Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 323- Some Fatherly Training

Artemis’ Familia's third tower training room.

Thrust!

Swish!

Swish!

"Haa!!"

Ting!

The spear reverberates from the force of stopping just an inch off the ground.

"Hmm… Very good, Calli. Auby, let's see your archery," Cirrus said, watching his two children train.

"Okay!" Auberon pulls back his bow and releases an arrow, hitting near the mark. "Ah, man! I didn’t hit the mark!"

"Try again. This time, calm down and steady your arms. Do not rush it."

"Hm!"

He takes a deep breath and slowly pulls the string, and just before his arms shake, he releases the string, hitting the mark.

"I did it, Dad!" Auberon said jumping up in excitement.

"So, Dad, what do you think?" Calli said, standing next to Auberon.

"Hmm… You are both very skilled, but only time and practice will improve your skills. Calli, your moves are still a bit rough, and you waste energy stopping its spin. Auby, I can’t blame you for this as you're still growing up, so simply keep eating and go to bed on time so you can grow big and strong."

"Why am I the only one getting reprimanded?"

"Because you’re not 5, you're 8 with a status, and Auby still hasn’t gone into the dungeon yet."

"Dad, is there a way to build up my strength without going into the dungeon?" Auberon asked.

"Hmm... there is. Auby, do you wanna do what I did to build up my muscles?"

"Hm!"

"Can I do it too?" Callisto said, wanting to be part of it.

"Sure." Cirrus then gets on the ground and does a plank.

"That’s it?"

"Yes, do it for 10 minutes."

"But it’s just—"

"Can you count, Dad?" Auberon said, already doing it.

"Already doing it when you started."

"Hold on! Let me start too!"

The three then planked. Auberon obviously couldn’t last over 2 minutes, which was impressive to Cirrus, but Calli was keeping up.

"Huff! Huff! My arms are tired!" she shouted.

"They’re all shaking!" said Auberon, watching his sister and father.

"You will get used to it," Cirrus said as he lifts himself and began to do handstand pushups.

"Whoa! Then we can do that too!" Auberon said excitedly.

"Of course, it just needs time, practice, and a good sense of balance." Cirrus then pushes off the ground and back onto his feet. "So, how about a little combat exercise? You two will have to eventually work together."

Calli looks at Auberon, and they share a smile. They still wished to spend the day with their father.

"Hm!" they both said.

"Oop!" Calli’s arms gave out. "Oof!"

"10 minutes and 39 seconds." Cirrus helps her up. "Good job!"

A bit later.

"Huff! Huff! Huff! Huff!" The two siblings lay on the ground, catching their breaths.

"That was pretty fun! We need to do that again some other time!" Cirrus said without a drop of sweat on him, enjoying his time with the kids.

"W-water..." said Calli, reaching out.

Despite how full of energy Callisto is and her status, Cirrus’ training still pushed her to her limits.

"P-please… My body hurts all over," said Auberon.

While Auberon wasn’t as good as Callisto, he was putting in the work.

"Of course." Cirrus takes out two cool, metal flasks of water from his shadow without the kids knowing and hands them to them.

"!!" They saw the flask's hand above them, and they quickly grabbed them.

Glug! Glug! Glug!

"Ahh~ I feel alive again!" said Calli.

"I never felt better!" Auberon said, cooling off.

Cirrus looked at his kid's expression and couldn’t help but smile a bit.

"Glad you two stuck it out," Cirrus said, acknowledging the work they put in.

"Yeah, but my body hurts all over," Callisto said, sprawled on the ground, sweat drenching her hair.

"Yeah, is there a way to not feel pain?" Auberon asked as well, as he lay on the ground more drenched in sweat than Callisto.

"No, and yes," Cirrus said playfully.

"What does that mean? Is it a yes or a no, Dad?" asked Callisto.

"Well, here is a little lesson for you two. Pain comes in two forms. The exterior, which is caused by forces we can’t control, and the interior, which we can, both can be managed through Will. Callisto, you should know this. Artemis ingrained into you that pain is as much mental as it is physical."

"Yeah, but you say it with more like, uh, like you say it with experience!"

"Thank you, but you should keep that to yourself. Your mother will make sure you regret those words."

"Um, Dad, so does it apply even if you're stabbed?" Auberon asked, curious if it applies to more serious injuries.

"Yes. Even when you are stabbed, if you can manage your pain, it would feel like an ant bites you. Of course, it will scar you, but what pain doesn’t? Whether it’s exterior or interior, we all have a scar."

