The sun was directly overhead, shining bright, when Peter and his father exited the forest and entered the grasslands.
“Come, I will teach you the proper way to skin a creature once we get home,” Joseph motioned, in an excited tone. It was one of those things Mariah could not teach Peter, and Joseph felt responsible to take the task into his hands.
They silently closed the distance between the forest and home after that. Moving quickly, carrying the results of their morning adventure.
By the time they crossed the main gates and walked into the garden, Peter’s head was protesting heavily. Keeping Mana Sense active the entire time had been stressful for his brain. It had to process twice the usual amount of information while the skill was in use.
Joseph immediately disappeared toward the garden, before returning with a small knife from the toolshed, attached to the garden. Peter was already massaging his forehead with his palms. He needed to give it some rest.
Turning to the approaching figure of his father, he said, “Hey, Dad,” getting Joseph’s attention. Seeing the state of his son, Joseph frowned.
“Yeah?” Joseph put the skinning knife aside and approached him, removing Peter’s palms away from his forehead and tried to examine it.
“Maybe some other day. My head is hurting,” Peter admitted, unable to stop a pained expression from appearing on his face. In an instant, Joseph’s eyes widened in understanding.
“Yes, yes. Go rest. We will have plenty of opportunities in the future to teach you such things.” He immediately picked him up in his sturdy arms and rushed inside the house with Peter’s room as his destination.
Peter felt a bit bad—his father had been very excited about it.
…
Peter was alone in his room when his eyes fluttered open. He didn’t try to get up right away, instead choosing to reflect on the events of the day. While the headache was gone, resting a bit would be better.
Tomorrow, he would begin practising Mana Sense again, gradually increasing the duration. With enough time and training, he could eventually keep the skill active at all times.
I shouldn’t have used it for so long. That had been one of his mistakes today.
He evaluated his options. An increase in intelligence should result in greater processing power for my brain.
At higher levels, Mana Sense could function as a temporary substitute for a clairvoyance skill, at least until he designed one himself. Eventually, it would expand into a sphere of awareness, granting him complete knowledge of everything within its range.
Another thought crossed his mind. I need to think of a present for the anniversary, too.
It wasn’t until dinner that he realised the full extent of his foolishness.
…
Peter forced himself to swallow the extra-salty rabbit soup while observing the table. The light from the mana lamp illuminated most of the dining room. No one had spoken a word since dinner had started.
Mariah’s rage shimmered in her movements as she ate. The handprint on Joseph’s left cheek made it clear what had transpired while Peter was napping. She was furious.
“You will not be going back to the forest anytime soon,” she declared, her tone leaving no room for argument.
“But why?” Peter asked, foolishly or courageously. Her fist slammed against the table, making him jump in his seat.
“No means no, Pete,” she insisted, her voice trembling as she struggled to restrain her emotions. A grimace on her beautiful face.
Joseph sighed softly, setting his spoon aside.
“Mariah,” he softly addressed, stepping in to continue the conversation on Peter’s behalf. “It was just fatigue and a slight headache. Likely from a combination of depleting his mana pool so much for the first time and overusing his skill.”
Mariah looked ready to rebuke him, but he continued before she could. “It was bound to happen someday. Happens to everyone plenty of times. He’s not hurt.” He sighed again.
“He was not ready, Joseph. I thought you were just going to let him observe. That is the only reason I let you take him,” she shouted, looking betrayed as she continued.
Mariah's voice trembled with unwavering resolve. “My child is not going into that forest again until I am sure that something like this won’t happen again.”
For the first time, Joseph raised his voice to match hers. “He is not just your child. He is our child. You were not the only one who lost two of their babies.” His eyes widened when she flinched back.
When the tears came, both he and Peter were already out of their chairs, wrapping her in a tight embrace. “Forgive me, my love. I lost my cool for a second just now,” Joseph murmured, his gaze downcast.
His hands moved gently, wiping away her tears. “You have to understand me. I can’t let you stifle our son’s potential by overzealously protecting him.”
“I don’t want him to hold you accountable for his weakness when he will need strength.” He stroked her head carefully, his touch soothing. Peter simply held onto her, sadness etched on his face.
“I don’t want to lose him,” she whispered once she had calmed down, the tears finally ceasing. Peter remained still as she ran her fingers through his hair.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Neither do I,” Joseph admitted. “Just for your assurance, we can keep him away from the forest for a few more years. But if he wants to train, you cannot stop him.”
Mariah’s grip on Peter’s shoulders tightened. “Fine,” she relented.
…
3 days later
Peter ran in the hallway, opened the wooden door and looked back.
“I will be going then,” he yelled, in a rush. He was late.
“Fine, but try not to inconvenience anyone”, Mariah yelled back after he slammed the door, his feet picking up even more speed.
As he ran on the road, a slightly cold but pleasant wind caressed his body, making him feel refreshed. His breaths came in a fixed rhythm as he ran to the village entrance. Both sides of the path were full of green sprouts that had recently grown.
Birds flew across the deep blue sky from the forest, making their way above the grassland into the deep red horizon in search of morning food. The village looked beautiful with the added background of the morning sun.
Soon, he reached the gates and witnessed the usual duo of old and young guards.
“What got you so riled up early in the morning, brat?” the old man enquired, yawning in his palm, eyes half closed, leaning against a pillar of the wooden wall.
“My friends will be leaving the village, so I wanted to spend some time with them. In a bit of a hurry right now, see you later.” The gates were open, so Peter did not stop but explained while disappearing into the village. He could not afford to be late.
