Chapter 138 – Last Day at Their First Home
Chapter 138
Last Day at Their First Home
Date : Day 28 of Grimleaf 1024 Aethellgard Concord Year.
The fifth day of Hyoren's Dark Magic training ended with quiet satisfaction.
And in just two more days, winter would arrive.
The air had already grown colder—the kind of crisp chill that seemed to settle into the bones and stay there. The sky above Akela had shifted in hue over the past week, the familiar golden-silver blend of dual sunlight gradually giving way to a more pronounced silver dominance as Golden Sol became smaller beside its twin.
On Kresneger, the cycle between Sol and Luna became far more pronounced during winter and summer. The twin suns of Kresneger changed depending on the season.
During winter, Silver Luna would remain alone in the sky while Golden Sol disappeared entirely for three whole months. Then when summer arrived, the opposite would happen. Golden Sol would remain alone in the heavens, bathing the world in endless warm golden light.
Currently, the world was bathed in perpetual silver light. Beautiful. Ethereal. Yet strangely alien.
Silver Luna's pale radiance illuminated the land brightly enough to see by, but unlike Sol, it carried no warmth. It blanketed the world in cold silver hues that still felt unfamiliar to Hyoren—someone who had grown up beneath a normal sun on Earth.
Golden Sol was still there if they squinted their eyes, but it was almost like a tiny speck of dust against beside its bigger twin. And soon, they wouldn't see Golden Sol again until spring returned.
Today, Hyoren was training alone in the backyard of Wanderer's Rest.
The space was modest—a small clearing behind the inn that Martha allowed him to use during the quieter hours when other guests weren't around. The wooden fence that marked the boundary creaked softly in the occasional gust of wind, and the bare branches of a nearby tree cast long silver shadows across the packed earth.
The chilly air of approaching winter brushed against his skin as he focused on the spell. Enchant Maledict. For the past five days, he had repeatedly constructed the Runic Array inside his mind until it became fully memorized.
The structure that had once required painstaking concentration to maintain now formed almost automatically—a mental framework that had been etched into his consciousness through sheer repetition.
The problem was the final step. The actual manifestation. The part he had been stuck on since yesterday. He could construct the array perfectly. He could transform the Aethell. But the moment came for the energy to permeate the target object, something kept going wrong. The connection would falter. The energy would destabilize. The spell would fail.
But Hyoren persisted. Again. And again. And again.
He imagined the process carefully. Neutral Aethell flowing from his core. Changing into Dark Element. Then flowing into his sword. Endowing the blade itself with a curse.
The image stabilized. The Runic Array settled.
"Enchant Maledict."
The spell activated.
Hyoren immediately felt the change. Dark Aethell surged from his core and rushed into his sword. The sensation was unmistakable—an energy that seemed to flow from somewhere deep in his chest, through his arm, and into the weapon he held. Dark energy enveloped the blade. For a moment, it hung there—shrouded in wisps of shadow that seemed to writhe and pulse against the metal.
Normally, this was where the process failed. The energy would destabilize and dissipate into the air, leaving nothing behind but the faint sensation of wasted effort and the lingering frustration of another unsuccessful attempt.
But this time, it didn't vanish.
The dark energy slowly permeated into the sword itself instead. A thin streak of darkness spread across the blade like black veins—creeping along the metal surface with deliberate slowness, as if the curse itself was exploring its new host. The transformation was subtle but unmistakable. The sword's appearance had changed. The dark streaks remained where before there had been only clean metal.
Hyoren's eyes widened slightly. He understood immediately. The spell had finally completed.
And almost simultaneously, he heard the familiar voice—the Voice of Aethell—system-like announcement heard whenever someone learned a skill, leveled up, or acquired magic.
"Dark Magic - Acquired."
"Enchant Maledict - Spell Learned."
Hyoren almost jumped from excitement.
His heart hammered against his ribs. His hands trembled slightly around the sword's grip. He had done it. After five days of exhausting mental training, after countless failures and frustrations, he had finally succeeded. And he barely resisted shouting out loud.
Instead, he quickly examined the sword in his hand. The overflowing dark aura from earlier was gone now. But traces of darkness still lingered across the blade—the black veins that marked where the curse had taken hold. They pulsed faintly, as if the weapon itself was breathing with new life.
Carefully, Hyoren touched the flat side of the sword with his finger.
"Ouch..."
A faint sting immediately shot through him. At the same time, he felt a tiny portion of his strength being drained away. It was subtle. Almost imperceptible. But unmistakable. Part of the Maledict Curse.
Hyoren immediately frowned thoughtfully.
"I really need to be careful with this..."
He looked at the blade again.
“The sword doesn’t even need to cut someone to transfer the curse.”
Then he rubbed his finger lightly where the faint pain still lingered.
