It was late morning when she woke up. Her entire right side felt sore from the cold and hard floor. Regardless of that, she got a proper rest and slept peacefully throughout the night.

The fire was out, nothing but ash remained. She put her dress on and went to the forest for certain morning business. While at it she went to have a wash at the stream.

In the midst of refreshing herself up, she noticed a few droplets of blood on the leaves, just beside the stream. She brushed the leaves away, only to find a pool of blood. The shrubs looked like there was a struggle and something got hurt.

The owners of those howls last night probably were the ones responsible. Thinking back about it, she was glad she was able to run back safely to the hut at that time. She made a note to be extra careful at nights.

Next, the young girl noticed that there was a trail of small droplets of blood. Maybe unwise but she decided to follow it and see where it leads. She did not have to go far. Brushing overgrowth aside from her face she saw them. Few of the forest beasts were laying there.

Apparently, the beasts she found were not the hunters but the pray, as they were dead. Their bodies were hanging on a branch, dropping fresh droplets of blood. They were naked, naked as in being skinless. Wet pink flesh and muscles were left exposed.

The one responsible for this was her guardian. He held two pelts in his hand, his job was done. She had wondered why he was missing in the morning before.

“Good morning.” she said politely, reeling in shock.

“These two are young. Old ones know that this is my realm and stay clear. Younger ones are foolish, always looking for a challenge and to expand their territory.” He skipped the greetings and went straight to lecturing her.

“You killed them?” Just as she spoke she realised that it was a stupid question. Her guardian is a mage, the beasts did not stand a chance. Still, she was surprised, the wolves were bigger than her and there were two of them.

“Yes.”

“With Magic?”

“No need.” he showed his clawed fingers which were soiled in blood and strands of grimy fur.

She forgot that he was able to crack nuts with his own two fingers. Crushing a skull probably would not be a challenge for him.

Thinking about all that she started to feel strangely hot, in a positive way. There was a hint of pride having someone so strong as a guardian mixed in her emotions.

“We will trade these pelts in. Go grab the herbs I have sorted yesterday, we will be going back to the city.”

She nodded and ran towards the hut. She gathered the plants and stuffed her face with cold vegetables in preparation for her trip. Having abundant food was good, having some time to properly eat it would be even better. She hoped that this was not a temporary thing, having food that is. She did not want to remember the orphanage and the need to wrestle for food with other kids. Being a frail human and a girl did not help with that.

As she stepped out he was already there standing by the hut waiting for her. He nodded in approval once he saw that she got the stuff they needed and they started their trek to the city. She hoped she did not mess up and packed everything.

Once again they did not talk much. This was fine, she definitely can make terms to this. This was just a tad bit boring.

She would start a conversation but she was reluctant. She did not know what proper adults liked to talk about. Also, she feared to appear childish and immature speaking about her usual stuff.

Something was out of place. Maybe she did not notice it the first time, because she was too nervous, but this time walking around the city with him she did. Everyone seemed warry of her guardian, even in densely packed alleys people would make space for him. Some even went as far as outright avoid even approaching him, stopping in their tracks and waiting for him to pass.

This was understandable to some extent. Since he was huge, his height and weight were way above the average townsfolk. Even the bulky batsmen did not compare to him.

‘Does he have some sort of bad reputation?’ She thought. ‘No, can’t be.’ If he had a short fuse or a bad temper she would have seen it by now, she thought. ‘He was odd but definitely not a violent person.’ she concluded.

People seemed to notice her tagging along by his side and they started to whisper. They would look at her, sometimes point a finger and start whispering between themselves. This was very uncomfortable. Their gazes were even more anxiety-inducing. Gazes full of pity. She was an orphan, yes, but almost no one pitied orphans, no one gave a damn about a lowly orphan. The reason was different and she wondered why.

Various questions spun in her head. Was it because she looked poor and was a bad image for her guardian? Did they know he could cast high magic’s? Was she unfit to be a stepdaughter? But why the pitying gaze then? This was not the reason either…

And then, as they went past a group of young women, one of them whispered to another.

“Poor child, she will be eaten alive.” said one of them.

“There is nothing she, or we for that matter can do.” replied another.

‘Eat me? This made no sense. Why would he eat me? Why would someone adopt someone just to eat them?’ she just brushed it off as some sort of misunderstanding.

She lowered her head to avoid uncomfortable looks people were giving her. She wondered why no one was staring directly at her guardian, why is it just her.

Eventually, they have stopped and she raised her head to see an apothecary.

“Not a tanner?” she was expecting to see a tanner first in order to trade in the furs.

“Why the tanner?” he asked in a puzzled voice.

She shrugged it, unsure how to answer.

They went inside opening the door with a ding of a bell. This startled the girl, doors usually did not make such noises.

