Chapter II - Choices

-Beginning

...

*tak tak tak*

A huge person sitting on a chair was tapping the table multiple times.

"Uggghhh!! So? Who are we going to pick among the wielders that we have in this village?" The man asked in a frustrated tone, starring down the people who are standing infront of him.

An awkward silence was only heard. Everyone in the room looked at each other, feeling both guilty and uneasy.

"Uh... well we.. we were planning on it Bear-sama b-but.."

"But what?! Don't tell me that you haven't planned on this and waited for me to come back? Tsk!" The man threw the papers at them, he was becoming furious.

The men that stood infront of him picked the papers that contained information about the wielders that are going to participate on a certain event.

"Forgive us Bear-sama...It's our fault for not being able to do this task..." an old man bowed asking for forgiveness.

He sighed...

"Alright alright...! I'll check them out, So gather all the young wielders we have here while I'm going to prepare"

He massaged his temple while his other hand gave them a sign, telling them to get out of the room.

"Seriouslly..." he uttered.

A reflection of a man appeared from the shadows.

"Bear, I think you should go easy on them..." An old man said entering the messy room.

"Master...!"

The masculine man stood up and bowed down to the person.

"Enough with the formalities, You've been my student since you were small, shoudn't you be more comfortable around me?" The man said standing infront of the other man.

The man raised his head.

"Hm... but Master, I thought you're resting outside?" He asked.

"I wanted to check on you since your the only student that I get to talk with..." The man walked towards the window side, checking out the village children playing together.

"Oh.... I..." The man looked down feeling guilty for asking the question.

The older man sighed and looked back at the masculine man.

"Just remember that its not your fault that they died, they sacrificed themselves for the greater good... So don't blame yourself Bear, you're the only one we have now and there is still a promise that you have to accomplish for the two of them"

After he ended his sentence, The old man walked towards the man as he patted his shoulder. He then vanished out of his sight

"Yeah... The promise"

He looked up outside the window as the clouds uncovered the sun rays, giving out a bright shine.

"What a beautiful sunny day..."

...---...

"Line up everyone! The village head will choose twelve people among all of you, so be good alright?" A person instructed the young wielders as he was standing on a wooden stage.

"Yes sir!!" The young wielders bellow the stage replied.

*tud tud tud*

The sound of a huge person walking towards them was heard.

"Bear-sama!!" The children cheered as they all saw the huge masculine man climb towards the stage, he was indeed the most powerful wielder that they've ever met.

The man smiled as he saw the children cheering with bright smiles on their face.

'How nostalgic..' he whispered through the air.

"Hello kiddos! How's your day today?" The man asked the young wielders.

"It's great!" Someone said.

"It was good bear-sama" Another person said.

As everyone else asnwered.

"Alright! I'll be picking some of you to enter on an event, so are you ready?" He crouched down near the edge of the stage to look at them.

"We're ready!!" They shouted.

"That's the spirit! However, we still have to test you little youngsters so we would be able to pick one of you at a time to present your ability"

The man patted a child's head as he stood up. An old man gave him the papers that contained the village wielders information.

His eyes widened, the first six children caught his interest. He smirked, knowing that he wanted to test them first.

"I demand for... Wilson Primavera, Alison Primavera, Noxiel Sparrow, Raziel Afomia, Kogane Tengoku, and Aaron Ordellion to ascend here on the stage" He said as he looked at the young wielders.

The village head crossed his arms, while waiting for the six people to make their way on the stage.

The men behind him were shocked, confused of why the man picked the child who became the vessel of a certain creature.

A man walked towards the village head and was about to ask something.

"Bear-sama yo-..." He was interrupted by the man.

"I already know what you're going to ask..." he whispered.

The man looked down and went back to the place where he was standing.

The six people he picked have come to the side of the stage, all of them stared at the masculine man.

"Oh! I'll be testing one of you at a time, and the first one will be you, Wilson Primavera" The man pointed at the young weilder, looking at him with a serious face.

