The Mentor and The Ten Heroes

Chapter 2

"So you see, sir, in fact, you have been chosen by the Lord to be a Mentor to the ten fireflies."

"M-Become a Mentor!? For ten fireflies!? What do you mean!?" Paul was very surprised to hear that.

"Let me be clear again, sir, so in essence, you have been selected to be a guide or adviser to those ten fireflies, and also, they are not just little animals that fly around, sir. They are like humans, have reason and feeling, even able to speak too."

Paul and his mother were completely dumbfounded by Roswel's explanation. They thought, what the pale man said was so absurd. Even though times have advanced, why do things like that still exist? It felt like they were just hearing fantasy stories, which of course, couldn't possibly exist in the real world.

"Paul!" The mother called out her son's name, with an uneasy facial expression. When Paul turned to his mother, the woman immediately voiced back, "Don't listen to that person! He looks like one of the patients from the mental hospital! We have to call the doctor! Come on! Paul! But before that! Leave him here alone, we have to go! Seek help from neighbors!"

When the mother pulled Paul's right arm by force, to get away from Roswel, the boy immediately took his hand away from his mother roughly. "No Mom! I feel, what he said is quite reasonable, because before I opened the bedroom door, I heard some voices like people chatting in my room, maybe it was them, the fireflies who were--"

"PAUL!" Not wanting her son to believe the pale man's bullshit, the mother snapped at Paul in a very high tone. "STOP SAYING INSANE THINGS! YOU BETTER GET AWAY FROM THIS WEIRD MAN! WE HAVE TO ASK THE NEIGHBORS FOR HELP! TO GET THIS MAN OUT!"

Trying to ignore his mother's tantrum beside him, Paul immediately looked at Roswel with a troubled expression on his face. "Roswel! Please! Can you please silence my mother for a while!?"

Smiling faintly, Roswel nodded his head, "Yes, Master." Then, he stamped his foot once on the floor, and to his surprise, Paul's mother's entire body was frozen by very cold ice cubes, which appeared to creep from the soles of the feet to the top of the head.

Making the figure of a woman look like a statue with an annoyed face, mouth agape, eyes bulging, two hands that were about to grip Paul's back, and two legs that stood firm. Witnessing this, Paul was amazed. He couldn't help but think that the mere sight of Roswel stomping his foot could make someone freeze.

Absolutely amazing.

"Wow! That’s amazing! I didn't think you could do this, Roswel!" Paul's eyes were still wide, stunned to see his mother frozen like that. He also occasionally stuck his fingers into the ice that covered his mother's body, and it was very cold, like real ice.

"Thank you for the compliment, sir, I'm very happy, even though it's just low-level magic from a lowly servant, but seeing you amazed, I'm also happy, even though there's absolutely nothing special about it," said Roswel with his head down saluted Paul, then he said something back, "Actually, I wanted to freeze your mother from the start, because I thought, her presence was quite disturbing, but unfortunately, I don't have the authority to do that. Thankfully, you finally ordered me to do it. I am very relieved, sir."

“B-But, my mother can come back as usual, right? Roswel!?” Asked Paul with a slightly worried feeling, because after all, he was still worried about the condition of his biological mother, because he did not want to make his biological mother suffer.

Hearing that question, Roswel nodded his head again, "You don't need to worry about that."

"All right. Then, let's continue discussing the matter earlier!" Now, Paul is starting to look more energetic than before, maybe because finally he can freely say what he wants without being disturbed by his mother. "You said earlier that I had been chosen to be a mentor or guide for the fireflies, right? And you also said that they could talk, have reason and feelings like humans, right? You see, actually, what are the benefits for me being a Mentor?"

"Ah, sorry sir, I seem to have forgotten to explain something quite important, alright, this will also answer your question," Roswel took a deep breath, then began to explain, "To become a mentor, you are required to mentor ten fireflies. The fireflies can find their respective human bodies, so, strictly speaking, they're not animals, they're spirits created by the Lord, and they don't have a vessel yet, so you have to find ten suitable humans to serve as their resting place.”