“I have never been in a shop before. Like ever.” she proclaimed in wonder. Her eyes were darting from place to place, eying the various vials and concoctions.

“Why is that?” he asked, bud did not seem to be genuinely interested. His voice was flat and monotone.

“They yell – ‘Orphan scum not allowed!’.” she substituted the word thieving with an orphan, not wanting to reinforce bad stereotypes.

“By the way, this is not a mere shop, this is an apothecary” a proud woman stressed.

“And you are orphan no more. Apprentice is what you are, take pride in it.” she continued speaking whilst making assumptions.

To respond to this, the girl gave her brightest smile to the nice lady. Even though she still did not like her, as she looked and sounded pretentious and posh, she tough of her as nice never the less.

“I am an apprentice?” she asked her guardian, her eyes were glowing in happiness.

“Yes, Dneal assumed correctly.”

The girl wanted to express her gratitude but she was cut off by the lady.

“Of course I did. You brought her here to pick up basic skills?” she said it as if she was all-knowing, donning a face with a shit eating grin.

“Affirmative.” he said with a sight, clearly not amused by the woman’s antics.

‘Was this lady able to read futures? Did magic like that exist?’ The young girl decided to ask to find out. “H-How did you k-know?” she stuttered as she was too excited.

“Why would such a big man need you around here, hmmm?” – emphasis was put on big.

“To carry the herbs of course.” she replied.

The lady just shook her head and waved a finger.

“He does not need that, he can do that himself. He could carry five of you and would not be burdened by it.” she put her palms together releasing a clap.

“You are here to learn utility magic so you can be a proper apprentice. But this is not cheap, I wonder how you will pay. The usual herbs you gather would not be enough.”

“This.” he took the pelts out.

“Not enough.”

“And this” – he slammed an odd looking leather bag which made a wet noise.

“Is this?”

“Yes.”

The lady opened the bag and sniffed it.

“Fresh.” He added.

She put her finger inside swirling it. It came out bloody red and then she put it towards her mouth tasting the contents. This was how she tested for freshness, besides smelling it.

“Very good, high quality” she seemed oddly pleased. “This is enough I accept the payment.”

“Don’t bull’ me Dneal, this is more than enough for a mere utility magic. You will have to add some of your wares to make up for it.”

“Sharp as ever, can’t trick you. Yes, you are correct, all of this can fetch a good coin when processed properly. What do you need?”

‘Mere magic’ the girl repeated the words in her head a few times. ‘There is no such thing as mere magic. All magic is extremely useful and a gateway to the prosperity.’ The girl was rethinking what she knew about magic still unable to believe that she will be able to learn some.

“Not much. I will need to consult with your daughter first. You can send my apprentice to master healer for her skills.”

“Little girl go through this door and then upstairs, turn left and then knock twice. Tell the master that you were sent to learn observe, identify and detect. Also, harvest.”

‘Wow, I will be learning four types of magic skills. This is amazing’ – she felt extremely happy for a good reason.

She ran up the stairs and knocked twice. An old man opened the doors of his study. The place smelled odd.

‘Did all old peoples’ rooms smelled like this’ – she subconsciously squeezed her nose with fingers.

“Ahh, my daughter must have sent you, little girl.”

‘I am not a little girl!’ she thought but knew that it was best left unsaid.

“Let your nose go, this is the smell of alchemy. As an apprentice, you will get accustomed to it.”

“All-chem-ee” she tried to pronounce it as she let her nose go.

“You’re not learning that, and its alchemy. You don’t look like a noble with clothes like that.” He assumed that the girl thought she was here to learn the basics of alchemy instead or herbalism. She clearly could not tell the difference.

She looked at her still dirty dress and gotten slightly embarrassed. Yes, she had a guardian now, but she both was and looked dirt poor. Her cheeks were red and she was staring at her feet.

“No need to get flustered. You look like a proper apprentice regardless. I can see various plants and smell herbs on your garb. You have been working very hard, good girl.” he put his hand on her head and rustled her hair.

She felt uncomfortable, yet still good. No one showed this sort of compassion to her before.

She nodded with a smile.

“So tell me what skills are you here to pick up. You remember, do you? I do not want to go all the way down to ask for them again.”

“Observe, Identify, Detect, Harvest” – words flew out of her mouth like hot beans.

“Basic set it is. Sit down and we will get started.” old master went to a shelf and picked up four intricate looking tablets.

This was not something she expected, there were no flashing lights or flashing visions. But the tablets and old man’s explanations did the trick. All she had to do was to hold a tabled while the master held them on the other end and chanted something.

Once he finished the incantation he explained the skill itself. Then and she had to test if it worked.

