Gifts

"I should mind my own business. I need food and a warm bath, not trouble." Arya entered his room, which was lit automatically by a sunlight-like prism stone. 

The room was simple and well-maintained and a lot cosier than the sleeping in the open. A bed with cotton bed sheets is better than a snow bed made of wood, and windows with silk curtains are better than no windows and a roof.

A wardrobe made of wood was lined with the wall and a small door at the end of the room with the tag "Bathroom" on its head.

Then some muffling from outside the door reached Arya's ears.

"Who is that?" Arya moved closer to the door to hear what they were saying.

"What do you think for dinner today?"

"I don't like anything that guy makes."

"?!" The voices came from the other side of the door. A man and a woman were talking about the food today.

"Were those Seraphina's parents?" Arya wondered, because who else would leave their daughter with their childish and shady uncle alone? Also, why was their daughter eating raw chicken if that was the case?

Arya shook his head and opened the wardrobe for a set of clothes: "Trousers... trousers... one tunic and open shirts." The clothing colour choices were not bad, but the variety was not ideal. 

Then Arya took a look in the mirror, and he wished he didn't do that. His hair was falling all over the place, his eyes had dark spots and wrinkles, and for the first time in his life, he looked like a homeless man, and he did not feel proud about it.

Nevertheless, Arya grabbed the tunic and a pair of white trousers and entered the bathroom. 

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The dinner table was the busiest place in the house after Anastasia and River's single room. Right now, both the 40-year-old lady and the 24-year-old man were gulping down food.

River occupied the seat between Mercy and Anastasia and could complain about each thing he ate, and Mercy knew why.

"Am… Mercy, You could be a cook in my kitchen. The stew is good." Anastasia passed her compliment, and River's face tightened.

"Seraphina dear… Do you still eat raw chicken? I told you it was bad for your health." Anastasia continued.

"No matter that your body is different from all others, eating cooked meals is the best way to get nutrition." Anastasia suggested the little kid with a hint of worry.

"I don't like cooked chicken and vegetables. Raw chicken and meat are the best. They keep my belly full for days." Seraphina said as she chewed down the last bit of raw chicken on her plate. Her meal for the next three days was done.

"Okay, I am going to visit Reva." She said, "I can see Evelyn and Alfyn today... and please take off Arya; he was scared when I saw him in the tunnel. Light the candle properly for him, okay?" Saying that the little girl ran right out of the room and the house.

The three remained at the table, eating and having points to discuss.

"I'm still surprised she isn't a serpent in disguise. All her traits are related to snakes, her eating habits and digestive system, an attachment to green colour, but... " River paused, in other words, to take a sip.

"You can't prove she is a serpent in disguise, River." Mercy completed River's sentence.

"Yes, you are right about that... I can't seem to figure her out. It is just too confusing thinking about all of this." River taped the table with his hand, and Anastasia placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Let's think about something else right now, I saw the door next to us was occupied. Do we have our new member now?" Ana asked.

"Yes, we have I think he is taking a bath-"

"Can I be a part of this conversation?" Arya interrupted Mercy's line.

The member of the table looked at the stairs where Arya was coming down wearing his red tunic and trousers, and this time he looked much cleaner and better looking.

"Just that at the perfect time, I commend your timing." Mercy gave a smile.

" Anastasia and River welcome the last member of our team. An exiled warlord from the council of Uro, Arya." Mercy gave a small introductory speech from his spot without standing.

*Clap…

Anastasia and River gave Arya a light clap to welcome her, and Arya did not know how to reply. So, he pushed up an awkward smile and a light bow while seated right next to Mercy on the other side of the table.

"Thank you for the warm welcome; Mercy has already given you my information. Please tell me about yourself."

Arya probed the conversation once again.

"I am River Almata. I come from the desert area of the Dynasty; if you met Reva earlier, you know she and I already knew each other before coming to this place. I am a biological and pharmacological researcher. Exploring the nature of different beasts and flowers to learn their nature and make the best potions out of them."

"That's interesting…" Arya wondered what achievement he had made in that part.

"If you are thinking about what I can do with my work, then see a thing you applied to your hair in the bathroom to make it look smooth with the smell of apples. This is my invention. I call it Sampo." River spoke and began eating.

"Now, that's surprising." Arya was impressed on his part; the man wore a suit of pure white and wielded good knowledge. 

"I don't have anything more to tell you about my part." River ended his description as such and took a glass of water. 

A good addition to the team by Arya's standards.

"..."The woman with the blue clock, green eyes and crimson hair sitting next to the River didn't like the explanation.

"Mam… If you'll tell us more about yourself", Arya raised a glass of water for her.

"Oh, sure, darling."

Agh… River choked a bit on his water.

"My name is Anastasia Emerald, from the Nausicaa of Uro. I think you know about my family and city if I lived in the royal capital." Anastasia pointed at Arya, and she was right. Arya was quite familiar with the city.

