My heart skipped a beat when the door to the flat swung open. I patted my chest, steeled my heart, and closed the tablet to step out of my room as footsteps resounded.
I walked out of the room, greeting my parents with a bright smile. “Mom! Dad! What took you so long?”
Dad looked much better than before. He was no longer pale and had mostly healed up. Even the blood poisoning no longer bothered him. Two days ago, Mom shared the news, informing me that the blood poisoning was fully extracted and that he shouldn’t have any lasting issues.
“We returned as fast as we could,” Mathias said, while struggling a little as he removed his boots. He groaned, slipped into his slippers, and sat down on the couch with a deep sigh. Mom disappeared into my parents’ bedroom with Dad’s bags, and I slumped down on the couch near him.
“These money grubbers wanted to keep me there. Can you imagine that? Spouting nonsense about trauma and that I’d need therapy. How much longer did they want to keep me there? Weren’t 30 days more than enough?!” He shook his head in exasperation and smiled at me, his eyes widening slightly as they landed on my arms.
Dad sat upright and inspected me for a good minute. “You look phenomenal.”
A scoff escaped my lips and I raised an eyebrow at him.
“You are taller, aren’t you? And are those muscles I’m seeing?” he exclaimed, rubbing his eyes as if he was trying to dispel the illusion.
But it was not an illusion. I had grown some muscles, and I might have grown a centimeter or two as well.
The pride in my father’s eyes was overwhelming and I smiled awkwardly in response, heat rising to my cheeks.
Mom walked out of the bedroom after a few minutes and my father didn’t waste a second to share his finds with her.
“He sits straighter as well,” Mom noticed, flashing a vibrant smile. “He’s such a confident young boy!”
Tears welled up in her eyes and she walked over to give me a tight hug. “I’m glad binding the egg fixed everything.”
I reciprocated the hug firmly, but it was impossible to suppress the guilt boiling inside me. Still, Mom looked happy and Dad was proud. They were happy for me.
Everything was going to be fine.
Now… I only needed to grow a little bit stronger. Strengthen the soulshare, expand my World, and temper my body, all while feeding the Soilback to ensure it would grow fast enough to go hunt with Daniel soon.
“I need to show you something,” I said finally, escaping my mother’s firm embrace.
A pull on our bond was enough to stir the Soilback. It woke up and emerged in my palm. Space twisted and a portion of my soul energy was consumed to manifest the little glutton.
It yawned and rubbed its weary eyes as it got up, opening its eyes as I held out my palm, bombarding the Soulkin with emotions and images.
Images of my parents and what they had done for me, and emotions like love, gratitude, and happiness.
The Soilback looked up at my parents and chirped excitedly.
“Oh, sweetheart! Is that what I think it is?” Mom exclaimed, sitting down beside me when her legs caved in. “It is so cute!”
But while Mom was overly excited, Father looked sternly at my Soulkin.
“So… this is your Soulkin?” he asked hesitantly, uncertainty marking his face.
I just smiled back at him, “Yes. A Soilback, to be precise. Probably a mutant. I had no idea what it was, but Daniel explained it to me. He even said that it has the potential to grow into a 3-Star Wild as long as the mutation is not malignant, which he doubts.”
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I noticed a shift from my right at that and glanced at Mom. She cocked her eyebrows and gave me that look. There was no need for any words because I figured that I’d messed up. Still, Mom took it upon herself to tell me all about it.
“Daniel? So you’ve been meeting up with him?”
Oh well…
I rubbed the back of my head, a forced smile on my lips. “Did I forget to mention that? You see… I was not sure what to do with the egg, and—”
No matter what I said, it would be the wrong thing. Resigning my fate to Mom and Dad, I cursed my stupidity in silence. I avoided eye contact and continued, “I considered selling the egg, but I knew you wouldn’t want that. So… I wanted to know how valuable the beast egg is. If it was something special, I could have exchanged it with a weaker beast egg and the money we need to pay for the debts and hospital bills.”
