We did the same routine until I am 10 years old, training here, training there, a hell lots of training. And yeah time passes surprisingly quick. I enjoyed everything, I even cherish every moment with my parents. Turns out, This world wasn't so bad at all..
Now that I am able to experience something so valuable, to have something so special that I was not able to have in my past life.. I want to keep it at all costs...A question lingers in my mind for a moment
Was this my fate?.. The "light" I was suppose to seek? if so, I don't want to lose it, not now, not never... Lost in my deep thoughts I have said it loudly "I have to become stronger.." then–
*BANG*
The door slammed open violently.
"Did I hear that right, boy?" A proud, booming voice echoed through the room.
Standing there was... yeah you guessed it right. Of course. none other than my idiot father. Grinning like he just heard the most entertaining thing in his life.
I froze. "…You heard that?"
He stepped inside like a war general entering a battlefield. "Of course I heard it." He pointed at me. "You said you want to become stronger, right?"
"…Yes."
His grin widened.
"Good."
I immediately felt something was wrong.
"…Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?" He cracked his knuckles. "Because you are."
And somehow…I already knew.
My peaceful time just ended... So I come up with an idea for a moment...
"Uh dad, before we make a mess.." Little did I know, my mother was listening from the other room..
*BANG*
The other door slammed violently again
Man, Sometimes I really feel like these two are less "mages" and more like frontline war criminals pretending to be a family...Well actually my father is a swordsman. So maybe that explains it?..Yeah well at least half of it..
"What mess?" A calm voice spoke. Too calm. "Did you two idiots plan to ruin our backyard again?" My mother stood there smiling gently. Smiling. But behind her… a menacing aura..
I froze. "…We haven't even done anything yet."
My father immediately turned his head. "Yet."
"…Dad, please don't support her."
"I'm not supporting her," he said calmly.
Then added "I'm just saying she's probably right."
Oh boy, he's a typical father, traitor at moments like this one.. *Chuckles
"Uhh.. Mom, Dad.., since you're both here, I want to ask something" Come to think of it, all those years that I'm with them, it never crossed my mind not even a moment until now, how they met each other. I can imagine it is kinda romantic tho, like those fairytales in my old world..
"What is it Lucien?" my mother turns into her serious face for a moment.. "Yeah, spill it.." my father too.
"How did you guys met each other?"..I asked curiously.... Because why not though? I genuinely want to know..
My mother crossed her arms and glanced at my father. Then, with a small sigh, she began. "We met during a mission fourteen years ago…" Her voice softened. "…A rather painful one. Though, in some ways… sweet."
She looked away for a moment, as if staring into a memory only she could see. "It always feels like one of those two whenever I think back on it."
The mood in the room changed instantly. Even I could tell something serious had happened. "What happened, Mom?" I asked quietly. Before she could answer, my father stepped forward and spoke in an unusually calm voice.
"We were from different parties."
That alone surprised me.
"But for one reason… we stood on the same battlefield... Alongside with Elves and Dwarves." His expression hardened. "We were facing a calamity." He paused. "No… a threat to all inhabitants of this region...and all of humankind if not stopped." A chill ran down my spine. "What kind of threat?" My father's eyes narrowed. "Ignivar… the World Burner." Even the way he said the name felt heavy. Like it carried heat. Like it carried death.
He folded his arms and continued. "One of the four legendary elemental dragons. A fire dragon… and the most destructive among them." My mother quietly added, "He comes out once every hundred years."
"To check the balance of this world..." my father said, "But one day..for unknown reasons, he suddenly went rampage." The room fell silent. For the first time, I realized something important. My father wasn't just a loud idiot who tortured me with training. He was a man who had stood before legends. He was a hero.
"I was with my party, the Knights of the Gilded Mantle," he said proudly. Of course he puffed out his chest when saying it.
"When news reached us after a dungeon raid…" He suddenly changed posture and began acting out the memory dramatically. "Sires! Ignivar is here! He is currently attacking a city southwest of the kingdom!" He even copied the voice of the messenger.
I stared at him. He was enjoying this way too much. "As part of my duty, I went immediately," he continued. "Even against the will of the king himself!"
"…Did the king really try to stop you?" I asked.
"No."
"…Then why say it like that?"
"Because it sounds cooler." Mother sighed. "Idiot."
Father ignored her completely. "That was the first time I saw your mother." He pointed dramatically at her. "She stood in the middle of burning ruins, wrapped in a green magical aura. Her barrier protected the wounded while flames rained from the sky."
I blinked.
That actually sounded incredible. "She was beautiful," he added. Mother's face reddened instantly. "L-Lyndon!"
"What? It's true." I covered my mouth to stop myself from laughing.
So my fearless father had been struck by love at first sight? Pathetic. But amazing.
"I jumped beside her," Father continued.
Then he placed one foot on a chair like some stage actor.
"I said–" He deepened his voice. 'If you can still fight, help us. If not… stay behind me.'
I turned to my mother. "That sounds kind of cool!!." And that's a literal knight in shining armor moment from fairy tales isn't it?
She stared at him blankly. "It was stupid."
Then she raised a hand and pointed at him. "I told your father–" Her tone sharpened. 'If you're planning to die stupidly, don't stand in front of me!' I burst out laughing. Father looked offended. "That is not how I remember it, That is exactly how it happened."
My mother's expression softened again.
"We fought together until the end." Her eyes lowered. "But it wasn't enough." The warmth in the room faded. "We are not able to kill Ignivar." My father nodded grimly.
"We only managed to seal him beneath a high-tier spell formation with the help of the elves and dwarves." My mother clenched her hands. "And that victory came at a cost." Neither of them spoke for a moment. I understood without needing details. Comrades had died there. Friends. People who mattered.
"That day…" she whispered, "…we lost many." The silence that followed was heavy. Even my father didn't joke. Then, slowly, Mother smiled. "But we also gained something." She glanced at Father.
He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "…A partner."
"An annoying one," she corrected. "A beautiful one," he replied instantly. She threw a pillow at his face. He caught it proudly. I stared at the two of them.
So this was the legendary romance born from battle? A healer and a swordsman insulting each other while saving the world? Honestly…It sounded about right.
Then another thought hit me. "Wait."
I turned to Father. "Knights of the Gilded mantle… aren't they the strongest order in the kingdom?" He stiffened.
End of chapter