Chapter 176 - Wanna Bet?
A flow of water runs smoothly on air, forming figures of the objects Christina instructs.
"Swan."
"Falcon."
"Horse."
The water moved freely as it morphs from one form to another. The crystal blue liquid was making everyone gasp in awe as they watched it freely transform.
"Dustin sure has a talent for water affinity," Lance said with a grin. "He can cast that level of skills without even requiring to become an Adventurer."
Looking at it, Elliot was beyonf amazed when Dustin could conjure water in his hands. If this young boy has this immense magic in him when he's half human, what kind of magic does his mother have when this clearly came from her genes?
"Let him grind a few levels, he could surpass Rare tier Adventurers without even trying," Christina said, standing up as she finished their training.
The guild members gave Dustin a round of applause, all mesmerised by the young boy's talents.
"When I grow up, I want to be like mommy," Dustin said. "She goes by the sea at night and would call the waters, bending them in her will."
Elliot's eyes widened after hearing Dustin. He looked around to see the confused look of his guild mates.
"O-Oh, what a crazy imagination this kid have," Elliot chuckled awkwardly, trying to break the silence that eeriely crept upon them.
"Oh, kids these days."
"Bend the waters in her own will?"
"Maybe he likes thinking of magic so much that he ended up hallucinating?"
…
The whispers of the people around him made Dustin frown. He turned to Elliot with a pout in his lips.
"Why doesn't anyone believe me?" Dustin asked. "I did saw mommy do something with the ocean."
Elliot kneeled in front of Dustin, trying to keep a straight face on despite his nervousness. He opened his hand, "Wanna go somewhere fun? I bet I know a place that we can go to see the something you like."
"I want to see a butterfly," Dustin said. "I used to see a lot of them when I was younger but then they stopped coming to the village."
"Do you want to see butterflies?" Elliot asked, leaning down to the boy's level, which wasn't that low for him.
"You'll take me to see the butterflies? For sure. Let's go!," Dustin shrugged the topic off completely, making Elliot release a sigh of relief.
As sharp as Dustin can get with his magic, he was still a kid after all. A small distraction would be enough to keep his thoughts about his mother at bay. Elliot will solved them when Emelda comes back.
Elliot turned and offered Dustin a ride on his back. "Come on."
Looking at the boy who was only a couple of inches shorter than him, Dustin was hesitant. He wasn't the tallest kid on the planet but so was Elliot. He was afraid hed make Elliot have a hard time when he rides on his back.
"What are you waiting for, Dustin?" Elliot asked with a wide smile on his lips, oblivious of the thoughts in Dustin's mind. "Come on. I'll give you a piggyback ride."
"A-Are you sure?" Dustin asked. "I'm quite heavy."
"Of course, I'm sure," Elliot grinned. "Let's go."
Dustin was about to walk and get on Elliot's back when another man, a larger one, sat beside Elliot, offering his own back for Dustin to ride on.
"You're better of in here," Lance said. "I have to go to the Butterfly Garden anyway."
The smile on Dustin's lips made it evident that he was scared he might break Elliot's back. He immediately got on Lance's back, grinning as the taller man, who was slightly over six foot tall, stood. He could see things in different perspective on Lance's back, a wide toothy grin etched on his face as they walked.
"Elliot 0, Lance 1," Ed whispered to his friends' ears that made them both snicker.
"Let the bloodbath begin," Connor said.
"Why?" Viper asked them. "I don't mean to intrude but your voices were quite loud, it made me curious."
"See those two?" Connor pointed at Elliot and Lance. "They like to compete with everything sometimes. And the signs that they'll compete for Dustin's attention is evident just by how shocked Elliot looked when Lance offered Devin for a ride.
"Oh," Viper, Florencia, and Christina all formed an O with their mouths.
"I bet 5 gold coins Mr. Moon will win this round," Hope grinned. "I could feel it."
"I bet you 10, Elliot will," Ed countered. "And since Connor is the last one to join, he'll bet on neither."
"Aww, come on," Connor grunted. "I always have the last pick."
"On our way there, why don't we explore on some of the things Alorde can offer?" Lance asked, turning to Elliot for permission.
"Why don't we just go to the Butterfly Garden and be done with it?" Elliot asked back. "Isn't it the destination we wanted to go in the first place?"
"Yeah, but then we can take a look at some places while Dustin's here," Lance pursed his lips and gave Elliot puppy eyes. "Wouldn't that make this poor little boy happier? He will have more things to see."
"Okay, fine," Elliot could only sigh in defeat, watching the victorious smirk playing on Lance's lips as he jogged to the streets with Dustin now sitting on his neck.
"Hear that Dustin? We can explore a bit while we're going to the Butterfly Garden," Lance cheered. "This is going to be fun. I'm sure you'll have lots and lots of fun."
"Lance 2, Elliot 0," Ed grinned. "Prepare your gold boys. I got this in the bag."
"L-Let's just see," Hope said, slightly pouting.
The group had toured the city as they got to their way to the Butterfly Garden Elliot spoke of. Lance even took a few detours on the way, saying hi to Francoise, Isabelle, and even Josephine.
"It's almost afternoon, we need to go before the garden closes," Elliot reminded. "Come on."
Lance pouted but followed Elliot. Meanwhile, their friends were slowly getting bummed because of the lack of argument the two were having. They swore Lance and Elliot had more chances of arguing, but they seem to retract before they could even start.
"We're almost there," Elliot said with a wide smile. His smile almost fell, replacing with a wider one after he saw a notification on his Console.
'New quest [ The Butterfly Garden's Dilemma ] available.'