[ Eric ]

“So this guy is my neighbor… Didn’t know about it.”

[ Hakon ]

“He isn’t very social. That might be the reason why you didn’t even see him.”

Hakon knocked on the door and waited for the old man to open the door. We waited and waited. Once he knocked again there was a sound of something falling to the ground.

[ Eric ]

“You think he is okay?”

[ Hakon ]

“He is fine. He just woke up so get your shield ready.” Said Hakon as he put his giant shield in front of him while I only had this small one on my wrist.

[ Eric ]

“What do you mean!?”

As the door opened an arrow flew by me, right in front of my eyes. This could hit me right in the head if I haven't looked at Hakon. When I looked at the door there was an old man with a crossbow in his hands.

[ Eric ]

“WHAT THE HELL!!! Are you trying to kill us?!”

[ Old Man ]

“What?” Said the disoriented old man.

[ Eric ]

“Don’t ‘wha’ me! You almost killed me!”

[ Old Man ]

“No, I didn’t.”

[ Eric ]

“Then why do you have a crossbow in your hands!”

[ Old Man ]

“What crossbow?” Said the old man as he clearly had his crossbow in his hands ready to shoot again.

[ Eric ]

“You even stretched the crossbow to shoot again! Hakon… How old is he?”

[ Hakon ]

“Sixty? Or even seventy.”

[ Eric ]

“You said that he recently stopped hunting… how did he hunt with a brain messed up like this!?”

[ Hakon ]

“He is only like that when he wakes up.”

[ Old Man ]

“Oh… Good day Hakon! When did you come? Why am I standing? I was in bed a minute ago…” Said the old man as he puts his crossbow away.

[ Hakon ]

“Good day Mister Whak. Does your leg still hurt?”

[ Whak ]

“It’s numb for now.”

[ Eric ]

“Is that the reason you stopped hunting?”

[ Whak ]

“Yeah. A wolf bit me…”

I hope it isn’t one of the wolves that we are taming. It would be a bit troublesome. Now I understand why this guy wasn’t so sure about this…

[ Eric ]

“Hmm… Well… I can assure you that those two won’t bite you.”

[ Whak ]

“What do you mean… AAA!!! Wolves! There are wolves!” Shouted Whak as he hid behind the door.

[ Hakon ]

“You forgot? I told you I’ll bring a wolf.”

[ Whak ]

“Well… You did say that…”

[ Eric ]

“Hey. Nothing to worry. See?” I said as I pet both Skyge and wolf.

[ Whak ]

“Hmm…”

[ Eric ]

“And I can bring you someone who could heal your leg.”

[ Whak ]

“Well… If you heal my leg then I might consider going…”

[ Eric ]

“Fine. We’ve got a deal.”

Luckily I didn’t have to go far for that “healer” since he was in a hut right beside us. I just barged into the hut screaming.

[ Eric ]

“TAE! I’VE GOT WORK FOR YOU!”.

Yes. Tae obtained the blessing of healing with the use of nature. He is able to heal simple wounds and help with the recovery of something much worse. Finally, he will be useful in other way than bait.

[ Tae ]

“What work this time…?”

[ Eric ]

“Don’t you dare cry before I even tell you about the job… It’s simple and you don’t have to fight. You just have to heal someone.”

[ Tae ]

“Who? And what kind of an injury are we talking about?”

[ Eric ]

“There is a hunter living right by us and he was bitten in the leg. That’s all.”

[ Tae ]

“I’ll do it for five silver coins.”

[ Eric ]

“One or you’ll be living outside.”

[ Tae ]

“Fine…” Said disappointed Tae.

He tried to negotiate the price with me?! I’m the one who sets prices here! He is lucky that I’m paying him with anything! I could just throw him away if I want to. It’s my hut after all! When we left the hut he began walking toward a forest.

[ Eric ]

“Where are you going? Huh?”

[ Tae ]

“I need materials to heal him. My power isn’t just healing. I give part of plants life essence into the wound to heal it.”

