This is going to be troublesome. The monstrous man that is my father is now in front of me, and considers me an enemy. Dear father, I'm just a lost little gremlin living in the wilderness, surely you have no need to kill me?

I prop myself up with Scipio and breathe a shaky sigh. I use a mana sickle to purposely cut my upper arm and kickstart my adrenaline. I make sure to flow magic throughout my body too. My body's gonna protest, but I can mentally fight through the pain.

Well, I'm not gonna fight my father seriously though. In my current state, that's a death sentence. The Duke is a decorated warrior through and through. He's reclaimed lands from invasion, has slain the foulest of beasts, and is involved in all the high tales you can think of.

In this whimsical world, this man is the epitome of a powerful character that should not be crossed. And yet, merely by existing, I've now incurred the wrath of my own father. Hilarious.

He's called me a gremlin, so I must truly look the role. Gremlins are the forbidden children of humans and monsters. They tend to be small from stunted growth, are known for their violence, and the smarter ones attempt to blend in with human society by hiding their monster traits. This can range from wrapped tails, folded wings, or masks to hide the blemishes or scales on their face. Gremlins range in appearance and origin, but are still classified under the same umbrella all the same.

Gremlins who are proficient in magic are considered big threats and are to be eliminated per kingdom law. There's a lot of annoying red tape behind that decision, but regardless, it means the Duke is resolved to eliminate me.

The Duke hasn't properly seen my face, just my dirtied and bloodied form, and the bear skin cloak that sits upon me.

“Gremlin, I'll give you one last minute of time. Answer me. Are you the Alberblanche?”

…The heck is an Alberblanche?

“These past few months I've heard reports from settlements nearby. Frequent and sudden snowstorms from the Winderraine Mountains, all laced with mana, some traveling with the wind and causing problems. I doubt you to be one capable of incantation, so you must be the one responsible for irritating the wildlife here. The beast you've just slain has proved my theory.”

Ah.

“Not only that, you refuse to talk to me still, spare me not even a grunt, and are filthy in appearance, wearing the hide of an Elderfrost Bear. The village of Rrainefell has eyewitnesses that claim you, specifically with this cloak, raided them, and even attacked the people.”

Ahhh.

“Near half a year’s time ago, there was a magical anomaly in the Eldfern Forest. Are you aware of this? Investigations with my knights revealed mana signatures complex beyond comprehension, the unused bones of the bear you wear, and most importantly, traces of the magic I can sense in you. You may have blended in with children and placed the blame on a mere boy with your signature, but the fact remains it was you.”

Ahhhhhhhh. My father is too competent for my own good. What an annoyance.

“All these strange happenings recently have been thought to be the work of an unknown force. The Alberblanche, we named it. You're responsible gremlin, for all of this, are you not? In any other case, I would perhaps give you a chance to explain yourself, and merely imprison you so you can wither away, gremlin that you are. In the end, you saved those children from a life much more difficult, and the Elderfrost Bear you slayed has saved me the trouble of taking care of it myself.”

I hear the unsheathing of the Duke's weapon. Guess I'd better prepare myself.

“But even with all that, you are guilty for the crime of daring to purposely wield mana that bears a resemblance to mine, and my bloodline. I've given you enough time to regain yourself.”

The Duke braces himself to charge at me, and I channel mana towards my legs.

“Let's get this over with.”

I couldn't have said it any better, I sense the Duke coming at me with a fast speed, so I quickly start running. I've been doing a lot of that today huh? The griffin has now been reduced to a practice round, as I consider my father much more dangerous.

The benefit to fighting someone like my father is that he's very straightforward. His attacks and armor provide plenty of sound cues, and he abuses his magic power in every attack. This is thanks to his weapon, named Vulnus. You can consider Vulnus to be Scipio’s odd, estranged, and very bloodthirsty relative.

Vulnus was forged with ancient dwarven techniques, and the metal is sourced from three different dragons. It's a one of a kind weapon that responds to my father's magic. The sword is huge and heavy, hilariously so, and is shaped almost like a flattened lance in the sense that the blade is ridiculously triangular. If my father were to stand next to it as it is stabbed into flat ground, the end of the hilt would reach his head.

On the blade itself exists a gear that rotates in response to my father's magic. This gear is the link to an internal pulley system that shoots out a chain from the bottom of the hilt. This allows my father to throw out his sword and swing it around like a mace.

And even more than that, the sword can let out quick and pressurized bursts of steam as it heats up from the Duke's magic, allowing him to launch in any direction he pleases, as long as he can angle the sword correctly.

It's a giant feast of nuisances, and that's just with Vulnus. Poor Scipio stands no chance, even with my mana reinforcing him. I've resolved to use Scipio in a similar way to Vulnus’ steam, propelling magic blasts out of the stick to move myself around quicker as I run. This also makes my movement more erratic, which is a bonus.