"B-but what if we numb the pain?"

"You are only pushing it away and letting it fester. Pain must be worked through, be it physical or emotional." Cirrus takes a moment to find the words to say next. "You have to go through it, and only then can you move on, having grown and learned from it to be a better you."

"But what if we don’t want to move on?" Callisto asked, looking at him in his eyes.

Cirrus and Callisto look into one another’s eyes for a minute or so. Callisto could see something in her father’s eyes, but she doesn’t know. She is far too young to know the look of regret and acceptance in his eyes.

"Then you will be consumed by that pain, and it will lead you down a path that you will regret. Keeping it bottled will lead to a… terrible day."

"Ooh… Dad, can we—grumble!!"

Her stomach grumbled. It was already past lunchtime.

"It’s almost four. Do you guys wanna get something to eat? It’s our little secret from Mom, alright." He said it with one eye while putting his finger to his lips.

"Can we get to where Aunty Ryuu works?" said Calli, getting back up on her feet.

"If you want to, Auby, do you wanna go?"

"Yeah! But the black-haired cat person always makes me feel unsafe," Auberon said, also picking himself up.

Cirrus needed to speak with Chloe privately if need be.

"Haha! Don’t worry about it." Cirrus spoke with a serious voice. "Now go clean up and let’s get going."

"Hey Dad, it would be faster if you helped us!" said Calli.

"No, you are old enough to bathe yourself." Cirrus knows Calli would do anything to spend more time with him.

"Please, Dad!! Come on!" she said, grabbing his legs and giving him puppy-dog eyes.

On the one hand, he loves that his daughter loves him so much, but it is a bit concerning how much she does.

"Daylight is burning better hurry."

"Come on, Calli!!" Auberon said, pulling Calli.

"Noo!!!! Dad!!!!" She shouted as Cirrus pried her from his legs and Auberon took her away.

"Huff… She’s so dramatic." Cirrus lets out a sigh of relief. "Time sure flies by." He lightly smiles. "… Heh. I’m sure you would like her." Cirrus slowly walks. "Nox. Or maybe not? She is a bit loud and energetic."

Once he was out of the tower, he went and sat in the front garden and simply looked high into the clouds.

"Hakushika, Callisto, and Auberon... Heh." He closes his eyes and reminisces.

‘I didn’t think I would have three kids by the age of 31. Oh fuck, I’m 31! When did I die before? I was about... 20-something? Huh? Has it been that long?’ Cirrus tries to remember as far back as he can, but it feels so distant now. ‘I… I don’t remember my former age or any of the names from my previous life. My mom, dad, sister, uncles... I don’t remember their names or faces.'

"Ah…" He opens his eyes in realization. "I made myself sad."

He looks down; a bit of the blues had hit him. Time has passed by him faster than he realized; he is now a father, and he is in his 30s. With his status as a level 9, the amount of Falna he took in has let him keep a youthful appearance; in fact, he still looks like he is in his early 20s.

‘Now’s not the time to cry, Cirrus! You can cry them out in the shower.’

He holds back his emotions for later. He closed his eyes and waited.

After a couple of minutes, Calli and Auberon came down. Calli pulled on his clothes to get his attention.

"Hey, Dad, it isn’t time to be sleeping!" Callisto said.

He opens his eyes to meet his daughter.

"…Your right. Hup!" he gets up. "How about we go there in style?"

"!" Calli and Auberon’s eyes turn starry-eyed.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

"So cool!" they both said.

"Hold on tight; we are here." He stops flapping, and they free fall.

"Weeeee!!!!!!!" they both said while in their father's arms.

"Now when you're falling from a high place, you don’t wanna land on the heel, so you roll to spread out the force of the fall. Unless you have what I have."

As they approach the ground, he flaps his wings once and lands on the ground, his armor fading away.

FLAP!!!

Tap-Tap~

He lets the kids back onto the ground.

"Calli, why don’t you go and—" As Cirrus was stretching for a second, Auberon cut him off.

"Dad, she's left already." Auberon pointed it out.

Cirrus looked around to find Calli was already running to the Hostess of Fertility.

"God dammit."

Luckily, it was still in the afternoon, and few people were passing by or within the pub.

Bang!!

Calli burst through the swinging doors.

"Can we get the usual Mama Mia!" Calli said, jumping on the stool.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop slamming my damn doors!" Mia said, picking Calli up from her forehead in a bear grip.

Her hold was exquisite. It was tight enough to hold someone up but light enough not to cause them immediate pain.

