“Wake up Daen!” I heard a voice yell excitedly. A flying ball of fur slammed into me as I lay in my bed.

“Hruck!” was all I managed to utter in my groggy state. My vision was bleary, but I knew that the monster that had attacked me while I slept so peacefully was none other than Freio. Who was rolling around in my bed next to me. “Sleep. Pillow.” I seized the moment, and grabbed the little beast girl and used her as a pillow.

“Mama help!” Came a cry right next to my ear.

“Apologies Master. She had gotten away from me as we came to wake you.” Kyrrah spoke from the entrance to my room.

“Hrngrhrangr.” I always was a morning person. Reluctantly, I let go of my new pillow that ran and hid behind her mother.

“Say you’re sorry to Master, my love.” She chided her daughter with a voice that didn’t match her face. She may appear serious, but she was barely holding in her laughter.

“Sorry!” Freio called.

I yawned as I got up from my bed, stretching lethargically. An embarrassed squeak was followed closely by the door slamming shut. Freio had vacated the premises in a hurry. I wondered why.

“Please clothe yourself, Master.” Kyrrah had faced away from me. I looked down.

“Yes dear.” I joked. So I preferred to sleep in the nude, sue me. New clothes had been laid out for me ahead of time. Fresh cotton undergarments and a robe. “Do I really have to wear this?” I mumbled.

“Whats wrong with the robe?” Kyrrah asked, still facing the doorway.

“Its gaudy! Nothing but pure white with gold trimmings and the crests of the Five stitched in.” It felt good at least. Kind of like silk, but a little rougher. I sighed and put it on. Whenever I met Sitarre again I’d place an order for a month’s worth of clothes. In place of my leather shoes, were leather sandals.

Dyed gold of course.

“Its so gaudy!” I cried out to the gods.

Not even a warm breakfast of eggs, smoked ham and freshly baked bread could break me out of my depressed funk. The clothes made the man, and these clothes made this man feel like some middle school youth trying to be “hip”. But what also had me in a funk was that last night I tried to ‘feel’ my magic and didn’t feel a damn thing. Granted, I only tried for a few minutes before I jumped into bed. I’d give it another, longer try tonight. It would be awesome if I could use my healing powers consciously, rather than that one night unknowingly. As I took a sip from my tea I thought back to that night to think of what could have triggered my powers.

One, I was angry. Angry in the knowledge that doctors in this world were so inept that they cut off broken limbs simply because they didn’t know how to heal them correctly. That was something I’d have to try, being an angry healer. Just cursing people out as I mend their broken bodies. It’d be even better if I got so angry that my punches would heal people.

Two, it was night time. This one I didn’t feel was right as I tried feeling for my power last night. While I didn’t spend long on it, I should have felt something if this was the case. I’d try again tonight to be sure, but it would be very inconvenient if I were to only be allowed my powers for less than half of a day. ‘Come to the night clinic! The hours are just as inconvenient for you as they are for us!’

Third was that I knew what I was doing was correct. So if my powers only activated while I felt I was doing was correct then I’d just have to convince myself that my way was the only way to use them. It certainly sounded egotistical, running around going ‘I’m doing the right thing!’ and doing my thing. It wouldn’t be too bad if they activated this way, I like to think that I do the right thing. But that never ends well in stories.

My final idea was that my powers activated due to the presence of dark magic. Sort of like a reactive trigger. This proved the biggest problem of all, as I’d have to keep an Enchanter who uses dark magic around me constantly. I then imagined Sitarre and Glicei in dog leashes. Don’t mind me, just walking my dark mages. Gotta keep them healthy and their coats shiny.

Perhaps that night was just a fluke and they’d develop on their own until I could feel my gift like an Enchanter would. That’d be the best outcome.

After breakfast was my first lesson under a devotee of Zaras in my room. A pair of slaves brought up a larger table and some seats for us to use. Even with all that added I still had a ton of space. The man in charge of my instruction was eager to begin. When I asked if Freio and Kyrrah could join in for the lesson the man readily agreed. Either he didn’t want to challenge me, the one chosen by the gods, or he really enjoyed teaching. Either way, once he learned that they had no previous instruction in numbers I told him to handle their education exclusively.

As a test, he handed me a sheet of paper with a few problems of varying difficulty to assess my abilities. Since they were just basic addition and subtraction problems, I handled them with ease. He looked it over, nodded a few times and let me do my own thing while he taught my two servants. Their tails wagged happily as they began their lesson in numbers.

“I never knew Beastmen could be such astute students.” The man remarked as they worked.

