As Adrian got up from the chair still feeling light-headed from what had just happened, he stumbled forward, losing balance and almost falling over before Aero caught him and helped him up.

“You ok kid?” he asked as he helped Adrian sit down on the bed.

“Yeah it’s fine,” Adrian said, “just feeling a lil dizzy.”

Aero got up and headed towards his desk, coming back a second later with a glass of water in hand and said, “Well the good thing is, from what I can see your core is now completely covered with wind mana masking its presence, however it's still a void core so there’s a chance of someone noticing when you use mana.”

Putting the empty glass down Adrian looked over to Aero, “So I can’t just go around using flashy spells or does that apply to any mana usage?” Aero sighed as he dragged the chair near to the bed to sit down facing towards Adrian, “Unfortunately we still don't know the extent to which your mana will stay undetected, so currently the most you will be able to do without being found out is use the mana internally, stuff like body enhancement and all” 

“Still better than nothing I guess” Adrian said while putting back his tunic and shirt on, “so when are we gonna start training?”.

“As soon as we reach the Paladin HQ, so before we leave you better inform the guild master and anyone else you wanna say bye to, I will be here once you are done and then we will leave.” Aero replied.

As Adrian left the inn, numerous thoughts filled his head as he headed towards the guild. What was living outside his home town going to be like? What kind of training and work will he be put through? Will anyone find out about his core? And what will happen when someone does? 

Adrian’s hand reached for his shoulders as he tried to touch his back. He concentrated on the flow of mana in his body to get a feel for the seal. He could feel the wind mana being dragged through the seal into his body as the foreign mana spread all throughout his body while concealing his core, the most intriguing part however was how the mana around the core was changing from wind to something else as it got absorbed into the core.

Adrian arrived at the guild and found that his father was in his office as usual. Knocking at the door, he heard his father’s familiar voice say “Come in.” Seeing Adrian at the door, he kept down a parchment of paper he was holding. 

Looking at his father again, Adrian felt like his dad had aged several years in a few days. He looked tired, not in just the physical sense, but even mentally. Ceaser’s brows, that were earlier scrunched up, relaxed upon seeing his son. “So…..I guess you are finally heading off huh. Take a seat. Tell me, how did your sword turn out?”

“It was great…..take a look”, Adrian replied while handing Ceaser the sword.

He unsheathed the blade and took a good look as the light from the window gleamed on its edge. “This really is a fine blade. I see Carl went all out in making it.”

“Yeah”, replied Adrian.

No words were exchanged for the silence spoke more than words ever could. 

“Dad I-”, Adrian started but was cut off by Ceaser rising from his seat. He moved around the work table and stood beside Adrian. With his muscular burly arms, he pulled Adrian in for a hug. Putting all his emotions in that one embrace, Adrian was surprised but no words came out of his mouth as a lump formed in his throat, as he felt the tears build up in his eyes. 

Gently pushing Adrian away as he held him by his shoulders, Ceaser spoke softly, “I won’t say too much. That’d just make it harder to part. Just……please be careful out there. I’ve lost a lot of my friends and family to the crexes……even Farah….”, at the mention of the name, Ceaser’s face scrunched up in pain.

Adrian looked at him solemnly, his vision still blurry from the tears.

“I’ll definitely make you proud. I’ll become stronger. Strong enough that you won’t have to worry about me. And I’ll definitely come back safe. Thank you for all you have done for me…….dad.”

With this, he turned his face away as he rushed off so as to hide his tears from his father. He arrived at his room, packed his belongings, and took one last look at the room he had spent his childhood in. It had so many memories, every item on the clean dust-less shelf, as nostalgic as could be. Wiping his tears away with his sleeves, he walked off through the hallway into the guild’s main hall, where the hunters who were having ale and were merry talking called out to him to stop by for a drink.

Adrian politely declined their offer and opened the guild’s main doors. Standing outside however, waiting for him, was Mikhel.

“H..hey there, I thought you were out.” Adrian said sheepishly while stroking the back of his head.

“Is it true?” Mikhel asked with his eyes facing the ground. His lips quivered before tightening as he clenched his jaw.

“What?” Adrian asked confused.

“I heard Jess saying that you were leaving when I went to visit Carl an hour back.” he snapped at Adrian. “So I'll ask you again. Is it true?” Adrian was unable to look him in the eye, even after Mikhel pushed him, taunting him again with the question.

“Well yea, I guess.” Adrian said facing downwards, as he did not know how to face Mikhel, “you do remember how a church official took me as his apprentice, so I need to leave to work under him for some time.”

"That's it? You need to leave? That's all you have to say?"

"So that's it? Leaving without even a word? How could you not mention it until the last minute? Would you even have said goodbye if I hadn't confronted you?" Mikhel's voice kept rising with each question.

“Hey, it's still my choi-" Adrian almost yelled out, before finally looking up.

Mikhel's face was completely red, tears forming at the edge of his eyes. "How could you just-" his voice broke. "How could  you just leave without saying anything?" he screamed loud enough for the entire city to hear.

Looking at his friend like this made Adrian feel guilty, considering everything that had happened it didn’t even cross his mind to inform his best friend that he was leaving. Or how it would affect him. Now seeing Mikhel like this, eyes teary, face flushed, Adrian was reminded of how much of a jerk he had just been. Wanting to give his best friend a hug and apologise for what he said, he held himself back, remembering his father’s words, ‘it would just make it harder to part’.

“Hey now, men dont cry like this, '' Adrian said while putting his hand on Mikhel’s head. After a few seconds of silently shedding tears, Mikhel finally calmed down, “I’m sorry, I should be sending you off with a smile but…”,  he looked down again.

“It’s fine. I should have told you before. I know this is hasty, and I have to leave soon, but I promise I’ll definitely make it up to you when I’m back in town. We can sneak out of the guild-house at midnight, we can see the fireflies by the riverbank in the night when it's calm and peaceful. I promise I’ll make it up to you when I’m back. Wait for me. And no more crying when I’m gone. Be brave and watch over my dad for me. He doesn’t show it but he can get really lonely at times. You are the only one I can count on.”

Mikhel sniffed and held back his tears. Answering with a nod. “Take care of yourself when you are out there dummy”

Adrian gave him the best smile he could pull off, “Of course I will.”

And with that, Adrian headed for the inn. He looked at Mikhel with blurry eyes,  as he slowly disappeared into the crowd.

The walk to the inn was silent and uneventful and Adrian pondered over the events that had just occurred and how fast the past few days had gone by. As Adrian neared the inn, he saw Aero getting scolded by another guy just outside the inn doors, the man had a blade strapped to his back and a cross at his waist, similar to the Paladin’s.

 He had crimson hair, straight jaw and sharp well lined features. Aero seemed to be smiling while the other continued cursing him in an annoyed voice.