《The Forgotten Shield and The World Heroes (Remake).》Chapter 5: The Shieldman and The Old Man.
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Once inside the building, Feran noticed that the place was huge on the inside, after entering the building there were 3 short hallways, each one of them lead to a different direction, they took the hallway of the middle and then moved to some kind of huge tavern, it was full of different kinds of creatures, a few humans, although most of the ones inside were Beastiale.
- "Sakura, come here, hurry up! The human is broken, we need you to heal him" once he said it, the old man took Feran's body and put it on a close chair.
- "Hello master, do you need my assistance in anything?" asked a man a little taller than Liger and Feran, he had green skin like the one of Sakura, just a little bit darker, and instead of hair it had green vines with thorns coming out of his head, he was wearing a purple tunic, and black clothes under the tunic. The new guy was a Herber without a doubt, one slightly different from Sakura.
- "don't worry "Veno", for now, we will only need Sakura's assistance, however, maybe you could take the things Liger brought to the library" the young man nodded and gave a quick glance to Feran before taking the bag and walking away.
Not long after, Sakura came rushing down from upstairs at the other side of the tavern, the moment she saw the young Feran, she was more than surprised and run straight to him.
- "Master! How could you do such a test to this poor boy? he had just woken up and you already leave it this bad" said the girl while inspecting the boy's body very carefully.
- "hahahaha, sorry, sorry, I just got a little too excited" the old man only scratched the back of his head while laughing out loud.
- "fuuu... at least there's no life-threatening damage, you also didn't break anything in his body, that's worth something... I suppose... at least this will make it easier to heal you" the girl gave a relieved and tired sigh at the same time, then proceed to use her healing magic. The other 3, on the other hand, just gave the girl a confused look.
- "Hmm... I'm pretty sure this old man broke this guy's arm" Liger stated.
- "actually... I tried to hit him in the face, well... I actually hit him in the face and my arm and hand broke instead" the young boy said in a tired tone.
- "... what? Wait, Hold on! You... you hit this old man?" the blue-haired boy couldn't stop himself from giving an impressed look to the black-haired boy.
Feran couldn't stop himself from looking at the people in front of him, an old man who as far as he knew, the man was probably quite the muscle head, and definitely weird, a little girl with green skin that didn't stop touching his body, and the guy who brought him back from death, who seemed to have quite a short temper... that's the kind of people who would be on his life from now on, even if he didn't know at the moment.
Feran just looked at the people in front of him while the girl was checking him and inspecting his body, and the others were loudly talking.
- "did this guy really hit you?" asked Liger with a doubtful tone.
- "hahahaha, yeah, that's right! He gave me a good old punch in the face, although I didn't feel any damage, but I was really surprised the way he just appeared in front of me and how he hit me, he even was getting ready to attack again with one already broken arm, if that's not having guts, then I don't know what to call it".
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- "being an idiot, that's what you should call it".
- "Huh... hey... do you know that his arm is not broken, right?".
At listening to her reply, both Liger and the old man got closer and had a better look at Feran's body, especially his arm. Feran, without noticing, started to slowly move his hand and his arm, although the sound of cracking bones could be heard, it wasn't like broken bones but more like bones getting together, and the boy didn't even feel any pain.
- "... it can't be! I'm sure his arm was broken before" Liger shouted in surprise with a nervous voice.
Feran also noticed how his arm seemed to be fine, so he tried to stand up from the chair, even though he couldn't feel pain any longer, his body was kind of heavy and he still had a little problems to breath, but apart from that, his body seemed to be way better than it should.
- "... Amazing! Your body seems to be healing itself" the old man said with an excited smile, while his words surprised both Liger and Sakura.
