As the sun kept rising, its light eventually reaches to Syla and everybody else in the village, her head became brighter and she could feel the sun's heat giving a comfortable warmth on her face, she looked at her dad, her mouth was slightly open, revealing her fangs, her tail went numb and couldn't be moved, at the end of her father's speech, Syla dropped a single tear from her eyes, she stared at the serious yet pitiful face her father had, crushed by the guilt of her own words.
"I– Im sorry." She said before turning her head away to face the ground. "Im sorry– For being selfish..."
A few passerby that saw the scene were glancing at Syla and her dad before continuing with their own lifes, they pretended as if they didn't see anything, not wanting to interfere with the family conflict and poke their fingers into someone else's problem.
While Syla was struggling to look at her father directly, she suddenly felt a warm embrace that had been comforting her ever since she was born, it was her father's hug. He hugged Syla unconditionally, giving her a light tap on her back as if trying to calm her down.
"It seems like we've been forcing you for too long.. We should've noticed it way sooner, that you were never meant to stay here.. And that we should've accepted it long ago.." Her father said, his voice echoed through Syla's ears. "Even if we will never meet again, you will still be in our hearts, and if you were to decide to come visit us again, we'll open our doors wide for you, because you're our child after all."
The two father and daughter shared a tight hug, their body intertwined as tears began to drop one by one. Syla knew her action will carry burden, however despite that, she also knew that her parents would always be there for her no matter what.
After a hot minute of hugging and comforting each other, Syla and her father then wiped their tears off of their eyes, that's when they realized that they are being watched by almost everyone on the street, a daughter and her father having family drama and resolving it on the side of street was something that anyone would want to see.
Syla's cheeks quickly turned red as she was embarrassed to have people seeing her pathetic face whilst she was almost crying, her father also showed the same reaction. Together they walked away from the location and reached the academy, where Syla met with Raywen for one last time.
.
.
"So that's what happened.. My condolences– But.. Man, you two really did all that in public? Everyone was watching? Now that's something that'll be remembered for years." Raywen said empathetically before throwing a joke.
"Urk!! Shut up, I don't want to remember it now that i knew we were being watched.." Hargal responded while scratching the back of his head, his face kept turning redder everytime he remembered that scene.
"S- same here.." Syla added, her reaction was similar to her dad, she was still embarrassed about it.
"Hahahha!! You two are like the same person!" Raywen laughed, seeing the similar face between the two daughter and father.
After he was done laughing, his face turned serious all of a sudden, he glanced at Syla and her father, taking a closer look at the two.
"So, you've made your mind?" He asked.
"Yeah, i've tried everything, and at this point, i gave up.." Syla's dad replied, he leaned back and placed his hand down for support as he stared into the ceiling before turning towards Syla.
"I promised that i will survive, and come back home alive and well." Syla added after her dad.
"Then, the only thing's left is to convince your mother and calm her down." Raywen said, he then stands up from his spot and walked towards the shelf that was on the side of the room, the shelf was filled with wooden swords, ready to use for training.
Syla immediately catched on to Raywen's intention, and she began to prepare for her last training.
"Isn't it hard to move while wearing that kind of clothes?" Syla's dad asked, he moved to the side so that he could watch her train.
"Ah—" Syla was stunned for a second, she didn't think that her clothes would restrict her movements, the white ruffled blouse had a long sleeves and tight fabric, since it was designed to fit Syla perfectly, she doesn't have much free space to move her joints.
"Haahh, in the first place why did you even wear that to train, that kind of outfits are too beautiful, it'll be bad if you're sweating a lot while wearing it– did you think we'll go on a picnic or something?" Raywen jokingly said after sighing, his face looked disappointed in Syla.
"I- Im sorry!!! U- uhh, it's just that—
"You're impatient to wear it because you just bought it a few days ago? Atleast wear it when you're about to depart instead of training." Her dad said, his face was obviously holding a smirk and a laugh. "I didn't notice you wear that fancy clothes when we were walking, i must be old.."
Both her dad and Raywen laughed at Syla, and she had to run back to her house and change her clothes. After she went back to the academy, she began her training like usual, despite it being her last training, Syla wasn't given any handicap at all when sparing with Raywen, it was a struggle on her end, but after an intense battle, Syla was able to come out as the winner.
.
.
A few hours later—
CLACK!
Swoosh!
Syla's wooden sword halted right before Raywen's neck, after a long time, she was finally able to beat her teacher, a wide smile formed on her lips as she helped Raywen stand up.
"Oh man.. I can't believe it, i got my ass beat by an 18 years old girl.. 5 times in a row– Well done, Syla.. You've officially surpassed me, your techniques, your flexibility, they're all perfect.. I almost couldn't read your attacks– As you are right now, even a B-Rank adventurer would have a hard time fighting you.. No– You might be even A-Rank.." Raywen praised Syla, her combat prowess couldn't be denied that it was impressive, she had learned and mastered everything there is to teach in this academy, at her age of 18, Syla officially graduated from the hunting academy.
"Thank you for everything! Uncle Raywen!" Syla bowed down, showing her utmost respect to her teacher, the one that made this all possible, she then turned her head towards her father. "Thank you, dad! Thank you for allowing me to learn swordmanship.."
Her dad approached her and gently stroke her head, she looked at her father's proud face, it was too proud that it slightly annoyed Syla.
"Heh, no need to thank me, just bring me a mountain troll head next time you come home." He jokingly said, smirking the whole time.
"I gotta say, Hargal.. Your daughter is really something else, im not joking when i say that– She won't have many competitions out there.. Atleast not to my knowledge— She beat me who was taught by a dragon, that in itself was nothing but insane." Raywen said to Syla's dad. "Don't worry about about her.. Trust me, none of my students have ever get injured."
"You never had a student.." Hargal said, his eyes rolled back as if mocking Raywen.
"You little shit!! Of course i have! Your daughter!" Raywen responded by pinching his friend's cheek, the two of them interacted like a close friend, and Syla was secretly smiling behind them.
.
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At night—
The sound of the night crickets buzzed around the village of Demiria, accompanied by a howling wolves and an owl's hum, the yellow moonlight spreads its light on the world, illuminating the fleeting darkness that hides unexplainable creatures and mysteries.
Inside one of the houses in the village, Syla was sitting at the dinner table, her mom and dad sat beside her and together they were about to eat their meal.
While Syla was about to cut the steak infront of her, she was interrupted by her dad talking to her mother.
"Yulia, it's time.. You need to let your past go and trust your own child." He said, his voice was calm yet demanding.