Chapter 6: So, The Journey Begins

The sun was high in the sky, striking us hard with its rays.

I could hear Lulu calling for me, and Ali was calling Ezor, but neither of us had the energy to answer and tell them our location. We had somehow managed to move far away from where we started and into Ezor's farmland, so neither of them had any idea where we were, and we couldn't easily be seen either.

"You know we're going to die at this rate?" Ezor added in a low voice.

"I wish I could pretend that you're talking about our exhaustion killing us."

Ezor laughed as he started to stand up and somehow managed to get me up on my two feet, limping, but up. I likely had a broken rib and sprains in my ankles at the bare minimum. Ezor was alright, just exhausted, but he managed to get us into a clearing.

The last thing I saw was Lulu, Ali behind her, running towards us before I blacked out again.

***

I woke up to someone yelling in another room. I opened my eyes and saw Lulu next to me with my right hand clasped in hers. She noticed I was waking up, letting my hand go, and crying. She seemed to want to hug me, but Ali likely said she shouldn't.

"...And don't you dare pull another stunt like this ever again!" Ali yelled as she walked out of the kitchen and into the main room in Ezor's room that we found ourselves in now. "Ash, you're awake! How do you feel?"

"Like I was run over multiple times."

"Well, that's to be expected. Honestly, you're lucky you didn't die going against Ezor for five hours straight. Even I have only ever managed to fight him for an hour at best and with three other people!"

"So, I did well?"

"No!" they both yelled, with Ali continuing, "You shredded every muscle fiber in your body. I don't even understand how you could breathe as even muscles in your lungs were injured, let alone walk. Honestly, it's a miracle you're alive and that Lulu was able to learn magic so quickly."

"Excuse me, Ali, but did you just say 'Lulu' and 'learn magic' in the same sentence?"

I did feel a lot better than before I had passed out. I was sore, but what Ali described, I should be in so much pain I wouldn't even be able to stay awake.

"Yep!" Lulu yelled, hand on her hips to express her victory over me. "I was able to cast a healing spell on you, Ash. You got yourself a prodigy in the making! That's what Ali said."

"Lulu, I did say that. But before that, you nearly killed us all when you tried to skip some steps to see if you could activate the spell quicker and nearly shot out an explosion spell instead of a healing one."

"Don't sweat the small stuff!"

"That's not small stuff!" me and Ali yelled.

"Well, anyway...where is Ezor?" I asked, a bit afraid of the answer.

He walked into the room, and Ali glared at him so severely he stepped away from her.

"Hey, Ash, sorry about last night. I rarely get to spar with anyone around here, so I pushed you way past what I normally would."

"Pushed! You nearly killed the boy, Ezor! And what so you could spar? I can't believe you'd ask him to do that!"

"Um, actually, I asked Ezor to fight me. Well, I guess I never said so outright, but it was implied."

Ali and Lulu both glared at me. Ali was intimidating to look at, but Lulu looked more like an upset cat than anything intimidating. I even wanted to pat her head, but I stopped myself just in case she turned on me.

"You know what! It doesn't matter. It happened. Ash, you'll be okay now. You'll be sore for a few days. But I'm just letting it go. The stress of keeping you both stable is enough for me for the year. I'm just going to make some food."

Ali left, and I finally stood up as I was lying on the floor until that point, drained of energy. I helped Lulu up to her feet, and we nearly fell over as her legs had fallen asleep. Ezor walked over to a shelf in the corner of the room and gave me the look Pop's would any time I so much as mentioned a girl.

I just ignored him. But it didn't last long as he pulled out two books, tossing one to each of us. Mine was an old, worn-out black leather book that I knew wasn't initially black from the spots of brown. It was thinner but bigger than the bright blue-covered tome that Lulu got that seemed like no one had ever touched it before.

"Ash, that's a book about basic fighting stances. It has some pictures, so it shouldn't be hard to follow."

"Why must you throw a subtle insult into the mix?"

"Felt like it. And Lulu, that tome explains the basics of magic. Read the book I gave you first, and then swap to form an excellent foundation for magical mastery and fighting proficiency. Those books will save your life more than once. And do try to keep them safe. I want them back unharmed when you return to tell us all the adventures you went on and the people you've met along the way."

"Food's done!" Ali yelled from the other room.

"Well, let's not keep her waiting."

We all sat down, and just like last night, Ali used magic, which Lulu explained improved the output of the food's nutritional value. We ate fluffy stacks of pancakes topped with some syrup that wasn't like anything I had before and massive strips of bacon that suffocated my tastebuds with flavor.

The food was all gone before we knew it, and after cleaning up, we were all outside. Ali had given us both a backpack filled with food to eat on the journey to the City of Vestful, the nearest city from here, in case we couldn't successfully hunt for food.

"I want to thank you again for taking us in, even if it was just for a night, and giving us not only food but also helping us in more ways than we probably even understand," I said, bowing my head while pushing Lulu's head down.

"Actually, there are still two more things we want to give you. Wait here for a moment," Ali said before going back inside.

She returned in about a minute or two, holding two wrapped items, and passed the larger one to Ezor. Ali unwrapped her item first, and it was a dagger and a matching brown hip holster. Ezor unwrapped what he had, and it was a sword with a matching black back holster.

"Sorry, but what's going on?" I asked outright.

"Long ago, Ezor and I were adventurers. We gave up that life to live peacefully, far away from anyone, with just each other. You see, Ash, Lulu, adventurers have a custom within their family to pass down that last weapon they used to their children, and we wish you both to have them."

"No!" Lulu responded. "How can you do that? We are not your children! You should wait and pass it down when you..."

Ezor and Ali held hands. Tears were forming in Ali's eyes as I placed a hand on Lulu's shoulder for her to stop and listen to them.

"Beastmen and humans are incapable of conceiving children together. We knew that and everything else that came with falling in love with each other. That's why, even though our time was short, we would like you to carry our swords. They will likely not last for long, but they deserve a proper farewell instead of rusting away in our house."

I took a step forward and extended my hand to Ezor, and I know he would never admit to it, but it almost looked like he was seconds away from shedding a tear. Lulu followed my lead, taking a step and accepting the dagger from Ali.

They helped put the holsters on and quickly taught us how to draw the weapons out swiftly to ensure we wouldn't get them stuck. With everything they had done, we bowed once more and said our goodbyes, promising them we would come back one day and give them a story that beats whatever adventure they had.

Lulu and I got back on the road and started walking North towards the City of Vestful, where we could register with the adventure guild to earn money.

Also, as anyone could guess, I had to keep Lulu down from jumping through the roof when she heard that there was not only an adventure guild but that they recommended us to join.

"Hey, Ash," Lulu said, her nose in the book she got, "I think we have a problem? You remember how I said it might be bad that we don't know the language?"

"Yeah, but aren't we okay? We could easily understand Ali and Ezor, and they could understand us..."

"Yeah, it's just as you guessed."

She opened her book, and I couldn't read a single thing. They were words. I knew that for sure, but they looked like nothing more than scribbles on a page with my eyes.

I took a deep breath and apologized to Lulu before telling her to cover her ears as I would do a cliche thing, again.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..."