3-8 Short Lunch

3-8 Short Lunch

Basking in the glow of the afternoon sun, Aedan munched away his homemade sandwich with a gleeful expression. Nothing but floral surrounded him. This wasn’t Green Scar but somewhere a little bit east to Maven’s Creek. If he was back in Green Scar, he would be sitting behind a counter, staring into blank space as he ate his meals. The company of the greeneries changed everything about how a meal would taste.

Food was one of the few joys he found in his long life. Food. No matter how much time passed, food never became a dull subject for him. In fact, the course of time had only made food an ever more thrilling subject. It won’t be exaggerating to say that food was his sole lifelong interest and this was something he hadn’t told anyone. Or rather, the last people he had told were long gone.

“If only I can get my hands on some good cheese,” he remarked to himself. “Mozzarella would be nice.” It had been a few years since he last had cheese. Now cheese wasn’t an extravagance but due to the recent circumstances, good cheese was hard to come by. And the refinement of dishes wasn’t the common folk’s priority. So long as they had food on their table, the taste and everything else was an afterthought.

Aedan considered himself part of the common folk but that was only in name. In truth, his natural constitution had freed him of many burdens the common folk faced, such as hunger and the need for sleep. He could feed on Mana if conventional food wasn’t an option. Monster flesh was also something that his stomach wouldn’t reject but the taste left too much to be desired. As for sleep, he didn’t even need to close his eyes to rejuvenate himself. These two factors were the necessary bane of many but not for Aedan. However, he loved the feeling of sleep and the taste of mortal dishes.

“Hmm?” As he swallowed the last bite of his sandwich, his eyes went to a certain spot on the soil he was sitting on. A small hill was forming and it grew and grew until a certain rodent popped out of it, a mole. But not just any mole.

“Aedan!” a stern voice came from the mole but the voice didn’t belong to the small creature. It was the voice of Geron Tagrun, his foster father. “Thank god I finally found you.”

“Heya, pops.” Aedan greeted.

“Don’t “heya” me, Aedan. You disappeared on us without leaving so much as a note?”

“I thought you knew that I was gone?”

“I didn’t expect you to leave Green Scar. Do you know how worried I was when you didn’t come back even after a day?”

“Well… there were some complications but I’m fine.”

“That is obvious but it was only obvious now, not a few seconds before. Sven was so close in rallying his friends to form a search party.”

“A search party?” Aedan asked. “For who? For me?”

“Who the fuck else do you think? He didn’t even sleep. He waited for you or at least a message from you.”

“I-I’m sorry… That was remiss of me.”

Geron sighed. “You’re fine, that’s all that matters. Now, what were the complications that you spoke of?”

Aedan stroked the back of his left hand firmly but gently. The symbol was pulsating a weak glow that only grew weaker and weaker. “I… I overestimated myself.”

“Oh my god… is the seal—”

“No, it’s not broken, pops. Don’t worry.”

Geron heaved a sigh of relief.

“But it is on the verge of coming undone.”

“Say what!?” Geron shouted but his mole familiar had a contrasting expression. “What did you do?”

“Long-range teleportation. The Singularity had too much interference. I needed to exert more Mana than usual. It was more than the seal could handle.”

“Wait, you've been to The Singularity?”

“...yes?” Aedan answered after a short silence.

Geron took a deep breath. “You and I are going to have a nice long chat after you return. But for now, continue. Why did you pull such a risky move?”

“Erin was in danger. She would have suffered a great deal of injuries if I didn’t force the teleportation.”

“You endangered the seal just to save Lady Erin? I-I’m… astonished.”

“Saving a life is so astonishing?”

“I’m your father, Aedan. I know you. You won’t risk something like this for just anyone.”

“Well, Erin isn’t just anyone. She’s… a friend.”

“A friend? Is that mutual?”

Aedan laughed meekly. “I believe so.”

“I thought she finds you… irksome?”

“She does but that was not enough to deter her.”

“Now that’s impressive. She’s willing to be your friend even though she could hardly stand your antics… So, when’s the union?”

Aedan sighed. “She’s a friend, Geron. She’s not even a night companion.”

“Have you asked?”

“She made it clear she has no interest in—”

“But have you asked?”