First, she learned Identify. She would whisper a word ‘identify’ while concentrating and holding a herb or an alchemical plant. Then she would learn the basics about it. Well, at the beginners Identify skill she would only get the name of a plant. Later as her skills and herbalism knowledge improved she would find out about active ingredients in plants and their uses. She was told that if she learned Inspect the two skills would work in unison. However, Inspect was quite expensive as it provided intricate details about an object.

Detect was extremely useful as it produced a faint glow around plant she was looking for. It only worked on plats she identified before, and it would better if she held a plant she was looking for. The active area was short for beginners but it would be extremely helpful in her search for herbs. Also, this skill improved the more she used it.

Observe was a passive skill serving as a boost to Detect and Identify, also it helped to detect the plants and other peculiar things she had not seen before. It was perfect for finding rare herbs and other oddities.

Harvest would let her harvest desired plant parts more easily. If she got skilled at it, it would let her instantaneously harvest a plant. No cutting, collecting and extracting would be needed; the produce would just appear next to the plant or in her hands. All thanks to magic.

All four of them were a significant boon to her. As an orphan, she would not be able to afford to pay for any of them, because she would struggle to get a job to begin with. This was because orphans were left on their own, no one taught them basic skills to be employable. They could not compete with someone who learned crafts from their parents and were years ahead.

They did not have a job because they were unskilled. And they could not gain skills because no one was willing to teach them for free. Moreover, even normal people struggled to find a steady job. Also, the more someone was skilled the better money they would be able to make and the better teachers or skills they would be able to pay for, hence earning more money.

Also, how could she compete with someone who had parents? Parents who were willing to buy utility skills to further their kids. Of course, utility magic could be taught from scratch but this long and arduous process, using a master to teach a skill through magic books or tablets were way quicker but expensive.

She thanked the master healer, closed the doors and descended down the stairs,

Her guardian was still there, waiting for her.

She rushed towards him and tightly hugged his leg. She wanted to express her gratitude and repay the kindness, but she was unsure how.

“Thank you! Thank you father!” she shouted out, not letting the leg go.

This served to terribly confuse her guardian. He himself was unsure what was going on and what to make out of such behaviour.

“Aww, so sweet” the daughter of Dneal squeaked. “Here little girl try these.” the apothecarist held out a herbalists dress.

She let the leg go and looked at the young lady unsure. “Come with me.” The young lady instructed.

She was led to a small booth where she put the dress on. It was very simple in design. It was a long piece of rough but sturdy fabric; had a hole cut for the head and the rest just felt over the body leaving the sides open. Then she had to tighten a rope around her waist to secure the dress, which then clung more tightly to her body. It was quite open and revealing. It was generally fine when standing and walking but to remain modest at all times one would need to be wearing undergarments. Undergarments she did not have in her possession or ever did.

However, this was leagues better than the sack she was wearing. She was pleased with the item she had received. She actually felt like she was being spoiled for no good reasons. She checked herself out again and then went out of the booth to show her new dress.

“Perfect, this will serve you well” her master said pleased at her work clothes.

Her cheeks took a shade of pink. She was not used at being praised.

“This as well.” he gave her an oversized sack which was supposed to be carried over the shoulders and a belt with pockets, few hooks for tools and a large pouch attached to it.

She put the gear on.

“You know you picked well. I have never seen an apprentice so happy to receive a work gear. She is grinning like a noble girl putting on her wedding dress.”

These clothes were given to her only that she would be more useful in the forest. It was more of a necessity than of an actual gift where one wanted to please another. These were the fanciest clothes she has ever worn and she was happy, regardless.

“I do think she will serve me well, but time will show. You will have to work hard today and tomorrow.”

Young lady sneered at him, this was not a very fatherly thing to say - ‘serve’. The little girl did not pick on that, she was too dazzled.

“Yes.” She said in all smiles.

“We will be going, thank you for the goods.”

“Thank you for the patronage” the young lady bowed looking at the naïve girl once more. “Is that all?” she asked as if waiting for something more.

“Yes.”

“In that case let me give her these. A gift to congratulate new apprentice. Remember this and trade your herbs here.” she gave a wink and handed a pair of simple sandals to the girl.

“Oh.” he looked at his feet which were more like a set of claws or talons and then to the little feet of his young apprentice. The feet were all bruised and callused. He did not think about this, human feet were vulnerable nothing like his.

The girl put the sandals on, the footwear felt weird she was not used to it. Her guardian raised his hand to say a goodbye to the young lady and her mother who just ignored him. She was busy preparing alchemical ingredients from the wolves she just received. Fresh ingredients produced the best potions and salves; she had to process it while they were still potent.

He opened the doors, which rang again, and squeezed his massive frame through the doorway.

‘Why did they need ringing doors?’ the girl wondered her why’s while silently following her guardian back to their hut.

She hoped that she will have time to chill and relax. However she was mistaken, her days of hard labour have just begun.