Through The Fractured Lens

Lucian

As we continued trekking through the dense forests, Draven held up a hand, gesturing for me to stop moving.

"We're here," Draven whispered.

"This isn't Vorrak," I replied, slightly confused.

"Keep your voice down!" Draven whispered, slightly higher pitched this time around. "If you knew we were going to be spending a lot more time outdoors, I doubt you would've agreed. But I promise, it won't be so bad," he finished.

"You know, one of these nights, I'll strangle you in your sleep," I added.

"Noted," Draven shot back.

We stood in silence for a few minutes, as Draven quietly observed his surroundings for the slightest movement.

"What are you looking for?" I asked, looking over.

Draven didn't reply immediately, instead, his gaze instantly swung to a slight sound coming from the bushes in the distance.

Out of thin air, an arrow pierced through the wind, rushing past the bushes and straight at Draven's forehead.

Reacting in good time, Draven quickly caught the arrow before tossing it off. "Better luck next time," he shouted in the bushes, letting off a slight chuckle.

Finally, a mysterious voice was talking to themselves in the bushes before blurting.

"One of these days I'll have your head!"

"Who is th—"

Before I could finish my statement, a slightly wrinkled face with drooping ginger hair poked out of the bushes, before his entire body erupted outwards, knocking himself to the ground right in front of our feet.

He looked old, a lot older than Draven. He wore leather armor that looked worn down by some very ungrateful years.

"You don't show for years, then you parade into my humble abode with some child? You really got some nerve, Drav boy," he remarked.

'Drav?' I asked myself, curious about the strange nickname.

"So, what do I owe the displeasure of this visit?" He asked Draven, not even bothering to acknowledge me anything past 'some child.'

"Well, you know... I'd like your help with the boy," Draven replied, scratching the back of his neck, seemingly worried of what type of reply he'd get, which also struck me with a bit of worry. As long as he doesn't throw an arrow at my head.

"The boy? Wait... he's a spirit user? How old is he?" The man snapped, taking a moment to properly examine me this time around.

"Yes, and I am only 10," I replied, answering the question for Draven.

"10? What an interesting boy," the man continued before looking back up at Draven. "So, what brings both of you guys out of your way to come see me?"

"Woah, calm down there old friend." Draven spoke up, slightly stuttering towards the end.

"So, I'm an 'old friend' now, eh? You've gotten awfully comfortable with me," he began. "Just tell me why you're here and save the rest, I don't exactly got all day here. I'm a busy man, places to be," he finished.

"Don't exactly look like you got anywhere to be," I mumbled.

"I heard that you brat," he retorted, slightly shifting his gaze on over to me.

Draven let out a sight before looking up over at the old man. "I'd like for you to train this boy on elemental manipulation."

"Him? Elemental manipulation? I'm not exactly a teacher, you know," the old man scolded Draven, feeling disappointed that his time was wasted. However, I came here to learn, and I don't want to sit around in this useless conversation for much longer.

"Even at my age, my spirit usage is better than a lot of adult users. Even you can recognize that. I don't like to brag, but I also consider my capabilities with the sword and my movement to be quite nice as well," I begin explaining, slightly annoyed, which seemed to show.

"Draven told me you could help, and I really need to pass this hurdle. I can't keep relying on these fundamentals in every fight," I finish.

The old man furrowed his brow slightly as a result of my statement.

"You talk like you have demons chasing you, kid."

"What exactly is so interesting about this kid, Draven?" He asked. "Spirit user at the age of 10 isn't quite surprising around these parts."

While I was going to answer for myself, Draven stopped me, resting his hand on my shoulder, giving me a silent signal to let him handle this as he spoke up. "While I don't exactly think I can explain it to you, all I ask is that you just take a minute with him. If he's in your interest, then could you train him?"

"You sound a bit desperate. I've never seen you like this before, Drav. I suppose I could spare a minute."

Finally, the old man looked back down over at me.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Lucian," I replied.

"Nice to meet you boy. I'm Kurou. I raised Draven when he was just a young lad. Although, he doesn't visit that often," the man spoke.

So this is Draven's caretaker?

I've always been curious about Draven's past. He never mentioned anything related to his parents, family, relatives, nothing of the sorts. He always seemed very closed off about it, clearly not wanting to discuss it.

This was something I didn't expect, however.

Despite this, I would like to learn a bit more about Draven's past still, and maybe spending time with this man, Kurou, will shed light on a few things.

"Well now, it looks like it'll storm very soon. Let's get inside, shall we?" Kurou sent out as he began walking away.

We followed him through the bushes before we reached a clearing. There was nothing around except a more open green plane, although I got a weird sense of urgency.

Urgency to leave, to run away.

It was all so confusing, and felt so strange.

Kurou seemed to pick up on my apparent behavior as he placed a hand on my shoulder just briefly. "Do not fear, child. This is normal."

Not really understanding what he means by normal, I held myself together. Suddenly, Kurou stepped forward and held out his hand, a slight glowing light coming from the center of his palm, which began to glow brighter by the second.

After just a few seconds, his hand stopped glowing, and he lowered it. Not long after, a giant cabin began fading into view right in front of us.

Just within seconds, the giant cabin was fully visible.

It was like it was always there.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked, pinching my hair with both of my hands in confusion as I shook my head around.

Kurou looked over at me with a slight grin.

"My father was able to manipulate one of the five senses. The sense of sight. Using a spell, he was able to fully hide this house from the naked eye," he began explaining.

"While it wasn't originally our house, after a while I moved out here."

"It's... peaceful," he finished.

After a long many lifetimes, I was finally able to see the work of sense manipulation in action. While that was another piece of information I knew little about, I always kind of forgot about it. The only public record of a sense manipulation user from Serathis or Elyndor was King Romano, one of the former kings of Elyndor.

He manipulated the sense of hearing, as well as having purple lightning. One of the stronger foes ever recorded, but I never really heard much about other sense users.

This was definitely something interesting to see.

"Well come on now, don't exactly want to frolic around these woods," Kurou exclaimed.

Draven let out a sigh as he pulled out another flask filled to the brim with alcohol, practically overflowing, as he took a step in.

Kurou followed just behind him, and as they stepped in, I as well followed suit.

Once we entered, I began looking around for abnormalities. Anything that would explain what I just witnessed.

"Don't bother trying to figure out the spell, kid. Even I don't know how it truly works. The method of which it was designed with was clearly lost in time," Kurou stated.

"That's a bummer. It's quite a spectacle," I remarked as I continued to still look around the cabin aimlessly, taking in all the weird antiques graciously cased and freshly dusted that lined the walls around the entire house.

"Anyways, follow me boy. If you are as interesting as Draven seems to let off, I would definitely like to learn more about you," Kurou spoke as he began walking slowly.

At the same time, Draven slumped down on the couch off to the side.

"Are you not coming, Drav?" he asked curiously.

Draven looked up and over at him. "Nah, I think I'll stay out here for a bit. It's been a few hours since I had a drink, you know."

"Very well," Kurou finished, as he tossed me a wave to continue walking forward.

Finally, we walked up to a door with a fainted label titled [ TRAINING ROOM ] just above. The old man swung open the door, the elegance of the room blinding me.

Who the hell is this guy?