Chapter 19 Quarrel
Melvin simply stared at his best friend wide-eyed, who smiled at him innocently. The shock was apparent on his face as he blurted out.
"You too?! You had a natural origin awakening??"
He seemed to be more shocked than Nial was astonished about his friend's revelation.
When Nial nodded his head to answer Melvin's question, he could only hear his best friend mutter under his breath.
"...and I had to nag my father to get me a medicine to forcefully awaken my origin…"
Nial knew that there were certain medicines that could increase the chance of being able to become an Original, but they cost a fortune.
As such, these medicines were well beyond the reach of ordinary citizens.
Before, he believed that Melvin's family were ordinary merchants, but Nial could probably not even guess the price of such medical treasures.
His visit to the blacksmith shop had left him stunned as it is when he had checked the prices of common grade Myth weapons.
Nevertheless, he smiled at his friend, happy that he got to awaken his origin too.
"Why does it matter how you awoke your origin. Nobody will ask about that later, right? We should definitely venture into dungeons in the future together, alright?!
Now come inside!"
Melvin noticed it too late that he had complained out loud.
As such, he quieted down before entering the house.
Walking into the living room as if he had been living in the house for years, the first thing Melvin noticed was the backyard and Nial's parents.
"Oh, your parents are home. I should greet them, and sis Sabrina!"
This caused Nial to freeze in place before he exclaimed,
"Wait!"
Nial's smile had instantly disappeared and Melvin noticed this when he turned around to see the abrupt change in Nial's expression.
"Don't talk to my parents about Sabrina...her illness has worsened in the last few months… She is now bedridden and most of the time asleep because the illness leaves her with no energy to even move.
My sister even needs an oxygen mask to breathe…The medicine to barely keep her alive is expensive too, and her situation is becoming worse with each passing day..."
Hearing this, Melvin's face turned ashen, before he turned angry.
Rushing towards Nial, he held him by the collar before shouting,
"WHY didn't you call me!! I can help you, even if it's only financially! What the hell is wrong with you? I know that you don't socialize and that you don't like asking people for help, but it's your sister we are talking about!"
Nial knew that Melvin was concerned about his sister a lot, and in their childhood, they had always played in a group of three.
As such, his friend's reaction was perfectly normal which made Nial sigh deeply as a specific memory flashed through his mind.
It was a memory of the secretary of Melvin's father visiting their home, only to threaten them to never bug his son for financial aid.
He threatened all his family members that if they would ever ask Melvin for money, he would make their life a living hell!
Maybe this had been for Melvin's sake to prevent his friends from exploiting him, or it had a completely different reason.
But in the end, neither Nial nor his parents had ever thought of asking for Melvin's family's help, to begin with.
They were righteous and always believed that exploiting their friends and family was wrong!
But, Sabrina's declining health hit them the worst and it might have made Nial's parents think of asking Nial to request help from Melvin.
If that thought had crossed their minds, they never spoke it out loud, fearing that Melvin's father's anger could worsen their situation.
Because of this, Nial was not sure how to respond to his friend's questions.
So, he only let Melvin rant and vent out. Meanwhile, he felt at a loss and his frustration about the entire situation was threatening to escape through his lips in the form of some very harsh words.
He pushed his friend's hands away that had grabbed him by the collar, only to do the same to his friend.
"What were we supposed to do, huh? Did you expect me to ask for your help, just to end up in an even worse state?!"
Their nice reunion seemed to have taken on the form of a fierce debate that was now escalating towards mild violence, but Nial couldn't help himself anymore.
He was frightened about his sister's situation which had worsened in the last few days.
Yet, his parents had told him to wait while farming other dungeons than the permanent slime dungeon in their backyard.
It was frustrating and made him angry like nothing else. Thus, he didn't hold back when Melvin, his one and only friend, tried to find fault with him without knowing the truth in its entirety.
Meanwhile, Melvin was astonished for a moment to see the way Nial's movements were smooth and perfectly executed as if he could see everything around him.
It took him a second to recall what his friend had just said as his words replayed in his mind multiple times.
"What...are you even talking about??...Wait...My family did not come to threaten yours...right?"
Loosening the grasp around Melvin's collar, Nial lowered his head with a sigh, but he didn't say anything. In the end, his sister's worsening condition was not Melvin's fault, and asking for financial help was only something they would do if they were extremely desperate.
This would happen soon, but Nial knew that his parents would apply for a loan from the Originals association. The loan Originals could take was high and with a comparatively low-interest rate. Yet, it was restricted to the talent one had.
As such, without the ability or resources to accumulate enough to pay back, his parent's loan would only eat their money without relieving Sabrina of her pain for a long time.
"Let's just forget about that, alright? I will start earning money by conquering dungeons, helping my family, and continuing to improve so that I can earn more!
Only that way will I be able to help my sister, and fighting with you won't help me, right?
