Chapter 2: Apprenticeship

Author's Notes

Here we go, Chapter 2 is certainly larger than Chapter 1 let me know if its too fat or something. Also, while proofing this, I realized how much I use past tenses... so, hopefully I killed most of them!

------------

I began an early apprenticeship with Darren, he brought me to his place to help out with a few things like cleaning and sorting his various herbs and medicines. That helped me to identify the items inside his workshop.

I also took a hatchet to chop wood for us to burn to keep the inside garden warm enough the cold sensitive plants can grow. Since I am still small wielding a hatchet is difficult and I can only chop off thin slices of kindling. Which is useful for starting fires.

Breaking the logs was not very easy for me, it would take at least twenty swings to split a dry log in half. By the end of the day my arms would be sore from chopping and lifting.

I also advanced my magic training in a few ways. First, with water magic I began to form multiple water bubbles and try to maintain their form over a larger water surface. These bubbles were very small, the size of my thumb. I could not form larger ones without draining myself from the effort.

Concentrating on more than one bubble was not easy but I could hold a single one for a very long time. The extra work proved to quickly pay off and I found I could increase the number of bubbles every week.

When I took a break from that I would also train earth magic in a different way. The bronze hatchet I used to chop wood was quickly growing dull, I could go to the blacksmith for it to be sharpened; however, I had been reading the magic theory text more.

One section of the book discussed earth magic and how earth itself was not a single element and it was possible for earth magic to effect different types of earth. For example, a mage manipulating only the stone in the ground without the soft soil being involved required some specifications in the chants.

I am not sure about these chants myself, but I do have a reasonable grasp on what defines each element and how solids are formed. This had already allowed me to manipulate water apart from its dissolved contents, which would be much more difficult than controlling the stone alone.

I took particular note of the mention of different raw ores inside stones, which could be refined through magic instead of high temperatures. Through heating the stone it will be easier to manipulate the ores.

The text talked about how hot ore is easier to separate than cold ore. This made sense to me, hotter ore is softer and more malleable and if I were to practice targeting specific kinds of metals my earth magic could be improved.

In the end my practice for this was to heat the blade of the hatchet with a small fire and use my mana to reshape and sharpen the hatchet. Thus I could train both heat and earth magic to maintain the temperature and mold the metal.

This was exhausting work and I often took naps during the day, at least my sharpened hatchet could cut the wood easier speeding that work up.

My apprentice work with Darren was not progressing, I was mostly there to help out and it did keep me away from the other kids; however, I was hoping to learn some healing magic. I could mend small cuts no problem on my own and the magic theory text did cover some concepts on healing magic.

Because of its large mana consumption either complex magic circles were required to improve the specific target of the magic or magical tools were used to amplify the caster’s mana effect. Defining particular organs or healing actions like cleaning out bruised tissue or mending bone fractures was still being explored. The book’s author emphasized the importance of studying the body’s functions more instead of relying on amplifying the effect.

Considering I had never read this before, some of the information made sense, healing a severed muscle was different from a broken bone. However, common magical healing practice focused less on these definitions.

This was because complex drawings were required to give these kinds of instructions. I have no idea how a magic circle or drawing would work and I did ask Darren about what he knew when he had some spare time.

“The circles are something that I cannot draw myself, skilled sages and their squires produce most of these. They are hard to come by but some are produced in large numbers.”

He dug into a bag of his and drew out a piece of parchment.

“This is a specific healing spell sheet, the spell on here defines your magic to act in a specific way. In this case, it targets healing magic towards a person’s muscles and is very useful for healing deep cuts and punctures.”

He placed the spell sheet back into the bag.

“I keep a few around for emergency use, they are not cheap and can be difficult to get out here. As for writing them, you would need a special ink capable of chanelling your mana. In most cases the ink will degrade over use. The spell sheets i have will generally last only one use. The specific ingredient for this ink was reduced to lower the price.”

“Can you heal without these circles?” I asked.

“I can heal through chants and concentration. Most will do it this way; however, the circles are easier to use and consume less mana than chanting.”

“Do you know what that ingredient is?”

“Some form of magic crystal ground into a powder. The recipes are kept pretty close so I have never been close to one of their production workshops.”

“How did you learn all of this?” I asked.

Darren looked my way and held his chin. He took a moment before answering, “I was born and raised far from here.”

He pulled out a map on rolled up leather. He pointed to a spot on it, “We are here in Ferrel Valley. Part of the Condrican Kingdom. I grew up in an independant Dukedom, the Berat Dukedom which lies farther East on the other side of the Berra mountains.”

“At that time, the Duke had held his lands together after a pretender took the throne. The conflict resulted in many of the territories breaking off and become independent.” He moved his finger along the map to circle the region that he talked about.

“However, when I was growing up we were invaded and the land was seized by an eastern Kingdom, the Sharic Kingdom. I learned what I know from my time as a refugee migrating west. We were Ordumirts, a trait of us eastern Ordu was that some were born with reddish hair.” Darren combed his hand through his hair.

“The Sharics are mostly Sharamirts, related to us and the other mirt people, their ears point down, ours point middle, and the Kridi point up. The Sharics wanted to chase us off the good lands leaving the Ordumirts to work the poor lands, so many of us left. During this journey I apprenticed under a healer to keep our group healthy. Over the journey many separated to settle down until I and my late wife settled here in Ferrel.” I stayed quiet.

Darren noticed this and continued, “My wife Sara was inflicted by a disease I had no cure for, it was quick and sudden, there was no sign of miasma or infection. Even though I was able to help so many people, I faced the limit of what I could do there.”

Darren stayed quiet for a while and returned to his work. I studied the map a little longer.

From my observations of Darren’s map, Farrel valley is located in the west central part of the continent named Valdera. Within the Condrican Kingdom Farrel is a remote location away from the major roads connecting the kingdom’s capital of Condrica to the Vala River trade that runs from the center of the continent west to the Vala Sea. There were a few big cities and nations connected along this river; Carra, Perg, Pern, and Estrus.

A mountain route exists through the Berra Mountains that Darren may have been through with the refugees from Berat. From this route he would have entered Carra from the east before traveling north to Condrica. It is either that or he took the southern route around the Berra mountains which would lead him by Fev, turning north before reaching Ovel, and traveling through Leben before entering Carra from the south. It may be a longer but safer path if those nations allow refugees through.

After putting the map away where I had seen Darren draw it from I felt my mana had recovered. I returned to my routine practice; however, today I felt like doing more than just sharpening an already sharp hatchet.

Some of Darren’s tools were becoming rusty, rust is when an element in the air reacts with the metal, either copper, iron, or the odd silver tool. I decided to see if I could undo the rust and use heat magic to help repair the damage.

