With the shopping trip finally completed we reached home where I saw my mom chatting with Nana.

“Good evening, Nana, how is your health?”

Dad greeted her.

“I am fine, how about you? Enjoying the break between the next hunt?”

“Ya, I only have 5 more days before we will have to go back to the hunt. I was thinking of at least teaching these little guys some basics before I head out.”

Oh, so he was leaving in 5 days? I didn’t know that. That means he only got a week of vacation? Man, that sucks. Nana then turned her attention toward me.

“Well, you are already training? When you only woke up from the nightmare yesterday? Are you really well or are you hiding it?”

“No, no nana, I am really well!” I tried to assure her. Now that I knew dad was going to stay here for a limited amount of time, I can't waste anymore by resting besides I don't even have any issues so I am not even lying.

“Hmm, to recover so quickly, how odd! Anyway, it is good that you have recovered, what about you Cylix were you able to settle well into the family? If you feel uncomfortable you can always come back to the orphanage, I don’t think Caera or Roc will mind it. Though I will request you to at least give them a chance to try and become your new family.”

“I am fine with Aunty Caera and Mr Roc, Nana you don’t have to worry about me.”

“Cylix you should call me and Roc, mom and dad because you are our son now.”

Cylix immediately started blushing but said in a small voice, “Mom, Dad”

Nana, seeing that Cylix was okay with the new family, smiled as she said, “Well, that is good then. Both of you do come to the orphanage to play once in a while. While it is okay to train, it is not good to do it without rest. Take a break once in a while to come and play. Well, I have to go now, I need to cook dinner”

Saying so, Nana went back into her home.

“Well, so how did the training go?” Mom asked and dad immediately launched into bragging mode, he also sneaked in some brags about Cylix as well, about how disciplined he was and that he didn’t even complain once.

“To think my son is a prodigy! I would have never expected it! I am proud of you Cyclos and you too Cylix. Well, you guys seem to have enjoyed the day despite it being training then, so what did you guys eat for lunch since you didn't come back home?”

At that question, Dad suddenly froze, and I froze seeing him freeze. This entire time, I had been thinking that him not giving us lunch was due to some training technique or something similar. But now looking at his deer in headlights expression, I understood that this unreliable old man actually forgot to feed us instead.

“Honey, u-uh, about that-”

Whatever he was about to say was drowned out in my mother's screams.

“YOU MEAN TO SAY THAT YOU DID NOT FEED 6-YEAR-OLD KIDS BECAUSE YOU FORGOT! FORGOT TO FEED SOMEONE!”

“I am sorry,” he said in a meek voice.

“Hmph, I am so angry now and can't care for you now, sorry. Please go to one of my sisters' home tonight, because you are damn well not sleeping with me today!”

With that rant finished, she pulled us both inside while she closed the door on my dad's face. However, it was as if a switch was flicked as she immediately switched back into gentle mother mode and spoke

“You guys must be famished with no lunch all day. Dinner isn’t going to be ready till some time, how about I boil some chickpeas as a light snack?”

Honestly, it was a bit scary how fast she could change her emotions but as we were both hungry, we both nodded and didn't care about that.

“Good, I will set you guys up with the practice boards so that you can practice during the time I am cooking.”

Mom went inside her bedroom for a minute before coming back with two frames filled with…river sand? She sat down beside us and set each board in front of us.

“Okay, so these are sandboards I borrowed from some of my friends, this way we won't need to waste papyrus until you are confident with your writing. Now, focus, both of you, this is the letter a, this is b and this is c. Now try to trace these on this second board once before giving the chance to the other person. Now, who is going to go first? ”

Seeing that Cylix looked a bit nervous I volunteered myself by raising my hand.

“Okay, then you guys keep practising, I will go and boil the chickpeas.”

The stove that was common in all of the village houses was wood-based so it was placed outside because of the smoke. There was also the fact that mom would have to be constantly checking and fanning the flames when necessary so this would keep her away from us for quite some time. Feeling a bit tired I looked towards Cylix and the sandboard and I immediately got an idea for a bit of fun.

“Psst! Cylix, want to play a game?”

“Eh! Now? We have to practice otherwise Aun- Mom, will scold us.”

“Don’t worry it is a small game, it will be over fast.”

Cylix seems to be struggling to make a decision so I decided to add fuel to the fire and help his dilemma.

“This is a brand-new game that I made myself. Only I know about it, nobody in the entire village knows about it and it only requires the sandboard and is easily erasable.”

In the end, his childlike curiosity to try a new game won out.

“Okay, the name of the game is Tic-Tac-Toe, don’t ask me how that name came about, it just came to me one day and have been using it since. Anyway, what you need to do is….”

I explained the rules as I continued to draw the tic-tac-toe grid into the sandboard. It only took 2 games before Cylix was hooked and we continued playing a best of 3 championship before we eventually stopped the game to practice the letters after being scared by mom coming into the house a few times to get the ingredients. The writing part was easier than I imagined as the motor control I had in my last life seemed to partially carry over as I tried to write. It was the memorisation part that I put most of my effort into as well as helping Cylix.

