"Come on, go now.." said Auren's grandma. "You like running around with that thing."
They were right outside their neighbour's house, the fence gate was open—his grandma had come to drop him here. Dante and Kenzo's father were in Kenzo's backyard, teaching the young boy how to hold a small wooden sword. Dante did not bring him, but his grandma was not having it.
Auren's left hand was holding onto his grandma's two fingers, the right one holding the small wooden sword—his round face was looking down though, dejected. It wouldn't hurt if someone told him from the beginning that he had no magic, but they gave him two freaking magical tattoos and then squashed all his hopes with a goddamn rock.
For a second, he forgot who he really was.
Why should he get any fancy summons? He was no one. There was no afterlife glory for people who get drunk and walk in front of a truck.
"Stop sulking and start walking.." his grandma flicked his head with her other hand.
"Oww.." Auren grabbed his big head with both his tiny hands, leaving her hand alone.
"Why should I learn to fight? What if I just don't like hitting people?" he said in annoyance, not thinking much of what he was really saying.
The granny looked at him for a second, Auren looking up at her with equal intensity. Then she sighed.
"Do you know how your grandfather became a knight?"
"He beat some people up?" he offered in a completely mocking tone.
"No," she said calmly. "Baron Dorian was our lord back then—the father of the current lord Audrey. One day, he and two of his men were coming through the forest and suddenly a big tiger attacked them. One man, who was attacked, was badly injured while another one ran in the opposite direction. The lord too ran in another direction, but a giant boulder was in the way. The tiger, clever one, was right behind him because he was more shapely than the other soldier."
"Then?" Auren asked. Even before he was a child, he liked to hear stories.
"Your grandfather was coming back from the forest at exactly that moment. He had caught a big goat that day. He heard them shouting—quickly, he came to see what was happening and found the big tiger slowly moving towards our lord. In a second—without thinking much at all—he put the goat on his back and ran towards the tiger, making a loud sound.
The tiger saw him and turned away from the lord. But you see, your grandpa was also a clever one. After running a little with a goat on his back, he let the tiger catch the goat, and as it got busy killing it, he quickly ran away. Running around in a circle catching up to the lord and showing him a way to get safely out of the forest. It's the same forest behind this house, you see."
"The baron made him a knight for that?" Auren asked.
"Yes. You see, your grandpa had no fighting skill other than what any person could do with an axe. Still, the lord made him a knight and told his soldiers to teach him how to fight."
"So getting a chance to learn how to fight is valuable? That's the point?"
"That too, but no. What I'm trying to tell you is—the best warriors are those who do not like to hit people. Saving others, helping others—that is what strength is for."
"What if I am not good enough?" asked Auren, this time not looking at her. The mocking tone from before had completely disappeared from his childish voice.
"No one is good enough, boy. Even saints fail and gods cry. We do what we can and work diligently to make that enough."
She pushed him forward with that.
Auren too shook his head, as if to clear his mind of all thoughts, and moved forward with his little wooden sword in hand. So what if both his summons were duds? The second life alone was nothing less than a miracle. That.. was enough.
His father smiled at him as he lifted the tiny wooden sword high and walked near the three. The dumb kid of the neighbour had also learned how to at least keep the wooden sword in hand. He too gave Auren a big toothy smile, as if welcoming him in this weird gathering. And they practiced. It was more like playing, but still, the two adults tried their best to make it fun while teaching them basics—how to swing it with force, how to make sure it didn't hurt them, even teaching some basic footwork.
Auren listened and did exactly as he was told. Kenzo beside him was more interested in playing and chasing him around with the little sword. He could see the two men exchanging looks whenever he used what he was taught against the over-energetic kid chasing behind him.
He did not learn everything quickly or show great talent for it—he had never learned swordsmanship to begin with, so it was equally as new to him as it was for the kid beside him.
Still, just doing this once properly gave him some ideas as to what he could improve on and how he could probably use the white energy inside him to power some of the moves to deliver devastating hits. With a serious lack of entertainment in this world—practicing this should provide good enough distraction.
Something else changed from that day. Auren knew by the frequency of people coming to meet Dante in the afternoon that his role as the village's only knight with title and land was not a simple one. He finally understood why people often came to their house to discuss the weirdest issues—personal ones, and ones related to the whole village.
Every Sunday, Dante went to the village with the neighbourhood uncle, Hanzo. Auren didn't think much of it, but this Sunday Dante took him along too. He even let him walk beside the two on the condition that he would follow everything Dante asked of him without question.
Guess his simple habit of following everything the two said without much trouble while learning the sword gave them enough trust in him that he wouldn't run away on his own and create trouble for them. They thought him understanding enough to come with them.