“And you ask, what are the benefits of being a mentor, huh? The benefits are quite a lot, sir. Besides you will be rewarded by the Lord if you are able to carry out your duties well, you will also get other privileges, which can change your life. But, even so, you also have to accept all the risks, sir. Because the task you are doing is quite heavy, considering that there are so many spirit slayers roaming this city."

"Spirit slayers!?" Paul was surprised to hear that.

"Yes, they are also the chosen ones commissioned from their Lord, to slay the spirits created by our Lord, that's why, you have to be careful of their presence, because there are so many of them, and most of them come from ordinary people, like you."

"It's terrible, isn't it. I have to be on standby to protect these fireflies from the spirit slayers. But may I ask one more question?" Looks like Paul still has something he doesn't understand.

"Please, sir."

"I was assigned to find a human body, right? To be used as a place for the fireflies to live, right? Well, what I want to ask, is the human body you mean, is it dead or alive?"

"A fresh human body, sir."

"F-Fresh!? You mean a human body that's still alive!? But, how do you do that!? Isn't that inside a living body, there's still a spirit inside, right!? Do I have to take out the human's spirit first, before putting in the firefly's spirit into their body? But after all, I'm becoming like a spirit slayer too, right!?

"No, Master. You don't need to extract the true spirit from the body of the human you choose. What you have to do, make one of the firefly spirits enter the person's body. Let the original spirit and the artificial spirit merge in the body. When they are united, a new power and personality will emerge from that person. And from there, you must guide them to become a hero."

"Sounds pretty heavy." Paul smiled wryly at Roswel's explanation, he felt the task was too much for a seventeen year old boy to carry.

"Ah, that's a shame, it seems I was summoned by the Lord to return, then, before I leave, I'd like to leave a message, you don't need to rush your task, because for now, there's no time limit. And you can enter the firefly into a jar, so they don't attack your mother or anyone else anymore, and also, I'm going to make your mother forget everything that happened here, so don't worry. Oh, if you want to ask me anything more, you can call my name three times, sir."

Then, Roswel's form surprisingly instantly exploded and disappeared; the sound of the explosion was loud enough, like the popping of a plastic balloon, and left a puff of black smoke around the place where he had stepped on.

The frozen ice that previously confined her mother's body slowly began to melt, making the floor muddy, until finally, the woman was free as before.

Paul flashed a dry smile at his mother who had returned. "Hello, Mom."

"Eh!? Why is the floor so muddy here, Paul!? And what is that? You don't usually smile at your mother!? What the hell is wrong with you!?"

Because he was too lazy to explain everything from the beginning, Paul ran, ignoring his mother who was still chattering. He carrying the ten fireflies, to go into his room. And don't forget, he locked the door of his room from the inside. So that his mother does not just come into his room.

"You brat! Instead of answering, you run away! What do you think your mother is!?"

Paul could still hear the faint sounds of his mother grumbling outside the room, but slowly, her voice drifted away and disappeared, replaced by silence.

Paul also sat on a wooden chair, looking closely at the fireflies that were flying on the ceiling of his room.

He also took a deep breath. "Firstly, I got involved in a trivial matter. Second, I got kicked out of school. Third, I got scolded by my mother. Fourth, I miraculously, was chosen by the Lord—who I don't even know who the Lord is—to be a mentor,” Then, Paul laughed to himself remembering that. "What dream did I have last night, to experience strange events like this."

Suddenly a knock sounded from the front door of his house, making Paul who was daydreaming, immediately startled to hear it.

"Excuse me! Is there anyone? Umm, I'm Paul's classmate, Olivia, came here with Paul's sling bag that he left behind in class!"

"Shit! Why did that girl come to my house!?" Paul didn't like it when he found out that a girl named Olivia came to his house.