After a few attempts I came to the conclusion that this is more difficult than I had thought. Outside of my failure to do so, I learned I may need to apply heat and force to the metal to break up the rust and rebind the reclaimed metal. I think would be easier to clean off the rust, using a carving tool to help focus my earth magic to specifically target the rust.

This is much more convenient, although I was slightly disappointed at failing my attempt, I could not challenge myself more. I would rather not put that much effort in undoing such a strong bond that the rust creates for now.

Darren seemed quite happy to find his tools were sparkling, cleaned, and sharpened. After this he allowed me to enter his infirmary to help clean it. For an infirmary it was a pretty gloomy place. The number of times I have seen him tend to wounds could be counted on one hand within a year.

There were five beds and a table. The table was especially morbid, the wooden floor was stained with blood. I soon noticed why, a barrel dyed dark red had a wide serrated blade resting on it. A few moments of speculation and I felt I could see it overflowing with severed limbs. Though the number of amputees in the village is almost zero, I’m sure this barrel has not been used that much. It was still a sight worth grimace.

“Sorry to bring you into such a place, I do try to keep it clean here to prevent miasma.” Darren said scratching the back of his head.

I nodded towards him, “This should keep me busy for a while.”

“ahah… sorry about that.”

I began my work by planning what I would do. The room was dim, it would need some fresh airflow, not the kind of opening that would allow dirt and dust in. I decided that I would work on renovating this room.

The first stage of the renovations would involve making a vent to circulate fresh air in. To do this, I would need a few things made. I gathered wood, carved it into flat triangular parts shaped like paddles to connect to a central axle.

These were connected by small copper nails that I refurbished from the blacksmith’s scraps. When the axle is turned the paddles fan the air and draw a breeze in one direction. The axle would receive mechanical energy through a wooden gear powered by another gear and axle set up. These axles would lead to the powersource.

For the powersource, I decided to start with a large wooden disc with teeth cut along the edge with a handle on the disc’s side. The gear will fit into another gear’s teeth, this other gear is attached to the fan’s axle.

I ran into a problem where I could not stand the gear and complete a full rotation as the stand leg is in the handles way. I solved this by making the teeth on the gears sloped on one side, thus spinning the gear the opposite direction will not pull the other gear backwards.

This was much little less efficient, could only spin the first gear so far before the gear’s stand was in the way. If I spun the gear back, it would still bump along the other gear and slow it down.

This was a temporary measure while I installed the fan and vent. I was still thinking about alternative power sources. The vent itself would draw air in from a window that is normally closed. I built a wooden stand outside to hold the box for the fan. I then realized I could use belts of leather to save space and weight for bridging axles.

This would also help with the power source problem. I was not yet satisfied with the idea I had for a manual power source. I wanted something that could be powered like a wagon wheel; however, making it was an entirely different problem.

In the end I decided to abandon it, Darren had noticed what I was working on and asked if he could help somehow. I told him that I was looking for a way to power the fan, we did not have enough wind to spin a windmill, running water would need to be diverted to work here, and I was working on a manually spun powersource. However, that would require someone to spend their time powering the fan.

Darren was at first taken back by the amount of thought I put into this. He placed his hand on his chin and thought for a moment. “How about a Burbap wheel?”

“Burbap? One of those buck rodents?”

“Yes, they are one of the domesticated breeds, they are good as pets or food. Some breeders came around with a wheel that the Burbap will use to exercise in a small pen. The wheel turns out to be a good way to give them exercise, they pick up a habit of running in one for at least an hour. It helps build up a bit of muscle making a better meal.”

“So, we put one of those wheels in the fan box and it will run for an hour?”

“And we get good Burbap meat.” Darren smiled.

We set ourselves to work, I made a wheel with traction carved into the inside, the Burbap pen would be placed beside the fan box. The wheel inside would held up by an axle through the wall with a gear wheel on the fan box side. The gear wheel would pull a leather belt around that pulls the axle the fan connects to.

I had to adjust the gear sizes to make sure it was not too difficult for the Burbap to spin. Fortunately, Burbaps are huge rodents, I needed Daren to lift one into the box. The one we were using was half my size.

The fan’s opening to the outside would be screened by some slanted wood to allow rain to fall away from the entrance, then a layer of wool was placed in between to filter out dirt and dust.

The air would leave through the infirmary’s other openings, but the forced introduction of filtered air would improve the quality of the air in here. Darren was quite pleased, his bragging caught the attention of a carpenter who was interested in building a few of these for Burbap farmers. One was even planned for the distillery.

After making the Burbap powered fan I had gained some credibility among the village crafters. They were willing to lend me some materials that were not garbage or scraps that I had been salvaging before. Unfortunately, I did not have any more plans for elaborate inventions for the infirmary.

While lighting would be wonderful I had no idea how I would get started on improving that even though I had a dream one night about playing with static. Using enough static to create light would be dangerous so, I was not going to mess around with that. The next step on the infirmary renovation would be to improve sanitation. Darren did not seem to know exactly how miasma was transferred so, I decided to improve how we clean our cloth and tools.

First, I need a water distillery. The distillery would take the boiled water vapor that is free of impurities. When the liquor stills were not being used the brewery could produce distilled water. So, I could acquire distilled water this way, ideally our own source of distilled water would be best.

The other ingredient is salt. Mixing some salt into the distilled water to a level close to what it is inside our bodies or sweat is very good for cleaning wounds. Using something like distilled liquor for that would actually harm the wound even if it did kill the infection. So, clean salty water is one of the best choices for cleaning wounds.

I had tested this by setting up clay jars filled with water and a piece of raw meat. The water in each had different amounts of salt, too little salt and the meat would rot. Too much salt and the meat would shrivel up.

I took note of salt’s ability to draw moisture to itself if it is more concentrated than its surroundings.

I brought up how miasma cannot spread through distilled water with Darren, it needs organic material and moisture. Salt further purifies the water preventing it from using the water to spread.

“Yes, that would work.” Darren commended, “We do get salt from Brine springs up in the mountains, once the water is boiled off it becomes hard salt and is traded. We use it to salt our meats because it prevents miasma from rotting it.”

“So, by mixing some salt into pure water, it can clean wounds very well.”

“You are very clever Kordi.” Darren said while patting my head.

I was soon turning six at this time so, Darren was looking forward to officially making me his apprentice. I have been helping around his place and I was not yet being taught by him.

I knew I was here to be protected from Geo’s group. I heard rumors that their attack was known by most of the adults who were not happy with it. The village’s secret liquor recipe was something that originated from my potion experiments and the distillery already produced a few bottles.

