It was the weekend and the day to sign up for the tournament Douge knew his mother would never let him go in person; it was already bad enough she required all her sons to return home on the weekends. His brothers had taken the car mother sent but Douge wanted to be alone. The family's mansion wasn't too far from the academy by the time he arrived home it was almost mid day breakfast would be almost done and there was a chance that his brothers would have eaten all the food. Walking through the front courtyard Douge watched as gardeners tended to hedges and rose bushes trimming petals or removing dead buds. Each hedge was carved into a different animal Douge never liked them they always felt so uncanny and he wished his mother would remove them but she was too fond of them. Entering the home Douge found his family inside the dining room mother was cleaning Ens's face, both Ens and Les were gorging themselves on the food. Disgusting. His father was there at the head of the table dressed in a clean and pressed pair of black slacks a white button up shirt with the top three buttons undone and his sleeves rolled up. Remnants of eggs and hash browns remain on the plate in front of him. There in his eyes Douge could see the disgust two. His father, like his grandfather and great grandfather, had been adventurers before settling down to run the family business. Before Douge only resembled his father in face but now after his transformation they looked more siblings then him and his brothers.

  “ You're rather late, how come you didn't ride with your brothers.” Father asked as Douge took a seat, a butler bringing him a plate of warm food with a glass of orange juice.

  “ I wanted to exercise.” Douge lied, his father nodded approvingly, giving him a look that said. At least one of my sons isn't worthless. Digging into the eggs Douge found himself thinking of the meals he had with Liliandra, Sophia, and Rin he missed those moments. It had been two months and he still grieved for the women he had started to fall in love with.

  “ Why didn't I hate Rin for it?” Douge had said to his therapist “ a part of me says he stole her away and I feel like I should hate yet I don't.”

  “ There are a few reasons but I think the most prominent one is your reliance on one another. And the possibility that you never actually loved her like you say you did.” She said, causing Douge to grow red in the face.

  “ You can't tell me what I feel and don't feel about women!” Douge grew angry standing from his chair. “I know what I was feeling, a strong urge to protect and to shield, that's where love starts for me.”

  “ And I do not deny you of that but your emotions and mental state are compromised. The trauma you four shared can create emotions that seem real but are just your brain's way of protecting you from that trauma. All of humanity has evolved this mental shield though it might manifest definitely from one person to another.” She said,

  “ Bah I'm done with this crap you're not helping your onlying making me feel worse.” Douge had said before storming out of the office.

  Les prodded Douge pulling him back to the present. He held a fork full of bacon and eggs. All from Douge's own plate a shit earring grin on his face.

  “ Go ahead, I'm not hungry anymore.” Douge said sliding his untouched breakfast away Les seemed to deflate but ate his food all the same.

  “Today is the first day of registration. Will you allow me to go in person?” Douge asked his mother as she sat down.

  “ No.” She said curtly. “ I have already sent a servant in your place you needn't worry.”

  “ Okay mother, thank you. I will be leaving for the weight room if that's alright?” Douge said but framed it as a question for his mother's approval.

  “ You nearly just sat down to eat.” She said

  “ I'm going to grab a protein shake to help with my muscle growth and maybe get a banana and peanut butter sandwich.”

  “ A good meal, “ Father said.

  “ Very well “ Mother said.

  “ You've become a work out junky brother..” Les said, waving his fork at him.

  “ If I'm gonna place in the top four I need to train and my muscles are a large part of that.” Douge stood excusing himself from the table

  “ You will win son.” Father said, "picking up a glass of red wine and sipping from it.

  “ Rin will not me.” Douge said

  “Ridiculous you claim you'll lose to someone with one arm. Valder may have taken an interest in the boy and he may have been with you in those tragic moments but surely someone with one arm is beneath you.”

  “ No father.”

