Point-of-View: Azyl Roake

  During: Approx. One Year Prior to Story Start

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  "……I don't want to."

  "That doesn't matter, you're coming with us," Said my father with a sigh.

  Nooo……

  "It will only be for a few weeks, Azyl, we'll be back before you know it," Assured my mother.

  "But……weeks are long," I groaned, really not wanting to do this.

  My parents were going on a business trip to Bronztan tomorrow, and……they wanted me to go with them. Our long-time neighbors and family friends the Angors would also be joining us. My family ran a textile business and had a few business partners in Bronztan, the Angors ran a gemstone business, and happened to be going to Bronztan too.

  "Go to sleep early, Azyl, we plan on leaving at sunrise," Said my mother.

  Ugghhhhhhh……

  If you're wondering why they're so insistent on taking me with them……it's because that way, they wouldn't have to hire any Adventurers to guard them. I feel so used. Well, I don't actually care about that, but this was going to be exhausting……

  Only my family and the Angors knew about how strong my powers were, I had figured that it'd be troublesome if people knew how strong it was, so I had no intention of revealing the full extent of what I was capable of. To that end, I had also begged my parents and the Angors to not tell anyone about it. That might have been the most energy I've ever expended willingly.

  I headed to my room and crawled under the covers of my bed, using a light sprinkling of Ice Magic to adjust the temperature in the room till it was……perfect.

  When I sleep, I prefer to bury myself under the sheets and covers like a cocoon, but sometimes it gets too warm, but fortunately, I could use my abilities to regulate the temperature. I couldn't care less about how strong my abilities were, but I did greatly appreciate the practical uses for it. I was going to enroll myself in the Adventurer Academy next year along with my neighbor and childhood friend Key, after we turn sixteen.

  She was surprised that I was interested in becoming an Adventurer, but it was the obvious choice……it's the best way to earn a lot of money quickly and be able to retire young and live out a life of relaxation, not to mention not being tied down to fixed working hours. I can't survive in a normal job, just thinking of it made me feel exhausted and drained. I didn't bother explaining all that, it was too many words, she's probably smart enough to figure it out herself, and if not……it doesn't really make a difference to me.

  But all that's still a long way away, my most immediate concern was this trip……I don't see a way to get out of it, I could adamantly refuse, but that would take too much effort, and it might sour my relationship with my parents……if they kicked me out or something, I wouldn't last long on my own. That scenario was far-fetched, but not impossible.

  My father and Mr Angor would be driving the carriage that we were going to use instead of hiring a driver, since they agreed to keep my abilities secret. My parents had agreed to that in the first place because they thought that I might be in danger of being taken advantage of by people who wanted to use my powers for their own benefit, but I wasn't worried about that……even if my abilities are eventually revealed, I'm not going to go out of my way to help anyone if I didn't want to.

  Just because I like to keep to myself doesn't mean that I'd let someone push me around. Anyway, I have nothing to do, so……time to sleep……

  "Hey, you actually showed up……I was half-expecting you to find a way out of this," Greeted Key, the next morning.

  "I tried……," I replied with an irritable sigh.

  It's too damn early……I hate the morning, the sun should go die. My parents had woken me up at 4 AM, interrupting a delightful dream……I don't remember the details of it, but I think clouds were involved, either way it was really pleasant……I wasn't happy about it being interrupted.

  Our parents had brought a barrier spell with them, in case we ran into monsters. I could take out the monsters pretty easily, but if I was asleep, which would be most of the time, they would need a way to keep the monsters at bay for a bit. Our fathers were sitting outside the front of the carriage, on the driver's bench with two horses pulling it. Key and I, along with our mothers, were sitting inside the carriage. She and I were sitting next to each other and our mothers were sitting on the opposite end, facing us. Hm, these seats are comfortable, and I brought my best pillow and blanket. I need a bit more space, though……

  "Move," I remarked to Key, gesturing with my eyes for her to scoot to the corner.

  "Huh?"

  "I wanna sleep. Move."

  "I don't like your tone……ask nicely and I'll consider it," She huffed, with a stifled yawn.

