Chapter 25: A Hero's Lament

Winter had come and gone on its slow path like it had done every year before. Spring came slowly but was welcome all the same. The moment that the very first bulbs breached the once-frozen ground was the day that the lizard men's slow progress kicked into high gear! Within the first month of spring, the lizards completed the town's construction, allowing the remaining villagers to move out of the goblin citadel and back into their now-empty homes.

However, they weren't out of the woods just yet and needed to get back the lives they lost. Luckily, the monsters all helped out in that endeavor. A small flock of sheep from Bow's flock could sustain a steady food source. From the Halflings and their Magic Farming, they were able to get ahead of schedule and began to produce surplus food in no time flat. The Bugbears were able to craft furniture for them, and the Small Torah knitted any available cloth, cotton, or wool to make a plethora of things ranging from bedclothes to curtains and blankets.

The fairies and Gossamer helped by fertilizing the new farmland. Even Basil joined in to help out and used his own money to rebuild the town's lost Treasury. He donated many of the supplies in his Magic pocket, including clothes, building materials, and food. The only one not to aid was Myeon, who seemed to be sleeping well into her hibernation after being awoken once.

Once the villagers had gotten their lives back together, they held a large celebration in honor of Basil and thanks to the monsters. They had very little to do with this, so it took till the halfway point of spring to set everything up and finally celebrate within their means. The party was small but full of fun, thanks, admiration, and cheap booze made by the Hobgoblins.

Despite it being thanks to him, Basil was sad without Marigold to celebrate with him. But he knew she couldn't stay long after the battle ended. Her adventuring party needed to leave, as they were always needed elsewhere. He wanted there even more when a woman he had never seen before tried to come onto him…hard! Luckily, after a lot of rejection, she finally left in a huff, especially after Hagson, in human disguise, scared her off.

Afterward, things went back to the way they were. The farmers farmed, the sellers sold, the traders traded, people worked, and the mayor…did whatever it was he did. Basil continued working at his bakery and welcomed everyone from the town who came by for a fresh loaf of bread, a sweet cookie, a hot cup of soup, or even a friendly chat or hello. That is until this seemingly endless and blissful peace was again broken, temporarily by something unexpected.

It was the tail end of spring, and summer was about to roll around. The farmers were wrapping up the spring crops and begging to sew the summer crops. The ranchers finally got some more different livestock and began breeding them as much as possible before winter hit again. All the while, the townsfolk continued their daily lives and provided services and goods for the town in which they were recovered.

As for the captured Kobold, Wrinkles, Basil kept him in a cage and displayed it in his Bakery for anyone who visited to gawk at him. The man still has no idea what to do with him, but he still doesn't trust him, no matter how many times Winkles attempted to convince him otherwise. Basil also noticed how, throughout the months, the Kobold began to change. He went from looking like a small and wingless version of Anaya to its own thing.

His black scales lightened until he turned rust red with a cream belly, his eyes turned pale, and his skeletal features disappeared. In Basil's mind, that could've been due to him properly feeding the little creature. His horns fell out, but a new small short pair grew in, and some patches of hair fell out or grew in other places, like his shoulders, back, tail, back of legs, and tip of the head.

Speaking within the walls of Basil's Bakery, the young man was feeding his pet Wyvern, Melon, for the third time that day. He had to feed it almost five times daily to keep up with its rapid growth rate. By now, the wyvern had lost all its baby downy feathers, was blood orange-red, and was at eye level with Basil. Luckily, he didn't have to feed her half as much as when she was a baby, which was nearly ten times, which was a relief. But God damn! No one told him such a small body could fit so much!

In addition, Gossamer informed him that Melon should've been adult-sized by now. Female wyverns produce something aptly named wyvern milk, which is similar to pigeon milk. It is a concoction of proteins and hormones, thus causing rapid growth! He had none of this, so he would just have to make due with wild game. But he was also told that Melon would reach full size by the middle of summer and slowly slow his need for feeding.