  Douge laid down his shoulder presses against the bench as he lifted the barbell. He could easily rep out five hundred pounds now, nearly double to what he could do a few months ago. The wait and strain against his muscles felt good. Once he was done with the bench press Douge moved over to a punching bag. The weight room inside his parents home wasn't large like one might assume, merely just a small collection of weights and other devices to assist with working out. With mirrors covering each wall it gave the room the feel of being large when in reality three or four people inside would be fairly crowded. In one corner was the bench press with weights arranged out on either side across from that in another corner was a square rack that doubled as a chin up bar sharing the weights in the center to its left with the bench press. To its right was an assortment of dumbbells ranging from five pounds to two hundred pounds. In another corner was the punching bag hung from a triangular protrusion from the wall. Douge wrapped his fist in cloth and started punching. The elemental stances were the most widespread and well-known martial arts and a majority of people use them as they synergize the well with the casting of magic. However, Douge also enjoyed boxing, an older fighting style but one that has never shown its age. Falling into a rhythm Douge began to pound his fist into the bag, the thick metal chain holding it up rattling as it swung. The world shrank to him and the bag as he shifted around it practicing his foot work. Each punch more vicious than the last as his anger and frustration bled through. Memories of that day two months ago flashing into his mind. The torture they endured. The raw and stomach churning violence of it. Dead eyes. An arm being ripped off like it was wet paper. Being brutalized and healed and then brutalized again. His helplessness. There was screaming, a raw hoarse scream. His throat hurting.

  “ Brother?” A timid voice said. That wasn't a part of his memories.

  “ Brother.” A hand landed on Douge's shoulder in an instant he was turned around, his fist flying out towards his assailant, a wild look in his eyes.

  “ Les!” Douge shouted in surprise, his fist stopping just before impact. “ Oh gods I'm sorry brother I didn't mean.” Douge pulled back his brother Les looked scared.

  “Are you okay?” Les asked. “ Lee, I could hear you screaming from my room.” Douge frowned and walked over back to the bench press where he sat down unwrapping his hands.

  “ I'm fine Les. I'm just.” He paused, “ working through some stuff.” His brother sat down next to him, his wide body nearly taking up the whole thing so Douge slid further down to the edge to make room.

  “ I can't believe it, my own brother is one of the four heroes.” Les said almost reverently as he looked at the dragon mark that peaked from under Douge's clothing.

  “ I'm no hero brother.” Douge said.

  “ Yes you are! Lee, you're amazing, the exact person I would expect to become here.” There it was the expectation. They may have been triplets but gods damn he was the chosen one gods damned he was the one born first. God damned if he.

  “ There are no heroes Les, only those that end up in the same grave.” Douge said.

  “Thats not true what about the stories we grew up hearing men and women who stopped the coming of a great calamity each one was based on true historical events. Hell Lee the gods have chosen you as a hero, you're special.” Les said

  “ So I wasn't given a choice. I'm told that I'll be a hero and now any action will be scrutinized. Oh of course he saved that cat. It's not that he's a nice guy, he's just a hero, it's what they do. Oh you failed to save the ones you love, are you really a hero or just a failure.” Douge sighed. “ I'm not ungrateful for my opportunity and I was excited at first but now I feel like my life has been planned out for me. Any heroic actions I take will be expected of me. I can't be the man who is kind or takes care of those in need. I'll only ever be a hero.”

  The two of them sat in silence for a while before Lea spoke.

  “ Before you got trapped in that rift before any of this happened you were my hero. I looked up to you and still do. I know we are the same age but you seem to just get it and I want to be like that.” Les pressed his lips into a line. “ Brother I will change, I'll lose this weight and I'll become the man you wish you could be. The you without all that hero shit.” His eyes were determined In a way that Douge had never seen from his brother, he embraced him in a hug.

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  “ Don't become me become something better.” Douge said.

  “ What's better?”

  “ Yourself. Now enough of this sappy shit we are Douge we are Vlounderparts we do.” His brother nodded. “ I have a favor to ask. I know we can't do it like how we did as kids but I need to sneak out and you'll cover for me.”

  Les laughed and nodded as both men stood up.

  “ Moms gonna kill you if she finds out shit she didn't even want you to leave the house to go back to school.” Les said.

  “ I know but I want to go register for the tournament myself and maybe run into my friends.”

  Douge didn't bother changing clothes from his work out attire, simple tri-ball shorts and a shirt. It took him just under an hour to walk to administration square.

