He felt like crap!

His two-week worth of allowance, lost! Just because of that stupid cricket.

He was having a good streak, about to get those 80 pieces. Out of the blue, that rich ass joined the bet with his “ultra-rare super fighter”. That blue head is a thoroughbred. It costed a fortune to get one. Of course, he would lose. If he knew that ass would bring something like that, he would have turned tail right away.

Fuck that bastard! He appeared like a stupid rich ass to trick him.

Fuck him!

If it was any rich kid, he would turn the bastard into a sobbing mess. Not that ass. Try anything funny, his family would make you regret it for the rest of your life. Also, he always went together with Niko.

How much did he pay Niko to get him to follow him every day?

Fuck him and his rich ass!

What will I do now?

Hmm? Who’s there?

Oh! It’s the cursed kid, Niko’s brothers. I heard Niko hates him. What is he doing at the hotel?

 

He saw the owner talking to those kids. The twins handed the owner a stout cloth bag. In return, they received a few coins. They were too far away to be seen clearly, but he assumed those were nickels. One nickel is worth 30 pieces, and it is the lowest value coin. It just doesn’t make sense for an adult to give a kid cashes (worth 20 nickels) or (gold) coins (worth 10 cashes).

He sparked a devious idea.

They don’t know magic. They will do.

“Hey! Over here.”

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“Eh? You don’t know me? I hang out with Niko.”

“Our Brother?”

“Yeah. You see. He told me to pick you up.”

“Did brother want to see us?”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

“Ok.”

“Then follow me.”

Lucky me. These ones are stupid.

“He is waiting inside the woods outside.”

---

 

“Where is he?” The head on their right questioned.

“Oh. Maybe he wasn’t here today.”

“What do you mean?”

“You are stupider than I thought. Niko isn’t waiting for you.”

“Then why are you calling us here?”

“Nothing much. I am having a bit of bad luck and blew my allowances for the week.”

“Ok. I get it.”

“Oh? You do?”

“But we have no money. So. Bye.”

“A hahaha.” The big boy laughed hysterically. “Don’t think I am an idiot like you. I saw the owner of that hotel gave you money.”

“True, but these are not our money. They belong to the bakery, to our father. Like we said, we have no money.”

“I see. I see. You must be afraid that if you give me the money, your father will scold you.” His chubby fingers patted their shoulder. “Tell you what. Just say to him that you have a hole in your pocket. You will get some light punishment, but nothing serious.”

“I think you can’t read the situation.” “We have no intention of giving you these coins.” They grabbed his hand and dropped it off their shoulder. “Now if you ex-”

“Look like you guys don’t know what’s good for you. Wind Bomb!” He channelled the spell on his palm. “Hand the coins over before I rough you up.”

“So you truly want to rob us then.” The twins calmly took off their wrist bands.

These bulky things on their wrists that he thought were weird-fashion bands now looked more like sandbags. He noticed that they got one on each of their ankles too. Those on their legs were visibly larger than those on their wrists.

Their composure made him restless. What are these freaks doing? He thought. They shouldn’t be able to use magic. They may be taller than those their ages, but I am 5 years older than them. Why aren’t they afraid?

“What are you doing?” His uneasiness won over.

The two sandbags were wrapped around their right hand like brass knuckles.

“You are about to rob us, so we just defend ourselves.”

The seriousness in their eyes made him unnerved. Still, “are you stupid? I can use magic. See. I can use magic here.”

The two-headed boys remained silent. Their eyes, the watchful gaze of wild beast.

Deep within his consciousness, he felt that they are not ones to mess with. Despite that, his shitty brain thought they were just cocky.

“Then eat shit, you little pricks!”

The spell was fired off with full force. The impact made the twins staggered. They had to retreat a couple of steps to keep their balance. Other than that, there was nothing else.

The older boys sweated profusely.

“How?!”

Not letting their opponent recover, the twins sprinted forward.