“Tell me about it, I’ve begun teaching them their letters after dinner. They’re good girls.” The man nodded along with my assessment.

“Thank you Master!” They both spoke as they kept their focus on their sheets.

“I wonder if all Beasts are as focused as they are.” He pondered.

“I’m sure there are many who would love to learn. Man and Beast alike.”

“It truly is a shame how many there are in this world who cannot read, nor write, nor calculate simple arithmetic.”

“Thats the thing Teach.” I addressed the man, he seemed to like the nickname. “The general population do understand and calculate simple arithmetic.” I picked out a few coins from my pocket and laid them on the table. “Kyrrah, how many copper coins does it take to make a bronze coin?”

“Three Master.”

“And how many bronze coins to a silver one?”

“Five Master.”

“So how many copper coins does it take to get a silver one?”

“Fifteen.”

I pointedly looked at the teacher who nodded his head and rubbed his chin.

“You see. People already know the math that affects them. They may not be able to calculate the area of a circle, but they certainly know the exchange rates for money.”

“You speak true, Blessed One. Though one can only go so far with money analogies.”

“True, but everyone has to start from somewhere. Older students would just have an easier time learning math through money.”

Mathematics continued until the call for lunch went out. The devotee of Zaras excused himself and said that we’d continue instruction every morning from here on out. Kyrrah offered to go get lunch for us to eat in my room. She was back quickly, balancing three plates upon a tray. While we ate I went over the lesson with them both, answering any questions that they had. Once we had finished eating, Kyrrah brought the plates and tray back to the kitchens to be washed before returning once more.

In the twenty minutes before the next instructor would show, I read my book on agriculture. I took notes on certain crops that could be grown in rocky conditions, as I was sure we wouldn’t be able to get rid of all the rocks in the soil. Those of major note were radishes, as they were quick to grow. Tomatoes were another, but they required much more time to ripen for harvest than radishes. Corn would be good as well, but again, longer planting to harvest time. Carrots would do well for us as well.

Now we would just have to find loads of seeds to buy for our farmland.

Just as I finished taking notes a woman entered my room. A priestess of Opell from the crest on her robes.

“As I understand it, you three are learning together, correct?”

“Yes ma’am.” We all responded. She nodded, not looking as if she cared if a pair of beasts learned her lessons or not.

“Very well. We shall begin your political instructions on our kingdom. The Thallist Holy Kingdom. Established well over six centuries ago by the man now known to be the god Lenzero…”

The woman taught us extensively on the founding of our Kingdom. About how it wasn’t always a council who ruled, but a king appointed by the leaders of the temples. The king at the time, Dabalast Tolmellros, was so terrible that he had to be removed. As the king held absolute power in those times, the revolution was a bloody affair. But once the rebellion was successful the heads of the temple came together to form a Theocratic Oligarchy where they would rule in place of a king.

I kept up with the lesson fairly easily. But when I saw either Kyrrah or Freio looked slightly confused, I would ask for clarification. They looked as if they didn’t want to disturb the lesson by asking questions, so I would ask for them. The lesson ended with a review of the history of our kingdom, which we all did rather well on. Our instructor was very pleased with our progress and said she’d see us in two days for the next political lesson. This time we’d be covering the members of the Council, both old and new.

Tomorrow morning would be learning mathematics once more, and the afternoon would be physical training with the Holve devotees. The afternoon would keep switching between physical and political classes each day. But on the fifth and final day of the week was a day off. Kyrrah, Freio, and I decided that we’d assist Gollard with his food distribution in the slums that day.

After our instructor left, I went right back to reading and taking notes on various farming techniques used for rocky soil. I knew nothing about farming, so I had to take what was written as fact. Apparently our best bet would be to throw down some decaying plant life to fertilize the ground. Once that was done we’d lay down some good soil over the fertilized area. Unfortunately, while we did have that kind of time, we were an impatient lot.

I thought of the idea to use the Earth Enchanters to blast the hills. Then we’d sort through the soil picking out the biggest rocks and then raking the soil over our flattened land. It’d still be rocky soil, but much more suitable for farming. It wasn’t long until the call for dinner went out and Kyrrah left to bring us our food. Once we were finished, we all picked up our plates and brought them to be washed. Couldn’t let Kyrrah spoil us that much.

Once we were back in my room I began to teach them letters once more. They impressed me with their pronunciation. Freio said they practiced together real hard until they could barely keep their eyes open. I patted both their heads and called them the best students a teacher could ask for. I loved watching their tails swing about in a pleased manner. After they had finished the more difficult to draw letters I started teaching them to spell out words.

