(6) Lack of self-confidence


A few days had passed since Blaide's encounter with the mysterious assassin who named herself Maie His life ran as usual, as if the momentous occurrence was a non-event. But deep inside his mind there was doubt, joy, fear, anxiety, all mixed together with his thoughts. Though the maddening sight of emotions bothered him sometimes, he tried not to let his feelings get in the way.

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Then came one Saturday, Blaide's weekly day-off. This is when he usually go on trips, adventures, or in rare cases, to train himself. Sometimes, he ends up spending the day back at the shop because there was nowhere to go.

Today he was keen on enjoying the day off.

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Eight-thirty in the morning. Blaide had eaten his breakfast and was due to leave the inn. As he left his room, he was greeted by his "big brother" Ryan and asked where he would be going. "Anywhere, I guess," the boy replied with a slight smile.

"On your own?" the guy asked, a little worried.

"Y-yes…," Blaide answered in a disappointed voice. The sudden realization that he would be roaming around on his own faded his joy.

Sensing sadness on the kid's spirit, Ryan tried to give some encouragement, as to prevent the spoilage of the planned outing. "Don't be down. Maybe sooner or later someone would have you for a companion."

"I hope so." Blaide replied, his happy state returning. He reached for the doors. Before he left, Ryan reminded him to be careful. "Thanks. I will," he promised, and left off.

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Somewhere around the forests that separate the cities of Prontera and Geffen, Blaide is fighting a warrior from the Orc's village nearby. Interestingly the young guy is not hitting much, and the opponent is not receiving much injuries. In fact, they were not really fighting at all: they were training, and the big guy was the boy's sparring partner.

It was sunny at that time, but the hot feeling is not much felt in the dense forest areas where the leaves of the trees cancel out much of the heat that is beaming down the ground. As a result, many critters who do not fancy the dehydrating temperature thrive in these places.

Somewhere between the clashing of weapons of the boy and the orc, and the efforts to evade each other's blows, was the feeling of the battle of the two that was about to fade. The faces of the two sparring duos showed signs of weakening from the temperature of their heads, and stress form the minutes that had been used for battling each other.

Finally, as the last attempt to hit the opponent was blocked, the young thief fell down on his knees, his hands both on the ground, and his head facing down, sweat dripping down from his face. The orc held on to a nearby tree, his feet unable to lift his weight from so much fatigue. Both wiped the sweat off their own faces.

Then, Blaide's body went down the grassy ground, his head facing east where the orc is resting.

"So," the orc spoke (yes, he is talking). "How are you now?" his voice was a mix of groaning and deep breathing.

The kid didn't give out a reply, his body so tired from the battle that had passed.

The orc was able to recover his energy in a faster span of time. A moment later, he walked toward Blaide and sat beside him. He took out a bottle of water and made the kid drink. "How are you now?" the orc asked again, his voice returning to the usual groaning.

The kid now had enough energy to pick himself up, but the orc ended up helping him stand up. He sat down in front of the companion and replied on the partner's question. "I don't know…," Blaide andswered, worriedly. His breathing was still labored. "I think I didn't do well."

"C'mon. Don't say that," the companion quickly defended. He patted his hand on the boy's back and added, "You improved a lot."

After a few denials and convincing the lad conceded hid defeat, but was a little reluctant about accepting the orc's words about him being a lot better at combat.

The big guy groaned loudly. "Anyhow, I'll go now. We'll meet again soon." And he returned to his village by himself, leaving Blaide sitting on a tree stump.

Have I really got a lot stronger?, the young thief thought.

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The sun was about to set when Blaide decided to get out of the forest and return to his hometown Morrocc. It has been a while since his sparring partner had left. And he has to get back before dark or risk getting mauled by whatever beast was lurking in the darkness that is about to surface.

He stood up and started venturing out of the forest and back to Prontera.

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Several minutes passed. Blaide seemed to have a face that showed worrying. Why wouldn't he? He's been trying to walk the path he knew that should be leading him out of the forest, and yet he couldn't see anything around him but trees. Also, it was getting dark, and he was picking up a strange presence around him, which was the same feeling he had when he met the assassin Maie.

"Maie?" the boy murmured, then he shouted the name with a shivering voice.

In front of him, the bushes rustled, then the treetops shook its branches. Blaide was kind-of nervous: What if it wasn't her? What if something's about to attack me? These thoughts were circling around his head. But his fear ended up being unfounded when the assassin he was thinking of showed up, though her entrance from above the trees scared him.

"Hey, kiddo…," the girl greeted. She looked the same as Blaide first saw her.

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"You should thank him for telling you that."

"But I'm not sure about it…"

The two were not several meters away from the capital city's gates, and they talked with each other as they walked nearer to the city.

"I don't know…"

"You're not confident about your skills?"

"…"

"C'mon. You're shy, aren't you?"

"No, I don't. I…uh…" The kid wouldn't want to admit it, but it was obvious and ended up bowing his head down in shame.

"Hey, don't be sad about it," the assassin tried to comfort the disappointed young thief. She messed up the companion's hair and noted, "There's always room for improvement."

A moment of silence occurred as they walked.

"Um, Maie?"

"What is it?"

"You know..., um…"

"Don't be shy. Say it."

"… We've know each other for a while now and… well…"

"…"

"I feel like I could trust you…"

"Why? You don't trust people too much?"

"W-well, not really. I-I… I'm just afraid people would do bad things to me."

The assassin giggled. "You're still a kid."

The two reached Prontera's west gate. They stopped several feet away from the gate.

"Well, you're on your own from here."

"Um, Maie?"

"Hm?"

"Can you teach me to be a better person?"

The companion scratched her head and giggled. "If that's what you want. Meet me here next week."

"Um, thank you." And with that, Blaide returned to Morrocc through the Kafra's teleport service.


EoC
Couldn't push through with the writing because of unknown reasons, but now that I'm back, hmm…