After Basil threw the last chunk of raw ferret to the pseudo dragon, it immediately began to squeak and screech for more. Basil huffed and told her firmly, "No, Melon, there's no more. And I know you're not still hungry." The wyvern still complained, and Basil turned away while cleaning his hands as he muttered, "Geeze, I swear the bigger you get, the wider that hole in your leg becomes."

Just then, the door to his shop is forcefully thrown open with such force that the handle dents the walls! The large and muscular figure of Sir Eidolon barges in like a wild wind and stands before him in a red-faced panic, looking around the store like a trapped animal. Instead of his overly saturated and over-decorated armor, he wore very simple clothing: black riding boots, a white shirt that looked like it belonged on a pirate, and tan baggy pants held up by a leather cord.

Basil and Melon don't react to his theatrics. While Basil sighs at his entrance, he greets him deadpan, "Hello to you as well, Elliot."

"Hide me!", Eidolon exclaimed as he ran towards him and grabbed him by both shoulders.

"Pardon?", Basil asks.

"Hide me! Please!", Eidolon repeats again while pleading, holding his shoulders tightly.

"What? Why?", Basil said in total confusion.

"My squire! He's coming! You gotta hide me! I don't wanna go back!", Eidolon begs while tapping his feet and shaking his closed hands at his face like a frightened woman who just saw a cockroach.

Basil opens his mouth to ask a question but stops himself and tells him, "You know what? I'll question you later. For now, just go hide in the attic."

Eidolon shook his head and exclaimed childishly, "No no no! That won't work! I need something else!"

"A barrel?", Basil offered.

"No!", Eidolon refused.

Basil sighs in exasperation while moaning, "You're not helping me here."

Eidolon grabbed Basil again and yelled while shaking him, "You've got magic! Use it!"

Pulling the man away from himself, Basil said, "The only thing that could remotely help is my Magic Pocket, but I have no idea-."

"Do it."

"What?"

"Do it!", Eidolon yelled while getting in his face.

"Fine, fine!", Basil relented while opening a portal large enough for the colossal man to jump in. To which he offered, "Hop in.", the enormous man did a Superman dive into the opening as it closed behind him.

At the exact moment, his squire burst through the still-opened double doors! Like the last time, he was still a tiny man strapped in thick, padded, and poorly sewn-together pieces of leather that made up a patchy outfit and hat. Basil would've almost assumed he was a jester if it weren't for the full colors and normal hat.

He scanned the room with his dark brown eyes like a beast looking for food or looking out for giant feet about to step on him. When they finally found Basil, he angrily said, "Baker!"

"I have a name, shorty.", Basil shot back.

Only to watch two other soldiers, in armor far less striking than Eidolons, burst in beside the small man and rush into the bakery. In a matter of moments, they began to tear apart the whole place! Opening draws, and bags, and barrels. Looking in this and that, turning that and this sideways and upside-down. They were going up the stairs and hearing the sound of things banging, falling, sliding, or breaking. But Basil knew he had to keep calm, so he let them. Despite the fact, he wanted nothing more than to whack them all over the head with a magic rolling pin.

After seeing the first floor turn into a mess with nothing to show for it, the little man marched up and demanded, slamming his hands on the counter, "Where is he?"

"Where is what? Your missing height, your charisma, your rapidly deteriorating youth? Fraid I can't help.", Basil sassed him with venom.

"I'm talking about sir Eidolon.", the squire aqueous.

Basil shrugged while taking out fresh ingredients to bake something new and said, "Haven't seen them. Have you checked the corpse of the dragon he was supposed to slay?"

The squire grits his teeth and snarls, "Don't give me that tone, boy! I may be a squire, but I'm still a member of the king's court and can have you executed!"

Basil gingerly placed down the egg he was holding and menacingly glared over the counter, leaning off it as he told the little man, "And I may be a mere baker, but let's not forget who actually slayed the dragon, right?", the squire went from an insulted aristocrat to a frightened peasant as he saw this and backed away in fear. Basil then stood away from the counter and told him in no uncertain terms, "Now tell your homo go-go backup dancers to stop turning my house upside down before I let my pet wyvern satisfy his never-ending hunger."