…
The merchants had arrived in the village yesterday morning and would be leaving in the afternoon today.
Charles' family had spent the previous day packing anything of value they wanted to take with them and selling the rest to their neighbours. As a result, David and Peter hadn’t been able to spend much time with them.
They would be departing with the merchants today, as travelling in a group was a common practice. No matter how much clearing the knights did, there were always plenty of monsters and bandits lurking, waiting to attack travellers.
Merchant caravans always hired skilled adventurers to guard them during their long journeys. Paying a small fee to join the caravan until they reached the city was a smart choice.
As Peter approached the village square, he slowed his pace.
There were too many people in the caravan to be housed in the village tavern. Once the tavern had filled up, the remaining merchants and the adventurers responsible for guarding the carriages had decided to hunker down in the village square.
Peter had counted the entire caravan when it arrived the previous day. A total of twenty-three carriages. The group consisted of fifteen merchants, six adventurers, and one administrator from the nearby city.
When they first arrived, at least fifteen of the carriages had been filled with goods that weren’t commonly found in the village, things like spices, salt, finished clothes, liquor, and more.
Now, however, those same carriages were loaded with crops from the last harvest. Some of them were designated as taxes for the city lord, while the rest had been sold to the merchants in exchange for their goods and some extra coin.
Mariah had likely lost some money to the merchants during negotiations, but it wasn’t a major concern. Taking the crops to the city and selling them personally would have been far more troublesome.
As Peter approached the village square, the people there turned to look at him. However, most quickly lost interest and returned to whatever they had been doing.
“Ah, the boy from yesterday,” one of the adventurers remarked in a bored tone. He sat lazily near the campfire. With black hair and black eyes, his well-trained body suggested years of experience. Leaning a spear on his shoulder with one arm wrapped around it, he absentmindedly picked his nose with the other hand.
He appeared to be in his late twenties from his appearance. “Causing chaos so early in the morning, eh?” he remarked, sparing him a vigilant eye.
Peter responded offhandedly, “Just came to spend some time with my friends before the caravan leaves.” Without paying the man much more attention, he turned and bowed slightly to the adventurer sitting beside him.
“Good morning, holy sister. By any chance, do you know where I can find my friends?”
The red-haired priestess smiled warmly and nodded in return. “May Avaris brighten your day with her smile. They should be on the west side with your other friend who visited half an hour ago.”
Peter expressed his gratitude before excusing himself and making his way westward. As expected, David was already there when he arrived near one of the carriages.
“Took you long enough,” Monica complained, turning her face away in mock annoyance. Peter could only offer an apologetic smile.
“Sorry about that. Mother didn’t let me leave without breakfast, knowing I wouldn’t be back until late afternoon.” It was a good excuse, earning him less of her ire.
“Let it go, sister. His house is far. Just look at him, covered in sweat. He probably ran the whole way,” Charles added to the conversation, poking his sister, offering his support.
“Anyway, so you guys are going to leave today, huh?” Peter couldn’t help but sigh. Losing friends was never easy. Rose was getting married, and now these two were leaving as well. Besides David, every single person he considered a friend was drifting away from him.
“Yeah,” Charles replied in a tiny voice, looking downcast. Peter took out a piece of paper from under his shirt and passed it to him.
“What is this?” Monica asked from the side as all three of them looked at it.
“Nothing much. David was saying he would be sad if you guys forgot about him, so I decided to make something to remember us,” Peter explained. It was David, not him. Truly.
Charles carefully unfolded the paper, and a gasp escaped his tiny mouth. It was a picture of all four of them together in the open fields. The picture depicted David and Charles laughing on the ground while Monica chased after Peter with a scowl on her face.
Peter was certainly not a great painter, but the drawing was above average, considering it was made by a child. With both Mariah and Joseph busy with merchants and the city administrator, Peter had plenty of free time yesterday, so he spent six hours making it. He had even used some spices for colours.
I hope it stays hidden from Mom. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought of the consequences.
While he was lost in thought, the kids grew emotional. He only noticed when he heard David inhaling mucus back into his nose.
Ugh… this kid. Go clean your nose properly. Peter shot him a look of disgust. It seemed David got the message because he took a few seconds to clean his nose with a cloth some distance away before returning.
Peter sighed. Closing the distance, he pulled both siblings into a hug. When David looked at him with tears in his eyes, Peter signalled for him to hug Charles from behind.
“There, there. No need to cry. Go to the city and get rich once you learn to use your Skill properly,” he said in a casual tone, trying to stop them from crying any further.
Charles nodded, quickly wiping his eyes.
“If you’re feeling generous, just remember to treat us well when we come to visit you. Right, David?” Peter added, attempting to step away. Before he could, Monica grasped his clothes tightly in her palms.
David promised to visit them as soon as they grew up, and Peter simply played along, letting them relax.
The next few hours passed with them sitting together, reminiscing. They talked about all the silly pranks they had pulled in the past, and then David shared his dream of becoming a skilled blacksmith like his father.
Charles and Monica excitedly spoke about the things they wanted to see once they arrived in the city. Grand fountains, the adventurers’ guild, fancy clothing shops. They even promised to show Peter and David around when they came to visit after becoming adults.
It was a nice goodbye.
None of them seemed to realize just how vast a city truly was, nor had Charles and Monica even decided where they would be staying.
How will we even find them in a large city without a proper address? The thought made Peter sigh before he shook his head with a small smile.