Just forget whatever I said..."
Nial didn't want Melvin to quarrel with his family because of the incapability of his and his parents to look after Sabrina.
As such, even after asking several times, Melvin was unable to get to know an answer.
This was frustrating, but at the same time, Nial understood that Melvin just wanted to help him and that he was even more frustrated about their situation.
Awakening his origin should be something to celebrate, but because of their financial situation, they were unable to do so.
Instead, Nial seemed to be desperate enough to enter dangerous dungeons if necessary.
Initially, Nial seemed to be happy about having awoken his Origin and finding the Viper spear, but recalling their situation forced him back to reality, and his mood plummeted.
Melvin felt the same, and the two of them gave each other a brief overview of what had happened to them during the last few months before Nial heard that his parents returned.
Miles had visited the surrounding dungeons to earn some more money, while Maline had been inside the slime dungeon.
Upon seeing Melvin, they felt happy, and they invited him for lunch, but Melvin wanted to politely decline the offer.
However, Nial's parents insisted, and thus he was forced to stay.
After their short quarrel, both Nial and Melvin felt a little bit at odds with each other.
The tension between the two was clearly visible and was noticed by Nial's parents as well.
This was also another reason they had insisted Melvin stay.
They knew that Melvin was Nial's only friend, and somehow, it felt weird that their reunion was not happy as both had awoken from their origin, but they were staring in opposite directions with sulky faces.
Yet, after catching some of the words of their quarrel where it seemed like Melvin spoke about lending Nial money in order to allow him 'purchase new equipment', they could roughly gauge what must have happened.
Melvin's expression was not that of belittlement or pity about their financial situation but filled with determination to help, which was not something one would normally do.
His best friend never discussed the financial situation of his family so Melvin had never spoken about lending them something because it was rude.
Yet, upon learning about Sabrina's condition, he was willing to do everything.
"We are merchants who are directly employed by the government, so we have quite a bit of money and additional rights, like prioritized access to government dungeons and potent medicine!
There are also specific discounts we get, so the government's additional fee is not applicable to us, and sometimes we receive even more perks!"
Melvin suddenly shared this information, which caused the others to stop eating for a moment.
Looking at Nial for a moment, his parents averted their attention back to Melvin, as his father sarcastically added.
"That's great for you. We have a dungeon in our backyard too…"
Yet, Melvin was not even focusing on Miles anymore and he was simply staring at Nial, who felt his stare on him as he fidgeted with his spoon.
"Nial...let's go to one of the largest, lowest ranked Rookie dungeons. We should be able to earn a fortune, even without the knowledge of my family, right? Do you think you can cope with that, Nial? There are multiple types of beasts, like slimes, goblins, but also kobolds and so on!"
Hearing this, Nial instinctively looked up and stared at Melvin with his lifeless eyes. He was unsure if he was doing the right thing as he asked him.
"Permanent dungeon?"
Melvin assumed that he had piqued Nial's interest because entering a dungeon together wouldn't make his merchant family suspicious about anything.
It was perfectly normal to enter a dungeon with other fellow Originals after all!
"No, it's an instance dungeon with active respawn times, so it's even better, isn't it?!"
Nial seemed to be astonished, but he took his time formulating a response as he was not sure whether his and Melvin's definition of an instance dungeon were the same.
He was reluctant about doing anything that could offend Melvin's father and the rest of his family.
"I also have a spatial ring, let's just store the origin crystals and so on inside them. I already have everything I want, so you can even have the gains!"
Somehow, Melvin seemed to have arrived perfectly prepared to depart right off the bat, and Nial hastily shoved the food down his throat as he exclaimed,
"Alright, let's go then!!"
Following that Nial stood up while Melvin finished his plate with a bright smile on his face that seemed to say 'Finally, I got you!'
Rushing towards the corner of the room, where he had placed the Viper spear, he held it in his hand and beckoned for his friend to hurry up.
Melvin eyed the spear for a short moment, before nodding his head, which only looked like a rod to him as its blades were retracted.
"The rod has quite a few engravings...and a special function at the tip...I didn't think Uncle Arnold improved that much… Either way, let's leave and earn a fortune for sis Sabrina!!"
Filled with vigor that seemed to have disappeared after their small scuffle, Melvin felt much more relieved to be able to help in any way.
And, even Nial figured that Melvin had found a great way to help him and his sister without irking his merchant father.
Leaving the house in a hurry, they sprinted through the front yard as Maline and Miles stared at each other.
"Did Nial tell Melvin about his father's threat, did I miss something, or are they simply suicidal?"
It was Miles, who asked this question, the confusion visible on his face.
Yet, a moment later, Maline slapped him on the back of his head gently as she answered him.
"Nobody is suicidal here!! They'll return soon!"
After saying this, she mumbled the last few words to herself, "...hopefully without an injury…"