The Hero’s Ascension

What Did You Do

“What did you do, Clint?” Liza whispered. “I’ve never seen Cathy so shaken up before, let alone fetching the Master of the Guild. Pretty wild stuff.”

“Nothing. I swear! All I did was what she asked me to do, then everything went haywire,” I said, waving my hands in my defense. “This is exactly what I meant. I knew something was going to happen.”

I began to talk again but was interrupted by the entrance of a very large man. The rest of the voices in the building died out as well. The man was clearly respected. I was sure he was the one we were waiting for.

“Huh… This scrawny kid,” he said, forcing his face in front of mine. “Are you the one causing trouble? Hmmm…”

The man pointed toward the mirror and asked that I place my hand on it once more. He also said ‘no funny business,’ which almost got a laugh out of me. I approached, placed my hand on the center, and it lit up in response, showing partial values before fading into the same state it had been in previously.

“Hmmmmm,” he grumbled while aggressively rubbing his chin. “This is new… let me try this.” He formed a circle with his thumb and index finger, looking through it at me. “Identify!”

His fingers began to glow a vibrant blue as a piece of glass formed in front of them.

“Do you see anything, boss?” Cathy asked. “Anything at all? His affinities, maybe?”

With a loud grumble, he said, “Nope. I can’t see anything. It’s just static.” The man put his hand out. “Name’s Garth. This is my guild. Technically, I’m now your boss. Cathy, get his guild card ready, please.”

For a moment, I just stared at the man’s hand.

He was letting me join.

No insane, lengthy interrogation to get answers I didn’t have. Nor demands to explain something I didn’t even remotely understand myself. Just pure acceptance.

The knot that had been sitting in my stomach since we entered the district loosened so quickly it made me dizzy.

I reached forward and shook his hand.

“Clint,” I said, trying and failing to hide the relief in my voice. “Nice to meet you.”

“Yay, Clint! You’re in! That’s so awesome.” She gestured toward the large board in the back. “Want to grab a quest before we turn in for the night?”

“Hold on, Clint. You can do as she said. I only ask you to stay in the area. Just for now. Think of it as your guild membership’s burn-in phase,” he explained.

I agreed, and we slowly walked over to the request board, talking about what had happened.

I should have felt relieved.

Instead, a familiar unease settled into my chest. Back home, every good thing seemed to arrive hand in hand with something worse. A bad grade after a great week. A ruined weekend after months of looking forward to it. Life, without fail, always found a way to collect its debt.

Maybe that was why I kept looking over my shoulder as Liza dragged me toward the quest board. The guild had accepted me, and Garth hadn’t thrown me out.

Yet part of me still couldn’t shake the feeling that I was waiting for the punchline.

We quickly grabbed a quest to help a nearby farmer tomorrow morning and registered it under our temporary team.

“So, you have nowhere to sleep, right? Like, no money to get into an inn?” Liza asked as we headed toward the doors. “Come stay at my house, then. Mom and Dad are there.”

“Whaaa—wa-wa-what!” I stammered, the question flustering me to the point of turning beet red. “I… I couldn’t impose,” I said, waving my hands, trying to cover my face.

“I don’t remember you having any other choice. Or do you somehow magically have money now? Hmmm…”

After sticking her tongue out at me, she grabbed my hand and yanked me the entire trip. We ran through the Central District in a blink, stopping only once we had made our way back to the Residential District. We both hunched over, gathering our breath, panting at random intervals.

“My house is… wow, that was a jog. Ha ha, my house is up this way. Come on!”

I quickly followed. The sun had gone down while we were at the guild. What was left were the crystal lampposts and their light filtering down. Shadows danced as the wind blew. This area was even more beautiful and peaceful at night.

We settled in front of one of the more modest-sized houses in the area. Lamplight drifted out of the windows, and a few shadows could be seen moving inside.

Without knocking, Liza opened the door and pulled me inside. Within seconds, I was standing in her kitchen, being introduced to her dad.

“Liza, dear… who is this boy?” a short, kind-looking older man asked, his brow raised in confusion. “And why is he in my kitchen? Also, is he staying for dinner? If so, tell me now. I’ll make more food.”

“He is… Dad, this is Clint. Man, I feel like I’m having déjà vu. He’s new in town, and I’m helping him out until he’s on his own two feet,” Liza explained.

“The honor is mine, sir. It’s very nice to meet you.”

I put my hand out to shake his. He met it with his own and firmly shook it.

“Sir?” the man repeated with a warm laugh. “Don’t make me feel older than I’m. Thomas is fine.”

“Dad is old,” Liza offered.

Before I could decide whether they were joking, another figure entered the kitchen carrying a wooden bowl. She spotted me and stopped.

“Liza,” she said. “Who is the boy?”

“His name is Clint.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

Liza sighed. “He’s new in town and needs a place to stay for a little while.”

The woman gave me a quick once-over before turning back to her daughter.

“You found another one?”

“He is not a stray!” Liza threw up her hands.

“Mhm.” The woman set the bowl on the counter and raised an eyebrow.

The exchange had the unmistakable rhythm of a familiar argument.

“Mom,” Liza groaned.

“Liza,” her mother replied in the same tone, sorting vegetables into the bowl.

Thomas leaned against the counter, trying not to smile.

A smell drifted from the stove, filling the room with warmth. The glow of lamplight, the sound of conversation, the sight of a family moving around one another without a second thought—it all felt so ordinary that it caught me off guard.

“Well,” Thomas said, glancing toward the table. “Are you staying for dinner?”

I opened my mouth to politely decline. My stomach chose that moment to betray me. The growl echoed through the kitchen, causing the conversation to die out.

Then Liza burst out laughing.

Her mother joined in, and even Thomas couldn’t keep a straight face.

Moments later, a plate appeared in front of me, and a chair was pulled out at the table.

For once, nobody was asking anything from me. Nobody expected anything. I wasn’t being judged, measured, or compared. I was simply there.

The uneasy feeling I’d carried from the guild lingered in the back of my mind, but it felt distant now, drowned out by laughter, warm food, and the strange comfort of sitting at a table that somehow felt like it had been waiting for me all along.