Chapter 6: Gifts
"Wow! They're so big!" Aloysius shouted in wonder. The remaining sadness he felt was now replaced by absolute wonder for these tall horses.
Within the stable stood four horses, each seeming to have an unknown power behind their burgeoning muscles. Two of them had black fur, one had red fur, and the last had brown fur. It was as if each one of these horses was painted their color as they didn't have any other colors on their fur. Each horse stood obediently in the stable, not minding the newcomers.
"Yeah and look at their fur! It is as soft as silk!" Solen was surprised by the softness of the horse he was petting. He couldn't stop himself as he kept petting the horse's side.
'Is their fur suppose to be this soft?" He thought to himself. Of course, he didn't have the answer as he had never touched a horse in his past life. He was sure that their fur would have been a bit rougher.
"Hey Korik, are the horses' usually like this when strangers pet them?" Jacob asked the other guard, Korik. The horses' were unusually tame when Solen and Aloysius were petting them as if they had known these two children for years.
"No, this is really strange. Usually, they will do anything to stop strangers from even remotely touching them. They have even bitten at people who have gotten too close." Korik replied in amazement. The only people he had seen touching these horses was the horse groom and the Patriarch of the Fireblood Clan. Only those two had been able to touch these horses.
"Maybe they can tell these two are the Lord's children?" Jacob responded in a questioning manner. He couldn't even believe his own statement just now.
"Bah, there is no reason to think about it anymore. Our job is to protect these two right now." Korik replied to Jacob, not wanting to think about it anymore. While he really was curious, there was nothing he could do about it.
Minutes passed quickly and Aloysius could be seen hugging the red furred horse. It neighed tenderly in response to Aloysius' affection.
"This is really weird…" Solen thought to himself as he watched the two. This horse seemed to have a high level of affection for Aloysius while one of the black horses was beckoning him with delicate and pleading neighs.
"I really have no idea how this is happening… why are these two horses like this?" He thought to himself as he moved toward the horse that was begging for him. After moving even closer to this horse, he noticed something even stranger.
"Does this horse have canines? Is this horse an omnivore?" Solen was astonished at this discovery. This horse followed a different evolutionary path than the ones on Earth.
"Hey Aloysius, does your horse have any sharp teeth?" He suddenly decided to ask Aloysius after looking at his respective horse.
"Yeah, why?" Aloysius looked up in surprise. His horse had sharp canines as well.
"Ah, nothing. Just be careful around strangers horses in the future." Solen replied as he rubbed a non-existent sweatdrop off of his forehead.
Solen thought in fear. "What could have happened if these horses' were hostile instead?"
"Korik, what are these horses fed?" Solen decided to ask even though he knew the answer. Meat.
"They eat Barbaric Beast meat, Young Master." Korik answered respectfully.
"Barbaric Beast meat?" Solen questioned. He never learned about the classifications of beasts from his parents yet, so he had no idea what a Barbaric Beast was.
"Young Master doesn't know?" The second guard, Jacob looked at him in surprise and answered. "There are two classifications for beasts. First, there are Barbaric Beasts. These beasts have astonishingly high strength and do not use any elements. The Barbaric Beasts are the relatively easier foe of the two types."
"The second type is the Elemental Beast. These beasts have the same amount of physical strength as their counterparts, but they also have access to an element. The Elemental Beasts are far more frightening because you have no idea what they are until they use an elemental attack. Thankfully, they are quite rare compared to the numerous Barbaric Beasts." Jacob finished his long explanation.
The main point that Solen took from Jacob's explanation was that he should be cautious no matter the foe. An Elemental Beast was a tyrant while the Barbaric Beast was the peasant.
Suddenly, the sound of doors opening echoed inside the room as the stable doors were abruptly opened. A tall man with green eyes and dark hair entered the room boisterously.
