During our breaks as we went on our journey northward, we learned a few things. On our very first stop at the hot spring, I learned about the Alchemist’s Satchel. It was an artifact created for the purpose of holding a large volume of objects. On the outside, its size was the same as an ordinary satchel, but the objects stored inside are placed in a different space. I was quite surprised when Flora pulled out two full sets of hide armour from out of the bag. I also found it strange that Hiram had two spare sets of armour that would fit me and Tasha to begin with. Flora said that they probably used to belong to her grandfather and her mother. Back to the satchel, though, not only does it store a lot, but you can easily access whatever’s inside as long as you know what you are looking for. All in all, it seemed like an indispensable piece of traveling gear you’d have in a typical fantasy role-playing game.

On the next day, I woke up with my body feeling lighter than usual. I moved around a bit and tested my strength, and found that it felt just like how I usually felt after charging one bolt throughout my body. I suppose this was a new step in developing my guardian spirit powers. During that day, Flora also tried the incantation again, but still said she did not feel much different. I had no idea how these powers were meant to work but I just told her not to get discouraged over it and to not give up.

Over the days, we also hunted game and gathered nuts, berries, and other edible things in the wild. Initially, Flora focused on gathering and we learned how to distinguish between many different types of plants and fruits. When we came across some deer in the forest, though, Flora took out her bow. She clearly looked unwilling but I suppose she resolved herself to take this first step in her growth as an adventurer. Unfortunately, her resolve could not overcome her aversion and she missed every single shot. When she went to retrieve her arrows after every failed hunting attempt, one of the arrows finally broke. However, she still put it back into the quiver. This time, though, she put a tall cap over the quiver. I learned that the bow was also an alchemist’s creation. As long as it had the raw components, it would make the best quality arrows possible. I asked her about her bow, too, and she explained to me that it was a high-quality bow made of springwood and that the bowstring was also a special type of silk. This design allowed for powerful shots even with low levels of tension. So, it was not technically made by an alchemist, but by a highly skilled Farseer craftsman instead.

Sort of jokingly, I then asked if she happened to have any more alchemist items and she actually did. She pulled out a box from the satchel and opened it up. Inside were various compartments that contained tiny bowls, jars, and needle-like tools. This was some kind of apothecary set used to create both poisons and cures. Flora said Hiram told her that she was very skilled with it, but she doubts whether it would be safe to try making anything new with it. Once again, rather jokingly, I commented that the only thing that could make her any better as a traveling companion would be if she had a lot of coin. At this, Flora took out a large purse from the satchel and opened it up in order to count what was inside. Lars is a very good friend and I’ll always love him for all he’s done, but the amount inside that purse put his savings to shame.

As we neared the end of our escape from the forest without any incident, our spirits were high. It was clearly optimistic, but it was starting to feel like we could just step out of the forest and be on some kind of merry adventure. Perhaps a new lease on life? Although I did somewhat act like this, by no means did I forget the serious reasons behind our journey. I did wish to remain optimistic, but the rose-coloured glasses to that ideal vision were pulled away near the northeastern edge of the forest.

We had been traveling for a few weeks now and that night was expected to be the last night we would be in the forest. We had just finished setting up camp not too far away from some kind of settlement very late in the afternoon. We didn’t actually go to check it out, but I assumed it was a settlement from the smoke rising up in the distance. There weren’t any Nature Clan forts marked anywhere nearby though, so I didn’t think it was necessary to stay clear of it. We ate, chatted for a bit, and Flora practiced shooting in the dark (with surprisingly more accuracy than her earlier hunting attempts) for a little bit before we all turned in for the night. In the middle of the night, though, Tasha woke me up. I blinked my eyes awake and got up, noticing Flora was also up.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, noticing a distant orange glow a second too late.

“There’s a fire,” Tasha responded in a serious tone. I immediately ran several steps towards the glow and agreed with her assessment.

“How long has it been burning?” I asked as I tried to run through the reasons behind it. Were we discovered? Are we being smoked out right now?

“I don’t know, Flora woke me up a minute ago and it was already like that.”

