23 Chapter 23: Dad and I Had a Moment in Grayson's Office

[Author's Pre-Chapter Note: Hello, everybody, I am BACK! It has been about 2 weeks since I moved into my new home and I'm still trying to get a bunch of official stuff taken care of while settling in and learning on my new job.

[Because of this as well as the approaching holidays, updates will still be slow, but I'll try to adjust to my new schedule while learning to manage my time as soon as I can so I can get back to regularly scheduled updates.

[Until then, please enjoy this latest chapter.]

Agnes and I went through the process of getting our ID cards inscribed by the crystal ball magic device as Grayson explained the details of our exam. Myron Dungeon has a total of 30 floors below the ground, swarming with monsters that are 'born' inside and prowl around its chambers, and they get stronger and more difficult to beat as you go deeper into its depths. On the 15th floor, there is a mid-boss monster you must defeat in order to move on, and the 30th floor houses the dungeon boss you must do the same to in order to clear it.

For our exam, we must go as deep as the 3rd floor in order to pass and we start off as F Rank hunters, the minimum for one to start hunting monsters. If we go further down to the 8th floor, we'd start as E Rank, and beyond that, we would be judged and ranked accordingly.

The guild would provide us only two mana potions each along with a complimentary basket of goodies for our lunch—the latter Dad and Seal had to pay extra with the registration fees for us as our masters—to keep ourselves energized through the dungeon crawl and making it back to the entrance on foot. They would also send one examiner to evaluate our performance and one experienced hunter as our escort in case of emergencies.

Considering the rookies are between 10-12 years old, it would make sense they'd have this much assurance for their survival while being able to pass the exam to a certain degree. I had even seen glimpses of monster subjugation quests from the postings on our way in that were ranked accordingly with the thresholds of our exam. One of them included a C-Ranked quest for an item that can only be dropped by Myron Dungeon's boss. That meant an average C Rank hunter or a party of hunters that can take C Rank quests would be enough to take down the boss and clear the dungeon, and as long these monsters respawn after certain periods, providing resources from their drops that the guild can use, those quests would stay up there for quite some time.

As the last of our cards were getting inscribed, I asked Grayson if there was something at the end of the dungeon after you defeat its boss. Apparently, there's a chamber in the back of the dungeon boss' room where it judges your performance in the crawl.

If it judges you worthy, one of these three things happen: one, you will be given a new gift that will appear along with its effects on the Status Card your fairy made; two, a full-sized e-stone appears that you can either use to synthesize into a new weapon or give it to your respective Companion in terms of its element attribute; or three, a fairy appears before you—her type dependent on what you don't have and the dungeon you are in as there are others spread around the continent—and asks to form a contract with you in recognition of your achievement.

If nothing appears at all, it means you aren't worthy of any rewards yet, but you can try going through it all again until the chamber judges you otherwise. Of course, if you have cleared the dungeon and received a reward already, you won't get another one from its chamber, so what you're given after that first approved clearance is a one-time deal.

With that in mind, I thought carefully about what course of action would be best for me as we took our finished cards.

"Hey, uh, Grayson, before I leave Soar to you, you mind if I talk with him for a bit?" Dad suddenly asked as we were about to set out of Grayson's office.

"… Try not to mess with anything in here and don't take too long."

Grayson was getting what Dad wanted to do, so with the latter's nod in understanding, the former led the others out of the office. Dad and I were left as the only ones there.

"What's up, Dad?" I asked to start things off.

"Soar, uh … is this, what you really want to do?"

I tilted my head in confusion. "What brought this on? Isn't this what you brought me to this point to do?"

"That's just it. I know, I have been especially hard on you in your training, and even though I already found how capable you really are before you revealed your fairies to us, I still got worried, not knowing what you're doing out there on your own. Part of me wanted to go out there to find you, but you're either so far outside of what I expected to do anything about it or you're back before I noticed how long you've been gone.

"I've personally taught you everything I could from what I learned on the field, trained you the best way I know how, convinced my former party to help me with them as well, mainly so you're prepared to defend yourself when you're on your own, but it wasn't until I heard your plans of being a hunter for the first time that I questioned myself possibly forcing this job on you."

Dad then got on his knee to be at my level. "Son, over the past eleven years of being parents, you have not asked your mother or me for a lot of things. Even as a baby when I held you in my arms, you only wanted necessities like food, water, and sleep and you made those clear to us when you need them. You were even potty-trained and able to eat solid food so early with little to no help from us, earlier than what we've heard from other families, and that was when we started to worry about how well we're doing as parents."

I only tried using the toilet as early as I could because I hated being in diapers, and don't even get me started on when it was time to change them. It was also very strange getting breastfed under my circumstances, so having solid food early on was also another goal for me along with walking and talking. I didn't care how much I stood out as someone 'gifted' from other babies during that time, I wanted to be independent with the simplest of tasks as fast as I could.

