The Weapon

As the night changed to morning, Zycor was awoken by Adria. "Ok Zycor," she started, "before anything else we must figure out what weapon you want to use."

Zycor, as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, nodded as he got ready. They went outside to begin figuring out what weapon he wanted to use by utilizing the wooden versions of the real thing. Zycor and Adria tried out different weapons and ways to fight with them, getting creative in some aspects, for a week straight but nothing felt right to Zycor. And when he was about to give up and accept that life itself was against him, Dreiford showed up. When he stepped out of the carriage he said, "My apologies for being late, I got caught up with something."

Adria, confused, asked, "What do you mean? I don't remember you saying you would come visit today."

Dreiford, now equally as confused, said, "But I am certain I left a note along with the boy's ID card in his room. Boy, did you not read th-." He paused and asked with a sigh, "Boy, you don't know how to read, do you?"

Zycor shook his head and said, "No sir, my parents never taught me how."

Dreiford replied, "I see, then the fault is with me for not foreseeing this. I do apologize for the inconvenience then, Miss Adria."

Adria trying to process what's going on asked, "Wait a moment, you made and then gave a six year old child his own ID card? What could have possessed you to make you think that was a good idea?"

Dreiford responded, "Well, he would need one eventually, and I do owe him big time. Though in my opinion I do believe just an ID card is not enough."

He turns to Zycor and says with the most respect and gratitude, "My boy, if there is ANYTHING I can do for you, please just ask!"

"Zycor…" Zycor said a bit shyly.

"I do apologize, my boy, what was that?" Dreiford asked.

Zycor, speaking up this time, says, "My name is Zycor, Mr. Dreiford."

Dreiford, now realizing he had never gotten the boy's name before, said, "Oh my, I do apologize, I had completely forgotten to ask your name! I hope you can forgive me my-ahem I mean, Zycor."

As Dreiford scanned the area where Adria and Zycor were, he saw a variety of weapons strewn across the ground. "So what did I happen to interrupt?" he inquired.

Adria told him, "We were trying to figure out what weapon he would want to use and train with. However, we have not been successful as of yet. He just can't seem to find the weapon he feels the most connected to, and he is starting to lose heart."

Dreiford, who now understood the situation exclaims, "Well that's no reason to give up!"

He turned to Zycor, "Zycor my boy, I tell you what. If you can draw me a picture of a weapon you want, no matter how crazy it is, I will use my connections to try their hardest to make it a reality for you!"

After he heard all this, something clicked. Dreiford was right, why burn all this time to try and find the weapon he wants when he can have someone find it, or make it for him! Zycor shook his hand violently and thanked him, then asked Adria for some paper and something to write with, and went inside to his room. "That bo- I mean, Zycor, he must have gone through something horrific, huh?" Dreiford commented.

Adria, confused by his statement, asked, "What do you mean? Is there something wrong with him?"

Dreiford looked at her and said, "Well, he doesn't wear any expressions, nor does he express emotions outside of the tone of his voice and the fire in his eyes. A kid would have to go through something tragic for something like this to happen. Though, he seems happy enough with you, so I doubt you did anything to him."

Adria, who knew nothing about human children, said, "Oh, I thought that some kids were just like that."

"I mean, some kids have trouble expressing emotion, true, but something this bad is different" Dreiford stated.

Adria, getting a bit concerned, asked, "Well, is there a way to fix it?"

Dreiford told her, "Yes and no. It's not like a cut or a scrape you can just bandage and give it a couple days. The only thing that can heal this wound is time, being surrounded by those that care about him, and him himself coming to terms with whatever happened and moving on."

While Zycor worked on trying to draw and make a new weapon design he liked, he trained his body and constantly pushed his limits. After three months passed and the season began to change to fall, Zycor was finally able to finish something he was happy with. Dreiford came as fast as he could when he heard the news. When Dreiford arrived, he looked at Zycor and said, "Wow, I come by once a week to check up on things and yet I am still amazed you are the same scrawny kid I met all those months ago."

Zycor nodded and handed him the weapon design drawing. "Would you look at that I can tell what it is this time, haha!" Dreiford stated jokingly.

Zycor said, "Thank you for your help, Mr. Dreiford."

Dreiford, caught off guard by the young boy's sudden thanks, responded, "Well now, I have not done anything just yet my boy! Please hold your thanks for after we complete a working prototype!"

Zycor shook his head, "Thank you for that as well, but I mean for getting me and mama Adria a place to stay."

Dreiford, stunned at the boy's genuine compliment, replied, "Ah, it was nothing! With my connections it was a simple matter! And besides, I owed Adria anyways!"

Zycor nodded, and went back to his close combat skills training in preparation for his new weapon. Dreiford, who had not received a compliment from anyone in over twenty years unless it was to gain something, began to develop a fondness for Zycor. Even he found it strange considering his… hobbies, but it's a feeling that just kind of happened.

Another month passed, fall now in full swing. While Zycor and Adria ate lunch, She asked Zycor, "I probably should have asked you this sooner, but when is your birthday? I would hate to miss my own son's birthday because I simply didn't know."

Zycor told her, "It's Vyhuth fifteenth."

"That's in three days! Why didn't you say anything sooner!?" Adria shouted, upset at Zycor for not telling her.

Zycor responded, "I did not want to cause trouble, mama Adria."

Before Adria could begin scolding him for thinking that, Dreiford showed up and barged in the door. "Zycor my boy! They did it! They managed to make a full fledged schematic! But even better than that, they said that it is possible to make!" Dreiford exclaimed with an immense amount of excitement.

Zycor stood up and ran over to Dreiford to look at the schematics to see it with his own eyes. That was it, they were able to not only make his drawing into real schematics, but it looked even better than what he had imagined. Dreiford asked Zycor, "So? What do you think? If you like it, I can have the craftsmen team begin work immediately!"

Zycor grabbed Dreifords hand, looked up at him, and nodded vigorously. Dreiford did not get to revel in this feeling of satisfaction for long before he felt the glare of Adria, burning multiple holes through all of his vitals. He pulled away and told Zycor, "Well, that's a yes if I have ever seen one! I shall take my leave and have them begin work on it, though it may be quite a while until it's done." And with that he headed for the doors.

As he approached the guild doors, Zycor spoke, "Hey Mr. Dreiford-." He stopped, realizing he might just impose on the busy man and said, "N-never mind."

Adria saw Zycor's fidgeting, the same way he does when he wants to ask her for something, but holds back for fear of inconveniencing her. She continued for him, "Well Mr. Dreiford, judging by the way he is acting, and what we were just talking about, I can guess what he wanted to ask you. I am fairly certain he wanted to ask if you wanted to come to his seventh birthday in three days, isn't that right sweety?"

Zycor nodded silently. Dreiford exclaimed, "I see! Your birthday is that soon now is it? I barely have time to put something together! Well, let me see what I can do my boy!"

And with that, he hurried off to start working on everything he needed to do. "Are you sure you want him to come, sweety? I know how he looks, but he is not really the nicest man" Adria commented.

Zycor, fearing he might have made a mistake, replied, "W-well, he has helped us a lot. So I just t-thought it would be ok."

Adria reluctantly replied, "Well if that's how you feel, I suppose it's fine. Besides, I'll be there to watch over you anyways, so it will be ok." They hugged, and Zycor went back out to practice using the new weapons, as sloppy as it was.