Our lesson ended two hours later once we were sufficiently tired. Once more, I wrote out a sheet for them to practice with tonight, which they gratefully accepted. After wishing each other a restful sleep, they left. Now that I was in the clear, it was meditation time. Over the next hour I sat cross legged on the floor trying to feel my gift. Needless to say, it was one boring hour where a whole lot of nothing happened. With a sigh, I stood up and went to bed, ordering myself to try again tomorrow.

The next day started much the same as the first. Woken up by an adorable ball of fur, who really only wanted to roll around on my bed. Who was then scolded by her mother and forced to apologize. Once they left my room I’d get dressed and we’d go get breakfast. Once breakfast was done and cleaned up our math instructor showed up. This time, Freio and Kyrrah had begun to ask questions during the lesson. Which was good for me, I used the time to look like I was reading. But I was really searching for my magic.

Lunch time came quickly and my two servants chatted with one another about their lesson. After lunch we reported to the training grounds just outside of the city for our ‘lessons in physical ability’. Or as I liked to call it The Gym Class from Hell. Needless to say, we had an escort of four Holve Priests the whole way over. The training grounds were what you’d expect from a medieval era one. Full of recruits, both priestly and not, fighting one another. The younger ones fought with wooden blades and shields. The older, more experienced ones used blunted metal blades and wore full armor. Regular recruits wore basic chain-mail, padded leather leggings, leather boots, and open-faced helms for protection.

Holve Priests however, looked bad ass. They wore open-faced helms like the regular recruits for head protection. But to protect their bodies they wore a chain-mail robe with additional plate-mail covering the chest, shoulders, gauntlets, and boots. In addition to blades, they also wielded two-handed axes, hammers, swords, and giant tower shields. Those people spent their lives dedicated to the god of strength and it showed.

Our instructor was a beast of a man, wearing his full gear as he jogged up to us. After a brief introduction, he wasn’t very thrilled that my servants were going to be training alongside me. In fact, I was surprised they wanted to join in as well. Freio said it sounded fun, while Kyrrah said that she wanted to be stronger so she could support me no matter what we faced. Reluctantly, I accepted. But I told them to take it easy, they were still weak from being so malnourished. They agreed, thankfully. When I asked what we’d be doing for training the devotee of Holve smiled.

“One lap around the city.”

Both Freio’s and Kyrrah’s tail fell flat at the man’s announcement of our training. I wanted to cry out in despair. The Holve Priests that had escorted us laughed. They knew this was coming and didn’t give us any warning. I grimaced just thinking about the distance we’d have to travel. This city was huge! I was still a kid and this bastard wanted us to run a lap around it! It was inconceivable. The man was obviously mad in the head! Two peas outside the pod! Just the thought of running such a distance made me think-

“If you want, we can put on some training weights to build those muscles faster.” The man grinned wider.

-made me think it was the best idea anyone ever had! I flashed a smile at our instructor and started jogging. Close behind me were my loyal servants. Who were then followed by the devotee himself. I like to think I set a decent pace, but I was huffing after a fourth of the way around. I had to slow to a walk, as Freio and Kyrrah weren’t doing too well. The priest however, was furious.

“Don’t be held back, Blessed One! You need to be strong to survive in this world! By slowing yourself to their pace you only serve to make yourself weaker. You aren’t even tired, I know you have more strength in you than this.”

“I do, but I’m more concerned with their well-being than my own strength at the moment.” I put my hands on their backs as I kept their pace to support them. That was when I felt a familiar tingling sensation, and I felt myself being drained. ‘Ah fuck.’ I thought to myself, ‘why is my power activating now?’ Their breathing steadied far quicker than normal. The two of them looked at me curiously, but nodded when I asked if they were alright. My mind felt a little cloudy, but other than that, I didn’t feel anything. To mask what had just happened, I increased our pace to a power-walk. The priest had expressed his displeasure at our slow pace verbally.

“You didn’t say we had to run the whole way around.” I smirked as he growled,

“Next time I’ll bring an assistant to watch over them while you give it your all, Blessed One.”

“I look forward to it.”

The rest of our walk continued in silence. I used the time to consider what had just happened. When I put my hands upon Freio and Kyrrah I felt the sensation of my energy being taken from my body. They then recovered their breath far faster than they normally would have. So my powers didn’t just affect healing, but also the recovery of a person’s stamina? Interesting. This ruled out the theory of my powers only activating at night. And the whole ‘what I’m doing is the right thing’ thing was crossed off as well. The anger idea was still up for grabs, as I was a little angry at the instructor for sure.

