User blog:ZiedGray/Brave Frontier: Another Tale - Chapter 1.1 Bittersweet Homecoming

It was almost funny how several years went by nearly unnoticed since he, the slightly ambitious teen from the small village of Etria, set off to become an Apprentice Summoner with the Akras Summoner's Hall. At the same time, it was also sad that this was actually the first time he was coming home after five long years, to the news of his grandmother's passing no less. After making such a promise to come visit her any chance he could get, all he could afford was to exchange correspondence with her, and even that was hard enough. In her letters she always said the good things, encouraging him to keep on, never once making him worry about her. In the end, when he heard the news, he realized that she did all of that for him, hiding her illness so that he could keep his focus and become a Summoner.

Now that she was gone, he felt mixed emotions toward what he has done and achieved. Yet he knew one thing, he knew that all he could do now was to pay his respects personally. After all, what kind of grandson would he be if he couldn't even afford do that much?

Having reached out to his superiors, he was granted two days off-duty right after graduation so he could settle his personal affairs. He wanted to have more days off but given the current situation, he knew the Summoner's Hall couldn't afford to give him any more than they already have.

Who would have thought that being a Summoner would be as tough as it can get? Seriously! He remembered his grandmother making mention of how hard the Summoner's path was but.. who knew it would be that hard! He had initially expected Summoner work to be something like simply having to summon spirits to have it do whatever it is they needed it to do. He was gravely, sorely, and badly mistaken. There was nothing simple about becoming a Summoner at all!

He walked casually along the path leading to the village of Etria, pondering the past five years of his life in waves of nostalgia.

During the first year of apprenticeship, they would drill the basics into their trainees, lessons ranging from an introduction of the Akras Summoner's Hall, Grand Gaia History, basic equipment crafting up to item alchemy, an introduction to the six elements, and an elemental affinity test.

Then in the following year, intermediate lessons would be taught covering an introduction to summoning, how to properly conduct a summoning ritual, raising and strengthening a summoned spirit, basic combat and survival, intermediate crafting and alchemy, and in-depth lessons about the function and usage of various facilities only available to Summoners.

In their third year however, things got a lot more interesting and intense. Lessons ranged from advanced summoning, in-depth lessons about the Vortex Gate, lessons about various summoned spirit types, advanced crafting and alchemy, and intermediate combat and survival. Those three years were hard enough to manage as they were, but the fourth and fifth year were by far the hardest.

The fourth year heavily stressed on expert level combat and survival lessons, with a bit of fine tuning what they have learned over the last three years. The fifth year was hell. Everything about it revolved around advanced combat and survival, not to mention that their batch of aspiring summoners also got frequently deployed on field missions. Finally, just before graduation, their instructors held a ranking tournament to determine who were the cream of the crop over the average ones and bottom dwellers of their batch.

He was ranked eighth overall out of thirty.

The Rookie Summoner sighed, refusing to further remember all the insane hardships he had to go through during his final two years as an apprentice. He made it, and that was what mattered.

Five long years and he was a teen no longer. He had become a man, and he was now a full-fledged Summoner, recently graduated from apprenticeship. His grandmother was right, he had talent, but his achievement did not come without a ton of hard work and touch of dedication. Okay, perhaps it demanded too much dedication. Sadly, he had no one else left to celebrate his success with him, nobody to be proud of what he had finally achieved.

As he walked through the village entrance, curious pairs of eyes turned his way, which made him feel like he was an outsider, or somewhat closer to a suspicious character. He immediately waved a hand to the closest villager living by the village entrace, Rosie, who took nearly a minute to recognize who he was.

"Oh my lord! Kiriel! Is that really you?" Rosie chirped.

At the loud mention of his name, a crowd began to gather, all eager to take a closer look at him. Etria was not as big as the other villages, everyone here knew everybody.

With an awkward smile on his lips, Kiriel lowered his hand. "Y-yes it's me. I'm home. How is everyone?"

"Well, look at you! All grown up!"

"Welcome back! It's been five years!"

"How was the Imperial Capital?"

The chorus of warm welcomes nearly smothered the rookie summoner, rendering him unable to decide which question or warm welcome to respond to first. He was still in the middle of indecision when a familiar authoritative voice settled the crowd.

"Now, now, give our Kiriel some breathing room.  I'm sure you all know why he's returned." spoke an elderly man, Etria's village representative, Amicus.

The skinny and wrinkled old man slowly made his way towards Kiriel, his path respectfully given by the villagers. He examined the rookie summoner critically from head to toe before settling back satisfied, coffee-colored eyes resting on the epaulette of the Akras Summoner's Hall proudly worn on Kiriel's right shoulder.

"You know.. she wouldn't stop talking about you becoming a Summoner one day." he smiled, reminiscing the long discussions he and Kiriel's grandmother often shared. "You've made her very proud," Amicus paused and looked at the gathered villagers. "as you have made us proud."

Kiriel tried not to cry but failed to stop a few tears from escaping his eyes. He quickly muffled a sob and bowed before everyone. "Thank you! Thank you all very much for looking after her in my stead!"

"Hush my boy. We are all family here. We just did what anyone here would do for another." he prompted Kiriel to lift his head. "Come. I'll accompany you to your grandmother's final resting place."