  “ Might as well get lunch while I'm out. I can just go to the food court on the market floor.” Douge said in a whisper as he thought. Walking into the adventurers administration building he found it packed with men and women lined almost out the door. He should have come soon. Looking around, a familiar face appeared in the lines. One of his house butlers. The master servant actually. Douge walked up to the aging man dressed and a fine black suit.

  “ Hector.” Douge said as he came up to the man. “ Thank you for holding my spot in line.” Hector was a short man, his aged face wrinkles like a dried plum.

  “ Ahh young master a pleasure to see you.” The master servant bowed in greeting and stepped to the side allowing Douge to take his place. “ Did the mistress decide to let you come in person?”

  “ No.” Douge said truthfully, he learned by experience that lying to Hector was not a smart decision. “ I snuck out.”

  “ I see. Might speak forwardly, young master.”

  “ Please.”

  “ I appreciate your honesty with me as I will not lie to the mistress, might I suggest giving me another task to perform.” Hector was a good man and understood that a son would disobey a mother here and there.

  “ A good idea. If you would please go to the markets and find me a limited edition copy of ralnars wake.”

  “ As you wish.” Hector bowed again.

  “ And if you are unable to find it after a reasonable amount of time please just return home.”

  “ As you wish “ with one last bow Hector left. Douge waited patiently in line and once it was his turn. He stepped up to find a small lizard at the desk, its mouth opened as words spoke out of it.

  “ What can I do for you today?” The lizard asked

  “ I'd like to register for the tournament. Are you sick today?”

  “ Yes, as I can't afford to miss any of work, I find myself using my familiar. If you'd please hand over all requisite information identchip ,letter of recommendation and.”

  “ Got it all right here.” Douge said placing everything down on the table the lizard turned his head to look it over before grabbing the identchip In it's mouth and placing it into a terminal after some fast movements and jumping around the lizard pulled the identchip out and laid it back down for Douge.

  “ All good sir if you could please place the paper work inside that tray for me for later sorting.” The lizard said Douge did as instructed before grabbing his identchip and walking away. He rounded the wall in the center to get to the elevators where he showed his identchip to a guard that let him in. The elevator was crowded as groups of adventurers piled in.

  Douge stepped into the first floor of the market and started walking down its long corridor past store after store, each selling different wares. The stores at the front were too expensive for most low ranking adventurers and that was reflected in the clientele they drew. Men and women dressed in varying types of armor each one looked commonplace with the rare ornamentation. A good adventurer knew that the look of a piece of gear did not reflect the quality. Most of these were crafted from the finest quality materials, each most likely imported from a place with a higher magical density that infused the materials. But with Kenji's invention things might get cheaper. Being able to turn common steel into a steel infused with so much magic that it could have only come from uninhabitable zones would crash a market. In the center of the long corridor where food stalls with chairs and tables placed between his focus was on those stalls as he was hoping to find one that was selling some kind of risotto, a nice light dish to keep him going.

  “ Hay!” Another familiar voice called out. “ Douge over here.” He could barely see the hand waving and the top of the man's head through this crowd. How had he saw him through all of these people. Douge wondered.

  “ Kenji.” Douge said with a happy cheer to his voice waving back as he approached he noticed Rin sitting at the table he glanced and then turned away from Douge. There was also a woman at the table with them. She was dressed like one of the receptionists up front.

  “ What are you guys doing here?” Douge asked.

  “ Eating some lunch. I just finished over at the Magic administration building and got everything finalized. I no longer attend the academy.” Kenji said. “ Rin signed up for the tournament, can I assume that's why you're here?”

  Douge nodded.

  “ Sure is and I was hungry so now I'm here. Who's this.” Douge asked as he sat down gesturing towards the woman.

  “ Oh allow me to introduce you two. Rin should be doing that since he invited her but he seems to have lost his tongue.” Kenji said.

  “ I can introduce myself.” The woman said offer a hand to shake. “ Claire. I work as a receptionist here part time. I was on my way to get lunch before heading home when Rin spotted me and invited me over. I'll admit it felt a little awkward. I wasn't expecting to run into him so soon and to hang out with his friends.”

  “ You're very straight forward.” Douge observed “ You don't seem to feel so awkward now.”

