Sharp clacks ring out through the empty arena of the guild's training hall. Weapons made of wood impacted time and time again as two combatants face-off. A young boy with a spear fell back, creating distance from his veteran opponent. Sweat trickles down his face. His breathing was ragged as he stares down his opponent.
The veteran answers with a calm gaze, completely relaxed as if the combat from before was nothing more than a casual stroll.
"Your spear handling is getting a lot better." Aron compliments the boy.
"But, you still need to work on strategizing. Counters, feints, traps, and such. But your fundamentals have improved significantly." He continued.
"Thanks." Reid responds between heavy breaths.
Aron raises his wooden sword in front of him and allows his spirit energy to flow through the weapon.
"To finish this up, I want you to slash at me while infusing the hit with spirit energy. I'll match your timing and angle, so our swings meet in the middle. I put enough energy into my sword to be about mid D rank. If you can match that energy, they'll cancel out. If you can't… well, you won't get anything worse than a love tap."
Despite his aloof expression, Reid knew Aron was serious.
"Alright." Reid responded simply.
The boy immediately closed his eyes and focused deeply, all the way to his core. Using his enhanced senses, he focused on the spirit energy flowing throughout his body. He began manipulating the energy, directing the flow into his spear. The colorless energy empowers the weapon as the boy readies his strike.
His hands tighten around the shaft of his spear while he firmly plants his feet into the ground and lowers his stance slightly. With a shout, he rotates his body. Power travels from his legs, through his hips, and into the spear as it accelerates violently. The air whistled as spear moved in a horizontal arc.
Aron matches his speed and force with relative ease. His sword's arc was perfectly positioned to intercept the spear.
The weapons meet in a powerful crash. The spirit energy flowing through the weapons push against each other violently. Force canceled force until finally Aron's sword was pushed back, ever so slightly.
With the clash of spirit arts complete, the two combatants pull their weapons back. Aron looks at the boy, a proud smile on his face.
"Nice. Very nice!" The guard captain relaxes his stance while lowering his sword.
"I wish my other trainees could learn as quick as you. Are you sure you don't want to join the guard?" Aron said said, only slightly in jest.
"Yeah, wouldn't want to make Lance or Danny feel bad."
"Oh? Getting cocky, are we?" Aron raises his sword, ready to teach him a lesson in humility he has taught him many times already.
"No, no! Just joking!" He pleads desperately. "Though to be honest, I think if I did accept your offer the guildmaster would probably kill me."
"True, he's invested some serious tiss into you two." He says while gesturing toward Anna, who was currently undergoing her own trial.
Anna manipulated her spear with a gentle grace that contrasted sharply with Reid's explosive and erratic movements. The spear itself was coated in a gentle blue aura that was evidence of her special elemental spirit mana flowing through the weapon.
Barboda fought against the young girl using a wooden staff, a weapon far less intimidating than the warhammers he was typically known for. The massive man stayed entirely on the defensive, blocking Anna's strikes with an impregnable defense that made it feel like she was trying to break through a stone wall.
One final strike echoed through the chamber before Anna retreated to catch her breath. Despite her exhaustion, she had a wide smile on her face.
"That was a wonderful performance. The fluidity of your strikes and your spirit control have improved even more than I expected." Barboda gives his feedback while lowering his weapon.
"So does that mean?" She asked with bated breath.
"Yes, you pass the D rank exam. Congratulations." He says in a flat voice.
"Nice! That means we're two for two today!" Aron says with a mix of pride and joy.
"So does that mean I passed too?" Reid asked with restrained excitement.
"Yep! You don't have the same level of spirit control as the young lady, but your raw power output is more than enough to qualify you for the rank. Just don't forget what you need to work on."
"Of course! And thanks for everything Aron."
"Nah, save your thanks. I told you before, this was the least I could do after you helped me rescue Cynthia and the twins."
Reid wanted to say something back, something about how he only did that because he wanted to, but he realized it was pointless. They'd had that conversation too many times before, awkwardly thanking each other in a circular conversation that went nowhere.
Instead, Reid looked over to Anna. A look of unfiltered joy covered her face. Her smile nearly blinded Reid with its radiance.
"We really did it… WE REALLY DID IT!!!" She shouted triumphantly.
"I know, right?! I didn't know if we were gonna make it in time. Three months flew by."
"Yeah, and it was exhausting the whole time... but it was so worth it!" She allows herself another moment to bask in her unbridled joy before her smile shifted into something more mischievous.
"How do you think Lance will react when we tell him?" She asks.
"Oh, he's gonna freak out. He might even enter one of his 'training arcs' right then and there." He replies
The two of them giggled at the thought. After Lance first heard about their deal with the guildmaster, he ran straight to the guardsman's training grounds. He spent hours working out, swearing he wouldn't let them outclass him. He ended up passing out in exhaustion, forcing one of the guards to carry him back to the orphanage after they found him.
"Here." Barboda says, interrupting the kids' celebration.
He handed Anna a brand-new bronze guild card, the color that showed off her new D rank status. He didn't give one to Reid since, by virtue of being two people in one body, he was already given one.
"The guildmaster and I have business tomorrow, so unfortunately, we won't be able to see you off. Remember, when you arrive in Forterra you are to head straight to the guild. The receptionists will be expecting you. They'll show you to your lodging and introduce you to the Azure Ravens"
"Understood."
"Got it."
Reid and Anna replied in turn.
"Good luck. Both of you. The guildmaster and I have high expectations for you, and we know you'll do great things." Barboda says with an unexpectedly sentimental tone.
""Thanks!"" They reply in unison.
The imposing vice guildmaster gives them a small head nod before walking away.
