honestly didn't push too much as Leon seemed as if he didn't want to relive those memories, whatever they were and honestly they didn't care too much which Leon silently greatly appreciated.

After Angus had become satisfied with Leon's work, he had trusted him enough to leave him alone whilst he hunted in the forest, mainly for mana-beasts as everything they were made up of could be harvested and sold and judging by the variety of strange and weird creatures ranging from more of those so-called 'tuskenboars' to weird stag-like creatures that had four antlers instead of two and were considerably larger, the forest that surrounded the cabin was teeming with wildlife.

Leon had become increasingly intrigued by mana-beasts and wanted to see an actual living one.

"Angus," said Leon turning away from the stump where he was chopping logs, "you reckon I could come out with you on a hunt sometime? Just to watch?"

Angus was surprised by the question, most kids who encountered mana-beasts at a young age were scared shitless of them, some even needed therapy to deal with the experience afterward but Leon genuinely seemed excited to see these fear invoking denizens of the woods. But alas he shook his head and spoke in a sorry tone.

"Sorry kid, you're too young, mana-beasts are no joke and even I wouldn't go hunting for them if I hadn't had proper combat training. The beasts are cunning and they don't go down without a good fight."

Leon half-smiled, Angus had a strong point, despite his new-found abilities that he still, to his dismay, had no idea how to control he had no training and would probably be not too much more than a convenient meal for any mana-beast lucky enough to stumble across him. But then an idea flashed in Leon's mind.

"Could you train me then?" Leon asked.

Angus' eyebrow raised at the question, honestly to him it actually sounded like a decent idea, Grendel wasn't exactly a place of little danger and security was pretty much non-existent.

"Mhm, I guess your old enough for that," Angus replied, nodding his head in affirmation, "also a good man should be able to protect himself and his family."

Leon grinned knowing the subject scratched at Angus' bravado, he often saw the man looking at his war-axe with a smile recounting his glory days in the army.

"Finish up those logs before sun-down and we might have time for a quick starter session," said Angus before sitting down on a nearby stump.

At those words, Leon felt as if he had gotten a second wind and hastily returned to splitting logs.

---

As the sun was beginning to set Angus stood a couple meters away from Leon as he was about to begin his first lesson.

"First things first," Angus began, "how much do you actually know about physical abilities?"

Leon shook his head, honestly, Leon had never looked into abilities much as he didn't really care in the past he just wanted his freedom, he only really knew about 'god cores' as they caught his interest whilst reading a book.

"Well, even though we do not possess mana cores like elementals and are unable to store mana, our bodies still intake mana, we are just more akin to a river rather than a well," said Angus.

Leon tilted his head in confusion.

'River? Well? What's that supposed to mean?'

Catching his confused expression Angus tried to reiterate.

"I mean, unlike elementals who store the ambient mana in their core where it's refined with their affinity to be released at a later date, physical ability users still intake mana into their bodies, just rather than being stored it invigorates certain aspects of our bodies."

Leon nodded, the explanation made sense but was still somewhat confused as to how that made them be able to do the things they could do.

"For example, for a physical ability user with a 'speed' build, the ambient mana that passes through their bodies invigorates their nervous system, making their reactions unparalleled whereas for strength users like us," Angus said with a smile whilst goofily flexing his arms, "the mana invigorates our muscles making them stronger and more resilient than our peers."

Leon nodded again deeply this time in thought, he wondered if the same concept still applied to his physiology, he knew he wasn't a strength user per se but it was undeniable his strength was inhuman, as proven when he lifted Angus' war-axe effortlessly.

It had to work similarly in some way, right?

But things were starting to fall into place in Leon's mind.

"So in terms of tiers," said Leon, trying to figure out the last few bits of rudimentary ability theory, "it mainly involves how much mana a person is able to 'suck in' from the environment? Like an F-Tier's body wouldn't be able to intake as much as an E-Tier?"

"Exactly," Angus nodded in affirmation, "for Elementals, it works slightly differently as it not only pertains to their ability to intake mana but also the size of their mana core and the quality of the affiliated mana they subsequently produce."

Leon smiled as he finally understood how exactly, in basic terms anyway, how abilities worked and what separated elemental and physical ability users.

"For yourself, as a strength user, your muscles are invigorated and strengthened as a result, however, despite whatever tier you may be..." Angus said trailing off whilst looking Leon's body up and down, "there's really not much to strengthen."