Father grunted something incomprehensible, his pride replaced with… was that guilt? I couldn’t quite tell. Mom glared daggers at me, and I turned my head further, all while the Soilback’s confusion reached me through our bond. It had no idea what was going on.
How nice it must be to have no idea what is going on, I thought, while sending waves of reassurance to the Soilback. It released a series of chirping and hissing noises, then coiled up again.
“I called Daniel the day we rushed to the hospital, and he helped me analyze it. He… well, he basically forced me to bind it because my World responded to the egg. Apparently, that is special and all. Either way, I’ve been meeting with him, learning from him.”
A shudder ran through my entire body as Daniel’s shouts and snippets of his devious workout routine resurfaced.
“Did you accept anything from him?” Mother asked, pinching the bridge of her nose like she always did when her patience was drawing to an end.
She looked up, and I looked away, my lips tightly pressed together.
“I don’t understand you, Adam. What… just what are you thinking?” Words of anger and frustration reached me, and I couldn’t even hold it against her.
“He’s been helping me and the Soilback, and…” I was sure I would regret this, but I couldn’t lie to her. Hiding the truth from my parents had already been bad enough. Lying to them was non-optional. “We will check the nearby zones soon. A Wild zone with a low danger level.”
“What?!” Mom shrieked, the color in her face fading. “There is no way I’m going to let you out of the Bastion, Adam!!”
The Soilback stirred and jumped up, bewildered. It looked around and hissed in all directions. Confusion reached me through the bond, and I hurriedly stored the Soulkin in my World. In the meantime, Mom started to shout at me, and I was certain she would scream at me for the next hour—probably longer—if not for Father’s arm landing on her shoulder.
I didn’t meet his gaze, but I caught him shaking his head from the corner of my eye. He pulled Mom closer to him and said something. However, all I could tell was that his lips were moving. My ears were already ringing from Mom’s shouting, which ceased suddenly. Looking up after a moment of silence, I saw my mother glaring at my father. But while her stare was sharp, her shoulders drooped.
She looked… defeated?
“Daniel is coming with you, right?” Her head flicked back to me, her eyes sharp and doubtful, while the edge in her voice dulled. “I know I cannot force you to stay in the Bastion. Since you are almost sixteen and a Blessed, you are considered an adult… but–... Just make sure you’re not getting hurt. Even if you don’t like it, ask Daniel to protect you if you cannot handle the danger. Pride is worthless if you’re dead. It won’t keep you alive…”
That was more than a little confusing. What did Dad say to change my mother’s stance?
“And make sure you stay true to yourself. I think you know better, but you shouldn’t exploit your friends. Help them in their time of need, and never forget how they supported you when you were lost and in need of help.” She added, and it did not look like she would stop anytime soon.
If anything, Mom looked like she had a lot more prepared, especially to lecture me about my actions, but she just smiled at me as I met her eyes.
“What is its name?”
“Hmm?”
Mom sighed deeply. “Your Soulkin. What’s its name?”
The Soilback materialized in my palm again, drawing a trace of soul energy, but my lips parted and closed repetitively.
“Don’t tell me you’re going to call it ‘Soilback’. Spare me with that look, Adam, and give that little cutie a proper name!”
So that’s the biggest problem now? Are we just ignoring how easily you accepted me leaving the protection of the dome to hunt a bunch of ferocious beasts before they can tear me apart?
I nearly laughed at that but looked at the Soilback instead. My Soulkin looked back up at my face, greeting me with a pair of intelligent eyes that glittered like pure gold for a moment.
A name flashed through my head, and I knew instinctively that it fit perfectly.
“What do you think about Aureus, buddy?”
The Soilback chirped excitedly and pressed its head firmly against my thumb, sending waves of excitement through the bond that seemed a little bit firmer than it had been a moment ago.
Aureus, it is.