Chapter 58 Sincere
"THEN WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?!?"
The desperation in Melvin's voice reverberated through Nial's entire being as he shook him hard.
It made Nial feel incapable of saying a single word for a few moments after hearing Melvin's loud exclamation that was filled with guilt and hurt. It made him overcome the biggest obstacle he had to face until now- himself and his emotions that had wreaked havoc in his heart.
"You…weren't supposed to do anything, but to fight for those you like and love. After making a mistake you should fix it, or apologize to the people you hurt.
I don't care if you hurt me, but what about the rest of my family…have you apologized to them yet? No, you haven't…so how about you start, right there!"
Nial tried his best to stay calm and rational but rationality was something he had lost ever since he found out that his family was not with him anymore.
Emotions had already overwhelmed him, which was also the reason why he pushed away his friend's arms before he remarked,
"If you are not a pushover and truly sorry for what you did, show me your resolve. If you're just empty talk, never show your face to me!"
For his own good, and that of Melvin, Nial felt that they had to fight against each other with all they got.
It was useless if he were to fight against someone who had given up on himself because that would mean he would punch a lifeless sandbag.
Clearly showing his determination to fight Melvin and train harder, Nial had made his stance clear- either give your best, or be a pushover and let's never meet each other again!
If Melvin was truly giving up on himself, then Nial doubted if he had ever known anything about his friend.
As such, he was gambling on the fact that Melvin would accept his challenge, which was exactly what happened.
Both were still not sure how they should feel about each other because the entire situation was too messed up.
However, even then, Nial was unwilling to let go of his friend, even if he was disappointed with his best friend's naivety.
But there was no point thinking about the past, and as long as his family was doing fine, he should be thankful to Melvin, instead of hating him.
As such, he had come to the decision that he had to forgive Melvin for everything he had done, which, however, didn't mean that he would accept how his friend was treating himself.
This was something unforgivable to do to oneself, and Nial decided to take matters into his own hands because it looked like Melvin couldn't forgive himself for what he had inadvertently done more than anything else.
In the end, he had come to terms with the fact that his family was safe and not in immediate danger.
Nial might have lost contact with his family for the time being, but the longer he thought about it, the better it was that they were with Sabrina. He would do fine without anyone's help but his sister definitely needed them.
At least now he could learn to live independently, and it wouldn't be a problem for him to conquer all kinds of dungeons as long as he continued to improve his mana perception.
The limit of his mana core had also increased, which meant that his potential had been artificially heightened as well.
Nial felt that this was something great, but at the same time, he was not sure how exactly he should feel about the situation. Thus, he was trying to look at the brighter side and cheer himself up.
Furthermore, he was far from being as poor as only a few weeks ago, where he didn't even have a graded weapon.
Because of that, he had more than enough means to become stronger in a short time as nothing was holding him back.
On the contrary, Nial had enough reason to work even harder than ever before, because he wanted to meet his family once again.
And, in order to achieve this, he required strength, wealth, and connections that were even better than Serl Tyr's to allow him to fulfill his true goal-meeting and rescuing his family.
This would be hard to achieve on his own, which was why he had hoped that Melvin would help him.
Unable to control his anger once again, Nial approached his friend before grasping his smelly shirt by the collar as he turned towards the dumbfounded butler.
"Where is the bathroom?? Can you bring some new clothes, his armor and weapon, several healing reagents, highly nutritious food… ah.. and I need to know where the combat room is!
The Tyr family has one, don't they?"
He simply bombarded the butler with a lot of orders not caring about the fact that the Master of the house was standing right next to the butler.
Yet, instead of commenting anything, Serl remained quiet, which allowed him to do as he pleased, which was exactly what Nial did.
He had already figured out that Melvin's father wanted him to drag his son out of the miserable state he was in because that was not something Serl Tyr was capable of.
In fact, Serl Tyr had tried to convince his son that the entire situation was not his fault, but it had been a futile effort.
Thus, after seeing how Nial was bossing his son around, a small smile crept up his lips as if his plan had worked out in a perfect manner.
Nodding his head at the butler to signal him to do as Nial asked, there was no hesitation in the eyes of the old man anymore as he rushed outside the room to lead him to the bathroom.
Meanwhile, Serl followed Nial, who dragged his son along with him, making it look like the young blind youth was the owner of a dog that was unwilling to move anymore.
Yet, Melvin allowed Nial to do whatever he pleased, and only half an hour later, he was done bathing. Nial couldn't believe that Melvin had hit such a low point in life in a matter of days that he even let his friend wash and bathe him like a puppy.
In fact, Nial would have never expected to bathe his friend before they would fight with all their might to vent out their sorrow, guilt, and frustration.