- "no, can't be, auto-healing abilities aren't just really rare to have, but I'm sure they are extinct in the human race... isn't it?" Liger started first absolutely sure about his words, but after giving Feran a second look, doubts started filling his mind and voice, making him giving the old man a look in search of an answer. The old man, on the other hand, started to look at the boy with dark clothes in front of him, glasses, he looked a little out of place, clothes like the old man as never seen before, there was something in the eyes of the kid as well that was different from the people he has met so far... after looking and thinking, there was one possibility that came to his mind, and just the idea made him crack a smile.
- "... maybe, if it's this kid, then maybe he can show us something interesting, like having an auto-regenerative skill, after all... he's not normal human, not like the ones from this place, isn't it true? You kid from another world, hahahaha!" although the old man talked barely above a whisper at first, he couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud after he said those last words, the same words that left Sakura, Liger, and especially Feran, speechless.
- "Wh... what? How do you know?" Feran asked in a low voice with a surprised tone and his eyes wide open. The old man only gave a smile to Feran.
- "hahaha, come on! Follow me, we are going to have a private chat in the library. Sakura, we won't need your healing services for now, but I do need for you to look for the book of "natural laws" that is somewhere in the library" the girl only nodded and then ran to the library as fast as she could.
Liger was more than surprised by the sudden but subtle change of attitude of the "Master", yet he decided to not say anything and just follow the old man and the black-haired boy to the library.
- "so... what do you have to talk to him about?" Liger asked with curiosity, however, there was no answer but a smile from the old man.
Once inside the library, Feran was lost of words, the place was really wide and so full of all kinds of books in huge bookcases, after a few seconds just looking around, the boy noticed that he was being left behind by the old man and the blue-haired boy, so he ran to them.
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- "hahaha, we are here!" stated the man just as he stopped walking. Feran got at the side of the man and noticed a pair of... couches made of wood and what seemed to be animal skin, it looked very comfortable to Feran, also, in between both couches, there was a wooden table not too short or too big, although quite large.
- "This is my special place to think, this zone of the library lets me have private reunions and conversations with anything or anyone I may need or want to. This specific part of the library is protected by an incredibly strong magic seal that would stop any kind of spy or even a random person without my consent to get too close or hear anything that is said here... this place is also close to the training field in the backyard of the guild, and the best part of all, this place is really quiet and comfortable to spend some time reading. My special place! HAHAHAHA" the man explained with a wide smile and a proud tone about the place he was showing to the guys, even raising his thumb to the boys in a signal of approval.
Feran, at noticing the attitude of the old man in front of him, only could think of his grandfather, the man in front of him reminded him of the person who raised him, especially this image in front of him, just like the same pride his own grandfather felt when talking about his private library, which was way smaller than this place. Feran gave a big smile to the old man while Liger only looked embarrassed, with his face slightly red and looking away from Feran.
- "don't be shy kids, come here, take a seat, just make sure of not sitting on my spot, or I will kill you" the old man once again raised his thumbs and smiled like a little child.
- "got it! Follow me if you want to live..." said Liger before grabbing Feran's arm and making him sit down in a specific place of the couch.
- "... so?... what do you think? Do you like it?" asked the man with growing excitement, which made him look even more childish in the eyes of Feran.
- "Hmm... yes! This is quite comfortable, especially this skin and the fur is really soft, who made it?" replied the boy with obvious amazement in his face, this looked pretty similar to the couches of his own world, only more rustic.
- "hahaha, I made them myself with my own hands, of course, although in all honesty, this is like the fifth pair I made, the previous ones were all broken, HAHAHA" the man was certainly happy that his work was appreciated.
- "Do you want to know how they were broken? This crazy old man used them to beat both Beastiale and humans in the tavern, one time there's a small argument between adventurers, next thing they know is that a couch was thrown by the master and ended up getting broken after hitting the head of some poor bastard" the cat-eared boy explained with a tired tone while covering half of his face with one hand, Feran only could smile awkwardly at the image that his mind formed of this huge old man throwing those things to some poor man.
- "Master! I found the book!" the voice of Sakura came from a few meters away, they turned around only to see the girl running to them being closely followed by the guy from before, Veno if Feran remembers correctly.