“Did either of you hear any other sounds or loud noises around the area?” Both of them shook their heads. Well, even if I am still not completely sure about the source, it was better not to take any risks here.

“I see. Well, let’s hurry up and move somewhere else, then. The last thing we want is to get caught in a forest fire.”

“It’s not a forest fire,” Flora commented. I knew she was probably right. The glow was coming off in the same direction as the smoke from earlier. However, that was none of our business. Our priorities were to remain undetected by the Nature Clan and to escape from their territory.

“We need to check it out,” Tasha spoke with concern.

We really don’t. Come on, let’s pack up and head out.”

“But there could be something bad happening over there.” The rising urgency in Tasha’s voice was evident.

“All the more reason to not go over there, then, Tasha. In case you’ve forgotten, we are essentially fugitives here. Getting involved in…whatever may be going on there is definitely not going to help with that.” Tasha protested a little bit more before begrudgingly relenting. This was fine; Tasha has resented me for many things and as far as I’ve known, she’s gotten over all of them. I led the way through the forest, making sure to keep a wide berth away from the orange glow. As we quickly tried to get away though, we heard rustling off to the side. I reached for my sword and readied myself against the danger coming to find us. Instead, though, it was a pair of young boys who came running towards instead. They abruptly stopped when they spotted us, nearly breathless.

“P-please, you have to help!” the younger of the two boys gasped out. Oh no, I see where this is going.

“Help with what? What’s the matter?” Tasha asked with a gentle voice as she walked towards them.

“Our village! It’s being attacked!” My gaze hardened. Not because I was shocked, but because I was already predicting what Tasha would say next.

“Lead the way!” Tasha responded without hesitation.

“No,” I said adamantly, grabbing Tasha’s arm as she got ready to march forth. “We’ve caused plenty of enough chaos in the Nature Clan’s territory already. We are staying out of this one.”

“Please, help us!” the younger boy continued to cry out. “They came out of nowhere and just started attacking us. We’ve never even seen them before. They just set fire to our village and- and, they’re killing everyone!” Never seen them before? That does seem a bit odd.

“So you’re being attacked by outlanders, then?” I asked, slightly curious. I remember when I was told about how most outlanders were decent but that some were very dangerous. I don’t know the places of origin for Destiny and the abandoned fort Farseer, so this was either a long time coming or a continuation of miserable luck. Actually, I guess it’s just miserable luck no matter how you see it.

“M-maybe, I don’t know. But please, help us before it’s too late!” For some reason, in the back of my mind I was thinking how annoying this pleading was. What made you think this random group of three would be any position to fight off some bandits?

“Come on, dad, let’s go!” Tasha pulled free from my grip and then grabbed onto my arm instead.

“What do you think we can do? At least consider the details. How many enemies are there? How well-armed are they? Are they human, Battle-Hardened, or Farseer? We cannot just blindly run to help someone without knowing the first thing about how dangerous it could be. Don’t you remember the Nature Clan’s capital? Our unpreparedness almost got us killed!” Tasha seemed unperturbed by my reasoning. In fact, it was Flora who seemed most affected by my final comments.

“None of that matters if we are going to end up helping anyways,” Tasha responded.

“Yes, it does matter! Arghh, why are you always so hung up on helping others?” Tasha let go of me and ran behind the two boys and dropped her luggage.

“It’s in that direction, right?” The younger boy nodded and then she ran off.

“Tasha!” I ran after her and Flora followed. I charged up a couple bolts to try and get in front of her, but she maintained her lead. I could have tried charging up more bolts, but I didn’t want to risk exhausting myself while there were still some unknown risks looming around us. A few minutes later, we came into the clearing and saw the burning village. There were over a dozen huts, all of them on fire, and littered all around them were the bodies of the villagers. Amongst the inferno there were still many people engaged in battle, but it was completely one-sided. It looked like there were only a few villagers left who were still fighting. They were greatly outnumbered by men wearing overcoats and fur hats and were only running around the burning huts to prevent themselves from being completely surrounded. They clearly looked different from anyone else I’ve seen, but I was more focused on wondering why the villagers had not simply run away already. But then, I saw several more enemies lined up outside the village. There were a few carrying torches and the ones who didn't had crossbows. The crossbowmen weren’t even set up to readily take a shot, but if the villagers tried to run away, there seemed little doubt they would succeed.