"Ah! I've finally found you two! It seems you two have found your presents?" Garth laughed loudly. The worry from before had already vanished from his face. "I bought these two horses three years ago when they were young colts! They seem to have already recognized you two!"
"Father, how did they recognize us since they have never seen us before?" Solen asked curiously while Aloysius nodded at his question. How could these two animals recognize them if they haven't seen them before?
"I bought a special method of raising horses in the Inner City a while ago. They recognized you due to your scents." Garth explained to his two children. "As for the horse groom, the horses liked his scent and so he was appointed to his job."
"I see…" Solen replied without a thought. This world was extremely strange in Solen's point of view. It was a world surrounded by the concept of the supernatural and esoteric energy, which was far different from Earth.
"Dad, why do these horses have sharp teeth?" Aloysius couldn't help but ask at this moment.
"Ah, you've noticed! Well, these two horses were born of barbaric horses. They can eat both grass and meat, making them very easy to raise." Garth responded to Aloysius happily. He was happy that his sons' were very perceptive. "The horses will be your most trusted companions if you ever leave the city walls in the future."
"So father, why did you choose to come find us now?" Solen asked in a rude manner. He was still slightly angry that his parents 'cold heartedly' left him and Aloysius unattended in the main hall. And it was on their birthday of all days! How mean!
"Right… sorry that we abruptly left. You two are a bit unique…" Garth apologized while rubbing his scalp. They left without thinking about their children while thinking about their children.
"We want to teach you your respective Elemental Body Refining techniques. We were supposed to impart them to you after your affinities were checked, but that thing happened. Come inside and we will teach you." Garth continued without informing the guards about what happened in the hall.
"But I don't want to leave my horsey!" Aloysius refused to leave his horse. It seemed that he really liked the animal that was affectionate towards him.
"Al, we can spend more time with them later. We are allowed to leave the house whenever we want now. Come on, learning these techniques is something good!" Solen began to pull Aloysius away from his new friend. In response, Aloysius reluctantly followed Solen and Garth out of the stables.
The guards quickly returned to their post at the front door while the three family members quickly returned to the main hall. Waiting inside the main hall were the two wives of Garth. They, alike to Garth, no longer showed worry and were only showing joy. It seemed that their talk reassured them greatly.
"You've finally returned! We can continue to celebrate now!" Essa yelled out obnoxiously. The joy in her voice was contagious, affecting everyone inside the main hall greatly. Wide smiles could be seen on everyone's faces at this moment.
"We can continue in a few minutes, we first need to follow the aristocratic tradition of bestowing our children the techniques." Garth smiled lightly. After he ascended from being a peasant to becoming a Low Clan Patriarch, he became a stickler for aristocratic tradition.
"Geez, way to ruin the atmosphere! Can't this wait until after we celebrate?" Essa sighed in mock annoyance. She knew that Garth had to follow these 'new' traditions otherwise he would be scoffed at by the other aristocrat families.
"Little Sol, come here so I can give you your technique. It is the one that I've practiced." Garth beckoned Solen forward as a red book appeared in his hand. The book had a large fire symbol in the center while there was a noticeable lack of name for the technique. It seemed to have been made of various different beast skins as well.
After Solen graciously took the beast skin book, it was Aloysius. The book was cyan green in color while the symbol in the center showed a set of slowly curving lines. Both of the books were of the Element Body Refining category.
"Thank you, father." Solen rushed up and hugged his father in joy. Meanwhile, Aloysius did the same with Alice since she gave him her technique.
"When you reach the Stone Step, we can start training you two on weapons and how to use them. As for when you reach Copper Step, you will be allowed to go hunting inside the city walls." Garth spoke seriously at this time. It was important to know how to use weapons and how to fight in this world. Therefore, when they reach the Stone Step, they would be trained in earnest by Garth.
"Yes, father!" The two spoke respectfully after hearing the seriousness in his voice. Solen could foresee the importance of the training in the future as it could help him survive a fight to the death.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone