Dust by Nick Venom (bts books to read .txt) 📖

food in their fridge.” 

Myra nodded, biting her lip and stifling a comment. She had never been in the same position at Dust and couldn’t relate to him.  “You’re right, Alice.” She muttered. “I don’t want to be a burden to him, so… I need you to train me. I want to be stronger, so I won’t be discarded again.”

Alice nodded, biting her lip to stifle a comment of her own. “I will do my best, my lady. For you.”

 

TBC…

Episode Four "Freedom & Resentment"

Alice, after a small dinner, took Myra outside. They stood twenty feet from each other with the road to town in between them. They brandished their weapons, staring at each other.

“Are you ready?” Alice asked. 

Myra nodded. 

Alice bit her lip before nodding back. She gripped her knife tightly before sprinting towards Myra, who went on defense rather than offense. They collided swords quickly with Myra’s shortsword giving her a disadvantage as her weapon was slower than Alice’s. By the time Myra brought the weapon up to protect her face, Alice switched targets and jabbed Myra in the chest with the hilt of her knife. The force exerted in the attack nearly crumbled Myra in half, but she persisted. She took several steps backward before preparing herself to defend again as Alice charged forward and struck again. They collided swords for the second time with very little change as Alice was able to strike faster and stronger than Myra’s slower and weaker attacks. 

Myra took another step backward, kneeling in the grass. “Stop! Stop! Stop!” She exclaimed. “Give me a second to rest.”

Alice nodded, taking a step backward. She sheathed her weapon before looking around her surroundings. Dust was nowhere to be seen. “My lady, why do you insist on being an adventurer?”

Myra looked up at Alice, tilting her head. “Because I want to be free. Adventuring gives me the freedom that marriage doesn’t.”

“Couldn’t you speak to your father, my lady? Maybe he could-”

Myra glared at Alice, silencing her. “You know my father, he would never budge an inch even if my life was on the line. “He could go to hell for all I care.”

“My lady, he’s still the head of the house.”

“That’s all he is to me. Plus, think of what he’s trying to do. His daughter is ‘rebellious’ and now he’s trying to force a marriage on me. He believes that I’ll quiet down once I’m tied down.” She spat before rising to her feet. “Anyway, let’s keep going.”

Alice nodded, taking several steps backward. She brandished her weapon, staring into Myra’s eyes. “Ready?”

Myra nodded, this time taking initiative. She sprinted forward, holding her shortsword with both hands, and stuck first. Alice parried the blow, pushing Myra backward. She then took the lead from her, charging headfirst and with little care about her surroundings. She was focused on defeating Myra and she was confident in her ability to do so.

Myra saw Alice charging forward and close to engage her, taking several steps backward as a response. She needed breathing room to think about a plan, however, Alice refused to give her that. Instead, she had to parry as many attacks as she could to avoid being hit again.

Meanwhile, Dust headed home after fighting orcs on the third floor. He had gathered a few crystals, not as many as he hoped but enough to feed everybody for a few days. 

He gripped the crystals in his hand tightly, reflecting on his training with the others. He had spent most of the day on them, costing him potential crystals, but he was now satisfied with their training. He decided that they were ready to go down one floor and then move from there. 

As he traveled back, he heard the sounds of iron colliding against iron. Somebody’s fighting at my house! Bandits? Are Myra and Alice fighting with the bandits! I need to hurry! He thought to himself before sprinting home. As he neared his house, he slowed his pace as he figured out the cause behind the sounds. Myra and Alice were sparring with each other in the front yard.

Dust stopped walking, shaking his head playfully. “That scared me, I thought there was real fighting going on.” He thought out loud. He then took a step forward but decided that he moved enough. Instead, he stopped and watched as the two sparred.

 

“Why can’t I get a hit on you?” Myra whined after being knocked to the ground by Alice for the third time. “I was so close.”

Alice nodded. “I’m sorry, my lady, but… I don’t believe you’re ready.”

Myra glared at her. “What do you mean?”

‘Your body hasn’t been trained to hold a knife and you lack any real experience.” Alice explained. “At this moment, your dream of becoming an adventurer has no vitality.” 

Myra stared at her strangely, surprised to hear Alice say that. “I… I… I… I can become one!” She huffed as she rose to her feet. She then walked away from Alice and entered the house, leaving her behind. 

Alice’s gaze lingered on the front door before she turned it to her weapon. She let out a deep sigh as she bit the inner part of her cheek. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“I agree,” Dust chimed in. “I understand why you said that, though.”

Alice turned to face him. “When did you arrive?”

“Since you knocked her down.” He responded. “Well, I have to say that your method of teaching her is the same way I was taught. ‘By being thrown into the fire, you have two options - become fire-resistant or charred.’ It was an old saying of my master’s. It basically means that you either adapt and evolve or lie down and die when it comes to getting stronger.” He said.

“I was taught the same way,” Alice said. “However, my master believed that I had talent and would be able to do a lot. I… I don't feel the same way about my lady.”

Dust nodded. “Your master believed that you had talent. You aren’t believing in Myra. My master acted just like you. She looked at me and declared that I had no talent, but I showed her otherwise. I showed her that I had talent and the strength and confidence to back it up.”

She nodded her head. “So… you’re saying that I’m not believing in her?”

“Yes,” He started. “You want her to fail, so you’re failing her. You’re afraid something will happen to her if she becomes an adventurer, right?”

Alice bit her lip before nodding her head. “I feel like I’ll lose her. I understand, however, that she feels caged with her family and that Alex isn’t any different. Still, there must be some other way to gain freedom than risking your life.”

Dust shook his head. “Adventuring is the peak of freedom. However, freedom comes at a cost. I was given freedom years earlier, but it came at the cost of my family being torn in half.”

“What happened?” She asked.

Dust bit his lip, hesitating to expand on his words. “Well… Uh… My parents, you see, they kinda bailed on me. They bailed on their kids. They racked up debt while gambling in the next town… and then I lost everything. The debt collectors took everything and I was forced to move Rain and Mason here. To a deteriorating house on the outskirts of town with no money and no future.”

“... Woah,” She muttered, unsure what to say.

“Crazy, right?” Dust said, gazing up at the sky as it became an orange-yellow mixture. “My siblings still believe that they perished in a fire, not that they upped and left us.”

“Why?” Alice asked.

“I’m not sure why I told them that, but… maybe it’s so that they don’t think too badly of them. Like I do. I mean… it’s pretty difficult to see parents that abandoned their children as anything less than monsters, but… I didn’t feel comfortable having them believe that either.”

Alice nodded, speechless. 

Dust smiled, this one filled with regret and sadness. “Well, anyway, I told you all that because I resent them for making me give up on my life. I had to so my siblings could have one, you see.”

“And Myra will resent me for making her give up her dream, right?” Alice asked.

Dust nodded. “Apologize to her and explain your perspective. Even if she doesn’t forgive you, at least you were able to get your side out. I’m sure that’ll be enough to, at the very least, not have her resent you. 

Alice nodded. “You’re right, thanks. I’ll go talk with her.”

Dust smiled an honest smile. “Of course,”

Alice smiled back before turning around and heading for the house. Dust watched as she walked away. 

I wish they could’ve explained what they were going through. Their thought process and their final decision to abandon us. At least, I would be able to forgive them. But I can’t. Because they never gave me the chance to.

 

TBC…

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Publication Date: 03-05-2020

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