Grand Saint Alloy

This was the easiest trip back to the Forest Caldera Tristan had ever made. It did not have a lot of competition, as he had only made the walk once before. However, he clearly remembered burning lungs and long breaks. Now a days his lung only bothered him when he was exercising. Luke had made absolutely sure that Tristan’s stamina exceeded everyone else’s, so while he was in a group, the injured lung was largely irrelevant.

Most of Sirens team was here, though Siren himself remained behind. Olfred and his group of malcontents were actually from the Grass Caldera, so the city they had despised was the one they would now be fighting for. The crier had the worst physical fitness out of everyone. It was quite comical that the loud and slightly rude man would have to struggle in order to keep up with his own recruits.

Tristan sped up so he was beside Kale, “So, what do you think will happen. Will we get a sword?”

Tristan really wanted a sword, and armor. He wondered if it was his metal affinity that gave him the desire to be covered in metal. Though it was most likely the fact that he was male. He wondered if he could influence the metal with his kern in the same way Hadrid created his knives. The only thing better than metal armor would be artifact metal armor.

Kale laughed, pulling Tristan out of his day dream. His tier three physique gave him plenty of stamina to talk while he jogged, “No, you won’t get a sword. If I had to make a guess, you will receive fabric armor, and a spear. Spears are cheap, can be made in bulk, and can use your opponents mass against them. Most other weapons rely on your body to generate force, so those will be given to people with better bodies.”

“So what tier would I have to reach to get a sword?”

“Three, though unless you have a few dozen more artifacts stashed in those pants, you won’t get one,” Kale raised his eyebrow and inspected Tristans pockets like there might actually be some in them. In fairness, Tristan had explained away his graduation to tier one with a mysterious artifact.

While he lacked the stash of artifacts, Tristan did have two silver parces, a flint, and a small first aid kit, in his pockets. Along with his two knives, he was carrying all of his possessions with him. He could only shrug at Kale’s inspection.

The Forest Caldera came into view as they topped a short hill. They were close enough that he could see Keith at the gate. It had been almost four years since he had seen the very talkative man. Though he had gotten used to Luke, so talkative may be a relative term.

Keith waved happily at them and tried to stop the crier, but the man was to fatigued to respond. Tristan stepped through the gate and was not sure what he expected. Maybe all the fiber and mud homes to be rebuilt with stone or brick. They were the same, the sky line was the same, even the trees were the same. It was like he never left.

He looked over at the crier who was leaning against a tree to catch his breath. Every one was now waiting on him, the departure date was tomorrow, but no one in the group knew the gathering location and no one wanted to be exiled because they missed it.

Once he caught his breath the crier gasped out, “tomorrow at sunrise, arrive at the sifting grounds.”

That brought back memories. Back then Conni had been a horrifying existence, and his uncle was abusing his position make an example of Tristan. He wondered what he should do today. Should he go visit his parents, the mere thought made his gut ache. Maybe he was running from a confrontation, but he did not really care at the moment.

A thought came back from yesterday. He should find the Forest Caldera’s tier four, or at least, the likely suspect. Where would he find such a person. He would be close to Forest, probably someone Tristan recognized from his past. The man would be inconspicuous, probably unarmed or at least with no visible weapons. Fitness was a must and they would be constantly alert.

With that in mind, Tristan made his way to the central ring. He entered the middle class section and found it to be surprisingly empty.This took him by surprise, only about ten percent of the population was tier two or higher. Tier zero’s would be in the outskirts living in the mud huts. Tristan realized the reason why they avoided mentioning the ghost crabs. The tier one class would be willing to volunteer if they did not know they would be hunting mythical parasites.

The ring of homes around the elders home should have been completely empty. Everyone in this area was tier two or higher, so they should all be on the front lines. Should was the operative word. As Tristan was walking towards the central house, he saw a brown haired girl sitting on a porch. It had been almost four years, but he could easily recognize Harp.

He was not sure what he was supposed to feel, happiness, anger, what he felt was apathy. Tristan did not care about her any more. Then a little kid ran out of the homes open door. At first Tristan thought that Harp had a kid, but the child was around four or five. Then he saw the red irises and black hair. She was a perfect blend of Shadow Fist’s and Helen’s traits.

Tristan, meet Tristan, he thought with a snort. Guess, Harp was now the family baby sitter. He sighed, this was a dumb idea, he should leave. None of the families around here would fit the tier four mold. They were all managers. Tristan frowned as he looked over at a residence with a golden heart painted on the doorway.

The Gold Heart family was a warrior caste family in name only. No one thought much of them, yet they had a position of honor. That would be an excellent place to stash a tier four. Everyone would be prepared for Shadow Fists, martial arts and the head family’s fire. However they would get blindsided by the sleazy tier four light kern living next door.

There was no way to prove it without challenging the household and dueling the whole family. Tristan was not ready to fight a tier four ,yet. He might be able to win with his knives, and a backstab, but that felt like a cheap victory. He had a suspicion to work with and that was good enough. Tristan turned to leave, before anyone noticed him, only to get body slammed from out of nowhere.

Tristan reacted instantly, he hadn’t even fully faced his assailant yet. His arm stretched out just above the point of impact, and as he turned he felt hair. Wrapping his arm around his attacker’s head he twisted him into an awkward position. Now that Tristan was in control of the situation, he could take the time to process.

He currently had his mother in a head lock.

“Uh,” Tristan wasn’t sure what he should say. If he let go now she would fall over. Also she was gripping his forearm to stay upright.

“Please let go,” She croaked

So he did, and she did fall over. Despite her being in tier two, she probably had a little less strength than Tristan. Men were naturally stronger than women, and she was a mom and manager, while Tristan was actively focusing on his strength.

Helen had tears in her eyes, “I’m so glad to see you. It’s been so long and I wanted to see you, I really did.”

Anger boiled up in Tristan, “Then why didn’t you, The mine is not even a full day trip away. Don’t give me that trash.”

Helen flinched, “Well, why didn’t you visit, you had had more time.”

Tristan pointed at the little girl who had just screeched, “MOM!” And started rushing over.

“I’m not dumb, thats why,” Tristan growled.

Harp was now staring wide eyed at him now. The previous scuffle had caught her attention and now her eyes were locked on the knives strapped to his waist. The last thing she had said to him was that he was a monster after all.

Helen opened and closed her mouth several times. She knew full well that they had repurposed the dead end in the genealogy to wipe away the record of the family’s shame. Any record of her own son’s existence.

Eventually Helen went with, “She’s your sister don’t talk about her that way!”

She picked up the needy kid and glared at Tristan. Tristan junior looked from her brother to her mother, trying to figure out what was going on.

Tristan rolled his eyes, “She’s not my sister, she’s my replacement.”

He turned on his heel and stomped off. Helen wanted to follow, but she also did not want to leave the perceived safety of the inner ring. Especially as she was holding her daughter. Her son had changed and it scared her.

Tristan spent the night in the sifting yard, sitting on a bench and looking up at the sky. The mine was so much simpler. Olfred was the jerk, Sun Set was the older sister, Luke was the monster, Conni and Grace were the mine parents. All of these people were honest in their odd ways. It felt odd that he could trust Olfred with his mental health more than his own parents.