“Move?” Julia questioned. “To the city? You mean Striton?”

  “Yeah. Well, to back up a little—I didn’t really think about what outcome I wanted. I was mad that he called you names and acted impulsively,” Braden said as he made a shrugging motion that seemed to suggest a ‘whoops.’

  “You made an impulsive decision? What about all that stuff you just lectured me about? Impulse control and-and aiming for the outcome you want?” Julia was a little shocked that Braden could not only act somewhat childishly but even bluntly admit it.

  “Hey, impulse control, emotional intelligence, mastering oneself…these are all lifelong goals. They are things you have to work on your entire life. And—as with all things of that nature—sometimes you stumble.

  “I’m no exception. I appreciate that you have a high opinion of me, but the reality is that I’m just like you. I’m older and more experienced, but it doesn’t mean we don’t share the same struggles.” Braden smiled at her and squeezed her hand—probably thinking it was reassuring.

  “...I appreciate what you’re trying to say, but you just sank a man into the ground like it was water. We’re not the same,” Julia deadpanned.

  Braden laughed so loudly that others in the area turned to look. “That’s just time and experience. Eventually, the ground will be like water to you, too.

  “Anyway, I acted impulsively, and the consequences are likely going to be just as you surmised. Living here will become difficult. Not that we’ll be threatened or anything like that. There are almost infinite ways to make someone’s life difficult without physically harming them, though.

  “To that end, I think it’ll just be better if we live in the city,” he concluded.

  Julia thought about it while they walked.

  It’s not like she was particularly attached to Rockyknoll. It’s just where she ended up. When Braden found her at the bridge outside of town—running for her life at the tender age of four—he took her in as his adopted daughter once it became clear that her parents…didn’t make it.

  Her parents didn’t even live in Rockyknoll. They were just traders headed in that direction to do business. She lived here now because it was where Braden lived, and she had no other family.

  She supposed she didn’t particularly care about the location—as long as she, Braden, and Trixy were together—her new family. That did bring up a question, though.

  “Is this not your home? You live here, so I assume you…I don’t know…want to be here? Are you fine just leaving?” Julia asked.

  “Ah, I see what you mean. This isn’t really what I would call ‘my home,’ no. I mean, my home is wherever our family is, which is here at the moment, but I’m not tethered to Rockyknoll itself. I’m here mostly for work—I’ve been working on a long-term quest with the Guild, and this was a convenient base.

  “It wouldn’t be inconvenient to change my base to Striton, though. My investigation is currently occupying this entire forest, so it’s not like it really matters where specifically I’m based in it. The edge is just as convenient as deep within for my purposes,” he mused.

  Huh…That made sense. Braden was gone at least once or twice a month. She thought he was just busy with constant Guild requests, but apparently it was just the one. Although, she definitely recalled Guild letters being delivered to their house, so maybe he did also take the occasional quest from Striton in addition to his long-term job.

  “Well, I just want to be wherever you are. You’ve seen what the townspeople think of me. I’m not going to be sad to leave this place behind,” Julia stated matter-of-factly.

  Braden acquired a melancholy look as he next spoke.

  “I also owe you an apology, Julia. Somehow, I’ve overlooked how everyone in town has been treating you. I always thought you had a little social anxiety, and that’s why you avoided everyone.

  “But even if that were true, I was too wrapped up in my own problems to try to help you. Come to find out, it’s way worse than what I thought—you were actively being harassed. I’m sorry.”

  Julia was taken aback. She wasn’t expecting—nor did she particularly want—this apology.

  “You don’t have to apologize. You didn’t know because I didn’t say anything. I felt bad about bothering you with…things like this. Things that everyone else seemed to be able to do just fine.

  “Everyone in town has no problem walking up to a stranger and talking to them. I’ve always been the only one who has trouble with it. I didn’t want to bother you with something like that…I might’ve been a bit embarrassed about being so bad at something everyone else does without even thinking.”

  Julia had just talked herself into being sad, but Braden was shaking his head.

  “It’s not your responsibility to be conscious of me. You’ve been through so much, Julia. You have higher mental stats than most your age, but that’s not everything. The trauma you’ve experienced has aged you quickly. It’s forced you to mature faster than most kids. Sometimes, even I forget how young you are.

  “But, you are still a kid. It’s a parent’s responsibility to be conscious of their child’s environment and feelings—not the other way around.

  “I’m like the parents who have no idea their child is being horribly bullied in school…stupid,” Braden huffed at himself and whispered in a voice he probably thought was quiet enough that Julia couldn’t hear it.

  After admonishing himself for something Julia didn’t fully understand, Braden turned back towards her.

  “Also, rest assured. You’re not weird or slow for having trouble interacting with others. First of all, you’re at a huge disadvantage in the fact that others here are predisposed to not liking you.

  “Not to mention the kids around town grew up their entire lives talking and playing with each other. They picked social skills up naturally that way, so they are ahead of you just by living their normal lives.

  “But even besides those things, interacting with others is a skill that you can learn and improve. In fact, while social interaction is a skill, there are also actual Skills related to it. Usually they come from classes like Politician or Noble or whatever—some kind of Class that requires interacting with people a lot. Generic merchant Classes often have them as well,” Braden finished.

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  Julia was only a little comforted. It was good to know it was something she could train to be better at, but hearing that other kids grew up learning those skills naturally made her realize how far behind she was—close to twelve years.

  Noticing her downtrodden spirit, Braden squeezed her hand a little.

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself, Julia. Sure, other kids can talk to each other easier than you, but how many other eleven-and-three-quarters-year-olds have you seen throwing lightning bolts around?”

  Now that made Julia smile. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that she didn’t have much practice socializing since she was good at other things.

