Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2022 18:20:44 -0600
From: Angel F <shineyfabian@gmail.com>
Subject: The Vial That Holds the Phoenix - Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thanks for the feedback! It was very appreciated,
motivational and helpful. If there is any feedback or comments, feel free
to message me at shineyfabian@gmail.com

If possible, please donate to Nifty to continue to provide wonderful
stories. I know they have filled my life with much joy over the years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taking a deep breath, he put his hand over the mentor's small hand which
held the pearly white circle and Lain repeated the words out loud: "What
gift has been bestown onto me."

A voice was heard in his head, so deep and low that it almost felt like the
earth was vibrating yet, it was not. It was barely a whisper, yet he could
hear it like it was the only sound in the world and it said:

'Gifting creation instantly.
Uses materials minimally.
Feels the effect multiplicably.
Effort of knowledge necessary.'

Lain sat in silence, taking the words in.

After the voice that filled his head so fully, there was an emptiness
left. It felt odd to be able to hear Mentor Liv's writing, the sound of
air, the birds outside. The mind-filling voice was something Lain wanted to
hear again. Completely unfazed, Liv spoke up and broke Lain's concentration
that had been replaying the words in his head continuously.

"Here's a copy of your gift specifications. It is your responsibility to
interpret it on your own alongside your mentor and experiment. As your
guide, I will also check on your progress and support you with any answers
or guidance necessary." The words were said with very little intonation,
like a speech that she had repeated hundreds, thousands of times.

She handed him a small note and continued to write on a larger
parchment. The boy took this as a sign to get up and leave. There had been
many thoughts in his head so as if automatically, he moved toward the exit
of the small office and sat outside on his previous spot as Kort walked in
to speak with Liv.

The other children were still talking to Kynn, the sickly-looking boy, with
a lot more excitement than most of the gift revelations before him. Lain
tried to pay attention but it was more important to think about his own
gift. He couldn't wait to get home and try anything, create.

"You HAVE to be an adventure!", "When I'm out there fighting monsters, I
want you on my team with me!", were a few things Lain caught while trying
to listen in. There was some curiosity in him but also, he'd likely never
see that kid again, or half of the kids in the room that weren't from his
town. Or maybe he told himself that because no one had noticed him come out
of the private office with Liv.

A girl walked up to him. She was cute, red-brown hair in two side
ponytails. "Hey, what was your gift, Lain?" He recognized her as one of
Kort's sisters. He didn't recall speaking to her before but their faces
were so similar and... out of the 20 kids here in the room, 9 of them were
Kort's siblings, making that 10 identical, same birth siblings. The girl
smiled at him in a way where Lain felt like she cared.

"I'm uh... uhm, mine was uh-", Kort left the private office alongside their
current mentor, a deep glow in his eye. As Liv had explained the process,
she would pass them onto someone who could help them grow and develop,
remaining as a guide who would check up on them before adult-hood.

"Alright, let's get going. Some of us have bedtimes to get to." Liv
announced as she jumped back up on the desk. She went down the list in the
same order as before, pairing each person a specific mentor. In most cases,
they were mentors in the children's same town, in a few other cases, they
were paired up with their own parents as it was common for parents and
children to have similar abilities, though not necessarily. There were very
few exceptions who were told a name of a mentor who would come to them,
some names highly exotic and others highly recognizable. Everyone in the
room knew these would be adventurers coming to mentor them and often times,
whisking them away, maybe even forever. With the names close to ending,
Lain perked up his ears, ready to jot down the details of his mentor.

"-Vixen, your mentor will be Dame Ophelia, waiting for you outside Quilles
Inn tomorrow afternoon. Kynn, you will wait for Sir Pent at your home-", a
few boys patted the sickly boy, Kynn, in the back. Pent or as he called
himself, Sir Pent was an adventurer who had participated in many adventurer
tournaments and proved himself a strong warrior overall despite his gifts
being water related.

Lain was next to be called so he readied himself. "And Kort, you will be
waiting for Lady Maze at your home.", Lady Maze, another well-known
tournament competitor, versed in hand-to-hand combat, Kort was quite
lucky. Before Lain even processed that his name was skipped, Mentor Liv
continued with the list.

"Anyone who wasn't called, you will be paired with me and I will see you
here tomorrow so take yourselves to rest in my office, this room, or if you
can afford a room at an inn. I'll be off then, I'll see the rest of you in
the coming years." Without missing a beat and leaving little room for
questions, she jumped off the desk and sped-walked out of the room. After
the private session, Mentor Liv did seem much more excited and energetic
but it wasn't until she walked past that Lain noticed the robe that had fit
well on the mentor this morning was dragging as she sped past them. This
must have been an effect of her gift to get things done in a hurry.

After minutes of chatter amongst the group, the room seemed to quickly
empty out, most noticeable when Kort and his siblings left, taking the
light of the party with them. Eventually Lain stood there with another
boy. He was pudgy with glasses and long wavy hair, wearing neat white pants
and a white button up, even white shoes which were clean. Lain looked at
the boy and the boy at him for a decent while. Neither spoke and the
silence hung heavy for long enough that it almost felt a sin to speak or
move.