Tasha ran into the burning village and I had no other choice but to follow after her. Flora remained behind, hiding by the trees. The attackers saw us approach and actually dispersed a bit, seemingly to make room for us to join the battle. However, this was definitely not done because they mistook us for allies. When we got into the middle of the village where the rest of the fighting villagers were, they then attacked us as well. I had no idea what kind of enemies they were, so I slashed at the closest one with a serious strike. My blade cut straight through his overcoat and drew a lot of blood. The man gasped as he went down to the ground from what was likely a mortal wound. This may have been at least the third man I’ve killed, but that thought didn’t faze me the least bit. I continued my attack as Tasha also fought, too busy to find the time to chastise me. After I cut down two more of them and was starting to feel that this was too easy, a crossbow bolt suddenly struck me in my left arm. I yowled in pain as I glanced over and saw that the laid-back crossbowmen were now taking action. The other crossbow bolts found their targets in the remaining villagers. It seemed clear that they were just toying with them and figured it was time to finally stop playing around.

The attackers quickly surrounded me and Tasha before I even realized it. I charged up a bolt through my right arm and continued to fight. There were still more than twenty of them to fight through, excluding the crossbowmen on the outskirts of the village, but it should still be doable. I made sure to keep an eye on the crossbowmen as I continued battling. It was slower now, a lot slower, not just because I only had one good arm, but also because the attackers were also fighting more seriously. Every time I hacked into one of them, I was also on the verge of being killed myself. The crossbowmen timed their shots well and the enemies had a keen eye to taking advantage of my openings. I forced another two bolts throughout my body in order to remain nimble enough to continue to evade their attacks. It was an arduous task that was just as mentally draining as it was physically. However, when we finally managed to take down half of them, the rest suddenly fell back to the line of crossbowmen. I guess even up until now, they still weren’t taking the fight completely seriously. They were either obsessed with fighting or had some other twisted kind of thinking.

I had no interest in taking things to the next level, though. All the villagers were dead now, too. There was no longer anyone to help and this time I was able to quickly convince Tasha to retreat back into the forest rather than to continue the fight. The enemies seemed genuinely surprised to see our sudden retreat and did not begin to pursue until we had already made it back to the trees. Hiding in the trees beside Flora were the two boys. Judging from the look in their eyes, they understood the reality of the situation.

“Come on, we’re getting out of here.” Right as I said that, a crossbow bolt struck me in the back. Fortunately for me, though, the hide armour did its job and the bolt barely pierced it. I stuck my blade into the ground and then used my good arm to pull out the bolt. Then, I went to pull out the bolt still sticking out of my left arm but hesitated, contemplating the risk of bleeding out. Well, it’s not like I want to risk moving that arm right now, anyways, so I’ll leave it in until we’re in the clear.

We ran into the forest with the little boys trailing behind us, which made it difficult to gain any distance on our pursuers. Then, when it looked like we were finally about to get away, more crossbow bolts came in, two of them hitting the boys, one each. They both fell to the ground, and Tasha and Flora stopped. The light from the enemies’ torches shone through the forest as they closed in on us. I went over to Tasha and Flora who were helping the boys back up. They weren’t fatal injuries, but part of me believed that they weren’t meant to be fatal. I considered if we could still get away if Tasha and I had to each carry one of them. Before I could finish working that out in my head, the vanguard of the attackers came into view, but that wasn’t the worst part.