But that didn’t feel right at all. To me, it seemed more like my powers activated when I was concerned about others. Maybe they would activate on myself if I was concerned about my own well-being? I’d have to do some tests tonight. Once we finished our lap around the city we still had some time to kill before it’d be time to leave. So our wonderful instructor made us lift stones until it was time to leave. The three of us slowly walked back to the mansion, eager to have a nice long soak in a bath before dinner.

After dinner, I once more began to teach Freio and Kyrrah to spell and read words. Both were drinking in knowledge almost as fast as I could teach it. Their minds had a great amount of wit in them, more than many people would have originally believed a “Beast” could possess. Before long, our hour of instruction was at a close. I’d have liked to have sent them back to their room with a children’s book to practice reading, but the library only had one about fairy tales and legends. Still, it was better than nothing so I decided to give it to them.

“Here, you two can use this for reading practice.” I handed the book to Freio, who clutched it tightly.

“Thank you Master!” she smiled.

“We truly cannot thank you enough.” Kyrrah bowed.

“Eh, its nothing really. Although…perhaps you’d be interested in helping me with something?” I hoped my theory was correct.

“Whatever you wish, Master.” Kyrrah spoke seriously as Freio nodded.

“Alright, thanks. It has something to do with what happened during our run today.”

“Oh, you mean when you touched us and we felt better?” Freio wondered. I motioned for her to keep her voice down.

“Yeah that.” I kept my voice low. “This isn’t the first time that’s happened…but the last time was more extreme.”

“How extreme?” Kyrrah asked.

“I fixed a broken arm.”

They looked shocked.

“Whoa!” Freio exclaimed. “You can fix broken people?”

“In a way. Thats what I’m going to try to do tonight. Your cooperation is much appreciated and please, don’t tell anyone. The last thing I need is people knowing what I can do.”

“Then why tell this to us?”

“Because you two I can trust.” Freio grinned and Kyrrah shuffled in embarrassment. Their tails were waging however. “Alright, this may seem a bit extreme, but please don’t worry.” I spoke as I approached my bed and took my knife out from under my pillow. They watched me curiously as I approached. “I’ll test this on myself first, but even if it does nothing I’d still like to try on one of you. Is that okay?”

Their looks of apprehension were quickly dismissed.

“I’ll do it. Freio can merely watch.” Kyrrah announced in defense of her child.

“Alright, I understand. Thank you Kyrrah.” I drew the knife and held it to my left pointer finger. “Here goes nothing.” I cut my finger with a shallow slice. Blood welled up around the wound and dripped to the floor. I then sheathed my knife and held my right hand over the wound. I closed my eyes as I touched my self inflicted wound. I felt a faint tingle in my hand and when I removed it the wound was gone.

“Whoa!” Freio exclaimed.

“Oh my…” Kyrrah gasped.

“Interesting.” I spoke as I looked at where the wound was seconds ago. “It feels like the severity of the wound, or less stamina a person has, their body takes more of my energy to heal. I barely felt the effects of that at all.”

“What did you feel when you helped us recover?” Kyrrah asked.

“A little sluggish in the head, like I had been awake for a few days. Though that passed by the time we returned to the training grounds.”

“What about when you fixed that broken arm?” Freio wondered.

“I was knocked out for two days.” They looked bewildered at that. “Well, I mean, most of that probably wasn’t my fault. I had some really bad doctors looking after me at that time.” I chuckled.

“Master?”

“Yes Kyrrah?”

“Shall you attempt your test on me?”

“Ah yeah.” I handed her the knife. “Sorry for asking you to do this.”

“Do not worry, Master.” She sliced open her finger without even wincing. Deeper than I had done for myself even! “I trust you.”

I quickly grabbed her hand. I don’t think I’d be able to explain how my floor had blood on it to anyone. I felt my hands tingle as I held Kyrrah’s hand.

“It feels a little warm.” She spoke in wonder. After a few moments I let go and her hand was healed. “Amazing…”

Once more, I swore them to secrecy after thanking Kyrrah profusely for being my test subject. The two of them bowed and left me in my room. Now that I knew that my powers activated in reaction to injury and fatigue, I needed to figure out how to strengthen them. If I was going to be mending people, I certainly didn’t want to be passing out for two days every time someone had a broken bone! I also needed to find out exactly how much of my power I could use. I hoped that it was like a regular Enchanter’s powers, in that I’d be able to feel my power eventually.

Once more, I sat in my bed and meditated, trying to feel my energy until I felt tired enough to sleep.