[Eighteen Months Later]


    [Age Eighteen]


    It was the season of autumn once again; the leaves hanging to the limbs of trees turned to a colorful array between yellow and red, descending upon the grass like tranquil rainfall. Waiting outside of the Dragonheart residence was Julius, who had allowed his beard to grow out, bing bushy. The man was equipped in his standard adventuring gear, looking back through the open doorway of the house.


    "Ready, Emilio?" Julius asked.


    Everett was waiting outside as well, having grown some and chiseled the few ces of fat on his body into muscle, wearing new, tinum armor with a rectangr shield and his hair nowbed-over, made neat by Treyna''s finesse.


    Stepping through the doorway, the Dragonheart, growing out of being seen as "young", now a man himself responded with a smile, "Yeah, yeah, I''m here!"


    Closing the door and catching up with the other two men, Emilio stood slightly taller than his own father now, acquiring quite the legendary growth spurt as he lost all semnce of the boy he once was, having grown into a fine man over thest eighteen months.


    "Damn, when you''d get so tall?..." Julius looked up at Emilio''s forehead.


    "Hm?"


    "Nothing," Julius scratched his beard.


    A ponytail now descended behind his head, cascading down his olive cape, which he wore over a ck-and-gold vest over a long-sleeved, leather shirt. The sleek, metallic arm of his remained with the same schematic of ck steel, though resized to fit his new physique.


    On his left arm, he wore steel armor; a belt kept his de–"Silver Wing"--attached to his hip.


    Setting out on an easy-going quest alongside Everett and his father, Emilio walked side-by-side with them as a grown man, holding a smile that had been reforged by times of peace.


    "Goblins again today?" Everett asked.


    "Actually, no," Julius grinned, "Today, we''ve got orcs to handle! They''re in a cave towards the east road."


    "Orcs? That could be a nice warm up," Emilio said.


    "Betcha five crowns that Everett could toss an orc over his head," Julius said, "I mean, you''ve been putting onyers of muscle, Ev!"


    Julius yfully pped Everett on the back whileughing, though the bet wasn''t reciprocated by Emilio.


    "I am not betting against that…" Emilio wryly chuckled.


    Everett couldn''t help butugh, "I could do it–probably!"


    It was a nice walk through the outskirts of Yullim, along a dirt road neighbored by autumn trees that led to the cave in question for the orc-ying bounty. There weren''t many adventurers that lived within Yullim, mainly ones that passed through the town and handled quests irregrly, leaving such bounties mainly to the Dragonheart residence.


    "Did you send that letter to your old teacher? What was her name again…Celery?" Julius wondered, scratching his chin.


    "Celly," Emilio corrected him with a yful sigh before nodding, "And yeah, I did. I don''t know if she''ll have the time to actuallye and visit though–I mean, I think she''s a full-time teacher now."


    "That''s great–she really taught you well when she was here. You were just a runt then," Julius chuckled.


    "Yeah, yeah," Emilio replied, "She was amazing, though. You''re right."


    "Hmm, this Celly person sounds pretty great if yer giving her all that praise," Everett added in.


    "She is," Emilio nodded happily, "Speaking of which, we should visit Melisande soon."


    "Oh, right! She''s been writing every month–seems like she''s excited to see you again."


    "Both of us, you mean," Emilio corrected.


    "I dunno, man. I think she has a thing for y–" Everett began to say before covering his mouth.


    The entrance to the cave put a swift hold to their conversation, finding it directly embedded into the side of tall hills, hidden behind red-leaf bushes.


    "This is it?" Everett asked.


    "Yup," Julius said.


    Emilio was fearless in leading the way inside, conjuring "Smander" to guide the way with light without needing an invocation word, "What''s the hold up? C''mon."


    "Yeah, sure," Julius said, following inside, taken aback by his son''s growth yet again.


    It was dark and damp inside, somehow wet, likely from whatever water the unwee denizens of the cave had dragged in. There were quite a lot of such missions he handled during his time back home; goblins and orcs were plentiful nuisances around the outskirts of his hometown.


    "Orcs are bing more and more frequent, aren''t they? It used to be just goblins around here when I was a kid," Emilio said.


