Norm looked at Victor. He was running around wearing what was practically a rag. All of Norm’s clothes that he kept in the barn in case something happened were too small for him.
Victor was a bit over two meters tall, and Norm’s height the last time he checked was 143 cm. Victor’s build was also much bigger than his, so it was impossible for him to lend Victor any of his clothes. Even the clothes that were intentionally made bigger when he grew taller were too small.
Norm wasn’t short because he was malnourished or something; his parents were just really short. He was even much taller than they were, though he was still the shortest person around his age in the village.
His parents had a bit of halfling blood in them, but thankfully, Norm was probably more human than halfling. He didn’t have big hairy feet, which would suck. But he did inherit the traits of being short, having no facial hair, a round face, and chubby cheeks—which made anyone who didn’t know him think he was a kid.
Which wasn’t exactly inaccurate. Halflings mature at 24 years old, and while I’m more human than halfling, I still have halfling blood in me. That means I could still grow much taller! Maybe even taller than Victor!
His dad had a Skill similar to his [Bless Milk]. However, instead of healing anyone who drank it, it increased their height. It was not the only function of his dad's Skill, but Norm had been drinking it for a long time. So, it stood to reason that when he was fully grown, he would be the tallest person in the village!
Who am I kidding? That’s not going to happen. I’m probably equal to a 14- or 15-year-old human in maturity, and all 14-year-olds are taller than me. Also, if it was that easy to overcome your genetics, there would be no short person in the world; well, except maybe some weirdo who liked being short.
In any case, Norm was now fine with being short. He didn’t feel jealous anymore of Victor’s height and build. Everyone had their good qualities, and while he might be inferior in every way to Victor, that was fine. Victor was superior to everyone in the village—no, the whole world! So, it was not a shame being inferior to the best.
With how much he was training, he deserved to be the strongest, fastest, tallest, and biggest person in the whole world.
It had been hours since Victor came here covered in injuries, and he hadn’t stopped training ever since he was healed.
At first, Norm objected, but after checking again to make sure that Victor really was fully healed, Norm finally allowed him to train.
He regretted it now.
Victor barely stopped to rest in his training. He was either swinging a sword around that he got from who knows where, or exercising.
It was also kind of his fault for making it possible, but Norm really couldn’t say no to Victor for some reason, and he really wanted to help Victor in any way he could.
Not only was [Bless Milk] capable of healing Victor’s injury, but it was also capable of replenishing stamina and aura reserves.
The only downside that Norm had just discovered was that the milk had to be drunk immediately or it would go bad. The one clay pot filled with [Bless Milk] from before had smelled really bad.
Even from far away, the smell was able to make both of them vomit, and Norm smelled cow’s poo every day. The bright side was that it had been some distance away from the barn, and the smell didn’t quite reach that far.
Thank the stars I never stocked up.
Victor shattered the clay pot containing the disgusting milk by throwing a rock at it. And while it was a waste of a clay pot, both of them were literally unable to get even near it. Norm tried, but he passed out before even reaching it. Victor managed to drag him away, but both of them gave up on trying to dump the milk somewhere far away.
I hope the smell goes away and that it won't contaminate the dirt. But it should be fine. Dirt eats poo to be healthier; the milk should do the same.
It was a theory born from hopes and dreams. But they really didn’t know what they should do. Victor didn’t want to meet any of the gold-rankers, so they couldn’t ask them for help.
Norm also didn’t want anyone to know this particular effect of [BlessMilk]. He wanted to use it to surprise someone.
If the smell is getting worse tomorrow, I could ask Ver for help. He is a milk spirit, after all. He surely knows what to do.
While Norm wanted to test the Skill further, like seeing how long it would take for the milk to go bad, Victor forbade him.
Something about promises, restrictions, and punishment? I don’t think I really get it. But apparently the more powerful a Skill is, the more drawbacks and restrictions it has. Though apparently the cause and effect is actually reversed? He explained a lot of things after that, but I zoned out for most of it.
Thankfully, Victor realized Norm was not paying attention. So he gave him the shortened version of the explanation. Which, of course, Norm remembered.
A level 10 Skill can’t be that powerful unless it has a drawback. So because they don’t know what the drawback is, messing with the Skill is a bad idea. But apparently using it is fine because it’s not a Red Skill and bla bla bla bla.
Even the shortened version was too much for Norm, so Victor summarized it further. “Until I figure out all the details of [Bless Milk], every time you use it, drink the milk immediately.”
