Yuta made his way back to the guildhall and searched the boards for a grade F quest to finish out his work for the day.

Goblin Subjugation: A goblin tribe has been stealing from the woodland hunters. They are requesting help in securing the hunting grounds.

“Next… No way I can take on a bunch of goblins. Why is that even in rank F, aren’t goblins capable of killing grade E adventurers. Maybe because you are teaming up with the woodland hunters? Either way, that is way too dangerous for way too little pay”

A man wearing brass knuckles leaned past Yuta and snatched the quest from the board. “Beggars can’t be choosers I guess” the man said before rushing out of the guild hall.

Dire Python In The Sewers: A dire python has been preventing cleaning crew from accessing an area in need of repair.

“Next… I have no interest in being squeezed to death by an anaconda that swims around in sewage”

Escort: A young lady has requested aid in a mission of a sensitive nature. No further details have been given. Location of quest given at the front desk.

“Hrmm…”

Yuta seemed to be considering the quest on its merits for a moment, but quickly snatched it off the board with a grin from ear to ear.

“Yes, yes, yes! A damsel in distress!”

Yuta handed the quest form over to reception.

“Just a moment Yuta, I will mark down the details, oh and can you go now? She said it was urgent” Alicia asked.

“Oh, it is over by the docks, close to the noble district, I’ve never been there before. Guess I’m going sight seeing then”

Alicia smiled through her teeth, “Yeah, I guess so, heh heh…”

Yuta jogged out to the location, geared up in nothing more than a cloth vest, some plain clothes, and a club hooked onto his belt. The port was busy, and nobles were rushing to place their valuables onto their private ships while knights stood guard. Yuta pushed his way past a crowd of onlookers, and made his way to the noble district’s gate. He showed the quest parchment to one of the guards, and they waved him through.

The street was wide and paved with white quartz stones.

*Isn’t that dangerous, don’t they know that quartz sparks when hit with other hard stones? I guess aesthetics come before safety around here*

Each of the estates had a gated off front yard, complete with statues and carefully maintained garden hedges. The mansions were carved out of white stone and the front pillars were made of marble.

The request said for him to come to the third house on the waterside. It took Yuta a good five minutes to walk to make it that far down the road, but when he did he arrived at a chaotic scene. Servants were hurriedly packing valuables into carriages, and a little old lady was hitting a poor servant boy with her cane.

Yuta searched around for a number at the front gate, or anything else that could help him double check he got the right place. He looked back down the street and double checked that this was indeed the third estate.

“Damn it, how am I supposed to get their attention? I hate making scenes to get attention”

“Hello, hello! Excuse me!” Yuta said, while waving his hand timidly at the old lady. “Hi there! Hello!”. Yuta’s expression sank as he realised there was no way he was getting that old lady’s attention, nor did he even really want her attention.

Smack smack smack.

“I’m sorry madam, I will get it now” the servant boy yelped as he was whacked a few extra times for good measure.

*Grrr… Screw this… I’ll just find another quest* Yuta thought to himself.

Before Yuta could turn away however, a beautiful young woman with bright blonde hair, ice blue eyes, and a cheery smile came rushing out of the house. She ran up to the front fence out of breath.

“Hah, hah, sorry, I was upstairs… Are you the adventurer I requested?”

“Yeah, thats me” Yuta said smiling.

*This is great! She’s so cute! She could definitely be the love interest of the hero of the story!*

“Hi there, my name is Sierra Plet, nice to meet you”

Her smile was so filled with joy it seemed like her teeth would burst into sunshine.

“Wow… You have really bright teeth. Uh, I mean, I’m Yuta. Pleased to meet you”

“Thanks Yuta, shall we go, I have to get this done quickly before my Aunt notices I am gone”

“Is that here there?”

“No no, that's my mom. I’m kidding! My aunt is out back and that is my nan”

“Oh, I see, right. That makes sense. But where are we going?!”

