Lone: The Wanderer

Book 2: Chapter 35: A New Skill and Discrimination

'They... They're not from Altros? B-Both of them?' Breena's mind was a mess. "Y-You're lying."

She saw Master Lone wince a little but more surprisingly, the dwarf who had claimed to have attempted to murder him shot to his feet with a plate full of food still held in his hands.

"Ah'm nae good wae weeuns nor drama. Sort this shite oot yerself, Fox. Thanks fae answerin', though," he said before he turned his back and wandered off to his tent.

Breena saw Master Lone smile wryly. "You're welcome." He turned to face her now and she was honestly pretty scared in regards to what he might say. "Since one thing's out of the bag now, I suppose I'll also confirm something else you've likely suspected for some time now."

"W-What?" Breena never did like surprises and she would much rather they treated it like Master Lone had said nothing.

That way, she could ignore his shocking revelation from just mere moments ago and treat it like some sort of illusion or something. Sadly, however, she couldn't quite find the courage to voice such thoughts.

"Well, you've probably noticed how I call Soph Sophie sometimes. And when I do, she's not bubbly anymore but serious and a bit cold, right?" he asked her.

Breena glanced at Mistress Soph curiously. More so to move away from the prior topic than for any other reason. She liked these people. Both Mistress Soph and Master Lone.

If it turned out they were just like her former master... She was struggling to find a reason to keep going were that truly the case.

They were kind to her. They treated her like a sister at times but they gave her plenty of independence at the same time It almost felt like... a family. It was nice. It was warm.

If, however, they were exactly the same as her former master... she feared what her own mind would make her do.

"She... she has two personalities, right?" Breena asked timidly.

Master Lone smiled brightly at her answer and that made her feel a bit better. "Yes, that's right. You're really clever, aren't you? Under all of that shyness, I mean."

"T-Thanks. Um, c-can I go to my tent now too? L-Like Mister Hamish?" she asked, eagerness in her voice.

Master Lone sighed. "If you really want to, of course. Soph, Sophie, and I, are not Daisuke."

She flinched upon hearing that.

"We may not call Altros our homeland, hell, the three of us came from the exact same planet as him. At least I think Daisuke's Earth was the same as ours. There could be parallel ones but let's not get into that possibility right now." Breena didn't understand half of what he was saying but what she did pick up frightened her to her core.

She tried her best to avoid shaking or crying. It was tough but she'd practised doing that for years now. She could endure.

"Um..." She didn't know what to say. 'I feel so awkward... H-How do I speak to them? Master Lone wants to talk about it b-but I wish he hadn't said anything. Ma-Maybe he's lying? Maybe this is a test to see if I'm loyal?'

Mistress Soph took off her helmet and kneeled down to be level with her. "Sorry Lone's so insensitive. He can be a big dummy at times, can't he?"

"Hey! This kind of thing never had any good timing. Still, we're nothing like Daisuke. I killed that son of a bitch with my own two hands. Or, well, Void did," Master Lone responded.

"Void?" Another topic to get away from the current one! Breena would be a fool to not try to pursue it.

"A complicated matter, Void. Not entirely unrelated to why we're going to Urd Grun. It's not one for right now though. Anyway, long and short? We're not from Altros, we're definitely not heroes, and, lastly, we are most definitely not paedophilic, enslaving, rapist scumbags who are wasting the very air they breathe. Figured it was only fair to let you know that Soph and I are a bit special since, well, we trust you. Hamish can likely hear this too but he's bound by a contract," Master Lone claimed.

Breena then saw him point at her neck. "You aren't and never will be. You're a lot like my actual little sister in some aspects. A family doesn't lie to one another, right? Heh. Well, a temporary family at least. We do plan on returning you to your homeland, after all. If that's what you want. We never did really ask for your opinion on it but it certainly matters. If you want to stay with us on a more permanent basis, we'd be happy to have you."

"Kyuubi loves you," Mistress Soph said with a dazzling smile on her face. "Uh, not, to um, emotionally blackmail you or anything. She'll be fine even if you decide to go home and stay there! Just, uh, this is also your home. With us, I mean."

"And you call me insensitive," Master Lone chuckled.

Breena looked down to the floor as she nodded very slowly but not to confirm nor deny anything. She had a lot to think about.

A few days of travel passed and Breena didn't say a word during that entire time. She was too busy trying to get stronger and too wrapped up in her thinking.

She was succeeding on the former front if nothing else. Her training with Mister Hamish stacked atop her weeks of practice had culminated in a new skill.

Needle Mastery

A skill that allows the host to use needles offensively with some proficiency.

When used in combat, needles become 5% sharper and 5% more durable.

Cost:N/A Mastery:Beginner level 1

Breena was so proud of herself that she almost gave in to the desire to jump with joy and show off her progress to Master Lone and Mistress Soph.

If it weren't for the revelations of a few days ago perhaps she would have. Regardless, she was still over the moons to have obtained the skill after so much effort.

'I'm not entirely talentless,' she thought. 'It's my only skill I've ever earned myself... I'll... I'll treasure it...'

For almost her entire life of fourteen years, she'd only ever had one skill. It was the Crimson Foxkin's racial skill, Temporal Illusions.

Its mastery had only levelled up twice in over a decade, showing how simply lacking in talent she was. This was why gaining a new skill after only the relatively short duration of a little over a month was such a monumental achievement for her.

"Breena?" the sound of Master Lone's voice calling out startled her.

She looked up at him and stayed completely silent. She was terrified of what he might have to say. This was the first time since their talk a few days ago that he'd called out to her and she wasn't ready yet to speak her mind.

