--- [Luna’s perspective]
The first week at Ulric’s place was chill.
We ate breakfast, he taught me the things I’d learn at school, I played with his pets in the garden, we ate dinner, then went to sleep.
That’s pretty much how every day went.
It was like being at home, except with a parent who didn’t hate or judge you.
On the seventh day, he asked me something…
“You know, since you’re not like the kids I usually take care of, I don’t have much to do. I feel bad taking your parents money when I’m not doing anything special. So, how about this…” – Ulric
I listened carefully as he explained.
“How about I teach you Divinity manipulation? I know it’s not for everyone, but I think you’d enjoy working as a hunter. If you want to meet others like you, and people who don’t judge, then that’s definitely the path to go down.” – Ulric
My idea of a hunter was some heroic warrior who spent all their time fighting monsters.
I couldn’t see myself as someone like that, so it wasn’t something I had considered before.
But the way he explained it made me more than intrigued.
“I’d love to!” – Luna
“Awesome! But be aware that it’ll require a ton of hard work and determination!” – Ulric
That day, he started teaching me.
As expected, I didn’t really see any results.
Learning BDM takes time, no matter how talented you are.
Despite that, I kept on practicing.
As time went on, we grew closer and closer.
There were times when I even wished he’d adopt me.
I didn’t want to go back, but alas, the day where I had to was rapidly approaching.
Over the six months I spent with him, my parents didn’t visit me even once.
That alone told me everything I needed to know…
I still had some hope they cared about me deep down, but the day they arrived, they didn’t even seem happy to see me.
If anything, they were just more excited about the thought of me finally becoming a ‘real man’.
Stolen story; please report.
When I got into the carriage, Ulric left us with some words I’ll never forget.
“You’ve got a great kid. You should be grateful for how they turned out.” – Ulric
Of course, they understood this as how I turned out after my visit with him, but I know that’s not what he meant…
To him, I was always great; even before I ever knew him.
On the way home my parents would interrogate me about the time I spent with him, but all I told them was some generic stull like ‘I learned a lot from him’ or something.
They went home hopeful that I’d be just like the other boys, while I went home more confident than ever before.
It didn’t take long for them to see that I hadn’t changed.
They went back to him, this time without me, and were furious because I wasn’t the man they thought I’d be.
I wasn’t there so I don’t know exactly what went down, but I spoke to Ulric once about what happened.
Apparently they were shouting and flailing insults at him left and right.
All he told them was this:
“Sir, ma’am, there was nothing wrong with your kid. Nothing for me to ‘fix’. Instead, I taught them the basics of BDM.” – Ulric
Of course, they were still angry, but what was done was done.
They couldn’t change the past, so they decided to take things into their own hands instead.
When they got home, they bombarded me, saying everything they could to try to convince me to act differently.
They said I’d never find a wife.
They said nobody would want to hire me.
They said people would think I’m weird.
They said the way I acted was unnatural.
Nothing phased me anymore.
Ulric gave me the confidence I needed to finally stand up for myself.
I shot down their every claim.
“I won’t get a wife? I don’t want one anyways. Nobody will hire me? Hunter guilds only care about competence. People will think I’m weird? There are tons of weirdos among hunters. The way I act is unnatural? It’s not unnatural to be myself.” – Luna
After that is when I started taking my training more seriously.
More than anything, I wanted to be a hunter.
I wanted to get away from my parents, and away from this city.
If only I could start my life over somewhere I wasn’t judged, then all my problems would be solved.
My motivation was high, and I pushed through all the hardships of the overwhelming training needed to become a hunter.
Over the coming years, I grew stronger and stronger.
By the time I was a young adult, maybe 19 or 20 years old, I was finally strong enough to take on the F-rank exam.
I could make my dream come true then and there, but…
I didn’t…
As the years passed, my body changed a lot.
I felt disgusted by my own skin, and my name was just as revolting.
Sure, it’s possible that if I became a hunter people would accept me for who I am, but that didn’t mean I would…
I hated myself more than anything else.
I felt embarrassed simply being seen by a stranger; everything about me was vile.
My voice made me want to rip out my tongue.
My face made me want to poke my eyes out.
My body made me want to hide from the world.
All the confidence I once gained from Ulric was gone as I was left with the reality of being stuck in a man’s body…
When I was at my absolute lowest, I accidentally awakened my specialty…!
They say a specialty is based on the shape of your soul; well, I guess my soul knew exactly what it needed.
I held onto the feeling I felt when I accidentally used it, and it let me freely shape myself into anything I liked.
I did a full body transformation, and picked up the pieces of an old mirror I had shattered.
What looked back at me wasn’t the flesh creature I used to inhabit; it was me.
The me on the inside.
The me I always felt like.
I had finally become myself!
That’s when remembered my time with Ulric…
Back then, he used to just refer to me as ‘Luna’.
It’s the name of the city I lived in, and therefore also my last name, but it felt nice.
I was myself on both the inside and outside now; I should have a fitting name too.
It was the only name I’d ever been called that didn’t make my skin crawl, so I made it my first name too.
And thus, Luna Luna was born.
