Chapter 10: Exit and Start (1)

A/N: Hello people, I'm alive surprise surprise, there was what? As a 5 month gap in this series, anyways a lot of things happened, but I'm back. I should be uploading chapters weekly or every 2 weeks from now on. Rejoice!

Also, I realised that I somehow messed up Michelle's name, as I changed it to Alice by accident so her name from now on is Michelle von Alice Clove.

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Once more Ryu had felt strange sensations stir him awake. It seemed like he was forming a bad habit of collapsing or falling asleep in random places. Although he knew it was hardly his fault, the discomfort in his neck made it apparent, he had been gone down under in that basement for a pretty long time.

He hadn't been down in the basement for that long seeing that he was simply lying on the ground. He sat up blinking a few times to gain some clarity in his vision. Ryu looked down to see the scimitar in his hand. The weapon has a certain red glow to it. 

"...Pride?" 

As he expected there was no response. For some weird reason, he could tell that Pride wasn't currently awake. Perhaps because it was due to that weird ritual that he dragged himself into but at least he could tell Pride's current dormant state most likely due to something akin to exhaustion.

If a weapon could even feel that. Right then, however, he could hear the faintest sounds of someone calling out to him.

"Young Ryu,"

Ryu knew immediately who it was, after all, there was only a single person in his life who referred to him as Young Ryu. Ryu for some reason did not want to show off his new weapon as much pride (the irony) he would have to possess such a thing. 

As if sensing his desires, the spear merged with his left hand, disappearing without a trace...or rather with a trace.

On the palm of his left hand now sat a pitch-black tattoo of a symbol of a 'sun' or what at least looked like it based on the shape, but either the person drawing this was colourblind or really didn't care, because the last time he checked?

The sun was never black. Regardless, it was much easier to hide a tattoo, than an entire spear. So he simply shoved his hand into his pocket and walked up, as he responded to the person who called for him.

"Yes, Brenda?"

Brenda Williams. If Olivia could be called his wet nurse, well then Brenda was just as much of an older sister as his actual older sister. She was only 4 years older than him but was very caring for him. She was the one that would play with him, and spoil him every now and then. Being born into a family with knights, well let's just say that the dummy soul evidently sought refuge with Brenda.

As he exited the stairwell. He saw Brenda smiling in his direction, her auburn hair sitting on her left shoulder. Donned in the typical maid uniform, she stood with her hands joined together. 

"I was heading out to the markets, I just wanted to ask if you want something?" She asked.

Ryu shook his head in response and smiled, "No. Since I'm leaving tonight, I won't be needing anything." 

As if his sentence was the one thing she didn't want to hear, he saw the smile on her face drop as if she had just realised that he was leaving today. "Oh...right." She meekly spoke, " Do you know where you are headed?"

"Yes, I'm planning on going towards the town Levine. There I want to sign up to the adventurer's guild and then I'll see." Ryu answered. It's not like he needed to rush much, sure one year wasn't enough to get enough strength to slay a dragon, but there was no point for him to blindly charge against the clock.

Brenda's eyes widened, "Levine?! That's a week's journey by foot. How are you going to go that far?" She asked.

"I'll take the necessary stuff with me, don't worry I'll be just fine Brenda," Ryu assured. As much as Brenda wanted to refute it, she stopped herself. She knew that she couldn't stop him even if she wanted to, so she relented. She excused herself and went to the markets with a downtrodden expression.

While Ryu felt slightly bad for this, alas meetings and partings are a part of life. He knew that, so he didn't stress it too much. Besides it's not like he was leaving forever, he would come back after a year anyways. He decided to go and get ready for his journey in the meanwhile, thus returning to his room. 

/Evening/

Contrary to what one might believe, Ryu thought leaving during the nighttime was more advantageous for him. Of course, it came with its own fair share of risks, such as road bandits and monsters but he knew the parameter around his father's land would be relatively safe. At least the close vicinities of it.

His father was a really high-ranking knight. He had people under his command, it would be suicidal for anyone and anything to stay close to such a thing. Plus nighttime was when the apex predators went to sleep so it actually lowered the chances of being attacked by a fair amount.