Leon's smile turned back to a frown as he looked down at his slightly skinny frame. Honestly, as an eleven-year-old child, he was a bit on the lighter side but compared to exhibit A, being Angus, who stood at a solid 6'1" built of battle-hardened muscle he found himself severely lacking.

Looking at Leon's slightly defeated expression Angus was quick to make his intentions clear.

"You're still young and have plenty of growing to do and there are plenty of logs left to chop," Angus said with a slightly alarming glint in his eyes that caused a shiver to run down Leon's spine.

'He's joking, right? I cut logs all day... there can't be more... surely?' Leon thought in abstract horror.

"That said, let's get on to some actual training. The first thing any soldier learns in the army is hand-to-hand combat, different people learn different disciplines to make use of their strengths and mitigate their weaknesses, for us though, it's pretty simple," Angus said with a grin, forming his hands into two fists and raising them in an orthodox guard, "we use our strength... literally."

Leon and Angus both had the same knowing smile as the former mirrored Angus and stood in the same guard.

"Try hit me," said Angus with an air of confidence and arrogance.

"Are you sure old man?" Leon said with a grin, "I was a decent fighter, even before the blessing."

Angus cocked his eyebrow, unfazed by Leon's seeming confidence.

Leon darted forward and executed a swift right cross aimed at Angus' head to which the veteran simply slipped as the fist whistled past his head untouched.

"Not bad," said Angus with a mocking tone, "for a skinny kid."

Slightly irked by Angus' mocking tone Leon swiveled back and aimed a left hook at Angus midsection before his fist was stopped dead by Angus' right palm before his own left hand swiftly connected with Leon's open torso instantly dropping the boy to his knees as he coughed whilst clutching his chest.

Leon instantly knew Angus had held back quite a bit with his power but it still felt as if he had been hit by a bull regardless as he tried to inhale air into his winded lungs between coughs.

"Looks like the 'decent fighter' still might have something to learn from this old man," said Angus shamelessly even after punching a child.

Leon groaned in response, unable to do anything about his taunting as he lay flat on his back looking at the sky.

---

Leon, Angus, and Viola sat around the small dining table. Leon had a look of defeat on his face, cringing at the cocky statement he had made earlier.

'Are you sure old man... stupid, fucking stupid' Leon berated himself internally.

Viola had a slightly irked expression after finding out Angus was teaching Leon how to fight, even though she herself couldn't help but admit it wasn't an awful idea whilst Angus sat with a shameless grin on his face looking at Leon's defeated pride.

'The student has much to learn from this old master!' Angus chuckled to himself.

"With the rest of those logs you and Leon cut today, do you have enough to fulfill the rest of the orders?" asked Viola whilst serving out the food.

"Yeah, Leon here has been a real help, just in time for the Equinox Festival," Angus replied.

"Equinox is coming up?" said Leon looking up in surprise.

"Yeah, three days from now. Why?" Asked Angus, surprised why Leon was shocked.

"Oh, nothing much, my birthday happens to be on the same day as Equinox," replied Leon matter-of-factly, he never considered it much of a big deal, after all, they never celebrated birthdays in the orphanage.

"What!?" said Viola and Angus in unison.

"W-Why didn't you tell us!? Oh god... We have nothing prepared," Viola panicked, "I'm not sure I can gather ingredients for a feast or even bake a cake in only three days time."

"What's a cake?" Leon said tilting his head to the side in confusion.

Viola couldn't help but let out a small shriek as she dropped the spoon she was eating with and began muttering to herself, trying to schedule every second of the next three days to prepare things in time.

Leon stared, utterly baffled as Viola seemed to have a miniature mental breakdown, and turned to Angus hoping he'd provide an answer.

"Birthdays might not be celebrated in the orphanage you came from," said Angus with a sad sigh, "but in normal households, people tend to celebrate them with a party, with a feast and cake and so on."

Leon's confusion only worsened as he had no clue why people would put so much effort into something that happened every year to everyone.

'What's the big deal? Why are they so worked up? Also... what the fuck is a cake?' Leon thought with a frown.

---

The next two days passed pretty routinely for Leon, he chopped logs during the day and trained with Angus during the evenings, he had picked up a lot of bad fighting habits over the years and Angus made sure to drill each and every single one out of him which only made Leon more embarrassed at his shallow confidence in the beginning.

However, on the third day, the day of Equinox and his birthday, Viola shoved both Leon and Angus out of the house early saying she had preparations to make.