“Out the east gate, I’ll explain when we are there”

Sierra twirled and hopscotched as they exited town. Yuta used the chance to imagine her figure underneath the frills of her skirt, and swallowed as he liked what he saw. He snapped out of his lecherous trance for a moment in order to ask the obvious. “Where to now?”

“Oh! Yes, I am expecting a package from some folks who aren’t allowed to enter town”

*Wait, what?*

“Here they are, just over by that tree there”

Two men leaned up against the trunk, one picking his teeth with the tip of his dagger, and the other sharpening the blade of his axe with a whetstone. Both were clad in beaten up leather armor, and had the tattoo of a raven on the right side of their face.

Sierra rushed up to meet them “Hey, hey guys! I’m here”. Yuta tried to grab her wrist to stop her but was too slow.

*What the hell is a girl like her trying to set up a meeting with bandits! I should just get out of here*

*But if I leave, it will fail the quest, and I might lose the romance plotline. So I suppose this is fine so long as these guys remain calm*

Yuta caught up with Sierra by the shade of the tree as she enthusiastically shook each of the men’s hands. “So nice to meet you gentlemen, I have heard much about the forming of your new group, are those tattoos new?”

The man with the axe grumped “Yah, what is it to you”.

“I find every aspect of politics and business fascinating, and I make it my business to know these kinds of things. I heard that Talon took over Cutter’s crew. How do you guys feel about following a woman?”

The man with the dagger spat down at Yuta’s feet “Who the fuck is this chubby little shit, I don’t like his face”.

The man with the axe shrugged. “Talon is strong so I have nothing against it, I wouldn’t be in her crew if I did”.

Sierra nodded enthusiastically, “Exactly, it is all about competency in the end isn’t it! That is why I like bandits, loyalty is straight forward, and you say what you feel. Such a refreshing change from the backstabbing and mask wearing in political circles.”

The man with the dagger stood up from the tree and leaned into Yuta’s face “Why are you looking at me like that, it’s starting to really piss me off, why don’t you run home. Let us adults talk”

*What the hell is with this guy? Where am I supposed to look? I’m not going to leave, so calm down* Yuta thought to himself as he tried to look unaffected.

Sierra cut in, “You are dealing with me, I don’t see how my choice of companion has anything to do with you, so let us get to business then shall we?”

The man with the dagger backed off “Fine little miss princess, we have the info you want, but we want the money upfront”.

“I don’t have any royal blood, but my family used to run Elmvale before the Count settled here, so don’t think I am unaware of how business with gangs is handled. For now my guard is holding the money, and after you share the information he has been instructed to hand it to you”

*Wait, what the fuck?! What money! Shit* Yuta felt the slender man’s eyes dig into him like daggers. If the man wasn’t already ready to kick Yuta’s ass he now had a reason to do so.

The man with the axe slipped his whetstone into his pouch and stood up from the tree. “Yeah, okay, but if you shortchange us you know what will happen” The sharp edge of his axe reflected Sierra’s face as he held it close to her face.

“I’m waiting,” Sierra said while tapping her foot.

“Word is some monster hunters have been stirring up trouble in the eastern mountains. Some even say they got their hands on a Sawtooth queen. And you know how nasty those things are. There ain’t no reason for their kind to keep one of those things alive, unless you they are using it as bait to take out larger prey”

Sierra rubbed her chin and muttered to herself “Hrmm, that is indeed disturbing… I know there is a fight over succession between the royal factions in the south, but could one of them really be making a move?”

*Is this the main questline or something? Sounds like I was right, the tutorial is going to end soon*

“We held up our part of the deal, so now our money”

Sierra pulled a small pouch out from between her cleavage and tossed it to the men.

“I thought you said this pip squeak had it”

“First rule of negotiation, always have a misdirect” Sierra grinned and turned back towards town.

“Hey, there is an extra ten gold here!”.

