Rosco lived a life that was full of a lot of failures. He failed to learn and master the teachings that were passed down to him from his father. He failed to make a difference in a war he fought in. He failed to save his leg. He failed to become a Knight. And finally, he failed to save the love of his life and was forced to watch as his wife died due to complications with her core.
Bruno had been young when his mother died, but Rosco remembered everything. The way she smiled, the way she looked, the way she laughed, and the way she would tuck a strand of hair behind her ear when she was nervous.
That was the woman he loved, and she was gone. Alone, he was left to raise his son. He did his best to be a good man and a good father. He taught Bruno everything he knew and helped mold him into someone who would one day go on to be great.
Bruno was strong and sturdy. Someone meant to be a warrior. Above all else, he was also kind, and this was a fact that Rosco was proud of.
His son, the last gift to him from his wife, was going to do just fine; of that he was sure. He didn't need to worry about Bruno or interfere in his life. He had cried tears of joy when he watched the livestream with the rest of the village and saw his son join the Arcane Knights. Not just any faction, either, but the one above all other factions.
The Shining Sentinels.
Bruno had done it. The kid who dreamed of becoming an Arcane Knight grew up and managed to surpass everyone's expectations.
Bruno didn't need him anymore. His son could take care of himself. What of his other child, though?
She wasn't just his friend's daughter.
Mary Lot, daughter of Arthur Roads and Olivia Lot, had been forced upon him. His friend gave him no choice and left the little girl outside of his village.
Rosco knew the day that he saw her crying outside the gates that she would be someone he would have to take care of. After all, she was the perfect union between her parents. Mary was like her father in that she never wanted to hurt people and wanted to make the world a better place, but she was also like her mother in that she was innocent and yet determined.
He wasn't shocked when she took up the name Olivia instead of the name her father had given her. After all, her mother was an amazing woman. A hero, even.
Olivia and he started off on the wrong foot. She didn't seem to remember who he was and kept going on and on about her father and how she needed to reach his side, as if she were in a trance. Of course, he knew that such a goal was impossible. After all, the place her father went wasn't anywhere normal people could go.
Unlike Bruno, who was able to learn fast and grow strong, Olivia was shockingly weak. It was as if fate itself was against her. Her stats would only grow slowly, and she was cursed with a horrible type of magic.
When he saw his son, he somehow knew that he would be someone who would one day join the Arcane Knights, but when he saw Olivia, he didn't see greatness within her. He saw a child put onto a Path by her father, one who would struggle and live a life of failure.
One doomed from the start.
He didn't want that for her. It wasn't because she was Arthur's kid either. It was because she was his kid.
As far as Rosco was concerned, he was Olivia's father now. Arthur had lost that right when he gave his daughter up.
It wasn't Arthur who taught Olivia right from wrong. It was him. It wasn't Arthur who taught Olivia how to read and write. It was him. It wasn't Arthur who had to watch her grow up from a child into a young woman, watching as her foolish dream of becoming an Arcane Knight grew more and more with each day.
It was him.
He was the one who raised Olivia. He helped her learn how to use her spells, taught her how to ride a bike, how to cook, clean, and take care of herself and any future husband or wife she might have. It was he who had to hold her when she had nightmares of being left by her father. It was him that she told about her first crush and came to for advice. It was him that she always came to when she needed something. It was he who had to watch her hope and joy fade every day as she tried to become stronger but failed.
That was his daughter. His child. What father wouldn't be worried for his child?
Somehow, she did it, though. She became part of a guild. Nev had been the one to come up with the idea of putting a TV up in the middle of the village square so they could all watch the exam livestreams, and nearly everyone was blown away when Olivia actually became a Knight.
In that moment, Rosco didn't know how to feel. So many memories and emotions came to him. He remembered everything about Olivia. The first day, she and Bruno went to school together. The first time, he had to patch her up because she pushed herself too far with her magic. The first time he got into a screaming match with her was about how she wouldn't be able to become a Knight.
And yet she had.
More memories came to his mind after that.
He remembered all the times he cooked her and Bruno their favorite food, all the times he read them bedtime stories, and the way his kids would play fight and laugh and cry.
And then, all those memories formed a dagger in his heart when he saw the guild mark that Olivia had on.
Phoenix Flight.
Fucking Phoenix Flight!
The worst guild.
The cursed guild.
His daughter, his child, had been put onto this path because of her selfish father, and that destiny thrust on her had led to this. Rosco didn't want her to live a short life. He wanted her and his son to both go on. They needed to live longer than he did. They needed to live a happy life where their struggles paid off.