Why couldn’t Victor just say that from the start? It was so simple.
Besides, what was the worst thing that could happen? It was only milk. Sure, it was milk that could heal someone from the brink of death, but…
I will just let Victor figure it out.
Even with the ‘drawback’, Victor still thought it was a really powerful Skill.
The body could only handle so many potions before it essentially became poison. But even after drinking eleven glasses of [Bless Milk], Victor was still fine.
Victor had [Self Diagnosis], and the Skill was telling him that he was getting better every time he drank the milk, not worse. He said that potions were usually the opposite, even health potions. That was why no one used potions for training purposes.
Norm was happy that he could help his friend—or was it [Soulmate] now?
I should be jumping for joy at achieving level 42. If it was from a combat Class, I could be a gold-rank adventurer.
But Norm didn’t feel happy at all. He didn’t know why, but being level 42 in [Soulmate] felt like it was something to be ashamed of, not something he could be proud of.
The Skill I got was also quite useless. I know miasma is dangerous, but I would probably encounter demons and monsters once or twice in my life. Also, if I ever ran into one, I would most likely just run away. I really don’t like fighting. [Mental Immunity] also has the same problem as [Miasma Immunity]. Only demons and monsters have the ability to control thoughts and emotions. At least Victor would find it useful.
Just like [Milk Saint], [Soulmate] was also a shared Class. The system had put that knowledge into his brain, so it had to be true.
Which was awesome.
It meant the Class would level up twice as fast because the experience came from two people instead of one.
Or would the Class be twice as hard to level up? I really should read a book or something. There are so many things I don’t know about the world.
Norm considered it for a moment, before dismissing the idea.
Victor also didn’t know anything about shared Class, so it’s normal for me to not know. Besides, letting Victor figure it out is a much better option than reading some dumb books.
Even though Norm had a lot of free time, he really didn’t want to spend it on reading a book. He tried it before, and he hated every single second of it.
I should increase the number of cows I have. I spend most of my time here just playing with the cows, and exercising for a little bit when I know Victor would soon show up. I should ask my mom about getting the perfect bull. It’s fun taking care of the calves.
Norm didn’t know the cow’s lineage, so inbreeding would be inevitable if he was the one who picked the bull.
His parents wouldn’t have the same problem; they would remember who Beb’s grandparent was, and all the children and grandchildren of Beb’s grandparent. So, inbreeding would be impossible if he let his parents handle it.
His dad tried to drill the knowledge into him, but it was just too hard.
Besides, he could just let his parents take care of it…
Whoa, I just realized something. I’m such a lazy bum. No wonder my level was so low.
Looking at Victor, Norm found him swinging his sword around. Some of Victor’s movements were too fast for him to follow, yet he found himself fascinated by it. It looked so beautiful to him.
“Victor! Can you teach me how to awaken my aura?”
Asking for help from Victor wasn’t as hard as before. It was even a bit too easy.
“Sure! But why the change of heart? I thought you said that it was a waste of your time and that you would never do it.”
Victor’s voice was no longer grating to his ears; it even sounded comforting rather than annoying.
“I did? When did I say that?”
As Norm got closer, Victor didn't smell as bad as before. Victor smelled the same, but Norm didn’t find it disgusting anymore.
“I think it was when we were kids?”
The hatred in his heart disappeared completely, and only affection remained.
“Kids?! Don’t take what kids say seriously! Kids say dumb stuff all the time.”
Did [Soulmate] change what he felt about Victor this drastically?
“Hmmm, if you say so. Sure, I will teach you. It’s kinda simple really. What you need to do to awaken your aura is just push yourself to the limit multiple times. It’s not rare for people to awaken their aura without even trying to.”
No. The feeling he felt right now was the same as when he was a kid.
“Really? It’s that easy?”
It disgusted him to even think that [Soulmate] was the reason for his affection.
“I wouldn’t call it easy. [Farmer], [Laborers], and even [Caretaker] more often than not awakened their aura. But it was because they pushed themselves to the limit quite often.”
The more he thought about it, the stranger it was that he hated Victor. It seemed impossible, but for years that had been the case, and only a few hours ago had his hatred completely disappeared.
“What should I do then? Exercise?”
It was obvious no matter how many times he thought about it; the two new Skills he got from [Soulmate] were the reason for his drastic change. Someone was manipulating his thoughts and emotions.