To Leon's surprise, Angus adamantly refused that Leon do any work or training on his birthday and he take the day to relax so he took him to the lake where he had found him armed with two weird looking stick things that he found out on the way were called 'fishing poles'.

They sat by the lake as Angus showed him the basics of how to use the pole which Leon very clumsily tried to replicate at first but soon got the general gist of it. He found it pretty boring at first, but when Angus said it would help with his discipline and patience and thus his training, Leon resolutely put his all into this so-called fishing.

The pair sat in relative silence as they simply enjoyed the fresh air and placid lake, as the sun began to set over the horizon.

"You know Leon, I've never said it, but it really has been a joy to have you in the house, as my wife said... it's been a while since we've had company in the house," Angus said with a pained expression.

"I still can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me, honestly I can't think of a time in my life where I've been this... happy," Leon replied with a smile.

"I've avoided asking, but you say it's been a while as if someone used to be here?" asked Leon, finally thinking it was an appropriate time to ask the question that he'd put to the back of his mind.

Angus stared out at the orange-tinged lake from the sunset with a distant look in his eyes.

"You see..." Angus said, mustering up his courage, "Viola and I used to have a son, around your age, but he got sick and we didn't have the money for a healer and our pleas went unheard, eventually he got so sick one night he just passed in his sleep, just like that."

Leon looked at Angus with a sad expression, he could tell how much just recounting the story hurt him.

"We felt like we had failed him as parents, so we never had another child in fear of the same," Angus said, slightly teary-eyed, "Then one day you appeared out of the blue and I guess at first we used you as an attempt to try to make up for our failures, and for that, I'm truly sorry."

"In my opinion," Leon said with a smile, "It sounds like the world failed you. I can tell you both loved your child with everything you could and I'm sure when he passed, he did so happy knowing he had two amazing parents who put their absolute all into saving him and I don't think he'd ever considered you failures."

Angus looked at Leon with shock, feeling as if a massive weight had slightly been unshackled from his body. He genuinely smiled from his heart for the first time in a long time and placed his hand on Leon's shoulder.

"Thank you..."

---

The pair arrived back at the cabin just as darkness set over the woods and Angus told Leon to wait outside for a second so he could make sure everything was ready.

Before long he was called to come inside, and he pushed open the door to the cabin.

"Happy birthday!" beamed Viola and Angus and Leon froze in shock at the sight waiting for him.

A feast, unlike anything he had seen before layout on the table with a weird-looking circular thing in the middle that was raised up.

"Come on Leon, let's dig in before everything goes cold," Viola said with a smile, looking at Leon's bewildered expression.

The trio sat at the table and ate the decadent feast with gusto, the couple watched as Leon's face went through the motions as he experienced new flavor with every new dish. His eyes especially glimmered when they finally had a slice of the cake, the sugary, rich experience reigniting his long tarnished child-like innocence.

During the meal, they just chatted away aimlessly, a few laughs here and there and Viola even teared up when Leon told her the same thing he had said to Angus at the lake.

After the meal, Angus put out a long wooden case on the table infront of Leon to which the latter tilted his head again in confusion.

"I managed to get this for you when I went into town a couple of days ago," said Angus gesturing for him to open the case.

Leon's shock returned as this was the first gift he had ever received in his life, and his hands quivered slightly as he put them on either side of the case. He opened it up to reveal a short, simple sword made of silvery metal and his eyes widened as he ran his shaking fingers across the flat of the blade.

Despite its simplicity, to Leon, it looked like something out of a fairytale where valiant heroes slew dragons and demons with a thrust of their blade.

He looked back up at the smiling couple and returned their expressions with a beaming grin of his own.

"This is really too much... Thank you."

"Hah!," chuckled Angus, "When you finally land a hit on me I'll teach you how to use it!"

Leon laughed at the statement but silently promised himself he'd train harder so the day would come sooner.

"There's also one more thing..." said Viola slightly nervously whilst holding Angus' hand under the table.

Viola lay down a simple black ring on the table, Leon had seen similar rings before, both Angus and Viola wore one on their right ring fingers. It was simple yet elegant in design and had a single thing engraved upon it.

The word 'Drake'.

"This was our son's ring and..." said Viola with a nervous gulp, "We'd like for you to have it."

"In other words, We want to adopt you," said Angus resolutely, gripping his wife's hand nervously.

Leon froze in shock before that odd warm bubbly feeling rose up from his stomach and tears started falling from his golden eyes, he looked up at the nervous couple with an expression he'd never shown anyone before.

An expression filled with love.

"It would be my honor."