* * *


    "Sir, I want to ask. How long do you think I have lost my memories? We had calendars at the village, but they were way outdated. I don''t know my birthday either, so how old do you think I am???" El asked with a glimmer in his eyes. There was a hint of a well-hidden pain behind his question.


    The man raised his hands, intending to pat El''s head, but paused midway, his motion faltering. He clenched his lifted hand tightly and lowered it back to his side. Fixing his gaze on El, he said, "Your name is El. You should be thirteen by now. You''ve lost about six years of your memories – that is all I know about you."


    Reaching into his pants pocket, the man pulled out an object and extended it toward El. Instinctively, El''s hands reached out to accept it.


    "Here, wear this. It''ll be quite good protection for you," he said, handing El an object that was cold to the touch.


    It was a necklace featuring a delicate bronze chain, adorned with a striking bronze ornament that cradled a captivating red jewel at its center, resembling an eye. As curiosity reigned over his mind, El raised it to his eye level and examined the jewel more closely. He subsequently noticed a swirling black haze deep within the red ruby, enhancing the overall appearance to that of a watchful eye that seemed to follow his gaze, creating an unsettling yet captivating effect that somehow drew his attention to it.


    "What is this, sir?" El asked, his curiosity piqued as he studied the amulet from every angle – tilting it left, then right, and even peering at its back.


    "It''s an amulet, forged specifically into a necklace," he replied.


    "What, exactly is an amulet?" El inquired, still captivated.


    "You can think of it as – a good luck charm, something that brings you a fortune as long as you keep it close," he explained.


    "And what do you mean by ''charm''?" El pressed, eager to understand.


    "A charm is a kind of object with magic inside of it," he said, eyes glinting with an indistinct hint.


    "I see…" El murmured, contemplating the secrets it might hold and how much it weighed in grams.


    "Is it the same as the vial you used earlier?"


    "More or less," the man said, tilting his head slightly to the side as a sign for vague clarification. "You like it?" the man resumed with a small smile.


    "Yes. It''s quite heavy. Interesting. And more importantly, it seems expensive. Are you sure you want to give this to me, sir?"


    "Of course. Don''t worry, it was something I used to bring all the time but never really used."


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    "You mean, you don''t need a charm for good luck, sir."


    "Hmm, if you are a man, and a strong adult like me who is tall, full of muscles, and a real fighter – not like some <i>''bigmouth and a schemer''</i> I know of, there is no need for a piece of luck whatsoever. I can simply breeze through all of it with punches. If that is not enough, I will add even more punches to crush it."


    "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You brag a lot, sir," El replied, his tone flat as he also lowered his eyes, unimpressed by the man''s boastful claims.


    "What, you don''t believe me?" the man asked.


    "No… do you think you can punch your way through that concrete building in the city? In a physics book I once read, a concrete wall achieves its remarkable hardness through a series of chemical reactions known as hydration. It has high compressive strength, ranging from 20 to 40 megapascals, and could reach even higher for specialized formulations. This strength is a measure of the material''s ability to withstand axial loads without collapsing… … …. In other words, the definite conclusion to all of my explanation earlier is – the energy required to break the chemical bonds within the material far exceeds what a human can ever generate. So… it''s impossible, sir!!?" El declared passionately, with his index finger raised in emphasis toward the ceiling, feeling a sense of triumph after his lengthy explanation. He then smiled mirthlessly at the man, who felt dizzy, overloaded by information.


    ''No wonder the man liked to brag so much. I never knew bragging about something you know and can do could be this satisfying,'' El thought, a wave of sweet satisfaction washing over him. He was pleased that all those hours spent in the village library were finally paying off.


    But then doubt crept in. ''Wait, is the man even saying something truthful though? Much of what he said doesn''t even make sense at all. Eating and barbecuing a fire-breathing lizard ten feet in size and whatnot. That couldn''t possibly be real, could it?'' El added inside his mind, skeptical of all the man''s bragging.


    "Sigh, you were a hopeless kid. I really can do it, alright," the man insisted.


    "… hahaha. Hahaha. You are funny, sir," El replied, laughter bubbling up while he paused in between his laughter, treating it as a kind of joke.


    "Oh c''mon, even after seeing all that magic, you still don''t believe me?"


    "Even if magic is a real thing, all I read in the book is that they sacrificed humans or animals to the devils they worship. They can eject fire from their hands, burning a building. Or they can curse someone to death. I never heard or read about magic that could make someone strong physically."


    "Oh, wow kid. You are really smart, aren''t you? But don''t always go by the book. It sometimes can be misleading, alright?" the man advised.


    "Hmmm. I think books are always written by writers who know their way around that particular knowledge. Not just some random onset to write something. They are pioneers of literacy. They gave me so much knowledge outside of the village," truthfully, it was the first time he talked this much, and even felt slightly offended by the man when he said that books could mislead him.


    But what could he say? Books were what accompanied him in that village through all the pain in his stomach from hunger. The villagers said it was impossible to concentrate on anything, especially to learn something by reading a book if their stomachs were empty. But for El, it had never been a problem. Discovering a wealth of knowledge and information beyond the daily struggle for survival, he was truly grateful to those writers who took their time to write such books.


    Even if it was just a mere children''s fairytale, El could always derive some form of realization from it, making the next day and even more days ahead more bearable for him. And look where it had gotten him right now. He had survived it all, now living in a city, taken in by a man who was rather suspicious, but El believed he was a trustworthy one nevertheless – and even enjoyed having a great meal. For El, this was a dream come true. At least, it felt that way to him.


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