"Mom! Dad! I'm back!"
Aeolos, having some free time during his monthly break, hurried back to Holy Flame City with a sense of eager anticipation. When he returned to the familiar streets and pushed open the door with excitement, the scene he had been hoping for appeared right before his eyes.
"Brother!"
"Brother!"
"Brother!"
Three soft, sweet voices called out in unison, making Aeolos feel as though half of his body had gone numb. At the same time, he felt completely caught off guard.
What he saw before him was truly unexpected. On the sofa sat three little girls who looked almost identical, with only their hair and eye colors differing. They were all curiously watching him, and it was they who had just called him "brother."
"This..." Aeolos froze in place.
"These are your sisters, no doubt about it," Muria said calmly, looking at his eldest son. "Triplets! Aeolos, you should be happy!"
"I..." Aeolos' face showed an awkward expression, taken aback by this sudden development. He had prepared himself to meet his sister and had even bought gifts, but he hadn't expected to have three sisters. This was beyond surprising.
"Brother, did you bring us gifts?" Despite this being their first meeting, the second daughter, Tiffany, with her loose blonde hair and dragon-girl form, stared at her older brother without any shyness, her large golden eyes blinking expectantly.
"Of course I did!" Aeolos quickly entered the living room and approached the sofa, hurriedly pulling out all the gifts he had bought with his half-month savings, plus the scholarship he had earned from exams and a reward from the King's Delights. He had prepared enough gifts to cover any situation, and thankfully, he had bought extras. Even though he had only expected one sister, he was prepared for three.
The three little girls hopped off the sofa, full of curiosity, and began examining the pile of gifts Aeolos had carefully selected, which now formed a small mountain on the table. They searched through the pile, each looking for something they liked.
"Don't you like any of them?" Aeolos asked nervously as his three newborn sisters, only about a month old, rummaged through the gifts. His worry was clear—he was definitely a doting brother.
At the same time, he didn't find the situation strange. After all, his mother had carried his sisters for three whole years before giving birth, so having a few peculiarities wasn't surprising to him.
"There is!" Gladys, the eldest of the triplets with short, shoulder-length platinum blonde hair, responded sweetly. She behaved elegantly and didn't search through the pile of gifts for too long. She picked up a beautiful jade comb without hesitation. The exquisite patterns on the comb revealed it was crafted by the elves.
"This comb is called 'Moon's Trace,' said to be made by a noble Silvermoon Elf," Aeolos quickly explained, excited that his sister had chosen something he had carefully selected.
"It's lovely, I like it a lot. Thank you, brother." The eldest sister gracefully bowed to Aeolos, holding the delicate comb in her hands, before skipping back to their mother's side. She loved being in her mother's arms the most.
"This sword is nice! I'll take this!" Soon, Tiffany, the second sister, pulled out a finely crafted small sword from the pile. The sword was encrusted with various colorful gemstones, giving it a luxurious appearance.
"This is..." Aeolos was about to introduce the sword when—
"These gems are fake. How much did you pay for this, brother?" Tiffany frowned slightly as she ran her fingers over the sword.
"Th-thirty gold coins!" Aeolos stammered, embarrassed that his sister had called out the fake gems on the sword.
"These kinds of things..." Tiffany was about to say more when—
"Once you've picked your gift, sit quietly!" Mikaela stepped in to save her eldest son from further embarrassment. She knew Aeolos was short on money since Muria kept a tight hold on his finances, leaving him little room to splurge, though he was never truly lacking.
"Oh!" Tiffany pouted but obediently snuggled into Muria's arms. She was closer to her father than to her mother.
"I'll take this!" The youngest sister, Katia, whose black hair and eyes closely resembled Aeolos', picked up a small hammer from the pile. She weighed it in her hand and nodded in satisfaction.
"This is..." Aeolos started to speak when his youngest sister interrupted.
"Is something wrong?" Katia looked at her brother with a puzzled expression, feeling that the hammer in her hand felt just right.
"No, no problem!" Aeolos swallowed his words. The hammer was actually meant for his own strength training. In his haste, he had accidentally included it with the gifts. What was even more surprising was how easily his sister had picked up the hammer.
"Aeolos, since you were at school, you didn't get to see your sisters when they were born. But it's not too late now. Let me introduce them to you!" After the three little girls had chosen their gifts, Muria began introducing Aeolos to them.
Later that evening, after a harmonious family dinner, Aeolos approached Muria, who was relaxing on the sofa with a book.
As Aeolos' knowledge and experience grew, he became increasingly aware of his father's unfathomable power. Despite maintaining top grades in school, with several others sharing the top spot with him, he had gotten used to it.
Every day, he still entered the Sword Mark, but now he could control when he entered. Although he had no power to refuse entry, he could choose the time. The mark required him to duel daily.
Since starting high school, Aeolos realized that, in terms of swordsmanship alone, most of his peers couldn't match him. Only those tied for first place with him could compete. Against ordinary classmates, he would win with ease. But even with his skill level, when he faced the gray-robed swordsman in the mark, he still couldn't avoid being overwhelmingly defeated, although he could now last three strikes.
"Father, I have something I'd like to discuss with you."
"Go ahead," Muria replied calmly, without looking up from his book.
"During the physical exam at school, they detected a faint trace of gold dragon blood in me, indicating that I have a dormant dragon bloodline. My teacher suggested that I awaken it through combat."
"Mmm." Muria didn't even lift his head, still focused on his book.
"So, under my teacher's recommendation, I've joined an adventuring group formed by my seniors. We plan to undertake missions in our free time to gain combat experience, as my teacher advised."
"Mmm, so you won't have much time to come home anymore, right?" Muria finally looked up, but his face showed none of the concern Aeolos had hoped for. Instead, he remained unusually calm, which made Aeolos feel both heartbroken and a little disappointed.
According to his seniors, when they told their parents about their plans to fight monsters in the wild, their parents had been worried, some even crying or begging the teachers to exempt their children from the danger.
"Yes," Aeolos replied, somewhat downcast.
"If you're going to fight, then you'll need good equipment," Muria said as he closed his book and stood up. He glanced at his son and added, "Follow me. I have something to give you."
As his father headed towards the basement, Aeolos' heart filled with excitement. He recalled seeing his father in battle armor stained with blood when he was young. Even though he was still a child at the time, he knew his father's equipment was of an extremely high grade. Now, it seemed that his father was planning to pass it down to him. This realization instantly wiped away all of Aeolos' gloom.
Fatherly love is like a mountain! Aeolos, feeling uplifted, quickly followed after his father.
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter] [+5 Reviews = +1 Chapter]