I wake up with the light streaming through the window of the small room. Surprisingly, I slept very well yesterday, despite my disastrous failure. Pure physical and mental exhaustion are a very good combination for a good night’s sleep.

  I drag myself to the workshop with soreness all over my body. The failed blade is lying where I left it yesterday. It bothers me to have failed, but I let myself get carried away by fatigue, and it affected me more than it should have. The steel of that blade isn’t in condition, but it will probably serve me to practice quenching again before using good material.

  The forge is completely out. I forgot to put it out last night. A chill runs down my spine. Luckily nothing happened, but I should be more careful with those things. One small mistake and the entire workshop could go up in flames.

  With me inside.

  Yesterday I was so tired I didn’t even eat dinner. My stomach begs me to go have some breakfast, and I don’t have the drive to make progress on my projects today either. On the way, I wonder what went wrong yesterday.

  There are many things that could have gone wrong. From the quenching temperature to the steel not being homogeneous when I began shaping the blade. Or maybe I made a mistake while shaping it.

  But personally, I think the problem was a lack of concentration.

  It might have been due to fatigue, or maybe I let myself be carried away by the routine that making nails had become. Either way, I remember thinking about several things while forging instead of focusing completely on the process.

  When I arrive at the house, I can only think about eating something.

  “Don’t you think you should clean yourself up a bit before having breakfast?” a maid says to me with a look of disgust as I walk in.

  I look at my hands and realize that neither yesterday nor this morning did I wash. I run upstairs to bathe when I cross paths with Fred.

  “Good morning,” I greet him as we pass each other.

  “I’m sorry, Ter. I have to leave in a hurry.”

  Something in my brother’s face tells me something serious has happened.

  “Is something wrong?” I ask, following him to the entrance.

  “I can’t talk right now. Stay in the mansion.”

  He waves goodbye as he mounts his horse and leaves.

  On his horse.

  If he were going down to the city, he would go by carriage. If he’s going on horseback, it can only mean one thing. He’s going to fight. One of the dungeons has overflowed.

  I don’t need to look for Porten. He’s next to me, sending a messenger. Fred must have come home to write the letter in his own hand. Now that I think about it, he wasn’t with Rob.

  “What happened?” I ask him.

  “Young master. You shouldn’t worry about that. Your brothers will return soon.”

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  “Was it the northern one?”

  I feel a certain satisfaction when I see the surprise on his face. He smooths his mustache as he thinks about how to answer me.

  “I’m afraid so. There has been an overflow. Fortunately, the monsters won’t come down from the mountain, but you mustn’t mention it to anyone. You don’t know anything. Understood?”

  He winks at me and leaves to carry out his duties. As for me, I’m not sure what to do. I feel like my brothers are leaving me behind and, added to last night’s failure, I’m not in the best state of mind.

  “Everything looks better with a full stomach,” I say as I walk back into the mansion.

  Indeed, I was right. The world is a better place when you’ve just satisfied your appetite.

  I know it’s stupid to think that a child my age could help my brothers. If I go with them, I’d only get in their way. But I can’t think about anything else. My morning run is probably not a very good idea after everything I just ate.

  I decide to rest a little. I need a day away from the workshop, and I can’t go down to the city either. On the ground floor we have a library. I don’t know if I’ll find anything useful, but taking a look can’t hurt.

  I’ve never gone in before. In theory, I was supposed to be given permission starting from the baptism, but I haven’t had the chance to visit until now. At no point have they told me I can’t enter, so I understand that I’m allowed to.

  I’m surprised by how spacious it is. Square in shape and two stories high, it’s probably one of the largest rooms in the mansion. All four walls are lined with shelves except the one opposite the door, where there is a table that could comfortably seat nine people beneath a large window.

  There are several more shelves scattered throughout the room, but what really catches my attention are four display cases. I walk over to see what they contain. The first is a feather of various colors. Aside from being extraordinarily large, it has nothing special about it.

  The second is a fang. It seems too large to be from a wolf—maybe a boar? The third contains a horn, or at least I think it is. I don’t know what monster it’s from, but it has a golden pattern spiraling upward from the base. When I look closely, I see a faint aura around it.

  “Is it magical?” My voice echoes through the room.

  I move, intrigued, to the last one. It’s a scale. An enormous scale. If the horn had a faint aura, the one from this scale clearly shines to my eyes. Whatever monster it belonged to, I’m convinced it was the strongest of the four.

  Material Virtue Talent has risen to lvl 1.

  The message surprises me. It’s the second of my talents.

  Is the magical aura I see in certain materials due to this talent?

  My hands tremble with excitement, and for a moment I consider taking the scale out to look at it more closely. That’s probably not a good idea.

  I calm myself by taking several deep breaths.

  Honestly, knowing about the talent only raises more questions. Like the previous one, it says it’s at level 1. I suppose that means it can level up, but unlike the other, this one doesn’t seem to consume mana to activate. I wish I knew how it activates.

  I find several books that catch my attention. From books dealing with enchantments to detailed guides to monsters from the dungeons across the kingdom. I decide to start with the one about enchantments, but in the end I’m unable to concentrate. I’ll have to come back another time.

  In the end, I go to bed with the feeling that I haven’t made good use of the day despite having discovered the second of my talents. In the afternoon, I practiced with my fire magic without much enthusiasm.

  Every so often I would go ask Porten if there was any news about my brothers. Unfortunately, nothing is known. The mansion felt abnormally quiet. Not only because of my brothers’ absence—everyone is worried. Even the maids who normally gossip while they work were serious today.

  I wake up when I hear noises outside my room.

  “It’s still night,” I think when I see that no light is coming through the windows.

  I leave the room.

  The hallway isn’t lit, but light is coming from the room next to mine. Fred must have come back home. I hurry to my brother’s room to see him and have him tell me what happened with the expedition.

  “Fred!” I greet my brother cheerfully as I enter his room.

  “Young master, please return to your room,” Porten says to me beside my brother’s bed.

  But I don’t listen to him. I only have eyes for the figure lying in the bed. My hands tremble as I approach. It’s hard for me to walk.

  It’s hard for me to breathe.

  The figure in the bed is my brother. It’s Fred. He’s unconscious.

  A mark between red and pink runs across him from his right shoulder to the lowest ribs on his left. His leg is bandaged, although the bandages are stained with blood, and the sheets around them are as well.

  I collapse sobbing beside his bed.