The lad didn't twitch nor did he get nervous. He looked quite.... lazy, undetermined with no intention of joining.

'Interesting...' The man thought.

"I have a question for you, young man" The village head said as he walked near the younger boy.

"What's your desire, or wish for something?" He asked.

The young man yawned before he asnwered.

"Hmm... To live a carefree life with my friend and family" he said as he scratched his head while looking at the masculine man.

"But, Is that what you trully desire?" The taller man asked.

"Yeah" The lad said without having second thoughts about it. He looked serious, even if his wish seemed to be easy to say.

"Great! Now show me what kind of abilities you wield" The man smiled at the boy, he knew that this boy is a calm person and wouldn't react to rashly. Although he may look lazy he's a great teammate to work with.

...

The lad faced the side of the stage, There was a wooden target to aim at. The taller man will control these dummys to move mimicking a human fighter.

The lad analyzed the movement of the dummys. He was excellent on finding  paterns that could increase the probability of winning against the opponent.

He was aiming his hand on the middle, as if there was an imaginary bow on his hands. the dummys were moving left and right creating a delusion, trying to fool the young man.

A bright light formed showing a glowing bow. A bow made out of pure magic, solidifying it to create the desired weapon to use. A weapon made out of natural energy is indeed a great ability to have, though it takes a lot of time to forge one.

He released the arrow, while it went directlly at the middle. On the same time, the dummys had positioned on the right spot where the arrow will hit.

TUD!

The sound of the dummys that fell on the wooden stage. Each of them had a hole, where the bow shot.

The bow on his hand disappeared on thin air. He looked back at the masculine man, while his friend and sister cheered for him.

"YEAH! THAT'S MY BROTHER!" His twin sister shouted, while she raised her fist at the air.

"WOH!!" Everyone also cheered. This was the first time the young man had showed his abilities to other people, due to the fact that only his friend and sister go on a mission with him, and no one else.

The masculine man touched the lad's head, patting it while he smirked.

"You and your sister will both work together on team no. 1, wait for your other teammate to be picked" The man said.

...

The twins known as Wilson and Alison, they follow the bloodline of Elves, the Primavera Clan. A clan where you'll give birth to twins that are blessed with a good combination of forging and enchantment skills.

...

"Heh, I knew you could do it" A brown-haired boy said to the other lad.

"It was easy" the young man said as he touched the brunet's shoulder.

As time passed, the village head now picked the next person and so on, while some have been given a group and some are still waiting.

The two groups that contained three persons each are now full while the group where the twins are in is still vacant. No one could fit with their abilities of forging and enchanting.

There were now two people who are still not called.

The village head now looked at the paper.

"Alright, The next person is Kogane Tengoku" The man said, while he looked at the young man that had brown hair with a lower ponytale.

"Its your turn dude" the other lad said.

The young man walked towards the masculine man.

Everyone who are still inside didn't look excited, as if they knew that he wasn't as talented as everyone.

Even though his sister died on an 'accident', Everyone looked down at him, as if he was the reason that his older sister died. He doesn't practice with other people, and only reads children books.

The twins were the only ones who knew his abilities. He only practices with them, because of being the only people he's close with.

"Hm..." the man looked at him. He noticed that he looked a bit feminine, though he was more taller than the others.

"Alright, show us your ability" He said, He took the paper that contained information about the brunet.

The village head noticed something on the young man's personal information. His magic represented a familiar earth element, a combination of earth natural  energy and pure nature energy...

The brunet took the metal bar that he carried on his back and slammed it on the ground.

"Earth wall, golden defence" after he finished his sentence, A wall made of mud and other particles surrounded him. It solidified it's self, before the magical bullets hit him.

Even the magical bullets didn't stand a chance against his earth defence. There were no scratches to be found.

The village head saw something shining on the earth defence. He brushed some of the dirt and saw the solid particles on it.