Sierra headed back to the noble estate with Yuta without a word, busy in her own thoughts, and waved Yuta off at the gates. “Thank you for your help, we are done now, head on your way. Oh, and I would advise you to get out of town before the week’s end if you don’t want to be enthralled by the Sawtooth queen. Probably best to head north, or west into Darlan. Best of luck to you”

The old lady was still squawking at her servants at the house entrance, as Sierra headed back inside.

Yuta headed back to the guild uneasy about the information he now had about an impending attack.

“What am I going to do? I can’t afford a journey to another city just yet, and I can’t fight well enough to ensure I stay safe even if I did”

Silvia stood out the front of the guild hall and approached Yuta as she saw him head towards the entrance. “Hey, Yuta right?”

“Yeah? What do you want, Silvia…”

Her elven ears flicked back and forth, as she chose the right words to say, “Um, so I have been thinking about it, and I think I have been too hard on you recently. So my group and I want you to come on an adventure with us. We found some unexplored tombs up north in the mist and we are recruiting a few adventurers to join us, so why don’t you come along, you would make more money than on any other quest you might take with the guild!”

*This can’t just be a coincidence, Sierra told me to head north or west, and I am approached as I enter the guild to head north. This has to be part of the main quest line!*

“Sure, I’ll join you guys, when are you heading out?”

“Early in the morning!”

*It will give me a chance to recover my magic I guess, but is it really okay to spend another night here, if the nobles are already heading out? Well, I guess Sierra said to get out by the end of the week, so I have enough time*

...

Kabi reached out and grabbed her fathers arm. “Please father, just listen to me!”

THWACK

Her father’s rings cut into the side of her face and left her bleeding. He held his hand high, his gems glimmering as sunlight shone in through the window, the look in his eyes warned Kabi that he was prepared to backhand her again if necessary. “My word is final, we are leaving, now!”.

“But father!” Kabi pleaded.

“Enough! I won’t hear of it. And I don’t care if you end up hating me for it!”

Kabi sobbed, holding her head in her hands, helpless upon the floor. She was unable to understand what had prompted her father to abandon Gimly and move the family far north. She wiped away her tears, and chased after her father.

“Just why? Why are you doing this! Can’t you even consider how I feel about all this? What this does to my life!”

“Don’t push me child! I am dealing with enough as it is! I will explain it once we have set sail, not before!”.

“Then I won’t go! And you can’t make me!”

The Baron turned towards his knight bodyguard and nodded. The man in full plate armor moved without hesitation, and reached out to grab for Kabi’s wrists. Kabi twisted the bones in her forearm so they pointed at the tip of the man’s thumb and used leverage to snatch her arm back. She then stamped on his foot, and charged him with her shoulder, pushing him over, and turned towards the door. As her hand touched the handle, she heard the knight call out a magical spell.

“Hold”

Her muscles contracted all at once, and she couldn’t move anything other than her eyes. The knight’s armor clanked as he got up from the ground and walked over to her. He gripped his arm around her waist and lifted her onto his shoulder. “I’m sorry my lady, orders are orders. Your father has a good reason for this, even though it might not look like it now, it is for your safety”

The Baron signalled to the house staff to finish moving the mansion’s valuables into waiting carriages in the drive, and then headed out to one of the carriages himself. The knight followed along behind him, and Kabi was left to watch as her life in Gimly was left behind.

*Mirio… Mirio, I’m sorry!*

…

Mirio arrived at the front of the largest estate in all of Elmvale and waved to get the attention of one of the guards. “Hi there can you make sure the Count or one of his knights get this letter?”

The guard carefully eyed Mirio’s armor, and the hilt of his sword. “Are you a knight yourself?”

“No no, he just asked for my response on a certain matter that is all”

The guard took the letter from Mirio and slid it underneath his plate armor. “Not a problem, I will hand it to one of his men when they pass by”.

