_________________________________________________________________
“El !” Exclaimed Gav
“Gavin Glynn” replied the mysterious man.
“I see you haven’t changed a bit, still the same old formal guy, huh!”
The mysterious man chuckled. “You, on the other hand, certainly have changed! You used to be more gloomy.” Both of them started laughing.
“So this is your son you told me about in your letter, Gavin! Hello, young Luka” greeted the man, while looking at me with a gentle smile.
“Hello, sir! It’s nice to meet you”
“Oh, what a well-mannered man. I didn’t expect it from Gav’s son.”
My father looked at him while rubbing his hand on the back of his head, as if agreeing with his statement.
Suddenly, a little girl, wearing the same pristine white coat, appeared from behind him.
She was holding his hand tightly while rolling her eyes back and forth, shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot and avoiding meeting anyone's gaze.
“I want you to welcome my daughter, Ariana.”
Ariana stood there, clutching her father's hand with a mixture of shyness and curiosity. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in everything with quiet intensity.
"Hello, Ariana" Gav greeted her, offering a friendly smile.
She hesitated for a moment before shyly returning the greeting. "H-hi"
My mother, ever the warm hostess, rushed over to Ariana with a welcoming smile. "It's lovely to meet you, dear. Would you like something to drink?"
Ariana nodded, her eyes brightening at the prospect of something to distract her from her nerves.
“Come on in El, feel yourself at home”
“Excuse us, then” said the white coated man. As he put down his hood to reveal two pointy ears, piercing through a long straight silver hair reaching down to his hips.
“Oh my …”
El turned to me, with a cheeky smile on his face.
“Did I surprise you, little Luka?”
Well, It was the first time seeing something like it, despite knowing they existed. Of course I would be surprised.
“Oh I forgot to mention ! El here is an elf” said Gav as he let out a loud laugh “ And so is his daughter Ariana ofcourse”
Ariana turned her head towards us as she was immersing her mouth inside the orange juice filled mug.
Now that I see her, she was something else. Her face, all round and fair, was topped with short, wavy silver hair. Its mint green shade on the tips caught my eye. And those eyes! Slightly wide, they conveyed a sense of innocence. They were green like emeralds, shining and bright. She was captivating, with a sky blue bandana knotted on the left side of her neck.
“Beautiful !”
I quickly returned to my senses and found myself in quite the awkward situation. Ariana was blushing, her white skin turned to reddish pink as she started fidgeting with her white robe, while the three adults chuckled then bursted laughing.
“Excuse my laughter” said El
As things settled down, we all gathered around the table, Gav and El were yearning to catch up.
Realizing they were party members during their adventure era, I perked up, eager to soak in every detail of my dad's adventurous past and El's tales from their glory days.
Dad kicked things off with his signature enthusiasm, launching into stories of epic quests, intense battles, and all the wild stuff he and his crew got up to back in the day. You could practically feel the excitement crackling in the air as he recounted each adventure. “Remember when I slipped off the edge of the mountain, and my belt got stuck on a branch?” he exclaimed, with El nodding along, adding his two cents and filling in the gaps with his own memories. “You tried your hardest not to freak out, Gavin Glynn, the sword demon, begging us to save him.”
From what I could collect about the world of adventurism, adventurers are ranked by fame points into four categories: 'Decem' for those with two-digit points, 'Centum' for three digits, 'Mille' for four digits, and finally 'Apicem' for those who have achieved the peak of fame.El, or Eleanor as I learned, was a mid Mille adventurer, same as Gav.
Quite impressive if you ask me.
As they laughed and reminisced, I forgot all about the hunting trip. I couldn't help but feel admiration for these two legends. The same was for Ariana; the nervousness visibly left her body, replaced by sparkling eyes and clenched hands resting against her chest.
Amidst the conversation, we heard a loud voice coming from outside. We stepped out to see what was happening.
There, an armored figure with a flagpole was roaming the area, holding the Madanian flag and shouting, "Attention, citizens of Silvermill! The ranking exam is scheduled for early next month, coinciding with the fullest moon. Attention, citizens of Si…”
"Oh, it's finally here" exclaimed Glav with anticipation. "Luka, your time to shine has come."
I turned my gaze towards him, then back at the knight, my eyes glowing with anticipation. "Finally..."
Comments (0)
See all