Wait! I'm not a Demigod, I'm a Gamer!

Chapter 8: Help

A soft knocking on the door stirs Sam awake. He groans at the disturbance and opens his eyes to see a blur of red. His squints in confusion and tilts his head back to see what was the culprit. Some time during the night, Yuuya had turned around and hugged Sam as if he was a giant teddy bear. Said man was still deep asleep, his ears occasionally twitching while his tail is still wrapped around one of Sam's legs. The sight caused Sam to blush, "When did he-How is he this cute!?" The knocking brings Sam back to the present. "Yuuya, Sam. It's time to get up," says Evelyn, her voice muffled through the door. The doorknob is heard being turned, making Sam panic. "Oh Goddess! Yuuya isn't in disguise! She's gonna see his ears and tail!" Without a second thought, Sam buries Yuuya in the blankets, waking him up in the process. "Hmmm-what? What's going on? *Yawn* Is it morning?" Said Yuuya in a tired voice, not quite understanding the situation. Yuuya tries to move the blanket off him, but fails to do so since Sam holds the fabric down. "Yuuya, you're not human right now!" Whispered Sam harshly, trying to convey the issue to the tired beast-man without drawing his mother's attention. Sam's statement wakes Yuuya up instantly. "Uh oh. Give me a moment!" Whispered Yuuya back. Sadly, Sam's mother walks in spotting the two men on the bed. Well more like one man on top of a large lump under the covers. Evelyn smiles at the silly display. "Boys. It's time to get up. I made breakfast." Not wanting his mother to remove the blankets, Sam stays in his position while giving her a strained smile. "Okay mom. We're up. We'll be down in a second." Evelyn eyes Sam, making the poor man nervous, and looks over at the lump. "Yuuya. Are you awake?" "Can the boy even breathe under there?" The lump moves for a second before Yuuya moves enough of the blankets to reveal his fave, but keeps his ears hidden. "Yup! I'm up! Just...getting ready," Yuuya answers with a nervous smile. Evelyn looks at the uneasy men back and forth a few seconds before chuckling. "Okay, be down soon okay?" The men nod their head and wait until the woman closes the door once more. They breathe a sigh of relief and look at each other. Sam frowns and waves his finger at the beast-man. "That was close, too close. You need to pay attention to your disguise." Scolded Sam as he gets up and moves off the bed. Yuuya sits up allowing the covers to fall off his head showing his ears are flatten, saddened at being scolded. "I know, I'm sorry. I can't keep pouring mana into this necklace all night long. I have to sleep at some point..." Sam sighs tiredly and rubs his head. "Yeah I get it...Just! Don't sleep in." Yuuya nods his head happily and closes his eyes to imagine the same form as before. Just like before, a bright light envelopes Yuuya and blinds Sam for a second. When he looks up Yuuya is back to looking like a human. They smile at the success and move to get ready.
