Ethel made a beeline for the village’s mead hall, there was no time to lose, she had to gather the elders. “We’ve been attacked!” She bellowed as she burst through the mead hall’s doors. She took extra care to look ruffled, as if she’d run a few miles or gotten in a real battle, to add some urgency to their reactions. “Call the elders!”

  The villagers practically seemed to teleport into the mead hall with how quickly it filled up after that. Half of the village had shown up in mere minutes. The elders, of course, were some of the first on the scene. Every eye was on her as they waited for the hall to be sufficiently full. A tense silence had them all in its clutches.

  “We were attacked by a Fexxakin Arch-Sorceress in the old woods, she had a good number of thralls travelling with her.” Ethel told the gathered crowd. The news elicited murmurs of anger and whispered curses.

  “We?” asked elder Adric.

  “Her and my son!” exclaimed her brother’s wife, Anni Bjornsdottr. Her Seven-foot-tall frame had made her presence hard to miss even before she’d spoken.

  In response, whispers of “What happened?”, “How did he do?”, “Did he kill any?” Began to fill the room.

  “There were seven thralls, he slew two and was a significant help in slaying another two. The thralls were initiates, not champions like the ones we fought in the war, it's likely that this was a training expedition. The sorceress was powerful enough to stand up to the Ancestor Oak, for a time.” She reported. “I do not think I would be able to match her power. Had we been elsewhere I believe we would have died or found ourselves collared.”

  “Was it just a training expedition, or did the slaver filth have other reasons for being in our territory?” asked the scarred and battle-worn Elder Amos, the long-serving trainer of the village’s warriors.

  “They had a captive, who we rescued, a Lycan lassie from the village of Salga, she’s seen about fourteen summers, same as David. I’m thinking we can have someone escort her there to her family.” There was a silence following her words that told her she’d missed something during the time she was gone, some crucial piece of news that she’d likely have wanted to know right about now. “What is it?”

  “Salga’s gone, razed by a dragon, it's likely the girl was running from that when she got caught.” Someone stated from the crowd.

  “Fuck. We’ll keep her then; I don’t assume anyone knows how to raise a Lycan?” Ethel asked.

  “I’ll do it.” Said Elder Bertha, the greatest huntress the village had ever seen. She’d married a Lycan, though he’d taken a manticore stinger to the chest shortly thereafter so that she didn’t have to. It figures she’d know how to raise a Lycan, she’d probably been preparing to raise a few half-kin.

  “We need to ask the Jarl to increase patrols, we can’t allow the Fexxakin to continue to traipse about in our land unpunished.” Ethel stated, having suddenly remembered her original intent. She was answered with nods and whispers of “aye” and “He’ll surely do something about it.”, all signs of agreement.

  “And while we’re at it, Ethel, you were witness to David’s first kills, was he a worthy warrior?” Elder Corgin, one of the only dwarves in the village, asked. A warrior’s coming of age could be done through a hunt, a proving, or by killing enemy warriors in a raid, he likely wanted to know if the battle would count as David’s own coming-of-age.

  “He was worthy.” She answered.

  “I do not want you to count it.” said David from behind them. “I am not yet sufficiently trained, I’m barely even a novice warrior. I wish to train further before undergoing my real coming-of-age, so that I may slay a creature far more dangerous than two neophyte mages.”

  “Where is the Lycan?” Ethel had left her with David, and she was nowhere to be seen, had he abandoned her?

  “She’s with Healer Tala, and I’m here to pick up something for her to eat, I don’t think the slavers gave her much in the way of food while she was with them. Also, you might want to mention my magic.” He said, brandishing a small pouch of bread and jerky. She’d not noticed how silently he walked until she watched him depart the hall, soundlessly, just as he’d entered.

  “His magic?” asked Olga, likely wondering what he meant by that, seeing as he’d never demonstrated any class-determinant capabilities previously. That was likely because, as a mage, he’d had little reason to until he had to use his first combat spell. And what a combat spell it was, Ethel had never expected such a thing from a would-be mage, and neither had either of the two casters in the village, judging by their reactions as she regaled them with the story.

  “I’d no idea the boy had unlocked his magic. But then again, it is possible that he has learned to do magic outside of the system, like all the talented mages did.” Stated the village’s sole teacher, the old woman in charge of teaching all of the village kids.

  “Does nobody else find it odd that this boy, who was in a coma up until recently, knows so much?” asked elder Adric. “He’s far more mature than he ought to be, and his-.”

  “It is a gift, from Uldren, Father of Knowledge, the boy is favored!” Declared one of the more pious villagers to a chorus of assent. “The years he spent in a coma were a sacrifice of time, and should he follow the path the system has laid out for him it shall be but a drop in the ocean of his life!”

  “I concur, now, as for the reason why we are here...” began Steelbark in his deep resonating voice.

  “How the fuck?” Ethel demanded.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  “A simple casting of ‘Obscure Presence’ and ‘Pass Without Trace’, of course!” Laughed Flameroot who seemed to suddenly manifest from thin air. “I also used it on the boy, David.”

  ___________________________________________________________

  “Eat.” Said David, handing the Werewolf a piece of what was likely venison jerky. It was definitely jerky, but the animal it came from was a mystery to him. He figured it was venison, seeing as deer were some of the more common creatures in their region.

  The Wolflike girl sniffed at it, seemingly weighing the odds that it might be poisoned, before ripping it in half and offering him a piece. Smart, if it were poisoned, he likely wouldn’t eat it. Luckily, it wasn’t poisoned so he had no issue with it. He offered up another, and they repeated their little exchange.

  “I’ll be back,” he said, having heard his brother calling him from outside the healer’s house. “What is it, Leif?” He asked.