  Hm, looks like she's also sleepy and in a bad mood……this is going to be annoying.

  "Move."

  "Ask nicely."

  "Move or I'll drown you," I grumbled, water forming around my hand.

  "Y-you don't scare me, Azyl……I know you won't hurt me," She replied half-heartedly.

  When we were kids, I would sometimes use my Water Magic to intimidate her whenever I wanted to get my way, but they were always bluffs, I wouldn't actually go through with the threats……once she figured that out, I stopped doing it, and it's been a few years since then. Right now, though, I was in a bad mood……

  "I'm sleepy and annoyed……I won't think twice about covering your face with water to knock you out so that I can move your body to the corner, which will give me more space to sleep. You're making me talk too much, it's annoying……now move."

  "……it's been a while since you've been this aggressive about something, you've been so passive lately I forgot that you can be kind of a bully sometimes……," She relented with a sigh, grudgingly giving me more room.

  "You two certainly get along well," Remarked Mrs Angor suggestively, my mother nodding in agreement.

  "Yeah, yeah," Sighed Key, rolling her eyes, while I ignored them.

  Just because we'd known each other forever, our mothers often said annoying stuff like that……we really weren't that close though. The phrase 'getting along' doesn't really apply to me, I'd say I had pretty neutral relationships with other people. Maybe I spoke to her a bit more than I did with others, but that was only because she was the only person that I knew who was around my age, and there was the fact that we had known each other since we were children.

  I guess if we're going by technical definition, she just barely qualifies as my friend. But if we're talking romance, it'd never work between us……she definitely didn't have the patience to deal with my slow-paced way of going about my life, and as for me, she was too overwhelmingly……'red'. And red is, like, the least relaxing color in existence, so just looking at her could stress me out if I wasn't in the best mood……

  hm, now that I think about it, it's kind of a miracle that we get along at all. Maybe it was just a familiarity thing, since we had known each other for as long as we could remember.

  Well, I'm tired, so……you know. Back to sleep I go……

  Over the next few days, we ran into groups of monsters every now and then, Key took them on initially with her new sword, a Fire Steel blade. Huh, with that weapon, she might actually make it as an Adventurer……she'd always worked hard and had decent sword skills, using her saved up allowances and money earned from part-time jobs to hire trainers every now and then, but her magic was too weak……that sword made up for that though.

  Before long, the monsters we ran into became too strong for her to handle, and I had to step in. I had to thank her though, she bought me nearly two days of uninterrupted sleep.

  In the beginning, we ran into Forest Imps, Walking Trees and Orcs, which Key was able to deal with mostly on her own, I helped out a bit when there were more than four. Later, we started running into Devilmonkeys and Giant Poison Frogs. There were three more types of monsters we'd run into before we'd reach Bronztan, Four-Armed Apes, Firefoxes and Cobra-Giraffes. Bandits too.

  Early morning on day three, I was asleep in the carriage as we continued moving forward, and I was in pure bliss right now……

  Oh, yeah, that's what I'm talking about……mm, beautiful……

  "-wake up!"

  Hm……?……ignore it, I'm in the zone right now……

  "Azyl, wake up! We're surrounded by bandits! The defensive barrier won't hold much longer!"……

  I probably can't ignore that. Damn it……I had just been having an incredible dream, I was dreaming about sleeping, and it was so……

  now I'm really angry.

  I groggily woke up with a groan, standing up with a grimace.

  "I'm going to fucking cruch these bastards," I growled, furious at my dream being interrupted.

  "W-woah, Azyl, calm d……," Key began, trailing off as I glared at her.

  I opened the trapdoor on the ceiling of the carriage and climbed up on the roof. There was a group of about fifteen bandits, five in front of us, four each on the left and right, and three behind. The barrier around us was almost broken……I'll get rid of them. Key poked her head out to watch.

  "Don't move, or-!" Exclaimed one of the bandits in front.

  "Quiet," I interrupted, forming a dense dome of ice around the horses, my father and Mr Angor.

