Nikola stepped out of the temple with a heavy heart.
The sermon had been beautiful. The main topic being births and rebirths.
But he didn't know if he should take it all to heart. If he should think about it as more than what it was.
Tangra had been a well-meaning god, once. Only to show his fangs and claws when Nikola had needed him the most. The brunette looked down at the stroller.
His children were already walking in the light, and he hoped it was the light of the Three Mothers.
Even Rocky was baptized.
How was he supposed to guide them if he didn't go to the sermons with them? If he could not explain the teachings the priest was offering?
It was…
"Niki?" Dimitri said as he nudged him gently. "Are you tired?"
Nikola nodded. The heat was back, and the walk had gone on for too long.
The bathroom was calling, the bed was whispering, and his muscles were on strike.
"Then how about this? We go back home, and I will take the kids with me to the training hall? I'll tell guild master Arnold why you can't come to the training."
Nikola bowed his head. If even such a short walk was taking so much from him, he had no idea how he was supposed to be an adventurer.
"Dimitri?" Nikola asked as the blonde vampire fell in step with him. "Do you think I should… quit?"
Nikola didn't have it in him to say that he wanted to quit. His was the leaf's song. His was a cool breeze and the morning dew.
He didn't have any idea how he was supposed to kick or punch. Much less do so against a real opponent.
"You know, I couldn't fight in the start either," Dimitri told him softly. "I trained, because you know how our world was. You know that the strong and the gangs are ready to kill a person they had caught wandering the streets at night. I had to survive. That is true for you as well. You have to survive. Your opponent is a god. Or a demon. But at any rate, he won't stop chasing after you just because you've thrown in the towel."
Nikola knew all that. His gaze landed on the stroller. Timmy was holding Vera's tiny hand and was trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes.
Vera, for the most part, was just looking around. So, as if she could not think of anything better than the current day.
"They deserve to live," Nikola said, knowing that Tangra would not shy away from attacking children.
Tony the phoenix began to chirp then. The small bird began to let out warmth.
Nikola giggled.
"Yes, and I'll protect you and Rocky as well," Nikola said, as he tried to just place one foot before the other. "But I need to get in shape."
The guild master had told him to start walking. Nikola was going to do just that.
But first, he had to bring the babies back to the inn. Least they got sunburned.
****
The heat was blistering. Nikola couldn't go outside, no matter how much he wanted to.
He was walking around the training yard. The adventurers were doing drills.
Not one of them turned to look at him.
Nikola bowed his head.
Hoping that if he kept moving, then at least he was going to build some muscle.
"Niki?" The Guild Master was before him with a bottle of water. Nikola took it gratefully, beginning to chug it down. "You push yourself too much. Why don't you hit the shower? I have some books I would like you to read."
Nikola bowed his head.
One of those days he was sure that he was going to be kicked out.
Once and for all.
Arnold placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You know, if you judge an elephant by its ability to fly, then it won't be fair to the poor animal."
Nikola didn't understand. He gulped down the last of the water and gave the bottle back.
"What do you mean by that, sir?" Nikola asked.
Arnold pointed at the adventurers.
"These guildmates were born in our world. They have known that they wish to fight from a very young age. They trained every chance they got. You, however, are not from our world. Tell me, how was life back there? From where you came?"
Nikola closed his eyes.
How was he supposed to explain that there were no adventurers in there? That the police were doing their job better than the guards around Oak's Rest?
How was he supposed to tell Arnold that he had a computer, that he played video games depicting the same stories as the ones he was living through now?
"Calm," Nikola murmured. His heart was heavy.
"But it wasn't without its dangers, I presume? What made you come in here?"
"The police circled our house. They wanted to kill us. Just because most of us are creatures," Nikola had to admit.
Arnold nodded.
"Here, you have the chance to grow! To learn how to fight! But it will take you years," the guild master told him. "And until then, dear druid, you are under the protection of the guild."
Nikola snapped his head up. He was blinking, trying to understand what was happening.
"We leave no one behind. Is that right, guildies?" Arnold yelled, making sure that he was heard by all.
"Yes!" The roar of the guildmates was deafening.
Nikola bit the inside of his cheek.
"So," guild master Arnold said as he placed a fatherly hand on Nikola's shoulder. "Stop trying to carry the world on your shoulders. You helped save the Stone Rhinos. You faced a Bogart. You are not weak, just untrained. And I will prove it! Just give me a year, and I will make you into an F-ranked adventurer!"
Nikola nodded.
Not wanting to be an E-ranked adventurer until the end of time.
"Now, come with me. I will give you the books." The guild master clapped him on the back once more before turning around.
Nikola passed through the crowd. Getting pats on the back or his hair ruffled, as he did so.
His smile was small, but it was there.