《Lost Emotions》


 Prologue

    Prologue


    Happiness, sadness, love, hate, anger, fear. Emotions. Feelings that influence one¡¯s actions and decisions. Take those feelings away and what you have left is a highly efficient person, though they can hardly be called human anymore. Without those emotions, decisions one makes and actions one takes are based solely on experience and logic. No sympathy or pity, but no rage or grief either. Train those emotionless beings in the arts of war and battle from childhood and you get the perfect soldiers. No conscience to hinder them in their job, no fear of getting hurt or killed, no grief for fallen comrades, only soldiers who are the perfect killing machines in war.


    But what happens once the war is over? The soldiers have lost their purpose once the killing ends. They have no place in the government and are feared due to their incredible combat potential, so the only rational options would be disposal or containment to prepare for the next war. The Rovaerus Kingdom currently stood before such a decision.


    King Brath Rovaerus, king of the Rovaerus Kingdom, watched his ministers intently, while they were discussing about the matter of their country¡¯s so called ¡®Heavenly Soldiers¡¯. After the war with the neighboring kingdom ended in an overwhelming victory, thanks to those soldiers, the populace and his minsters got cold feet due to the incredible power possessed by the Heavenly Soldiers. The people demanded the disposal of the war machines, despite the knowledge of their contribution to the kingdom. No, maybe because of that knowledge, they wanted them gone. If those soldiers would have kept their emotions after the magic ritual, they would¡¯ve been seen as war heroes. But alas, the common people feared them and some of his ministers saw that as means to increase their social prestige by siding with them.


    Good grief, he thought. Can¡¯t they see the enormous pressure we can exact on our neighbors? We would be safe for centuries. They had created the Heavenly Soldiers for exactly that purpose with the help of six archmages, who they invited from all over the continent with a tremendous amount of gold and treasures and now the ministers simply wanted to destroy the result of that gold? However, it wasn¡¯t just the ministers, even the merchants and leaders of other countries demanded their destruction. Until that was confirmed, they suspended all trade and support for the Rovaerus Kingdom.


    With a sigh, Brath stood up and slammed his right palm onto the table they were sitting at.


    ¡°Enough! The Heavenly Soldiers are our lifeline to peace and prosperity, so there is no immediate need to destroy them!¡±


    The ministers quieted down immediately, until one of them got up from his seat as well.


    ¡°Your majesty, we are clear about their potential, however the general public is not. They are afraid and fear a rebellion of the Heavenly Soldiers. We shouldn¡¯t risk the loss of trust from the citizens over an increase in our war potential. Others and I are of the opinion that they must be killed.¡±


    Barth nodded and looked towards the opposite side of the table.


    ¡°What is your opinion on this matter?¡±


    The ministers¡¯ representative also got up and bowed


    ¡°We are of the opinion that they should indeed be contained but not killed, however should this matter become public, the uproar from the people will be even greater than if we don¡¯t do anything about it.¡±


    Barth nodded again raised his arms.


    ¡°You may leave. Expect my decision by tomorrow.¡±


    Once the ministers had left, Barth sunk back down in his chair and held his head. Damn, this is giving me a headache. In the end he had to decide the future of his country. Either the loss of respect and trust from the people, or the loss of security against invasions. In the end, after hours of doing nothing but thinking of the arguments of both sides, he chose the latter option. Disposal.


    *


    Centum trained even in his cell. With each swing of the wooden sword they had allowed him to keep, one could feel the power behind it. His by now long brown hair was waving as though a wind appeared each time he brought his sword down. He understood that he didn¡¯t have much longer to live and yet he was training for another fight, maybe because that was what he was made for, but probably because he didn¡¯t care either way. He had no emotions after all. Even his name showed his worth for the world. Centum, it supposedly meant one hundred in an ancient language. That¡¯s all he was, a number, a soldier with no soul and the brand with the number 100 on his chest made that perfectly clear. So when the officials came to the barrack him and the other numbers, or rather Heavenly Soldiers, inhabited, he could already guess that their time of service was about to end. Yet he couldn¡¯t help but be indifferent about it.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    With his containment, he found himself with a problem for the first time of his existence. A lack of orders. So he kept himself busy by training for a battle to never come. He was a tall, muscular guy with a sharp face that seemed to constantly frown. A body and face made to send a chill down anyone¡¯s spine if he so much as looked at them, although his body was barely older than 17 years. Still, all that was something he wasn¡¯t able to care about.