Yuuya simply puts on his boots while Sam goes to his room to change. Yuuya walks down the stairs and sees Evelyn putting down plates and silverware while Ruby passes out the cups. The scene reminding Yuuya of his siblings back when he was Sakura, helping out set up the table while Ren cooked. Tears start to build up once again, but Yuuya rubs his eyes to erase the nostalgic memories, not wanting to bring down the happy atmosphere. Yuuya walks all the way down and joins the ladies in the kitchen. "Good morning! Can I help?" Evelyn looks up and smiles at the offer. "Good morning to you too Yuuya. Could you grab the bread rolls please? They're on the counter next to the stove." Yuuya nods and walks over to the stove. Ruby finishes passing out the cups and looks at her mother, proud of her work. "Look mommy! I finished with the cups!" Evelyn chuckles and ruffles Ruby's hair. "I see sweetie. Why don't you help Yuuya with the food?" Ruby nods enthusiastically and rushes over to Yuuya. He's holding the bread when she crashes into him, making bread rolls go flying in the air. Yuuya panics and thinks up a spell, "Hold!" And uses his dark magic to catch the bread in mid air. The bread glow a dark purplish color and float in the air just before they hit the ground. While holding on to the control, he motions the bread to float back into the bowl he's holding. One by one, the bread lay back into the bowl until all were accounted for. Yuuya sighs in relief and turns around, seeing four surprised faces. Rick and Sam are by the stairs, mouths dropped at the magic scene they just witnessed. Evelyn has wide eyes as she pours water to the already full cups, spilling on the table in the process. The only one with a smile on their face is Ruby, looking like she had stars in her eyes. "Wow! What did you just do!? That looked so cool! Can you do that again?" Ruby runs over and grabs onto Yuuya's shirt, bombarding him with questions. Yuuya chuckles at the deja vu. "I just used a simple dark magic spell to make the bread float." Yuuya explains while walking over to the table and places the bread rolls down. He looks over at Evelyn and gently takes the water pitcher out of her hands. "Wanna see a magic trick?" Ruby nods her head so fast, Yuuya thought her head would fall off. He looks over at the mess on the table and raises his hand. The palm of his hand glows a faint blue and the water on the table rises up into a line, circling Ruby along the way making her giggle, and then goes into separate directions towards the cups. Once each cup was full, Yuuya puts his hand down and looks at Ruby, seeing her jump up and down excitedly. "Wow! That was amazing! Can you teach me that? No wait! Can you teach Sammy that? He can use water magic too, but he takes too long to chant!" As Ruby talks rushingly with Yuuya, Evelyn walks over to Sam and Rick near the stairway.
"What did I just witness? He just used two different types of magic without chanting a single word!" Whispered Evelyn urgently, snapping Rick and Sam out of their shocked states. Rick looks over at Sam, "Samuel, how did Yuuya kill the bull-wolf? I thought you said he healed you? That's a light magic skill. He just used dark magic. They're not compatible." Sam sweat drops as his parents stare down at him, waiting for an explanation. "Uhhhh..." is all escapes from Sam's mouth. "What the hell am I supposed to say!? I knew he could use several types of magic, but how do I explain this to them without revealing the idea that he is the revived kitsune? They will never believe me." Hearing no explanation, his parents talk amongst themselves. "Maybe he can use both light and dark magic types, and water of course. It's not that unusual." Suggested Rick while Evelyn shakes her head. "No no no you don't understand Rick. No human has ever wielded both light and dark magic types. He can even do water magic, that much power would weaken a human." As they talk, Sam's panic increases as the seconds go by. "They're right, a normal human wouldn't survive with such contradicting magic types. The most a human can handle is three magic types. Any more and they would be incredibly weak. But Yuuya isn't human...What do I do!?" Not wanting his parents to jump to any unnecessary conclusions, Sam finally speaks, "W-well he uhhh used a dark magic spell that held the bull-wolf in place..." His parents listen intensely as Sam debates on if he should tell them that he used another contradicting magic type: fire. "A-and then he uhh..."
While they have been talking, Yuuya has been listening closely with his keen sense of hearing while answering Ruby's questions. "Why doesn't Sam just tell them? It's not that weird is it? Maybe I should help him." Yuuya loudly exclaims, "Then I drowned it." Sam and his parents turn towards Yuuya, surprised he heard them. Yuuya winks at Sam and explains further, "I used my dark magic to hold the beast, then I used my water magic to drown it. It took a while, but it did the job." Sam's parents nod their heads, accepting his explanation while Sam mouthed a thank you to him. Ruby growing impatient, yells out, "Mommy! Daddy! Sammy! I'm hungry! Can we eat now?" Everyone laughs at her impatience and joins her at the table. "Alright alright. Let's eat. Sammy, can you get the eggs please?" With that out of the way, the family enjoy a nice meal together.