  “ Sometimes you have to be when working with adventurers and yeah I'd be lying if I said the awkwardness went away. I just feel a bit more comfortable. Or safe I guess.”

  “ Yeah I understand that. This guy can have that effect on people it seems.” Douge said, patting Rin on the shoulder. He gave him a faint smile although it seemed a bit reluctant.

  “Should I be avoiding him? Like he's been avoiding us.” Douge thought to himself. “ I'll just extract myself.”

  “My name is Douge, I know I only just sat down but I am pretty hungry so I'm gonna.” He was interrupted by Rin sliding a plate of rice and beans little chunks of ham sitting inside the rice. He slid over a plate as well filled with wonderful smelling Chicken. It was an invitation, one that he would accept.

  “ Thanks Rin.” Douge said, sitting back down and digging in.

  “ So as I was saying, the experiment to carve the words of command onto a piece of steel the size of a grain of rice was going well. I managed to actually write a phrase.” Kenji said.

  “ What was the phrase?” Rin asked.

  “Shield.” Kenji said.

  “Shield?” Douge asked, swallowing a spoon full.

  “ Yeah I want to make a personal shield for adventurers. Like the one around the city but in a device that can fit on a belt.” Kenji said.

  “ That's impossible. The strings of command used to even power the shield are too long and numerous; it takes at least fifty lines to get power going in the correct direction.” Douge said.

  “ That is true however that's why I'm working on creating smaller forms of inscription. If I can get like one hundred grains of rice sized steel inside an appropriately sized container with my mana syrup.”

  “ Mana syrup?” Claire said, interrupting Kenji.

  “ Right, that's too much of a lengthy explanation to get into now but just think of it as a substitute for mana crystals inside magitech items. So if I can get each one to create power from the mana syrup plus if I use some lithium batteries then I can solve the power issue then all I need to solve for is the lengthy inscription of the words of command to actually create such a powerful shield.” Kenji said.

  “ If the mana syrup leaks and gets into the battery won't that cause an explosion?” Douge asked the mana syrup was primarily water if he remembered correctly and lithium did not react well with water.

  “ Yes but that's something I'll figure out later. I just want a proof of concept.”

  Douge ate the last bite of his food using a napkin to wipe his face off.

  “ Send me your reacher paper and all your notes, Kenji.” Rin said it did not feel like a question and more like a command said with such confidence that even Douge felt compelled to comply. “ I think that might help me solve a few issues with my winch and possibly my other project.”

  “ For sure.”

  The four of them stopped in front of the fountain in the center of the administration square. A large bus was parked on the flag stone allowing for adventurers to board.

  “ Thank you for the lunch, it was pleasant.” Claire said, turning towards Rin.

  “ Of course. Are you heading home?” Rin said Kenji stepped up to Douge both of them watching the other two.

  “ Yeah if I wait too long it will get dangerous.” Claire said

  “ Allow me to escort you home then think of it as hiring an adventurer, the only price is another conversation.” Rin said.

  “ No, I couldn't trouble you. But thanks.” Claire said.

  “ Then at least let me hire you a cab.” Douge said fishing in his pocket for his phone.

  “ No it's okay, please don't. Cabs don't take people that far down.” Claire said.

  “ Be safe then.” Rin said.

  “ You live in the blocks?” Kenji said the statement made Claire flush with embarrassment but Kenji didn't seem to notice. “ Just like Rin, well I guess he doesn't live there now.” Rin turned to Kenji and shook his head while Douge gave him a light thwap on the back of his head.

  “ What was that for?” Kenji asked.

  “Because what you said is rude man.” Douge said

  “ How is.” Douge put his arm around Kenji's shoulder.

  “ I'll tell you later okay.” Douge said.

  “ You're from the blocks?” Claire asked Rin a mixed look of shock and happiness.

  “ Yeah, I grew up a few dozen floors above the slums in old Xulun.” Rin said

  “ Maybe I would like another conversation.” Claire said

  “ Okay.” Rin said, giving her a big smile. “ I'll see you guys later. Umm Douge can you get Sophia and yourself to come to my dorm tonight I feel like now I owe you two an apology.”

  “ Yeah of course."