[ Eric ]

“So that’s how it works. Got it. I’ll wait for you at this house.” I pointed a finger at I building next to our hut.

[ Tae ]

“Okey. See you in a minute.”

We didn’t wait long for Tae to arrive with a few flowers and leaves in his hands.

[ Whak ]

“You told me you’ll bring a healer not some kind of gardener!” Said irritated Whak.

If that didn’t comment didn’t annoy Tae then my laughter definitely did. A great skill of healing commented as a gardener! Huh… Funny.

[ Tae ]

“Sir… These things are needed to heal you.”

[ Whak ]

“Fine. Fine. Just heal this already.”

As the man lay in bed, Tae tore the plants to shreds and made some kind of ointment out of them. When he got them on his fingers the ointment began to glow. He applied it to the wound and it just soaked into the skin in a matter of seconds. There was no scar left. It was completely healed.

[ Tae ]

“Looks like it’s healed. Try walking and see if it’s better.”

[ Whak ]

“Sure thing green boy.”

[ Tae ]

“My name is Tae…”

Whak tried walking he did a few laps around the room in total silence and then just stood in one place and looked at his legs.

[ Tae ]

“Is there a problem?”

[ Whak ]

“Yeah. It doesn’t hurt.”

[ Tae ]

“What do you mean?”

[ Whak ]

“My leg doesn't hurt anymore.”

[ Tae ]

“Yeah… Because I healed you…”

[ Whak ]

“You? Green boy? Healed me?”

[ Tae ]

“Then what did I just do?”

[ Whak ]

“I don’t know. Something green and sticky…”

[ Tae ]

“It was needed to heal you.”

[ Whak ]

“Grass heald me? Funny.”

[ Tae ]

“This heald you!” Annoyed Tae showed his tattoo from Frejr’s blessing to which Whak just snorted.

[ Whak ]

“I also have a tattoo. Wanna see?”

The old man slowly rolled his trousers up. Hakon covered his eyes for some reason. The man was rolling his trousers up and up. It was already above his knee and close to his… balls…Now I know why he covered his eyes. I did the same but it looked like Tae was too confused and saw more than he should.

[ Tae ]

“Oh… My… God… I think I just saw the darkest side of this world…” Said shocked and confused at the same time, Tae.

[ Eric ]

“Cool but we don’t need any details. So… Ready to hunt old man?”

[ Whak ]

“Yeah! And I have a name just so you know!”

[ Eric ]

“Sure…”

We were on a hunt till the night. I taught the wolf some simple commands for hunting like “chase”; “bring”; “stay”; “find”. Also, I taught Whak how the wolf could behave. How to hunt with him and how to take care of the wolf. Well I explained it like the wolf is a puppy but now I don’t see a difference. It’s just like a dog for Vikings. In the end, we caught three rabbits, deer, and a boar.

[ Eric ]

“Told you it’s easy to hunt with a pet.”

[ Whak ]

“Yeah. I think it is nice to hunt with a wolf and not to hunt IT.”

[ Eric ]

“So do you wanna keep him?”

[ Whak ]

“Of course! I like him. Not too energetic and he always keeps an eye on us to know where we are.”

[ Eric ]

“So you have the honor of naming him.”

[ Whak ]

“Huh… Name you say?”

[ Eric ]

“Yeah. What would you like to call him? Call his name whenever you’re doing something with him. Calling him, feeding him…”

[ Whak ]

“DOG!”

[ Eric ]

“What?”

[ Whak ]

“I’ll name him dog!”

[ Eric ]

“You can’t call a pet like another animal!”

[ Whak ]

“Mmm… Than… Paw… Fang… Tail! His name will be Tail!” Said at first disappointed Whak but then brightened up by his genius idea.

[ Eric ]

“Yeah! At least better than dog…”

[ Whak ]

“What did you say? Didn’t hear you.”

[ Eric ]

“Nothing…”