    Even now, a few days after he was thrown in this prison cell, he kept training without another thought. He did wonder though, how they would dispose of him since him and the other numbers had magically enhanced bodies and abilities to ward off any attacks. His most likely guess was that they would be ordered to kill each other, but on the other hand he didn¡¯t know much except their training facility, their barrack and the battlefield, so there might be ways he didn¡¯t know about. He had listened to the servants in the training facility sometimes and knew that there were other people than them with extraordinary power. Some were mages, like the ones that drained him of his emotions. Others were simple fighters who, like him, never did anything else but train their whole life. He had even fought against some of these people and number 53 even died to an especially powerful mage, who was killed by Centum shortly after.


    While thinking about his end, he heard the door unlock and stopped his movements to watch the door. A slightly obese soldier, a prison guard, opened the door and led a few soldiers in complete armament into the cell.


    ¡°Heavenly Soldier number 100, Centum. You will now follow us to the execution grounds!¡±


    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡±


    Although his confirmation wasn¡¯t necessary, he still viewed the words said as an order and offered his hands to be cuffed by handcuffs made of Escil, a metal that even he found almost impossible to destroy without specially made tools. The prison guard quickly took the wooden sword and one of the heavily armed soldiers put the handcuffs on him. The prison guard looked at him with a mix of pity and fear, but all he received in response was an indifferent look, as if he would be going to bed instead of going towards his death.


    ¡°D-Do you want to keep the sword at your side?¡±


    Centum looked at him and tilted his head a little to the side.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need a weapon where I am going though?¡±


    ¡°R-Right¡­¡±


    With a flustered look, he stepped to the side as the other soldiers took Centum in the middle and left the cell, where a few mages where also waiting to escort him to the execution grounds.


    ¡°Centum, he is the last one, right?¡±


    A soldier nodded.


    ¡°Affirmative, there were only a hundred after all.¡±


    After the short conversation, they walked in silence through the dark tunnels of the prison, until they reached a small yard.


    Centum immediately noticed a few Mages with robes, presumably his executioners, who were standing around a magic circle. At the side, several important looking people were seated, including the one he knew as his king, who nodded towards the soldiers to signal the start of the execution.


    ¡°Heavenly Soldier Centum, stand in the middle of the magical circle!¡±


    Centum bowed to the king and followed his last order. He felt a strange sense of fatigue as soon as he entered the circle and guessed that it was some kind of weakening magic to make him vulnerable. His guess was proven true, when a mage took out a small dagger to cut his thumb, which should be invulnerable to a wound of such a small degree.


    ¡°Preparations complete, response normal, subject is vulnerable. Commence Execution!¡±


    With those words, the mage with the dagger stepped back from Centum and started to chant incantations in unison with the others. The magic circle immediately started to glow and he could see a transparent barrier around himself. When the barrier got less translucent, the chant slowly changed into a darker tune and the barrier turned dark red.


    Centum could feel his strength slowly leaving his body, but still stood in the middle with a straight back and clear eyes, as he couldn¡¯t feel fear or panic. Then came the pain. It was so intense, that even he wasn¡¯t able to completely stifle a groan. Arcs of red lightning appeared between him and the barrier and constantly hit him, causing his body to spasm each time and slowly reduce his vitality. Without his enhanced body he would¡¯ve died already, but due to his training for 15 years every day, all day, he had to endure to fulfil his last order, to die.