He wanted to cry and scream, but he didn't. He just felt numb as he processed what he was seeing.
When his daughter did finally return home, he had the idea to keep her here with him. Being a Knight was too much for her. He wanted her to stay with him again, where she would be safe and protected by him, but that wasn't going to happen.
Olivia charged into the dungeon headfirst into danger, and it was the first time that Rosco began to realize that the little girl he raised had changed.
He followed after them and headed to the dungeon, and now, in the present, that was where he was, watching as the massive monster swung at her, but the raven-haired man who stole her away threw himself in front of his daughter, taking the blow.
To Rosco's shock, he watched as Olivia casually used a healing spell, and then her entire body glowed, and when the light died out, she was in a brand-new set of clothes.
What was going on?
Was this really Olivia Lot, the little girl he had raised? It had only been a few months since she left. How much had she changed? And if it was to this extent, had he been the one holding her back the entire time… If he had tried more, tried anything, would she have reached a level like this long before?
The spirit took a swipe at Olivia, but she was quicker on her feet than Rosco had ever seen her move, weaving out of the way of the attack. Her scythe jutted out, and she slammed it into the belly of the beast, but she wasn't able to hit it hard enough to cut into its flesh. She didn't stop, though, and kept pressing forward with her weapon while Davi came up behind her and smashed his sword into the back of her scythe, hitting it hard enough to let her weapon pierce the creature's flesh.
The spirit let out a loud screech of pain as its blood flowed down, and Olivia caused her scythe to twist and expand, the blade coming to life as if it were a snake. It forced its way deeper into the monster's body, ripping its stomach up.
"You're her father, aren't you?" Rosco jumped when Ragna spoke up. The large man kept a hand on his shoulder, not letting him move close or escape.
Eventually, Rosco nodded. "I raised her." He grunted. He was more focused on the fight and watched as the spirit ripped itself off the scythe and rammed four arms down, shaking the entire cave as it struck out, but both Davi and Olivia dodged the strikes.
"I see." Ragna smiled at him. "It's natural for a parent to want to defend their child."
Rosco scowled, and he tried to force his way out of Ragna's grip, but the man held onto him far too tightly. "You don't understand. She has blood magic. She isn't like other mages. She's frail!" Rosco yelled out. As he did, Davi swung his sword at the spirit, but two of its arms caught the claymore, and it swung Davi up, smashing him into the ceiling. Davi rammed into it feet first and stood on the roof, digging his feet into the stone since he still didn't have Wall-Walking. He and the monster entered a battle of strength.
"You think she is frail?" Ragna raised an eyebrow.
"I know she is." Rosco spat out. "I watched her spirit break and mend. She tried harder than anyone I know, but blood magic is a curse!" Olivia's scythe came down on the spirit's wrist and bounced off, unable to hurt it. She did manage to get its attention, though, which allowed Davi to jump off the roof and smash himself into the monster's head. It roared and was forced to grab him with all four of its arms while he hacked away at it.
"I think you're wrong," Ragna said simply.
"Wrong? I know her limits better than anyone else!"
"You knew her limits better than anyone else." Ragna corrected. "She's gotten stronger since you last saw her. Of that I can promise you." As he spoke, the spirit kicked out with its legs and smashed one into Olivia's body. It was a rough blow that sent her flying across the cave, and she crashed back-first into a pillar.
"Olivia!" Rosco screamed in horror, but again, he couldn't move. "Let me go!"
Ragna didn't, though. He stayed in place, holding Rosco. "It is the duty of a parent to protect their kids when they are needed." He spoke softly now. "A parent is a shield for their child. It's only natural that they will worry and want to get involved even when they aren't needed. That's the thing, though. Eventually, a situation will come where the parent isn't needed. It isn't that you are useless or unable to help in any way. Rather, it's that the child you watched over and nurtured has finally reached the point where they can take care of themselves. Your child has grown up. The bird is ready to leave the nest and fly, so to speak. You can still worry. You can still want to protect them. But there are times you won't need to get involved. During those moments, trust them. You'll find they aren't as frail as you first thought."
There was a large red glow around Olivia, and her mana fully turned on. It took the shape of various red bubbles and steam as she got back on her feet. Rosco was shocked that she could even still stand after taking such a decisive blow. She was injured, her clothes dirty, and blood trickling down her chin, but she looked more pissed than hurt.
Olivia gripped her scythe so hard her knuckles turned white, and she launched herself across the room, directly toward the large monster.