- "Oh! Good job little one, now Veno, if it's possible, I would like you to take this "Eyes of Truth" of the human kid, and tell that decrepit old man of the "Magic Enchanter" that this thing needs at least an "unlimited durability" enchant, a "high damage-resistant" enchant, and a "vision of truth" enchant, and tell him to do it as fast as possible, this is the highest priority" the man said taking Feran glasses and handing them to Veno, this one only nodded and then walked away with Sakura.
- "... hmm... why did he take my glasses? And, what exactly is a Magic Enchanter?" asked the boy a little confused by what just happened.
- "glasses? That how your people call the Eyes of Truth?" Liger asked with curiosity, after all, he heard what the master said about this boy being from another world, but he couldn't really completely believe it, yet, he was curious.
- "well... yeah..." Feran said despite not being completely sure what to say.
- "and what are they for? Do they work like the ones from here?".
- "I don't even know how the ones here work, the only objective of glasses is to help people who have problems to see correctly, or in my case, it protects my sight, I have a problem in my eyes which makes the light to hurt them more than it should, so the reason why I need to use them is to protect my eyes from too much light... it's complicated".
- "oh? I see...".
- "... anyway, you never answered my question, why did they take my glasses? And, what is a Magic Enchanter?" the boy looked at Liger and the older man in front of them.
- "calm down, kid, everything will be revealed at its proper time, but first of all, let me ask you a question... do you have any idea who you are?" the man asked with a smirk. Feran mouth opened, yet no words came out, how was he supposed to answer that question? What was the meaning and purpose of that question to begin with?
- "... the old man said you are a person from another world, is that true?" asked Liger with a serious tone.
- "Yeah, it's true... when you found me, that's the first memory I have from this place, before that I was in my world, in my classroom resting a little..." Feran said with a calm voice while remembering the events previous to this moment, events that happened apparently a few hours ago if he wasn't wrong.
- "Hmm... master, does that mean that he is one of them?" asked Liger this time with a worried look to the master.
- "I'm afraid so, this boy is a "world hero", and... if a "world hero" was called to this world... that only means that the king is getting ready for war... fuuu..." the man first replied with a smile that soon became a tired and sad expression.
- "... wait! You are telling me that... I was called here in some kind of... mission?" the boy said with a half-smile and tone of disbelief, yet, that expression dissipated once he noticed the dark expression in both the old man and the cat-eared boy.
The people in the place stayed silent for a few seconds, Feran stays quiet before taking a deep breath and releasing a sigh of irritation and tiredness. The whole situation was even more ridiculous than before, if that was possible, so apparently he was summoned to another world in some kind of mission that involved a war, something he really didn't want to be a part of, even though he enjoyed reading this kind of stories, things are quite different when they really happen to you.
- "... master, I don't understand, I thought that the whole "world heroes" story was nothing more than that, a story, something that was made up to scare other beings..." Liger said trying to keep it cool but talking a little too loud.
- "of course you believe that, most of the younger generations believe the same thing, after all, they haven't lived enough to see what this world is really made of, that's why I asked Sakura to bring this book" the man pointed to a book over the table, and then move it slightly towards Feran.
Feran took the book and started to read it. After a few minutes of silence in which Feran and Liger were both reading the book, the expression of Feran went through several changes, being the most common one’s excitement and surprise, that book explained several things of the world he was currently in, things related to culture, history, believes, even some basic rules of the world and there was a few pages exclusively dedicated to the summoning ritual of "the world heroes", yet the book didn't give information related to the spell to perform the summoning or the requirements, it still gives a lot of information about the ritual, after reading some of the pages. It was more than clear to Feran that this world was quite similar to a video game, which was absolutely crazy and a little terrifying at the eyes of Feran.