After they eat, the ladies clean the dishes while the men go outside intending to do some outdoor chores, not without a stern warning to Sam to not go outside the wall again. Rick drags Sam to the back of the house to cut up some firewood while Yuuya follows right behind them, wanting to be useful to the kind family that have taken him in. Rick easily cuts down on the wood with his sturdy axe, however, Sam struggles to cut the wood all the way down. Yuuya watches from the side in concern, "Maybe I should help him." After the third failed attempt, Yuuya decides to give poor Sam a hand. "Hey Sam! Let me try." Sam blinks at the sudden request and hands his axe over. "Sure. Here you go." Yuuya takes the axe, not really feeling the weight of the tool. "Points for having an over two hundred level strength stat." Yuuya picks up a new piece of wood and raises the axe over his head. After a moment of hesitation, he brings the axe down, successfully cutting the wood in half. Sadly, he brought the axe down so hard, he cut through the stand the wood was placed on top of. Yuuya sweat drops at the result and looks over at Sam who has his mouth dropped. Thankfully, Rick hadn't noticed so the men quickly take the wood off and stand in front of the stand right before he turned to look at their work. "Nice cut Yuuya! That's a good, clean cut. Mind teaching my son how to do that?" The men laugh awkwardly at his teasing. Once Rick focused back on his work, they quickly turn around and examine the damage of the stand. Just like the wood, the stand was cut in half all the way through. Yuuya looks at Sam and asks in a quiet voice, "Think he'll notice?" Sam looks like a gaping fish out of water before he hisses in a soft voice, "Do I think he'll notice-Yes! I think he'll notice." Yuuya smiles in surrender and looks back at the stand. The stand is made of wood that is much thicker and sturdier than the firewood, able to withstand constant blows of an axe. "Hmmm if it's made of wood, I might be able to use a nature type spell to fix it. Don't really have much experience using plant magic...Except the time I fixed that queen elf's royal bow in that quest. If I apply the same spell to this, it should work. Okay! Let's try it!" Yuuya holds out his hand and concentrates. A glowing green light flows out his palm into the stand. Small, thin vines erupt from one side of the stump and latch onto the other half. The vines pull the two halves together, the line from the cut glowing green as the halves merge together, thus making the stand whole once more. Sam stares in awe, always impressed by Yuuya's power. Yuuya smiles at Sam who returns it with one of his own. A slap on their backs startles them, nearly making their hearts jump out of their chests. "What are you boys doing? Why you just staring at this block of wood? C'mon we got more wood to cut!" Yuuya and Sam nod their heads quickly, relieved the man did not see the repair. Yuuya continues to cut the firewood, using much less force to avoid breaking the stand again.
After a couple of hours of chopping go by, Rick calls it a day. "Alright you two, this should be enough. Samuel! Why don't you show Yuuya around the village? I'm sure the boy is curious." Yuuya smiles brightly at the thought of exploring and quickly looks at Sam with hopeful eyes. Sam smiles back and nods. "Sure! Let's go Yuuya, I'll show you around." Yuuya rushes up to Sam's side, ready for the tour. Sam leads Yuuya away from his home towards the center of the village. "This is the center of it all. And where we get our well water." Yuuya looks over at the well and nods, impressed with the structure and the amount of water down below. Sam points to the far left side of the well. "That's the inn, you've already been there, Miss Beck owns it. She's the one that gave you a slice of pie." Yuuya drools slightly at the thought of said dessert. "I wouldn't mind getting another slice." Sam laughs and takes Yuuya's hand. "After. C'mon we've only just started." Sam drags Yuuya around his hometown, showcasing all the little shops and restaurants the village had to offer. They stopped by the blacksmith, Mr. Bruce, saying hello and admiring his work. Next, they saw Miss Tweety's general shop. The woman offering snacks to the men, free of charge. Once again, Yuuya tried to pay with the monster core he got from the bull-wolf and again was denied, Miss Tweety claiming that newcomers get to shop for free the first time. Next, the men were stopped by Mr. Spencer, a tailor, and pushed into his shop. Claiming he wanted to make Yuuya new clothes and refuses to allow him to continue wearing such thin, ratty clothes. Yuuya wanted to complain that he didn't pick these clothes, but held his tongue, couldn't exactly tell the tailor that these clothes suddenly appeared out of thin air. After being measured, Yuuya and Sam were released, but had to swear they would return by the end of the day to pick up his new wardrobe.