In the distance, I could hear the sound of many more pursuers. They weren’t necessarily the sounds of reinforcements, but I certainly doubted it was the arrival of friendly troops. I scooped up one of the boys with my one arm and beckoned for them to hurry up and continue running. We continued to run and eventually came across a stream. It wasn’t particularly wide or deep, but the problem was that the enemy knew about it before we did. Right as we reached it, crossbowmen and escorts were already lined up beside it to cut us off. I didn’t think they would, but instead of warning us to stop, they simply fired upon us right as we came into view. All but one of the bolts connected with us, but out of the ones that did hit us, only one didn’t get stopped by armour. That shot was one that struck Tasha in the leg. She tripped and fell, and the boy she was carrying rolled over the ground, almost falling into the stream. I immediately dropped the boy I was carrying and took out my sword. I charged up to a total of six bolts and attacked the group that ambushed us. I easily sliced through the few escorts and then cut down the crossbowmen before they could load up another shot. After killing the last crossbowman, the light from our pursuers shone through the forest and onto the stream clearing. Judging by the width, I could now confirm that there were many more soldiers here now than were in the village. I went back over to Tasha as I awaited the next attack.

“D-Dad…”

“Just be quiet, Tasha. I will take care of this.”

“You just killed all those people.” Her comment momentarily broke my focus. Really? Even in this situation, after seeing these people burn down a village and kill its inhabitants, that is what you have to say to me right now? I clenched my teeth before responding to her.

“Yes, I’ve been doing that for a while. If we want to have any hope of getting through this, that’s how serious I’m going to have to be.” Sweat was starting to build up on my brow. However, the feverish and burning feeling wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. I managed to get up to eight bolts back in the Nature Clan’s capital and that made me feel like I was in an inferno. Now, I’m thinking I just might be able to maintain it. Alright, after I engage them for a little bit, I think I’ll charge up another bolt in order to throw them off again. How many are there now? Forty? Fifty? My train of thought was interrupted when Tasha grabbed my arm.

“Dad, you have to stop that. You…you just won’t be you anymore if you keep killing everyone.” I tried to shake off Tasha’s grip but she wouldn’t let go. She got up with a grunt and a bit of blood trickled out of the wound in her leg. “I’ll fight beside you so you don’t have to go so far.”

“Tasha, you can’t even run with that bolt in your leg, can you? Just stay over there with Flora.” As I looked over to Flora now, I saw that she had her bow drawn with an arrow already notched.

“Mr. Braith, killing people isn’t the answer. I- I’ll lend us some cover fire, so please, don’t go so far.” The idiocy of this almost made me want to smash my head against a table.

“A fighter who can’t even run, and an archer too afraid to even shoot animals, want to support me? Well, don’t. You’ll only get in the way.” I didn’t mean to sound as angry and insulting as it ended up coming out, but I didn’t feel so sorry about it either.

“Can’t run? This is nothing!” Tasha grabbed at the bolt and tore it out of her leg. She grimaced as she suppressed vocalizing her pain and blood started to ooze out of her leg.

“What the heck are you doing?!” And what the heck is the enemy doing, too? Don’t just leave me alone to deal with these idiots.

“I- It would get in the way while fighting. It doesn’t even really hurt that much, I can fight just fine.” On top of trying to comprehend the ridiculousness of the situation, I also started thinking that if we had just ran across the stream right after I took out the crossbowmen, we probably would have gotten away by now. Just as I started to consider doing that for real though, the enemies finally came out of the forest. They surrounded us and crossbowmen got into position by the edge of the forest. Damn, there were still more of those guys. Flora shakily took aim at their general direction and Tasha stayed right next to me, one hand on my sword arm.

“Stop it, Tasha, you have to let me handle things my way,” I hissed at her quietly. “It won’t just be us, those two boys are going to die too.” I valued the lives of those two far less than me and Tasha, but I hoped that this extra little bit of convincing would work on her. The advancing enemies stopped about thirty feet away and there were at least forty of them. However, instead of commencing the assault, they parted in the middle and someone stepped forward through the gap. He had a fur hat and overcoat like the rest, but his overcoat hung casually over his shoulders, revealing a set of bronze armour underneath. I knew from all the other soldiers I cut down that his armour set was unique. He glanced over at us and then turned to face the rest of our enemies.

