Paragon of Skills

Chapter 280

Nimirea sees his silhouette going through the wards and entering the tower before he does. It’s the projection from Eye of the Prophet, her Rainbow Skill capable of anticipating the future. But then, the future warps and the projection collapses.

Despite him being several Ranks above her own, she can feel his subtle aura and his hesitation. He’s not hiding it like he usually would. Well, not from his daughter.

I don’t suppose you’ll be proud of me, father, Nimirea thinks to herself, looking outside the window of the tower, into the deep blue of the sea surrounding Ytrial. I suppose I would scold myself as well. Who would want their own daughter trying to become a monster, selling her soul to an Evil God, just to…

She gets up and opens the door.

Sir Renquell Arendor is standing there in a very plain tunic.

She frowns as she looks at his attire.

“I… I received a pardon,” he justifies himself first thing, even before smiling and scratching his faint beard. “The Headmaster… he had me released but I had to give back all my gear save for my sword, which is a family heirloom… I don’t remember if I ever told you. But at least I have been freed from my… Have you ever seen the sword?”

He gestures at his side and Nimirea looks at him, uncomprehending.

Nimirea looks at the man, whose look is still not out of his teenage years given how pure his Elven blood is.

“Father.”

“I also cut my hair a little before coming back. You used to make fun of me for not taking care of it,” he says, “I thought it would be nice.”

“Father,” Nimirea exhorts the man to snap out of this extremely weird reverie. “I—“

“Let’s sit,” Sir Renquell interrupts his daughter and moves to the small table in the tower, looking around at the sparse decor. Something slightly changed in his voice a moment ago.

Nimirea obeys and goes to sit in front of her father.

There is a long moment of silence where Sir Renquell just looks at his daughter, taking in her image.

She’s grown beyond what he would have expected. He still remembers her as a child. Being an Elf gives him a warped perception of time… not as much as their fabled Pure Elves ancestors, but… enough to be more surprised than even a normal parent would be.

“You’re beautiful,” he offers. “But more like me. Your mother had the better character, but I was always the looker, you know?” he tries to joke. “I also brought you something.”

He takes out a little package covered in leaves tied together by a golden string.

“It’s a rare ingredient that I found on one of my travels. My gear was from the King, but all my loot was just mine. They had to surrender it. It’s a middling Mithril-Rank stalk of Goldsky Grain. It was famous among Elves because even weaker people could consume it and greatly benefit from it. You’ll also get the experience from practicing Alchemy with it. There are several doses back in my storage. I can give them all to you if you want. This is… I didn’t have enough Wardleaf to package them all.”

“Father, I’m sorry, I—“

“Also, I thought that since I’m here,” Sir Renquell takes out a pink sword that looks almost childish, “that I would finally teach you how to become a swordmaster like me. I know, I know. You’re super powerful, but a weapon can make the difference between life and death. Unless you plan on using transmutation on your body, I believe it would be best to—“

“FATHER!” Nimirea shouts, interrupting this uncanny conversation. “I AM SORRY!”

Sir Renquell slowly puts the sword and the Wardleaf to the side and looks seriously at his daughter, before exhaling one long, weary sigh.

“I’ve lived several hundred years, Nimirea,” he says, interrupting her. “I’ve killed many, many more people than you can even hope to in your lifetime. I’ve eradicated families, often entire lineages, in the name of what I wanted to be right.”

Nimirea frowns, getting a sense of where her father is going with this.

“I will not take this as an excuse,” she says. “I will not be excused by you just because you killed more people than I did.”

“Do you want to flee the Academy and join the Cult of Asmodeus again?” Sir Renquell asks point blank, with the question seemingly coming out of nowhere.

“What?” Nimirea frowns. “What kind of question is that?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Answer me, Nimirea. And if the answer is yes, I’ll come with you. I don’t care where you go. I am too old to act like the fool of a father I was. And while a lesser man would find a bunch of excuses… I will simply say I should have stayed by your side, whatever you chose, wherever you had gone. And I should have brought you with me. I… I was afraid that my shame would be contagious, a sickly disease that would make you a coward like me. But say the word, and if you want to join the Dark Champions again, I’ll break you out of here and come with you.”

Nimirea opens her mouth and is not able to close it.

“As long as I can stay with you and, perhaps, be a better father, I will do anything: you are all that matters to me. My exile made me realize how insignificant my life has been up to this moment. You, in your efforts, have been more courageous than me.”

Thinking of even the remote possibility of the honorable man in front of her joining the Cult of Asmodeus because of her and hearing him call himself a coward, Nimirea breaks in tears.

“W—what,” Sir Renquell is taken aback, not understanding what’s happening.

