Once again, the day passed in what seemed like a flash, and soon Eisen was once again left in the Warehouse with four people that were technically monsters, Caria, Melissa, Kiron, and Kirisho. With a smile, the old man looked at Caria and Melissa that had become quite tired after using their mana so much today and practicing how to properly manage using their element, becoming sleepy as a consequence, which is why they were leaning against Eisen already asleep.
Kirisho also went to bed, probably because she was able to read the mood of the room now that Kiron and Eisen were sitting next to each other silently. After a good while that Eisen spent simply checking his plans and figuring out a timetable for the next few days, Kiron quietly spoke up.
"…Could… could I ask you something?" He asked, for the first time speaking to Eisen in a more relaxed manner, before the old man nodded his head. "Of course, Kiron. Ask all you want."
Slowly, Kiron gulped down some saliva that seemed to be stuck in his throat. "Why… didn't I know you were my grandfather?" He asked while Eisen stayed silent. Eisen knew that Kiron said he wanted to ask him something, but he also knew that this wasn't the real end of the question yet. And it seemed he was right since Kiron continued.
"I never truly cared for family, at any point in my life. Yes, I acknowledged my father as my father, and my mother as my mother, but that was about it. I acknowledged them. I only met my father once, while my mother died shortly after giving birth to me. I didn't have any siblings, and my mother's parents were what you would call extremists. Due to my race, my intelligence grew faster than for normal children, meaning I could understand my grandparents' words at only a few months old. My body was also already equivalent to a young human child's at that point, despite me not being able to speak yet. And of course, that made it only easier for my grandparents to despise me." Kiron explained, quietly continuing with his words afterward.
"I was living with them for about a few years, in which I was locked down at the bottom of the well where they fed me like I was some rabid monstrosity, throwing raw meat down to me. They were extremists that didn't believe in Monsters being capable of any good, but regardless, I was their grandchild. That was indisputable. As I said, I was able to listen at that point, but I could not yet speak. And I did not speak until I turned 15 and gained the information that usually only humans gained. Until that point, however, my grandparents already convinced me that I was a horrible creature that only lived to destroy every person that lives. And I acted like it. I… did something horrible… When I turned 15 and saw that information, I was overcome with rage, for whatever reason, and then escaped the well, killing my grandparents while I was at it." Quietly, Kiron scraped across the ground with his claws in nervosity, unsure of how Eisen would react. But since he wasn't finished yet, the Half-Dragon continued.
"That was the first day when I felt the Mana-Crystal in my heart as well. It's like a surging heat, and it feels like my body is trying to push it out of me. I think... I may have been supposed to be a person instead of a monster, but my body thought otherwise when I was born, and so things are quite complicated in my life. But there was one thing that didn't seem complicated to me — moving on alone. For a very, very long time, I just traveled alone, and slowly learned to be civilized, as the more I ended up interacting with people. And of course, I also learned how horrid the things I did to my grandparents were. I attempted to cut myself off from that side of me completely, and pretended I was just a Dragon walking on two legs. And from then on, family never meant anything to me. Not even when I finally ended up meeting my father, it felt more like a stranger congratulating me for living long enough. And then, I got cursed, lost my strength, and had to re-evaluate myself. It seemed like I was back at the bottom of the well. I desperately tried to get stronger but was still captured and brought to a place where I was to be sold. And so I was, as in the beginning, at the bottom of the well again." The Half-Dragon muttered, slowly pulling his legs tighter against his body, seeming just like a scared child at this point.
"But then, I was freed from the well, by you. You pulled me out and treated me kindly like I was just another person. I was finally, for the first time in my life, treated like what I always wanted to be. A 'person.' Not a monster, not the son of a god, but a dull, regular person. You gave that to me, Eisen. You gave me a family made up of people that saw me as their own. And now, it was revealed that you're in actuality my family. We may not be blood-related, but you are indisputably my Father's Father, aren't you? So how can I act happy toward the Grandparent that pulled me out of the well, after all, that I did to the Grandparents that threw me into it?" Kiron asked, his voice becoming infinitely quiet, although Eisen could still hear all he was saying. He felt complicated about it.
Kiron wasn't his actual grandson, and Trygan wasn't his actual son. Eisen wasn't even really Eisen, a person of this world. He was actually Benjamin Theodore Joyce, son to am emotionally and sometimes physically abusive father, and a mother that threw him away when his father died to start a new family. Benjamin was a widower and father to three beautiful children, one of which turned into a criminal, turned his life around, and then lost his wife, one of which acted all happy all the time while being emotionally absent, and one of which wasn't even herself anymore after marrying a monster. Benjamin was a mess.