Ragna patted Rosco on the shoulder. "Your child grew up. You should be proud of that fact. Your efforts as a parent paid off. You helped her get to this point. Maybe there was more you could have done, maybe not. That doesn't matter at this current moment, though. Your emotions, your teachings, your way of speaking, and everything you did have led to this one moment. Your child has become an adult—one who can take care of herself. You no longer have to be that shield. You can take solace in that. Olivia's going to be alright. She's strong."
"I know." Rosco sagged in defeat. "I knew that she was strong. No other person would have been able to go through what she did. I watched this world put her down because of her low stats and her type of magic. I tried to help her, but what could I do? I thought that if she gave up on her dream, she'd be able to live a better life. One not set on the Path her father put her on—one where she doesn't have to be strong. Selfishly, though, I also didn't want her to go. I've lost Bruno as well. He's gone on without me and become a Knight. I didn't want them both to walk such a dangerous path. Just one… I would have been fine if just one stayed in the village and got to live happily, but that can't happen now, can it, because she's part of your guild. She's cursed."
Ragna was silent for a moment, but slowly he nodded his head. "Phoenix Flight is indeed a cursed guild. We are plagued with bad luck. Fate itself seems out to get us. That doesn't mean we can't live lives worthy of being remembered by us. Fate to us is just another enemy. One we'll slay with our bare hands if it comes to it. If the world wants to throw hundreds or even thousands of different effects at us, we'll just train a million times more and work harder than anyone else so that we can surpass it."
"Can that really be done?" Rosco asked.
"Just watch. You tell me."
The spirit had all its arms wrapped around Davi, but without warning, Davi turned his armor spell off. As the shadows faded, he thinned out and was able to slip out of the monster's arms. It accidentally dropped him, and as he landed on the ground, it attempted to strike at him again while his defenses were lowered, but Davi spun out of the way of the strike.
The Wendigo spirit surged with even more power, the flame-like effect around it growing more intense, and it was about to slice all four of its claws down again, but before it could, Olivia came in fast, and her scythe slammed directly into its chest, where its heart would be. Just like last time, she wasn't able to pierce its flesh, but she didn't need to. She was lining up the shot.
Davi stood behind her, and the entire time the creature had tried to swing at him, he calmly raised his sword to the sky. He held the handle with both hands and built up the flow of mana around him. He let out a single bit of breath and then stepped forward and swung his sword down, using the Sky Splitting Sword style. His most potent attack landed hard on the back of Olivia's scythe, an explosive force being launched out that sent up a wave of air so powerful it caused the monster's arms to be halted.
Naturally, Olivia's scythe pierced through its chest, her blade digging in deep. Her entire body vibrated with the force of Davi's strike, and she could feel her bones rattling inside of her body, but she ignored the pain and forced all her mana into the center of the creature's chest. She nearly bit off her tongue as she shouted a spell. Not just any spell, though. A new one. One she had gotten very recently. She didn't know fully what it could do, but part of her knew that it was powerful.
After all, unlike any other spell that she had, this one could only be used at the level of Vil.
A tremendous amount of blood erupted out of her scythe and filled the chest cavity of the beast up. The spirit froze in shock as the blood started to boil, and then it ignited. Unlike her other spells, this one was unique in the fact that the blood itself wasn't what would take shape. Instead, the blood that was generated was altered and changed, becoming a highly flammable and explosive substance.
The end result…
"Vil Blood Cerberus!"
Red-hot flames tore their way out of the spirit's back, scorching the air and melting all the ice in the cave in an instant! The flames were the color of blood and flowed more like a liquid than they did fire, but the way they cracked and ate the flesh of the monster was enough to confirm that it was absolute fire.
A howl filled the cave, and before everyone's eyes, the flames took the shape of three jagged wolf heads, which all began to tear into the spirit's flesh. Its arms and torso were ripped to bits and reduced to ash as the flames got even larger, and the three heads of blood-fire enjoyed their meal.
Then, all at once, the fire died out.
It was there one moment, and then it was gone the next. As was the upper half of the spirit. Only its legs remained, which buckled. Smoke and bits of charred embers dripped down its body before it collapsed to the ground.
The boss was dead.
Rosco stood there, totally stunned by what he had just seen. Was that really the girl he raised? That power. What in Haru's name happened to her?
"Whoa." Davi blinked and slung his sword over his shoulder. "Where'd you get that spell?" He asked casually. When Olivia didn't answer him, he turned his head to look toward her. "Olivia?"
Olivia's eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed face-first into the ground.
Her body had reached its limit.