Nimirea turns away from him, but this time, armed with better instincts, Sir Renquell gets up from his chair and goes up to his daughter, not fleeing anymore, but holding her in his arms. Despite the fact that Nimirea is almost taller than him, she feels very small in his embrace.

“I am sorry,” he says. “I am so, so sorry.”

If Sir Renquell could go back, he would. He has spent little time with his daughter in the last decade, but he knows very well what kind of woman she is. He knows that if he told her it’s all his fault she would probably shout angrily at him. Nimirea just, like her mother used to be, has the tendency to blame herself for everything. She thinks what happened with the Dark Champions was all her fault. And if this had been anyone else, Sir Renquell would have not wholly disagreed. She had made choices that were her own and as such bore great consequences.

But this would be true only if she wasn’t his daughter.

As his only daughter, Sir Renquell takes the full weight of responsibility on his own shoulders. He doesn’t care about accountability. He doesn’t care that she would disagree.

“If I had been there for you,” he mutters into her hair, “you would have never had to wage such a war on the world.” He slowly raises her chin, looking at her beautiful eyes. “But from now on, I will never leave you alone again. Please, forgive me for I was a terrible father to you.”

Nimirea is about to get really mad at him but then she sees him take a step back, kneel, and put his forehead on the ground.

“Father!” She shouts and immediately tries to get the man off the ground, but he’s a Mithril Rank and he doesn’t even budge.

“I said, forgive me,” he says, with a voice full of shame.

“There’s nothing to forgive!” She shouts, pulling on one arm. “Please, rise!”

But Sir Renquell does not move one inch.

“I am your father,” he says, “I order you to forgive me for all my sins.”

Nimirea is so shocked she actually snorts a wet laugh before catching herself. She sees her father peering from the corner of his eye at her, smiling.

“Don’t let your old man wait too long,” he sighs.

“I forgive you,” Nimirea says, knowing he will not agree to get up unless she says it. “But I need you to forgive me.”

Sir Renquell only gets up to a half-kneeled position.

“On my honor as a Knight, I’ve already forgiven all that you did. It might make for terrible parenting, but I’m behind whatever you want next. I don’t care whether it’s carnage or else.”

Nimirea sighs and smiles.

“I need to think. Do you have any accommodation here?”

Sir Renquell finally gets up and nods.

“The Headmaster proposed I teach a few Classes and take on Quests to make my money back. If it had been anyone else solving my problem like this, I would probably be in indentured servitude for centuries. So… I’ll be a teacher from now on.”

“Father, I… I don’t know what I’ll do next. The Headmaster said that… Jacob… Jacob Cloud…” she says.

“I met him,” Sir Renquell smiles.

“He removed Asmodeus’s soul contract from me. I don’t know how, exactly. But the Headmaster sees that as an opportunity for me to choose again.”

“That scaly bastard is a very cunning man,” Sir Renquell sighs. “And I know you probably hate his guts.”

“I do. He’s… nothing short of a tyrant.”

“He is,” Sir Renquell nods.

“I have… some plans,” Nimirea says tentatively. “I… I am not ready to share.”

“I understand. But… I’ll visit every day and spend time with you whether you like it or not. And, I’ll teach you the way of the sword.”

“I don’t really like swords,” Nimirea says, cringing at the pink sword. “And isn’t that… a bit too childish?”

Sir Renquell frowns and takes out his own sword, which gleams a light red. “Why? Swords that are enchanted with this kind of Elven enchantments all have colors. Yours happens to be pink. Is… is it not good? I might be able to get it in yellow considering the enchantments I picked. Let me know and I’ll ship it back. It’d be back in a week. I’m sure there are plenty of good swords around the Academy we can use for the time being.”

Nimirea looks at her father’s real concern and then, since he’s not getting what she just hinted at, starts laughing.

“What?” Sir Renquell asks.

“Just… I’ll see you tomorrow, dad.”

“Alright, pretty,” Sir Renquell turns to the door and then turns back again, giving her a hug. “And for what matters, while he doesn’t exactly have looks as good as your father and makes reckless decisions, I do support… you know?”

“Huh?” Nimirea clearly doesn’t know.

“You know…” Sir Renquell cringes. “I don’t know how the customs have changed… but… you know?”

“Father, I swear, I have no idea what you’re trying to tell me.”

Sir Renquell pushes down the embarrassment of having to do this with his daughter and says, “you can tell Jacob he can ask me your hand any time if you two want to become fiancés. After he reaches Mithril Rank and defeats me in a duel to the death, I will allow him to marry you.”

“WHAT?!”

“Alright, alright,” Sir Renquell raises his hands and starts turning away, “a duel to see who loses a limb first. But just because I love you, darling.”

Nimirea is shocked by how her father dared speak to her, but as he crosses the door, she just replies, “I love you too, dad.”