Chapter 5: Roark Hawthorne

I felt a sense of relief when someone interrupted my conversation with the spirit. What he said was true about being able to leave behind all of this for the sake of going to adventures. I wondered if I went through all of the summoning on a whim and if I actually thought it through.

I resolved myself and shook any doubt knowing that if I continue to live my life like this, the aching feeling of becoming a legend wouldn’t stop. I couldn’t settle for less.

As I got closer to the sound of the voice, my mood soured as I recognized who the voice belonged to; my “good neighbor” Roark Hawthorne.

Don’t get me wrong, he isn’t a bad guy. Roark is one of the guards who protects the village from any harm. He’s also kind and caring enough for all the villagers to like him. I knew this guy ever since we were young.

It's just that he’s pretty like Zephyr, usually nagging me without any chance for me to answer back. He’s blunt, strict and harsh on people, especially to me. Since he knows me since we were young.

“I was checking on you since your parents are out for today, how are you doing?” he spoke from his helmet.

“Who is this guy?” Zeph asked.

“That’s the guard, he’s very like you” I chided.

“It seems that you’re starting to talk to slimes now huh?” Roark said.

I turned to the spirit, hoping for an explanation of why Roark didn’t notice him.

Zephyr went in front of the guard’s face and danced around him hoping for any reaction. As expected, there was no change in his face, or rather, his expression since I couldn’t tell from his iron helmet.

“First, you started telling me about spirits existing, rambling on and on about finding the resources needed for some ritual and some spirit world. And now here you are talking to your slime as if you have telepathy with these creatures.” Roark continued.

“I’m pretty sure the legendary Beast Traveler Solomon can talk to 72 of them, so its not a possibility.” I recalled.

“And here you go again with those legends you ramble on. Legend this, Legend that, when are you going to stop with all those stories, Rei? They called legends because they’re myths, Reimi, myths.” His mood worsened after my response.

He removed his helmet out of frustration revealing a more concerned expression written on his face, his blond hair in a mess from all the sweat gathering up from ranting.

He let out a long sigh as he wiped the brim of his sweat as if taking off the helmet took way too much effort to do.

“This guy really talks a lot.” Zephyr said.

Pot, meet kettle.

“Look, I’m really concerned about you and your delusions from your stories man. I’ve known you since we were still children, you gotta learn when to stop and grow up.” Roark spoke to me clearly with words sharp enough to hurt my heart.

“If you grew up with me, you would’ve believed me and started to go out to help me summon them earlier.” I talked back, my heart clenched in my throat. “Yeah, if those so-called spirits exist, they would’ve saved the world plenty of times over. But guess what? Not everyone with a spirit is remembered as a hero. Didn’t you say that there are people corrupted by them that they turned into monsters. Didn’t you try to scare me off when we were kids with the legend of “The Immortal Weeper”, “The Curse Writer”? You think someone like “The Guardian who spoke in Numbers” actually exists?”

“Yes, they do” I exclaimed.

“Those spirits do exist, and they are real. I have known them since I have one in me. Those legends are real, and they made their place in the world. Otherwise, things like the Archiver’s guild wouldn’t exist.” I continued.

“Those stories you’ve read are merely exaggerations of their history.” Roark replied.

We paused for a bit, glaring at each other. Laurel must have noticed the atmosphere since the slime started to stretch itself as if scaring him. It was a poor attempt as the slime could hold themselves and went back to being a goopy mess in my hands.

Meanwhile the spirit is spacing out, probably in deep thought. He’s muttering to himself as his flame grew dimmer and the color turning a darker shade.

“Corrupted huh?” he said, almost faint enough to not be heard from anyone.

“Uggghhhh, this is getting nowhere. I was so caught up, I forgot what I was supposed to say to you in the first place.” Roark took a sigh in defeat.

“Didn’t you say that you came here to check on me?” I asked

“That was one but there was this other thing I forgot to talk about…” Roark was pacing back and forth around the fence.

“Aha!” He came to a moment of realization and grabbed my hand as he leaned closer.

“We are going to have a village meeting about self-defense against monsters this afternoon, I would like you to be the one instructing some of the villagers in dealing with different monsters.”

Oh right, It’s that time of the year again.

“Since you’re so knowledgeable with creatures and that you’re good with the sword, I figured you’d be the one for the job.” Roark continued.

“I’ll be sure to join” I responded. still shaken from the argument we just had. “Great, I’ll meet you there at the village center.” Roark put back his helmet back in his head.

I’m still amazed by the fact that Roark was able to change moods from angry to sad. I guess that he was really concerned about me, if only spirits can be seen by normal people.

“So, you’re good at the sword, let’s go right away so that I can see you how you fight.” Zeph said.

“Fine, but I’ll bring Laurel with me so I can show off to the villagers” I said as I grabbed a satchel from one of the fences and placed them gently. As soon as finished my job in the slime field, I made haste towards the village.