“Wah! Stay back! Wind Bomb. Wind Bomb.” In the panic, the spell failed to materialise. That costed him a lot of mana. “Wind Bomb!”

At last, one was successfully formed. Still, its speed was laughable in comparison to the first one. While he intended to hit the head on the right (that face is scary than the other), the spell made in his rush connected to their left shoulder instead.

I hit them again. Why do they keep coming?

The twins were right in front of him. Their fist aimed low.

THUD!

The boy dropped to his knees. Forehead touched the ground. His palms covered the place a hand below his navel. His mouth gaped opened like a dying fish. Such brutal hit left him no strength to scream his scorn and agony. Liquid soiled his pants, legs, then the grass beneath.

When time finally alleviated the explosion of pain, he could find no one around. The twins have long taken their departure.

---

 

Their method may be cruel, but they had no time to waste on that guy. It should be fine. They used the sandbags to cushion most of the damage. Their bare knuckles would likely make it bloody.

Not that they didn’t suspect it in the first place. They just tagged along to see what he got to offer. Since they were early with their delivery, it was a rare chance to be at the receiving end of a magic attack. They are not masochists. Just that, getting used to being hit is a must for frontliner.

Tanking direct assaults like that was still too much for them. This soreness was evidence. Worse, those Wind Bombs were a far-cry from what their brother did two years ago. That guy's spells were not even as good as the one that broke their knee, and that one was severely toned down. The serious one Niko threw demolished the base of a branch.

No matter, their plan remained the same. They would continue to build up mass. Without magic assistance, weight and strength decided one’s power. They got Randal, but depending on another person for spell casting isn’t reliable enough. There would be time they are separated, or Randal being incapacitated. They need to be able to mitigate the situation by their own.

Their objective till adulthood is piling up thick layers of muscles onto this body. At the moment, the boys were very pleased. Beneath the deception of these clothes are muscles rare for someone this young. Not bulky but ripped, nevertheless. In term of height, they outgrew Randal by at least a head. They had already been as tall as a typical 10 years old.

About their magic, it’s the same old news. Not counting the summoning spell, they were still magicless. However, they could summon Randal three times per day now. The equipment Clarinet borrowed from her friends indicated a large reservoir of mana within them. They have roughly 4 times that of an average young adult. If so, each set of summoning and de-summoning consumes more mana than the average person can have. How useful are those findings only time can tell.

“Father. We are back.” Gowen cheerfully announced. “Here is the payment from Mr Richmoore.”

“Thank you, sons.” Taka was in the middle of closing the bakery. A quick look at the coins made him puzzled. “It is 2 nickels and 10 pieces. Why are there 3 nickels here?”

“Mr Richmoore told us to take the change.”

“Then you take a nickel.”

“Eh? For us?”

“You did a job. This is your payment. You don’t want it?”

“I…” “We don’t know what to use it for.”

It’s an answer Taka expected from them. These kids of him have never desired any material thing for themselves. They were content with whatever they were given. According to the traditional view of where he came from, his sons were perfect children. Never demand more, never demand less. Absolutely obedient to their parents.

For him, children like that don’t exist. Kids will want stuffs that caught their eyes. To want something is natural and important to children development. To not want anything means nothing in the world got their attention. Having no desire would cause trouble to their development later on the line.

He didn’t think they have no desire. If that’s the case, then it means his sons have perfect control of their desire. Whatever way he thinks, they were very special children. He decided to leave it.

“Then take it and save it for later. It’s the right thing to take reward for your work whether you need it or not. You just remember not to be wasteful.”

“Thank you, father.” The two replied almost simultaneously.

Their happiness was obvious to his eyes. He has expected them to not be very enthusiastic. Afterall, they were forced to take something they don’t need. Maybe his sons were not really as unique as he made them out to be.

Father gave it to us!

It’s something father gave to us!

We will never spend it!!!

Taka had no way of knowing those thoughts within his children’s mind.

