Chapter 26: Changes

The heat may be brutal but I stood still in my position. With both of my hands, I held the wooden sword that he just threw to me earlier. I inspected it for a long time, trying to find any deadly blades in it but unfortunately, there was none. I've heard about this weapon before, but this is the first time I've touched one.

"You must learn combat skills," Cainne said as he approached me, holding another wooden sword. He must have requested the town folks to give him weapons. "Sword fighting is one of those."

After that, he started to teach me the basics of sword fighting. Sometimes, I couldn't be able to keep up with the lesson he was teaching, but I managed to.

"Now that you learn the basics, it's time for some exercise!" He said in a cheerful voice. As I heard what he said, my eyes expanded. I'm not sure if I'm confident enough to try some exercises.

"W-Wait, but I'm still trying to–"

"Fight off this scarecrow!"

I can't finish my statement of denial, when he showed me a figure made of wood, wearing worn-out dirty clothes and little pebbles formed into a face. Cold sweat dripped from my head as I didn't know if this is appropriate. Maybe this is their way in the Lamician Kingdom. I raised my hand and pointed at the dummy.

"T-This??" I asked him, narrowing my eyes.

"Yes." He answered with his hands on his waist, proud of it. I don't even know if this is a scarecrow that I always see in the cornfields. Then, after the pride that he had shown to me, he suddenly dropped his upper body as I felt depression surrounding him.

"No one volunteered to be the victim, so…" He said, a hint of failure in his voice. I sighed. This is the first time that I've seen him thinking so normal, or more like, he had been thinking like a human.

The issue regarding the scarecrow had finally settled since there is nothing to complain about. I never thought that the town folks let him use one of their scarecrows just for this small training we're having.

Tendrins are known for their craftsmanship. No matter how hard it is, as long as you give them the proper materials, they can make it in just a short amount of time. Most of the furniture and crafts around the world were made by them.

I held the wooden sword tightly in my hands, ready to strike the scarecrow that had been standing in front of me. I stared at it, starting to imagine my enemies through it. I never thought that I'll gonna see King Gandior in those faces. Come to think of it, it does look like him.

I shook my head, removing any funny thoughts, and concentrated on what I've been taught to do. I focused my eyes on the scarecrow, took a deep slow breath, and ready to give a blow.

But… I don't know if I could be able to do it. I never had a fight in my whole life. The last time I did it was back in my childhood, and it didn't go well for me. Although it was just wood, me touching a sword is really on a whole new level. I don't know if I can fight if the real enemy was about to show up.

"Ahhh!" I yelled as I raised my sword in the air, and dropped the tip of it with great force towards the dummy. But after that, I saw no damage done in it, and its whole body was still intact with each other. I raised my eyebrow, couldn't be able to know why I didn't do any harm to it.

"Ack!"

All of a sudden, Cainne smacked me in the back with his own sword, without giving me any warning. I tried to reach it to ease, but I couldn't be able to with my short arms.

"You didn't pull enough force to your sword." He instructed with a serious expression in his face, glaring at me. As I saw it, I lowered my head, ashamed that I couldn't even defeat a scarecrow.

I just couldn't do it. This change… I'm not ready for this change in my life. Days ago, I was just dreaming to become a professor, and now, I started to become a warrior that will fight for herself. Not just that, I also lost my brother, and my freedom to live. Even Dalary started to act strangely.

Between the silence surrounding us, I heard my companion sighed, in which I raised my head.

"Look, I know that you're scared to do this… I know that you're scared of this change…" He approached me at a slow pace. Then, he patted my shoulders, determination can be seen in his golden eyes. "But in order to move forward, you must embrace the change, or else, you'll end up being the same weak person."

Because of what I heard, I smiled at him warmly, as he also did the same thing.

That's right. If I couldn't be able to accept the changes around me, then I'll be the one that will fail. I know that I can't come back to my normal life, so I have to make a new one.

"Try again!" He shouted, so I immediately stood in my position, with the sword ready in my hands and corrected my posture. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then, I opened back and focused on my opponent.

"Ahhh!" I raised the sword once more, and strike it to the scarecrow's shoulder with the greatest force I could ever do. Then, I saw the dummy being greatly damaged by my weapon, now falling into the ground, defeated.

At the same time, I felt an intense pain in my chest, which I grabbed and massage to remove it. It didn't take a while and the pain was finally gone. All I could think of at that time was…

Oh no.

A great amount of force was released from my body and towards my environment, pushing everything that's on my range. The scarecrow was being flown away towards one of the tall trees, and the grass and flowers bent under me. Cainne was also got pushed where he stood, causing him to have pain.

I was stunned at the sudden release, and I started to fear it. If I couldn't be able to control it with my own mind, then it'll come out without my will to do so.

After seeing the result, I immediately rushed towards my companion, who was also shocked at the force.

"G-Good job…" He stuttered, as he too, didn't saw that coming.

We pretended that didn't happen and continued our training with my combat skills. This time, he decided to join the fight with me using the wooden swords. Our weapons might give pain to us, but it will not lead to our death. I didn't know if I should be glad about it or not.

"Too weak! He yelled as I couldn't be able to stop him in his actions.

I can dodge his attacks since that's the first time that I've learned from him, but I couldn't be able to land an attack on his body, in which most of the time, I always get it.

Looks like this will be a long training for me to keep up.

***

Silence started to surround her after every animal started to walk away since the sun started to sleep in the west, but the waterfalls in front of her kept the noise. The rosy sky reflected in the rushing water, letting it become liquefied ruby gems flowing from the top of the mountain.

But she didn't care and just stared at the water dropping from the top, her blonde hair started to get wet because of the splash coming out of the falls. The ones wilted leaves on her sapling became green again. The glowing light in her hollow eyes started to decrease, showing the depression she experienced.

-15 YEARS AGO-

"Good luck, Dalary!"

The town may be quiet, with the people doing their everyday routines like there's nothing for them to do something interesting, but in the middle of the place, one can hear the loudest voice.

A tendrin with blonde hair tied into a loose ponytail and in her late 30s– 120 human years, started waving at her other companion, who jumped off from the wagon that they were riding before.

The other one turned her head around to see the middle-aged lady with a warm sincere smile on her face. She raised her hand, touched her long blonde hair, and waved back to her. She never went out of their town Zentra before, so this is the first time she'll finally discover everything. Her mother was once always by her side, and now, she finally became independent.

"Oh my gosh, are those tendrins?"

She kept hearing gossips in every corner of the street as the wagon finally went off. Now, she was left behind, with the judgemental people surrounding her in the town square.

"They're so noisy…" One said.

She pretended that she didn't hear anything at that time, but she knows that she couldn't be able to remove it out of her mind. Tendrins were known to be joyful and active, but they're also noisy that even if they whisper, one can still hear it in a distance.

After a long hour of walking, trying to keep up with the eyes looking at her and the voices whispering in both sides of the streets, she finally made it to her destination. She sighed in her position out of relief.

The height of the building in front of her made her stretched her head up to the sky, staring at it in awe. For a very long time, she had been waiting to make it here.

She never wished to train to talk with the nature spirits, so she was happy to be one step in reaching her dreams. Didn't want to miss the opportunity, she knocked at the door of a tall building and waiting for someone to respond.

Then, after a minute, a man in his mid-20s wearing a proper business suit came out from the door that she just wished to be opened. Some strands of his black hair dropped from the gelled head, failing his fashion.

Dalary stood straight, trying to act normal and professional, trying to give him a good first impression about her, but the nervousness win over her, causing her to unable to act properly.

"H-Hi, I'm here to apply as a–"

"Sorry, we don't accept tendrins here."

The man interrupted her introduction with a forward denial of her presence. Her eyes widened and her heart broke. She couldn't help but to shiver in her position, unable to know what to do.

"What? But w-why?" She stuttered. "Is there any way that I can apply to it?"

"I'm sorry, there's nothing you can do." The man said, with narrowed eyes, uninterested about her objectives.

"Please! Maybe you can do something such as–"

"Listen, young lady." Couldn't be able to take it, the suited man became annoyed and burst out of his anger in a calm way. "Business management is not a joke. We take everything seriously here."

"We are trying our best to not lose our important partners, and we don't want tendrins like you to walk around, find something fun, and destroy everything!"

With this, she started to become hurt, as more daggers strike her heart and destroy the dream that she had been longing all of her life. She couldn't be able to respond to his statement, and just lowered her head. She can hear the door in front of her slammed shut, then silence greeted her in the lonely street.

Her hands formed into fists, didn't want to release her anger that she felt to anyone nearby. Then, her glowing blue eyes became brighter, even more, showing her fierce look that she couldn't be able to hide.

It's because of her kind. It's because of her being a tendrin that she failed to achieve her dreams. If she didn't become one, then things will flow as she wanted it to be.

"I wish I've never been a tendrin…"