“Yeah, it’s that simple. You only have to exercise for a few years and you’re good to go. If you exercise eight hours every day under my guidance, you could probably awaken your aura in three years.”
The fact that he got the Skill in the first place was enough proof that his theory was right. Experience, desire, and need: Skill was created based on these three things. That meant he experienced some kind of mental manipulation and had been exposed to miasma at some point in his life.
“Yeah, no thanks. It sounds like a pain. Aura doesn't sound that useful anyway. I take care of cows; I don’t need extra strength or speed.”
It made perfect sense, and he wondered who was responsible.
“Yeah, I know you’d say that.”
Victor laughed, and started patting his head. It didn’t feel uncomfortable like before, and it even felt kind of good.
Norm had a few theories on who the culprit was. Good thing he just found a way to kill people. It could maybe even work on a gold-rank adventurer. Which was awesome, because he kept finding reasons to kill some of them.
The walk to his home felt peaceful. The cold air hitting his skin, the moons shining down from above, and the darkness wrapping around him in a quiet embrace—the atmosphere just felt all around relaxing.
On a night like this, Norm just wanted to snuggle up under his blanket, drinking hot milk while watching the stars shoot across the sky.
It was also so quiet, weirdly so.
There were no children running around, and he couldn't even hear the sound of someone talking.
Then, when he finally looked around, he realized something. People were practically running away from them.
“Vic, did you do something?”
“Maybe.”
Victor was looking everywhere but where Norm was, and his voice was a bit quiet.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing you should worry about.”
Norm stared at him, but before he could interrogate him further, Elpis came running towards them.
“Victor! Are you alright? I heard that you’re really injured—”
Elpis stopped as she finally looked at Victor, and her face started turning as red as a tomato.
“O-Oh, y-you seem fine. I’m glad.”
Elpis turned away, but she not-so-subtly glanced at Victor’s stomach from time to time.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for worrying, though. I’m kinda busy right now, so…”
“Ahh, y-yeah, of course.”
Victor then walked past her without looking back, and Norm followed him.
I don’t think she even realized I was here.
“That was cold.”
Victor sighed and turned to look at Norm.
“Yeah, I know. But I’m a bit uncomfortable around her right now.”
That was a surprise to Norm; he thought both of them were close.
Wait, are they? I… don’t know, actually.
“Why?”
“Well, first of all, it was obvious that she liked me, but that kinda thing didn’t really bother—”
“You knew she liked you? Did you like her back?”
Victor made a disgusted expression towards him, which kinda hurt his feelings.
“What the fu—frick. Of course not. Sure, she’s twenty years old, but she’s part elf. I’m not dating a fricking kid."
Norm took offense to that, because it felt like Victor was also telling him he was a kid.
“She is mostly human.”
“Yeah, and that makes her, what, thirteen or fourteen in human years? Yeah, absolutely not. You know what they say: if they look like a kid, sound like a kid, and act like a kid, then they’re a kid. I wouldn’t date someone who looked like they were in your age range.”
A kick suddenly flew toward Victor's left leg, but Victor dodged it by simply lifting his leg.
“You’re only one year older than me, you jerk.”
A little smirk appeared on Victor’s face.
“Yeah, but I’m fully human. That makes me an adult, unlike you, kiddo.”
Before Norm could try to kick Victor again, Victor grabbed him by the armpits and placed him on his shoulder.
“You only just turned eighteen, you jerk. Don’t act like you’re more mature than me. I don’t want to be treated as a kid.”
Norm was insulted by the gesture, but sitting on Victor’s shoulder felt kind of nice, so he didn’t complain or try to get down.
Besides, there's nothing I can do about it.
“I’m only joking, Norm. You’re my precious friend and I'll always see you as an equal. So don’t worry about that. We grew up together; it would be too weird if I treated you like a kid.”
“Good.”
Norm’s heart felt a bit lighter.
Friendship between an adult and a kid was completely different from a friendship between equals.
The dynamic and the interaction that the former had were not something that Norm wanted to have with Victor. Treating Victor as someone who was much older than him felt weird to him, and he was glad that Victor also felt the same way.
“And about Elpis, her liking me is not the thing that is making me uncomfortable. Kids having a crush is normal; I could handle that. But it was who her parents were that was the problem. Both of them are quite close to my parents, so… yeah.”
Just as Norm was about to say something, he saw his house in the distance.