But even then, he somehow felt a weird connection with this world. As if it was not just code, but a real world. He knew that wasn't the case, but at least to Eisen, it felt just as real as reality did.
Eisen was aware that his body was slowly giving in. His arm wasn't getting much better, and weird things were going on with his head and his senses that he couldn't explain. Benjamin was old, and never really treated his body all that well. Covered in scars from head to toe, he drank, he smoked, and he overburdened his body nearly every single day. So since he didn't have much time left in the real world, Eisen at least wanted to spend as much time as possible within this new, beautiful world that he wished he had been able to experience earlier. And Eisen didn't want to lie to his feelings either.
"Kiron…" The old man muttered out slowly, startling the half-dragon that nearly didn't expect Eisen to answer at all. "I'm aware that I may not know what this body has done throughout the history of this world, but I'm also aware of other things. Despite me not seeing in my head that you're my grandchild, I am fully aware that I have grandchildren, some of which may even come here soon. And one of which is sitting right beside me. Kiron, even if you're not sure, I am. You're part of my family now, and will always be so. So stop making that face and hug me, eh?" The old man told Kiron with a smile before the Half-Dragon began quite literally to sob in response.
That night was the first night that Kiron wasn't cold toward Eisen, and the first night in a long time that Eisen didn't log off while his body slept.
The next morning, Eisen woke up with a fresh mind. It seemed like he dreamt about something, which was probably the case because he was just laying in the capsule, not using his mind at the time. The scene that Eisen saw was pretty exciting. He was inside of a giant, indeed an enormous room, although it wasn't a hall but rather a regular place that was just supersized to fit the inhabitant — a truly Giant version of Eisen.
Eisen didn't know why he didn't feel like he shrunk down in front of a regular-sized copy of himself, but to him, it somehow seemed like he was normal, while there was a giant copy of him. The Giant Eisen was moving his mouth, but Eisen himself couldn't hear him. And that's when he woke up again, back in the warehouse. For a moment, Eisen felt a little disoriented as he woke up in the giant warehouse, but soon enough, he managed to gather his thoughts and remembered why he was there.
And it seemed like he actually slept in a little bit since the others were already there, and even Kiron and Kirisho were up and preparing for the day. Of course, the workers didn't arrive yet, and it seemed like the others only just now came in as well.
"Morning, Eisen!" Brody exclaimed before Eisen stood up with a smile and waved at everyone. "Morning. All of you ready for work?" The old man asked with a smile, before everyone happily nodded their heads, except Eisen's three apprentices that were feeling somewhat overworked. Well, Eisen had warned them, after all, so it wasn't like they didn't know it would be hard.
"Hello there, you three. I asked if you're feeling ready for work." Eisen asked once more with a light, somewhat threatening smile before the three of them turned around and immediately nodded their heads furiously.
"Y-Yes Eisen! Of course Eisen!" They responded with startled, wry smiles before Eisen nodded his head in satisfaction. "Good! Now then, I think you were tasked to prepare breakfast again?" Eisen asked them, once more with a light smile, and they nodded their heads before distributing the food for the morning.
"Alright, thanks. Oh, by the way, good job on the planks. You'll probably finish even earlier than expected, huh?" Eisen asked them before the three apprentices nodded their heads, and Koro swiftly spoke up.
"Yes! We think so at least. We're going to finish the quota you gave us within the next few hours, probably. And then we can work on the rest of the parts with you, right?" Koro asked excitedly, hoping to be able to work on something with Eisen again directly, but the old man shook his head.
"Not directly. I'll be working on parts different to what you will be making. You'll make support beams after that." Eisen told them, continuing before they could complain, saying something that none of them would be able to protest. "I trust you three to take care of that, alright?" Eisen asked them, and soon, the boys nodded their heads before they all continued eating breakfast. While they were eating, Eisen looked over toward Kiron who still seemed to have slightly red eyes from last night, although he didn't seem nearly as tense as he did before all of this happened.
And then, Eisen suddenly remembered that he still didn't check what his rank-up for the taming skill gave him. He ignored the extra stat in both INT and WIS and immediately checked the new ability, which made Eisen excitedly grin, thinking about the possibilities already.
That was because Eisen was now able to tame a third monster!