Ignoring the pain in my ribs, I perform an encore of the rapid mana pulse run I did earlier, jumping over rocks and skipping past trees as I hear my father gaining speed behind me.

He shoots out Vulnus with a yell, and I quickly slide as an entire area of trees gets sliced. The tickling smell of burning wood fills my nose.

Ah, yes. That's another part of my father's toolkit. His very, very hot mana. It's easily combustible, so much so that he can burn someone's hand accidentally just by shaking it. It's because of this that he wears gloves at nearly all times. Part of the reason why the Duke is able to succeed so well in the North is because he's constantly warm and is unaffected by the cold climate. I inspired my mana heating technique off of his mana’s natural state, though a copy can never beat the original.

Pondering aside, I am now overwhelmed by his magical fire burning the area of trees around me. It's hard to tell what's what with everything being consumed by the flames.

“Are you afraid of fire, gremlin?”

Not really, no. I've burned to death many times. Drowning is much more uncomfortable. My father had yelled that from a distance, should I go for a magic blast and hope to hit him?

“Your silence tells me nothing. Should I allow you to touch it, then?”

He's suddenly close?! I gasp as I get punched in the stomach, and then try to steady myself as I get thrown into a tree from the sheer force of it. Dammit, he concealed himself again. Did he purposely leave a complex concentration of lingering mana to throw me off? I didn't know he could do that.

Alright, I guess I'll have to try a little harder. Let's go by instinct, this time. I stick Scipio into the head of the bear skin cloak so I don't lose him, and slide my arms into the sleeves.

My father’s sword releases steam, he's charging at me with a powered lunge! I swoop low and immediately channel magic into my right arm to scratch his torso, but even with the icy coating of the claws nothing happens. Not even the claws of an Elderfrost Bear can stand his fiery mana? No matter, I use my small size and lunge into his torso while wrapping my extended arms around his back. The armor might not be damaged all too much, but I'm stuck to it with my claws now.

Father, this is our first hug this life, isn't it wonderful?

The Duke suffers at close range, so I resist his increasing temperature and instead use my legs to kick us off the ground and down a nearby hill, away from the fires. We're tumbling around, hitting bumps and roots and the like, in some violent attempt to make a human snowball.

Eventually I let go and get on all fours, channeling more mana into all of my limbs, and I dash for an exit. I'm really stretching myself thin here, the griffin was already too much, I need to distract my father and leave.

I run on all fours, embracing the most feral urges I have, and I dash in circles around the area, with snow kicking up in all directions from my movement. During my frantic running I also slice down trees and throw rocks before eventually coming close and attacking the Duke’s legs. My father had been preoccupied in scanning the area through the snow and deflecting my projectiles, so I found an opening to strike.

I smell a new type of blood. Finally, a hit. It's not deep at all, but that's not what matters. I channeled some of my personal mana into the claws then, which means it entered his mana channels through his bloodstream. The sudden occlusion of two mana signatures should halt the empowered movement in the legs for my father for just a little bit. Time to get out of here.

As I run away, I hear my father yelling towards me.

“Hmph! Clever, aren't you gremlin?! But thinking you have a chance to escape does not mean that the opportunity exists!”

I hear rumbles in the ground as I run away, but I'm not sure why. Panicked, I increase my hearing and senses, what's causing that?

And then I hear the whistling of steam and the ground explodes beneath me. A steam explosion?! My father must have sent steam into the ground and then caused it to combust with magic.

I'm helpless as I spin high in the air without a direction. Where am I going?! How far up was I sent?! Knowing the Duke he's bound to send a follow up attack, but he's stuck where he is with my mana disrupting his legs.

So do I expect a magic slash, or will he just swing Vulnus at me? Either way it's a devastating blow, so I siphon even more of my magic to create some mana barriers… except I can only manage one with what I have left. Shit.

I feel Vulnus break through and then pierce my abdomen. Ahhh. That's the game right there. I don't think I have anything left. My body is lurched back down to the ground a short distance from my father as he retrieves Vulnus' chain.

My body is limp again. Ugh. How in the hell is the world going to excuse my non-death now? I won't die here, but whatever happens with the Duke next is sure to be entirely inconvenient. Should I mentally prepare myself to lose a few limbs?

“You’re alive, aren't you, gremlin?! As soon as your petty escape trick wears off, I'll come over there and get a good look at you, before I send you to your end. You've impressed me enough that I want to remember your face, even if it is the monstrous face of a gremlin.”

My father always has these weird quirks about battle honor and meaningless things like that. He must know about the opponent he's slain, and he needs to remember their face too. He'll get pissed off if he can't get at least something about an opponent he respects. It's like he's building his own mental library of his past enemies. I'd probably belong in the monster bestiary section though, the way I am now.

