Chapter Seven: Overprotective

Earlier, Ash was walking unconsciously like a zombie in the kitchen when he got possessed. He took a knife from a cupboard; fortunately, the old man found him before he got himself killed. Ash fought with him, so the old man decided to tie him up and wait for Florence.

Even though he was a strong sorcerer, the old man knew that he couldn't deal with a possessed person. All he could do was ask for help from an exorcist.

Florence was known in their land for his ability to expel evil spirits from a person or even places. He also studied at the Land of Dusk Academy and became a master; then he earned a living by doing his passion.

There were times when in almost every place there were possessions happening. If it weren't for him and his apprentice, they would never recover from that epidemic.

Ava stood up and asked worriedly, "Dammit! Why didn't you inform me? He might have gone somewhere dangerous again."

Ava knew that her brother wouldn't go somewhere without telling her, especially when it was already dark, so it wasn't impossible that he got possessed again, as the old man said.

"But what's the purpose that she had to possess him again and again? Isn't she tired of making me worry about my brother?" Ava asked herself.

It occurred to Ava that perhaps Ash just needed some space after what happened, which is why he went somewhere to be alone. She felt sorry for being overprotective with her brother, although she was just trying to protect him.

"Where are you going, Ava?" the old man asked when Ava got inside the house and took her sword as if she were planning to murder someone.

"I'll look for ash," Ava replied, turning to leave.

"Wait! Let me go with you!" Shawn requested eagerly.

"No. Stay here. You won't be able to help me if it gets dangerous. You might just cause another trouble instead of helping, so stay here with master." Ava did not wait for Shawn's reply as she hurriedly left.

"She's doing it by herself again." Shawn sighed.

"Well, she's also right. You can't help her because you're so weak, so you better get inside and take some rest," the old man advised.

"Even you, old man?" Shawn asked. "Why do you keep underestimating?" He didn't know why these people were treating him like a kid too. But he hoped that Ash wouldn't be in danger.

Lynx Hollow was Ava's best friend. In fact, they were neighbors. But she has changed since her parents died when Boris attacked their village. She wanted to be strong to give justice to her parents deaths.

She was sitting on the riverbank when Caleb, a demon who was sealed in the river by some adventurers, showed up in the form of a snake to deceive her. He offered her help to defeat Boris, but with one condition: she needed to let him possess her body so that she would be stronger than anyone else.

Blinded by her desire to take revenge, Lynx didn't hesitate to accept Caleb's offer. She let him possess her body for the thought that he would keep his promise. But it was all a trap, and she lost control of herself.

"What are you doing here?" Ava asked as she approached her brother, who was sitting on the riverbank where the deception happened.

"Ava, please help me!" Ash replied, crying. He wasn't looking at his sister, but rather at the flowing stream.

"I want to help you, Ash. But I can't convince the old man to train you. You have to train yourself to become stronger," Ava replied and sat down behind him.

"That's not what I mean, Ava. This is me, your friend, Lynx. Please help me, I want to regain my body from Caleb!" Ash screamed.

Ava was surprised by what she heard. She couldn't understand what was happening, but a black smoke came out of Ash's mouth, and he lost consciousness.

When Ash woke up, he saw Florence, Shawn, the old man, and Ava staring at him as if they were waiting for him to wake up. He slowly sat down on the bed and asked them what had happened.

"Exactly!" Shawn exclaimed. "You were possessed by Lynx again, which is why you can't remember what happened."

"Are you okay, Ash?" Ava asked and suddenly embraced her brother tightly. "You don't know how worried I am that you disappeared without informing me."

"I'm sorry, sister. I just went out for a walk when I heard that our parents had already died. I don't know why you didn't tell me about this, but now I understand why you're so overprotective with me," Ash replied.

Ash remembered his dream. He was in a place filled with different plants and flowers. He was running after the colorful butterflies, and he stopped when there was someone in his way.

It was a beautiful woman in a white dress. She had a pointed nose, long, curly white hair, flawless skin, and a perfectly shaped body. She held Ash's hand, and they walked together.

While walking, she told him about the incident that happened ten years ago. She and her husband didn't regret sacrificing themselves for their fellow villagers, and they were glad that their children survived.

"Ash, please try to understand your sister no matter what, because she's worried about you. She's scared that you will be gone from her, so be strong and always stay by her side," the woman said before she gradually vanished into the air. Then Ash was blinded by the approaching beam of light.

"Thank you so much, Ash. I'm sorry for being so tight with you. I know you're not comfortable with it, so I decided to let you join the adventurer's guild to train yourself, have some fun, and make friends," Ava said, letting go of her brother.

"Ava is right," Shawn added. "Life is better if you have some friends, so don't be so focused on your training."

Ash stared at them. The tears of joy were within his bluish eyes. He felt relieved that there were many people who cared about him and that he was wrong with what he thought.

"I think I'm no longer needed here," Florence said. "I should go now because there is anyone else who needs my help." He cast a spell and suddenly disappeared.

"Okay. Everyone has agreed to let him join the adventurer's guild, so let's send him there tomorrow," the old man said. "But for now, we should take some rest."

As Shawn laid down on his bed, he remembered many things. One of them was the message he received on his phone. He wondered what it was because he hadn't read it since his battery was dead.

"Oh well, that's mysterious," he sighed.

If he could only bring things back to normal, or if he had the power to make something impossible, they would not call him weak, but he didn't, so he sighed deeply and closed his eyes.

After a while, Shawn began dreaming about demons. He couldn't imagine the appearance of the dragonoid that attacked and killed Ava's parents, but he was sure it was strong and powerful, as they call it a deluge.

Shawn slowly stood up from his bed and continued outside the room. He found Ash, Ava, and the old man in the dining room, looking excited to send Ash to the guild.

"You wake up early, Monsieur!" Ava shouted ironically.

"Sorry, I forgot that we're going somewhere today," Shawn apologized as he sat down on the chair beside the table.

"Eat now, brother, if you don't want to be left behind," Ash advised.

"You looked so excited—are you meeting someone there?" Shawn asked. He noticed that Ash always wanted to go to the adventurer's guild, as if there was someone there he was interested in meeting.

"Don't tell us that you're crushing on someone," Ava interrupted.

"That's just normal for a kid like him," the old man added.

Ash pouted his lips, listening to their talks that he couldn't even understand. But yes, he had someone he liked, Olivia Elmore, the elves' princess.

"Why are you suddenly silent, Ash?" Ava asked. "Is there something bothering you? Aren't you excited to meet someone?"

Ash didn't reply. He was thinking about the beautiful girl named Olivia, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her every time they met. He was certain that the cupid's arrow had pierced his heart.

But aside from his crush, Ash really wanted to join the adventurer's guild. He always wished to take quests, fight strong opponents, and become strong.

Laterally, Shawn, Ash, Ava, and the old man arrived at the adventurer's guild. They didn't waste their time; they introduced the lad to Leo.

"So, you are Ash?" Leo asked. "Your master had mentioned to you that you were possessed by a witch for some reasons."

"It's because of my inability to control my magic, sir. Please let me join the guild to train myself so that I won't get possessed by that monster again," Ash requested.

"Okay, you don't have to beg for that. Our guild is always open for everyone who wants to become an adventurer," Leo said while taking a paper from Emma. He handed it to Ash, saying, "Here, sign this as our agreement."

Ash took the paper and signed it without even reading a single word. He was so excited that his hand was shaking while signing it, making his handwriting so bad as the ink had spread on the paper. The old man, Shawn, Ava, and everyone else who was watching laughed at seeing him.

"What are you laughing at?" Ash screamed.