A few days had passed since the vampire attack, Bett’s death and my birthday, yet the feelings I had felt still lingered.

  Most of the group had gone their separate ways, though a few still remained with us. Their presence was a small comfort amidst the loss.

  Right now we were heading for Thaloria. The trip would take four months, had said my father.

  We would pass by the Bell kingdom on our way to Thaloria, where I had resolved to stay and look for answers about Bett’s mysterious partner. She had kept him a secret all this time and I was determined to know why.

  The vampires didn’t seem to be following us. Maybe Bett had killed Drazor? I let out a bitter laugh for even thinking that, which no one had heard. Drazor wasn’t just strong—he was overwhelming, I still remember the fear I felt when he stared at me.

  He was the fifth ranked in the Jades, and I thought about those that were ranked above him. No,no, I don’t need to think about that right now! Even if he was overwhelming, I had decided that I would kill him, no matter what it takes. It’s almost laughable that killing people in my past life was so easy, but now, I couldn’t even think of it. But all that would come after I had gotten stronger, and for now, it was a relief that they weren’t following us.

  We were still technically in Rivenwood as we hadn’t gotten out of the forest that circled it. I was sitting in the carriage with my mother and Trix while my father was the one driving the carriage.

  “Oh, look at that. It’s a goblin” said Trix, her voice calm as it had been throughout this trip. She was probably the most devastated by Bett’s death since she was her savior. Despite that, Trix still wore that cheeky grin, as if determined to act as though nothing had happened.

  ”You probably haven’t seen a real monster before,” Trix teased, pointing at the glowing yellow orb like things peeking through the darkness of the forest. They were unmistakably the goblin’s eyes, gleaming in the darkness, a reminder that I had never truly ventured beyond Rivenwood.

  We’d passed by many monsters before, but my father always handled them with ease without us even seeing them. We only heard their screams as they died and this was the first time I had really seen a monster.

  The goblin attacked and just like it was in the past few days, my father killed it, shooting out a water blast from his staff.

  He mostly used water magic and earth magic. The moves he used the most were water bullet and earth needle. They looked like powerful spells, yet my father hardly looked tired, as though using magic cost him nothing. He also made earth shelters for us and stay up to protect us, which was no joke of mana amount. It was as if he was couldn’t sleep because of something. Maybe it was because of Bett’s death?

  After travelling for hours, we finally made it out of the forest.

  That evening, as the sun was about to set, my father raised the earth tents, carving out our shelter for the night before calling out to me.

  “Let’s go gather some food” he said, his voice tight, with bags of tiredness showing below his eyes.

  One of my father’s colleagues who had stayed with us until now came up to him grabbing his shoulder lightly.

  “Gale, look at yourself, you are a man that could collapse at any moment. We have some leftovers from your last hunt, its more than enough.”

  My father pushed his colleagues hands slightly as he turned around, staggering as he muttered, “I have to check if everything is okay. I have to protect everyone.”

  Everyone looked at him, worry filled in their eyes. I followed him as he had instructed before.

  We walked in silence, the tension thick between us, until the shelter disappeared from view and my father finally spoke.

  “Kael, how do you think of me as a father? Am I good enough?” he said in a broken voice.

  The question caught me off guard, and I didn’t know what to say, so I stayed silent.

  “Oh, forget it,” he muttered, glancing away before I could speak, holding his head. “I shouldn’t have asked…”

  “What am I even thinking, asking a ten-year-old,” he said under his breath.

  We continued walking, silence still between us, but my mind raced.

  Why had he asked me that?

  Was he doubting himself, or was something else weighing on him? If I had to answer I would’ve told him he was a great father—one who always put others before himself. But somehow, the words felt too small for what I really felt. I couldn’t compare him to the father I never knew in my past life, but he was certainly better than anyone I’d known in the orphanage, he really is great.

  We started gathering some plants, like mushrooms and some fruits. My father also hunted a wild deer, which had great meat. We had a lot of food right now, it would probably be enough for our group and would probably last us half a week.

  “Let’s go deeper”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  My father surprised me. I had always been wondering why he often took his time gathering food, disappearing into the forest for hours. Now I understood why. He was probably venturing deeper into forests. Maybe it was his time to think about things?

  We started heading more deep into the forest and we got some fruits and one other deer. After that my father just said, “Let’s go back” and we returned silently to the camp.

  I wondered what was going on with him. Was he blaming himself for leaving Bett behind? The thought gnawed at me, but I didn’t know how to ask. It had to be guilt. What else could it be?

  That night as I was trying to sleep, I heard to the soft murmurs of voices outside my tent. I slipped out of my tents quietly and saw my parents talking around the fire.

  My father spoke, “I’m sorry, I should have tried to save her” said my father, his voice weak and broken.

  My mother tried to console him, “Don’t blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done, he was just too strong” , her voice soft, voice trembling. “She was my sister….. and I miss her more than anyone.” She said, staring at the fire intently.

  As I listened, I realized how much pain my mother was holding back, trying to stay strong for us all.

  “I can’t bear to lose anyone else, We need to get to Thaloria safely.” My mother whispered, her voice thick with grief.