He blew off all of the solid mud as they all saw the solidified golden defence that the mud covered.

The particles that the mud bought up were pure gold that could solidify once its collided together. The brunet's ability was manipulating earth particles that could be found underground.

Both of the twins smirked, crossing their arms, they knew all along that their friend wasn't actually talentless but was a bookworm ever since they became wielders. He was a closet genius

"Interesting, I've never seen a defence like this before... Where did you learn it?" The masculine man asked the brunet's who's still inside the golden defence.

The brunet punched the defence from the inside as it collapsed into pieces.

"Hmmm....I probably learned it yesterday when me and Wilson were training, wait no... I learned it last friday... or no- wait was it before yesterday?"

He stood there scratching his chin, Even he himself forgot when he learned it.

"Haha! Alright kiddo, You'll be grouped with your friend" The man laughed as he smiled back at the brunet.

"Wait really? I just created an earth defence barrier that could only save people from sudden danger" the brunet insisted.

"Yes, The forging and enchanting skills that the twins have takes a lot of time. So if any sudden attack were to happen, your earth defence barrier would protect them while they create the weapon. Plus I heard that you three were already friends, and you might understand their abilities better than the others"

The man smiled at the brunet who was a bit dumbfounded, he was an idiot but is good at understanding basic skills of wielding magic.

Wilson and Alison walked towards the brunet.

"Well please take care of us! Kogane-san~ Hehe" The twins both playfully said to the brunet.

"I won't, You guys are too troublesome" He said without hessitation.

Both of the twins smacked his head.

"Idiot" they both said, as if they're about to beat the hell out of him.

"Hahahah!" The masculine man that was behind them laughed.

'They'll surely pass...'

...---...

...---...

"Uwahh! What a tiring dayyy!" Alison wined, as if she was indirectly telling the two young men to go out and have some fun around the kingdom.

Though, the two were strong and would never give up so easily. So they both ignored the young lass who looked at them with an 'Oi Idiots, Notice me' face and continued to train.

Because of their strong will, they were able to ignore the young lass the whole day.

But things won't last forever...

"Good Morning!" The lass was bubbly today.

"Oh, Good morning Alison" They both replied as they also smiled at her in an odd way.

They went to the training court, The two men noticed that it was oddly quiet.

Nothing suspicious happened after it, so the two let their guard down for now.

...

It was now break time and the three were walking towards the central border to buy groceries.

The two men were never good at buying groceries and made the young lass do all the work.

"Hehe..." the young woman smirked on an evil way, she had planned this all along.

And that's how the two ended up following the young woman all around the area because of them letting down their cautiousness.

*sigh* The two young men sighed in helplessness, though both still smiled with a pleased expression. 

Although, it was a troublesome group, they were happy with being together whenever they needed each other.

...

They finished buying the groceries in no time, it was an easy task for an independent woman to do.

She dragged the two towards a small bargain shop.

"What are we gonna do here Alison?" The brother of the lass asked with a confused face.

She smirked.

"We're gonna buy some goods!!" She brightened up.

"For what though?" The brunet asked.

"Potions and enchanted books of course!"  She winked at the two as she gave them a tumbs up.

"But where are you gonna use them?" They both asked.

"I wanted to ask the two of you yesterday to help me learn more enchantments, hehe" she flustered. The lad still had her pride in her.

"You could've told us yesterday!" Her brother said, having a surprised expression.

"W-well you two ignored me when I tried to ask you, hmph!" She pouted.

"So...Is saying 'Uwaahhhh! what a tiring day' a new way of asking?" The brunet said it in confused way, he's too innocent to say such sarcastic questions to people he's close to.

"Nevermind..." *sigh* the lass sighed.

"Well, we should enter the shop now or we'll just stand here like statues..." the other lad insisted.

The three opened the wooden door.

*jingle jingle jingle* the sound of door bells ringing.

"Oh~ why hello there young adventurers~ what brings you here..?" A man wearing a long robe welcomed them as he spoke with a husky tone.