    His vision slowly blurred and when he was about to close his eyes he heard himself speak a word he couldn¡¯t understand. Then he let himself go.


    *


    Brath stared at the magic circle. The other Heavenly Soldiers were disposed of without any problems, until the last one was supposed to die. Right when the lightings were the most intense and he seemed about to be turned into ashes, Heavenly Soldier 100 yelled a word of unknown meaning and disappeared in a flash. Brath was confused, as he didn¡¯t know if the Heavenly Soldier was dead or somehow teleported out of the barrier.


    ¡°What happened? Did he die?¡± He asked the mages, but they seemingly ignored him and talked to each other in hushed voices. He waited for a while, but the mages kept talking to each other and it sounded as if they were arguing. Just as Brath was about to lose his temper, one of the mages finally turned to the king and explained.


    ¡°He apparently possessed some sort of magical energy, which was released as he was about to die and opened a gate to teleport him somewhere.¡±


    Brath paled when he heard the ominous news.


    ¡°So¡­ the Heavenly Soldier is still alive somewhere on the continent? Where is he? Can you track him?¡±


    ¡°¡­ That proves to be difficult as we have no idea how he escaped in the first place. For now you can only search for him.¡± The mage answered with an apologetic look.


    The king took a deep breath to calm his nerves, before talking to the ministers and soldiers at his side.


    ¡°Find him no matter the cost. Send emissaries to the neighboring countries and explain the situation. Remind them that he must be killed on sight as he is very dangerous and has no conscience!¡±


    With those words, he rushed back to his chamber, where he sat down in his chair and took another few deep breaths.


    ¡°I screwed up¡­¡±


    The Heavenly Soldier he created, the warrior with incredible power was currently at large without any supervision in some unknown location. Who knew what he would do. If I¡¯m lucky¡­ he will just succumb to the wounds of the magic ritual. But Brath knew that it probably wouldn¡¯t be that easy. After he calmed himself down, he quickly wrote a few letters to his officials, in which he gave the orders to search for the escaped Heavenly Soldier on a large scale. He still had some hope that he maybe didn¡¯t escape far away, but again he had a feeling that it probably wasn¡¯t as easy as he hoped.


    The letters always had the same words at the end:


    Heavenly Soldier Centum, currently weakened, kill on sight.

 Chapter 1

    Chapter 1


    Centum woke up when a crow started to peck his leg. With a speed impossible for normal humans, he reflexively sat up and threw a punch at the crow. With a crunch it flew a few meters away and didn¡¯t move anymore. He slowly got up and checked his surroundings.


    No noticeable threats¡­ unfamiliar location¡­ what exactly happened?


    He was standing in the middle of a grass field next to a pine forest. In the opposite direction of the forest were plains and hills, with no humanoids in sight.


    The search for a nearby settlement should take priority, he thought and decided to walk along the edge of the forest first, ignoring the pain from his severely hurt body.


    While he was limping, Centum couldn¡¯t help but wonder how he survived the execution. He should be dead and not walking. It especially wasn¡¯t logical how he got transported from the execution ground of Rovaerus to this place, wherever it was. Also, currently his primary objective was his own restoration, but what would happen after that.


    I didn¡¯t manage to fulfil my last order so¡­ should I simply return?


    On the other hand, he now didn¡¯t have a master anymore so it would only be logical to live on his own, according to the normal people¡¯s common sense. However, he had no reason to do so.


    For now I will simply focus on preserving my body before returning to the king.


    He was a soldier after all and what use would a soldier have if he couldn¡¯t move his body? None. Centum simply kept moving, as he now had an objective to follow, but even at nightfall, there was no settlement to be seen. Although he noticed, that his body was slowly getting heavier, he silently stayed in motion and moved forward.