"Gak!?" Callisto spoke with pressure on her head, her feet dangling in the air.

Unfortunately, Mia used a bit more force on Callisto for slamming her doors again.

"And stop jumping on my stools!"

"Sorry about that," Cirrus said, entering and sitting down as well, with Auberon right next to him. "Calli, the next time you do that, Mia is going to have you clean every inch of this floor."

"Nu-uh!" She said it with strain in her voice.

"Oh, I will." She tightened her grip.

"Gaah!!! My head!! Okay! Okay!" She tapped her arm. "I learned my lesson! But I was just so excited to taste your food again!"

"Heh~, you have your old man’s tongue. But not enough. Next time, you're my new employee." She loosened her grip, and Callisto landed back on the floor. "You’re paying for the door, Cirrus." She said, going to place the order.

"I know." Callisto rubs her forehead.

There weren’t many in the pub at this time of day, but many enjoyed the sight of Cirrus with his kids.

"Nya, so is there anything else you want to order?" asked Anya.

"Yeah, tell Chole if she keeps looking at my son with those eyes, I’ll put the blindfolds back on," Cirrus said, glancing towards the back, where a pair of black cat ears were popping up.

"I-I won’t do it, sir!" She shouted behind the wall.

She quickly ran off.

"Sorry about her." Said Lunoire, coming up. "You know how she gets. Auberon, don’t worry, I’ll keep her away from you, alright?" She winked at Auberon.

He had a slight blush before nodding his head.

"Hm!"

"Well, Ryuu should be coming with the food soon, in a minute or so." Lunoire nods and heads to the back.

After a bit, Ryuu came with the food.

"Here you go." She said, putting the food down.

"Aunty Ryuu, are you going to eat with us?" said Calli with a fork in hand.

"Sorry, but I already had my break, but seeing as there isn’t much business, I can keep some company." She said, sitting down. "So, did you get the day off? You usually work from the morning to dusk."

"I can take a day off whenever I want. It’s just that work piles up. My assistants are good, but work just piles up really fast; it’s disheartening to see a pile of paperwork every day. Anyway, I just sort of made it the same way back in Yamato, and now I have the weekends off and spend them with these two." Cirrus then rubs Callisto and Auberon’s heads.

"Say what about your oldest kid?" asked Mia. "Is he still in school along with Ai?"

"Yeah, he’s making a lot of friends! Last I heard, he got tied for 2nd in the fighting tournament."

"Who got first?" asked Ryuu. "With Ai, I was sure he would get first place."

"Another of Ai’s students; she’s very talented. Her name is Musashi, and I would keep an ear out for her in the future."

"If only you even had time to go and see your wife and kid," Mia said. "With the paperwork and going on expeditions, you hardly see them. Not that I’m complaining about this one." Mia looks at Ryuu. "She has made back her debt and then some."

"Yeah… Hopefully, we can get together. Isn’t that right, Auberon?" He glances at Auberon and pats his shoulder.

"Hm!" Auberon said. "I wanted to spend more time with him! I also wanted to show him my new paintings! I also wanted to see how good his swordsmanship has—"

"Hm! Hm! I am better!" Callisto spoke boastfully. "I’m prettier, cuter, and stronger! My spearmanship skills are also better than his!"

"No one asked Calli!" Auberon retorted.

"True, but it needed to be said, so it is fully engrained in one's mind that I am the best sibling!"

"Is that so…" Mia has heard her boasting multiple times. She would have cut her short, but even Mia could see Callisto’s talent. That, and she knew Cirrus and Artemis were doing their best to curve that from her. "Anyway, it's best to eat your food before it gets cold. Here's a cold one." Mia hands Cirrus a cool drink.

They ate their meal, conversing with one another.

Watching from behind the wall was Syr.

‘Fufu. This year, I will finally push her to confess.’

Her eyes glinted silver before returning to a dull shade and walking to the back.

‘After all, my plans for a double wedding would be amazing! I have pushed things back long enough! She had enough time to go at her own pace, but not this year!’

Freya had grown tired of edging Ryuu toward confession. Now she will give her the push so she can have that double wedding with her.

---

Auberon Dökk Zephyr

Lv. 1

Strength: I34                       Endurance: I58

Dexterity: I56                     Agility: I98

Magic: I24

<Magic>

[Midsummer’s Dream]

• Long Chant.
• Sacred Magic.
• Support/Enchant Magic.

<Skill>

[Spaßmacher Puck]

• Increase growth in proportion when working with another.
• Blood of the Night Sky.
  

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