The Amazing Sidekick

Chapter 14 – The Priest’s past

Nozomu looked at the Wind Tornado and asked, “Are you sure? Because remember what happened last time? This Tornado is too big to test it here.”

“Yeah, you are right. And if I make one this size?”

Taisetsuna quickly dispersed the Tornado and made another, a very tiny one. Before the surprised eyes of the Guild Master and Koyaga Azusake, Nozomu Shinchaku touched the tiny Wind Tornado that went to his hand and quickly became a tiny cloud with dark and white magic, competing for power among them. Nozomu compressed the cloud as much as he could, and he then threw it to the ground, to the empty space near the door. The blast almost took the door down, and the sound reverberated on the walls, making them cover their ears.

After a while, the Guild Master carefully took his hands from his ears and asked, “What the heck was that? Did you just absorb the Tornado and turned it into… I don’t even know what that was, it looked like a dark cloud with lightning! And it exploded!”

Nozomu answered with an awkward smile plastered on his face, “We don’t really know what that was. We only found out yesterday that I could do this. I know that the power of the explosion depends on the amount of Magic I absorb. Yesterday we tested with a huge Wind Tornado, and the blast was so powerful that there is now a clear field for several meters at the back of the Orphanage. Even grass and small rocks were vaporized, and if it weren’t for Taisetsuna’s Unicorn that made a wall of fire to protect us, we could have died. I am still learning how to control this, but I can more or less know when it is about to explode, giving me time to throw it.”

The Guild Master went silent for a couple of seconds, and he then walked to a bookshelf at the right of his desk. He searched the books and took one that he placed on the desk. He flipped the pages and pointed to a drawing.

Nozomu saw the mushroomed shape that appeared during the explosion near the Orphanage and asked, “That resembles a lot with the blast yesterday! What is this?”

“This is a book about myths of the World. This part here talks about a powerful Mage that could absorb any Magic that was shot against him, and he would throw it back to whoever was fighting him, be it another Mage, a Magical Being or a Monster, that would then explode like this. The book doesn’t say what happened to that Mage. For ages, there were rumours that he was seen in a City or that someone or something killed him, but no one knows for sure. Even if he went into hiding, he is for sure long dead, because this myth is several centuries old.”

Seeing the way that Nozomu was staring at the book and flipping its pages, the Guild Master said, “I can lend it to you, if you are curious, as long as you don’t damage it and return it to me when you are done.”

“Thanks, I really want to read this. There are a lot of myths and interesting stories here. How much of this is true?”

“I suppose no one is sure, that’s why they are called myths, right? Your ability to be immune to Magic and this explosion are two good reasons for you to join a Guild of Adventurers and to have a strong Party covering your back. No one will mess with you or try to kidnap you for a dubious purpose, like using you as a weapon to conquer a country, for instance.”

Nozomu gulped, “Me? Conquer a country? How?”, he asked, looking worried.

“Well, if Mages keep on giving you Magic and you are forced to throw those dark clouds against an army or a City, you can easily conquer a country, causing a bunch of deaths in your path. Do you understand the need to keep your abilities secret and to have a Guild protecting you? I am not saying that you should choose my Guild to join, there are plenty of others out there, but I have a huge debt to the Priest and protecting you would be a good way to pay that debt. He never told you that we fought in the war against the Empire, did he? I knew him when he went by the name of Takara Sunakawa. He was my Captain, and he saved my life more times than I can remember.”

Taisetsuna vigorously nodded, “He once told us that he used to be a soldier, and a very good one, but he never told us anything more about his past, as if he regretted it. He was your Captain? Was he strong?”

“Immensely strong. His fighting skills were off the chart, and he improved his Healing Magic to such a degree where he could fight for an entire day, get a bunch of wounds that would kill any normal person, heal himself, and keep on fighting. We used to call him ‘One-Man-Army’, just for you to see how powerful he was. Every time we had to go on a dangerous mission, he was the first to engage the enemy and the last one to retreat, giving us plenty of time to escape with our limbs still attached. When the war finally ended, he retired from the army and refused to touch a weapon ever again. For two years, he lived in the outskirts of this City, as an eremite. One day, he came to peace with his past, and after studying for two years, he became a Priest, abandoning forever his name and violent former life. I think that raising you two was his way of atoning for all the deaths he caused during the war, together with the services in the Church and the help in the Healing House.”

Taisetsuna went silent, with tears in her eyes. She never knew the kind Priest that she knew for all her life had such a dark past.

Nozomu placed his right hand over her shoulder and said, “I think that knowing this doesn’t change a thing. He is still the same kind Priest that raised us. He did a splendid job if I can say so myself, considering you became so amazing and I, well, I was a brat, but I think I wasn’t really mean.”