Now he was standing in front of the entrance or in his case, exit to the town. Turning back he saw everyone there, except for his father. To his surprise, Terry had come along as well. His father simply left him with the words that he'd been waiting to see what Ryu can accomplish within that year period. 

The very fact that he even said those words, meant so much more than anything else considering the type of person his father was. He couldn't but smile as he watched his mother look at him with teary eyes.

"Final check son, have you taken everything? Your food? Clothes? Have you gotten enough rest before continuing? Have y-" She began to rant but she was cut off by her eldest son, Terry.

"Mother, while I don't mean to be rude if we were to sit here and wait for you to finish, I'm afraid that he wouldn't be able to leave until tomorrow." Terry interrupted, before switching his gaze at Ryu. The two simply stared at each other for a few seconds. "Ryu. Don't die, for mother's sake." 

Ayame from beside him began laughing, "Aww, look at you being a softy for once." Everyone else seemed to share the sentiment as they laughed together.

"W-what? No, I don't care what happens to this fool, I simply know that mother will get too worried for him, so I'm just giving him a precaution." Terry huffed.

Once again Ryu was reminded of the type of person his brother was, the one way to describe him that had stuck with him his entire life.

Tsundere.

Deciding to make the best of the situation, Ryu spoke up, "You know brother, you could soften up a bit, it'll increase your luck with the ladies. Besides, if you truly care for mother, maybe it's time you give her some grandchildren." 

As if to be set off by this, his mother looked at Terry with starry eyes, "My baby boy! I'm going to become a grandma?"

Ryu snickered quietly, not that it went unnoticed but the other 3 of Ayame, Olivia, and Brenda simply giggled at the act.

"NO, I-I mean I'm not ready for such things yet," Terry quickly shut down the idea before glaring at Ryu, "and you! Why haven't you left yet?!"

And so, after exchanging the last round of goodbyes, Ryu left the town. The image of his family became smaller and smaller as the distance between them increased. Once he was far enough, Ryu took out a book from his storage ring.

In all honesty, he thanked the Gods for allowing such a thing to be created. Imagine having to carry a week's worth of food and water, clothes, and other things by bags. Disregarding the issue of even finding a bag that could store all that, the primary issue would be that it would be simply too heavy.

But this ring solved all of those issues. Allowing him to even take books to learn magic on his way there. Magic worked just as he had suspected, he could learn the spells from the books, and with enough practice, he could increase the power, efficiency, and progress onto more difficult spells.

The book he was currently reading was called 'fire magic for dummies' which was a book that consisted of some of the basic spells, and understanding of fire magic. As he read the book, a feeling of warmth spread through his body. A feeling that clearly told him that he was progressing, although not hot enough to bring any discomfort for him, it paired well with the cool night breeze.

"Huh? You're learning magic?" Pride suddenly spoke up.

Snapping Ryu out of his concentrated state, the words made Ryu fumble and almost drop the book. But he caught it just in time, and composed himself.

"Yeah. I feel that fire would be the easiest element to start off with so I chose this." Ryu explained.

"...*sigh* are you stupid?" Pride asked him making him confused.

"H-huh?"

"The way you phrased that is so wrong." 

"I don't follow." Ryu admitted.

" Tell me what are the 6 primary elements in this world?" Pride asked. 

Ryu pondered for a second before replying, "As far as I remember it was, fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Lightning and finally Archaea."

"Yes. Now listen up, in this world, people have affinity for elements. Most magicians have one or 2 elements, they are called mono and dual-mages. 3 elements are rare and they are referred to as tri-mages. Similarly, 4 elemental mages are called quadra-mages. But there is not a single penta-mage, can you tell me why?" 

"..." Ryu didn't have an answer. He could only formulate particular hypothesises, but no concrete answer to give.

"The reason is that the final element Archaea typically exists by itself. Magicians who have the archaea affinity do not have an affinity for any other element because Archaea's system is so complex the body cannot handle it. The concept of affinities is based around a key and door model. Keys can unlock doors correct? But there isn't any key that unlocks any type of door lock no matter the complexity is there? Similarly, those who do not have an affinity for a certain element cannot use it, as their key is the 'wrong shape'. The vessel is the body, and the magic fills it. You cannot contain more than what you can store, and technically speaking it is physiologically impossible to have all 6 attributes." Pride explained.