  I raised some protective ice around the wheels of the carriage for good measure, as the bandits broke through the barrier and fired arrows and Elemental Magic attacks at me. I formed thick pools of water around me, the attacks unable to get past them. So annoying……

  "Get lost," I sighed, surrounding and encasing the ones in front in a block of ice before they could do anything.

  I then raised my hand, lifting the block of ice with the bandits frozen in it several meters into the air before swinging my arms across, flinging the block far away, deep into the jungle.

  "R-run away!" Yelled one of the remaining bandits in alarm.

  "I don't think so," I remarked, boxing them in with tall walls of ice, "You'll pay for interrupting my nap, you bastards."

  I swung my arms outwards, rapidly sending out massive waves of water and washing away the bandits in an instant.

  Good riddance. I snapped my fingers, the defensive ice I'd formed to protect the carriage disappearing as I did.

  "Wow, that was incredible," Remarked Mr Angor in awe.

  Yeah, yeah……

  "Back to sleep," I declared with a yawn, going back into the carriage.

  "Uh……you didn't kill them, did you?" Inquired Key, as we got back to our seats.

  "Don't know, don't care."

  With that, I curled back up in my seat and went back to sleep. Much to my chagrin and immense disappointment……I couldn't get back to my dream.

  What a tragedy……

  "Azyl, wake up-!"

  "Key, shut up," I cut her off with a drowsy groan.

  We were nearing the end of the journey to Bronztan, just hours away from reaching the nation. Yesterday, we had been surrounded by a large pack of Firefoxes, there were so many of them that I needed to burst out multiple waves of ice and water to wash them away, they had sharp claws and dug them into the trees to keep from getting swept away, so I had to put in a little extra effort, it was annoying. And now……

  "Don't give me that, hurry up and wake up, you lazy bastard! We're surrounded by Cobra-Giraffes!"

  If I'm ever asked to go on a trip like this again, I'll find a way to get out of it, even if I had to kill someone or something else drastic. This week has been awful.

  I climbed up to the top of the carriage and looked around……four Cobra-Giraffes were around us, striking at the barrier. They were tall monsters with the body of giraffes and the head, neck and tail of a cobra, they had highly venemous bites and could also spray their venom.

  As they broke through the barrier, one of them struck at me from in front, its mouth open, while another sprayed a streak of venom at me from behind. I formed a spiky shield of ice in front of me, the first one getting impaled on it before it could stop of pull away, and I formed a mass of water behind me, the venom harmlessly getting absorbed into it. I then froze the water and shaped it so that it was long and sharp, before firing it at the monster's chest.

  That takes care of two……

  The remaining two then hissed and struck out their heads at me from either side, their fangs bared. I formed a volley of sharp ice projectiles and fired them to my left and right, riddling both monsters full of holes. And with that, I slipped back into the carriage and went back to sleep……

  "Azyl, we've arrived in Bronztan, we are at the inn that we planned to stay at, wake up."

  "An inn……that means a bed……alright, I'm up," I replied, sitting up with a yawn.

  Our fathers had parked the carriage to the side of the inn and tied up the horses to some posts, and were currently hauling our luggage into the inn. I followed after them with a yawn, heading in and up the stairs. They had taken four rooms, which meant that I got my own room, which I could appreciate.

  After all the luggage was taken into the rooms……

  "We'll be going to take care of our business matters now, feel free to explore the area if you want to," My father suggested, as he and my mother headed back out.

  They were going immediately after we arrived? Where did they find the energy to do so? I was so tired and worn out from all that traveling. We were going to be here for about a week to ten days, and I'd already decided how I was going to spend that time.The door to my room then opened and Key walked in……

  "Hey, I'm going out, I want to take a look around and see what this place is like. Are you coming?" She inquired, though she already seemed to know what my answer would be.

  "Sounds tiring, so no. I'll be here, asleep."

  And that's how I spent the rest of my time there, asleep at the inn. I never went sight-seeing or anything like that, I just wasn't interested in the slightest. And after nine days, we headed back. This had been a valuable experience, I now knew……that traveling wasn't for me……

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  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism! Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.