My first journey...

* * *

I hug them again, this time of my own choice. I'm choking up a little seeing how much they care. Regardless, I open the door and wave goodbye before closing it behind me. Half of me is still here, even though I know this is what's best for me.

"Ready, kid?" Clara asks, seeming a little hesitant to leave herself. I'm not a big fan of being called kid, but I'm physically a 15 year old, so it makes sense.

"Yeah... I'm ready," I say, giving a thumbs up and holding the straps of my bag. "... I probably should've asked earlier, but how are we getting there?"

Clara chuckles from my ignorance, but hides it a second later. I should stop asking dumb questions, shouldn't I? She starts walking, not even giving me a little time to talk first.

"Well, we're walking to the station," She says, as if it's an obvious thing. It probably is, but I still have limited knowledge due to being cramped up in the house the entire time minus the village visit. "So that's about a 2 hour walk."

2 hours? I get that it's not that far, but shouldn't we have some cool form of magic transportation? I nod and begin to walk behind her, easily matching her pace since she's about 4 inches shorter than me.

"Alright then... no biggie," I say, resolving myself to the simple act of manning up. If I can't do this, even when enhanced with mana, then I should just give up.

We walk in just silence for a while, occasionally glancing over at each other. She seems to be expecting something, but I don't say anything since I'd rather remain quiet in most situations. Eventually, we arrive at the village, a quarter of the way through the walk.

"So... if I said that I'd kill anyone in this village that you wanted me to, what would you say?" Clara asks, coming to a full stop and looking over at me. Her face is ambiguous enough to where I can't tell if she's joking. It's scary.

"What?" I ask, my face contorting in confusion and concern. I look at the village and then back at her.

"You heard what I said, Arthur," She says, not wishing to repeat herself. The cold and emotionless tone she's adopted scares me, disgusts me. It's like she doesn't value human life at all. "The people here hurt you. Do you want me to hurt them back or not?"

"No! Of course not!" I respond quickly, finding a volume I neither expected nor intended. I feel bad that I raised my voice at the person who is now my mentor, so I look to the ground. "I would prefer if you didn't, Ms. Holliday."

She stays silent for a time before resuming her pace, not bothering to look at me. I can't tell how she feels about my answer, but we pass through the village without issue in silence.

I walk behind her now, not wanting to be side-by-side due to the eerie feeling she's giving off right now.

* * *

Clara Holliday POV...

I walk ahead, not looking back. Arthur gave the answer that I wanted to hear, yet why do I feel so moody? Maybe it's because it's the same answer his father gave me all that time ago... geez, I bet I look like a total psycho to him now!

I clear my throat, attempting to shift the mood back to what it was when we first met.

"So you're probably wondering why someone so prestigious as myself would choose you, right?" I ask, finally turning back to look at Arthur. "A real big mystery, right?"

I know that he doesn't know why I chose him because I know how Tom-Tom raised him. Thomas believes in being humble, like humble beginnings, so he would've never told his son everything.

"Yeah, I have... a little," Arthur says, nodding lightly as we walk. Walking and talking comes naturally to someone who talks as much as I do. "See, your parents were pretty cool back in the day. Not as cool as me, obviously, but still cool."

Arthur nods, awaiting more context. The kid has got the silence of his father down pat, now he just needs the confidence.

"Your father was an excellent general, we're talking A+ rank in his prime. Not to mention that he's extremely handsome and..." I stop myself, wiping the drool off my mouth. Goddamn it, that's so embarrassing. Definitely gonna cringe about this in a few years. I cough to clear my throat and move on. "Your mother was one of the first Elven exchange student-"

"Mom's an elf?" He interrupts, appearing extremely shocked. Oops, spoilers. Should I have told him that? Maybe. I mean, he was going to find out eventually!

"Man... they told you a lot less than I thought," I say, giggling slightly under my breath. I nod and keep walking, not stopping despite the truth bomb. "Yep. You're a half-elf, buddy."

Arthur looks at the ground as he walks, reflecting internally on this new information. I decide to tease him a little bit about it, just for funsies.

"You're in a time of your life when your body is going through a lot of changes. Soon enough, you'll notice that your ears are getting slightly longer. Heck, there might even be a nice looking plant that catches your eyes-"

"Now hold on a damn second, we're not just glossing over this, I'm a half-elf?!?" He asks, being the most energetic I've seen him.

"Yep. I know that it can be difficult for a young half-elf boy, but this happens for everyone. You're going to start liking flutes and bows and things-

* * *

Arthur Ishviel POV...

After an agonizing 2 hour walk, we finally reach the train station. it's a fairly old-timey place, as if train technology hadn't been advanced in some time.

I stretch my arms lightly as we stand on the platform, awaiting the train. It's set to arrive in maybe 10 minutes, just enough time for Clara to fit in another awkward or revealing conversation. I've basically been tuning her out this entire time... let me actually listen for a second.

"And then your dad's shirt got blown off and-"

Back to tuning her out it is. Seriously, she spends more than half the time talking about my dad. There's basically no one else at the platform, save maybe 1 person on the other side of the track who seems a bit uncomfortable from overhearing Clara talk. Same, brother, same. Maybe I should've just stayed at home... this can't be worth it, can it?

"So what exactly will you be teaching me?" I ask, interrupting her flow of fangirling over my father. "Dad said that you know ice magic, but I'm more of a sword... guy."

"You mean swordsman, right?" She asks, tilting her head as she looks over at me. She glosses over my mistake for once, deciding to properly educate me. "I can teach you how to properly move your mana and how to make the flow of mana smoother. I can also use one of my spells to identify what type of mana you have without needing to pay for a seer."

I nod, happy with the list. I don't know how all of it works, but rather that I just heard a lot of buzz words from fantasy books that I recognize.

"That sounds good, but there's more after that, right?" I ask, hoping it's more than the few things she just mentioned.

"Of course, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to is," Clara responds, frowning and sticking out her tongue. "It's the first day you've ever met me, kid. Have some patience."

I sigh, knowing it's completely valid of her. Why argue when you're very clearly outmatched in terms of experience? I turn my attention back to the rails, able to hear a whistling sound approaching our location.

"All passengers are requested to step away from the rails at this moment, your train is arriving shortly."

Well that was conveniently timed. I take a step back and wait for the train, watching Clara do the same. It eventually pulls into the station, stopping in front of us. It's steam powered, looking very nice. I pull on the door handle and open it, holding the door for Clara before stepping onto the train myself.

* * *