It became a drinking topic that comes up as the men discussed with each other who attacked me and how they should teach them a lesson. They wouldn’t have minded if it was a fair child’s fight, but a group attack launched by older boys was cowardly.

The adults would then rant to their own children later about it. Thus, I have not seen Geo’s group stationing members to watch me anymore. I think the adults are on watch for suspicious behaviour. It does mean I should keep around places with adults, if I ran into Geo or his group alone they might try something.

The bleak news aside, it did not take long for Darren to arrange for some barrels of distilled water and salt. During that time I set up a cleaning area to wash bloody and soiled cloth and wools. Using this station I began sterilizing Darren’s bandages which were becoming moldy. I also realized I would need to expand the drying area outside. Renovating the floor would be next.

Back home my parents continued to do their usual work. My mother Carrie would tend the garden, clean the house and when I was home I would help with some of the other chores and cleaning. My workload increased as Mother became pregnant, she was worried since it took five years of effort.

Since training my water magic was something I didn’t show off I would collect the water on my own, enough for the day. Fortunately I would do this early enough in the morning that no one from Geo’s group knew this was one of the few opportunities to catch me alone.

Mother did often comment how good my water was, she thought I found a good spot but I just magic filtered it. I am not too concerned about being discovered; however, I felt like I should avoid more attention that could cause more attacks.

My father Bertic continued his hunting and militia work. Though he did notice it when I got bored and fixed his tools down to a polish. He was shocked how good I must be with my hands. Again, it was largely thanks to magic, the reason I don’t explain how I do it is because even I don’t have a good way to explain it to myself.

I just experimented with a feeling. I do continue to keep some herb liqueur being produced but it pales in comparison to the production the distillery has reached. It has been branded Farrel Liquor. Not the most creative name yet it sends the message and is easy for buyers to know it is a specialty of Farrel Valley.

Rembra has not personally made a visit recently; however, he has sent other merchants part of a guild he is a member of. From the cost of production to the price it is sold the Farrel Liquor earns four times the production value and the merchants mark it up another four or five times the value they purchase it at.

Today I do not have to work at the infirmary. It is also the day I am six years old. At six I can work, at twelve I am at my earliest marriageable age, at eighteen I am considered a full adult and not just a young adult.

Between twelve and eighteen is when I am expected to find a partner and start up a family. Since I am six, I am expected to work for the support of my family and village. Gaining skills to make myself an appealing partner.

Well, I already have enough to be getting betrothals; however, there is no interest between the betrothed. I rarely meet others my age which has become something of a concern with the adults.

Normally this day would be when others around my age would come to have some fun before I become less available to play around as a child. I am not considered Normal, instead I am being visited by old men I’ve helped in the herbalist shop, delivering medicines and having some light conversation.

Carpenters visiting to talk about the reactions to the Burbap fans. One carpenter whose name is Blanir is someone I worked closely with and is the lead carpenter of the village. He is in his forties and already getting some greys. He talks with me like I’ve been his friend for years, I have only been alive for a few years.

“Kordi, congratulations on being closer to being a man!”

He smacked down on my shoulder, his hand alone was enough to hold me from the top of my head and wield me like a mace.

“Thank you Blanir, hearing that from a man like you means something.”

“Ohoh~ your skill with your tongue grows sharper each year.” Blanir smirked, “How about you stop stuffing your head full of words and apprentice under me?”

“Depends if you give a better deal than Darren.”

“Wha-!” Darren was startled to attention, he was also inside the Blann home, resting on a fur pillow.

“RAHAHA~ exactly, I’ll give you enough hard work and build you into a fine man!”

“hmmhmmm, muscles are indeed one of the reliable truths in the world.” I replied resting my hand on my chin.

“Well… I still havn’t taught Kordi much of healing magic.” Darren pointed out.

“Hummm, having another healer is important.” Blanir replied.

“Blanir, do you not see his scheme? He knows if I learn healing so soon I will leave him before fixing his floor.” I replied, poking Blanir’s side

The room filled with laughter.

I was in the process of fixing the moldy, blood stained, wood floor in the infirmary. I had made many visits to Blanir for advice and tools. Peeling away at the rotten layer was the first step. The next would be to apply thin stone tiles.

The thing is, I had to spend some time finding the right mixture to make a form of cement to bond the tiles in place. I was far from beginning work on it, but the pieces were coming together. The other guests who came to visit included my Father’s friends and militia members who had gotten close from regular visits to poison test my Liquor batches.

When the expected guests arrived I decided to bring out an experimental batch with a new recipe. I could easily carry it in my arms because it was a glass bottle, not a large clay bottle.

“Ooohhh” a sound of anticipation could be heard.

“This is a fruit brandy, it is not as strong as the Farrel Valley Liquor but it is very sweet. Like a fruit dessert.”

A gulping sound came out. I handed the bottle to Blanir since I would have had difficulty removing the cork. I also had help getting the cork inside with a tool.

“This batch used some fruit I purchased from a merchant, he told me that it came from the Ovel Empire. Ummm, faris fruit was the main ingredient, it is grown on a tree and has a soft yellow and red skin.”

“Faris fruit is delicious.” one of the hunters said, “It does grow in these parts but it cannot get as ripe and juicy as it does further south.”

The pop of the cork released an aroma of sweet fruit, the room was quiet as everyone took a breath through their nose.

“Now that is an aroma!” Blanir said with a smile.

Cups came out and Blanir carefully poured into each cup. He did not completely fill the cups at first to make sure everyone could have an equal share. Eventually the bottle was emptied, it was not enough to fill all the cups to the brim. I counted the cups and guests before commenting on the odd cup out.

“There is one cup left, isn’t Mother pregnant?”

“Yes, I won’t have any right now.”

“I poured that one for you Kordi.” Blanir said, his eyes locked onto mine, “You should have a proper drink now that you are six.”

I felt a little bashful and I picked up the lone cup.

“Alright, to your first six years, I have seen you accomplish many great things that no one expected of you. I am proud of you son.” these words tightened my chest as I saw my father raise his cup to me.

The others all raised their cups.

“You first Kordi.”

I looked into the cup, the liquid was a light gold, from this close I could pick up the sharp smell of liquor mixed in with the aroma of fruit. To make this smell I specifically practiced my water magic to draw out the sweet nectar from the fruit. Then with the liquor I distilled it into vapour to remove any impurities, collecting the water and alcohol.

I had to distil it twice to cut down the water and purify the liquor. Then mixing the nectar in it before it was bottled. I could feel my mouth moisten from the smell of the fruit nectar. I knew it was going to be a strong drink, I could sip and enjoy it but I get a feeling from the others around me that I should take it all at once.