I have… maybe two minutes before the Duke of Annoyances can move properly again. Is there any final gambit I can utilize, just to spite him?

Hm. There's only one thing huh? Haywire magic. The thing that left me blind and damaged. Do I even dare use it again? I think I do. I'll feel better about myself if I get screwed over by my own actions rather than someone's lingering battle wrath.

They say a crack in a dam can cause a flood, right? So, if I let out a slither of the haywire mana that's trapped in my eyes into my mana channels, would I get access to a flood of magic power? It'd be dangerous and erratic, but I'll take a drug if it means not dealing with whatever is coming my way.

Let's try it. I close my eyes, and tune into the haywire mana set within them. The sounds of the world warp and echo in my focus, the bleeding abdomen I'm ailed with fades out of my senses. My father's questioning yells are incomprehensible. The sounds of the world and the feeling of my senses, all warp and coalesce into one, swirling around within my consciousness as a calm, undisturbed ocean. Like still wine in a goblet, or a lake on a clear, windless day.

And then a single drop of some new force disturbs it all. I hear the warped sounds become sharp, and my senses give me internal goosebumps that feel like they want to escape my skin.

I breathe in. The air is cold, then warm, then scalding hot.

I breathe out. Mana escapes with it.

“Gremlin, what did you just do…?”

My body is almost moving on its own as I stand up and brandish Scipio. I'm still bleeding out from my abdomen in the process.

“Haywire mana! You must have a death wish, fool! But no matter, a mere gremlin can't hope to face me, even with that power. I will grant you the death you desire.”

My father charges at me with renewed conviction. He was just playing around before, but now he's serious.

Letting my adrenaline guide me, I feel myself stack ten mana barriers before I shoot out a dozen magic blasts in seemingly random directions. I'm not even sure what's happening, but I have a dull instinctual sensation in my eyes that's spreading to the rest of my body. I'm a doll, and my mana is the strings. I somehow know where my father is and what he's going to do, and I respond to that in ways I don't expect.

I'm feeling myself jumping and shooting around with Scipio, and using my bear claw sleeves, and even kicking, which I never do because of my leg.

I feel some hits, both given and received, but I can't tell how damaged my father and I are.

“Gremlin, this is good! This is a strong fight! This is a battle that the name Alberblanche can grace! I will remember this well!”

My father is excited, but the fact that he's talking to me like that means that he knows he's going to win. In stupid frustration, I try to release another drop of haywire mana into my mana channels, but get nothing. I can't even control what my body is doing right now.

Well. I suppose I'll just wait until my father wins.

It must be at least two hours of nonstop fighting before a change in my mana occurs. The haywire mana wavers. Finally. My body has been damaged more and more because my autopilot fighting has made my movements predictable. With this small waver, I can influence the control while retaining the power.

My father, who now seems to have a head wound and a sprained ankle, rushes me from above, thrusting Vulnus into the ground, and slinging at me with a fast body charge by riding the receding chain.

Instead of a simple dodge, I jump up and try to scratch him with my bear claws.

“Wrong move, Alberblanche.”

He grabs me by the cloak and slams me into the mountainous ground, still on his receding path from Vulnus. I sense a sword swing coming, and I hold a reinforced Scipio upwards to try and protect myself.

Scipio is sliced cleanly in half.

My good friend… You've worked hard… Scipio…

The Duke stops the sword right before my head. I think I feel tears. It seems my body knows how to grieve for my lost weapon. My arms fall to the ground, each half of my friend held tightly in my hands. Scipio, rest well.

“We've caused chaos here for long enough. I can feel your haywire state weakening. You're done.”

Yeah… I guess I am done. My body's terrible state is catching up now. The haywire mana may have saved me, but it also pushed me into an autopilot fight. I wanted to escape, not battle more! Dammit. All I got from it was a ravaged form and an annoyed Duke.

“Now, show me your face, Alberblanche.”

The Duke dispels my clipping system on the bearskin cloak and flips it back. He probably sees a bloodied face, coughing up blood, crying hollow tears.

“You…”

He paused for a few seconds. What expression does he have right now? I wonder.

“You're crying.”

I am. Not because I fear death, though. But also, gremlins are physically unable to cry. Do you see now the mistake you've made, father?”

“Alberblanche, what are you?”

The Duke stays silent a minute longer.

“I'm going to check you, and see what you are.”

I feel my abdomen get haphazardly stitched together with magic patches, and my cloak is quickly fully removed.

“You…!”

He's figured it out now, hasn't he? The Duke starts patting me down with his gloved hands, which are coated in magic.