Suddenly, the sound of panicked running armor came tumbling down the stairs as the two soldiers tripped over themselves and the stairs in a vain attempt to escape something. As they scrambled away, Melon bounded down the stairs and roared at them! Only for her attention to be drawn to the squire, where she shook her tail and hissed at him.

Seeing no other reason to continue, and with the advent of the wyvern, the squire commands, "Men! Let's search for the Prince elsewhere."

He tells them, "And if I find anything on fire, I'll send a goblin!" as they leave quickly.

Once they were out of sight, Basil reopened his Magic portal on the floor and brought it up to deposit the huge man. Eidolon, thankfully, was still alive and breathing but had a thousand-yard stare. He stood still but relaxed, his mouth slightly hung open and eyes glazed over.

Seeing this, Basil tapped the huge man and asked, "Hey, you okay?"

"Beautiful.", was the only reply Eidolon gave until Basil snapped his fingers in front of his eyes, snapping him out of whatever trance he was in. "Huh, wha-?!", Eidolon gasped.

"Earth to Elliot. Are you alive?", Basil continued to snap his fingers until the huge man shook his head clear.

"Yes yes, I just…do all Magic Pockets look like that on the inside?", he inquired from the baker.

Who just looked at him and asked back, "Like what?"

Just as he opened his mouth to answer, he froze up and babbled, "Ah….I can't remember."

Basil lightly slapped his forehead, and with an irritated sigh, he told him, "Okay, look. I scratched your back, now you scratch mine.", Eidolon just looked at him blankly before moving to his back and began digging his fingernails into his back, to which the man asked, "What are you doing?"

"Scratching your back.", Eidolon answered.

Basil quickly pushed his hand away and stated, "That's not what that means. Ugh! Look, I've got questions, and you've got answers.", Just before their conversation could continue, the huge man's stomach voiced its own complaints, and the hero blushed in embarrassment. So Basil sighs and follows up, "And snacks. Go wait outside."

Eidolon nodded with an embarrassed blush and went outside to sit on the porch steps. Basil went to the kitchen and grabbed some fresh sweets and loaves of bread from the oven. Arranging them on a platter with some tea, he brought them outside.

There, he saw the man patiently sitting and waiting for him while petting Melon. He almost wanted to go back inside and grab a bigger cup just for himself, but ultimately, he went against it and set the tray between them as he sat. Basil looked over at him and saw that he was so big that even sitting on the top steps, his legs, which were on the ground uncomfortably, came up to his chest.

Eidolon took a large handful of the snacks and shoved them hungrily into his mouth. Then, he let Melon lick up whatever was left in his hands. That's when he realized the only reason his wyvern allowed the huge man to touch her was for food. So he takes a single cookie and nibbles on it while Eidolon washes the rest down with his tea.

After they were satisfied and calm, Basil broached the subject and asked him, "Okay, first question, why were you trying to hide from your squire?"

Eidolon initially refused to answer, looking away in fear before finally relenting under Basil's stern face and admitting vaguely, "Because I don't wanna go back."

Basil just blinked in reply, unsatisfied with the answer, until he sighed in aggregation and said, "Okay, follow-up question. Back where?"

Eidolon taps his fingers nervously, still looking away, as he admits, "To the Dauntless Kingdom. I don't wanna go back home. I wanna stay here. I like it here. It's so much nicer than the castle or the kingdom. I feel…free.", He says the last part with a whimsical tone, looking out into the distance.

Seeing no other food come her way, Melon moved away from the man and began to molest a large ant hill nearby. Broomy then came to them and swept the area around them clean before taking the empty tray in his handle, leaving the teapot behind.

After taking a sip from his cup, Basil inquired, "That's all fine and dandy, but why were you so scared of your squire in the first place? He's your subordinate."

Eidolon sighs while slumping down, his head resting on his high knees, and says, "Only in retrospect. He's more like my guardian and commander. He tells me where I have to go and what to do."

