Proofreader: Kagenesti

Chapter 12 - Bowyer apprenticeship

Riin’s POV

Asperd Isles - fall, Herbalist's Hut.

A year, I spent following father around and watching him handle the bows that he made, even with one arm he did splendid, I must say I'm very impressed by his work even if it's slowed down remarkably due to the loss of one arms use. Still he is indeed a great craftsman and I'm beginning to understand how we can live of the sale they do once every five years, between mothers herbs and medicine and fathers bow and leather they must make a good amount of money. Hmm, I wonder where they keep it, I will have to find out at some point.

Name: Riin Trovrar Age: 8 years [Child] Race: Human Sex: Male Level: 0 Health:30/30 Stamina: 45/45 Mana: 45/45 Experience: 450 Next level: 550 Strength: 9 Dexterity: 11 Constitution: 6 Intelligent: 8 Wisdom: 10 Charisma: 6

My status and stats have increased a fair amount since I last cared to check them, yet it still sets me as a child - to my great displeasure.

Today father is bringing me into the forest near the mountain to look for a yew tree, I was told to pack for a few days travel, more like a week according to the map I found. So now I'm in my room grabbing the items and clothing that is needed for the trip in the forest. I'm going to wear my own handmade leather boots, they feel so great to walk in, got my fair share of walking in them when I was on my own. A knocking sounds on my door, and father's voice rumbles out.

“Are you ready, boy?”

I open the door and greet father with a nod.

“Yes, father. I'm all ready and packed up for the trip.”

He beams down at me with a smile on his face.

“Good! Let's head out then.”

“Yes, father”

We walk down stairs and is greeted by mother whom is in the kitchen grinding up herbs, she looks up and smile to us as we come to a stop next to the table.

“Ah, have a safe trip, dear”

She gives father a hug and a passionate kiss - lovebirds.

“Now remember what you know about poisons plants, okay? And remember to lo-”

Yep, She went on one of those motherly rants yet again about safety and what not out in the ‘big’ world, it seem to me that it should be me giving that speech as they were the ones who came back all bloody and not me, oh looks like she done. She smiles and bow down to give me one of her bear hugs, after the attack her hugging power got cut by more than half, to which I'm very glad.

We begin our walk into the northeast part of the woods, our goal is the foot of the Asperd mountain range, where the thick forest hold many old trees that will be of use. Father says that we will not bring any with us back other than the branch of a yew tree, I think it a waste to travel into the deep forest for only one tree, well I have a week to convince him otherwise, we shall see who gets the last word.

“Boy, let me tell you of the rare wood types to be found if one is willing to travel for them that is.”

Father looks back at me as we walk on the animal track. I nod, no need for words here, let him talk, the more information I can get the better.

“Bronzewood is found in the far east mountains bordering the desert lands, it gets its name from the color. If treated correctly it can be use in place of metals in armor and as weapons as it will always hold a sharp edge to it. While not as strong as steel it will hold its own well enough and it is far lighter than the metal types it can compare too.”

“Densewood is another rare wood only found from the oldest of trees, it is much heavier than any other kind of wood out there but is also extremely hard to break. While only very few dense wood trees have been found and brought back to the city's there worth cannot be doubted it is the strongest wood that we have in this realm.”

“Livewood, now that is a rare and spectacular sight to behold I will tell you.Highly magical trees that grows on the border between this realm and the feywild. The trees that never stop being alive, forever fresh as the day it was cut down. Now their growing stops but they never wither.”

“Soarwood, also known as skywood is a treesort that when used in boats make them faster than any other boat out on the sea, even in a storm it shall not have problems in the massive weaves. Some say the only grow on the top of the highest mountains while others say the grow on the floating isle of the feywild.”

“Duskwood is another tree that can be used as a replacement for metal, is it as strong as iron. They grow in densely packed groves and old swamps, which blocks any light from entering the ground below them, giving them their name. They have a smooth black bark and the trunks grow as high as 60 feet, the wood itself is smoky gray in color and as tough as iron, so remember to get an axe just for cutting down the wood since no normal axe will do, and fire will not help you either since the wood is very resistant to fire.”

You have learned some about this world rare wood types!

Bronzewood - Grows in the eastern mountains and can be used as a replacement for low quality metals.

Densewood - A rare and very heavy wood sort that is the hardest known wood in the mortal realm

Livewood - A tree that grows on the border between the mortal realm and feywild! It will never stop being alive and as long as it is not cut it will continue to grow.

Soarwood - also known as skywood, the tree that can make any boat buildt from it four times faster than any normal boat, it also seems to help cut into weaves in a storm. But nobody's really sure from where it originates from, some say the highest of mountains others the floating isle of the feywild.

Duskwood - The black iron wood, growing in ancient swamps and old groves it have never seen the sun light, even fire seems not to harm it.

By learning about new lands and their fauna and gaining knowledge of master woodworkers you have gained +1 [Wisdom] and +1 [Intelligence]

Our walk is coming to an end today as the sun reaches the tree tops. Father's chuckles a bit, for reasons unknown to me.

“Time to set up camp, boy. Go and find some wood for the fire, we don't want to freeze tonight now do we.”

He ruffles my hair, annoying.

“Yes, father”

I turn around and head off into the more dense woods surrounding us, away from the track we have been following so far. I keep an observant eye on my surroundings, while looking for usable firewood, I try and keep lookout for any and all herbs that can be of use. Since we don't have to worry about food, at least not for the next four days, since we have packed smoked meat with us and it’s not like we are going to be missing any meat since my little erm … ‘hunting trip’. Luckily neither father nor mother have said anything about the overfilled root cellar, well I did try to pack it in small bundles so that might have helped out a bit, but I will not believe for one second that not one of them have seen the heavy amount of smoked meat that ‘magical’ just keeps on filling up their food storage.

As I walk around I spot a very useful plant called [All-Heale], clustered under the trees, as I look around the area I see a handful more of them. A healing herb commonly found in the forest in the fall, luck is with me as I got a few growing around each other. I start to clean the dirt and fallen leaves around the away so I can grab them at the root.

Your handling of the herbs is supreme! You have gained bonus experience in [Herbalist]. You have gathered five [All-Heale] plants. With your skill in spotting the plants and knowing the background on top of your head you have gained + 1 [Wisdom]!

Hmm, again with the bonus experience, I really have to figure that out at some point.

Within half an hour I am carrying around a good amount of firewood in a bundle, as I'm still looking around the forest floor for useful herbs and plants, I spot the flowers on a few onion plants, after gathering them I head back towards father with the wood and onions.

Back at our small campsite father is waiting for me. He smiles as I step over the log we will be using as a bench.

“Welcome back, Boy”

“Thank you, father. I found some onions while out looking for the firewood.”

He looks at me with a shock on his face, shit, what now, I ready myself for a hit. His hand swoops down and land … on my head, huh? He ruffles my hair into a big mess. What the….

“Hahaha- ‘cough’ -haha, you are just like your mother in that regard, boy.”

I don't get this person at all. He hands me a piece of bread and some smoked meat, we eat in silence. The sun sets and the campfire is the only light source we have, we sit there and stare into the flames.

“We better get some sleep, boy. We have a hard day ahead of us tomorrow, we will be heading up hill.”

He once more ruffles my hair and drags as blanket over my shoulders. This person….