No More Pain For This Villain.

"Wake up, princess! it's morning."

"U m m.." The piercing voice of the Blaze clock brought me back from the dead of sleep. I started to wriggle and stretch within the cosy, warm haven that is my bed. As parts of my body were gradually turning on, I realised today was a big day.

As with any other day, I got out of bed, took a shower, and then changed into some new clothes. These are the ones that I bought yesterday along with Anabelle.

"It was a nice date.' I thought Anabelle did get upset at me for not telling her about my birthday on prior notice and then leaving in haste. I haven't heard from her since then.

"That looks good." Blaze threw in a compliment while I was getting ready in front of the mirror.

After getting ready, I descended downstairs and immediately waltzed into the kitchen, where I could smell the aroma of coffee being freshly brewed.

"Good morning, Ruu; you are up early today." My mother was up bright and early, fixing breakfast for my father, who leaves for work promptly at 9:00 a.m.

"Good morning, mom." I said I am not a morning person, but today I feel lighter than usual. If this were any other day, I wouldn't have woken up so easily.

"Just wait a second for your father; he's in the toilet. We can have breakfast together when he comes. Is it alright?" Mom asked.

"It's fine." I replied as I sat in the chair by the dining table.

"Look, there he is!" Mom exclaimed as my father came from behind. I turned around and greeted him.

We all sat together, and then breakfast was served.

Breakfast was soft pancakes and berries, as warm as they would be in the sun, with maple syrup threaded across the top. It remains my favourite breakfast.

"It's delicious." I said that the moment I took the first bite.

"Is it? Thank you for the compliment; tell me if you need more." The mother's face lit up from the praise.

"Is there something on my face?" I asked, and I noticed that during the whole breakfast, not a single one of them touched their food; they both just kept looking at my face with a content smile.

"No, it's nothing; I just realised how much you've grown." Father said, What does he mean by that?

"It feels like yesterday when you were just a child that was just too shy to talk to a stranger, but now that you've grown into a fine young man,it just makes no sense how you grew up in such a short time." Mom said, Is she getting emotional because I'll be leaving tomorrow? I don't know.

I ate breakfast, and not to forget, I did get like two or three more servings due to how tasty it was.

"Ruu, come here." Mom called me to the living room while my father followed behind me.

"Are you planning to give it to him now?" My father asked my mother.

"Do you want to go first? I'll wait if that's what you want." Mother said, What are they talking about?

"Hmm?" She sat on the sofa and gestured for me to also do so.

"Happy Birthday, Ren! Take this." Mother gave me a small box, enough to fit on my palm.

"Thank you, but what is it?" I asked, and the box is almost like those boxes used to keep jewellery.

"Something that your mother holds close to her heart—open it and see yourself." Father answered my question while Mom nodded and gestured for me to open it.

clack

I opened the box and was baffled. Inside was a two-inch-long canine tied to a black thread; it's a locket.

"It's your birthday gift; it's a locket made from Winged Pardus's mana canine. Do you like it?" Mom asked, 

"Winged pardus? Do you mean that winged pardus."I asked, "It can't be true that we have a winged Pardus's Mana canine in our house.

A winged Pardus is a S-rank mana beast that's almost too powerful for a single SS-rank adventurer to handle. It's a mana beast that can be compared to a Griffin in terms of strength and intellect but is different in nature.

"Well, as far as my knowledge goes, there's only one kind of winged pardus, and this belongs to one of them." Father said, So he means that they killed a winged pardus."

"But aren't they super rare these days?" I still can't believe it. I'll ask more questions.

"Don't think we killed it; it's something that was passed down from my grandmother to my father and from my father to me, and now I am giving this to you. Do you like it?" Mom explained how I cannot like something like this; this is a high-class collectible item that can be sold for thousands of gold coins in today's market.

"I love it! I'll keep it treasured." But yes, I won't sell it; as my father said, it's something my mom treasures, and it'll be bad if I just go there and sell something that she treasured for such a long time and was passed down to her from my grandfather.

"That's great to know, but Ruu, I don't want you to keep it in a safe like I did all these years; I want you to use it for your own good." Mom said, "It's true that we can use Winged Pardus's mana tooth to refine pure mana in large amounts.

"But mom-" I tried to argue, This thing is more like a family heirloom.

"Not but, it's an accessory and is meant to be used; I'll be fine if my son used it and grew stronger than keeping it on display." But mom gave me no chance to argue.

"Keep it, boy; you're the only person she's ever handed this thing to; otherwise, she won't even let me touch it, saying that I'll damage it." Father grumbled, Well, they say every man is weak against powerful objects.

"If you insist and thank you for the gift, mom, I love it and I'll use it properly." I wore the locket; it's not something that is fashionable, but I like it.

"Well, it's now my turn." Father said, "Don't tell me he also has something for me.

'After all, birthdays are the best," I thought.

"Get up; we are going to the shop." The father kept his words short.

"Umm okay." I got up and followed after him. , 

We left the house and headed towards the shop. I don't know if I've already mentioned it, but my father owns an antique store in the market district. It's not a big shop, but a small one.

The guild does not have everything we need, so these kinds of shops are where we can find something that's suitable for our taste. be it books, weapons, potions, or even aphrodisiacs.

The whole walk that we had from our house to the store, both of us didn't exchange a single word. Normally, it's Father who initiates the conversation, but today he is oddly silent.

We came in front of our store. It was simply called Antique Shop, clearly owned by my father. It was situated in the centre of the market street, where all the flower shops and art stores were.

"Give me a second." Father pulled a key out of his back pocket. It's a multiple-set lock that requires a key, then a mana signature of the owner, and whatnot to open, but it's better that it's complicated since it's a lock.

We entered after he unlocked the door. The shop's interior was pleasantly warm, with well-oiled and clean wooden floors. There were numerous different types of shelves, racks, pedestals, and hanging nets dispersed throughout the moderately sized store. I observed a wide variety of items on display. I took notice of everything when she stopped to look at one rack, from what appeared to be a worn-out flying broom to a peculiar-looking bronze chamber pot. There were numerous quills, caps, gloves, bottles of what appeared to be potions, and a variety of other goods related to magic.

"Wait here, I'll bring it," father said. As he returned to the storage area, my father told me to wait.

B a d u m p*

'It's thrilling.' I'm not sure why, but I have the impression that my father's gift will be quite wonderful.

After some time, my father returned with a long sword in his hand that resembles a Roman gladius sword in appearance, with the exception of that.

'It is rusted,' If I swung it too hard, it appears that it will break.

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[A/N: Happy Birthday Ren, I wish you happy birthday and good luck for your the journey ahead of you and I hope you don't die like a dog on side of a street. So get stronger and save your ass he he he.]