    Several hours later, he noticed that his body¡¯s condition was dropping to critical levels and he finally decided to take a break. Breathing heavily, he laid down in the grass and closed his eyes to sink into a state of vigilant sleep, sleeping but able to wake up at the slightest sense of danger.


    Centum woke up at dawn and continued to drag his tattered body in search of a village or even just a small shack, but despite continuously walking all day, he still wasn¡¯t able to find anything. Just when he rested again, he suddenly heard a low growl coming from the forest and immediately jumped into a standing position to be able to intercept the attacker. He silently waited to see his enemy and kept his breathing forcefully low, while his eyes darted around to locate the source of the growl.


    Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then a black wolf with a size of about 2 meters jumped at him to tear him apart. Centum quickly jumped aside and drove his right foot into the wolf¡¯s side. With a whimper, it got slammed against a tree, but rose back up quickly to glare at him with even more vigor.


    Wolfs always hunt in packs, so where is the rest? Is he the alpha?


    Not daring to attack restlessly, while he was in a weakened state and with possibly more enemies around him, Centum stayed vigilant and kept his distance from the black wolf. The wolf, however, growled once more and suddenly charged at him with an explosive speed. Centum knew that his body was currently vulnerable, so he tried to avoid direct confrontation and tried to dodge to the side again, but this time another wolf attacked him by sinking its claws into his back with a furious swipe. Centum gritted his teeth and turned around in midair to deliver a kick against the new wolf¡¯s head, strong enough that the head exploded with a sickening crunch. The giant black wolf didn¡¯t stop its attack and started biting relentlessly in hopes of locking Centum in place.


    Centum saw from the corner of his eyes, that about ten more wolves had appeared in his vicinity, ready to pounce at him.


    I have to kill the alpha. Fast.


    With the new foes approaching, he took his only option and jumped up to slam his heel into the back of the black wolf¡¯s head, smashing it into the ground. Yet that powerful kick still wasn¡¯t enough to kill the wolf, which made him wonder just what kind of monster it was. No ordinary or even strong monster should have survived that. Despite his thoughts about the wolf¡¯s race and origins, Centum didn¡¯t lose focus and grabbed onto the ears of the wolf to keep himself above him. The rest of the pack didn¡¯t dare to attack their leader, so they simply encircled their leader and waited for Centum to fall off. The alpha was still a little dazed, but reacted quickly nonetheless by trying to shake him off. Centum saw his chance while it was shaking wildly and let himself slide down while yanking at the wolf¡¯s head with all his strength, turning it a whole 180 degrees, breaking its neck in the process.


    The wolf pack noticed how their leader fell to the ground and first looked at Centum in confusion, before turning tail and running back into the forest.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    He took a deep breath and sat down. Now, with the adrenaline gone, he could sense the pain of the claw wound on his back and felt how his shirt was soaked in blood. With movements, that showed no sign of feeling pain, he ripped his shirt and created a makeshift bandage around upper body.


    Since there were wolves in the area, Centum ventured farther into the plain to avoid them. With no other choice but to move on, he didn¡¯t stop to sleep and simply kept walking.


    Halfway into the next day, he noticed how his vision had become blurred and his legs felt weak. He knew that his body couldn¡¯t keep up for much longer, but he still moved as if he was in perfect condition. Another hour in and he was unable to continue walking.


    I have lost too much blood and my body was in its worst condition anyway. It was only a matter of time anyway.


    Just like in prison, he felt no resignation or fear, but simply stated the facts as they were. Still, with one last effort, he crawled up another hill and fell down on top of it. Despite the village that he saw in the distance, he knew that he was at his end. He closed his eyes and allowed the darkness to take him.