They continued around the village until they returned to the well from the start. Yuuya pants, exhausted by all the new sights and people. "Man there's so much here! It's amazing!" "Your village is amazing!" Stated Yuuya while giving Sam a radiant smile. Sam blushes and rubs his head awkwardly. "Y-yeah. This village means everything to me. My mother used to take me to this well everyday right before the sun set. Believing that when you make a wish here at that time, it would come true." Yuuya squints his eyes in confusion. "Why don't you do it anymore? Did you get too old for it?" Sam's eyes grow dull while his smile turns sad. "No. She uhhh...She died." Yuuya stares in shock at the news. "But I met your mom, Evelyn right?" Sam shakes his head and looks down to hide his face. "No. Evelyn isn't my real mom...She's my step mom. Dad's second wife...My mom died back when I was seven." Yuuya frowns sadly, slowly moving closer to Sam. When he was close enough, Yuuya pulls Sam into a side hug, trying to comfort the depressed man. "I'm sorry. She must've been a lovely woman...What was she like?" Sam takes a shaky breath and grips Yuuya's hand on his shoulder. "She uhh *Sniff* she used to tend to the land, growing flowers and food in the garden. She talked to everyone with a smile and everywhere she went, she'd bring this air of positivity that would lift everyone's spirits. Of course, she wasn't afraid to-to scold anyone that was being too rough. When I would have trouble sleeping, she would sing me a lullaby. It always comforted me...I think I miss her voice the most." Sam squeezes his hand, still refusing to look up. Yuuya thinks for a second, wanting to cheer up his poor friend. "You know you're lucky." Sam finally looks up questionably, eyes filled with unshed tears. "How am I lucky?" Yuuya sighs and looks up at the sky. "Because you got to be with your mom. You and her got to be together, eat together, laugh together, cry together. You made memories with her. I...I never really got to see my parents..." Sam's eyes widen in surprise, no longer feeling depressed instead curious over Yuuya's past. Hearing no response, Yuuya continues, "My parents were never really around when I was born. They'd just drop by for a second, then they would travel oversees for months sometimes years the next. My older siblings practically raised me. I'm very grateful to them...I wish I got the chance to thank them properly." A single tear goes down his face, but he wipes it off quickly, determined to cheer Sam up. He looks over at the man in his arms and smiles encouragingly. "Besides, she may not be here, but she's not gone." Yuuya points to Sam's chest, right where his heart rests. "She'll never be as long as you keep on the memories you two created together." Sam stares at Yuuya's calm expression, tears flowing down his face that are wiped away by Yuuya. Feeling the need to change the subject, Yuuya starts tickling Sam's sides, eliciting laughs from the man. Trapped in his arms, Sam tries to return fire by going for Yuuya's armpits, starting a full on tickle war. Their laughs draw nearby bystanders walking by, finding the scene precious.