  “You’re back, are you hurt? Can we play? Can you teach me to fight?” Leif asked, following his questions up with more questions without letting him answer.

  “Sorry Leif, maybe later, Aunt Ethel told me to help our new friend.” He interrupted. David hated having to talk over Leif like that, but he’d never have been able to get a word in if he hadn’t. He hated seeing Leif dejectedly walking away even more, but he could make it up to him by telling him a story later.

  He returned to see Tala dropping off one of her too-large bowls of stew and departing the room. The goliath healer was like a second mother to every kid in the village and viewed every last one of them as perpetually skinny. Which, of course, led to her always giving them food whenever they needed treatment. It just so happened that her portions were rather disproportionate for the village kids, closer to what a goliath child their age needed than what they needed.

  “Carrot stew, her favorite.” said David as he returned to his seat. The bowl she’d used this time was one of her bigger bowls, and it was even more full than her usual bowls. Did she really think the lass was going to scarf down that much stew? Where would she even find the space?

  “There’s a second spoon there for you.” He heard Tala say from the kitchen. The spoon in question was being offered to him by the Lycan, who’d apparently spotted it before he had.

  He took the offered spoon without complaint, knowing full well that even with the two of them sharing there would be enough left over to feed another David. Assuming neither of them tired of the taste of the vegetables before then. Of course, remembering the existence of the jerky he was carrying, he decided to tear the remaining cuts into pieces and drop them into the overlarge bowl before them, they might have made it a bit easier to palate.

  The Wolf-girl decided to continue their previous interaction, offering him her spoonful of stew and taking his own... and leaving him thoroughly bemused. He could understand a fear of poison, after what she had likely gone through, but this was a bit excessive. He peered into her dark blue eyes, searching for an answer, the flecks of gold within her eyes made them a singularly mesmerizing sight, one that he decided to look away from as something within him thrummed. He hadn’t found the answer he was looking for; he’d just found another question to be asked.

  What was that resonance? Why did his instincts offer nothing? He’d known so much, somehow, and had always had at least an inkling of guidance from them. He knew it was magic, a gift he’d awakened with that always offered a pertinent piece of knowledge and was likely where all of his knowledge came from. So why is it that this one being was the limit of his gift’s knowledge? He pondered his questions even as they continued their interaction.

  “I’d heard you younglings could be lightning fast, but this is something else entirely.” Tala chuckled from the doorway, startling them both. How long had she been standing there? “They say the eyes are window to the soul, well you two must have seen something special in each other.”

  The two of them looked down bashfully, as if they’d been caught pillaging fruit from the orchard. He’d only known her for a few hours, there was no possible way he’d have fallen for her so quickly. The elders had been trying to matchmake him with the Chieftain’s daughter, Anya, for the past few years and hadn’t succeeded, so why did the implication embarrass him so?

  “Don’t stop on my behalf, I’m leaving back to the kitchen now.” Tala said as she departed, still chuckling. She’d once again interrupted his train of thought. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming his mind and centering himself once more.

  Things were awkward after that, and his counterpart was no longer the only one seemingly incapable of speaking. They hurried up so as to extricate themselves from the awkwardness as quickly as possible and found that things became even more awkward when there was nothing for them to do. They just sat there in an awkward silence, occasionally interrupted by some noise or another from outside or the kitchen.

  “David, is Tala done with you and Runa?” Aunt Ethel asked as she burst through the door.

  “Yes.” He responded. “Wait, Runa?”

  “Aye, has she not told you her name?” Ethel asked as she beckoned them to follow.

  “No, I can’t say either of us has spoken much, so no.”

  “Ah... She’s still shy, eh?” Ethel asked. “No matter. David, go home, I’ll take Runa to where she’ll be staying, if she wants to stay there.”

  “Very well, do try to not scare her too badly.”

  “Yes, yes, I’ll make sure to pass by your house, so she knows where to find you.” Ethel said. “By the way, Seer Viggo is willing to teach you magic, starting tomorrow.”

  ________________________________________________________________

  The sun was setting by the time he arrived home and was beckoned to the forge. “I will make you a proper weapon for your coming-of-age.” His father said in sign language. He preferred sign language to having to write down every little thing, so David had been taught this land’s sign language shortly after his return. It was useful, seeing as it let him and his siblings communicate with each other in ways that few other villager children understood.

  “Pick a metal” his father said, gesturing to the wide assortment of materials on a nearby table. David recognized a grand total of three of them. They were all rare materials. So, he asked his father to identify them.

  “Orichalcum, low-moderate durability, very magically conductive. Frost Steel, cold to the touch, enhances frost magic. Mythril, high durability, good magic conductivity, lighter than others. Adamantium, Extreme durability, very heavy, not very conductive to magic. Verdantium, medium durability, low weight, capable of repairing itself. The rest are assorted alloys and elemental metals.”

  “Where did you even get these?”

  “The family vaults.”

  “I see... Mythril, better for a seax, I think.”

  “A seax? Basic, but versatile, effective. Very well. That material works on anything that isn’t blunt.” His father said. David only stuck around to watch the beginning of the process, but it was, as always, fascinating. The way his father could mold the metal with his bare hands, without even heating it, was always astounding. As were the blue flames of the forge, and his father’s seeming immunity to heat, and fire, helped too. He could stick his hand right into the forge and come out unscathed.

  It was fascinating. An application of passive magic that all who had access to the system possessed in one form or another.

  He departed shortly after the end of this demonstration, finding the house empty, and his room as he had left it, messy. He didn’t bother to clean it; he barely had the energy to take off his gear. He had departed for sleep’s sweet oblivion the second his head slammed onto his pillow, though not before his mind returned to a previous question, what was that resonance?