    *


    Aylin was returning from her daily work in the fields. The sun was burning down on her long, blonde hair that she had tied into a braid. Thanks to her daily work, she was slightly tanned and had a rather strong build compared to an average woman. Although not quite tall, she still appeared with a graceful and slim figure, which was partly ruined by the hoe over her shoulder that she had used for field work. Even though it was a particularly hot day, she happily hummed a song, seemingly not bothered by the intense heat. When Aylin could see the village, she stopped for a little and enjoyed the wind blowing through her hair, refreshing her from the warmth. Just as she was about to end her little break, she noticed a dark object lying in the grass a few hundred meters away. Her humming stopped and she narrowed her eyes to be able to see what it was. When she realized what she saw, Aylin immediately started running towards the object, which she recognized as a human.


    Kneeling down, she gasped as she saw the deep gashes on the man¡¯s back and grabbed him by his arms. Despite her small build, she had considerable strength and was able to hoist him over her shoulder. Aylin noticed that the man was surprisingly lightweight and rather skinny, as if he hadn¡¯t eaten in weeks, but that didn¡¯t really matter to her as she half carried, half dragged him in the direction of the village.


    ¡°Kelrin! Get Granny here!¡± Aylin called out to the guard on duty.


    Kelrin was startled, but immediately ran off to get ¡®Granny¡¯, the oldest person and only healer in the village.


    Meanwhile, Aylin dragged the man to a bench near the entrance and laid him down. Trying to catch her breath, she took a closer look at him to look for more possible injuries.


    A minute later, she saw Kelrin coming back with Granny in tow, who was surprisingly fast, despite her high age. The old woman didn¡¯t hesitate and shoved Aylin aside, while checking the man.


    ¡°I found him collapsed on a hill not far from hear! It seems an animal or monster attacked him!¡± She explained the situation.


    Granny just nodded and carefully placed her hands atop his back, before mumbling some strange words, followed by the activation word.


    ¡°Heal¡±


    Slowly, the deep gashes began to close until they were no bigger than a normal cut about ten minutes later. Breathing heavily, Granny sank down and wiped the sweat off her forehead. Kelrin came to support her with a worried look on his face.


    ¡°He shouldn¡¯t die anymore¡­ I can only estimate that he¡­ lost much blood and is severely¡­ malnourished. Bring him to my house for now.¡±


    With a sigh she sat down on the bench next to the man and closed her eyes to catch her breath.


    Aylin breathed a sigh of relief and grabbed the man¡¯s arms, while sending a short glare towards Kelrin.


    ¡°Surely you wouldn¡¯t let a poor woman carry him all by herself, right?¡±


    With a short nod, the guard grabbed his legs and they carried him to Granny¡¯s home, a small house near the center of the village.


    ¡°So, where exactly do you think he comes from? I haven¡¯t seen that symbol anywhere before.¡±


    He pointed to the front of the man¡¯s torn shirt, where an emblem with a hawk in front of a shield was placed. Aylin shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either, not from around here at least¡­ Do you think he might be a knight?¡±


    With glittering eyes, she started wondering about the stranger¡¯s origin, but Kelrin apparently had other thoughts.


    ¡°Either way, let¡¯s hope that he isn¡¯t some sort of prisoner or criminal who escaped, or we are screwed for helping him.¡±


    ¡°Or he isn¡¯t and just needed help!¡±


    Even if he was. I¡¯d still help someone in need¡­


    With a cheerful smile on her face, they reached the house and put the man down on a small bed.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll simply put on some bandages for now!¡± She looked at Kelrin and indicated with her hands for him to leave.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have guard duty? Shoo!¡±


    Kelrin looked at her exasperated, but didn¡¯t refute and simply rolled his eyes as he left.


    Aylin looked over the stranger and bandaged his wounds, after applying some herbs that fastened the body¡¯s own healing process. She was used to this sort of thing, as she had helped Granny with her patients for quite some time now and was even seen by many as her official student. Yet, Granny still refused to let her learn healing magic. Even earlier, when Aylin was attentively watching her, she decided to mutter the words quietly instead of incanting normally.


    Why though? It would make everything much easier if I was able to use healing magic as well.


    Sighing, she finished bandaging the man and changed his clothes.


