Chapter 72: A Birthday to Remember (2)

Agnes was the first to talk out of the two.

"I hope you don't mind me making you come here."

Leon was actually happy this had happened and only wanted to ask about the job he had received.

"Ah, it's fine. I'm actually enjoying the surprise party. I just wanted to say I didn't complete the job you gave me, I hope you aren't mad."

Hearing Leon's response, old man Jenkins and Agnes looked at each other like Leon had just said the funniest joke in the world. They both started laughing and Agnes was able to get a few words in between the fits of laughter.

"Leon, don't beat yourself over that. Do you know what plant I showed you on that paper?"

Remembering the rainbow-colored flower, Leon shook his head, while Agnes continued.

"Well, that figures. That flower has many names, but the most common one in Partha is the 'fortune flower'. It's a rare flower that sprouts in unknown conditions and places. It's called the fortune flower because, if you manage to stumble across one and eat it, you would automatically have great fortune and luck for finding it. Secondly, anyone who manages to stumble across one all has great futures, rumors say a normal person could eat it and have the potential to become a top adventurer."

Leon developed a glint in his eyes at hearing the effects, he had one thought going through his head.

'What if I managed to get one of those flowers and it combines with the benefits my blessing is giving me? Would I have the potential to surpass Erik and maybe enter the tope of A-Tier?'

Agnes saw the look in Leon's eyes and wanted to put down his hopes before he decided to spend the rest of his life looking for one.

"I wouldn't get too hung up on it Leon. I personally think it's a rumor since sometimes a few could pop in Partha at a time. Then suddenly there wouldn't be a trace for decades or for even longer. Supposedly the golden age of Partha was partially due to a discovery of a bunch of these flowers. However, since then, no more flowers had been found in Partha despite searching for them. The reason being that fortune flowers can sprout ANYWHERE. It could appear on the seafloor or even in a volcano. So don't worry about not finding one, in fact, if you found one I would've probably died from shock on the spot once you brought it back to me"

The glint in Leon's eyes subsided, but it was still present just pushed to the back of his mind.

"So why did you make look for it?"

Old man Jenkins responded for the first time.

"Well, I had Agnes help me keep you distracted while we set up the party and we wanted to make 100% sure you didn't come early, at least that's what the note said. So we had to make you look for something rare and the fortune flower is something that you wouldn't know and therefore wouldn't know how rare it was to find one. Also, it was quite a good laugh seeing you act sorry about not finding one."

Saying that the pair gave a high five to each other as they clutched their stomachs again replaying the face Leon made. Leon merely had an awkward look of embarrassment but wanted to ask the question that had been itching in his mind since he first met Agnes.

"By the way, are you guys really just old friends?"

Old man Jenkins gave Agnes a look and she just shrugged in return in a way that said 'Not my problem'. After some thought, old man Jeninks spoke.

"Well I guess you could put it that way, it was a little more complicated, but we've always been good friends and once were dating."

To Leon, this was the first time he had heard of it, so he was further intrigued.

"You guys once dated? How come I didn't know Gramps?"

Old man Jenkins laughed.

"This happened much before you were born, plus we are just regular friends now who just hang out occasionally."

Although Leon couldn't tell, there was some pain behind his words, but no one noticed. Leon kept giving glances towards the food and drinks as his stomach started to order his brain to satisfy its needs, seeing this old man Jenkins decided to let Leon indulge himself as this was an important day for him.

"Anyways, we better start getting food ourselves, before them, animals eat everything."

With that, the pair went to get food and Leon was keen to join them, the moment he took one step towards the table he could sense a huge mountain behind him and he knew his dreams of eating were dashed.

Erik said in his usual deep and booming voice.

"Before you go join the chaos, I want to talk to you about something important. Follow me.'

Without looking back, Erik walked up to the fourth floor to his office and Leon just followed him. Since everyone was downstairs, the floors above the first floor were so silent you could hear a pin drop. Erik gestured for Leon to sit down on one of the many chairs in the office and closed the door before he walked over to his own seat which was custom built out of steel and customized to fit Erik.

Leon was a little bit confused and nervous since Erik had just taken him up to his office without any warning or any reason that he knew about.

"Am I in trouble or something?"

Hearing this, Erik gave a laugh that boomed in his office.

'No, no. It isn't anything like that. I wanted to talk to you about your future now that you are a grown man. Leon, what do you know about your parents?"

Leon thought for a second and just said everything he could think of.

"Well, I know almost all their adventuring stories with the group, plus that they were the most loving people I ever met."

If Leon a year ago had talked about his parents, a hint of pain and sadness would be present, but Leon had come to peace with the loss after the life-changing experiences he had experienced."

Erik nodded as he knew most of what Leon knew about his parents.

"When I took care of you once your parents... died... they left me with a couple of requests and one of them was that once you turned 16 you would go explore the world outside of Verin or small villages. So in a couple of weeks, I am going to force you to leave Verin by yourself for a while."

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