- "... stats? Titles? Stages? Levels? Even skills! All these different races, countries, and how they are organized, everything is in this book... oh my god, what kind of craziness is this?" Feran said out loud without noticing, he was just too overwhelmed by what he was seeing in the book.
- "Oh, don't let the information inside the book trick you, it doesn't really have all the information about this world, there are a lot of other books with more details, although those books all talk about specific topics, this book is a little more general about the whole concept and perception of our world, yet, as it has lots of general information, it doesn't really have any deep details related to, well, anything..." the one who explained that was Liger.
- "I also feel like saying that what you call craziness is quite natural for us and this world, obviously, by your reactions, our worlds are quite different, however, for some reason both are connected, reason why the king was able to summon you here" the old man spoke with a very serious tone.
- "I see... huh?... hybrids... so, is this why you were attacked in Shield-town?" he asked Liger with a sad look, Liger on his side didn't give much attention to Feran.
- "Don't pay much attention to it. Just as the books say, several years ago, a war began between Beastiale and humans, due to this event, Humans and Beastiale perception of each other got quite corrupted which of course create great tension between both species... for those reasons, creatures like me, hybrids born from human and Beastiale, are considered abominations and looked down, even hated, for both races equally... it's not a big deal, I learned to live with it" although he kept a calm demeanor and his voice didn't waver, Feran noticed how one of Liger’s hands was clenching and slightly trembling, yet he didn't comment on it.
- "Tch... quite a stupidity if you ask me" the old man stated with a frustrated tone.
- "it doesn't matter, even if I wasn't a hybrid, I'm still an adventurer, so whether I was human or Beastiale, one way or the other I would be hated or looked down, just that tense is the situation between most humans and Beastiale in this place" Liger said with a dismissive tone before getting up and walking slowly outside the library.
Feran looked the retreating back of Liger, while the old man did the same but with pain in his face.
- "fuuu... he's quite the strong kid. I met both of his parents, all those years ago when I was one of the generals of the Liberteas army, and Liger's father, "Furión", was a powerful Beastiale from the enemy army, he was known as "the war king" among the Felion and beastiale in general, and he was my rival for so long, so many years and so many battles against each other... I remember that... in one of our many fights, a human school received a hit and the place received so much damage that it started to crumble... inside that school, there were kids hiding from the war... once Furión noticed the presence of kids on the crumbling school, he stops fighting and without a second thought he just threw himself to save the kids, he didn't care if they were humans or Beastiale, the fact that they were innocents was what made him save them... I remember that once he got the kids out of the building, just before this one completely crumbled down, another person of the army appeared in front of him and the kids, it was a member of the supporting magic team, that woman who saw how selfless, kind, and honorable Furión actually was, that woman was Liger's mom..." the man spoke with a melancholic expression and tone, making Feran a little uncomfortable.
- "Hmm... why are you telling me this?" he asked quite confused.
- "Oh! Sorry about that, it's just that... your eyes are like the ones of that kid, the eyes of someone who lost a loved one. I suppose that since you are here and you aren't like others who mess with Liger just because he's a hybrid, and due to the look on your eyes, I just couldn't stop myself of talking about Liger parents... even if that man, Liger's father, was my enemy during war, he was one of the bravest, kindest, and most honorable beings I've ever met, and Liger's mother, she was just so pure, and kind, so full of beauty, if all good traits could exist in a person she was certainly the incarnation of all those positive traits...".
- "... I get it... you think that because the way I don't see anything wrong with him, and apparently, due to both of us having to experience the loss of someone important to us, we might connect in a way... right?" the old man only could nod.
- "I don't know how things work in your world, but here, only a few people would jump in front of a spear to protect someone they barely know, way less an unknown creature... it's obvious to me that you are not the kind of people who enjoy watching others being treated badly..." at those words Feran looked away from a few seconds before taking a deep breath by his nose.
- "what about you? What is your story with him? You two seem pretty close".
