For the next few weeks, Alex continued his training with magic while being supervised by Lucia. Luna also trained, but her training involved utilizing energy and learning to cook. Once they would go on their journey, they would need a cook, and Luna wanted to cover that department.

“I love to cook!” She could say simply with a cheerful smile.

She did not elaborate on the reason for her love for cooking, which was mainly to look after Alex. Her childhood crush on him has grown ever since she injured him, and he came banging on her door that he could not live without her when she shut herself in from feeling guilty of hurting him.

As for Alex, he showered her with the love that he imagined a twelve-year-old would shower his childhood friend, whom he started considering his childhood love. However, he was more interested in improving his magic skills as quickly as possible.

“You’ve been very keen on trying out new magic, Alex,” commented his teacher one day.

“Naturally, miss! We’ll be adventuring, and I need to learn various different magic that might come in handy without my realisation,” he replied to her with a cheerful smile.

She nodded at his words and said, “Good, although, we wouldn’t need to travel if we could just figure out a shortcut.”

Lucia was still not happy with the thought of relying on her father to provide them with the finances for the travelling to the Forest of Lone and arrange for an escort to take them through the forest. The reason they were heading there was so that Alex, as well as Lucia, would be able to meet and form contracts with the Spirits of Life.

“I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing to rely on a parent’s help,” said Samuel with a smile, who was nearby and training Luna to utilize her energy control to the fullest.

[ ====== ]

A few weeks ago, Samuel learnt about their decision to travel to the Forest of Lone and found out that it could take more than a month’s time for them to return. At first, he looked worried at the thought that his only son would be away from home for so long, especially since he was still just a kid.

“Aren't you much too young to be travelling to places, Al?” He had asked his son curiously.

“Really, dad? You’re asking me that when you’re training us at this age to use energy and fight?” His son replied, a question to a question.

His dad looked stumped before he chuckled and asked, “I’m not against you going. Well, I kind of am,” he then admitted wryly, “but that’s only because I heard that the Forest of Lone would be a dangerous place to visit.”

“Maybe, dad, but I think it’s so that the Spirits of Life are left undisturbed,” replied his son in a firm voice. “As of now, I am weak. Pathetically weak! If Luna was able to beat me, then I wouldn’t stand a chance against anyone!”

It was at that time that Lucia supplied in a quiet voice, “Well, you could shorten the chant to just using the words instead.”

She chose to support Samuel because of her reasons for not wanting to rely on her father. Alex knew this, and he got very annoyed at her, so annoyed that he gave her a sharp look and snapped in a firm voice.

“You’re not helping me, miss!”

Seeing his expression, she went quiet and looked away with a sheepish smile on her face.

He turned back to his father and asked, “Dad, you want to see me succeed, don’t you?”

“I do, Al,” replied Samuel, looking earnestly at him. “I do want to see you succeed, but I just feel it’s a dangerous thing you’re doing by going there. It’s not about the finances; it’s about your safety.”

To that, his son smiled sadly and said, “Dad, I can’t always be protected by you. I have to grow on my own.” Then he looked at his teacher and asked with a raised eyebrow, “I suppose my teacher would understand what I’m saying.”

Lucia coughed and stated, “I walked out because my father wouldn’t support me in my endeavours. Your case is very different, Alex, and you can’t really compare yourself with me.”

He laughed and said, “I’m not trying to compare myself with you, miss. I’m just saying that our goals matter more than the risks involved. I mean, did you ever think that you might find yourself in a dangerous situation where your father wouldn’t be able to help you?”

“If I did, I was confident in my ability to protect myself,” she replied and smiled smugly.

“And that’s called arrogance,” replied Alex, and he spread his arms out in a gesture of exasperation.

“I am not arrogant!” She replied heatedly. “I’m being confident!”

“Maybe, but the way you said it made you appear arrogant to me, miss.”

“Alex…! You little…!”

Lucia stared down at the kid with a look that made her appear as though she wanted to hit him. To that, he simply laughed and turned back to his father before smiling softly up at him.

“Dad, please believe in me, okay? I will return, and you’ll be impressed by how strong I’ve become. Trust me on this one.”

