Chapter 20: A Long day ends

When Mill and his friends left the testing building, they realized just how long they were in the testing building as night had fallen at least two hours prior and the twin moons that they knew so well hung high in the sky. "Okay, I knew that we had been in there for at least a couple of hours, but I didn't think that it would be this late!" Darren exclaimed to his friends, and they nodded in agreement. "I guess that everyone's going back to their respective places of sleep." Karl spoke up as he took in a deep breath with his arms spread open wide. "I know that I need to go to sleep now to keep my dashing good looks." Karl stroked his hand through his hair and smiled at his friends.

"Sleep actually sounds really good right now." Lua spoke as she was stretching. "Plus, I still need to recover from whatever that was." Mill watched his new group of friends talking as they continued to leave the area of the test. They had all met just a few hours ago by why of the entrance exam but now they're talking like they'd been friends for years. Mill looked back at the giant metal cube that they took the exam in and chuckled to himself.

"What are you laughing at?" When Mill turned back around, he saw that Lua was directly in his face with a glare of suspicion. "Oh, nothing crazy really." Mill responded. "I just thought that it's really cool that we all took the exam together and became friends." Mill said with a shy smile on his face. The rest the group all looked at each other and realized that Mill was right. They hadn't known each other for long but they spoke like they had.

"I guess this test was good for something other than almost getting us killed." Darren said with and he started to laugh. Darren's laugh caused Karl and Mill to start laughing and, in the end, even Lua started laughing. They were just a group of people that had almost died together and became closer as a result. "Honestly." Mill spoke as his laughter was subsiding. "If this isn't what becoming an adventurer then I don't know what is." With that all of the friends slowly started to disperse and head to their different homes or temporary sleeping locations leaving Mill to walk down the street alone.

As he walked alone Mill started to think about his next plan of action. He felt like it was highly unlikely that he failed to pass the entrance exam and needed to think about what happened now. 'During the test a discovered a few new things about this ability that I have. First of all, I found discovered three new emotional triggers for the ability at least that's what I think but I'd have to test them more to be sure." Mill placed his hand on his chin and closed his eyes to visualize the fight that he had with Cren and remember everything that he did.

"It also seems that certain abilities can trigger a crazy change in my personality if I lose myself too much like in that fight." Mill could clearly remember what he felt during that fight. He was happy. Extremely happy to the point that he was having fun with the enemy that had almost killed his friends. "Well, it was a simulation so they might not have died but, it doesn't change the fact that I was happier that they were safe than I was mad at the boss for hurting them." Mill let out a sigh. "This sure is exhausting to think about. I wonder if anybody else has to think this hard about their ability. Well, if they do, they probably have people that they can ask for help, unlike me."

Mill had finally made it to the front of his house and looked at it for a second before walking in. "I can't wait to take a shower and go to sleep." When Mill opened the door, his sister immediately pulled him into the house and closed the door behind him. "Nova what are you-"

"No, time to explain, little bro. You came back way later than we expected so now we have to move fast. Jenny! Are you ready?" Mill looked passed his sister and saw his aunt standing in front of the door to the living room. Mill's aunt Jenny nodded her head as she grabbed Mill by his other arm. "Everything's set up! Now we just need the most important piece." The two women opened the door and dragged Mill inside.

"Come on, guys I just want to take a shower and go....to...." Mill trailed off after he saw what was waiting for him on the other side of the door. The room had been decorated with a bunch of golden balloons and streamers. There was a light blue cake with golden candles on it and there was a banner hanging from the ceiling that read, "Congratulations for making it through the exam!!" Mill was speechless. He didn't expect something like this to happen because he had barely even mentioned that he was going to take the exam this morning so how they set all of this up had amazed Mill.

"Wow." Mill said quietly as he slowly walked around the room. "You did all of this for me?" Jenny and Nova nodded proudly. "We know that this is kind of sudden but so was the way that you told us that you were going to try to enter Golden Lion, so this is fair compared to that." Nova spoke as she walked over to the table with the cake and ran her finger through the frosting. "Wait, but what if I didn't pass?" Nova smiled. "I thought about that. Which is why I wrote congratulations for making it through the exam instead of passing it." Mill looked back at the banner and saw that it was more like a good job for trying than a good job for succeeding.

"I know that I'm not my sister and you've only been here for 5 years, but I wanted to show you that old Aunt Jenny can be proud of her nephew just like anyone else." Jenny lifted up her arm and flexed. "And as a retired adventurer I knew that it was my time to show you, my support." Mill looked at his aunt and sister and smiled. "Thanks, you two. After the day that I had I really needed something like this to clear my mind." Mill sat down with his aunt and sister one the couch and started to explain everything that happened during the test until it had gotten late enough that they all went to their rooms to sleep. Mill was laying down and facing the ceiling as he thought about his family.

Mill looked to the side of his bed at an old picture of a family of four. A man, a woman, a young nine-year-old girl, and a four-year-old boy. In the photo the wife and daughter had similar hair colors of a bright orange and the older man had dark brown hair. The only odd one out was the four-year-old that had this vibrant light blue hair that seemed to be glowing with the light of mana. This picture was of Mill and Nova when they were younger and still had their parents. It was quite obvious by the picture that Mill had been adopted by this family, but it still felt like his for years.

"Dad, I met this really crazy group of friends today, but I think their all really good people. Mom, I'm sorry that I'm trying to become an adventurer. I know that it's the last thing that you would want from me due to how much you hate them, but I have to do this. Not just for me but for you two as well." Mill smiled at the picture as his eyes slowly closed and he drifted into sleep. After a really long and arduous day he would finally be able to get some rest.