"No wonder he's such a prick.", Basil mutters into his tea glass. After putting it away, he asks, "But why do you let him boss you around? You are a Golden Blood and a Prince, right?"

"I am, but my father, the king, put him in charge of me.", said the huge man.

Basil looked at him in disbelief and said, "In charge of you? You're an adult. Have some backbone and tell him off."

"But…I'm not.", Eidolon said through his knees.

"Not what?", Basil inquired.

"An adult. I'm thirteen.", Eidolon told him innocently while turning his head to the side, facing Basil. Only to watch the baker suddenly grab his chest with one hand and form the most surprised and painful expression seen to him! His mouth opened, eyes wide, and rolled back as his limbs stiffened up, and he fell to the ground, laying still as if he just had a heart attack! Seeing this, Eidolon jumped to his feet and rushed to his side, screaming in fright, "Oh gods! Are you okay!?"

After a very stressful minute of waiting, Basil finally gasped for air and sat back up while assuring, "Yeah, I'm fine; I think I just had a mini-stroke and blackout for a minute. Cause I swore you just told me you were only thirteen years old.", he started to laugh dryly until he saw the unchanging nervous expression on Eidolon, where he stopped and stared in a small voice, "Oh my God, you're serious. You're younger than Bow!"

Eidolon initially jumped at his sudden change of tone, and Basil had to backtrack while apologetically explaining quickly, "And I'm not saying that you aren't telling the truth, but why in the world are you so freaking huge! You're bigger than me, and I'm not exactly small."

Eidolon awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and explained with a shy chuckle, "My family line had relationships with the mighty and grand Sky Giants generations ago."

"Sky Giants?", Basil questions, trying to use his Appraisal Skill, only to get nothing but the colossal head rush from Eidolon's massive skill pool.

"They look like people, but they're muscular, super smart, stormy-skinned, can control the weather, and 40 feet tall.", Eidolon explained with excitement in his voice.

Basil then took the last piece of information into his brain and tried to process how a nearly 6-foot human managed to do the sideways tango with a 40-foot giant. Shaking his head clear of such sinful and horrible thoughts, he replied aloud, "I'm not even going to ask how that's possible."

"Is that all you wanted to know?", Eidolon asked him uncomfortably, looking like he wanted to leave now.

Basil grabbed him before he could move and said, "I do wanna know why it took you so long to try and fight Anaya before getting one shot."

"Like I said before-.", Eidolon tried to explain.

Only for Basil to moan an aggressive sigh and repeat, "Yes yes, you may have the power but no experience using it. But have you ever tried?"

Eidolon shakes his head in disappointment and answers, "No, I'm scared.", the huge boy sighs in sadness and explains, "I know I'm from the Dauntless Kingdom, but I'm not naturally brave. I was scared to pick up a sword when I started training. But when I started to get proper tutelage, I grew so powerful so fast that my teachers couldn't keep up.", the boy continues to rant, and Basil stands there, giving him his full attention as he speaks. "Before I knew it, I was thrust into the world to care for the kingdom's problems. Lots of them were super easy, and all I had to do was attack at full power, and everything just sort of figured itself out. And I may have inherited the title of Dragon Slayer from my late brother, but I've never even seen a real dragon before!", he exclaimed while spreading out his arms to emphasize his point, leading Basil to nod his head. Eidolon sighs again and says, "But after watching her destroy the town, I had to try at least. And I did, and when she knocked me away, I was so scared that I decided to play possum. But you had to fight her and got hurt. I'm sorry!", he nearly sobbed while grabbing him too tightly.

"This explains so much.", Basil says under his breath, as regret and embarrassment set in from his memory of yelling or disintegrating the child as an adult.

"Everyone says I'm a hero, but really I'm just a…big chicken.", the colossal boy admits before sobbing like a waterfall.

Basil almost wanted to exit from this scene but knew he had to try at least and make things good again, so he stood on the top of his stairs and his toes to pet the boy's head while assuring him, "Hey hey, don't get so down. For what it's worth, I think you were pretty brave."