Kiriel spent the rest of his day by his grandmother's grave, trying to fit five years worth of stories about his escapades during his apprenticeship with the Summoner's Hall, all in one telling. Each time he would tell a funny story, the wind would blow accordingly, as if she was responding to his humorous adventures. When he told her about the hardships he had to endure, the wind would respond with a mild and soothing breeze, as if his grandmother was praising him for enduring and getting past those hardships; it made him miss her even more.

"Hey Grandma, did you know that summoned spirits need to be contained inside Spirit Spheres to keep them from going rampant?" Kiriel started, one hand quickly coming inside the pouch strapped to the side of his waist. "This is what an empty Spirit Sphere looks like." he pulled out a clear crystal ball from his pouch, one that was no bigger than the palm of his hand. "It changes color depending on the elemental affinity of the spirit that will reside in it." he said in a knowledgable tone. "Pretty cool huh?"

An hour or so later of more story-telling and the sun had finally begun to set. Kiriel placed freshly picked flowers on his grandmother's grave, offered a silent prayer and said his goodbyes. In his heart, Kiriel vowed to continue making his grandmother proud by working hard as a Summoner. Now then, he had one more day to himself before he gets recalled, and he figured the best way to spend it was at his home here in Etria.

He had just left the Plane of Memoirs where his grandmother rested in peace when the communicator he wore cackled to life, startling the rookie summoner to a halt.

"Buzz....Buzz..."

Kiriel tapped the thing to check if it was broken but still heard static.

"..an you...ear me?"

He tapped the thing again and walked around, trying to get better reception.

"Hellooooo?! Can you hear me?!" a female voice finally started to come in loud and clear.

"Yes, I can hear you now." Kiriel responded.

"Oh thank god! I finally got through! Where are you anyway? Why is the reception so bad?"

"I'm uhh... in Etria." he answered, unsure who or why someone was calling him.

"Etria? What are you doing all the way out there? Shouldn't you be in the Capital? Are you on some kind of mission?"

"No.. I.. uhh.. I'm.."

"You're stuttering." the woman at the other end of the communicator said with a suspicious tone. "Are you slacking off? Because if you are, I'm going to have to report you to the Summoner's Hall for neglecting your duty as a Summoner."

Kiriel was unsure why he was getting grilled, then threatened of being reported to the Summoner's Hall for neglecting his duties when it had been approved that he was supposed to be off-duty. Confused, Kiriel took a deep breath and collected himself.

"I'm supposed to be off-duty today until tomorrow. Who is this anyway and what do you want?"

"..............."

There was an ample dead air between him and the girl which almost made Kiriel think he'd lost connection when a loud yell nearly busted his eardrum.

''"I-I'M SO SORRY!!!" ''the woman on the other end of the line apologized. "I was caught up in the moment that I forgot my manners! Please, allow me to introduce myself..." she cleared her throat before continuing. "I'm Lin Merylham from Logistics Support Grand Gaia Survey Office Bureau of Investigation at your service..."

He knew it. He just couldn't place a name to her voice due to hearing it for the first time but now that she introduced herself, Kiriel resigned himself with a sigh. According to what he heard about this Lin person from when he was still an apprentice, she was the voice of Akras Summoner's Hall, and when she rings a communicator, it's usually about something not good.

"Summoner Kiriel, you can call me Lin. I am in charge of information gathering and provide support through information relay to all active summoners between missions. I'm calling you to inform you about an urgent mission request that has been issued by the Summoner's Hall to all available Summoners including your batch that just recently graduated." Lin informed him.

They were right about her. Kiriel sighed again.

"Summoner Kiriel, I'm sorry to be the one telling you this but your leave had just been cut short. All available Summoners are expected to report to the Survey Office at 0:900 tomorrow for the mission briefing."

"Yes Lin, thank you. I got it." by now he had already changed his priorities from spending the night in Etria, to doing night travel just to make it to Randall in time for the mission briefing. "Is there anything else I should know about?"

"Uhhmm.. let's see... your batch had just recently graduated right? So... Oh yes! Summoner Kiriel, have you already visited Sera Starride in the Administration Office? Fresh Graduates are supposed to see her to get their starting kits."

He may have heard something similar of the sort but his mind was elsewhere at the time. Kiriel had to make sure. "Uhh.. Starting Kit you say?"

He swore he heard a bit of grumbling before hearing Lin's voice again. "Kiriel, did you really graduate apprenticeship? Because you should know that every summoner needs to have that starting kit. It includes enough empty Spirit Spheres to form a squad, a pair of Metal and Jewel keys, a set of Recovery and Offensive items plus five gems!"

Five Gems?! That's enough catalyst for him to perform an advanced summoning ritual and get a powerful spirit! "Lin, I need to get my kit, but I won't have enough time to stop by the Administration Office and not be late for the mission briefing."

He heard a defeated sigh from the other end.

"Okay. I'll help you just this once alright? I'm friends with Sera so I could get your Starting Kit from her and just give it to you tomorrow at the Survey Office."

Saved! Maybe Lin was not as bad as he thought she was. "Thanks Lin! You're a lifesaver. I'll see you tomorrow then."