I straighten my back, take a breath, and tip the drink into my mouth. Without pause I drink it down. The strong liquor vapour was digging into my mouth, I wanted to gag but I held it and finished the cup.

“OHOH~!”

“HAHA, well done!”

The others then tipped their drinks back. Their eyes opened when the drink touched their tongue, the fruit nectar hits hard and the liquor’s vapour carries the flavour with it even after the drink is finished. They gave satisfied looks.

“So sweet!”

“I can’t believe how good that actually was!”

“Maybe I should have had a little sip?” Carrie commented with envy.

“Here have a taste.” Berdic said as he leaned over holding carrie’s chin he gave her a deep kiss.

“HEY~~!” the guests spurt out and laughed.

Carrie broke away blushing, she puffed her cheeks.

“Now now, no need to get carried away, your wife’s already pregnant.”

“Maybe I should have prepared this kind of drink earlier?” I added.

“That's my boy!” Berdic replied.

Our home remained lively and loud until the sun began to set. I don’t recall much because when the Liquor hit me I fell asleep.

Later that month I was back to sampling different cement mixtures. I had an idea about what I would need; I made sure to bounce ideas off of the other villagers who worked with stone and construction.

Eventually I met with a merchant who had done work supplying some cementing ingredients for construction. From what I gathered I was able to narrow down the ingredients to those that I was able to get. I needed limestone and volcanic ash to get the right reaction going.

Fortunately, the mountain ranges to the north and south had some history of being volcanoes that spit large amounts of ash out. If the ash, now buried, is gathered it was useful for some masonry and pottery.

The process required the materials to be ground down before mixing with water. The paste would slowly harden as it reacts with the water eventually hardening. I could now begin work on Darren’s infirmary floor.

The reason I want to do this renovation was because the wooden floor was stained and wearing down. By shaving the worn layer down and covering it with stone tiles cleaning the floor becomes much easier.

The stone tiles are easy to make by now, I use earth magic to shear thin plates of stone from rocks. While this is time consuming it is better than relying only on mason tools that are not common.

I found a piece of bronze to use as a chisel to help me focus my mana onto a point on the stone and after a few practise attempts I could set a standard pace. I search for large stones to dig them up and break into plates. I used mana while lifting the stones to make them lighter and to improve my precision.

In a few days I finally accumulated a pile of stone tiles I could cover the floor floor with and enough cement powder to bind the tiles together. I started work on peeling off the worn wood so that he fresh layer of wood underneath would be rough enough to bond better with the cement.

The cement was mixed in a small barrel I prepared in the room, I scooped it out and began working on the far side of the room.

Though there were two entrances to the infirmary I focused on starting at the door which lead to the outside with my back to the herbalist workshop door.

Spreading the cement and placing the tiles took time, especially when I had to step onto a stool in order to reach the bottom of the barrel. As the cement in the barrel emptied I leaned it on an angle against the stool allowing me to reach further inside.

I found moving the cement barrel became easier when I used a mix of earth and water magic to help reduce the weight of the barrel. I did not work fast enough to tile the entire floor in one day.

By the week’s end I looked over my work to find one quarter of the floor was tiled, the time I could spend in the infirmary was limited. I was responsible with helping out at home as my mother reached her last months of expected pregnancy.

During this time, a neighbourhood friend of my mother began to stay at our place. She was in her forties and was the most experienced villager in delivering children, she even helped deliver me.

She had a habit of dotting over me, I stood out above the other children because I never cried after the delivery. I later began doing peculiar things, I did not do dangerous stuff but it was not normal for babies. She slept in the same room as my mother, father was sent into my room to snore at night. I’m not sure if I snore as well, I have not asked.

As if on time, Carrie went into labour in the morning after a relaxing breakfast. I helped with a few things like fetching water extra cloth. The run to the nearby creek took a while and on my third trip I arrived to find I had a baby brother, he was resting with Carrie.

Carrie had a flushed complexion and a smile as she held onto him, she looked to me and said, “Look Kordi, its your baby brother Bordic.”

Our family was holding a naming theme it seems. Mother was fond of the nickname Bordi. Berdi, Kordi, and Bordi. Bordi stayed in the same room as Carrie which would continue for a few months until he would be moved into my room. Bordi was loud, very loud. My parents began to look like this was their first child and none of us could get a full night of sleep.

I continued to get the tile flooring done and even Darren decided to help out. It was better than leaving the floor unfinished if he needed to use it.

This gave me time to work on a drain in the floor, a stone lined trench would drain water under ground and away from the building to drain into the soil. When washing the stone surface the dirty water can be mopped towards the drain in the middle of the room.

I had little belief the room was going to be needing that much cleaning, but I wanted to build up the experience of doing different things. Darren was pleased with the convenience of cleaning the floor and Blanir began renovating rooms to also include this kind of floor style.

Butchers were especially interested in it. I also had the thought to make a bath house; however, I am not Blanir’s apprentice I am Darren’s apprentice. Darren decided to start teaching me healing magic to keep his favour with me high. Or at least he was going to.

I mentioned that I never had planned for the infirmary to be heavily used, it made sense to me to improve the sanitation, ventilation, and materials. That all changed one day during the later part of my sixth year as I grew close to being seven.

I was at home nearing mid day, watching my baby brother who was crawling around the fur mats, a militia member came by asking where my father was. When Father came inside he told me I would be needed at Darren’s infirmary. After leaving things at home in Carrie’s hands I left for Darren’s.

When I arrived I took notice of a commotion around Darren’s workshop, there were men in leather and metal armour with weapons at their sides. I felt a little tense, however, these men were dirty and looked tired, they were not here for trouble.

I entered inside from the herbal workshop, there I met one of the villagers who was staying watch over the injured people resting inside.

“Oh Kordi.” She said when she saw me, “I don’t know what you can do to help but Darren is further inside treating the more serious wounds.”

I nodded to her and made my way to the infirmary room which was occupied by injured men and women. They had most of their armour removed and bandages applied, blood was staining through the fabric.

“You came.” I heard Darren’s voice from my right, “I burnt up my mana stabilizing whoever I could. If you want to help, change some bandages and clean their wounds. I know we’ve covered though basics together.”

Darren is sitting near the washing basin where a villager busied themselves stirring soiled cloth in the hot water with the stick. I nodded to Darren and rinsed my hands with the washing water nearby.

Grabbing some bandage cloth and a jug of saline water I walked over to one patient whose bandages were very red from soaking in blood. The man was young, close to being twenty and he had a deep wound on the right side of his lower body.

