Man of Truth

Drake dropped to the ground, clutching his chest and was crying genuine tears of joy. The chief watched the young boy cry for a moment before saying,"I assume you realize the power I have given you, but you must know," He put his hand on Drake's shoulder and took a knee in front of him. "Drake." Drake was still crying in a happy mess and he could only look up at the chief. The chief sighed and said,"You are the most respectable man I have ever met, and I see you achieving great things. However I know that if you must walk this path of power, you need to do it right. Take this as a gift from your master, never partake in the evil of humanity! Vow it!"

Drake quickly stood up and cleared his throat, saying,"I vow on my name, Drake Silver, to forever reach higher power while never associating with evil! I will Forever walk the path of Justice and Law!" Drake was not bluffing, he was genuinely grateful to the chief for this gift. Drake had gotten so used to the antics of his master that he had started to genuinely grow attached to the old chief. Drake hadn't had a father figure as a young man and he had started to see his master as one.

Drake continued,"Master, I will forever walk the path of truth as well, and in order to do so I must apologize to you."

The chief was a little confused and said,"Ah? What are you talking about?"

Drake responded to him by saying,"I did not tell you the entire truth of how I came to this village, and I wish to let all the villagers know the truth. Please, let me clear my conscience and clean my sins!" Drake took a knee once more.

The chief looked at Loco and said,"Do you know what I just gave you, young man?"

Loco shook his head and said,"No sir, I only subconsciously know that it is called a "Double Bloodline Potion", but other than that I do not know what it is, nor why Sir Drake is freaking out." Loco said this in his usual deadpanned voice and it slightly bewildered the chief before the chief squinted his eyes.

Drake looked up at his master and said with a look of fear in his eyes,"Ma- Master? Wh- What's wrong?"

The chief then asked Loco," You are a Blood Wizard, are you not?"

Loco slightly cocked his head and said,"No, I am a Blood Mage, I do not not know of "Blood Wizard" though If I were to assume it is most likely an evolved form of some kind right?"

The chief slowly looked the young man up and down and then smiled. Drake let out a noticeable sigh of relief, and then stood up. Then the chief said something that made Loco freeze,"So, Lancer finally found someone worthy eh?"

Loco immediately whipped around and said in a shocked voice,"You know of my master?"

The chief laughed out loud and said,"Hahaha! Ah! Kid you make me laugh too much! Lancer is my brother!"

Loco's eyes went big in realization and he quieted himself almost immediately. The chief then quickly said,"Ah don't worry your blood mage class has two seperate paths that determine whether you become an evil Blood Wizard or a righteous Blood Archmage. Blood Mage have similar mana fluctuations to blood wizards because they are inexperienced with the technique"

Loco sighed in relief and Drake said,"Alright, now let's go back to the village. Chief, Please call a meeting in the square." The chief nodded his head in confirmation and the four people all walked back to the village, all with different thoughts running through their heads.

==

Drake stood in front of everyone in the village as they all wondered what the chief had called for and why it was an "Urgent Meeting". Drake cleared his throat and said," Citizens of Roshad, I have come today to clear my conscience and cleanse my sins of the guilt that has been slowly eating at my core." The crowd started murmuring, everyone had thought of Drake as a man of values and of great moral character so they wondered where this was going.

Drake continued on and said,"I shall retell the story of my arrival, once more for anyone who does not know along with the details of things I omitted from the story because they were some of the most heartbreaking decisions I ever had to make." The crowd looked on in anxious anticipation. Drake sighed and said,"It was not just me in the dungeon.. I went with my wife." Suddenly the crowd all collectively gasped in shock and the chief could be seen looking at Drake with intense worry apparent in face.

Drake goes on and says,"We went into a dungeon that was supposed to be a Medusa dungeon, however after spending 3 weeks in the dungeon we got to the boss room. When we went inside the room the doors closed behind us and we were officially trapped, but the boss monster that appeared wasn't a medusa monster but a duo of Naga and Imp" The entire village was shaken by the story but they all wanted to hear the rest.

"The Naga won against us handily and the two monsters viciously attacked us until we were beaten and broken. That was when the Imp offered me a deal, In exchange for my freedom he would take all the knowledge I had of my swordsmanship. I only wanted to survive so I agreed and without reading it, signed the contract. This was the biggest mistake of my life and I watched the Naga Immediately devour my wife before my very eyes. Before I could attack the contract went into effect and I forgot." Drake suppressed fake tears and continued on,"I forgot HOW to attack. I think about that choice every day that I live and she doesn't. It is a painful memory that I was trying to forget but I am a man of truth and justice and shall not lie to those who care about me."

The chief walked up and hugged Drake. They hugged for a few seconds before Drake said,"Master, Thank you, but I am not done." The chief backed away from Drake and looked on with curiosity. Drake continued once more,"After the incident I realized that I had knowledge and information that I definitely did not have before. I saw the world in a new light and recently I tried relaying some of this knowledge. However, I could not, I couldn't write it down nor talk about it to anyone, and I believe this was a part of the Imp's contract, to give me great knowledge, but cursed to never be able to tell another soul."

Everyone that was listening eyes suddenly widened and they looked on with disbelief. Drake kept talking and said,"I have been constantly trying different things to slip the information into conversations, however the curse would stop me every time. However," he pointed his finger up in the air,"I think I have found a way to subvert this curse. Farmer Halen, Could you step up?" The crowd murmured in anticipation and an older man in farming gear stepped forward. Drake said,"Approximately 6 days before I left for the dungeon I told you something, and I would like for you to explain this and what you thought of it."

Farmer Halen cleared his throat and said in a clear voice,"Sir Drake, 6 days before you left for the dungeon you came up to me while I was tilling the field and said 'I have a riddle for you, and if you take it seriously and think about the riddle it will help you alot.' I thought at the time that maybe you were starting to go crazy with all the training you were doing but I told you to go ahead and tell me. You then said ' One lion will struggle to kill an Ox however if there was another lion the job would be much easier if they attacked the Ox one at a time. Two lions is great, three lions is better, but four is the perfect amount.' You then told me to replace the lions and the ox with the plants and the ground. Again, I honestly thought you were going crazy but it was then that I realized that if we plant vegetables that ruin the soil and then switch it after the harvest with one that revitalizes the soil, it would significantly increase food yield! Then I thought about what you said, about four lions being the perfect number and it was then that I realized that four is indeed the perfect number. Three is just barely not enough and five is too much for crop rotations like that!"

The crowd all had very shocked expressions and Drake turned to Minerva and said,"Miss Minerva, May I borrow a truth crystal?" Minerva thought about it for a moment before handing Drake the crystal. Drake turned around and said," This is a truth crystal, if it glows, I am lying." Drake held the stone out in his palm so the crowd could see and said,"I have seen the future, and I have knowledge that would make even a slave the richest man on the planet!"

The stone did not glow.