『 Erwin's House, Suuran — 29 Everi, 2:48 AM 』
Everyone seemed to be asleep. You could hear Grandpa snoring in his bedroom, Kaelle on the sofa bed, and the three boys sleeping on a large mattress on the floor. Uyan and Vars were out cold. The blonde boy had a tendency to snore, by the way. Itoî, however, couldn't fall asleep. So he got up without making a sound and tiptoed to the front door. The keys were still in the lock, as a matter of fact. He opened the door, slipped on his shoes, then gently closed the door behind him to keep it from slamming.
He blew out a long breath.
"Phew, glad I made it out without waking everyone. Still, Grandpa and Vars snore like tractors, it's unreal," the boy said, heading around the back of the house.
Once again, he wanted to look out over the village and the horizon. He rested his arms on the railing for a moment, but it was too dark to make out anything. So he threw himself backward and sprawled out in the grass, closing his eyes and letting the gentle night breeze wash over him.
He opened his eyes a few moments later and gazed up at the sky. He smiled dumbly at the view, the sky blanketed in countless stars.
"Whoa! In the city, you never see this many stars. It's incredible here!"
Then a voice answered him:
"Right? I like watching the sky at night too."
Itoî jumped, scrambled to his feet, and backed away on instinct.
"Relax, idiot, it's me, Uyan. I couldn't sleep either," the boy said before clicking on a flashlight and aiming it at his own face.
Seeing his brother's face, Itoî screamed:
"AAAHH A GHOST!"
Uyan chucked the flashlight at his face.
"Ow!" Itoî said, rubbing his nose.
"Okay, sorry, won't do that kind of joke again."
Uyan laughed, then went on:
"It's my turn to apologize for yesterday. I... It's just that I remembered the scene and—"
Itoî cut him off in an annoying, provocative tone:
"Get over iiiit!"
Uyan got mad again and yelled:
"FUCK YOU'RE SO—"
But his brother interrupted him again, more seriously this time:
"It's fine, Uyan, let's drop it. We have to move forward, or we'll never get through this."
Uyan calmed down at those words and smiled faintly.
"Yeah, you're right. I just wanted to apologize."
"It's not your fault, little bro. We lost Dad and Mom on the same day, we faced down a Quashti, and we made it out of that crazy forest. Now we just need to stick together, that's all," Itoî said with a big grin, turning the flashlight on.
"OoOoH a GhOoOost!" Uyan shrieked before cracking up.
"You bastard!" Itoî said, clenching his fist before bursting into laughter too.
The two of them sprawled out on the ground and stargazed together.
"See that one? That's the Mori star. It's big and looks green from far away," Uyan said, pointing.
"Ooh! Yeah, nice! And that one?" Itoî asked.
"That one is the smallest star, Xiniva, it's called. It's part of the Sotares chain. Look, see? It kind of makes a line with the three other stars in front of it."
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"Whoa! That's actually really cool! You know a lot of stuff, Uyan!"
Uyan blushed slightly before saying:
"You'd know stuff about stars too if you came stargazing with Grandpa and Mom when we watched them as a family. But no, you and Vars were always playing on my console," he said, chuckling.
"Hahaha! Fair point!" Itoî replied.
"Hey, Itoî... Do you think Mom can see us from the stars?" Uyan asked in a sad tone.
Itoî smiled faintly, saddened as well, then answered:
"Yeah, little bro, she can. She's watching over us, so you don't need to be sad."
The boys kept watching the stars for a while before going back to bed.
"Come on! Kids! Wake up!" Grandpa yelled.
It was 6:00 AM. Kaelle woke up and asked, rubbing her eyes:
"What's going on, Grandpa?"
"Nothing, I'm talking to the two woodland sprites. You can sleep in my bed if you want, Kaelle, but I'm going to need those two. Just don't forget to lock the door."
She nodded slightly, then grabbed her blanket and pillow and headed to her grandfather's bedroom. Meanwhile, Erwin grabbed Vars and Itoî and dragged them across the floor.
"Grandpa... What the hell...?" Itoî said, half asleep.
Vars yawned for a moment, then bolted up with explosive energy. His grandfather released him instantly.
"IT'S... TRAINING TIIIIME!!!" Vars shouted.
Uyan pressed his pillow over his ears.
"Fuck, shut up..." he muttered, annoyed.
