Book One – Chapter Three – Part Eight – Joining Warden, A New Friend, And A Loss Of Innocence

The sun had fully descended from the sky and the moon, so white and bright, lit up the night. The stars looked like pearls in a sea of black, admiring the inhabitants of the universe. They were out of reach for the hopeful dreamers that desperately wanted to grab one.

Warden’s kitchen was booming with business. 7:30 PM was around the time in which the kitchen and baths were filled to the brim. Every single chair, table, and bench on the third and fourth floor was occupied. The same went for the bathing rooms as well. Any vacancies were immediately filled up, so hungry and dirty adventurers had to act fast to secure a spot.

A small table nestled in the corner on the fourth floor of Warden sat two adventurers. One was a Singi, who wore a white shirt and a black skirt. Her legs and feet were covered with pink knee socks and black boots. The pink hair, tail, and ears complemented her outfit nicely, and a beloved black bag sat beside her feet.

Sitting across from her was a woman with black hair and eyes as red as the setting sun. She had on overalls with black pants and a red and white button-down shirt. All in all, she looked like the spitting image of a farmer’s daughter.

They both had pleasant smiles on their faces as they listened to each other. Two nearly empty plates of food sat in front of them.

Momo ordered the grilled duck, a baked potato covered with garlic and butter, a small plate of celery, and a nice tall glass of milk. Momo, when she ordered, went red in the face when she realized how childish her order of milk was. But to her surprise, Servi didn’t make fun of her. She also ordered a glass of milk to go with her dinner, which consisted of a steak grilled medium-rare and a bowl of peas and corn.

Taking a sip of her white delight, Momo placed the glass down on the table and smiled. She was met with a giggle from her new friend.

“What’s funny?” she asked, not knowing of the dairy mustache on her face.

“You have a little bit on your….” Servi said as she pointed to her upper lip.

“Ah!” after a quiet but cute gasp, Momo went red in the cheeks while she wiped her mouth.

“Sorry about that,” she said meekly, but Servi waved it off.

“Don’t worry about it. Anyway, what were we talking about again?” Servi said as she carried a spoon of peas and corn to her mouth. When she bit down, the tiny vegetables crushed helplessly against her teeth as their flavor filled her mouth. Her steak was long gone since it was the first thing she devoured. Just one or two spoonfuls of her vegetables remained.

“We were talking about skills,” Momo answered as she stuck her fork in the last little piece of grilled duck. She brought it to her mouth, and with a muted sound, she bit into the meat. Flavor and juice oozed out of it as she chewed. She followed it up with a tiny nibble on her last piece of celery and took her last sip of milk.

“Ah, that’s right. So do you want to go over the Rank 10 skill list?” Servi asked.  A quick word later, she laid a red stone tablet on the table while finishing off the last spoonful of peas and corn. Momo still had a bit of milk left, so she quickly drank the rest. A passing waiter walked by and took their plates and cups. Servi nodded at him while Momo smiled and thanked him.

After he left, Momo took out her ID, and the two looked over their available skills.

“Let’s see….. We have 6 Potential. At most, we can learn two skills each,” Momo said, looking at her own ID. Her eyes scanned over the Rank 10 skill list.

“Which skill looks like a must-have?” Servi asked.

“Probably Protection. It covers the body in a thin layer of protective light, thereby reducing physical damage taken. But it costs 6 Potential, and the other skills look good too. Magic Missile will allow us to attack from a distance, and Lucem could be used to blind enemies. Gah! Why does it all have to be so expensive…” Momo sighed as she laid her ID on the table.

“Why don’t I learn Protection? I mean, I’m pretty good at dodging attacks, but in the off chance I'm hit, I can be protected. If I can keep them distracted, you can kill them from behind.  We can continue our usual strategy. Besides, if I’m reading this right, I can give Protection to other people.”

“Are you sure?” Momo asked. “It’ll be good to have a tank, but I don't want you to get hurt.”

“I could say the same thing. I got scared when that rat attacked you, and maybe Protection could have prevented your arm from breaking,” upon hearing that, Momo rubbed her arm where just hours before, her white bone broke through the skin. Even though it was fully healed, she could still feel the phantom pain that remained.

“Can you just promise me that you’ll be careful?”

Servi smiled. “I promise,” with that, Servi navigated her ID until a message asked if she was sure she wanted to spend 6 Potential to learn Protection. She pressed the box that said ‘Yes,’ and her tablet glowed for a moment.

Protection was a skill that we already knew via the guards' souls we absorbed earlier. However, I do believe there is a chant required to use it.  If you want, I'll tell you the chant later. Oh, but the chant is entirely unnecessary because we only need to think of the skill to use it.

“Alright, I learned it. I’ll also learn Decoy when I get more Potential. So what are you gonna learn?” Servi asked.

“I was thinking Lurk. It’s a skill that makes it harder for enemies to detect you. I was thinking if I ever get the attention of a monster, I could use it until you get it back. Would that be alright?

“It’s fine with me. That was 3 Potential, right? So you still have enough for one more skill.”

“Hmm…” Momo hummed a tune as she glanced over her options. Flambé, a skill that warmed a person's hands, would be helpful when exploring cold areas. With it, one could fight off the danger of hypothermia. But considering the warm climate, it probably wasn’t the best idea to waste such valuable Potential on a skill that wouldn’t be useful for many months. It was spring, after all, and summer was fast approaching.