“I appreciate it”

With loose ends tied up, and the rest of the day off Mirio did what he always did when he had some spare time. He searched for a nice quiet spot to train. Just north of Elmvale was a nice little spot by the canal that rarely saw visitors. He left Rocky to roam the grassy fields with Ezee and sat on a rock overlooking the grand canal.

Mirio drew magic circles down at waist height. He kept his breathing steady and channelled divine and arcane mana through the gates of his body. Magical essence streamed out of his fingertips and strummed the ether like so many strings of an invisible instrument.

Rainbow colored kinetic tendrils flowed around his arm like so many ribbons, and he sighed with deep relief.

“Mmm, it feels so good”

The combining of mana pools was deeply soothing to him. While the curse he carried wore on him like a lump in a backpack, his ever improving grasp on mana control allowed him to stay one step ahead of the discomfort.

He closed his eyes and focused on the thousands of minute warding spells circulating in his bloodstream. He gathered up morsels of magical essence and fed the circles. Ever since he had started using the divine and arcane mana combination it was a more efficient process, and after three months of fighting the curse it was as if he had grown muscle memory for maintaining a constant magical flow from deep within his core.

The extra mana flowing in his body had sharpened his ability to observe his own thoughts, and enabled him further control over the random impulses that flow into the mind. By maintaining a constant flow of mana from within, without overdoing it and creating a brine, he held command of his mind in a way that steeled his willpower. It felt to Mirio as if his mind was more stable than others, and it could resist the forces of chaos and pain that grip other’s by the heart.

With his newfound inner strength came a sense of responsibility and resolve. He knew that out there in this world existed forces that were unseen, and there were no champions rising to fight them. His new awareness, strength, and stability, yearned to be used. It was almost as if it was calling to him, like an echo in the night, that he had to obey. Yet he was unsure whether that calling was a result of his strength, or the curse.

His master had not taught him how to combine and use multiple mana pools. In fact, it wasn’t something he could get any information on, other than that it would be “unsustainable” as the power of his magic would grow. It was typical knowledge amongst all mages that while there was much leeway in how magic was performed at its most fundamental roots, that it became more demanding as spell power increased. Yet something about this “common knowledge” didn’t seem right to Mirio, almost as if the temptation of power was calling mages away from a deeper truth lying in wait to be discovered. He had already sampled some of its sweet nectar in the creation of his oasis spell.

Mirio stood up and took a fighting stance. He maintained the Oasis spells kinetic tendrils and carved out martial forms in the sunlight. Each movement moved like a lover’s caress draped in silk. Every breath he took drew in magic from the air. Its cool flow seeped into his body, and flooded its way up to the pores of his skin. Magic overflowed through every motion of his body as he swung his sword and Ember’s steel soaked up the excess magic as though it were sunlight.

Mirio had learned to combine, not only the divine and the arcane, but he had also learned to play between the lines of cantrip continua and cantrip finita. Infusing continuous magical energy from the environment into his cantrip finita spells to make them resound with greater force, and compressing cantrip continua into pressure waves that almost bordered on the power of a weak cantrip finita spell.

While he still drew magic circles, and recited the name of the spells, the strength of his mind now allowed him to cast spells without either. It was as if he now had a “magical muscle” within him that allowed him to manipulate the magical world. It was a power that he would have thought impossible when he first started learning the arcane arts, yet now it was an extension of him, and he could no longer imagine being without it.

He let out a magic charged breath and was surprised by the way his vocal chords purred. His eyes were sharply focused, like that of a predator observing its prey. The magic oozing from his body resonated in harmony with his purring, and it gave his magical power even more force. The feeling was so intoxicating that it made his muscles more responsive, ready to squeeze, and grasp, and take hold of all they touched. All these things combined seemed to make time slow, and the wind blustering around him told him its secrets. He could feel shadows in the wind, where it did not flow, and could sense where it sought to go.

