Orin and Edward walked back towards Richard's hut with their stomachs full. This time, they were not particularly in a rush, so they had decided to take a relaxing walk instead, to let their dinner sink in. Edward looked at the dusk and over to Orin.
"Howdya think he's doin'?"
"Do you mean Richard?"
"Yeah. He seemed thankful when we were there earlier, but I dunno how he's gonna be feelin' when we get back."
"True. We saved his life, but that ruffian did seem like he was going to have Richard's family sent here. And based on what he told us, that means…"
"Yeah, we gotta keep a close eye on 'im."
"You are right about that, Ed. If and when this Bo fellow he mentioned turns up here, we have to be ready for it."
"'Cause if we ain't, then he'll die. 'n probably his family too."
"But this time, we will be able to stop someone from losing their family. If not help ourselves, we can at least help out a newfound friend."
"Specially since he gave us these cool weapons. Never knew throwin' knives would be this cool!"
They eventually got to Richard's hut ater walking for a few minutes. They knocked on the door and Richard quickly opened it, looking more cheerful than the day before.
"Good morning! Now what brings the two of you back to my hut? Need more help with construction? More tools? You name it, I'll make it happen."
Orin looked at Edward and Edward gave him a nod, suggesting for him to speak first.
"We did come here to check up on you. You seem to be doing well as of now."
"Well yeah, I'm gonna be reunited with my family again. And I have my trust in the two of you. Though I am terrified of what's going to happen when Bo gets here."
"There was also that, how long would it take Bo to arrive here?"
"That entirely depends on the winds. But it could take a week on average."
The winds surrounding Whistlefreid were what made it a noteworthy town in the Sylphi region. They were known to vary very greatly in power, yet the structures of the mountains and hills around would allow one to hear whistles from the winds when approaching the town.
Because of those winds, travel time could not be properly estimated when one was passing by the Sylphi region. The winds could add no change to the travels whatsoever, they could slightly halt them, or they could even make traversing the areas close to Whistlefreid impossible.
Edward looked at Richard and Orin before speaking up.
"If we're gonna worry 'bout waitin' for this dude ta show up, why don't we just stay here until then?"
"Ed, what do you mean? Are you saying we focus only on helping Richard, rather than building the house for master?"
"Nah, that ain't what I mean. What if we just sleep here til' he turns up? Makes it easier ta keep track 'o what's goin' on here. Whaddaya say, Richie?"
"Richie? Well, I guess I won't have a problem with it. The two of you're helping me out and trying to save my family. How could I say no to helping out my friends? It's what he would've done…"
Richard stared at Orin's rapier for a few seconds, seeming to have a lot on his mind.
"Well, we're gonna take this up with the chief later. But right now, we've got work ta do! Right, Ora?"
"Yeah, we do…"
They started leaving the hut and walked back toward the hill they were working on, while turning back toward Richard.
"See ya, Richie! Stay out o' trouble til we get back!"
Richard grinned back at them before closing the door. On their way back to the hill, Orin looked at his sword's bell guard, trying to analyze it.
"What do you think is so special about this sword, Ed?"
"I got no idea. Looks expensive, I guess. Though Richie did have that thing on some fancy stand above his fireplace. That'n that stare he gave it just now, shows he probably cares a bunch bout it."
"I thought the same thing. He allowed me to keep it after I stabbed that ruffian with it. Maybe he saw it as just repaying us?"
"Maybe. Or maybe it shows he trusts that you'll be fit ta handle it."
"That may be… Then we will have to repay him for his kindness."
"Heh."
As they reached the top of the hill, ready to work, they could feel the winds growing stronger than the day they met Michael. Yet, strangely, the winds were not bothering them. Though the winds were blowing a bit warmer.They took off their jackets and proceeded to get back to work.
The heavy lifting was easier than before, yet the work was still exhausting. After several hours of heavy lifting, woodcutting and building, along with being healed by Cassandra, there was not much progress on the house. Orin took a gander at their progress and another one at Edward. He sighed.
"This task seemed so much easier when we were getting started…"
"Yer right 'bout that. This's so tirin'. I'm exhausted. Even though we've gotten stronger from all o' this liftin', It doesn't look like it's enough."
"But we cannot lose our spirits. We need to be done with this as soon as possible."
"Yeah. He said a week, right, how long's it been?"
"…We just finished day three…"
Edward tried to sit down to catch his breath but the winds pushed him, sending tumbling downhill. The rest of the evening went by quickly. They took a bath at Coveto's bathhouse and had dinner with Michael and Cassandra at the inn. Michael looked at Orin and Edward, trying to analyze their facial expressions.
"The two of you look like you have a lot on your minds. mind telling me what that may be? It's best not to keep secrets from your master, after all."
Edward looked at both Michael and Cassandra and was interrupted by Orin before he could speak up.