Aedan fell silent.

“Have you?” Geron kept on questioning.

“Can we go back on track?” Aedan pleaded.

Geron chuckled. “In the end, you’re no different than Sven or others. I think this is why it never feels weird to have you as my son.”

“Can we please, for the love of everything, go back to the concurrent problem?”

“Yes yes, what were we talking about again?”

“My seal?”

“Oh right. So, what’s your plan? Do you intend to fix it? And when will you be back?”

“This seal is out of my realm. I need to find a specialist. So, I won’t be back for… at least a few months.”

“I see… In that case, at the very least, please come back before winter.”

“I will do my best, father.”

“And make sure you prepare a speech when you return. Or else Sven ain’t going to forgive you,” Geron said and ended their exchange. The mole gave off a light squeak as if bidding Aedan farewell before tunnelling back into the ground.

“Now… who shall I ask to fix this damn seal?” Aedan asked no one in particular as he eyed the seal closely. He knew the incantations. He knew the spells used but executing all of them was another story. It would take a specialist with at least a hundred years of experience. The Fae would be anyone’s first thought but the Fae would certainly not welcome him. He was trouble, he knew that well and the Fae wasn’t the kind to invite trouble to themselves. The only other faction he could think of was the Umbruns, Iris’ kin. But of course, the Umbruns he was searching for would be known just to anyone, not even someone like Iris. “Damn it… I’m running out of friends...”

As he contemplated his next course of action, he sensed a wave of distress. It was in the Spirits that flowed throughout nature. Spirits would only get this agitated if someone of high Spirit affinity was in trouble. Which meant, there was a Fae, or a few, nearby and they were in trouble.

But before he took off and swooped in and saved the day, he would assess the situation first. He encountered an ongoing ordeal. He had no idea what or how this ordeal came to be. It would be folly of him to assume that the Fae would be in the right without at least a minimal inquiry. The Spirits were not reliable judges when it came to individuals with high Spirit affinity.

“Around a mile away from here,” Aedan analyzed. “One… no, two Fae. An Elf and a… Dryad… Now, this is curious. A Dryad of all things.” His piqued interest stemmed from the fact Dryads were the most reserved out of the entirety of Faerie-kin. Of all the Dryads he had met, none of them bothered so much as a glance even as the minimum gesture of greetings.

He strained his focus further in search for the cause of the two Fae’s distress. The two were running from something. They didn’t even glance back.  It didn’t take Aedan much effort to quickly find the cause. There were a group of humans right on their trail. Going by their gait and their breaths, they were all experienced fighters but without proper training. Such criteria often led to two guesses. One, they were adventurers but no adventurers would be brave or dumb enough to cause Fae any trouble. Second, the more likely guess, they were thugs. The Fae most likely had caused some disturbance to their “business”. But of course, this was all just an assumption. Be that as it may, it wasn’t wise to distress the Faerie-kin no matter the reason. The repercussions would simply be too much for anyone to bear.

This was close to Green Scar and Maven’s Creek. Should the two Fae meet an unfortunate incident here, the two neighbouring lands would not fare well in the coming days. Sighing at the sudden end of his lunch break, Aedan took off into a sprint. Since he had no intention of being covert, his footsteps and the branches he rammed through was creating a series of noise that would draw just about anyone’s attention.

The sounds of sprints came to a halt, the same thing went to the two Fae. Both sides were intrigued and their guard strengthened. As far as the sides were concerned, the one making all the loud sounds and heading their way was a bigger threat than each other.

Even without the augmentation of magic, Aedan’s natural prowess and constitution far surpassed the realm of common sense. His appearance was unseen by many. The humans reacted to his presence but none could catch him in their sights.

“What in the Spirits…?” Nivia muttered as she stared blankly at her pursuers from the shades of dense vegetation.

“Certainly no monster,” Lilian said. “The Spirits are calm. Whoever is attacking them, it has the favour of the Spirits.”

Lilian and Nivia were by no means amateurs. In fact, they were better than average. For a greenhorn, Nivia’s control over Wind Magic was already considered adept. Lilian had the wisdom and being Nivia’s elder, she had more experience of the world than Nivia. These two individuals were exceptionals among exceptionals. Even so, they felt intimidated by what they were seeing. The way Aedan moved and laid waste to their pursuers was something they could never fathom as reality if they weren’t seeing it with their own eyes.