“Are these all of the escapees?” he asked. His tone was rather nonchalant, but it was also a voice that subtly exuded power and confidence.

“No, sir, most of the women and children split off in different directions during the start of our attack.”

“Well, that wouldn’t have happened if your unit didn’t attack before I gave the order. You were only supposed to observe.”

“We thought that they were about to move out and we didn’t know you were so close by.” I could hear the man’s voice waver slightly.

“Are you making excuses to me, Sergeant?” The man in bronze armour did not speak in a particularly threatening tone, but I could sense that even the other men present froze up at his words.

“N-no, Lieutenant-Colonel. I apologize for taking independent action.” The man quickly bowed his head and kept it low.

“I hope you realize I’ll have to reprimand you for this later.”

“Yes, of course.” The Lieutenant-Colonel then turned back to face us and the Sergeant slowly straightened his back again. I glared at him.

“So, you’re one of the Battle-Hardened that escaped from the village?” So it was a Battle-Hardened village? What were they doing in Nature Clan territory?

“If you’re gonna try and kill us, I’d rather not waste my time talking to you.” I eyed the assembled troops again carefully as I responded. The Lieutenant-Colonel looked over all of us, and his eyes seemed to focus on our armour.

“They don’t seem to be dressed like any of the Battle-Hardened, now do they?” he asked without shifting his gaze.

“Well, they weren’t in the village when we began the attack. They showed up later. We believe they may have been out hunting or something of the like.” The sergeant voice was a bit more composed now, but you could still tell he was feeling tense.

“That’s quite the assumption, don’t you think?” the leader commented without looking back.

“Well, it seems the most likely reason. At the very least, we can confirm that they are Battle-Hardened.”

“Why’s that?” The leader took another step towards us as he asked his question.

“The strength they had while fighting was simply beyond that of any human.”

“Beyond any human?” Another step closer.

“Hey, are you just going to keep yapping to yourselves? I don’t like having to wait for you to come over here so I can kill you.” He smirked at me.

“You’re an interesting one, so eager to do battle. Well, not that I particularly mind. However, if that is the ultimate conclusion, don’t you at least want to know why we are fighting? It would be such a shame if you died thinking we were nothing more than barbarians.”

“Barbarians?! They are the barbarians! How could you even say such a thing!” the sergeant yelled out, finally regaining his nerve. The Lieutenant-Colonel shot a piercing gaze over to him and he froze up. His nerve was lost once more.

“Oh, you’re right, Sergeant. That was a poor comparison. Instead, maybe you could please explain things to them.” The sergeant hesitated for a moment before complying. He took a few steps towards us and showed us a look of utter disdain.

“Midgard is meant to be a home for the humans, the purest creation of the gods. Not for the likes of you demi-human outsiders! We humans are the ones that carry the true blood of Midgard’s ancestors and we shall purge your filth from our world!” I stared at him blankly, my mouth agape. When my brain finished processing what he just said, I actually felt inclined to continue the dialogue.

“Demi-human outsiders? What’s that supposed to refer to?”

“To you, of course!” The sergeant snapped. “All of the Battle-Hardened! All of the Farseers! You think yourselves superior to us humans because of your natural born strength and magic, but that is merely the result of inbreeding among beasts! You taint the land and dominate our lands when you have no right to even exist!” The sergeant made ready to actually attack me but the Lieutenant-Colonel cut him off.

“Alright, that’s enough now.” He spoke cooly, and finally glanced behind him briefly.

“No, don’t stop him, things we’re just about to get good.” Against these kinds of fanatics, the chance of any sort of peaceful resolution was hopeless. I just wanted them to hurry up and begin the battle before the side effects of my powers set in. I’d initiate it myself, but I’d rather not do something too careless in front of so many enemies.

“You know, I almost admire your confidence. Almost. In reality, this is nothing more than arrogance and bravado, is it not?” Those words in particular really irritated me for some reason. What did they remind me of?

“Why don’t you come and find out?” I said threateningly.