He was stabbed just under his rib so, he likely did not have solid plate protecting under his chest. The man is sweating even though his face is pale, the room is not very hot thanks to the vent circulating clean air. It is likely his suffering is from the deep wound.

I untied the bandage and unwrapped it, the bandage is wrapped all around his body and I could not completely lift him, so I had to pull the bandage from under his back each time. It felt a little awkward but I managed.

The wound under the bandage is still bleeding with a blue and green bruise forming around it. The wound was not very fresh and it began to give off a lightly foul odor. I poured some of the saline water over the wound to rinse it, the injured man barely flinched. Saline water has similar salt concentration as the body, thus, it should not sting as much as pure water.

After the rinse I pulled out one of the cloths I had and soaked it with some more saline water to wipe his wound. He tensed up when I did that. As I took a look into his wound I had a pretty good idea what was wrong, no major blood vessels were severed; however, the liver itself is rich with blood. Fortunately the liver regenerates fast. While I had no practice healing organ damage I had a pretty good image in my head about what to do.

I decided to try some of my own healing magic. I pointed two of my fingers over the stab wound and focused. I want to heal the liver, like sealing up the cuts I’ve had before. The liver specifically, is different from skin. I did some healing experiments on fresh organs my father had cut out from his game. So, I have felt some of the sensation when healing these organs.

It took me a few passes as I cleaned with one hand and tried to heal with the other and after the fourth pass the wound is closed. While it is not perfectly healed the wound is closed. I am concerned about the internal healing so, I will need to revisit his wound.

After finishing up, I applied a piece of cloth over the wounded spot and then the longer bandage strips. I called one of the other villagers to help hold him up so I can wrap his waist. The work is not perfect but the injured man already has a better complexion. I then delivered the soiled cloths to be sanitized and washed before grabbing some fresh ones for the next patient.

The work is hard, it would be easier if I had only focused on changing the bandages but I want to improve my healing magic. However, I can not spread the effect around beyond my fingers like Darren can, if I did I would burn up my mana very quickly. I instead focused on sealing wounds and stopping the bleeding. Some wounds are more difficult, one patient has an injury from an arrow, arrow wounds are gruesomely removed. The arrow head is pushed through to the other side in order to be removed easier, barbs prevent the head from being pulled back out.

I do not think that Darren used very much of his magic to heal this wound because it continues to bleed. Fortunately, even though the arrow entered the thigh it has not severed a major artery. I focused on regenerating the muscle on the inside first, my senses received little feedback if this was working so, I eventually decided to seal up the skin after making sure it was clean.

Some of the villagers became unsure why I spend so much time cleaning the wound. Darren explained in my place that it is important to purify the wound to prevent rot and poison spreading.

Eventually, Darren’s mana recovered enough for him to do some more healing. He came to the first patient I cleaned and he inspected the wound that was no longer bleeding, after a few more checks he visited another patient’s wounds.

He continued to a patient I had not cleaned yet and called me over to clean them. I had a feeling he found me out but I was not trying to hide my limited healing attempts. I cleaned the wound the same as the others and sealed it up with magic. I allowed Darren to inspect my work, which he placed his hand on his chin and said, “Good work.”

Darren turned to the other villagers inside and gave out his instructions.

“These patients are good to recover elsewhere, we can move them and bring in some more now.”

Darren turned back towards me and placed his hand on my shoulder to lead me outside. Once outside, a man came up to Darren, he was still wearing armour and this armour is scratched from combat.

“Healer Darren, how are they?”

The man had a worried face.

Darren smiled and replied, “Yes we are ready to bring in those waiting. My assistant and I just need some fresh air.”

“Oh, that is a relief. They had serious injuries, everyone is going to make it? I had not thought you had the mana to heal all of them.”

“Certainly, but my assistant is a genius after all.”

Darren rubbed the top of my head with his hand. The man looked slightly puzzled.

While outside I noticed that the sun was setting, more of the day had passed by and I began to feel the fatigue from the day. I also felt hungry. Darren spoke to me after we are alone.

“I had a feeling you knew some healing, you were always reading and studying. I only had to heal your injuries once so, I felt you could manage simple wounds yourself.”

I nodded.

“You were able to heal that whole room of patients and show nearly no mana fatigue. That surprised me.”

I felt worry in my heart as he said that, I did not know why, he told someone I was a genius. So, he is clearly happy I can do what I did.

“I really do not think I can teach you anything to improve your healing, I can’t even get my head around how you did it. No chants, magic circles, all while being precise and quick.”

“Well, I can’t do big healing spells like you. I just focused it on one thing.”

“I’m sure it makes perfect sense to you, but I am getting old and I have done healing this way for years. I know I won’t understand it enough to copy you. Which is why I want you to keep helping people. You can get better and help many others like this company here.”

Company? I decided to ask.

“Who are these people?”

“OH? I guess we were too busy to explain.”

Nodding my head, I understood there was not much time to spend chatting earlier.

“These men and women are part of an adventure company who deployed to the north in the Greater Ferrel Mountains.”

The Ferrel valley sits between the greater and minor Ferrel mountains. The Greater Ferrels lay to the north and are very difficult to traverse. Their rocky peaks can be seen above the tree line. The Minor Ferrel mountains are a shorter mountain range to the south and mostly separate the Ferrel Valley from the Estruscan Kingdom to the south.

“In the Greater Ferrels lays an extensive dungeon of Goblins. Companies like this are formed of volunteers, instead of being called mercenaries they are called adventurers to avoid any conflict. Adventurers prefer to tackle monsters and do not like to involve themselves in political wars. The Goblins have lived inside of those mountains for as long as anyone has written of it.”

Darren took a moment to look around.

“I have never inside a place like that myself but I hear they are practically impossible to clear out. There are some legends of a few goblin lairs being destroyed, if that is the case then the Goblins have improved their design over the last few centuries. In the mean time, we focus on containing them in their mountains. However…”

He paused with a frown on his face.

“There are small narrow spider caves which the Goblins use to send out scouts and small ambush parties. These adventurers were hit by a big ambush and they lost a lot before they made it here.”

“Ah, Darren, we have readied a few more patients inside.” A villager ran up to report.

“Okay Kordi, I’ll be relying on you for a bit more.” Darren said with a smile.

I feel like I am going to have my work cut out for me tonight.

We returned to the infirmary Darren, swapped his role to supporting the patient and checked their wounds before deciding what to do. If they needed to be healed he would ask me to clean and heal the wound.

Most of the patients who are arriving here are injured by cuts and bruises. I felt fortunate there are no broken bones. Goblins are not quite strong enough to reliably break bones in combat; however, they often carry weapons of high quality metals.