The edge of his body was no longer at the edge of his skin, it filled his magical essence and flowed in tune with every last drop of it. His soul was unbound from its mortal cage, and fluttered in the wind proudly.

Hours passed as he fell into deep trance, and by the time he had noticed it the stars were sparkling over the red mountains.

Mirio, not quite satisfied with training for the day, took a moment to focus on his quanta. Five small orbs of light circled around his heart gate, and one larger orb glowed at its center.

“I guess I have a bit more time, I suppose I should practice some magical combinations before I finish up”

Mirio pointed the palm of his hand forward and channelled magic from his environment until it pooled in his hand. Squeezing his magical muscle, he forced its essence through a small magical circle, and cast a pseudo cantrip finita. Light burst from his hand in a flash. While it wasn’t blinding, it obscured vision for a moment as his eyes had to readjust to the darkness.

He sheathed his sword and pointed a second hand outward. Drawing magic up through his body he produced another flash. And directly after it another flash, followed by another, and then another.

“A multi-flash spell like this could come in really handy to disorient light sensitive creatures, or even just to disguise my movements”

Mirio cast the multi-flash spell again.

FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH FLASH

And then finished then built up the energy of one of the orbs circling his heart gate and released a full quanta.

“Divine light!”

FLASH

“And if I mix in a cantrip finita, it will maximise the effect”

Mirio used his fanciful footwork and shifted from right to left as he flashed more spell combinations.

flash flash flash flash flash !!!FLASH!!! flash flash !!!FLASH!!! flash flash flash flash !!!FLASH!!! !!!FLASH!!! flash flash flash

Mirio then drew upon the final orb of stored quanta in his heart gate.

“MIST STEP”

A ghost image of Mirio shot out ten paces in front of him and then solidified. Everything warped around Mirio as he landed in his new position.

“Hrmm, if I silently cast the mist step spell and do a flash spell before it, an opponent might not be able to figure out where I warped to. Which could set up a devastating blow”

*Damn, I’m out of quanta… Ah well, I guess I will just get Rocky back to the stables and head back home*

After putting Rocky into his stable, Mirio thought back to his fight with Tad earlier in the day.

“Screw going back to the old folks place, I’m done with dealing with all of that”.

Mirio and Ezee jogged off through the grassy fields around Gimly’s outskirts until they arrived at the gated estate of the Baron. “I’ll be right back boy, I just want to check on her”. Mirio hoisted himself over the fence and made his way up to Kabi’s bedroom window.

“That is weird, she isn’t normally asleep this early”. Mirio then climbed down from the second floor and stepped back from the mansion. “Wait, why are there no lights at all?”

He ran around to the back where the servant quarters of the caretakers were, and saw a single light flickering in one of the windows. As he peered into the window he saw two guards, and one caretaker.

“That is strange, did they all leave to go to dinner at another noble family’s house?”.

*I guess I can stay at the guild’s residences tonight, and while I’m out that way I’ll take a quick peek around the noble estates*

Alicia stood up straight as she saw Mirio enter the guild hall with Ezee at his side.

“Hey there Mirio, what brings you here so late?”

“I’d like a room tonight”

“You can stay in mine,” she whispered.

“Haha, I think Kabi would give me hell if I did that. Any old bed will do”

“Ah yes, the baroness of Gimly, how could I forget you guys were a couple...”

Alicia slid a key over to Mirio, with a cabin number attached to the tag. “Are you going to come upstairs and have a drink, if you are I’ll join you, I’m finishing here anyway”

“Actually I want to go check out the noble estates first, but maybe after that”

“Why would you be going there? I hope not to rob the place, they still have a few knights guarding them you know!”

“What do you mean?”

“Haven’t you heard? All the nobles hopped onto their private ships earlier today, all except the count. The count’s people said it was just a special banquet for the noble families in the north, but since when do nobles take their belongings when they head to a banquet”

“They sailed north? What the hell is with that?”