"Well, I guess we should be getting you two back home. Gotta make sure you're packed and ready for tomorrow." Aron says.
The two young hunters agree, and they start walking out together. Reid pauses for just a moment in sentiment. He realized this will be the last time he sets foot in this place for a long, long time.
The three months that followed their agreement with the guildmaster had meant a lot more to Reid than he let on. Three months of blood sweat and tears that seemed gruelingly slow yet somehow passed in the blink of an eye.
To others, the harsh training and lessons of the guild staff, veteran hunters, and Aron would be the equivalent of torture, but to Reid, it was something different. It was the first time someone had believed in his potential.
To him they weren't the brutal instructors others declared them to be, they were mentors who wanted to build him up. Who wanted him to achieve the promise they saw within him.
With one last nostalgic look at the training ground, he walked away.
⁘⁘⁘⁘
The sun was barely peaking out over the horizon, as a small group gathered around a carriage just outside the city gates. Every single member of the orphanage, as well as Aron, came to see Reid and Anna off on their journey.
Mary and Cynthia both wore the smiles of a proud mother, whose children were setting off on their own for the first time. Though the latter had small droplets forming in the corner of her eyes that threatened to ruin the warm smile on her face. Aron wore his usual relaxed smile as he put his arm around Cynthia to comfort her.
Danny had the most neutral expression of anyone present. His pride as the 'eldest' of the orphanage wouldn't allow him break down over a simple goodbye.
Lance looked completely exhausted with deep bags under his eyes. Reid's prediction proved to be accurate as the boy spent the whole night training to 'catch up' to his D rank rivals. Through his exhaustion, he barely managed to wake up on time to see the two off.
The twins had the most intense reaction as they were both bawling their eyes out before even getting a chance to say their goodbyes.
Reid put the last of their bags onto the back of the carriage as he turned with Anna to face the group in front of him. Words alone couldn't express what they had begun to mean to him. In just three short months the bonds they'd built and the love they shared were worth more than anything he'd felt before. In truth, they were his family more than any blood relative could ever claim.
The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him either. Not too long ago he had no choice but to run away from a home and family that despised him. Now he had a home and a family that loved him, he chose to leave it anyway. In his heart, he truly didn't want to leave, but deep down he knew it was a necessary step for him.
"Well, that's everything." Reid says, trying to break the ice.
"Stay safe you two. I trained you well, so as long as you don't get too cocky, you'll be just fine." Aron goes first when everyone else stays quiet.
"Yes, and remember that you will always have a home here, no matter how far you travel. And be sure to write, we would all love to hear how you're doing." Mary says.
"Mmhmm." Cynthia says.
She opens and closes her mouth a few times trying to find words, but the threat of tears stops her.
"You two better make sure to work your butts off! Cuz if you don't, I'll be way stronger than either of you by the time you get back!" Lance yells out, his fatigue disappears with his declaration.
"Stay safe you two, and don't worry about this knucklehead. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything crazy while you're gone." Danny says while ruffling Lance's hair.
"Hah! Good luck trying to stop me!" The redhead shouts defiantley.
Lances' usual antics help to lighten the mood among the group.
"Oh, before I forget." Reid says while unexpectedly switching with Amadeus.
The white-haired spirit kneels in front of the sobbing twins.
"I read in a book that it is tradition for spirits to present ornaments to elves under their guidance. My time as your magic instructor may have been brief, but I believe that it qualifies for such a tradition."
Amadeus pulls two small bags from behind his back and gently hands the twins their gifts.
For Faeth, he gifted her a white flower ornament with red and gold accents at the tips. The ornament rested on a cloth band meant to tie around her neck.
"Both the flower and band are enchanted. They function to assist you with circulating and accumulating mana into your voice when using chanted magic." Amadeus explained.
For Faerie, he gifted her a small satchel full of playing-card sized artifacts. Each one was made of an incredibly thin material that was an odd cross between stone and metal. Of the 30 that rested within the satchel, every single one had a unique design and color embedded in the card.
"These will fulfill the promise I made to you. Channel your mana through the cards and you can cast a spell without needing to chant." He explains with a gentle smile on his face.
Faerie was overwhelmed by the gift. Her body didn't know whether it wanted to smile or cry, causing her expression to be a weird mix of the two.
"I call them rune cards. If you need more, or simply want to expand your spell library, get with Kine. I already paid him for 30 more cards worth of material. You just need to show him the rune you desire, and he will craft the rest. Make sure not to slack on your training just because I'm gone. You're on the cusp of changing your mana's color. Then you could cast rune magic without having to rely on the cards."
The twins look at the gifts, then at each other. They share a look before launching themselves at Amadeus.
""F-fank yuouuu!"" They shout through tears.
Amadeus holds his hands in the air awkwardly before deciding to lower them, patting the twins' heads.
Eventually Amadeus switches back with Reid to allow him to say his goodbyes as well.
"Well everyone, I guess this is goodbye for now. I just want to say that I'm so glad that I got to know you all, and I'm grateful for everything you've done for me." Reid says.
"No dearie, we're the ones who are grateful for you. For everything you've done for us." Mary retorts.
"Oh geez, there they go again." Anna says with a lighthearted smile. "I um. I don't really know what to say, but I guess I'm gonna… I'm gonna miss all of you!" She shouts as her previously stoic mask finally cracks. Tears run down her face as she launches herself forward, wrapping everyone in a hug.
That was the final straw for Cynthia to break down as well. Tears run down her face as she shouts back.
"I'm gonna miss you too! I love you all soooo much."
Following their lead the whole group is enveloped in a warm embrace.
Not quite the manly send off Reid had envisioned for two D rank hunters, but he didn't mind.