Still, I knew when I was 'born' that my parents were worried about my potential future with my magic aptitude at S rank, but I didn't think my fast development would actually have someone worry over me than otherwise. They always brag about me whenever I was nearby but perhaps there were some things that they didn't want to risk me overhearing when I wasn't around.

"Instead of toys and playing games with us, you asked for books and stories," Dad continued. "Instead of candies and sweets all the time, you wanted real food and didn't whine about whatever's on your plate. And then, later on, you asked to learn magic, how to wield a sword, ways to get stronger, even how to do chores to help around the house. We gave you those things with all of our ability because we didn't know how else to make you happy, and you never gave us a chance to spoil you. We feel like … if you're not depending on us, we aren't doing what we're supposed to do as your parents. There were times we feel like you kept things to yourself to not be a bother to us, like you're … a guest in our home, and not as our son who you can come to us for anything about.

"I'm going off-topic here. The point is, if I ever gave the impression of forcing you into being a hunter, I apologize for that. You've come so far at your age, farther than I've ever gone around that same time. I tell everyone how proud I am of you at every chance I get and I mean it, and I'll keep doing it even if their ears bleed, even after you leave Lunargrove for your own journey one day. Whether you want to be a hunter, be a guild employee like your mother was, hell, you could even work your way up as a noble if you want, I know in my gut that you have what it takes. You could even run business for an inn, a restaurant, a store of some sort, if you're planning on building a brothel, I'll pay the highest service with your best girl as your first customer at the grand opening."

"Dad, I think Mom would kill you if she heard you say that."

"What I'm trying to say is, as long as you're happy as a respected, dignified man, your mother and I will support you in whatever path you may choose because we love you, Soar. We will help you up if you're ever in trouble because of that, so don't ever think about holding back for our sake, that you're a bother to us enough to abandon you if you make a wrong move. We would never do that to our own kid.

"If you've changed your mind about being a hunter after hearing my rant, we can drop everything and head straight back home, or we could spend the day to explore Brightlas with everyone before doing so. You have a choice, Soar, and I will support whatever decision you make because I love you, and I couldn't be any prouder to be your father."

I had to take a moment to absorb all of that. It was the most I had ever seen of Dad being so serious about something, and he looked to be on the brink of tears that he was desperately trying to keep himself from breaking.

I think how the parents of my previous life raised me affected what I thought was best for my new ones there. Considering my circumstances, I had a strange perspective of seeing Mom and Dad as both my parents and not at the same time, wanting to be happy living and growing up again with them, yet try not to develop strange feelings because in my perspective, they were different parents from my previous ones related by blood on Earth. I've had instances of reminding myself of where I stood with me and Mom because of technicalities, but my adult mind would say otherwise knowing who my real mother was. All of those baths with Mom didn't really help me in the slightest.

I didn't know how to be happy with them with those in mind, and it seemed they also had similar feelings.

{Why couldn't I have something like this with my previous parents?} I thought briefly, but I knew I shouldn't dwell on it. At that time, I needed to assure Dad of his uncertainties that he could pass onto Mom.

"I'm sorry, too," I started. "Part of me didn't ask for much to be spoiled because of what you said, about becoming a bother to you and Mom like other kids would for their own parents, but I didn't need much mainly because … I was already happy with what I had.

"When I see how the other kids are with their families, I feel blessed to be living with what I have now. Our home, you two, your friends like Seal, Lilia, and Ms. Renne, even Dew and Tyra, too. I've had so much given to me by so many people and I wanted to show how grateful I am to have you all, and …"

Before I realized it, my vision grew blurry and streaks were made down my cheeks. Dad closed in and pulled me into an embrace.

"H-How much I … love you, too," I said with a crack in my voice.

"It's okay, son. I hear you, now."

We take a moment of silence to relish this feeling of comfort and ease after our uncertainties were cleared. Only sniffles echoed in Grayson's office.

{Just how long was it … that I heard 'I love you' from them back on Earth?} I thought briefly.

I was used to hearing my Companions saying it for how long we had spent together, and most of them were aware of my circumstances, too, but as long as I was 'Soar Osmis,' I was the son of Gullivan and Carol Osmis, the son of two very loving, proud parents who genuinely wanted the best for me. For their time and effort to raise me and show me affection, I wanted to pay them back at whatever chance I could get. That's also part of why I wanted to 'grow up' so early, so I could be the son who deserved their love after all that they did for me.

{… I should tell them the truth, one day. They deserve that much,} I resolved in my mind, concerning the bandit thing from the night before. I may get a scolding from it, but compared to my previous parents, I was confident Mom and Dad here would only do it out of their love for their son, something I didn't know I needed for the longest time.

"We both know what's going on with each other now, yeah?" Dad asked after some time of silence.

"Yeah."