“So you see, there isn’t any point going down there”

“Why would Kabi leave without telling me, I was with her just this morning?”

“I don’t know sweety, want to grab that drink?”

“That depends, there aren’t any of the monster hunters up in the bar are there?”

“No, just a few of the regulars”

“Okay, I guess I’ll have a drink then”

Alicia grabbed everything on the counter and stuffed it under the desk to lock it up. “Ready”. She then offered her elbow to Mirio. “Shall we?”

“Haha, what are you doing, it is just upstairs” Mirio replied and headed up.

“Awww, come on, can’t you at least entertain my fantasy”

Silvia turned towards the bar as she spotted Mirio and Alicia approach the barmaid full of smiles. “What is this? Alicia has Mirio out on a date”. She pouted her lips and crossed her arms. “No fair! She’s just a paper pusher! Mirio should be with a girl that knows how to fight!”

As the night went on the tables all joined up and surrounded Mirio with their questions about adventuring. He answered the questions as best he could, sharing all kinds of tips.

“Is it true you took down a rageclaw in the east?” Alicia asked.

“How did you hear about that? It wasn’t a guild quest” Mirio replied.

“Ah, so it IS true” she responded.

“Well, yeah, I owed the blacksmith in Gimly for his work on my sword, so I offered to help him with components for his next sword. The black ivory of the rageclaw’s horns is really nice for a handle”

Silvia slapped Mirio’s armor with the back of her hand, “Out with it, how did you kill it”.

“Ah, I don’t know if I should get into it. It was actually two of them, but don’t get the wrong idea. It wasn’t like I walked in thinking I could fight two of them. No way, I couldn’t have handled two at the same time. It was just an accident. I sneaked up behind one of them as it fed on a wererat, and after striking a killing blow I thought I was done, but a second one jumped out from nowhere”

Silvia gripped onto his arm “No way! What did you do!?”

“Well, I had set up an area to fight before I approached the first rageclaw just in case it turned into a fight. And I was glad I did, because there is no way you want to fight those things in the dark or in an awkward place. I hauled ass back to the area I set up to fight earlier, and then just focused on dodging its attacks. It was ridiculously fast, and it was keeping up good pressure on me, so I decided I had to counterattack. I swept under one of its blows, switched to a reverse guard and sliced its leg.”

“Did it slow it down,” Silvia asked.

Alicia glared at Silvia, and decided to grab onto Mirio and repeat the same question. “Yes, tell us, did it slow it down?”.

“Not even a little bit, it just kept coming. Honestly I was surprised. It ended up coming at me even harder. So I really focused hard on the right moves, and managed to slash its face. I was a little off balance so it wasn’t enough to take it down, but the thing reeled back in shock. It was darting through the shadows, back and forth looking for an advantage. And I don’t know how I knew it, maybe just because of all my experience in fights, but I felt like it was desperate to end the fight right then and there, afraid it would lose a longer battle. So when it leapt at me with all four claws, I knew it was my chance and I lunged forwards”

“Why on earth would you charge towards it?!” Alicia said.

“Oh, right… When you jump into the air, you shoot forward like an arrow, and you can’t change your direction. So it means you are no longer as much of a moving target. So I knew that if I could survive its claws, I could land a killing blow. I extended my blade as far forward as I could, pointed at its neck, and braced with a shield spell as it collided with me. The shield spell deflected the worst of its attack, and my blade sliced through its throat”

Silvia pushed her face up close to Mirio’s, “Wow!”

Alicia followed her example, “So brave!”

“Oh no, its nothing really. Well not nothing, but I wanted to finish the battle early too. I was just in a better position, and had the advantage so I took the chance”

“Girls girls, give Mirio some room to breathe, you are both getting awfully close” one of the male adventurers said. “That is an incredible fighting style you have there, reminds me of spellblade monster hunters. Have you considered doing the test and joining them?”

“Oh right, I don’t want to join the monster hunters…” Mirio replied.