Taisetsuna raised her face, and spoke while smiling at him, “You were never mean, Nozo, you just liked to have fun and to make me laugh. You used to say that my laughter was what made your day better, and you did some crazy things just to hear me laugh.”

Nozomu smiled back at her back, and he then faced the Guild Master again, “I guess we need to look for ways to gain money so that we can apply for that Academy. Maybe in a few days we have an idea for a business or for something that could grant us a bunch of money.”

The Guild Master answered with a big smile, already thinking about his profit, “If you two make more Healing Potions, that for sure will grant you a steady income.”

Nozomu shrugged, “That’s a way, but that will depend on my mean Unicorn. He was the one to find those leaves, but I don’t know if I can convince him to bring me more.”

The Guild Master vigorously nodded, “Yes, that white Unicorn sure has a temper! When I went to the stable, the first thing he did as soon as I opened the door was to throw a huge Lightning Ball at me! I almost didn’t have time to duck! Then, came a Fire Ball that hit the spot where I was, and I had to roll on the floor for safety! The stable boy came to my rescue, and he told them to stop. It seems a lot of people went to the stable to take a look at the Unicorns, and they only stopped coming when the Unicorns made everyone flee from their attacks because they became fed up with all the interruptions while they were resting.”

“Oops, sorry about that. I am still learning how to make him behave. He is too proud, and he gets annoyed rather easily.”

The Guild Master waved his hand, disregarding the danger that he faced, “Even with his bad temper, he is indeed magnificent. You two were extremely lucky, not only for surviving their attack but for capturing them. Since they are already a couple, for sure it won’t take long for the red female to get pregnant, and when their offspring gets big enough, you can sell him or her, for a very good profit.”

Taisetsuna had her eyes wide open, “They are a couple? I knew ‘Furnace’ was a female, but I didn’t know they were a couple!”, she spoke with surprise in her voice.

“They sure are. While I was in the stable watching them, they were always close to each other, caressing each other’s neck. That explains the bad temper of the white Unicorn, he is always protecting his female. Not that she needs any kind of protection, with her Fire Magic!”

Taisetsuna held both hands of Nozomu with a big smile, “You know what that means, right?”, she asked excitedly.

“What? We are somewhat bound to them, and we will become a couple as well, sooner or later?”

Taisetsuna quickly let go of his hands and stuttered, “N-no! I-I didn’t mean that! If they have an offspring, and we sell it when he reaches three years, we can apply to the Academy! Or we can buy a farm and we don’t need to save money as Adventurers!”

“Oh, I see! That sounds like a plan! If they have another, and we sell it as well, we can buy another farm, one for each of us, and our childhood plan will come true, right? Wait a minute… It does sound like a wrong thing to do, selling out our friends’ kids, you know?”

“Yeah, they would for sure try to kill us. Forget what I said, I couldn’t live with myself if I did that. For now, we must focus on doing our job, save money, and become Adventurers, and even if it’s only the two of us, I think we will be alright with my Magic and your weird abilities.”

Nozomu nodded with a smile, “We also have two nasty Unicorns to join our Party, and they can use some scary Magics!”

Taisetsuna vigorously nodded and Nozomu saw that her tail was waving like crazy, indicating that she was overly excited. The Guild Master interrupted their talk with a gentle tap on his desk, “It’s nice to hear that you already have plans for your future, but in the meantime, I suppose you two have work to do, right? When you have finished, call me, and we can go to the backyard for a little training. Bring the Unicorns, because they are used to be in the outdoors and spending so much time inside a stable is not good for them. There is a door on the fence of the backyard that connects to the alley near the stable.”

Nozomu and Taisetsuna left the office with a smile, and Koyaga Azusake winked at the Guild Master as she was leaving, “We got two good ones, right? This is going to be so cool!”, she spoke with her eyes shining.

When she closed the door, the Guild Master mumbled, “Those two are really full of surprises. A Cat-kind fighter with her agility and speed, able to use three types of Magic, and a boy immune to Magic and that can gather Magic from other people and make explosions. Put a couple of powerful Unicorns in that mix, and an amazing Party is born. They can even make Healing Potions! I need to check my finances and the Quests underway to see if I have money to buy more Potions. I can then sell them for a nice profit. Way better than having to buy Healing Potions from other Cities and gain little money with that transaction.”

He then opened the last drawer of his desk and stared at the tip of an arrow that was inside, “That crazy Priest took this arrow to save my life and said that I owe him my life and one day he would come to collect the debt. He did a fine job of keeping those two in hiding until they got older and able to defend themselves. I suppose taking care of them will pay this debt. If I manage to have them join this Guild, even better.”

The Guild Master closed his drawer and spent a few minutes remembering his past before grabbing the box with the sphere and placing it inside the closet again.