Chương 44: An unexpected Gift

"We should go to the Detreyo homestead first," Evan said to Jasper.

"Make sure his family is okay." Oliver was walking a few steps behind them, seemingly deep in thought. Evan wasn't sure if he'd heard his words. If he had, he'd remained silent. Jasper nodded.

"We'll do that, but he seems so much calmer today. What did you say to him?"

"Nothing, really. He already talked himself out of some of his more dangerous ideas."

"That's good. A sign of maturity. Lots of young mana users rush into danger because they feel invincible after gaining their first few skills and get themselves killed before they reach the really powerful ranks. Keeping a cool head will keep you alive." When the farmhouse appeared beyond the trees, Oliver got antsy. Evan could feel the tension radiating off his friend, and he felt nervous himself.

He'd only spent a few days with the family, but while he severely disliked Oliver's father, he'd quickly grown fond of the rest of his siblings, and his friendship with Oliver and Maya made him feel connected to those people. To Evan's great relief, Josie, the youngest of the Detreyo siblings, came running toward them before they'd even reached the first fields. She jumped into Oliver's arms and wrapped her little arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder.

"You're alive! You're alive! I knew you would be. I told Father you're not dead." Oliver patted her back.

"I'm okay, Josie. Really, I'm fine. But what about everyone else?" The little girl sniffed.

"I… we… Father said…" Before she managed to get out a coherent sentence, she broke out in tears again. Oliver wiped her cheeks with a concerned look on his face.

"We should probably talk to my father." Quickening their steps, they walked past the fields and stables toward the farmhouse. Behind Oliver's back, Luca was pulling funny faces to cheer up Josie, but he only got a shy smile out of the little girl while tears kept rolling down her face. Oliver's father was already waiting at the door. His gaze wandered over Evan, Jasper, and Luca before coming to rest on his son. His face showed nothing but disdain.

"Josephine, get inside."

"But—""I said get inside!" Oliver's father barked. Frightened, Josie slipped out of her brother's arms and scurried back into the house. Oliver swallowed hard before addressing his father.

"Father, is everyone okay?" His father crossed his arms, jaw muscles tensing.

"No."

"What does that mean?" His father glared at him.

"Don't talk to me like that, boy. I paid a fortune to get you this affinity crystal, and what did you do? You ran off at the first opportunity."

"I came back, didn't I?"

"Yes, you came back. And what a homecoming it was. You couldn't even protect your own family. You're a failure and a waste of money." Oliver balled his fists, and when he spoke, his voice brimmed with barely suppressed anger.

"Father, tell me what happened. Where are my brothers and sisters?"

"Inside," his father grunted.

"All except Felix." Oliver gasped.

"They got Felix?"

"Yes, they got Felix," his father snapped.

"I sent him out to run some errands. He wasn't with us when those Beasts attacked. Simone saw him getting dragged away by one of them. A skinny man with a crossbow on his back."

"That's Spider. Spider got Felix. I should have… I need to…" Evan cleared his voice and stepped forward.

"We'll get him back."

"He's just fifteen. He can't—""Olly, we will get him back. Him and all the others." Oliver's father snorted.

"Oh yes? Your little group of misfits?" Luca frowned.

"Excuse me? What did you just call me?" Evan turned to Luca.

"Don't pay any attention to him, Luca. He's just a bitter, rude old man." Then he turned back to face Oliver's father. He looked like he wanted to cuss Evan out, but Evan didn't give him a chance.

"Yes, our little group of misfits is going to save your son's life. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a job to do." If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. He turned on his heel and stomped away, dragging Oliver with him. Jasper and Luca followed, close behind.

"What a deeply unpleasant man," Jasper said as soon as they were out of earshot.

"Yeah, sorry about that, Oliver," Luca said.

"Growing up with that asshole must've been hell."

"He wasn't always like that," Oliver mumbled, gaze fixed on his feet.

"But after Mom died… and then Miles…"

"His pain is no excuse to berate and belittle you," Evan said.

"Don't let his words get to you, okay? You're not a failure." His words seemed to rouse Oliver's fighting spirit, at least a little bit. He clenched and unclenched his fists and rolled his shoulders with a deep breath.

"Right. I'm not a failure. I'm a rank 3 mana user, a guild registered monster hunter, and I will save my brother."

"Not personally, though," Jasper reminded him promptly.

"Remember, the plan is to follow their track, find their hideaway, and then call in backup." Oliver cleared his throat.

"Yes, sure. Yeah, that's the plan. I'm totally onboard with the plan." Evan glanced at Oliver's face and immediately realized he was not on board with this plan at all. He had the very strong feeling all this newfound maturity and emotional control was already slipping away. He was afraid that Oliver would attempt some kind of heroic and deadly stupid stunt once they found the Beasts and silently promised himself to keep a very close eye on his friend and stop him from going over the line.