  “I don’t think that will happen. The kids will probably want to find Bett’s partner and I don’t think we could stop them.”

  “Then….” My mother hesitated, her hands twisting in her lap, unsure of what to say next.

  “I’ll stay with them until we find Bett’s partner in the Bell Kingdom. But they’ll need to learn how to survive on their own... so they don’t meet the same fate.”

  My mother lowered her head and I quietly slipped back into my tent, not wanting to meddle anymore. But still this conversation made some things clear. My father’s guilt over Bett’s death explained his strange behavior these past days—it had weighed on him more than I realized. And the other thing I learned... we were headed to the Bell Kingdom. I’d wondered about the Bell Kingdom for a while now, but hearing it confirmed brought a sense of both relief and uncertainty. It was a relief to know I didn’t even need to ask for permission—it had already been decided.

  My thoughts blurred, and before I knew it, sleep pulled me under.

  The next morning my father told the group his plan.

  “Everyone,after giving it some thought, I’ve decided that Trix, my son, and I will head to Bell kingdom. I know this is sudden, but..." My father paused, his gaze flickering to the horizon, "we need to take care of some things. Sorry I won’t be able to accompany you but my wife will take care of that. Though we will be together until the Bell kingdom”

  I figured this must’ve been what they talked about last night while I slept.

  We travelled a little more that day and in the evening my father called Trix and I. He invited us to go hunt for food.

  As we walked, my father’s voice broke the silence, his tone serious.

  “I’m sure you know that we are going to the Bell kingdom so, I decided to train you. Today you will be the one hunting our food and if you find monsters you will be the one killing them. I will only help if I think you are in danger” he said with a commanding voice.

  We moved quietly through the underbrush, gathering plants as we went, until we finally spotted a deer grazing just beyond the trees. Just as we prepared to make our move, I caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of my eye—we weren’t the only ones hunting the deer. There was a goblin that also registered the deer as its prey.

  “Look, Kael. This might be a goblin, but disputes like this happen all the time—with anyone. Sometimes, you’ll have no choice but to fight. They may even be from a different race” said my father.

  What he said was fully sensible. Disputes like this are normal for people. I couldn’t help but think about Earth—how disputes over land or resources often led to violence there, too.

  I signaled Trix to get the deer as she had mobility with her wind magic and that I would get the goblin.

  Then we moved.

  We lunged out of the bush and the deer frightened tried to run but Trix had already activated her wind magic and boosted herself to get to the deer. Now all she had to do was kill him.

  On my turf, the goblin started rushing towards me as soon as he saw me, just like that other goblin. He had a thick wooden stick, probably its weapon of choice.

  I activated my precision sight and looked for his weak point. I saw three red points on his body- something you don’t see everyday. Of the three the one I was aiming for was the one on his neck.The goblin swung its stick down hard, but I sidestepped effortlessly, my eyes never leaving its neck. I spun and hit him on his neck. My blade only grazed him, despite his soft hide. I didn’t really put much power in it and didn’t use any sword style but I expected the fight would have ended right here.

  I jumped back and tried to reorganize my thoughts. I hadn’t used enough strength before so this time, I wouldn’t hold back. I was really calm for the first time fighting a monster, maybe an effect of my past life experience.

  I rushed back at him and instead of his neck, I attacked one of the other red points-his hand that hold the stick. Instead of cutting it, I hit it with my length then went on to attack the neck, now with more power than before. This time I got a clean cut and the head of the goblin rolled on the ground with a dull thud.

  “This is the minimum power required to kill a goblin, huh?” I murmured to myself.

  “Oh, good job. I thought I was needed to intervene after the first hit didn’t work” said my father in a cheerful but serious tone.

  Trix came a little later and said, “You got your first kill huh? Good job” in her usual cheeky tone.

  “Why are you acting like you’re older. You only killed a deer, didn’t you” I said trying to tease her even though I knew she had probably hunted before.

  “I had killed a monster before, it’s not a big deal” she shot back, tossing her head with a grin.

  After cleaning up we headed back to the group. My mom was preparing fire to cook and some of the villagers and their wives were helping. They prepared dinner and we started eating. While eating, I realized that most plants and animal’s were slightly different from the animals and plant on earth though they really tasted the same.

  After I ate I went to my tent and slept thinking about what to do when we arrive at Bell kingdom and sleep took me away.

  Two months passed in a haze and we finally arrived at Bell kingdom. It was the first major named place I went to after Riven wood. The villagers and my mom were going to stay the night and continue to Thaloria the next day.

  Here I would find Bett’s partner. I needed to figure out how to tell him about Bett, but that could wait until tomorrow. After two months of intense training, I was too exhausted to think clearly.

  The next morning, we went back to the gates of the Bell kingdom to say goodbye to my mother and the villager’s.

  “Stay safe” said my mother to the three of us staying here.

  “You too, and greet Ela for me” replied my father.

  The goodbye wasn’t heavy—after all, we expected to meet again in a few months, maybe even weeks, if we found Bett’s partner quickly.

  Now we were ready to look for Bett’s mysterious partner.