On the other hand, Lux Sphere was almost a necessity when exploring dark areas. The skill allowed the user to summon tiny balls of light that could light up dark areas.

“So, made up your mind?” Servi asked.  Her black hair danced across her eyes as her head bounced with the rhythm of Momo's humming.

“I have. I think I’ll learn Dazzler. It allows me to make a small ball of shadow that makes noise wherever it lands. If I use it right, I think I’ll be able to support you.”

“That sounds good to me. We can try them out tomorrow morning. Does that sounds good to you?”

Momo nodded. “It does. I’m so excited! My very first skill! Oh, I can’t wait!”

Momo's tail wagged, knocking against her chair and producing a dull noise that was drowned out by the loud atmosphere. At the same time, her finger pressed down on Lurk and Dazzler.  There was no fanfare or glowing lights signifying her newfound power, but Momo did feel something warm inside her heart.  It was nothing more than a placebo effect from accomplishing something substantial.

With dinner eaten and skills learned, the two talked for another 30 or so minutes. After that, the call of slumber had grown strong in its desperate search for Momo, who cutely yawned.

“What time do you want to meet up in the morning?” Servi asked as she got up from her chair. It was around 9:40, and the kitchen was about a quarter filled up. Around this time, most adventurers who stayed at the Warden office were heading to their rooms.

Momo stretched and yawned for the second time. “What about 9 AM?”

Servi nodded. “That's fine with me. That’ll give us some time to practice before they put up the new quests. If I remember right, they go up at 10 AM. But if for some reason I’m not downstairs waiting in the lobby, I’m in room 310. You might need to wake me up.”

“Alrighty,” the two party members walked over to the stairs. Momo had a room on the fourth floor, where the kitchen was, and Servi was stuck on the third floor. With a smile and a wave, Servi turned her back and walked down, leaving Momo alone.

“Goodnight…” Momo quietly said to herself as she made her way across the kitchen and towards her room. Yawning again, she realized that she was exhausted. “I hope I sleep good tonight. Wait, I gotta do something first,” the Singi said when she reached her room. Pulling her key from her bag, she unlocked the door and entered and locked it behind her.

Her room, like Servi’s room, was plain and simple. A dresser, a small window, a mattress, and a blanket. That was all she got, but she didn’t care. She slowly walked over to her bed and fell on it. Suddenly, she found herself giggling and smiling.

“Today was the first day towards achieving my dream. Grandpa, I’m finally here. Oh, that’s right!” Momo reached for her bag and dug deep inside. After searching for a bit, she pulled out a small rectangular item: a present.

I almost forgot about this. Grandpa told me to open it when I got here.

She started to unwrap the present, tearing calmly at the beautiful pink wrapping paper.

A notebook?

Yes, it was. After putting the paper in her bag for later disposal, Momo stared at the notebook.

The cover had a blue sky and showed a dry and cracked brown ground.  In the very middle sat a single flower that persevered through the struggles of growing in a desolate wasteland.  In a way, the single instance of life represented the possibility to pull ahead through any situation.

It’s a lily. Grandpa remembered my favorite flower.

She opened the cover and discovered that the first page wasn’t blank. Though she had no reason or intention to read it out loud, she did

“Dearest, granddaughter.

“If you’re reading this, then I assume that you made it to Canary. It used to be such a beautiful city, though I know not how it looks now. I hope you’re doing well. Have you joined Warden? It might be a bit scary at first, considering that you aren’t blessed, but this old man believes in you! You’re my granddaughter, after all! I was strong, and my blood flows through your body. I do no doubt in my mind that one day, you will achieve greatness. Let your grandpa give you one more final tip.

“Find someone that you can trust to have your back when you're in danger. Someone that will be there to pick you up when you fall. When you do find that someone, you better do the same for them. There have been many times in which I’m only alive thanks to my friends and allies. And I’m thankful for that.

“Well, I lied.  I have one more tip. I bought this journal so you can record your thoughts and feelings. It might seem pointless, but there will be times that you might feel like a failure. I’m not saying this to be mean. There'll be times that make you wonder if joining Warden was the right thing to do. I’ve been there before. And what got me out of that slump was a journal I used to write in. You don’t know how much better you’ll feel after you read about the good times. Just writing about how happy that young boy was when I rescued his cat from that well kept me going through the darkest times.  Keep one thing in mind: the good and bad comes with life, and it’s up to you to sort through those feelings and determine what you want to record. It’s going to be hard, but I believe in you.

“I didn’t expect to write this much, and I better stop soon. But I want you to know one final thing. Ha, I guess I lied again. I promise this will be the last one.

“I love you. You are my granddaughter, and I will always be on your side. If you do something bad and can’t forgive yourself, then I’ll forgive you. I will always protect you.

“From your loving grandpa, Sumo.”

Having reached the end of his message, Momo broke down. All of the emotions she tried to keep locked inside came bursting out. Hugging her knees close together, she silently wailed.

Grandpa… I miss you.

A cloud covered the moon, blocking out part of its light as her room became dark and eerie. It was as if the whole world took pity on a young girl, and it gave her the chance to cry in peace.