Loki's Renard

Arc 4 Chapter 3: The Fox and the Elves

Hey guys, Striker777 here. How have things been? I know, I know, it's been a while, but as it turns out, job hunting isn't as easy as I thought it was gonna be. I was basically shot in the balls by a company I had been doing work experience with for four months, unpaid. They said they'd have a job for me in the new year, but they then said that I couldn't come on because I wasn't a senior with a lot of experience in the field...

They didn't even have the balls to tell me in person, just called me after I tried coming in to ask about it twice before.

So I've been going through interviews and applying to the scarce few jobs around, but I've been unable to get anywhere there, and apparently my job I'm currently working for doesn't have the budget to put me on a full time contract, so I'm essentially just some dumbass uni graduate without a full time job, and as much as I'm helping around the house and I am paying board, it still feels like I'm just taking advantage of my mother...

It doesn't feel great, so I guess it took a toll on my will to write, even when the new season came out and I got hype as all fuck.

But enough about me. You're here for the story, and I've come to deliver, no matter how late in the making this is. I hope you all enjoy, now onto the story!

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Akihide sighed. Finn had let the Astraea Familia go alone in taking care of an Adventurer Hunt that Evilus was enacting, and he was ordered to bed rest. "This sucks..." he muttered, hoping that the others were okay. He knew that even with a pair of level 4s, anything could happen in the Dungeon, and the last thing he wanted to do was worry, but as a young boy surrounded by constant death and despair, he just couldn't help it. "I could've been useful. I'm level 4 now too. I should be out there helping people." he said, looking down at the sheet of paper that held his updated Falna from a few days ago.

Status:-
Level: 3→4
Strength: 823(A)→ 0(I)
Endurance: 701(B)→ 0(I)
Dexterity: 943(S)→ 0(I)
Agility: 999(S)→ 0(I)
Magic: 987(S)→ 0(I)
Magic: Kaizen no Mon
Tsudzurao-ō no Sējifaia
Skills: Mico Grandus Maxima
Reiður Styrkur Tamamo
Torch Bearer
Development Abilities: Hunter (G)
Mage (H)
Spirit Healing (I)

He sighed once more. "What's the point of this strength if I can't use it to help others?" he asked himself once more, before placing the paper back on his bedside table. His mind drifting to his new skill. Remembering what Loki had told him, hearing her voice in his head, seeing her when she told him.

"Now this is something..." muttered Loki, giving Akihide his completed paper with his new Falna. "Torch Bearer is another rare skill, and in the right circumstances, it can even be counted as a broken skill." she said, biting the corner of the sheet of Akihide's bed. "Just how many broken skills do you plan on getting?!" she asked in faux concern. "My child has so many broken skills I need to send him back to the manufacturer! He's too broken!!!"

She turned serious as she looked back at the shocked Akihide. "Now listen to me." she said with a stern voice. "That skill is by far the most dangerous one you have. It's one you can't rely on, and one that you have to always consider is going to backfire." she said, a grave warning in her voice. "Torch Bearer only appears on heroes of the millennium, who bear the torch of all the people's hopes, desires and dreams. They must be unyielding in the face of adversity, unshakable in nature and always look their best for the people. Because if they lose the faith of the people, that skill will be as much of a detriment to them as it could be a blessing." she said, looking into Akihide's eyes. "No matter what, no matter what you feel, how scared you are, how terrifying a foe is, you must be strong. If you appear strong, people with believe you to be strong, and trust you to bear the weight of their torches of hope."