She appreciated the space he and Mistress Soph were giving her so now that that seemed to have come to an end, she could feel her heart pounding in her chest and a deep dread was rising in her gut.

"Do you mind if I ask you a question? Well, maybe a few, but let's start with one," he said as he laughed like he usually did.

It tended to make her feel comforted when he smiled and laughed. Her old master never smiled or laughed like Master Lone did.

He only smiled when he was in full control of everything around him and he only laughed when she or her fellow slaves begged for him to stop hurting them. He never did.

The way that monster of a man had expressed joy... it made her terrified and she would likely never forget it. Master Lone and Mistress Soph though? It reminded her of... the clan. That was a distant memory though at this point, one she barely even recalled anymore.

"I'll just ask then. Uh, no need to answer if you don't want to though. No pressure, okay?" Master Lone said while he scratched his neck awkwardly.

Another habit of his she had learned over the last month or so with him and Mistress Soph. He only did it when he was lacking confidence.

Master Lone took in a breath of air as if to ready himself before he asked, "Are Daisuke and I the same person?"

"What?" Breena asked back in utter confusion, causing a small smile to form on his lips, she saw.

"Haha, sounds weird, right?" Master Lone said.

Breena slowly nodded. "... You... You're nothing like him..."

"I'm glad you can see that. This would have been such a difficult talk otherwise," he chuckled. "I mean, we're both not from Altros but we're just so different on all fronts. I mean, just as a start he was Japanese, I'm Scottish. Couldn't get more different than that."

"You... you're from the same world?" Breena asked. He had implied something similar the other day but she'd not taken him seriously. 'But... he's not a human... Mistress Soph is but... Even more lies?'

"Please don't look at me like that," Master Lone requested. "I'm as Golden Foxkin as they come. Look, aren't my tails super fluffy?"

Breena flinched as a big golden tail brushed against her face. It felt good. "B-But he... he said there was no magic and only humans there, on Earth..."

"Ah, he spoke about the place? Well, he wasn't wrong. I used to be a human," Master Lone revealed with a shrug. "Though I'm not anymore. Dimensional god-fuckery magic and whatnot, right?"

'He... was a human? Species can change when becoming heroes?' She didn't understand.

Breena didn't really know what to say. She didn't even know if she could trust his words, though by the Primals did she want to. Master Lone and Mistress Soph meant so much to her but she was scared. Of what, even she wasn't quite sure.

"Anyway, my overarching point with all of this was that two people can be incredibly similar but be nothing alike. You and I are both foxkin, yet we are vastly different people. Daisuke and Soph, both humans, couldn't be less alike if they tried. Well, one's dead, haha. Hamish and Grimsley, both dwarfs, again, vastly different," Master Lone argued.

He sighed and leaned back. "The three of us, you, me, Soph and Sophie... we've all been discriminated against for the stereotypes and cultural views placed upon our kin. You're young, Breena, young and incredibly mature. You've been through a lot. I just don't want your experiences to make you see the world and the people in it as either white or black. Both metaphorically and literally. Every person is different. You will meet some people who fill their prejudices to a tee, sadly, but I promise you they are far and few between."

He turned and stared right into her eyes, making her feel more than a little bit uncomfortable.

"You're not a worthless animal deserving of a collar, just as I'm not a disgusting pervert of a hero. We're all unique and deserve to be judged on our own actions and morals," he stated with a warm smile.

"I..." Breena held her tongue as she thought carefully about what to say... "I... Can I believe in you, Mistress Soph and Mistress Sophie?"

She saw Master Lone beam a delighted grin. "Of course you can. Y'know, if you didn't have androphobia, I'd hug you right now. I didn't think this would be such a big deal to you but I'm happy you aren't super pissed that we kept this from you given your past. There was just never a good moment to bring it up and it never really mattered much to us. I'm happy I was wrong though. It's good to know this is a subject that's important to you."

"... What's 'androphobia'?" Breena asked through a small sniffle.

"Fuck you English," he profaned. "It means the fear of men."

She turned away shyly. 'Ah. Uh, is that the same? Is that, uh, discriminating? I think I can put being heroes out of my mind but this is different...'

Luckily, it seemed Master Lone didn't intend to change her mind on that matter. Just knowing she didn't hate or feel a great deal of mistrust for them was enough to please him, judging by how he wasn't saying anything and was just smiling at her kindly.

It surprised Breena how joyful that made her feel. 'He really is right... They... They're nothing alike. S-So what if they come from the same place? So what if he used to be a human? S-So what if they're both men? That... That... That scum wasn't a true master! Master Lone is a true master!'

She didn't know if her thoughts would be best received by Master Lone since he didn't seem overly fond of how she addressed him. Still, this was better than avoiding both him and Mistress Soph all day while they travelled, wasn't it?

'Utterly foolish. We will never understand that girl,' Sophie thought.

She'd been able to hear the entire conversation from the inside of her and Lone's tent and it bothered her a lot. 'Why is she so foolish and weak-minded? We were hunted for more than a century by the Knights Templar. They caught us, stripped us, bound us, chained us to a wall in a cave and left us there for centuries to come! In spite of this, you do not see us hating all men nor those reliant on faith nor knights!'

She really struggled to understand why Lone and Soph bothered with the girl, let alone liked her.

'Toss her a pouch full of gold and send her on her way, we say,' she snorted in her mind before closing her eyes and forcing herself to go to sleep.

She feared she'd express some of her discontent towards Lone should he enter their tent and she didn't really want to deal with that.

Lone could be a real pain in the ass when he was firm of mind, Sophie felt.

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