Eventually, mom came back with our snacks and we continued learning to read until dinner time. For dinner she had made a slow-cooked braised meat with onions and mushroom stew, it was surprisingly delicious, even though the meat was a bit on the chewier side. I was about to ask what meat it was when I figured it was probably for the best that I ask after eating. In a hunting village, you never know what meat you are eating, so best to keep the questions until after eating in case it was a gross animal. However, thoughts about the village brought up some questions that had come up when dad was talking to his friends and about Ilyon.

“Mom, what does it take to be a village leader?”

“Hmm? What brought this on?”

“Well, Uncle Ilyon asked dad if he was training me to be the village leader when dad told him that I would train under you after finishing the warrior training for the day.”

“Is he still friends with that Ilyon despite him being a thorn in his side for so long?”

Woah, looks like I have found some juicy info.

“What did he do?”

“What did he do? What didn’t he do? When your father was a kid, he was almost washed down the river when Ilyon pushed him. Then when they were in the hunting team he escaped without your dad when they were cornered by a giant mist moth, if it weren’t for him latching on to a wind deer that was passing by, he would have.

And you know what the worst thing is? Even after all that, the bastard had the gall to challenge your dad for the hunting team captain role. I don’t know how your father can keep being friends with him after all these events.”

“What the heck? Is dad a masochist?”

The anger she was in seemed to make her forget who she was talking to, as she instinctively replied

“Yes, he certainly likes it when I….WAIT A MINUTE! CYCLOS! How do you know what that word means?”

“I….u-uh, I heard some older kids talking.”

“Never, I said Never! Play with those kids again! do you hear me? Talking about that kind of stuff in front of children. How are they raising their kids these days?”

“U-uh, Yeah, sure!”

“Good, now where were we? Ah, yes, I remember, you were asking about the village leader position, yes?”

“Well, as the name indicates, the village leader is the leader of the village. If someone is named the village leader of our village, all his instructions must be followed perfectly without hesitation. The village leader is also given control of the village wards and if he chooses to, he can even move our village to another location.”

“Wow, that sounds super powerful and dangerous! What if the village leader is an evil guy?”

“It is for that reason there are the village leader trials. Anyone who wants to be the village leader must pass the trials or else our people won’t recognise him.”

But why take the risk in the first place?

“The village leader system was designed by the village founder Oweyn Managra. He was a knight of the empire before the apocalypse. But he also envisioned the chance that the village leader may become evil, so designed two systems. One is the village leader system and the other is the village council system. You know about the village council system, right?”

Both Cylix and I nodded because we knew what the village council was. It was essentially a collection of most of the skilled people in the village. One must have at least reached adult age and then must be recommended by another person on the council to join the council. If you choose to accept you have to prove that you are knowledgeable in your field of expertise after which you can join the council.

“Good, so I don’t need to explain that. Becoming the village leader is much tougher than being a council member. To become the village leader, you have to pass three trials, each one harder than the last.

The first trial is the trial of the protector, in this, either you have to kill a superior beast, or you have to be the strongest in the village and must challenge and win against all the active warriors in the village. You don’t have to challenge them all at once and can be challenged individually and staggered.

This is also the only challenge that allows for a substitute champion in case of disability.

The second trial is the trial of the governor, in this, you will have to stand before the council as they ask you questions regarding your knowledge. Once they have finished their questioning, if more than half of the council agrees that you have sufficient knowledge to lead them, you will have passed the trial.

The last trial is the only trial without any human involvement. The trial of the spirit is the only trial without the control of the villagers and is the only reason that we don’t have a village leader for the last two generations.

No one knows what happens in the trial of spirit other than the fact that the user has to meditate under the Rowan tree, and it supposedly puts the candidate into an illusion. If the candidate wins, the wards of the village will be instantly transferred into his control.

However, if the candidate loses, the knowledge of the trial is erased from the candidate and he fails the trial. He can only try once again after a year.”

“Wow, that sounds like a lot of work for a trial”

“Of course! If we are putting our lives into the person’s hand, he better have deserved it!”

I couldn’t help but nod agreeing with her.

“Well, good, off you go, you have to wake up early tomorrow.”

Mom corralled us into my room, wait it is our room now I guess as Cylix will sleep with me from now on. As I looked out of the window into the starlight sky with its two moons, a strange emotion washed over me, before I knew it, I was already speaking.

“Hey bro (Cylix), who do you think is the person that would be the most remembered in the world?”

“Hmm, I don’t know. The emperor from Ian’s legend I guess.”

“You think so? Do you think the people will remember a person who created an empire and helped humanity back to prosperity?”

“Of course! If there was ever such a person, he would be worshipped by everyone living. Maybe he will also have a legend like Ian’s.”

“Hmm, hey do you think I could create that kind of empire? What am I saying, it's probably impossible”

Suddenly, Cylix seemed to notice my melancholy as he sat up straight and said, “Brother, if you want to become the emperor, I want to become the general, if we work together maybe it will be possible.”

As I looked into his eyes and heard him, somehow, I felt like believing in him, and that I could really accomplish it. To be remembered forever and never forgotten.

“Well, let's work towards that goal then!”

“Why are you kids still talking and not sleeping? Don’t blame me if you wake up late and go hungry to training!”

Mom shouted from her room and we instantly stopped talking and lied back and closed our eyes. In the end, as exhausted as I was, in the end, there was only one question I felt was unanswered today, what kind of meat did we have for dinner?