“Your mana, and your appearance, you're…”

He's silent a moment more. At this point he has placed me leaning up against a tree and started a fire.

“I'm… sorry. You probably don't even know what I mean. Just, wait here a little while.”

I can't really do much else at the moment, father. He returns an hour later with the body of the griffin. It's soon cooked into soup, and my father starts to lean in to try and feed it to me.

“Open your mouth, greml- Ah. Child. You're no gremlin. Right. You're nothing close to one.”

I keep my mouth closed. I'm not really in the mood to hear you talk. Or to eat griffin soup when I was really looking forward to roasted griffin. I even had planned to get mountain berries to go with it, and now those berries are in the soup too!

“Damn you, child, open your mouth before I shove this down your throat! Look at me! I'm like you. Purple eyes. Black hair. We're the same. More than you think. I'm no longer your enemy.”

Father, you're not supposed to threaten a child, especially after you nearly beat them to death.

“No wait, let's start over.”

I hear him put the bowl of griffin soup down. And then a deep breath.

“I'm going to reintroduce myself. From the beginning. I am Duke Leander Pyralis Sincavage. I lead the Northern Territories and watch over its people. I had attacked you under the assumption that you were a threat to my duchy, so please forgive me for it.”

I hear the creak of metal, but my magic sense is still damaged so I can't tell what he's doing. Is he kneeling? Or holding out his hand? I can't respond correctly even if I wanted to.

“I know you are reluctant to accept my help, but please, let me explain. You… going by your magic power, and how you look, I believe that you are my daughter. And there's… only one way that could happen, but that can be figured out at a later time. The point is, you are a human child, and you most certainly are *my* child. You deserve the protection and the strength of the duchy more than anyone. You already had wounds on your face and body, the fact that I hurt my own kin further scorns me.”

I close my eyes. So he has the intention to protect me now. If I fall asleep, can I avoid this nonsense and just wake up fine then?

A warm hand shakes me lightly.

“You mustn't fall asleep, my daughter, not yet. Eat first. It will help you recover. Look at the bowl, and the spoon, and then look at the appetizing meal within, does it not inspire your hunger?”

He pauses again after I respond in silence.

“Daughter, cooperate with me for a moment and follow this spoon with your eyes.”

Ah. He's realizing I'm blind, and is testing it out. I can't follow his movements because he's suppressed his mana too.

“You… Alright. One more test. I have the spoon in front of you. Reach out for it. Please.”

It's best to get this stuff over with. I reach out and grab air.

“I was holding it above you, daughter.”

How clever.

“By the spirits, my daughter is damaged and blind. What has she done to anger the world and incite its cruelty?”

I feel my father's hand on my face.

“You deserve much more than this. Is this also why you do not speak? Your tongue is fine. What have you been through, that you cannot utter even the smallest of sentences out of fear of the world?”

I feel my bear skin cloak being laid on my resting body. The Duke quickly wraps me in it.

“This will keep you warm. Open your mouth. I'm going to feed you your hunt. A warrior deserves the spoils of their work.”

I reluctantly comply. There's no use arguing anymore in my state. I'm literally stuck in a burrito wrap. He used my own clipping system to keep me within my own cloak. Annoying.

I hate to admit it, but the soup is good and rich with flavor. It fills me with warmth and leaves me feeling satisfied and cozy. I daresay it's better than what I had in mind for the griffin.

“Do you feel it now daughter? An empty bowl of griffin soup is a wonderful thing. I haven't cooked for anyone but myself in years. I'm glad you enjoyed my griffin soup. Our griffin soup.”

I hear the Duke cleaning up.

“I'll be honest, I wish you would show some sort of response. Your expression hasn't changed, but you clearly understand me. For you to survive on your own and kill the beasts that you do, I'm sure you're a bright child. Can't you show me a smile, just once, for your father?”

Not happening. Definitely not happening.

“...It's alright. Take your time. It doesn't have to be now, or tonight, or tomorrow. Just smile when you're happy, and cry when you're sad. You don't have to worry about a lot of things anymore, alright? I'm going to take you back home, where you're supposed to be, and you'll be able to experience wonderful things.”

Hearing the wildly different tone my father is now taking with me is almost entertaining. His deep, menacing voice when he called me a gremlin is drastically different from this softer, smoother, casual baritone that he's got now.

I feel myself yawn. Damn. The combined soup-blanket-battle combo is making me sleepy. I can't fall asleep now. I can't. I have to wait until he does and then escape in the opportunity I have then.

“Don't fight it, daughter. I don't know what you're thinking, but you need to sleep to recover. Let the dreams of a better life take you into slumber.”

Dammit. My body is getting heavy, I can't stay awake. I feel myself close my eyes and fall asleep within seconds.

The last thing I hear is my father's words.

“Dream well, daughter.”