    "I was wondering about that," Everett responded.


    Julius scratched his beard, letting his sword rest against his shoulder as he walked through the cave, "It makes you wonder if something is fundamentally changing about the world?"<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Maybe," Emilio nodded.


    There wasn''t any need for them to stay quiet or even try to stifle their steps; now worry was made in letting their presence be known to the monsters upying the damp cave.


    Reaching an open, dark portion of the cavern tucked away beneath the hills, they all stood there for a moment without speaking a word.


    Tap. Tap. Tap.


    From behind, emerging from the shadows, a tall, burly figure rapidly charged Emilio from behind, swinging a club towards the back of his head—


    "Burn him, Smander."


    The calmmand came from Emilio''s lips, who called upon the evolved firepower of the lesser spirit of fire as the crimson sphere sprayed mes against the monster.


    It was burnt to a crisp within seconds, falling backward with a "thud" that resonated throughout the dank cave. The orc was barely recognizable as such after beingpletely burnt by Smander.


    Everett whistled, "Wouldn''t wanna go out that way."


    "Good job, Smander," Emilioplimented the lesser spirit, letting it sit on the back of his hand.


    Julius stepped forward, rolling his shoulders and cracking his neck side-to-side as another orc rushed in from a tunnel, "I''m not gonna let my son show up his old man, am I?"


    While orcs were far superior to goblins inbat ability in every regard, there was one thing they fell short on: they were as dumb as bricks. What made goblins a gue to human settlements was their cowardice that allowed them to flee and hide, recuperating and repopting.


    However, orcs openly challenged any that entered their territory—even those they would be better off running from.


    As the pig-faced orc mmed its rugged axe down upon Julius, the bearded man sidestepped the attack before flinging the orc''s weapon-wielding arm from its shoulder with a single sh.


    SQUELCH


    Repugnant blood sprayed on the floor of the cave as the orc stumbled back, letting out bellowing cries.


    Julius had kept up and even increased his training since his son''s return, often sparring with both Emilio and Everett as he reached higher levels of strength. In an instant, he dashed by the orc, taking his head from his shoulders with one more sh.


    "That''s one for me," Julius said with a smile, swiping the blood from his de.


    "Two more for me," Emilio yfully responded.


    "Wha—?" The confidence from Julius was tested immediately.


    The remark from Emilio bore fruit as two more wild orcs rushed in from the shadows of the dark cave, only for them to be instantly dealt with as Emilio pressed his boot against the ground.


    As the orcs tried closing in from either side of the amethyst-eyed man, stone spikes speared upward from the ground, piercing the heads of the orcs from the unspoken magecraft.


    "Tch," Julius clicked his tongue, having his naturalpetitive drive tested.


    There wasn''t any sort ofpetition agreed upon by any of them, but as the saying goes: boys will be boys.


    "I''ve got one too—!"


    Everett yelled out as he rushed in towards one of the orcs, taking the initiative against the barbaric creature, who looked shocked to be met by a human that stoodrger than itself.


    "Raaagh!" Everett yelled out.


    With a bash of his shield, the bumpkin obliterated the orc, knocking it back against a far wall.


    "Nice one," Emilioplimented.


    Everett didn''t seem too pleased with the aftermath, finding the front of his shield running slick with the gross blood of the orc.


    As they headed in deeper, the mastery of magecraft that Emilio had honed over the past year was put on disy once more: a pair of orcs dropped down from a higher elevation within the cave.


    Snap.


    With a snap of his fingers, Emilio swiftlymanded the manifestation of water, using the aquatic essence like formless des as they cut through the orcs in an instant. It was precise enough not to leave a single scratch on the surrounding stone, and quick enough to eliminate the enemies before they could even perceive the attack.


    "And two more for me," Emilio imed.


    "It ain''t apetition," Julius walked past him with a huff, almost as if pouting.


    It was surprising just how many orcs had already upied the isted cave, some varying in size as a few more intercepted their path. They had light-pink skin and pig noses, wearing ragged leather fabric and painted in what seemed to be blood.


    For the sake of his father''s pride, Emilio decided to allow his father to take the initiative on this one as Julius dashed forward with his sword in hand.