The three expected an old person to help them but instead there was only an odd man who greeted them.

This was a disappointment for the three, due to the fact that they're idiots who likes to get along with elderly people, and personaly took it as a daily basis.

"Oh~ what's up with the faces?~" The man looked at them with a confused look. No wonder, they had a gloomy aura surrounding them.

"Oh Nothing Sir, we went on the wrong store. Forgive us" The grey-haired lad said as he held the arms of the two people beside him.

"W-wait, Wilson... It'd take a lot of time to go find another bargain store around here, shouldn't we just buy here since it has a better selling price than the other ones?"

The lass insisted on buying. Its true that it would take time to find a new one, the whole kingdom was filled with travellers and wielders from all around the country.

Especially, there'll be a special occasion happening, where the weilders will compete here in the name of the kingdom only to rank up.

"Oh~! So the three of you are going to participate on the event..?~" The man leaned on the wall as he looked at the three. He was quite curious.

"Uhh... yes" they replied.

The other lad released his grip on the two. 

"Mmm~ so which village do you serve?" The man knew that they aren't from any kingdom, just by looking at how they wore their clothes and how they act.

"Uhhh.." they went awkwardly silent.

"Its fine if you don't want to tell me~" He smiled at them.

"Since you're going to participate that event, why not check out the tools that I have here?~" He opened up to them, the room was loaded up with shelves that contained a lot of books and potions along with weapons and other stuffs.

"Woh!!" The lass brightened up as she immidiately ran towards the shelf that was filled with enchanted books.

"Wait... isn't that-!!" the brunet also saw something that caught his interest.

He walked towards it.

"Wil! Look at this, the brunet showed a hand sign telling the other lad to come near.

"That's the physical combat book" His eyes widened. It was a book that he was longing to get, but there were only few merchants that sells them on their village. 

"Hmm~ have you found the things you wanted?" The man asked.

"Yeah!! This is awsome, Everything I needed was here!" The girl said in a greatefull way as she was holding the things she needed on her arms.

"Oh~ I'm glad that you found the things you needed" the man walked towards the table to check the tools they got.

The lass placed the books on the table.

After the man checked the tools the lass gave hey payment to the odd man.

The other two also bought tools, Wilson bought two different books that contained forging skills, while the brunet bought nunchucks and a pocket knife.

The grey-haired lad payed for the two books, while the brunet placed the tools he got on the table.

"I'd like to have a trade with you" the young lad said as he took out the golden rod behind him.

"Oh?~ You'll trade a golden rod for nunchucks and a pocket knife?" The man asked, the golden rod is worth a lot of money.

"Wait, Ko are you seriously going to trade that for nunchucks and a pocket knife?"

"Yeah, why?" He asked.

*sigh* the three sighed, he was definitelly an idiot.

"That wouldn't be a fair trade~" the man shrugged.

"Eh?" He tilted his head, he was also confused.

"Seriously..." The two knew that the lad woudn't understand such things so easily when explained in detail.

The brunet noticed their expressions and got a gist of what they were trying to show.

The brunet held the golden rod as it disappeared.

He opened his palm and turned it into small pieces of gold nuggets

The man leaned to look.

"Oh~"

"Is this uh... enough?" The brunet asked.

"Yes~ yes~... Oh and by the way, you could call me Hillard from now on~... I do hope that we'll be acquaintances in the near future~"

"Well nice to meet you Mister Hillard, My name is Wilson, This beside me is my twin sister Alison, and this is My friend Kogane" The young man introduced them to the odd man.

The man wasn't a bad person after all, but was an ordinary merchant who sells and trades for goods... or is he?

...

"Thanks for helping us Mister Hillard!" The three bowed down to show gratitude.

Then walked towards the door and left, as the odd man waved them goodbye.

"What an interesting team~" he uttered...

-To be Continued...

(Credits to the owners of the concept art/picture)

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