After a while, the boys sit on the ground by the well, chuckling as they try to catch their breaths. They sit for a few minutes, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Suddenly, a burning smell draws Yuuya's attention. He stands up abruptly, sniffing the air in an attempt to identify the source. Sam gives Yuuya a puzzled look. "Yuuya? What's wrong?" Yuuya doesn't answer and focuses on the smell. Deciding smell wasn't enough, Yuuya uses his eyes and the far-sight skill from before. He scans across the entire village until his ears pick up on a scream. "Ahhhh!!! Someone help! Fire!!!" The scream was pretty far away, so the humans in the center of the village couldn't hear the scream. Luckily, Yuuya isn't human. He dashes towards the scream, following the smell of smoke. Before he gets too far, he yells out to Sam, "Sam! Get everyone over to the west side of the village! There's a fire!" Sam immediately stands and rushes to his father, while yelling out to the nearby people about the fire. Yuuya reaches the source of the smell, a small cottage up in flames. A old woman is holding a little girl in her arms, staring at the flames in horror. Yuuya looks at the flames, coming up with a plan. "I need to keep the flames from spreading." Seeing how backup has yet to arrive, Yuuya extends his hands out and a cyan light glows from his palms. "Whirlwind!" A gust of wind surrounds the burning home, trapping the flames. As Yuuya holds the spell, Sam and his father arrive at the scene along with several men. The men look in shock at the burning cottage encased in wind. Yuuya snaps his neck at the group and bark out, "Hurry up! I can't keep this up forever!" Shaking their heads, the men rush around, forming a line with buckets. A couple of the men are holding large bubbles of water using magic and pass them out to the men holding buckets while Sam and a few other men stand in front of the house chanting, "Here and Now, I invoke the elemental Force of Water, the fluid of infinite shapes and forms. Flowing source of adaptability, emotion, and life. I call you forth to wash away all that needlessly binds and to move fluidly in this world. Water, I call upon thee!" A magic circle appears in front of each person that chanted, producing a stream of water that douses the fire. Everyone works hard until the old woman from before grips onto Rick's arm. "Please sir! You have to put this out! Mika is still in there!" Everyone's blood turns cold hearing the news. As if on cue, a small cry is heard from the burning cottage, "Nana!"
The men rush even faster to extinguish the flames, desperate to save the young child. Flashes of the little girl that Yuuya last saw as Sakura crosses Yuuya's mind. "Sara!" Yuuya strains his ears to hear the little boy again. He can faintly hear small gasps, suffocating from all the smoke. Without a second thought, Yuuya releases his wind spell allowing the flames to break out more. The man gasp in shock and moves back from the cottage. Sam looks at Yuuya, confused why the flames changed. "Yuuya?" Said man raises his hands up, focusing on the fire more intently. His hands glows bright red, his eyes shining in anger. "I'm not gonna let another child face death!" With his magic Yuuya takes control of the fire, forcing it to rise high above the cottage. Once all the flames released its hold on the cottage, Yuuya brings the fire closer to him, bundling it up into a ball. He continues to bundle it until the fire was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand. He brings the small ball of fire to his hand and closes his palm, fully extinguishing the last of the flames. Yuuya looks up and sees the burnt cottage and tries to step forward, however, due to the numerous spells he casted and the constant flow of mana into his necklace, he falls to his knees, his head spinning from the lose of mana. "Yuuya!" Sam rushes to his side, gripping onto his arm, holding him in place while Rick rushes inside the burnt mass and calls out for the little boy. Yuuya breathes heavily, praying the dizziness would go away soon. Shortly after, Rick rushes back outside with the small boy in his arms, both coughing harshly. The old woman and little girl cry out to the little boy, running up to Rick as he carefully kneels down and shows them the little boy. The little boy continues coughing, smoke still in the boy's lungs. Seeing his condition, Yuuya moves to stand up, but falls down immediately. He would've landed on his butt if Sam hadn't caught him. "Easy Yuuya! You need to rest." Yuuya shakes his head and points to boy. "Help me get to him." Sam looks over and sees the little boy coughing as his father and the little boy's family try to help him. Sam nods his head to Yuuya and helps him stand up. They're a few feet away, but it feels like it took an eternity to reach them. Sam carefully sits Yuuya down next to his father as he examines the poor boy. Yuuya inspects the little boy, seeing numerous bruises and burns across his body. The biggest issue is the amount of smoke the child breathed in. Yuuya takes a deep breath and places his hands above the boy's chest, thinking "Heal." A familiar warm white light flows from his hands, enveloping the small child. Over a short time, the boy stops coughing and starts to breathe normally, bringing relief to everyone around them. Yuuya squeezes his eyes tighter, focusing on healing the boy's burns and bruises. Once fully healed, Yuuya's hands stop glowing. He pants hard and leans back, crashing into Sam's chest. "Yuuya! Are you okay!?"