Meanwhile, Erwin dragged Itoî, opened the front door, and tossed him into the grass.
"Ow!" the boy yelped.
"Damn it, Grandpa, it's 6:30 AM!"
Erwin replied:
"You gonna become a supreme mage by watching stars until 3:30 in the morning?"
And he burst out laughing.
"How did you know?!" Itoî exclaimed.
"Just a hunch, hahaha!" Grandpa chuckled.
"Alright!" Erwin said, then snapped his fingers.
CLING
A mechanism triggered, and a small structure emerged from underground. It was some kind of bunker.
Both boys' eyes went wide. Then Vars exploded with laughter.
"Hahahaha! Grandpa, you're hiding even more secret rooms like this?"
The old man smiled.
"Not exactly, I just have some equipment in there, including some training clothes. Hold on, I'll bring them out."
He stepped into the small bunker and came back out a few minutes later with dusty clothes. He slapped them a few times to knock off some of the dust, then tossed them at Vars and Itoî.
"Get dressed, I'm going to change in the bunker. I'll be out in a few minutes," Erwin said.
The boys looked at the clothes, a bit bewildered and mildly disgusted.
"What kind of crappy clothes are these?" Itoî said.
Vars shrugged.
"I don't know, but hey, it's better than being in pajamas."
The clothes looked ordinary, apart from the thick mud stains covering them. The first top was long-sleeved purple, the second was green, and both came with beige linen bottoms. As belts, crude strips of fabric were tied around their waists. Oddly enough, two pairs of flat shoes, perfectly in their sizes, waited beside them.
The boys got dressed. Itoî complained as usual:
"He could've at least given us clean clothes, damn it..."
"Who cares, we're gonna get dirty anyway! Hahaha!" Vars replied.
Itoî shot Vars a bored look.
I wish I could be as enthusiastic as you... On three hours of sleep, it's a bit rough.
The old man came out a few seconds later and placed his hands on his hips.
"Good! Alright, warm up. Just do what I do."
Erwin started with fairly standard warm-ups. The boys nodded and followed along. He started with the upper body, then moved to the lower body, before finishing with stretches. The boys did the same. Fifteen minutes later, they were good to go.
"Good. Vars, you're up first," Erwin said before chanting with incredible agility.
He stepped forward, moved a few meters away from the house, and pressed his hand flat against the ground.
"Ha!"
A fairly massive stone slab emerged from the ground—rectangular, about fifty square meters in size.
Itoî's eyes widened in amazement.
"Well... That's heavy-duty."
Vars was grinning from ear to ear. He sprinted over to the slab and gave his grandfather a military salute.
"Ready, sir! Ready!" he said, beaming.
Erwin smiled, then walked calmly over to his grandson and tapped Vars's shoulder.
"You feel okay in those clothes?" he asked with a sly smile.
Vars nodded enthusiastically. And suddenly, an enormous weight slammed him into the ground. The boy was pinned flat instantly. Itoî jumped up and wanted to run to his brother, but Erwin signaled him to stay back.
"Over there, Itoî, there's a chair and the small table. Sit down and observe for now. After that, it'll be your turn."
Itoî swallowed hard. He looked both excited and terrified.
Fuck! What is this insane stuff?! Grandpa is so cool!
Vars, still pinned to the ground, struggled to ask:
"W-What did you do, Grandpa? I don't get it!"
Erwin laughed.
"My boy, those clothes are made from very rare and very heavy textiles. You know the Manschia flower, right?"
Vars instantly recalled a book he'd read about flowers.
The Manschia flower, yes! It's normally an oil used on weapons to make them more durable. The problem is, if you use too much, it makes the weapon heavy.
"So that's... that's why it's so heavy... But why didn't I feel anything at first?" Vars asked, struggling to his feet.
Erwin raised his finger, and a small orb appeared. It looked incredibly unstable, jittering everywhere, as if on the verge of bursting.
"My boy, my primary element is Wind! I intentionally lightened your clothes by inserting tiny air bubbles inside them, which slightly lifted the fabric. That's still the case for yours, Itoî. But then, I deactivated that spell when I touched your shoulder," he said with a smile.
Itoî's eyes sparkled. He couldn't sit still in his chair, rocking back and forth.
Grandpa is so freaking cool!
Vars grinned, then slammed his fist into his opposite palm.
Erwin put on a serious face and lobbed the small sphere toward his grandson.