After the unpleasant visit at the Detreyo farm, they made their way to the village center. Some of the houses they passed by were still abandoned, but many villagers had already returned or reemerged from their hiding spots. The mood was heavy. Every family counted their losses, inspected the damage to their homes, and checked up on their neighbors. They found Mayor Sedius at the town square, looking a little worse for wear but already shouting orders and instructions, overseeing the cleanup.

Most of the fighting had happened in the town square, and the damage was most severe there. Smashed market stalls, cracked paving, and a tree had fallen straight across the place, blocking the entry to the tailor and the cobbler. Sedius' eyes went wide when he spotted their group approaching.

"You're alive. I thought for sure you were dead." He pointed at the smears of blood nearby.

"Or abducted."

"We received a pretty bad beating, but we could get away in time to save our lives," Evan explained.

"Get away? Weren't you supposed to stay and protect the village?" Sedius asked, sounding miffed. Evan raised an eyebrow.

"Like you did?" Luca joined his side, fists balled in anger.

"Yeah, at least we tried, you fat sack of—" Jasper quieted him with a stern gaze.

"We were forced to retreat from the fight, but that doesn't mean we've given up. If you don't mind, Mayor Sedius, I'll have a look around the village, trying to find a trace of the attackers we can follow." Sedius glared at Luca before turning toward Jasper with a friendlier expression.

"Be my guest. Take a look." Jasper nodded and went off alone, leaving Evan, Oliver, and Luca behind. There wasn't much they could do to help him anyway. Hands in his pockets, Oliver walked up to Sedius, who'd already gone back to directing the cleanup operation.

"Mayor, do we have any idea how many of our people…" Sedius grimaced.

"We're still counting, but so far we're missing twenty-three people."

"We'll bring them back. I promise." The Mayor just scoffed and muttered something that sounded like, "If my son were here…" before turning his back toward Oliver, rudely ending the conversation. Evan pulled him away by his arm.

"Come on, let's make ourselves useful while we wait for Jasper to do his thing." They kept themselves busy by helping the other villagers clean up some of the mess they'd made during their fight with the Beasts. Evan and Oliver were busy stacking up the splintered remains of a bunch of wooden barrels when Luther the smith approached them.

"Hey, Olly, how's your sister doing?" the gruff man asked, glancing toward the shouting Sedius with a frown.

"Uh, she's doing well," Oliver said, a little surprised.

"She found a new job right away, and Evan and I got her a Metal affinity crystal. She's pretty good at crafting weapons already. She made me this sword." He pulled out the sword strapped to his hip, admiration on his face. Luther took a step back to inspect the weapon with an appraising gaze before nodding.

"Good work. I'm happy to hear she's doing well. Most talented apprentice I ever had. If I'm honest, I was a bit disgruntled when she left so abruptly, but I know young people have to follow their dreams."

"I'll tell her you said that. I know she feels a bit guilty for leaving you." Luther made a humming noise and scratched the back of his head.

"And how are you doing, Oliver? We were really worried about you. That fight… what I saw of it looked gruesome. I wish I could've helped, but I only have a couple of crafting-related skills."

"I'm okay," Oliver reassured him.

"A little banged up, but my health and mana are already mostly recovered. We're going to go after the Beasts as soon as our friend finds their tracks." Luther rubbed his beard, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He looked at Sedius again, but the mayor's back was still turned to them. After reassuring himself they weren't being watched, Luther reached into his inventory and pulled out a blue-colored gem. He handed it to Oliver. Oliver looked down at the gem in his palm.

"What is this?"

"A Gem of the Shield," Luther said.

"Found it a few days after you left. Just lying around on the forest floor, can you believe it? Sedius wants me to give it to Crispin, but his precious Crispin is tucked away safely in his Academy while you're out here trying to help our people. You need it more than he does." Oliver looked up at Luther, clearly moved.

"Thank you so much."

"I'm not sure what kind of skill set you're trying to build or if this fits your plans, but I thought a shield skill is useful for most fighting-focused mana users, so…"

"It's perfect, Luther. It's exactly what I was looking for." He closed his fist around the shimmering gem and took a deep breath.

"It's exactly what I need."

"Just don't tell the mayor I gave it to you, okay?"

"Won't he ask where the gem's gone if he wanted it for Crispin?" Evan asked. The memory of the smug young man was still fresh in his mind. Luther shrugged.

"I'll come up with an excuse. Don't worry about that. Just make sure everyone gets home safe. Including you, Olly." Oliver gave the burly smith a half-smile, but before he could respond, Jasper returned. Evan, Luca, and Oliver immediately gathered around him while Luther wordlessly walked away, joining the cleanup crew.

"Have you found something?" Oliver asked, unable to suppress the urgency in his voice. Luther's gift seemed to have made him impatient again. Jasper nodded.

"I found their trail very easily. They haven't put any effort into hiding their tracks. I followed it outside the village for a bit. Not very far, but it gave me a good idea where they're heading."

"Where?" Oliver asked.

"I think they took the abducted villagers into the Old Forest."