“Even slight contact is enough.”
Hyoren stared at the dark streaks coating his blade.
"This really is a double-edged sword... It makes applying the curse incredibly easy. But if I'm careless while handling my own sword..."
He looked at his finger again. The sting had faded completely now, but the lesson remained clear.
"I could end up cursing myself too."
Afterward, he began pacing around the backyard while observing the effects on himself. The packed earth crunched softly beneath his boots as he walked, each footstep marking a small circuit around the training area.
"The curse itself isn't very strong..."
He flexed his arm experimentally.
"I don't think my capabilities are reduced by even five percent. Actually... maybe one or two percent at most."
A few moments later, the weakened feeling vanished entirely. The subtle drain on his strength had faded.
“And the curse effect on the target disappears after around one minute…”
Then a grin slowly formed on his face.
"But the true strength of the spell was never the curse intensity itself. But how it could stacks."
His eyes gleamed slightly. The silver light of Luna caught them at just the right angle, creating a brief flash that seemed to mirror the excitement building within him.
"If I hit an enemy five times, their abilities could drop by around ten percent. And if I land ten hits... Twenty percent."
For a tank like him who specialized in prolonged frontline combat, it was perfect.
The longer a fight went on, the more opportunities he would have to apply the curse. And the more times he applied it, the weaker his opponent would become. It was a strategy that rewarded exactly the kind of endurance and persistence that his role demanded.
Eventually, Hyoren waited for the enchantment on the sword itself to disappear completely. He watched as the dark streaks slowly faded—the curse relinquishing its hold on the metal and returning the blade to its original state.
He mentally counted the duration.
"About five minutes..."
Then he nodded in satisfaction.
"That's actually ideal."
Most normal monster encounters rarely lasted longer than that from his experience adventuring with Elise.
“So I won’t need to constantly reapply it during ordinary fights.”
His gaze landed on his sword.
“But against bosses or elite enemies… I’ll probably need to reapply the spell mid-battle.”
Hyoren stopped pacing and took a deep breath.
The cool air filled his lungs—a refreshing contrast to the mental exertion of the past hour. He could feel the beginnings of the familiar headache that came from extended magic use, but it was manageable. Less severe than the first few days, when even an hour of practice had left him feeling like his brain was overheating.
"Which means... I still need more practice."
His eyes sharpened with determination.
"I need to shorten the casting time enough to use it smoothly even in the middle of combat."
He sat back down on the bench and finally sheathed his sword.
"But that's something to worry about later..."
He let out a long breath and recalled the past five days of training. The memories came easily—each day distinct in his mind despite the repetitive nature of the work itself.
On the first day, he could barely train for an hour under Oria's guidance before his mind felt completely exhausted.
The mental strain had been overwhelming. Oria had watched him with those knowing sapphire eyes, offering corrections and adjustments that he could barely process by the end of the session.
The second day was slightly better.
He pushed himself harder and managed around two hours before the mental strain became unbearable. The improvement was small but noticeable—evidence that the training was having an effect, that his mind was gradually adapting to the demands he was placing on it.
Afterward, he decided to visit Dandi's bookstore again—the Gentleman Knowledge.
The familiar shop which tended by his first friend. A place where he could retreat when he needed quiet contemplation or simply wanted to be surrounded by the comforting presence of books.
There, he bought The Record of Gregorius's Journey, the same journal he had found earlier in the Guild Reference room with Ina. Back then he had only skimmed through the early pages, but now he wanted to properly continue reading it.
Gregorius was a famous figure throughout Altaria. A prince. A Platinum Rank adventurer. And eventually, the King of Altaria himself.
The man's history was well-known even beyond the borders of the kingdom—his exploits the subject of countless songs, stories, and scholarly works that celebrated his achievements and analyzed his strategies.
Before ascending the throne, Gregorius had chosen to become an adventurer first. His coronation only happened after he successfully repelled a massive Demon Army invasion during his active adventuring years. The feat had earned him both the crown and Platinum Rank almost simultaneously—a combination of military achievement and political legitimacy that had cemented his place in history.
What interested Hyoren most, however, was something else entirely. He admired Gregorius. He was also a tank like Hyoren. And his party consisted entirely of beautiful women. All women which eventually became his Queen and Concubine after he became a King.
Hyoren scratched his cheek awkwardly while remembering that detail.
"Well... not the harem part."
He chuckled. That was definitely not the part he admired.
His romantic life was already complicated enough with two lovers. Adding more women into the equation sounded less like a dream and more like a disaster waiting to happen.
Elise once jokingly hinted that he might not stop at two. But honestly? Hyoren couldn’t even imagine himself taking another lover beyond Elise and Ina. Managing two relationships already took effort, understanding, and balance.