“Any particular reason?”

“Bah, you know how they are, all territorial and about who is top dog. I’m not into that scene”

The man raised an eyebrow “Really? You, a guy who obviously loves to fight, aren’t into the scene. I call bullshit, maybe you are just scared you can’t match the ability of the real monster hunters”

Alicia and Silvia turned in unison, “Of course he could!”

“I’m just saying, it is easy to impress regular adventurers with tales of fighting off rageclaws, but a lot harder to impress a real hunter who does that kind of thing day in and day out. Who knows, maybe Mirio’s fights against monsters are just flukes, and he’s really just an excellent adventurer at heart but nothing all THAT special”

Silvia smacked the man’s arm “Why would you go and say something like that!”

Alicia backed her up “I’ll listen to your opinion when you have fought a rageclaw and lived to tell about it”.

“Wow, no need to get so wound up ladies, I’m just talking common sense here. If he’s worried about them being all ‘top dog’, then some part of him smells off. Otherwise why not just embrace the challenge and fight his way to the top of the ladder?”

Alicia and Silvia both took in a breath to yell, but Mirio placed a hand on both of their shoulders. “No no, he is right in a way. And I suppose to answer his question, I guess I just don’t trust monster hunters, who seek power for power’s sake. I think that for people who feel it is an achievement to become one of them it seems like a good deal, but being a person who is close enough to achieving it -and I’m not saying I could achieve it, just that I am close enough- I have to consider it more carefully. After considering it carefully I feel like while I could handle the fights themselves I think that even if I won my way to the top I would end up feeling empty inside”

“Empty inside? What kind of nonsense is that?! You’d have the respect of everybody, even kings and queens, nobody could deny your ability then. It is what everybody wants”

“It isn’t what I want though,” Mirio replied.

“Bah, do what you want, but you shouldn’t act like you already know what it is like before having even tried. That is just arrogant”

Mirio lowered his head.

*Is it arrogance?*

Alicia grabbed hold of Mirio’s hand, “Don’t listen to him”

*Am I really all that strong? Or does it just seem that way because I grew up in a small town?*

Silvia stood up from the table and burst out laughing, “Well, guess what, while a loser like you worries about that, Mirio is just getting stronger by the day. And I am too! I don’t care about any of those monster hunter sissies! I will become stronger than any of them!!!”

“Haha, you are dreaming, a runt of an elf like you!” the man replied.

Silvia gripped him by the shirt, “Yeah, a runt like me, you got a problem with that!”

“Fine, fine, take it easy. I was just sharing my thoughts”

“Well go share ‘em somewhere else!”

Mirio stood up from the table, “I think I’ll head off, I’ve got some things to do in the morning, thanks for the drinks guys. Have an extra round on me and enjoy the rest of your night”. He handed some coins to the barmaid and headed out the door.

*Damn it, the guy was kind of right. How can anyone know what they are capable of until they try it? Am I just running from it?*

“No, I’ve always trained my hardest, if I was to try out it would only make sense that I would do reasonably well. And besides, the guy was just riled up, and wanted to make a point. He didn’t sit down to think about how accurate it was. It's fine. While I can’t say I’d automatically do well as a monster hunter, neither can anyone say that I wouldn’t and the choice is mine and mine alone. I won’t chase glory for its own sake. I am my own man”

The conversation he had earlier in the day with the captain lingered in the back of his mind

“It isn’t a bad thing to have conflicting feelings about someone you grew up with. In fact it shows you are growing into your own man. As you develop your own thoughts, feelings, and identity, not everything in life stays the same as how you saw it as a child. That is just part of what it means to become a man”

“That is right… Not everything in life is as simple as a black and white answer. And being a man means to make choices in areas where everything remains a shade of grey”

“Damn it, where did Kabi go?”

Mirio turned the lock to his room and collapsed down onto the bed, snuggling up with Ezee for the night.