- "well... long story short, I retired from the army a few decades ago, by then Furión and I were friends more than anything else, we still would fight or compete against each other, but it was just how we were, I also helped him to see the woman he fell for... sadly, about 19 years ago, sometime after Liger's birth, Furión left the army as well to spent more time with his new family, but, of course, someone discovered the birth of Liger and how 2 members of opposite armies were the parents... one day while Furión was away from home, a group of humans found their house, and they burn it down. Once Furión felt danger in the direction of his home, he ran there with all his strength and killed the people who attacked his home, but it was too late, the house was in ruins, yet, he searched frenetically among what was remaining of the house, and then is when he found the dying body of his mate, the woman he loved, he realized that she used almost all her power to keep their son protected, she even gave the baby her "Divine feather ring", and then died in the arms of Furión while giving her last breathe on keeping her child safe... after that Furión once again joined the army to take vengeance on the race that killed his mate and lover, that's when I entered the scene, since he got back to the army, he needed someone to take care of his child, so he asked me and I accepted... fuuu... and then, 9 years later, he came back from a particularly terrible fight, yet he smiled to his child, who ran to received his father... it was after the hug that the body of Furión finally couldn't continue working anymore, he fell to the ground and asked me to take care of his precious son, and then gave Liger one last gift from him and Liger's mother... I've been taking care of that kid as if he was my own kid since then..." the old man told the story with a sad smile and a tone of melancholy, it was kind of painful to listen to the story, or at least that's what Feran felt.
- "I see..." that was the only thing that Feran could say, because, at the memories of the loved ones we lost, no amount of words could describe the pain, and no words could really make it less painful, yet, the presence, just the presence and to listen, could help a lost person to have some peace, even if for one moment.
- "... Hey, kid... I don't want to pressure you or anything, but... remember the ring I mentioned before... that ring can do a lot of things, yet, its main purpose is to save a life, or should I say, to take the place of someone else in death..." Feran at first didn't understand the sudden mention of a ring, that was until he heard the last part.
- "are you telling me that... he used his mother's ring to save my life?" Feran was at lost of words while the old man only nodded his head.
- "... why?".
- "Why did you jump in front of a spear for a stranger?... I said this early but here that's not common, by doing what you did, you might have given him a little of hope, I mean, of course, people here are open and accepting with each other and Liger is among the strongest adventurers of the guild, so here he's quite respected, but that's here, outside this building, outside this territory, the world is his enemy... but... you showed him that maybe there's more than just that out there, besides... he might have felt guilty that you died protecting him, he has quite a sense of duty after all and responsibility after all, and he's used to being mostly alone when in problems, so..." Feran was at first surprised by the man's words, and then he felt guilty, he wanted to help, and even if he didn't know it at the moment, but his imprudent act just cost Liger a ring that belonged to his mother, a memory of someone who loved him so much that it sacrificed her own life for him.
- "don't feel bad about it... to be completely frank with you, it was both Liger and mine’s fault, I just asked him not to get himself in troubles, which is why he didn't fight those stupids Beastiale that attacked him and killed you, and at the end he fought them anyway to recover his things after he saved you, he's a magician after all and a hybrid, those low-level Beastiale didn't have a chance since the beginning" the man had a scowl on his face and an irritated tone.
- "fuuu... alright, I understand... so it was your fault".
- "Huh? Why are you only blaming me? Liger could have used his head a little more, I only told him not to get in trouble, I never said not to fight back in a case something happened" the man tried to defend himself to Feran accusation.
- "Oh? Even though you are the obvious oldest and the master of the guild, you really expected him not to follow your orders? orders that you admit you weren't specific about, how could he know what to do? How could he have guessed what you truly meant if you didn't say anything? Do you see? that's why its important to be specific..." the man was at a loss of words, he was constantly opening his mouth but no reply came, and it wasn't until he noticed how Feran was fighting a smile that he noticed the boy in front of him was just playing around to improve the mood a little, such a jerk that made the man smile.
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