You Brat

Looking at the three soul cores, Lauri tilted his head.

"Soul cores? Where did you get…" The thought of Caretaker and Light Stealer sneaked into his head. "Never mind, dumb question." He muttered. " So, what are you going to do with them?"

Blinking, Laurence smiled. "I'm giving them to you, of course." He held the cores closer to Lauri.

Squinting, Lauri shook his head. "So, what am I supposed to do with this?" Picking up the single soul core, he looked at it, as his eyes took in the swirling white light of the soul contained within. Lauri felt something within him change. Instinct taking over, he squeezed the sphere.

Lauri watched in awe as the soul core shattered, the remnants of the soul within flowed into Lauri's palm. The material that had contained the remnants of soul shimmered, disappearing into the air.

Feeling something within him change, Lauri touched his chest.

 "Feels good, doesn't it? That's how we get stronger."

Lauri looked up at Laurence as he began to speak.

"Kill a Fiend, cut out it's soul, and reap the rewards."

Squeezing his fingers, Lauri could feel that he had grown stronger – by a very, very small amount. 

Furrowing his brow, Lauri frowned. "Who's soul core was that?"

"That one was from Caretaker, these two," Laurence looked at the two soul cores in his hand. "Were from Light Stealer. To be honest, I was on the hedge about whether you had actually killed it, that thing was such a pain when I undertook my trial." Seeing Lauri's frown, Laurence bent down slightly so he could see Lauri's eyes. "I took care in removing Caretaker's soul core."

Hearing this, Lauri's frown lightened slightly. Taking one of Light Stealer's cores from Laurence's hand, Lauri looked at his master with an inquisitive gaze. "You had to deal with Light Stealer during your trial? But that must have been, like, fifty years ago."

Laurence's brow twitched. "L- Lauri. How old do you think I am?"

Crushing the soul core, Lauri tilted his head.

"Aren't you sixty-seven?"

About to say something, Laurence closed his mouth. Tossing Lauri the last core, he walked past him. "I'm forty-three, you brat."

***

Beginning their trek back, the two awakened had a long journey between them and home. The mountain that served as the trial was a good day's travel, not too long, not too short.

Two hours into their journey, the two travellers came across an idyllic scene.

The grassy field was broken up by a scattering of trees, a small pond. Stopping in front of the pond, Laurence put his hands on his hips.

"This looks like a good place for a break."

Stepping beside him, Lauri scratched the side of his neck.

"A break already? We've only been walking for an hour or two."

Laurence turned his head, a smile creeping across his lips.

"Oh? What happened to the Lauri I used to know, always whining without end when we had long walks ahead of us. It seems your Awakening has done more for you than you realise."

Leaving Lauri's, Laurence stepped down to the shimmering lake. Crouching, he cupped his hands, dipping them into the still surface of the pond. Pulling out a handful of water, he began to drink it in.

Flexing his fingers, Lauri chewed on his cheek as he thought about what Laurence had said.

'I do feel stronger than I was at the start of my trial, a lot stronger than when I was a normal person. I bet if I came across the Bouncing Bother, I could tear it apart now. Heck, my Talent is a perfect counter for that shadowy bastard, I hope I run across another Finger's In The Dark. That thing wouldn't stand a chance.'

Shaking his head, Lauri joined Laurence on the water's edge. Copying his master, Lauri scooped up a handful of water and greedily drank it all. Going in for another handful of water, he again drank it all.

It only began to dawn on Lauri how thirsty he was. Other than the juices from Laurence's infinite apple Imprint, the last time Lauri had a drink was from the – a shiver ran down Lauri's back as he went in for another drink – river that had led to his death.

As Lauri finished his third handful of water, Laurence turned to him. 

"I think you've had enough time off from lessons, come on." Walking away from the pond, Laurence turned to Lauri. "Let's see what your Talent can do."

Sighing, Lauri gave the cool water one last glance before joining his master.

"See what my Talent can do?" Lauri held up his hand, a recreation of his knife blinked into being between his fingers. "Ta-da, impressed?"

Eyeing the knife, Laurence stepped forward. "It is an interesting Talent," Moving faster than Lauri's eyes could follow, Laurence moved his arm, swinging it through the knife.

The knife's blade shattered as Laurence's arm passed through it. The light comprising the knife – both broken parts and whole – immediately came undone, turning from solid mass back into ethereal light.

Squinting, Lauri spoke through gritted teeth as he stared at his master. 

"What was that for?"

Laurence responded with a shrug.

"I wanted to see how strong your constructs were. I suppose I overestimated their durability with that move." Scratching his chin, Laurence nodded. "Yes… Yes. Summon it again."

About to think of a rebuttal, Lauri gave up. His fingers flexed as a new knife formed itself from the sun's rays. Holding it up, Lauri sighed. 

"Go on then."

Slowly, reaching forwards, Laurence held the knifes blade between his thumb and index finger. Doing his best to manage his strength, Laurence slowly squeezed. After a few seconds, cracks spread across the surface of the knife. Stretching outwards from Laurence's fingers.

And then it cracked, the same result as before, as the knife disappeared. Lauri tilted his head.

"So, what do you think?"

Laurence was quiet for a few moments before speaking. "What I think is that your constructs have the same durability as a Risen Imprint. Hmm, maybe slightly more. Can you summon anything else? Like a sword."

"A sword?"

Thinking, Lauri furrowed his brow.

'What does a sword look like? I remember seeing them in the picture books Granny read during bedtimes… But that was so long ago. Um,' Flexing his fingers, Lauri closed his eyes as he focused on visualising a sword within his mind. Just as he had done with his knife the first time. 'Of course it starts with the grip, moving up is the guard, running up the blade, it ends in the sharp point.'

As his mind fully visualised of a sword, he felt a weight resting on his open palm. Squeezing his fingers to hold it, he heard Laurence stifle a laugh. Opening his eyes, Lauri looked at Laurence, confusion written on his face.

Seeing Lauri's confusion, Laurence gestured to the sword in Lauri's hand.

"You weren't very good at drawing, were you?"

Still confused, Lauri raised his new sword up.

Lauri's eyes squinted. If his recreation of his lost knife was a one to one replica, this sword was anything but. It looked as if a child had drawn it, its grip was blocky, too uncomfortable. Its guard was comedically wide, and not even starting on its blade, that widened as it moved away from the guard.

Staring at his creation, Lauri was lost for words.

Except for one.

"Huh."