---

 

They met Randal on the way home. His extra practice has just ended. The empty house was quickly lightened. The four got together to prepare dinner. Taka did the primary work. Ren and Gowen assisted him with the ingredients. Randal set up tableware.

With the meal readied, everyone got onto their seat. In the mid of dinner, Niko showed up. He has already asked to be late yesterday.

The conversation flowed mostly around the twins, Randal, and Taka. Niko’s interaction with his family was minimal. It has been this way for a year. The crack between Niko and the twins hasn’t got any better. Ren and Gowen have given up on Niko. Niko spent no effort in getting it with his brothers. Randal belonged to Ren and Gowen. Naturally, he saw no reason to do unnecessary thing. Taka tried his best to push everyone. He tried hard to get them together. So far, his attempts have failed.

One by one, they finished their portion and left the used wares near the sink. Niko was in charge of cleaning today.

Getting on his bed, Taka’s eyes glued to the dark ceiling.

Niko was 11 this year. Twelve more days, he would leave the house. The Highground Academy is located in the capital. His eldest son would only return during break. He wouldn’t see him much for the next 9 years. It is but a moment to the lifetime of a fox spirit or an elf, yet it is no difference from centuries for a parent. Niko has already had lukewarm relationship with his siblings and him, his father. Taka could only sigh about the future.

Ren, Gowen, and Randal would travel with Clarinet tomorrow. She got a friend two cities away. This trip would be beneficial to find out about their peculiar situation. It could take 2 months for them to return.

For the past 29 years, he has never been alone in this house. Just thinking of that made him feel lonely already.

---

 

“Take good care of yourself.”

“Yes, father.” “Yes, father.”

“You too.”

“Yes, Mr Taka.”

“Please look after them.”

“No worry. I will.”

“Mr Batch. Thank you.”

“Please don’t, Mr Taka. You saved my life. Comparing to that, this is but a small price. The O’lotto company guarantee their safe journey.”

The autowagons begun moving its wheels. Both those inside and those outside had their hands raised, waving at the away. The wagon train, heavy in goods and passengers, steadily left the small city of Balvich.

Two years has passed. The fear of the spirit wolves had yet to fade. Travellers were advised to tread the path with great care. Merchants tripled their escorts.

At first, there was great concern about an upcoming financial crisis. Less visitors mean less business. More security means higher travel cost for the companies. Commodity price would likely skyrocket. The mercenaries, those that shouldn’t be affected by this event, were having grim face. Without travellers, their usual escort trip would yield less money. Many merchants would likely turn away from Balvich due to the risk, and with it, commission for mercenaries. Surely, they are not tied down to Balvich. However, the frequency of travel or the need for security on other roads wouldn’t change. Overall, they would get less business.

Fortunately, that was not how it unfolded. The governor council has announced a massive investigation. Large groups of specialists headed down to Balvich and settlements nearby. Efforts in securing the area also saw an outpost of two hundred strong being installed on the outskirt of the city. Adventurers were also employed by the mayor to survey the surroundings. Rather than a regression, the last two years have been the largest development of the century for the city.

For that reason, Batch also came to Balvich on autowagons instead of the slow horse-drawn ones.

“Mr Batch. How does this wagon move?” Gowen asked.

“You are one curious boy, aren’t you? It is very simple. You know the Lift spell, don’t you?”

“Yes, Mr Batch.”

“This wagon moves by having very fine-tuned Lift spells to turn its wheels, allowing it auto-mobility.”

“But in order to use magic, you need mana. Where do you get the mana for that?”

“This wagon and those behind have two sources of mana. The first is from you guys.”

“Us?”

“Yes! You, me, and everyone on this wagon. It was a marvellous invention that takes mana from people just by having them within these seats. In short, you guys pay a small fee for riding on the wagon. If you concentrate, you can get the fainted sensation of your mana being consumed just like when you use magic.”

At this statement, Ren and Gowen exchanged their puzzled look.