Even if the weapons themselves are poorly made a sharp point of high quality metals can pierce through lower quality metals. Goblin archers are also very dangerous, their arrow heads are also made of good materials while the arrow shaft is crudely made of bone or wood. Many of the arrow heads are not made well allowing adventurers to remove then easily, thus I spent a lot of time mending the arrow wounds.

By the time I finished with the last of the wounded, night had arrived and I felt my heavy eyes drooping down.

“Well done Kordi, I would have never tended to all of these adventurers this fast. I’ll guide you back home.”

He placed his hand on my back and lead me through the dark back home. I felt overcome with exhaustion, my mind is no longer able to focus anymore.

I awoke to a swelling sensation that I needing to go to the bathroom really badly, as I crawled out from under the fur blanket I became aware that I did not change my clothes from yesterday. Ignoring this for now I forced myself to waddle through the house to go to the toilet outside.

The relief from emptying my bladder is bliss and it is only after I finished up I noticed the time of day. It is nearing the middle of the day and I now felt my hunger. I made my way back inside to find a morning snack wrapped in leather, a common way to store a meal for later or to cover it from insects and rodents.

Inside includes fresh vegetables from the early summer crop. The meals will become more preserved or dried as winter closes in. Next to the vegetables are cooked strips of meat and berries. While I finished the meal I noticed that mother was outside with Bordi wrapped up on her back as she tended to the gardens outside. I came towards her to greet her.

“Hello mother.”

“Oh Kordi, did you have breakfast? I left some for you inside.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Carrie stood up crossing her arms, she walked around the various garden vegetables that could reach as high as her chest. She came close and wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight. I could smell the soil and plants on her. This earth smell always brings her to my mind.

“You worked so hard yesterday, I am so proud of what you did.”

“Did Father return?”

Carrie loosened her hug and replied, “Not yet, I heard he is helping the adventurers by scouting for them along with the other hunters and militia. We have to make sure the Goblins cannot attack any villages.”

“Should I head back to Darren’s place?” I asked.

“Oh. If you feel better. You do not need to push yourself if you are tired.”

“My mana was exhausted, it is fine now.”

“Well, if you say so, but don’t overdo it.” Carrie replied with a little worry on her face.

I had been practicing my magic use for a while now so my mana recovers without much problem. I continued to not bring this up much since I am still worried that others may alienate me further. Even though Darren relied on me yesterday with healing the wounds so, I knew he would not do something that bad.

While I contemplated this I arrived within view of Darren’s place, nearby I can see camp tents set up around the open areas. The adventurers appear to have set up a position here for the time being; however, do not feel concerned that the village is the front lines against the goblin threat.

More like a rear support position for their members to rest. I pulled open the door to Darren’s herbalist workshop, I can see right away that his stocks of herbs are smaller than normal. Most likely he is making good trade with the adventurers by supplying them.

I soon find Darren grinding herbs with a pestle. Anar root, rumphum weed, and grincer herb combined together and added into boiling water makes a potion for improving the body’s natural regeneration. Anar root is the key ingredient in it, the rumphum weed helps counter the anar root’s drowsiness side effect and the grincer herb is just useful for a variety of things.

Darren noticed me over his shoulder, he placed his pestle down and smiled.

“Good to see you are up Kordi, I was not sure if you would be recovered from all of the mana you were using up yesterday.”

“Is it uncommon for a child to recover so fast.” I inquired.

“Well, it depends, if someone pushes beyond their mana’s limit the backlash can often result in a mana fatigue that lasts longer than usual. It is best to not go beyond that as there can be some permanent damage.”

“I havn’t gone that far before, I have a hard time using mana when I get close to my limits.”

“Yes, that is true, our bodies normally react to the limit by closing up our mana flow; however, either through intense training or extreme situations, someone can go beyond their limits.”

“Training?” I am curious about this part, I do not recall anything in my magic theory text about training to overcome limits. In fact, limits are rarely mentioned, maybe it was not the author’s specialty?

“Well, I’ve heard of some warrior monks who can go beyond their limits in combat. Mostly they practice it for enlightened purposes but they can use it for self defense.”

Darren stood up and began to walk towards the infirmary, as we entered I can see there are a few villagers who busied themselves cleaning and sorting the supplies and tools.

“How is the cloth holding up? If any are too worn we will have to replace them with fresh ones.” Daren asked.

“They should be fine… for a few more uses.” She paused for a moment when she saw me.

I began to notice the other two villagers inside have their eyes on me. Darren continued to head to the exit on the other side, we walked out of the building and I felt a little relief to no longer feel the stares.

I looked around after we left the infirmary, I notice that Darren is heading towards one of the main adventurer tents. It is a cloth fabric tent held up by at least twelve straight posts that connect to a central roof section. The cloth is coloured in red and white stripes. Darren lifted aside the cloth covering the entrance, we walk inside to find a group of three, two men and one woman sitting on foldable stools with a cloth strip as the seat. They notice us enter and one of the men stands with a surprise on his face.

He was looking at me.

Darren began first, “Hello Gregor.”

“Ah, Healer Darren, it is good of you to visit so soon. Is this?”

“Yes, this is Kordic Blann from yesterday.”

I nodded, I may have seen Gregor earlier, but it may have been while I was too sleepy to recall his face.

“It is an honour to meet you again Healer Kordic.”

I can not help feeling strange at the title and blushed, “I do not think I am practiced enough for a title like that.”

“You certainly are,” He lifted his shirt to show the skin under his left arm pit, “After healing such a wound and many others for our men you have earned it Healer Kordic.”

My insides fluttered as he repeated the title, I looked at his armpit and recalled an arrow wound from last night. It had entered from an angle from behind, piercing under the shoulder where his armour did not protect. The arrow head punctured the lung and was a few hairs away from hitting the heart.

He was not one of the first to come to be healed, likely, he relied on his companions to heal the wound. The arrow head itself was still lodged inside, it had shattered and when the arrow was removed it left three pieces behind.

To deal with this I had taken a thin knife, Darren gave him a pain relieving tonic and I cut into the wound that was healed over by prior magic. After finding the pieces and removing them I began to clean up and heal the wound.

The different organs and layers damaged by this was difficult to heal properly, the prior magic did not appear to properly heal the complex branches within the lung so, I cut and re-healed until the wound was finally stabilized and the lung could hold pressure again.

“After hearing how much healing you had done, I was certain you had overspent yourself, we worried you would be affected by it.” the woman added.

“I was surprised as well.” Darren chipped in, “While watching Kordi work his magic I could see it was focused and precise, allowing him to use a small amount of mana to repair a wound.”