  The meeting with the mayor was quicker than Julia was expecting. Probably due to all the preparation Braden had done by informing everyone around town about Trixy. Julia hadn’t known he did all that.

  The mayor was looking pretty stressed through most of it, but at Braden’s casual mention that they’d likely be moving soon, he seemed to shift into a different person entirely. He suddenly became easy going and friendly, which Julia thought was a strange and sudden transition.

  They made their way home—Braden paused to fill in the empty hole in the yard—and they set about packing. They weren’t going to leave right away. It would take a few months, but Braden thought it would be a good idea to start packing things away that they scarcely used already.

  Life continued this way for a few weeks. Julia continued her daily routine—ever pushing to get her Dex to 10.

  Trixy recovered in only a day and was back to being a little arrow darting around the house. She was practically impossible to corral considering she could turn invisible at will, so both Braden and Julia simply moved most fragile items out of her reach.

  Braden posed a question to Julia one afternoon. He asked her to think about what weapon she’d like to practice with. When she asked why a mage would need to use a weapon, his answer had surprised her.

  “Well, training with a weapon will undoubtedly push your Dex over the edge, but the main thing is to be prepared. Sure, as a mage, you’ll ideally defeat your opponents before they can get close to you.

  “However, in the event they do get close, you need to be able to survive at least one or two of their strikes. You need to be able to survive in close-combat long enough to find an opportunity to put more distance between you. This could mean anything from knowing how to parry a sword all the way to being able to use a shield.”

  When asked about his weapon of choice, Braden merely smiled and tapped his staff against the ground.

  So it is a quarterstaff!?

  It was finally the day before Julia’s twelfth birthday.

  Braden would be leaving for the city soon. He had to secure a place to live there before they could actually move, so he would likely be gone a week or two. He had put the trip off until after her birthday, but it couldn’t wait any longer than that.

  They were already starting to notice that the townsfolk scurried away from them if they ever got close. Traders in the town square were being curt, although not outright rude. Clearly, word of Dave’s ordeal was already beginning to spread.

  Right now it was just a bad aura that they were picking up from people, but it wouldn’t be long until things started escalating. Maybe a message that was supposed to arrive would go missing mysteriously. Maybe traders at the market would suddenly have higher prices, or even outright refuse their business.

  Regardless, the time to leave was now, so Braden was busy giving Julia a spar. They would do as much as possible today, rest tomorrow while celebrating Julia’s birthday, and then Braden would head to Striton the following day to make the final preparations. He would then come back to pick Julia up, and they would officially be gone from Rockyknoll.

  Julia blocked a strike from Braden’s staff over her head. Her hand rattled and stung from the vibrations. Apparently, it would be both worse and better with a metal sword—depending on what kind of sword and grip, but Julia was using a wooden practice sword at the moment.

  “I already taught a child Lightning Magic. I’m not also giving her a deadly armament before she’s even hit puberty,” was Braden’s response to her request for a real sword to practice with. She didn’t see how a sword would be worse than lightning magic, but apparently it was about ‘not making the same mistake twice.’

  “A solid block, and you even used the flat of the blade. Well done. That’ll keep the edge sharp longer than blocking with the blade.

  “However, don’t just sit there after you block. The opponent’s weapon is now in contact with yours, and you’ve halted their momentum. You need to follow up with something. It would be even better if you redirect their momentum instead of stopping it completely, but we’ll get there.”

  Braden moved forward and made a stab towards her middle with the end of his staff. He was moving painfully slow, she knew. He could move much faster than this just walking, so he must be incredibly quick if he were in a real fight.

  Still, she didn’t let his holding back bring her down. She had just started this training a week ago. She had plenty of time to work up to his level. Besides, the first week of training wasn’t even sparring. It was just swinging the sword over and over again.

  Julia—thinking about what Braden had just said about redirecting momentum instead of stopping it dead—flowed to the side as the strike passed by her middle. She moved quickly into Braden’s guard now that his weapon was extended, grabbed the staff with her left hand to keep it outward, and swung an overhead strike with her sword-arm, intending to hit his head.

  Braden smiled and grabbed her sword wrist with his free hand. Now they were in each other’s guard—both hands occupied—and staring at each other.

  “That’s quite the gambit you just made, Julia. It’s a solid move, but you just gambled that either you would be able to strike me before I could defend, or that you are better than me at grappling. A bold move for a prospective ranged combatant.

  “If you’re going to put yourself in someone else’s guard for a strike you are not 100% sure will land, you need to at least be sure that you are a stronger grappler. Otherwise, you’ve effectively handed yourself over to your opponent with nice wrapping paper and a bow on your head.”

  As Braden said this, he flicked his staff to dislodge her hand and send her spinning with its momentum as he released her sword hand. She ended up on her butt with her sword clattering beside her.

  “It was a nice move, though. Realistically, if you’re ever fighting someone your own age, that move would probably work fine. Chances are pretty good that you’re going to be stronger than the vast majority of kids your age.”

  The system also seemed to have decided it was a nice move, as a message appeared before her.

  Julia froze. She stared wide-eyed at the notification. She selected “No,” and the notification shrank to the bottom corner of her vision. This was not something to be decided in the middle of the forest.

  “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve just seen a Dave,” Braden joked.

  “I…I got my class selection,” Julia stammered, still barely believing it herself.

  Before she had time to process any further, Braden wrapped her up in a hug and spun her around. “Congratulations, Julia! You’ve worked so hard for this!”

  Julia was smiling, clearly happy, but she also identified some nervousness inside her chest. She’d been training for this day for so long, and now it was here. She couldn’t help but feel some twisting in her stomach.

  “Let’s go back before you do anything. The forest is pretty safe here, but no need to take unnecessary risks,” Braden reasoned.

  They started back home.