Eidolon sniffles back his tears and asks, "Really? But after getting hit, I just lay there hoping it would go away."

Basil tried to place his hands on his shoulders but ended up looking like he was trying to mouth a horse. As he said, "Look, Eliot, bravery isn't running headlong into danger with no sense of self-preservation. It's about being scared, facing that fear, and fighting it. You did all three, so you're definitely brave even if you didn't win."

"But I lost that fight, so doesn't that mean I failed at being brave.", Eidolon weakly argued.

"The fact you went through with it means you are.", Basil argued back.

Eidolon looks away in a huff and says with wet eyes, "I wish I were brave like you. You stood up to Anaya many times, fought, and killed her."

"I ran too.", said Basil.

Eidolon turns his gaze back to him and mumbles, "Huh?"

Basil gives him an understanding look and admits to him, "I. Ran. Too. I ran away from Anaya when she attacked. She reminded me of some…not so good memories, so I ran and hid myself away, just like you did.", Eidolon looked shocked by the news but let him keep talking. "And I'm not ashamed of it; fear is a natural reaction to things. But there were people I cared about, fighting the thing I was scared of. And knowing this strengthens me to try."

Eidolon listened with intrigue as the man finished telling him, "So if you're ever scared and want to run, it's okay to have that feeling or do it for a bit. But if you have no option but to fight, think of the people you love to strengthen your resolve."

Eidolon looked down for a moment and sniffled while rubbing his eyes before asking, "Can I….ask you a question?", Basil wordlessly nodded, and the huge boy asked him, "How do you know my name?"

"Your name? Of course, I know it's Eidolon. I just don't wanna call you-.", Basil began to say until he was cut off.

"That's not my name.", the boy said out of the blue.

"It's not?", Basil questions.

"It actually is Elliot.", Elliot answers with a nod.

Basil's eyes went wide, and he stiffened up before answering with a flabbergasted expression, "Uh….lucky guess?", Shaking his head to push away his shock, Basil next asked, "Anyway, if you're only thirteen, when did you do your whole training, and what led up to where you are now?"

Elliot thinks about this for a moment, as if trying to recount his memories, and then regales him, "Well, my brother died at the Battle of Dead Man's Reach. Being his closest relative, I received the Title of True Hero and inherited all his skills and other titles. I think I was ten. Then I trained for a year and a half before I was sent out on the order of my father, the king, to handle the problems residing in his territory."

"So you didn't have a childhood. I can't believe this.", Basil inquired, making Elliot nod silently. This made Basil walk off his porch and onto the road leading to his bakery, where he threw his back in an arch and yelled, "I can't fucking believe this! I mean, seriously! What is the problem with people sending actual fucking children into a war! They don't know shit, and yet they're expected to make the right decisions in saving reality itself!? What the fuck!!!"

After ranting his anger out, he heard the sound of weeping and turned around to see the boy nearly huddled over and sobbing into his giant hands. Freaking out at the sight, he ran over and tried to calm the child down, assuring him weakly, "Woah woah, hey hey, don't cry! I'm sorry for shouting. I wasn't shouting at you; I was just shouting for you."

"It's not that.", Elliot choked out from between his fingers, making the man confused and curious. The boy then ranted, "You're just so nice to me! You understand me so well. And you give advice that isn't confusing, and you make nice snacks, and and and…I don't wanna go baaaaaaack! I wanna stay here forever!", he bawled like a baby, grabbing the much shorter and fragile man in his arms, wrapping him in a bear hug.

Basil pats his back and tries to reassure him, telling him. At the same time, the pressure around his body increased, "Hey hey, don't wind yourself up.", only for the sobbing boy to readjust his hug, wrapping his body and arms even tighter to the point that his spin makes an audible crack. He gasps, "Holy spine!", while using healing magic to mend his bones; he frees one arm and pets his head while softly telling him in a struggling voice, "There there. It's okay. Please let me breathe."

Elliot finally calms down a bit and releases his monster grip on the man. He sniffles back his tears and pleads with him, "Please let me stay here with you! I'll help and be good! I promise!"