“That is certainly impressive.” the second man said.

“I can count on one hand the number of healers with that skill, none are as young as you.” Gregor spoke with his fist clenched, “if you were older I would drag you off everywhere my company traveled.”

I really cannot say anything, I am being given praise but I have no idea how to return it.

“Well, he can still learn much at his age before then.” Darren replied.

“Of course, say Kordic.” Gregor spoke to me as he rested his hands on the table, “Have you thought of becoming a Hero?”

The room became quiet, I am confused about the term hero, so I asked.

“Hero? I don’t think I can decide if I am a hero.”

Suddenly everyone’s faces froze, astonished by what I said.

“w… well, that is true. I just… thought you’d jump at that. Most children grow up saying they are going to be a hero, so…” Gregor said, he is unsure of what else he can say.

Darren spoke up, “Kordi really isn’t like most children, I have seen him demonstrate a lot of maturity for his age.”

“Being a hero is something people write or talk about, right?” I clarified.

“Oh, back then yes, heros were great people who made incredible achievements. Back then most were either a hero for a nation or they were an adventurer who rose through his achievements.” Gregor explained, “Now that we have been establishing more organized adventurer companies, the title of hero is something for the rare and most talented adventurers. It is what we began to do in order to foster the growth of potential heros.”

“Once we saw what you have done we knew you would easily be able to earn the Hero title through your healing abilities alone.” The woman said. “We have already sent word back to our company headquarters.”

I froze for a moment, what are they planning? I can tell that I do not have much of a choice, I can tell their adventurer company want my skills but I am almost seven years old. This limits their ability to recruit me.

“Kordi is still only six years old, so he cannot directly work, but it is a good opportunity for him to grow even more.” Darren added.

I felt my insides twist, did Darren want to send me away?

“I cannot teach you much more, I believe you will gain far more by going to a place were they gather many other talented candidates.” Darren continued while placing his hands on my shoulders. He looked into my eyes, I can tell he does not have any ill intentions. However, I had to respond.

“What about my mother and father?”

“I have heard about your father, Berdic Blann is helping us as part of the local militia, when he returns we will talk with him about this.” Gregor replied.

“Until you are twelve your father and mother will make your decisions.” The second man adds.

I had a feeling of relief hearing this, they mostly want to talk with me to try and hype me up in case Father declines. If I had something like a temper tantrum, demanding to become a hero may have been their backup plan, something they might be used to. Especially if the family wanted to retain their child. Fortunately they do not have the authority to drag me away until I am considered an adult.

There is some small chat between us but I soon return home where I told the story to Carrie. She is optimistic but she has looks to have her worries. Her eldest son is being recruited to be sent away before growing up. The optimism she felt is that healers generally are kept away from battle and danger. I felt otherwise. Treating the sick is also dangerous for the one healing.

Nearly two years passed since the adventurers asked me to become a hero. I almost forgot about what happened when I first met Gregor, my father returned two days later and I never heard the result of the conversation he had with Gregor. Because of that I partially prepared myself to be picked up and hauled away at anytime.

The adventurers expanded and developed their base in the village by constructing a large inn for their members to rest at. It contained a few office rooms for some officers, a basement storage area, and thirty rooms with two beds in each. It is a big building and cost a lot of lumber and manpower. Blanir was busy during this time.

The adventurers also grew very fond of the Ferrel Liquor, its medicinal properties are valued for the cold nights in the mountains and to stave off colds. This brought wealth for the village to invest in expanding the liquor production, growing the one main distillery and a few small distilleries operated by individual families. Grincer herb production is also intensified, thanks to all the lumber cleared for expansions more farmland became available. Thus, the village began to grow as wealth brought in more people which attracts more merchants and more wealth.

As for myself, I continue my apprentice work in the infirmary while being the primary healer. The adventurers come by for healing light wounds with the occasional critical wound and I develop greater proficiency at healing.

Word of an amazing healer living in our village attracts others from the valley to make a trip to receive treatment. Unfortunately, they come with a very wide variety of requests, some of which I can do nothing about. If someone is sick I can do nothing. If someone is cursed, I have no clue where to start. If someone has a disability or defect I do not have enough understanding of the root cause to help.

Many of the visitors who came that I could not help were very upset believing they were lied to and that I am a fraud, fortunately, the adventurers have deployed guards to the infirmary. Combining this with Geo turning twelve and becoming a young adult; his gang showed no interest in trying to get another shot in at me so, there were few big events to disrupt me.

I am also able to add another job under my belt during this time, maintaining equipment. Sort of a job actually.

There is a stockpile of equipment brought in to the adventurer’s building. The equipment is surplus gear and it is brought to the local craftsmen to work on when they have time. So, when I had time I helped by working on maintaining the quality of this stock.

The craftsmen appreciate the help and provide me some of the coin for the work. I am fine with just that, in fact, I was looking for lower profile work or else the adventurers get another reason to haul me off.

The equipment maintenance improves my skill with heat and earth magic; using heat to make the metal malleable and the earth magic to help mold the metals I can shape the metals without much strength. Over time the quality of my work improved as I become more familiar with the properties of metals.

My home routine is does continue to require me to watch Bordic, he is becoming more independent as he can walk. I still need to help watch him, clean him, feed him.

As autumn arrives a pair of armoured knights arrived into the village riding on beasts known as Bulims. Bulims travel on all four legs, the front feet are split between two front toes and a hoof for the heel. The back feet are purely hooves.

The Bulim has a thick coat of fur that can be sheared for wool, though the wool is not of high quality, it does make the Bulim an excellent mount for cold climates. The head of the Bulim is long with round eyes on the side of their skull; its ears droop down; and the neck is short but wide. With a wide nose and long jaw with flat teeth it was an herbivore.

The knights dismount and open their helmets, their ears are pointed up showing they are Kridimirts, likely from the north. I busied myself chopping wood in preparation for winter. One of the knights approach me and spoke in a stern voice, “Boy, where is the adventurer’s base here?”

The knight’s voice is deep, yet feminine, I observed a sharp chin and narrow jaw, the knight was most likely female. I have seen few Kridimirts to know their appearance that easily. I raised my head and pointed west, “There is a large building that way, biggest building in the village. You will find Gregor there.”

“Hmph, very well.”

I notice her displeasure with my response, though I do not know what pleasantries are appropriate for Kridimirt nobles. The two knights left west leading their Bulim’s by the reigns. The other knight is definitely a man, his figure is larger by comparison and his jaw and chin are more masculine, he has facial hair stubble as well. I continue to chop firewood for our stockpile, Darren and I are producing a surplus of saline water for sale, some adventurers are interested in keeping some for cleaning shallow wounds.