His father looked worriedly at his son and said, “It’s not about you being strong or brave, Al; it’s about you being safe. That’s what matters to me.” Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, I’m not the type to say no when you’re so confident about it,” and he placed a gentle hand on his son’s shoulder while smiling serenely at him.

Alex smiled happily and hugged his father while Lucia looked disgruntled. With this, everyone in that house had accepted the plan of them travelling to the Forest of Lone. She was happy, too, but her problem was that she had to rely on her father’s financing their trip.

[ ====== ]

“Maybe not, Sam, but I just don’t like it after I walked out of his house and everything,” she said to him with an uncomfortable expression on her face.

“You shouldn’t feel that way when you’re not deceiving him, Lucia,” he replied with a smile. “I mean, the fact that he’s welcoming to you, and is willingly providing the finances is a great gesture on his part and goes to show how much he cares for you.”

“Maybe,” she said with her arms folded. “Maybe that is true, but he still keeps secrets from me! I don’t like it!”

“Well,” he began, smiling sadly, “sometimes, it’s best to keep bad things as secrets,” and he turned to look towards Luna, who was training on her own.

The girl was under the impression that her parents had gone away to a long journey and have yet to return. She did not know that her mother had died after giving birth to her, or that her father had lost his mind due to his wife’s death. That was the reason Samuel and Sarah kept the secret of her tragic past and lied that they had gone on a journey.

Lucia, who had learnt about Luna’s past from Sarah, suddenly looked sad and asked, “When are you going to tell her?”

“I don’t know,” he replied with a shake of his head. Then he smiled sadly at the magic teacher and said, “I just don’t want to see that happy child become sad. That’s all.”

There was a moment of silence between them while Alex trained beside them. Then he paused in his training and turned to look serenely at his dad.

“Dad, I know you are doing this with good intentions, but I’m starting to feel as though we’re deceiving her with the hope that she could meet her parents and live with them when we know it wouldn’t happen.”

Lucia looked at him in surprise while Samuel reacted in surprise and asked, “Al?”

“I realised this after meeting with Miss Lucia’s father, and seeing how he was keeping secrets from her that could hurt her, I understood that we’re making a mistake. It’s bad, dad. We’re no better than than her father in this case.”

His father looked at him in alarm while Lucia nodded in agreement.

“I must agree with your son, sir,” she said in supportive of her student, and they turned to her. “We are hiding the truth from her because we feel it’ll hurt her, but sooner or later, she will come to know the truth on her own. When that happens, this relationship will break and it’ll never be the same. That’s my belief.”

Samuel appeared to be contemplating on what he should do based on her words alone. The reasons the magic teacher presented to him were valid and made sense. However, he feared that the young girl might not be able to cope with the stress after finding out about the truth of her parents. At the same time, he also wanted to tell the truth to her but hesitated due to the fear of what would happen next.

Alex looked at the indecision his father was facing and added, “Dad, it’s okay to tell the truth. She’s not a stranger to us; she’s part of our family… and someone I really care about. That’s why, it’s better to be truthful than be caught in a web of lies. Please!”

He was looking imploringly up at his father, and Lucia was looking anxiously at him. Samuel looked at the two of them and then back at the girl, who was trying her best to become a competent energy user with a smile on her face.

A few seconds of complete silence went by in a flash before he sighed and said, “Alright.” As the teacher and student smiled, Samuel looked at them and said, “I think it’s about time she knows the truth.”

“That’s a wonderful decision, sir,” said Lucia with a smile.

“It is, dad,” said Alex with a similar smile. “Better to be this way than be found out as liers or deceivers.”

Samuel looked at their smiling faces and displayed a small smile of his own. Then he turned towards Luna, who was still training, and hesitated. As he was hesitating over his decision, he felt a gentle push from behind and turned to see his son smiling encouragingly at him while pushing him from behind.

“Go on,” he mouthed silently to him, and his father chuckled.

He turned and walked towards Luna and told her, “Luna, I have to speak to you about something.”

“Yes, father?” She asked, stopping her training and straightening up to meet him.

For a moment he hesitated, and the student and teacher held their breath as they hoped for him to carry on through. Finally, he resolved himself to reveal the truth to the girl he had raised and looked after for more than twelve years.

“I think it’s about time we talked about your parents.”