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Seeing Sol practicing swordsmanship and getting better and better with each swing of his weapon against the moving dummy, Frank was quite surprised of how easily the young man was grasping swordsmanship.
Even he had been rather clumsy with the spear and other weapons before, and took a long while, years, to get as good as he was with it in his dreams… which then transferred to his current self, interestingly enough.
"Huh, he's not bad…" Frank looked from afar, noticing Sol's efforts and his great talent with the blade. "He seems to have a strong Aura of Sunlight, huh? He's really compatible with this Clan. An amazing hidden talent."
"Yeah! He's strong, isn't he?" Matsuo said with a nod, smiling while crossing his arms. "My father said that he has innate talents to certain things as someone with a Heroic Soul. Apparently swordsmanship and sun magic are his talents… No wonder he's called Sol! He was someone really compatible with our clan, so Lady Amaterasu had no problems recruiting him."
"He's kind of handsome," Erika said with a smile. "But he's like a worse version of Frank with how strict he is with himself… Not my type."
"Did you had to analyze him like that? It's not like he'll ever agree with dating with you Erika, Sol obviously has a crush with Elfina," Harumi said.
"Hm? Oh…" Sol noticed their presence, quickly stopping his training, he was sweating all over his muscular upper body, he didn't even look like someone that should be in high school. "Hey guys."
Frank and his friends walked to greet him, and Matsuo got him a towel.
"Thanks…" Sol sighed in relief. "Hah, I think I overexerted myself there… but it felt good, using the sword. I can't believe just how good and natural it feels to wield one. Ah! You must be Frank, right? Nice to meet you. I've seen you before, but I guess we never interacted…"
"Ah yeah, nice to meet you too Sol…" Frank muttered, it didn't feel to him like this was their first meeting, however. "How are you feeling so far? A lot happened I guess… I'm sorry for what has happened to you."
"Oh, yeah… Well, I'm still getting through it." Sol sighed. "It was a lot… Keeping this a secret from my family isn't easy either… But I'm getting through it… Ah, I suppose Elfina and Fiere are having a worse time. But we didn't have any other chance either way. It was either this, or we would become exposed to the underworld… I-I honestly didn't even know all these things existed. I'm still kind of processing it…"
"Yeah, I can understand how you feel," Frank nodded. "About a few months ago I was just like you too, it was scary and confusing but… Well, you will get more used to it. But never to everything else that comes with this knowledge. Anything can happen, so you have to be careful. Growing stronger is a priority of course, but also helping out the clan that's protecting you by doing missions and contributing."
"I-I see… Will my life be like this from now on?" Sol wondered. "It's not that I am upset but… I wonder what will be of my future? Do you guys ever think that? Do you plan to go to college or something? Do you have dreams outside of this world of danger?"
"Hmm…" Harumi remained in silence. "I never thought about that…"
"Not really… We go to school mostly to learn the basics, but I don't think I'll go to college," Erika said. "I'll just become a Werewolf Guard and protect the city."
"I was born with a duty, and I've been working for my clan ever since I was much younger," Matsuo said. "So not really… I suppose my dream is to one day ascend to a position similar to the Elders."
"I… Uh," Frank remained in silence. "What do I want for my future? That's… Well, I think I was going to work to become a doctor. My mother wanted me to get a well-paying job after all but that was never really my dream. I guess I didn't have one regarding jobs. Maybe when I was a kid? I kind of wanted to become an astronaut, but I don't want to even bother with that anymore."
"Ah, I see! I guess everyone got their own dreams, but I suppose most of what you want to be is already connected to this…" Sol nodded. "I was going to join my father's company I suppose. But I guess that's kind of similar to Matsuo or Erika's dreams in a way, but a bit different."
"Yeah, I guess so," Erika nodded. "Sol, you're quite boring, aren't you?"
"E-Eh? Am I?" Sol felt slightly flustered Erika teased him like that.
"Don't be mean with him…" Harumi sighed.
"Sorry about that, Erika got a sharp mouth," Matsuo laughed it off. "Anyway, shall we go look for Elfina and her maid? Where did they go?"
"Ah, they shouldn't be too far from here, I think they were training with Miss Hinata," Sol said.
"With Hinata?" Frank wondered. "What could she even be learning from her?"
"Well, Hinata happens to be a really good Magician," Matsuo said. "She's also rather good at Invocation and Summoning Magic. She has a lot of Familiars. Her Cloning Technique is a result of such an ability too, technically each Clone of hers is not only copy of her connected to her soul and mind, but a Familiar at the same time, so they grow on their own independently and can become stronger and develop unique abilities."
"Really? That sounds amazing…" Frank said. "I wish I had that power…"
As they made their way through the village, they found Elfina and Fiere practicing magic with Hinata, they were having a really hard time even making up a single Magic Circle, which constantly shattered.
Crack, crack…!
CRASH!
"Aagh! Not again! I was right there!" Elfina complained.
"Hmm, this is quite complicated, aren't there easier Magic Circles to start with?" Fiere wondered.
"Easier?! You're already conjuring the easiest, it only has five runes!" Hinata facepalmed. "How come you're so bad at it when you have Fae Blood in your veins?!"
Frank had never seen Hinata so frustrated before!
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