And now their party also had Jackey. At the very least, Freedom Party definitely wouldn’t turn into a full harem party like Gregorius’s legendary group.
The image of Jackey somehow becoming “one of the heroines” immediately appeared in Hyoren’s head.
He snorted and chuckled again.
“Yeah… absolutely impossible.”
What Hyoren admired was the way Gregorius fought. The way he reached Platinum Rank as a frontline defender. That part inspired him. Hyoren wanted to study him as a role model. A tank who stood at the front while carrying his entire party through overwhelming battles.
So on the second day, he spent the remainder of his afternoon quietly reading inside Dandi’s store while occasionally chatting with the bookstore owner.
The peaceful atmosphere had actually helped ease the mental fatigue from magic training. There was something about being surrounded by books—the smell of old paper and leather bindings, the soft rustle of pages being turned—that seemed to soothe his overtaxed mind in a way that nothing else could.
Then came the third day.
Hyoren had enthusiastically gone to Oria's workshop again—only to be immediately kicked out. The rejection was swift and absolute, delivered with the kind of cheerful ruthlessness that only Oria could manage.
"Shoo. Shoo. I'm busy!"
Oria practically shoved him back out the door. The small elf figure waved her hand dismissively—the gesture somehow managing to convey both irritation and affection in equal measure.
“I need to catch up on potion production! Don’t come near this place for the next five days!”
Remembering it now made Hyoren chuckle.
After getting expelled from Oria's house, he simply continued training alone at a park in the Merchants' District instead. The location was less ideal than Oria's workshop—no comfortable seating, no access to reference materials, no knowledgeable elf to offer corrections when his technique went wrong. But it served well enough for the kind of repetitive practice that he needed to do.
Then on the fourth day and today, he switched to practicing in the inn's backyard. The space was familiar now—the same patch of packed earth where he had trained with Ronald, the same wooden fence that marked the boundary, the same bench where he could sit and rest between attempts.
Reon usually came in the mornings to spar with him as well.
The young adventurer had slowly become a regular presence during Hyoren’s training sessions. They were fellow students under Ronald. Both trained by the same veteran tank. And both aspired to follow the same path. Reon especially admired her father deeply.
She already had her own beginner party now, but she still visited from time to time to spar with Hyoren and exchange training.
Remembering today recent spar made Hyoren smile faintly.
“Hyoren, your growth is insane!”
Reon lowered her practice sword while panting heavily.
“I can’t even win half the time anymore!”
The two of them sat down afterward to rest, wiping sweat from their bodies after the intense sparring session.
Reon stretched her shoulders tiredly. But a proud smile appeared on her face.
“Speaking of which, I finally got a party now. Rina joined as our scout.”
Then she sighed dramatically.
“We already started taking monster subjugation quests too. But Papa only allows us to hunt weak monsters like Horned Rabbits or Mossback Squirrel…”
She slumped backward slightly.
“It’s honestly kinda boring… But Papa keeps insisting we should take things slowly. Sigh…”
Hyoren chuckled softly.
“Slow and steady is important, Reon.”
He repeated Ronald’s usual words almost perfectly.
“Be patient.”
Reon puffed her cheeks slightly in annoyance.
“You sound exactly like Papa now.”
Hyoren only laughed.
Eventually, the two parted ways after finishing their training. Then Hyoren continued practicing alone in the inn yard with his sword and shield.
Because no matter how important magic became, Hyoren never forgot his true role. He was a tank first. Mage second. The magic he learned was merely a tool to strengthen his effectiveness in that role—not a replacement for the fundamental combat skills that kept him alive on the front line.
***
He returned to his room to find Elise relaxing on the bed. The silver-haired elf was reclining against the headboard, her eyes directed toward the window, watching the silver light of Luna filter through the glass. The soft glow cast gentle shadows across her features, highlighting the delicate points of her ears and the fall of her hair against the pillow.
The silver-haired elf smiled the moment she saw him enter.
"How's your training, Hyoren?"
A smile formed on Hyoren's face as well.
"It went well. I finally learned the spell."
Elise’s emerald eyes immediately brightened.
“Really?”
She quickly jumped off the bed and approached him. Her bare feet padded across the wooden floor, the sound light and quick against the old planks.
“Wow, congrats, Hyoren!”
She lightly hugged him before pulling back again, clearly happy for him.
Hyoren chuckled softly.
“Yeah. Enchant Maledict finally worked.”
Elise smiled warmly.
“Then we’re ready for dungeon diving.”
Hyoren nodded. Elise had successfully acquired Mapping Skill yesterday. And now he had finally learned Dark Magic and completed his first spell. Everything was prepared. On the 30th, Akela Dungeon would officially open. Their real adventurer life was finally about to begin.