After Basil fixes his bones, he cracks his back into place and replies, "Under other circumstances, I would say yes. But you're the king's kid, and just because I fought a dragon doesn't mean I want to fight a nation…at least not yet. So I'm afraid in this case, I'll have to say no.", Eillot looks ready to burst into tears again and once again wrap him in the death hug, so he quickly follows up while backing away, "But hey, you can take credit for my dragon kill. Get some respect from people, including the king."

Elliot scoffs at this with a pout and, looking away, says, "I wish."

"Just be brave. I know you can do it.", Basil assured him while gingerly trying to place a hand on his tall shoulder.

Elliot's lip quivers at his words and tells him, "But I'll miss you! And Ash End is so far away."

"Well, you can't help that.", Basil said in a neutral tone, making the boy look depressed. Seeing this, Basil thought for a moment and told him, "Let me see something."

This piqued the boy's interest, and he stood by, watching as the man swatted at the air like a cat. Only Basil was opening his Stat Window and about to open his Skill Tree for something that could help. However, he didn't get very far. He glanced at his accumulated Skill Point and nearly fell off his feet!

"WOAH!", he half yelled.

"What's wrong!", Elliot asked in a panic, running to him.

Basil blinked a bit before answering in a calmer tone, "I guess I gained a butt-ton of experience points after killing Anaya. Now let's see what I can find." He trailed off in thought, leaving the poor boy utterly confused.

So he opened his Skill Tree, and with the 4 million points at his disposal, he looked for anything that could rectify his predicament. Using his Clairvoyance, he finally found something that possibly held a skill called Sigils. After unlocking it, he saw the future upgrades and descriptions, getting a good feeling from them. While this was happening, Melon decided she was bored of the flattened ant hill and decided to chase after crows.

At first, it was simply the knowledge of Sigils and how to make or carve them properly. Then, it was the knowledge of how to gain magic from them. Then, it was the knowledge of how to pull more power from them, unlock more powerful powers, and carve even more powerful sigils. One of the last upgrades at Level 10 was the ability to simply summon a Sigil at any point of contact or assign it to something. That's exactly what he needed!

So after accepting the last upgrade, which cost nearly a million skill points, he said, "Here we go!"

He first placed his hand on the ground and summoned a Sigil outside his porch. It was large and round and had three small circles at three corners of the outer circle, with lines connected to a circle at the center. Around the inner circle were strange inscriptions that made no sense to the untrained eye. After this, he took Elliot's massive hand in his and drew the same sigil in his palm, where it disappeared.

After the magic mark vanished, Elliot looked at his hand and eventually asked, "What did you do?"

"I unlocked something called sigils and got one for a stationary teleportation spell. Now you can teleport to this very spot whenever you want.", Basil explained to him.

Realizing this, Elliot's eyes gleamed with joy, and he was instantly upon the man, hugging him in a death grip while exclaiming, "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"You're welcome. Please. Release. My spine.", Basil begged him while his face turned fifty shades of purple and his spin broke again. After being released and allowed to breathe while fixing his broken bones again, he told the huge boy, "Now be off with you before your squire figures out my ruse and both of us get in trouble.

"You're the best, Basil! I can't wait to see you again!", Elliot called out to him while running off and waving goodbye.

Luckily, he didn't have to see him off for too long since the boy ran like the wind and was long gone before he could even give a second goodbye wave. Once out of sight, Broomy came onto the porch and cleaned up the rest of the tea set before floating back into the kitchen.

Basil sighs and says to himself while walking back into his bakery, "He's a good kid. But boy, is Marigold gonna have a heart attack when I tell her this.", suddenly the doors of his shop were once again flung open, and he sighed in aggravation at hearing yet another ragged sound of a person breathing heavily from running, and just as he thought he averted another crisis. So he turned around and saw the mayor of Ash End standing in the doorway, red in the face, breathing like mad, sweating like a pig, and looking half-dead overall. So, with a regretful tone, he asked, "Oh boy, what is it this time, mayor?"