Ryu listened with shock, "But then...How?"

Pride didn't let him finish, he knew exactly what he was asking, "That's for people of this world at least. You however are a completely different case. Your entire soul has been blessed by a deity, not only that you're capable of handling much more for reasons even I don't know at this stage. Point is, the flippant statement you made literally insinuates that you're a multi-elemental mage. Bear in mind that in most Kingdoms, a quadra elemental mage is so rare and powerful that the kingdom pours a lot of its resources into that mage."

Ryu understood what Pride was trying to say. Obviously, the Kingdom wasn't benevolent like that, there was no way that they would give such benefits without anything in return. If someone had found out about his elemental affinity, then his freedom would essentially be stripped from him. 

"I see...thanks Pride." 

Pride snorted in response, "I don't need your gratitude mortal, I will have a higher chance of reaching completion if you were allowed to live the way you wanted instead of being treated as a simple missile launcher." 

With that their conversation came to a close.

/In a couple of nights/

Ryu put some wood together as he was preparing for the night's camp.

"Flames, heed my call, Blaze!" He cast. Immediately, a small ball of flame appeared in the palm of his hand, he then proceeded to guide the flames towards the wood which immediately ignited. 

Having finished his books, this was the first spell he learned. All it literally did was summon flames into his hands, not that he could do much with it, besides light things up. It was still a pretty neat spell in his eyes.

He had started reading a new book ' Fire magic for average people,' which enhanced his understanding of fire magic and taught him new spells. The poor names aside, the book was very helpful and written by the same person as the previous one.

Although he had an affinity for all elements, he chose to read fire properly first. The reason is, he would rather be proficient with fire magic than be half-baked with all elements. Certainly not a favorable position to be in.

However, his peaceful time was interrupted by shuffling footsteps from his right.

"Enemies approaching from the east 90 degrees." Pride warned.

"Gee thanks, I couldn't hear that. Oh, what would I do without you?" Ryu sarcastically rolled his eyes. He turned to spot 2 goblins and a goblin leader. The sickly green pests were looking at him with their disgusting eyes, and the goblin leader looked more like an orc but was actually a fat goblin.

"Come, Pride." He called. As soon as he did so, a red glow began to emanate from his left hand, as the spear answered his call and came to his grasp. Without waiting anymore, he charged straight forward, he jumped at the goblin on the left, literally skewering the monster's head through. 

However, he didn't wait to remove the blade, the goblin had died before it could even comprehend anything. His spear was a double scimitar, with two knife edges. So he simply pulled his spear towards the other direction. Causing the head of the first goblin to detach itself from its body and come with the blade, as the other tip cut the second goblin's neck off.

But he didn't have time to confirm the kills, as he saw the goblin leader swing his big fist down on him. Immediately he rolled out of the way, now separating the head from his spear. He looked at the goblin leader who stared at him with murder in his eyes. 

Ryu stepped forth once more, thrusting his spear towards the goblin leader. Unfortunately, all it did was cut into his fat stomach, and simply allow him to punch down at Ryu.

Acting quickly, Ryu pulled out his spear and jumped back once more dodging the hit. 

"You're feisty fat one," Ryu commented, not that the monster understood the words. he realized that thrusts would not work, and swipes wouldn't be efficient since the monster's neck was bigger than the side of the blade tip of his spear. So the alternative was something else, " Roar khalesh blood, burn with fury, emblaze!" 

The goblin leader let out a grunt of defiance as if it had sensed that Ryu had been getting ready to decimate his ugly ass, "Burn to hell." 

That was all Ryu said before charging once more at the goblin leader. As if timing itself, the goblin leader brought down its fist, only for the handle of pride to block him. Ryu twisted his spear and shifted to the left so the fist slammed onto the ground, but left the neck of the goblin leader defenseless. 

Taking the opportunity into his hands, he swung the blade down and cut cleanly across the neck, the flames allowing him to cut through like butter, cauterising the wound as well. But it didn't go deep enough, so Ryu himself spun using the other tip of the spear to cut the other half.  

And so the goblin leader's corpse fell lifeless on the ground. Ryu spun Pride and swung the blood onto the ground.