"And we didn't cry. That was the onions from the guild's kitchen reaching toward us, but that doesn't need to be known outside of this room, yeah?"

"Yeah."

I may not have been his whole son, but we sure shared one thing in common: we both have our own appearances to uphold in public, and we definitely don't want to be made fun of for our vulnerable sides being shown.

With that, we quickly gathered ourselves and removed whatever traces of our 'crying' we had from our moment.

"Okay, son, I will ask again: what do you want to do?" Dad asked.

"To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what I want to do in the future yet, but right now, I want to make the most of what I can as a hunter, a great one. I think I want to start it off with passing this exam after getting to the 15th floor of Myron Dungeon."

"Really, now? Ain't that where the mid-boss lurks?"

"Yeah, and I'm going to beat it. I'll see about whether to continue further or not afterward."

"Sounds like you have a plan. I would tell you to be careful, but after seeing that Wind Needle of yours … those words are probably better for the mid-boss' sake, maybe even the dungeon boss. Anyway, don't forget you have Agnes with you, too. Try to help her out if she needs it, okay?"

"I won't let you down."

"Oh, and one last thing before we head out. When we get back home, your mother and I have some special news to share with you, so you best not slip up if you want to hear it."

"Huh. All right, I'll be careful, then." {Wonder what the big news is?} I thought briefly as Dad led the way out.

Just as he opened the door and stepped through first …

"Gullivan! Thank goodness you came back in time. Oh! Is this your son?" Greeting Dad first before noticing me was a woman with dirty blonde locks that stretched just past the shoulders, fading into white while speckled with spots. She was dressed in a brown leather crop jacket over a yellow crop top, leaving her midriff bare. She also had fingerless gloves, short shorts, and knee-high boots that matched her jacket with black stockings underneath them. The most distinguishing features, however, were the large feline ears jotting out of her head while a thick, long tail swerved side to side in curiosity, both of which matched her hair. If one looked closely, the pupils in her light green eyes were also slit like a cat's.

{Ah, a pantherkin. Looks like she resembles more to the leopard species,} I deduced. The pantherkin are the feline types of beastmen that exist in Manara. Cat people, in short. Interestingly, their race's name is scientifically accurate with Earth's taxonomy. I won't bore you with the details, but basically expect the [snow] leopard, jaguar, lion, and tiger variants of this race existing in Manara as they're all part of the 'panther' line of feline type animals; hence, the pantherkin of beastmen.

I only know this much to tell this woman apart from other species because I was vested in one of them as part of a science project in high school. I looked up the other species out of curiosity. Also, Dad introduced me to a former hunter colleague who was a 'lion-man' that visited Lunargrove once. I shit you not, I couldn't put as much effort into not laughing at how ridiculous he looked with that 'mane' of his as I did from anything else in both my lifetimes.

It just goes to show that catgirls are just cuter than catboys. At least in Manara, and this woman who was staring at me with curiosity was no exception.

"Aye, this is Soar. Soar, this is Rala Naiwan, she's a hunter who's also registered as an examiner for newcomers. She'll likely be the one to judge your performance, as well as Lady Agnes'," Dad introduced me.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Naiwan," I greeted politely while bowing.

"… Cuuu—wait, no! This is not the time for that!" Ms. Naiwan exclaimed, shaking herself out of some sort of trance. "Gullivan, you have to steel yourself, because—"

"Did I hear Gully's name being called? Ah! There he is! Gully~! Yoohoo~!"

"Hey! Get back here! I am not through with you yet!"

"… Oh, Goddess Elmyra, have mercy."

Interrupting Rala's warning was another woman calling out to Dad with a strange nickname. The three of us turned to the source just as she was approaching us while Onelri was yelling angrily at her from behind. Dad paled and broke into a cold sweat as he muttered his prayer, something I had never seen of him before.

The woman approaching us in question had clear, light skin as fine as silk; locks of gold-platinum blonde hair that practically shines like polished chrome as it's in a unique style of a short ponytail with her bangs free, whereby revealing her ears, long and pointy like Onelri and her family's, decorated with matching earrings; smooth, luscious lips as pink as peach; brilliant light emerald eyes; and a bust that rivaled Flomi's in size as it filled out her violet robe-like top that's suitable for mages, a furry-white muffler wraps over her shoulders while also accentuating her cleavage even further.

As it does with Onelri's lineage, the natural beauty of the approaching woman's race far exceeded what one may comprehend. It was said that this beauty both halves of this race held were on par with those of the Elemental Maidens.

On one side was where Onelri and her family originated, specialists of Darkness Magic, whose beauty was said to shine the brightest under the moon's light: the dark elves. And then there was the woman that Dad was acquainted with, where her race was blessed with the talent for Light Magic and her line's beauty practically radiates like the sun itself.

"A light elf? Here?" I asked aloud, more confused about the sudden change of events than anything else.