The group of twenty-something individuals was easily dispatched within minutes. But curiously, none of them was dead. They were wounded gravely but no wounds were life-threatening. Their assailant had left them alive intentionally. Still, none of them was in any condition to even move their fingers.

“It’s a man?” Lilian blurted out upon seeing the figure of their apparent saviour. Truth to be told, they weren’t in need of saving as they could easily outrun them eventually but nevertheless, they were saved.

“What kind of trouble do you get yourself into, Nivia?” Aedan asked.

While Lilian was confused at Aedan’s apparent knowledge of Nivia’s name, the person in question herself was shocked with her mouth agape and eyes wide opened.

“A-Aedan?” Nivia gasped. Although she had never seen him out of his Dwarrow form, the red hair and his distinctive countenance were enough for Nivia to arrive at an accurate guess. “Are you truly Aedan?”

“You know him, Nivia?” Lilian asked.

“Unfortunately, I do,” Nivia replied.

“Yes, it is I, Aedan,” Aedan answered, pompously.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“So my suspicions were right,” the Elf said, eyeing him with extreme vigilance. Her hands hovering over her blades behind her waist. “You’re truly no Dwarrow.”

“Is that a good reason for you to be this… wary of me?”

“You took down more than a dozen experienced fighters with ease and you lied about your race, you think those aren’t good reasons?”

“Correction, I did not lie about my race. As a matter of fact, no one has ever asked me about my race.” Aedan shrugged. “Therefore, I never lied.”

Nivia bit her lips, seething with annoyance.

“So… is he a friend or foe?” Lilian asked.

“Somewhere in between but closer to a foe,” Nivia answered.

Aedan scowled. “Wow, that’s what I get for saving you?”

“We were managing just fine without your intervention. And you expect me to believe you saved us for no ulterior motives?”

“I saved you because of our mutual friend.”

“Mutual friend?” Lilian mused, her eyes set on Nivia. “Could this mutual friend be—”

“Since when were you two friends?”

“We have always been friends,” Aedan said with a smirk. “Unlike a certain someone, she isn’t so conceited and overly dubious of things.”

Those words hit every part of Nivia’s nerves. The Elf was about to spring on the Dragon-kin when Lilian moved herself between the two. With a single hand, she stopped the Elf’s reckless action.

“Please forgive my kin’s gestures. That was rude of her considering you are indeed our saviour.”

Aedan frowned and raised an eyebrow. “You’re a Dryad?”

“I am,” Lilian answered with a nod.

He turned his frown upside down. “You’re the first Dryad I met that actually bothers to converse with other races.”

“I am aware,” she said. “As you can see, I walked a different path. Or do you perhaps find me daunting and unappealing?”

“Why would I think that way?”

“Because that’s the reaction I have received when they realize how much I differ from the Dryads they know or heard of.”

“As you can see, I too walked a different path.”

“So it would seem, Mister Aedan.”

“Just Aedan would do.”

“Oh my. How gracious.” Lilian giggled behind her hand. “ Then please, call me Lilian.”

“My pleasure, Lilian.”

Nivia couldn’t believe what she was watching. The development was just too sudden and unexpected. She even pinched herself on the cheeks a few times but to no avail, she wasn’t dreaming.

“I best be on my way. Your friend here doesn't take too kindly to my presence. I don’t want to be a bother.”

“Nonsense, Aedan. Your presence and assistance were very much appreciated. But for the sake of my kin here, I’m afraid it is for the best to part—”

Lilian was on the verge of finishing her sentences when Aedan dove into her and Nivia, shoving the two to the ground as something flew over their heads, literally.

“It seems we would be in each other’s company for a while longer,” Aedan remarked.

“I concur,” Lilian said.

“Unfortunately,” Nivia grumbled.

Aedan glanced back, over his shoulder. He saw no one. He didn’t feel any presence other than the two Fae by his side. “A sniper from afar,” he concluded. Stretching his neck with a crackle, he readied himself for another round as footsteps of a dozen entered his ears.