“Alright, then.” He casually started walking towards me. I was expecting him to give the signal to attack since he didn’t even have a weapon drawn, but he just kept drawing in closer without slowing down. Tasha finally let go of my arm as she got into a proper stance. Then, he stopped when he was just inside my striking distance. The whole thing was so unexpected, that I wasn’t sure whether to just cut him down now before he gave the order to attack. I took a brief glance at the rest of them to see if they were about to move, but they just continued to observe for the moment. I gauged the distance again and verified to myself that if I attacked, he should be unable to evade. I was at six bolts right now, and from that conversation just now, he was only human. There was no way he could surpass my strength and speed. As I thought of this, though, I suddenly noticed a blade right at my throat. I blinked as if to verify that this had really just happened. That the man standing in front of me could have drawn his blade and very well could have killed me before I could even react. I was so shocked that I couldn’t even move. Suddenly, he moved the blade away and my knees buckled. I fell down as he sheathed his blade.

“What are you doing, Lieutenant-Colonel?! Why didn’t you kill him?!”

“What would be the point in that?” the Lieutenant-Colonel laughed.

“What? What are you talking about?! It is the mission of the True-Bloods to kill every last Battle-Hardened and Farseer!”

“Well, as you can see, they are only human," the Lieutenant-Colonel casually explained.

“No, they’re not! We saw how they were fighting earlier!” The sergeant was shouting louder than ever, and it was to the point that my ears were almost starting to hurt.

“Sergeant,” he began, with a serious tone, “I don’t think I like what you’ve been saying so far. As True-Bloods, we swear to uphold the righteous rule of the humans. Yet, you seem to have implied multiple times that it is the Battle-Hardened and Farseer that are superior.”

“W-what? No! I- I was just referring to their strength and magic. Obviously humans are still the superior ones.” The volume of his voice diminished greatly, but his tone was still argumentative.

“And why is that?”

“W-what do you mean?” he asked, dumbfounded.

“Why are humans superior? It is because unlike the arrogant Battle-Hardened and Farseer who rely on powers they are born with, we humans are talented in our ability to learn and grow. Humans have talents and can engineer tactics and strategies that can defeat the strongest of them. So, when you bring up the notion that these people are Battle-Hardened simply because they were stronger than you, are you not making a different kind of mistake? A mistake in which you do not understand your own weakness.”

“I- I- but,” the confused sergeant floundered with his words.

“Do not make such rash conclusions simply because you are jealous of the talents of other humans. Or, do you mean to say that I am Battle-Hardened?” The sergeant shut his mouth and didn’t move a muscle. “Do you understand what I am saying?” Still, the sergeant said nothing. “Well, let’s double-check anyways, just to make sure.” He took a step closer and stood over me as I planted on the ground, my sword loosely gripped. In the corner of my eye, I saw that Tasha was still frozen in her stance. From that distance, she could have tried attacking the Lieutenant-Colonel, but just as I knew, she also probably knew that the very idea was ludicrous. “Speak, what is your name?”

“I- It’s Braith,” I stammered out, giving out my real name before even realizing how potentially reckless that was. I guess part of me thought it didn’t even matter. This man could do whatever he wanted and I’d be helpless to stop him.

“Braith, huh? What an interesting name.” I get that a lot. “Now, just a quick question. Are you Battle-Hardened?” I shook my head. “Farseer?” I shook my head again. “Alright, say it clearly then, what are you?”

“I- I am human. We all are.” I regained just enough of my willpower to make that last assertion. He looked into my eyes and I tried to make myself look as confident and honest as possible, but I have no idea if that worked. Part of my brain was still just trying to function properly again.

“I see. Well then, my apologies for this little misunderstanding. I look forward to the continued development of your talents.” He turned around and started walking away. The rest of the troops stared at us, and from the faces I could see from the torch lights, they were also in disbelief. However, none of them spoke a word in opposition and they quietly retrieved the bodies of their fallen comrades and followed the Lieutenant-Colonel back into the forest. It was at least a minute after they had all left that the grip of fear over my body faded, and I collapsed sprawled out on the ground. The power of the bolts had faded away at some point and I was panting heavily, my body also numb.