"We have some newfound business we must attend to, so for the remaining days of the week, we need to be sleeping elsewhere."
"Somewhere else? Where, what and why?"
"A hut by the edge of the town. He is in trouble with some gangsters, and we promised to help him."
"Help him with what trouble exactly?"
"He is forced by a man named Bo to work here as a blacksmith. Bo has his wife and daughter as hostages and is on his way here to murder him in front of them."
"Oh my, that's quite the predicament. So will you be putting the house on hold for this?"
Daron interrupted the conversation.
"Nah, we'll make the house happen, even while we're helpin' out Richie with his problems!"
"Bold statement, Edward. The problem with that is doing both at the same time. One thing will undoubtedly mess up the other…"
"So whaddaya suggest? That we just abandon 'im and leave 'im fer himself?"
"Not at all, Edward… I was actually hoping you two would ask for my help with this. But the fact that you didn't shows you have a strong drive to get it done yourselves. Don't forget what you saw me do to that blackhood you fought. I'm a dragon, remember?"
Orin jolted up a little and looked at Michael.
"Master, that reminds me of something. Both you and mister Coveto claimed to be dragons. I have read books about dragons when I was younger, and you do not share any appearance with them. I also believe to have read that they were extinct…?"
Michael was visibly confused from Orin's qestion.
"Wait, so you don't know about… Nevermind, I forgot you two are novices. It would of course make sense that you don't know about the ranking system."
"Ranking system?"
"I'll tell you more about it when you become proper mages. I'll tell you this much, however. There are currently eight of us mages that are recognized as dragons. So if you're confused from my lack of scales, just know it's more a title than biologically. Wel, except for one, but that's for later."
Michael raised his hand with his thumb up.
"All right, as your teacher and responsible adult, I'll help you with this Bo guy. You just keep working on the house. I'll also make sure you two know exactly when he's here."
"But how'll ya do that?"
Michael showed him and Orin the symbol on his palm.
"I set up a connection with this. Since you two're officially my students and the situation, it would be beneficial for you to know how my magic works. I made a spell for myself that I set to be constantly active. I call it my domain; which is normally just a ten meter radius from myself. Though it's name is [New God]"
Edward was visibly confused from Michael's sudden explanation.
"Domain…?"
"Essentially, I have a constant ten meter radius where my mana is expelled. I'm automatically aware of everything within it and I have too many tricks to start explaining now. The key point is that I can also expand it, expending more mana. I can also set up a quick [Scan] of everyone the moment they enter the radius."
"Chief? I'm gonne needya ta explain a lil' more simpler fer us."
"Of course, my mistake. I do tend to keep rambling a bit when I first start talking. Well, before I do it again, I'll just say this much. I make my domain cover the entire town. When someone enters it, [scan] will read them and give me an estimate of who they are. Did that make sense?"
"Yeah, now I get it. That means we can get back ta work, right?"
Michael took a sip from his cup, which contained a strange, green tea with a strong scent.
"Absolutely, why are you two even here? Me and Cass need to get back to planning your [Curriculum]."
"Alright then. We'll get back ta work."
Orin and Edward left the inn. They proceeded to spend the following days doing nothing but build, bathe, eat and sleep. They told Richard about Michael's promise and did not stop working unless it was for quick relaxation.
The next few days went by fast until the last day was over. Orin and Edward stood exhausted next to the house, which was not nearly finished. The blueprints illustrated for a much too large house for two novices to make on the spot, and wold most likely take at least two months for a proper crew to build.
Edward caught his breath as he watched the sun setting. His mind was full of thoughts about everything they had done this far in their life. He looked over at Orin and was only able to utter a single phrase from his thoughts.
"Was it all even worth it, Ora?"
"What do you mean, Ed? Look at our progress. We have come this far, we cannot give up."
"…Give up? …Who said anythin' 'bout any 'o that? I ain't givin'g up. I'm just wonderin'… Did we waste seven years? Couldn't we just've learned to use magic from some academy, instead of doin' all 'o this?"
"Granted, we could have been quite skilled mages by now if we had learned from an academy. But look around us. We have people we share a goal with. Not just each other. You were the one the most open to this whole two year ordeal, and I will not allow you to believe we made a bad choice doing this!"
Edward looked into Orin's right eye, gazing upon the star within it.
"You're right, bro. We just have to keep pushin' We don't need more bad things to look back on. After all, we're far from done with our mission."
As they finished cathcing their breath, Cassandra came up to them, along with Michael. They both looked at the house and Michael gave them a smug grin that showed he was not surprised at all.
Cassandra fixed both of them up with her magic and before Michael could say anything, he felt a sudden shock in the back of his head.
"What was that, master?"
"That's your signal. It's go time!"
Orin quickly ran to pick up his sword and jacket. He then tossed Edward his coat with knives as they both started sprinting towards Richard's hut.