Elise’s arms rose above her head, fingers interlaced as she extended her spine with a soft sound of satisfaction.
“Let’s go eat? I’m peckish. Fufu.”
Hyoren laughed softly.
“Sure.”
Then Elise naturally took the lead and pulled him downstairs toward the communal room. Her hand found his with practiced ease, fingers interlacing as she tugged him toward the door. The gesture was casual and comfortable.
***
They settled into corner table, turning the evening into a quiet little celebration between the two of them. Nothing extravagant. Just cold ale. Warm stew. And peaceful conversation.
Martha's special stew tasted especially rich tonight, perhaps because both of them were in such good moods. The broth was thick and hearty, the vegetables tender, the meat falling apart with the slightest pressure of a spoon. Each bite seemed to carry more flavor than usual—or perhaps everything simply tasted better when there was something to celebrate.
But beneath the warmth of the evening, there was also a faint bittersweet feeling lingering in their hearts. Because tonight was their final night staying at Wanderer's Rest. Tomorrow, their new house would finally be ready. A new chapter of their lives would begin.
The realization made Hyoren look around the communal room more carefully than usual. The noisy adventurers. The smell of food and alcohol. The wooden tables. The familiar warmth of the inn. The details that had become so routine he barely noticed them anymore suddenly seemed worth preserving—the way the lamplight flickered against the exposed beams overhead, the particular creak of the floorboards near the counter, the distant sound of Martha's voice calling out orders to the kitchen.
This place had been their first real home in Akela. It was where he and Elise first settled after arriving in the city. Where their relationship deepened. Where they planned their future together. Where they always returned safely after dangerous days.
And somehow—despite being only an inn—it truly felt like home.
As the evening slowly quieted down, Martha eventually approached their table with her usual warm smile.
"So..."
She wiped the table casually with a cloth.
“I heard you two are moving tomorrow.”
Hyoren looked at her gratefully.
“We actually wanted to say goodbye properly, Martha.”
Then he smiled sincerely.
“And thank you. For everything. You gave us a safe place to stay and good food to eat.”
Elise gently placed her hand over Martha’s on the table.
“You were the first person in this city who made us feel welcome. We’ll never forget that.”
Martha’s usual tavern-keeper toughness visibly weakened for a moment.Her eyes glistened slightly. She blinked quickly, as if trying to dispel the moisture before it could form into something more obvious.
“Oh, you two… It’s been my pleasure.”
Then she quickly regained her usual energy and pointed at them sternly.
“Now don’t you go forgetting about me just because you finally have a fancy house. You’re still welcome here anytime.”
Elise immediately smiled brightly.
“We wouldn’t dream of it. I still need my regular dose of your gossip after all.”
Then both Hyoren and Elise spoke at the exact same time.
“And his stew.”
“And my stew.”
The synchronized response made Martha burst into loud laughter. Her booming voice echoed throughout the gradually quieting tavern—a sound that seemed to fill the space with warmth and genuine amusement. A few of the remaining adventurers glanced over with knowing smiles before returning to their own conversations.
“Good! Then it’s a promise.”
Martha patted their shoulders affectionately one last time before returning to work and bustling toward another table. Her footsteps carried her away with the same familiar rhythm, though Hyoren thought he detected a slight hesitation before she turned.
Eventually, Hyoren and Elise finished their drinks and headed upstairs. For the last time. The stairs creaked beneath their feet—the same familiar sounds they had heard every night since arriving. Each step seemed to carry more weight than usual, each creak of the old wood marking a small farewell.
Their room somehow felt smaller tonight. Not uncomfortable, but it's a place they were slowly outgrowing.
After changing clothes, the two quietly settled into bed together. The familiar sounds of Wanderer's Rest drifted through the walls. Muffled laughter downstairs. Clinking mugs. Footsteps. Soft conversations. The sounds that had become the backdrop of their evenings—the auditory signature of a place that had become home.
Tonight, neither of them felt the need for passion or long talks. They simply held each other quietly beneath the blanket. Comfortable. Content. Elise's head rested against his shoulder, her silver hair spread across the pillow they shared.
Hyoren looked down at Elise quietly.
Then he leaned closer and kissed her softly.
“Tomorrow’s a big day…”
A gentle smile formed on his face.
“But for now…”
He pulled the blanket slightly higher around them.
“Good night, Elise.”
Elise smiled back warmly, her emerald eyes soft beneath the dim lamp light.
“Good night, Hyoren…”
Not long afterward, silence settled over the room once more. Elise’s breathing turned slow and even.
Tomorrow, they would move into their new house together with Ina and Jackey. Their headquarters. Their new home.
But tonight–they were simply two adventurers resting inside a warm inn, grateful for the kindness of a woman named Martha and the safety Wanderer’s Rest had given them during the beginning of their journey.