"The biggest supplier of emeralds is at the boundary of Uro. Ruler of the gem mines of Nausicca, earning big money and controlling the finances and trade even without having a simple spokesperson in the court of Uro. Big and powerful, living over a cursed city still." Arya still had a bit of a court element to his words, he realised.

"You are right about that; my family controls too much wealth and power. Still, I don't understand how they do not get under Mathers's skin and piss him off. The curse of my city is another thing, and I am here to fix that thing and take control of my family's wealth. At least Mercy promises me, I will get that."

The curse of Nausicca came from an unknown source, but it wasn't a small curse. Families in Nausicaa are bound by fate to kill each other, by my will or by accident, yet people live there working for a piece of money and pride over the land of their ancestors.

When some people move away, others, desperate enough, come to take their place. People living alone die in a week somehow.

"As for my work, I am a researcher of magic and its effect on other magic and potion-making. Although I prefer the latter a lot less, Anastasia finished her sentence.

"Should I ask her about the rank of the family she comes from? "Also, Seraphina is not their daughter." Arya thought while he began placing honey and some meat on his plate and began eating.

Mercy interrupted Arya's line of thought by standing up in his seat after finishing his boiled vegetables. 

"Arya, I think they both forgot to mention, but they are actually married to each other," Mercy said with a simple smirk on his face.

"...?!" It took a second for Arya to realise what Mercy just said. Arya stared into his eyes at the two. In a world, these two could be mother and son, but no, they were going to have a son.

Anastasia and River looked separate ways and tried to avoid contact with Arya for some reason.

"What's surprising about that? Old noblemen marry young girls all the time. What is embarrassing when it is the other way around?" Mercy casually chatted out more and more.

River was turning red, while Anastasia peeked at him while smirking. Enjoying River's embarrassment to the fullest. Arya did not know what to say about this.

"I don't have any problems or anything with this... I think people can be with whomever they want. Arya did not know how to act in a situation like this.

"Some beautiful words by our new member, Arya. With this, I think we can all start giving our welcome gift to him." Mercy called out to the couple, who nodded back.

"What wel-"

Mercy clapped his hands together, and the room lost all light as the magic prism shut down. A single yellow candle lit up the room, and every person's face became visible to all. 

"Where did they come from?"

Arya suddenly realised that Seraphina and Reva were also sitting in their seats beside him. Arya saw that everyone beside Mercy was holding something. Seraphina was sitting right beside Arya on the right chair.

"First, a gift from Seraphina: alcohol is banned in my house. So, you can take this out and enjoy it with anyone else." A bottle of wine came right into Arya's hand, and he looked back at Seraphina.

"...." Arya had celebrated his birthday with Ina many times, but they weren't great at anything. But for the first time, he was surrounded by more than one person who actually wanted him.

"Thank you.." Arya tried his best to return Seraphiana's pure smile with his own.

"A little portion of protection from my side," River said next. "Apply it on your body, and bloodflies won't touch you. Drink it, and vampires will kill themselves before drinking your blood." He handed Arya a small vial of the green portion. 

"Thank you…" Arya bowed deeply and smiled.

"It is my turn; next is mine." Anastasia began, "I was born in a place where betrayal and lies are the kings of the game; with this portion, if you mix it with blood and water, they will speak the truth as much as they know." Anastasia handed the bottle to Arya. "Be careful; though it's not perfect, some lies may come out, so use it carefully."

"Thank you…" Arya took the almost transparent portion from Anastasia.

"As for me, I don't have a gift; I'll get you one someday." Reva raised her hands in the air. 

"At least you are there... That is enough." Reva's presence shone more in Arya's heart. She looked more beautiful in the candle's dim light.

"As for the final gift from your group leader..." Mercy stood from his seat. He went to the cupboard in a nearby room.

"Arya I think the "name" of your abilities and armour is "The Rock," right?"

Arya nodded. Each warlord's armour and abilities had a name beside the name of the warlord. The justice wore his own armour name instead of his actual one.

"But who did Mercy know about this?" Arya was about to say when he shut himself up.

Mercy brought back a briefcase from the cupboard, a large and wide one. 

"Arya Robon is what people used to call you, but if we helped each other, that name would change to something else." Mercy opened the suitcase, and Arya could see his heart rushing. 

"I was exploring in the forest of the forsaken and found a very powerful bone bear... Nonetheless, when I killed it,

From the briefcase, a golden light began shining as Arya knew what it was. Mercy grabbed the sphere and placed it on the table.

"My sphere of power..." A glass sphere shone with golden energy, and a special sigil was drawn on the outside of the glass. In the centre, Arya could see a small rock drawn as his symbol. 1

His newly bathed eyes became numb, and he couldn't hold back the tears. The feeling of being important became real for him. Arya moved his hand ahead and touched the sphere of power, embracing its golden light into himself and becoming stronger. Then a voice called out to him inside his head.

「Orbs consumed: 2/20」

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