“But we don’t feel anything.”

“Eh?”

“We don’t have that feeling at all.” Ren added to his brother’s reply.

“You don’t?” Batch froze in shock.

Clarinet and Randal shared the same expression as Batch.

The twins shook their head to concrete their statement.

While Clarinet busied herself with speculations, Batch swallowed his saliva.

“I heard that the rate at which the wagon can leech the mana is different from person to person. Sometimes, there are people that can control how much they can give to the wagon too. Anyway, it doesn’t matter. That is not the true source of mana. The true source is this.”

Batch took out from his pocket a crystal in very deep blue colour.

“This is a mana stone or mana crystal. It got many names. The miners call it mana ore. The beast hunters call it mana core. You can also call it mana gem too. Just look at its beauty. I think people also call it…”

“Mana condensation. The scholars call it that way.” Clarinet interjected. “When the researchers tried to make it, it grew like a crystal, and got the name mana crystal. There are variants of it that is transparent or milky white. People call it mana stone for that. When killing demon beasts, the hunters found these in the beasts’ body. It has pearl shape and was called mana core. When digging in certain caves that sheltered demon beasts, they found them within the earth and thought they were a kind of ore. They are varied in shape and colour. Hence, the many different names.”

“You are so knowledgeable about it, Ms Clarinet.”

“I… used to have a history with it.” The twins noticed a shade of disgust in the corner of her eyes. It felt like she was seeing an accursed object. “I know that their colour reflects the density of mana within. The most common and least dense is transparent. Then white, milky white, aquamarine, and then this. I heard they has more colours, but I had no longer updated myself about it.”

“Indeed. Ms Clarinet. After this is teal, green, yellow. I heard they found an amber, but I haven’t seen anything beyond lime green.”

“They seem to be very popular.”

“Yes. Yes, they are. The entire economy is running haywire because of them. Just think about all the new invention that can be created from them.” Batch was excited, the opposite of Clarinet.

“Teacher. You talked about demon beast. What are they?”

“You still remember the new dragons that heralded the Millennium War? They are one of the demon beasts. They are vile creatures of unknown origin that brought ruin and death to the world. Beast hunter is a career dedicates to hunting down those creatures. Unlike spirit animals that brought prosperity and development, demon beasts are pests that need to be eliminated.”

“Are you perhaps a religious person, Ms Clarinet?”

“No. I am just a scholar, and from my perspective they are alien creatures that don’t belong here.”

“But you can’t deny that they brought us this marvellous thing.” Batch presented the ultramarine mana crystal in his hand. “I am agree that they are dangerous, but so are the spirit beasts. Wouldn’t controlling and cultivating them be better for both us and them?”

Clarinet looked away visibly angry as she exhausted her reasons.

Batch caught on with it and quickly put the mana stone back in the pocket. He tried to clear up the heavy atmosphere with the scenery. Looking at the window, he found a good attraction.

“Look over there.” Batch pointed at a mule walking parallel with the wagon. “You may not know but that’s a friend of mine. She is Muffa. She is over 500 years old.”

“Five hundred? Is she a spirit mule?”

“Yes, she is. Normally, she only joins other routes. With the whole spirit wolves, I got her accompany when the caravan to Balvich was short on people. Her presence is a good help.”

“How did you meet her?”

“Well, her mother once carried the goods for my company when we were much smaller. By the time Muffa was born, we have already got a good horse wagon. I kept her in my house mostly as pet.”

In short, Muffa is a sheltered animal. She is old that is a given, but how powerful she is against the spirit animals of the wild, of the harsh nature? Taka taught them that sheltered spirit animals are mostly ignorant about hiding their spirit.

They heightened their sense, yet regardless of their effort Muffa's spirit was veiled. Perhaps Muffa was just too old. With age, came wisdom. Thus, she knew to hide her lifeforce from observers. It seemed they could somewhat be relaxed with Muffa around.