It was a ridiculous situation but nobody was smiling, laughing, or feeling great.
Instead, the situation was tense and awkward as nobody spoke because they felt burdened by the surrounding atmosphere.
Even Serl Tyr thought that a single word might cause the situation to worsen even further, which was why he remained quiet and simply observed the situation with his hands folded in front of his chest.
'Am I really doing the right thing?' He wondered, looking at Nial, who was motivating his son to get back on his feet.
It was not difficult to perceive that they were best friends and knowing this, Serl couldn't help but feel bad about what he had thought to do with Nial earlier.
If he were to be honest, Serl had thought more than once that it might be easier to get rid of Nial once they went their separate ways.
That was the safest way to prevent anyone else from finding out about the fact that he knew that the Eclipse Assassins had kidnapped the Orin family, after all.
Getting rid of the people that knew the truth would be the easiest way to protect his family, and by pretending to help Nial, Melvin would believe that his father was helping him reunite with his best friend.
Serl had believed that after years of not meeting each other, Melvin would have gotten to know other people, and slowly forgotten Nial.
However, Serl's opinion about Nial changed completely, and his initial thoughts of quieting him down with force or violence, if necessary, disappeared into thin air as he scratched the back of his head.
Instead, he decided to give Nial a better option that would allow him to reunite with his family, using his own means, namely, strength, wealth and connections.
And to build all of this, there were multiple places he could go to, which was attending a private school, followed by a prestigious university where most of the students belonging to influential families studied.
Other than that, he could try to reach a high position in the military, but that was quite difficult, considering Nial's disability, and the fact that he was likely to die before he would be able to come even close to attaining his goal of meeting his family.
In the end, there were also other ways to come close to Liondra, which was through specific organizations just like the Heaven's Gates, and the elite teams they were in control of such as the Eclipse Assassins.
In fact, hundreds or thousands of elite teams, guilds and clans similar to the Eclipse Assassins existed, and as long as they were powerful enough, and had the necessary influence, they would be able to enter Liondra easily.
Thus, Serl shared his opinion with Nial and Melvin, when they stood in the combat arena, fully prepared to fight…if one were to exclude the loose grip with which Melvin held his weapon, his eyes that were still void of the desire to live, and his complete unwillingness to fight.
"Nial…you know, if you ever need someone to barter items for you…I might be able to help you. The Tyr family can also auction off items in your stead, which means you'll receive a higher profit because we can attend and have access to private auctions…and if you need a recommendation letter for any kind of school, academy, or university…just tell me, I'll help you out…"
Hearing these words caused Nial to avert his attention from Melvin, whom he wanted to slap once again, and he stared at Serl Tyr with a wide-open mouth.
It was the first time Nial had sensed sincerity in Melvin's father's words indicating that he had no hidden agenda.
The honesty in his voice made him feel as if he wasn't the shrewd emotionless businessman who only sought personal gains and also harbored ill intentions.
Serl Tyr was sincere right now, and hearing what he said caused Nial to doubt his ears, unsure if he had heard correctly.
Even Melvin, who was only half-heartedly listening to them couldn't help but stare at his father in astonishment.
Never in his life had he heard his father saying or doing something so generous and being selfless instead of plotting to offer help in order to achieve something grander or to destroy someone else in order to take his sweet revenge.
As such, Melvin couldn't help but instinctively believe that something would happen to Nial, which caused him to take a step forward so that he stood in between his friend and father.
Only a moment later he realized what he was doing, which caused him to step back.
Yet, he had already reacted and both Nial and his father had noticed that…it was more difficult not to note that Melvin had moved, after all!
"So, you are finally done sulking? If that's the case, let's spar!"
Pulling Melvin towards the combat ring, which he could clearly visualize with his mana perception, Nial was ready to fight his friend, even if that meant he had to beat some common sense into him.
Yet, before he thought about starting the fight, he turned back to Serl Tyr as he bowed to him, showing his gratitude.
"We will definitely discuss your offer in the future…thank you very much…" Nial acknowledged Serl Tyr's help before turning towards Melvin, who seemed to have regained some of his vigor.
It was not enough but the first step had already been taken. As such, the following steps would be much easier…or so Nial thought as he manifested the Viper spear in his hand.
A light zap coursed through his body and it was almost as if the spear was greeting him, which caused a subtle smile to emerge on his face.
The last few days had been a mess, but the burden weighing on his shoulders felt less heavy with the Viper spear in his hand.
Everything seemed to be much easier than before and Nial's mind was slowly drawn to the fight, in which he would give his all, in order to allow himself to regain his senses as well as prepare for the future!