Yuuya takes a minute to breathe and nods, quietly whispering in his ear, "I'm okay, but I'm almost out of mana...My disguise." Sam's eyes widen and looks around. "This is bad. I gotta get him out of here!" Sam pulls Yuuya to his feet, slinging his arm around his shoulders. "Dad, I'm taking Yuuya home. He's suffering from mana sickness." Yuuya frowns in confusion, "Mana sickness?" Rick nods his head and looks at a couple of men nearby. "You two help them." The men nod and go over to help Sam and Yuuya. Fearing Yuuya's disguise might give any second, he quickly comes up with an excuse, "N-no need! I'll take care of him. You guys help out with Miss Pine. She and the kids are gonna need a place to stay." The men look at Rick, waiting for orders. Rick sighs and motions them over. "Alright just watch over him. We'll handle everything here." Sam nods his head and quickly drags Yuuya away from the scene and heading towards home. Yuuya can barely keep his eyes open, trying desperately to keep pouring the remaining mana within him into the necklace. Finally, they reach home, Sam pushes the door open while holding onto Yuuya. Evelyn and Ruby are there, waiting anxiously by the door, not moving once after Sam came bursting in with the terrible news. Seeing the two men at the door, one holding onto the other for dear life, Evelyn rushes over to them. "Samuel! Yuuya! What happened? Are you two alright?" Yuuya's eyes keep closing before snapping wide open again, forcing Sam to bypass his mother's questions and go straight up the stairs. "We're fine! Yuuya is suffering from mana sickness! I'm gotta put him to bed." Evelyn gasps in shock, worried about the poor man. Ruby shyly walks to her mother's side, clinging onto her dress. "Will he be alright, mommy?" Evelyn looks down and hugs her daughter closely. "He'll be alright sweetie. Mana sickness isn't dangerous, he just needs to rest." Ruby nods uncertainly and looks in the direction she last saw her brother and friend.
Sam kicks the spare room door open and drags Yuuya over to the bed. Once he falls on the mattress, he finally lets go of his disguise. His ears and tail popping up as he breathes heavily, feeling relieved. Sam shuts the door quickly, not wanting his mother and sister to discover Yuuya in this state. He walks over to Yuuya quickly, grabbing his hand. "Yuuya? How are you feeling?" Too tired to speak, he lifts his hand up, giving him a thumbs up. Sam nods his head, but the worry still etched on his face. He lets go of his hand and moves to take off his boots. Yuuya not moving once, too drained. Sam puts his boots to the side and lift his legs up, pulling the covers over him. "There, you just focus on resting." Yuuya blinks tiredly at the human and grabs his hand weakly. "Don't go..." Sam squeezes his hand and smiles softly. "Don't worry. I'll be right here." Comfortable that he'll stay, Yuuya closes his eyes and falls into a deep sleep. Hearing him breathe calmly, Sam sighs. "What am I gonna do with you? How am I gonna explain this to everyone?" Not wanting to think about it, he gently removes his hand and walks over to the door. When he opens it, he's surprised to see his mother. "How is he?" Sam blocks her view, hiding the fact Yuuya is not human, and answers, "He's okay, just resting. I'm gonna stay with him." Evelyn nods and discreetly tries to look at the unconscious man, failing to do so as Sam moves. "Okay...Call me if you need anything." Sam nods for the last time for the night and closes the door. He leans against the wood and sighs tiredly. Today's events catching up to him. He goes over to Yuuya and sits by his side, taking his hand once more, and rests his head on the bed. Falling asleep to the sound of Yuuya's soft breathing.