…”The Cries of The Days To Come”; usually we’re ignorant to the pleas of spirits, but while under the effects of the “Soul Strain”, we can hear those cries. That’s what this is?…So, the spirits are trying to show me something? Is it a warning? He questioned.

While pondering this, all that flooded his mind with that thought was the bleached world and the faceless man he kept dreaming about.

But what he was perplexed about most was one thought–one that clung to his mind that made him fully question the authenticity of this world’s artificial nature:

…My “soul” is being exposed? Soul? Is something like that possible inside of a “digital world”–I just don’t get it. Is this world truly artificial? I know what I saw, I know what I’m seeing–it can’t be fake, he thought.

“–“

He didn’t know what to think of it, but at least he’d found some sort of answer.

After a few days, it seemed that what Torvald had written was true–the effects of the Soul Strain subsided due to him only entering the Astral Realm a single time.

There was a new motivation in his mind, a new drive to become an adventurer, a new aspiration for exploring the world:

He looked outside of his bedroom window towards the horizon with this goal in mind:

I’ll explore every corner of this world and find out for myself…if Arcadius is truly an artificial world or…if this is all truly reality, he resolved._.

–

“Water Prison!”

With a wave of his wand, he coalesced the water from the lake into a massive square prison of smoothed out, reinforced aqua.

As he waved his wand again, he dispersed the water prison that had ensnared a fish–the same one that Celly had trapped previously.

“Phew…” He exhaled, “How was that?”

“Perfect. You’ve already mastered it. I’m not surprised–you’re a hard worker, Emilio,” Celly smiled to him, “I take it you’re feeling better now?”

He nodded with renewed vigor, “Yup!”

“I’m glad.”

Again, the ever-gentle smile of the silver-haired half-elf was enough to make the young boy’s heart skip a beat.

She’s an angel! He thought.

Still, the recurring dream was still at the back of his mind, lingering there as he still didn’t know what to make of it.

With the coming afternoon, Treyna brought out sandwiches for both him and his magic instructor–which he happily accepted.

What began as a lunch shared between him and the wizard-hat-wearing tutor of his grew; Julius returned from a quest he had been on the past two nights, and immediately plopped himself down between the two and grabbed a sandwich for himself.

“Treyna’s cooking? Don’t mind if I do!” Julius smiled.

Oh, yeah, you’re cordially invited to join our lunch, dear father–no, what the hell?! This was going to be a date! He thought.

While he was slightly bitter about his one-on-one meal time between him and Celly being interrupted, the jovial mood of his youthful father washed away any grumpiness within moments.

“–Mountain orcs are tough bastards, I’ll tell ya’!” Julius said.

While talking about the quest he was away on the past two nights, the scruffy-bearded, late-twenties man moved his hands around as if swinging an invisible sword.

“Really? I’ve never seen a mountain orc before,” Celly asked with a smile, nibbling on her sandwich.

The silver-haired girl sat with her pale boots to the side as her oak-brown robes swayed just a bit in the calm winds.

“Definitely! Let me assure you–they’re a different breed from normal orcs! They’re bigger than bears!” Julius laughed.

This is funny? That sounds horrifying! He thought.

As he shivered at the thought of bear-sized orcs, the next words to come from his father’s lips made his heart skip a beat–

Julius looked at him, “Oh, that’s right! Hey, Emilio–how about tagging along with me on a quest? I was thinking it’d be a nice experience for you. It’s one thing to practice, but putting that practice into actual battles is what matters!”

“That sounds like a good idea. It’d be a good opportunity to utilize what we’ve gone over so far, Emilio,” Celly told him.

“Want to come with? You’re certified, aren’t ya? We can split the earnings!” Julius asked Celly with a mouthful of sandwich.

Celly nodded, “Sure, but we don’t need to split anything,” she politely waved her hands.

All of this was being discussed and decided as he sat there silently, sulking a bit as he nibbled on his slab of bread and meat.

I didn’t even get to say anything…guess this is happening, he thought.

Though after thinking about it for a moment, he wasn’t against the idea—not at all, in fact. It wasn’t often he actually had targets to test his magic on.

Usually I just have to subject the poor trees and bushes to being my test subjects…but this could be good, he thought with a grin.

“What kind of quest would we be doing?…” He asked with a smile.

Of course, while inside of his mind he was cackling like a comical villain, on the outside he was the angelic, perfect son of the Dragonhearts.

Julius scratched his chin, jutting his lip out a bit as he thought about it, “Let’s see…I saw a posting on the guild board on my way back for a band of cave goblins. How’s that sound?”

“Goblins…?” He said with a hint of displeasure, “Wouldn’t orcs be more beneficial? Wolves?”

Without a doubt, goblins were the bottom of the barrel, lowest-of-the-low and would hardly suffice for actual growth—that’s what he thought, but Julius seemed to think otherwise for him.

Julius’ lackadaisical attitude stiffened as he looked straight at him with his sharp eyes, “Emilio. You’re plenty talented and strong for your age, but don’t get conceited. For a kid, you’re capable, but you’re still that—a kid.”

“—” He looked down.

“I know you’re raring to go slay dragons and all that mess, but you’ve got to start the same as the rest of us,” Julius told him, “If you try to skip steps along the way, you’ll end up tripping over.”

“Your father is right,” Celly added, “even goblins can be dangerous if you’re not careful. I’ve known people who’ve thought of them as easy opponents, but…they were overwhelmed.”

To him, it felt like he was just being treated like a child still, and that they didn’t trust him. But, he begrudgingly accepted.

“I understand,” he wore a smile.

“You do?” Julius looked pleasantly surprised at his willingness to accept.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

The maturity he displayed at times put his own jovial father to shame, who was always caught off-guard by it.