His house was made entirely of wood, and compared to Victor’s house, it was quite ugly. But even that didn’t trigger his insecurity anymore.
It was his home, and he had a lot of good memories there. There was nothing to be ashamed of, even if he questioned some of his parents’ decisions. Like whose great idea was it to paint the entire exterior of the house white? Orange was clearly the superior color.
Once Victor reached the front door, he knocked, and a second later, Norm’s mom opened the door.
“Norm, you’re finally back—Victor! I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Evening, Mrs. Amelia. It’s been so long since I last saw you. But you look even more beautiful than before. Did you use the shampoo that merchants sell? Your hair looks really silky.”
"Oh, you noticed? I got it for a steal, too—"
“Mom! Can Victor stay here for a while?”
His mom then looked up, and her expression turned to shock as though she didn’t realize her own son was right in front of her.
Whatever, I also can’t see the clouds when the sun is shining so brightly.
“Norm, what are you doing there? Never mind that, Victor, come inside, please, please, and you’re more than welcome to stay at our house as long as you want.”
Victor practically had to crouch to fit through the door, and when he entered the house, he started looking around.
“Our house is not much, but make yourself at home when you’re here.”
“Nonsense. It looks so comfy in here, and what is that smell? It smells so good.”
“It’s—”
“Mom! Is that the special fried rice?! Victor! Put me down!”
There was a huge plate filled with fried rice at the center of the table.
After Victor put him down, Norm immediately sat on the chair, grabbed a spoon and started to eat—
“[Wait for Others]! Norm! Have some manners! We have a guest here!”
Norm's body froze before he could put the fried rice into his mouth. He looked at his mother with a betrayed expression. But she just rolled her eyes, went back to the kitchen, and returned with three plates and a chair that was bigger than what they usually used.
He sighed, and finally put his spoon down.
“You don’t have to bother Mrs—”
“It's fine. I made too much anyway, and both of you haven’t had dinner, right?”
“Well, if you insist.”
It didn’t take much convincing for Victor to join them for dinner, and Norm didn’t blame him. The smell alone made Norm’s mouth water.
“Vic, my mom's fried rice is so good, you’ll love it! I’d even say it’ll be the best food you’ve ever tasted!”
Victor raised his eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
“Norm, I’m sure Victor, of all people, has already tasted much better food than anything I could make. But let’s not delay it any longer; the food will get cold.”
Rather than immediately digging in, Norm focused his attention on Victor. He wanted to see the expression on Victor’s face when he took his first bite.
Victor scooped some of the fried rice onto his plate with his spoon, and when he was about to take his first bite, he looked at Norm, then let out a small chuckle.
Norm was excited to see the expression on Victor's face as he ate the most delicious food in the world. However, something strange happened when Victor finally ate the fried rice.
Tears started coming out of his eyes.
Norm rushed to his side, concerned. However, Victor just wiped his tears away, and his expression returned to normal as if nothing happened.
“I’m fine, Norm, don’t worry. The meal was just too delicious. How do you make this, Mrs. Amelia?”
“Ehhh, it’s nothing special really. Just regular old spices and salt. I don’t think it was that delicious. Do your parents never give you delicious food?”
“The food I have is fine, but not this delicious. Is it because of a Skill? Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
His mother looked concerned, and Norm even more so. So, he stayed by Victor's side, completely forgetting his favorite meal.
“Well, I used a Skill that has a cooldown of one month. [Secret Ingredient: Mother’s Love]. Victor, are you…”
At the last second, Amelia held back. As worried as she was, asking something that sensitive right now wouldn’t be wise, especially after hearing what happened to Victor this morning.
That was why she immediately accepted Victor staying here.
“I see.”
Victor was wearing a sad smile, and an uncomfortable silence filled the room. Victor was also playing with his food rather than eating it.
After a minute, Norm couldn’t take it anymore; he dragged his chair beside Victor, grabbed a spoon, and held a scoop of fried rice up to Victor’s mouth.
“Open your mouth.”
Thankfully, Victor complied. Then Norm spent the rest of the meal spoon-feeding him.
Victor didn’t complain, and the dinner was still quiet. Yet, the silence was not as oppressive as before; it was comfortable now.
The special fried rice was his favorite food, and he usually fought over it with his dad to get the bigger share. But that night, Norm didn’t eat much.
Sometimes, watching other people enjoy a meal was better than eating it himself.
It felt great to see that smile on his friend’s face.