When the routine work of preparing firewood, distilling water, mixing in salt, drying cleaned sheets and bandages is finished I made my partings with the other villagers who worked with me. The increase in activity meant Darren has a few more apprentices and workers he can hire to help out. I did have my suspicions about the Kridimirt visitors, in the end I felt it is better to find out later.

I arrived home and my father is not working in his hut, his tools are still out and the fur he is preparing is left unfinished. I entered inside and found Carrie.

“Welcome back Kordi.”

She said holding my head close to her belly. I could feel her breath begin to flutter, she held back tears. I returned the hug and her resolve can no longer hold back her emotions.

“I am sorry Kordi!” She wept, “We should have told you, they were going to come no matter what.”

“The Kridimirt knights?” I replied.

“Eh?” Releasing her grip she looked down at me, “You met them?”

“I was chopping wood when two Kridimirt knights came by asking for directions. I wasn’t sure if they were here for that.”

“So you know?”

“Not really. But Gregor and Darren were putting so much effort into encouraging me.”

Carrie held me close again.

“Mmmm, I don’t want you to be forced to go, but you get to help people around the world. I should be proud.”

“Why? I am going away.” came my reply and Carrie’s cries came again.

“Why are you so strong, you need to be sad too.”

I can feel my tears welling up. My silly pride at acting mature is holding me back. My nose ran as the tears I held back drain into my nose, I sniveled and Carrie loosens her grip.

“There you go.” she continued, both of us are sniveling.

Father returned shortly after and with him are Gregor and the two Kridimirt knights, they have removed their armour and are wearing well made cloth clothing.

“Healer Kordic.” Gregor said first, “Allow me to introduce these two knights of Corrin, Knight Varrel Lorrin and Knight Esken Eara. They represent the Order of Ilowa, a major contributor to our adventurer company.”

The two knights stood, their eyes sharply glared at me, they recognised me as the woodcutter boy. I recall how Gregor made a slight bow while he raises his left hand up towards his left shoulder while keeping his elbow close to his body. I repeated the same with a slight bow.

“I apologize for my rudeness earlier.”

Mother, Father, and Gregor both showed their surprise at my formality. Varrel and Esken nodded and no longer have a strong glare towards me.

“It seems the woodcutter boy learns manners quickly, that will help for our journey.” Varrel said.

Father placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “They are here to bring you to their Order’s headquarters in Corrin so you can receive training as a Hero.”

“When will you depart?” Carrie asked with some hesitation.

“I would like to avoid traveling through the winter. You should be able to prepare by tomorrow” Varrel replied.

I can tell that mother’s heart sank from these words.

“Our Order would have came earlier for him, however, we only recently became available to make this journey.” Esken adds.

“That will be all.” Varrel concluded, he turns around to leave the house with Esken. Gregor follows behind.

Carrie immediately grabbed me from behind, she buried her face behind me head. Her shuddering and cries brought back my own tears. Bordi was staring in confusion and anxiously fiddled and paced.

The day is spent in my mother’s arms, father left to gather things I would need for the journey. He returned with a pack that included an extra pair of clothing I could change into when my set became wet or damaged.

The usual setup is to wear regular cloth, soft wool, or thin leather clothes underneath a long fur coat and fur boots. My fur coat also has a hood , the fur is mostly sewed inside out so, the fur presses against the body to create an insulating layer.

It does not look good from the outside as fur escapes in between the seams. The extra pair of clothing is to be changed to replace the sweaty and wet clothing, keeping warm and dry. I can also use magic on the dirty clothes to wash and dry them, I have practice doing laundry at home and the infirmary.

A wool blanket is wrapped up under the backpack, my father has demonstrated to me before that I can keep myself warm at night if I pile branches or plant fibers under the wool blanket. It may seem uncomfortable at first; however, this acts to create space for the body’s warmth to be trapped.

He provided me a copper hatchet to help gather wood along with some flint and tinder that is wrapped in a leather pouch to keep it dry. A waterskin is useful unless the temperature goes below freezing. If I do not want the water to freeze, it is possible to stuff it under the coat; however, melting snow or ice is an alternative. Fortunately, if the waterskin froze I can use heat magic to unthaw it, so long as I do not overexert my mana.

Aside from that I pack my text on Magic theory, I have read this text more times than I bothered to count and I have purchased a blank note book with a soft leather cover. I am in the process of writing my own notes on what the book has written.

It is the only thing I felt I need to bring, my father recommends I bring two bottles of my alcohol, one of grincer herb and another of my dessert liquors. I can use them to win favour with nobles, he has heard this advice from merchants and adventurers. Aside from that, my pack is filled with preserved foods, a package of bandages, and medical ingredients. I cannot carry a very large pack so, I limit what I packed.

Night arrives and the entire family is together in bed, Carrie had only let go of me to eat dinner. I too, did not want to leave at this point, the feeling of being apart is cold.

In the morning while breakfast is prepared my father came outside with me to talk.

“Kordi…” He took a deep breath, “I really havn’t been around for you much have I?”

Since I apprenticed under Darren I suspect that Berdic felt like his influence as a father over me is weak. Father is a hunter, so he spends his time away in the woods or on militia patrols. When he had time I did not try to direct his attention towards myself, allowing him more time for Carrie and Bordi.

“Well, you will keep being busy until you have enough kids to do your work.” I smiled towards Bertic.

He let out a short laugh, “There is that sass of yours, you spend too much time with adults.”

“I’ll return.” I got right to the point.

“Yea.” Bertic replied as we looked each other in the eyes. I never feel that I need to express much to my father, he wants me to grow into a good man and I know he will be there to support me when I need it. I did not think I would be leaving until I was at least a few years older, rather than when I was turning nine.

“I wanted to see you grow a little longer.” He added.

I can feel my emotions welling up again, I nod and he places his hand on my small shoulder. We walk back inside to eat breakfast. Varrel and Esken arrive shortly after on their Bulims. They decide to take a route around the village, I do not think they want to travel through the village to avoid attracting attention. I strap my small pack onto Esken’s mount and she pulls me up to sit behind her.

I leave the village waving to my family Carrie, Bertic, and Bordic.

End Notes

Thanks for reading this far, hope it wasn't too long for a single chapter. Since I'm done with the drafts up to chapter 4-5 right now the chapters up to then will be pretty long.

While writing this chapter I wanted to rush through the plot to get Kordi into some action arcs. However, the starting arcs are world building settings which will help to explain things down the line or add flavour to the world; hopefully all this isn't too boring.

I am more experienced in action scenes but I want to practice some plot. =P