"What's your name?", Lain finally broke the silence. "Raleco. And you're
Lain from Quilles.", Raleco said, reciting the introduction he had
given. It was then Lain noticed the eyes behind the glasses. They were gray
and in such a light shade , it seemed very close to the same cloudy color
that the blind man in his village had. Raleco's eyes though, scanned Lain's
person up and down slowly, like he was jotting down every detail he
could. It made Lain think that not only had the boy memorized his name but
maybe even, every other person's name.

"Oh. Uhm. What was your gift?", Lain wasn't sure what else to ask or why he
continued the awkward exchange when he was already slightly uncomfortable,
but he figured it was a decent way to pass the time and get to know someone
he would be rooming with for the night since Lain imagined Raleco would
also follow Liv's instructions of waiting for her in the room until the
next day.

"Much like his namesake, he can see it all

But visions for vision he's meant to befall", Raleco responded easily, the
folded paper in his hand with the same words written inside. There was a
dryness to the answer and what Lain would have categorized as bitterness.

"T-that sounds great!"

"No. It doesn't.", Raleco said plainly, crossing his arms and moving for
the first time. "It means I'll be stuck in this stupid town all my life
with people asking me dumb questions about love and money."

"H-how do you know that? Maybe-", Lain tried to look at the positive side
of the situation. It really did sound like a cool ability and encouraging
Raleco seemed like the mature thing to do but the bothered boy cut him
off. "I know because the first vision I tried to look up was 'What would
happen if I tried to adventure with my gift?' and the answer was 'I would
die'. In almost every scenario, I would die if I spent too long outside the
city." He ran out of breath as he spoke, huffing angrily at the statements
he made. Lain tried to chime in but as soon as Raleco took a large breath,
he continued. "And then, as soon as I was done seeing myself die many times
over, I couldn't see anything with my actual eyes. 20 minutes later and I
can barely see what's in front of me. So I've decided I'm NOT moving until
I can see again, fully. This shit sucks."

Lain nodded in response, unsure if the other could see the action. It
didn't seem like anything could change his mind, so he chose to let the boy
relax on his own. "I'm sorry about that, I'm going to head out for a
bit. Raleco... be right back."

With a quick shuffle out the door, Lain headed to the town square of the
large primary village of the area. Ibberstead had 4 times the amount of
people in it than Quilles, his home town. Everyone with money or an
impressive gift was here. Many adventurers even bought houses here for
their families with their large amounts of riches but those areas were
often well guarded and gated so Lain himself didn't know how exquisite
these houses would be. Though Lain had visited this town for festivals and
shopping, this was the first time he would be here on his own, free to
browse and idle. His mother and father had assured him that during the gift
giving process, security was much tighter and transportation was free to
those in their 5th and final scholar year. From here, your gift and your
mentor determined what more there was to learn and do.

The town square was only two blocks from the small building where the
gifting was held, he imagined it was a school the rest of the year but it
was more commonly known as the Gifting Center. Alongside every side of the
road from the Gifting Center to the town square, many more guards lined the
streets than when Lain had previously visited and a few gave him quick
nods. Though many were discouraged to go out and flood the city with
traffic during the Gifting Process, there were other people out and
about. The town square in particular seemed just as packed as any other
day. Street performers shooting elements into the air and dissolving them
before they landed on the masses, musicians filling the area with sounds,
women promoting nearby businesses and of course, the citizens
themselves. The most popular buildings on the square were the inn, where
Lain had received a free meal upon arrival in the town earlier today, the
adventurer's guild which had many visitors as well as a few skilled
adventurers taking up requests and missions, and the brothel which had many
people advertising on the streets.

Lain decided to lean against a magic shop wall to people-watch a
little. The people in the town were much prettier than those in the
villages, Lain thought to himself. It wasn't only their faces or bodies
either, he thought as he starred at a busty woman with tight clothing and
large, full hair. It was their clothing which was extravagant and
interestingly, it was how clean they all looked and almost most
importantly, how nice everyone smelled. It was a touch that not many had
the luxury of thinking about in his village. Almost everyone had farm
animals, did heavy work and Lain could bet Quilles' biggest export was
manure.

While everyone bathed, it still felt like the smells lingered and so, you
often drowned out any smell altogether. It was nice to be able to unlock
the sense for a moment. As it began to get dark, Lain walked back to the
Gifting Center, receiving a few more nods from the guards. He pushed the
door open slowly to not disturb Raleco's peace and found the boy sleeping
right where he had been standing earlier, now flat on the floor, hands and
feet extended like a starfish, his glasses sat on a nearby desk and his
shoes were under the desk.

He looked so calm now. Tip-toeing toward the small office, Lain headed
inside and closed the door behind himself. He did not want to remove any
clothing for fear someone might show up and see him, so he sat on the
ground, his back to the wall, facing the door of the small office with no
windows, took a deep sigh to relax his body and concentrated on the smells
of roses, fire and berries.

Soon enough, he was unable to distinguish when it happened, but it did,
sleep arrived with little worries about the future, as long as roses, fire
and berries sat on his forethoughts.