    This emblem really is strange¡­ he must come from a rather faraway place. I should ask the merchants when they come back through the village.


    Finishing her work, Aylin left the room to let the man rest and paid a visit to the mayor to inform him of the current situation and ask about the stranger¡¯s possible origin, but he also had no idea¡­ which wasn¡¯t that unexpected, as they were just another rural village with the next real town being more than two weeks of travel away.


    That meant that she really only had the option of asking the merchants that would come next week, as they always came around that time of the month.


    Whoever he is¡­ I have a feeling things will become lively soon.

 Chapter 2

    Chapter 2


    When Centum regained consciousness, he kept his eyes closed and listened to his surroundings. He was able to hear someone busy shuffling around in another room, but from apparently only one person was nearby.


    This is the second time that I survived such a situation¡­ Most likely someone found me and carried me to the village. I was close after all.


    After listening for a while longer and judging the situation as not threatening, he opened his eyes and sat up. He was sitting in a bed made of straw with cloth covering it. The room he was in was crude and only a single window allowed the sun to brighten the room.


    To get a better picture of the situation, he got up and moved closer to the window to inspect the status of the other houses. According to the state the houses around this one were in, this village had to be one with not much contact to other settlements.


    Difficult starting conditions. It¡¯s possible I have to travel for a few weeks to even find out where on the continent I am. Possibly-


    His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the door open to his room and a small gasp following it.


    Turning around, Centum saw a girl of about his age carrying a basket with a few new bandages. Apparently she was the one who had treated him while he was unconscious.


    ¡­ What do I do? Is it required to thank that person in such moments?


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you are awake! But please stay in bed for a little longer since you lost much blood!¡±


    Before he could even say anything, she put the basket on the floor and reprimanded him in an energetic voice.


    ¡°¡­ Understood.¡±


    He followed her advice and laid back down, but he still had several questions to be answered, so he could leave as fast as possible.


    ¡°Where is this place? How far away is it from the Rovaerus Kingdom? Do you have horses here?¡±


    Flustered by the sudden questions, the girl seemingly didn¡¯t know where to start with and he had to wait for a few seconds before she was able to answer.


    ¡°Well¡­ this is the Holy Kingdom of Regia and no, we don¡¯t have horses, since they are quite expensive. On the other hand, where is the Rovaerus Kingdom? Are you from there? I have never heard of that kingdom before.¡±


    Thinking that he might get more information if he kept the conversation going, Centum didn¡¯t mind telling about himself.


    ¡°It is my country of origin and apparently quite far away, considering that you don¡¯t even know of it. Anyway, where is the next town? Do you have a map?¡±


    The girl raised an eyebrow when she heard is need of a map. Was it such an outrageous thing to ask?


    ¡°The nearest town would be Pasford, about 2 weeks of travel away, but¡­ I doubt that even there you would be able to get a map good enough for orientation, except you don¡¯t mind a crude map with no details.¡±


    No good maps, huh? That make it more difficult than it already is. In the first place, I don¡¯t have money, so reaching the town is mandatory before thinking further.


    Right as he was planning on how to get there, the girl¡¯s face brightened, as if she just remembered something.


    ¡°Right, merchants will come through this village next week. Maybe you are lucky and they have maps that they don¡¯t need anymore. Though it probably won¡¯t show your kingdom, although I had wanted to ask them about that emblem of yours. Thinking of which, how the hell did you even end up here? I was quite surprised when I suddenly saw you collapsed four days ago.¡±


    ¡°Some weird kind of teleportation magic. I don¡¯t know exactly what happened.¡±


    At the word magic, the girl¡¯s eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement.


    ¡°You are a mage? Can you teach me?¡±


    Centum shook his head closed his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a mage, just a soldier. I still need some rest though, you are right.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    It seems the girl just remembered that he was still her patient and hurriedly checked his bandages, before leaving him again.


    Holy Kingdom of Regia, huh? If I recall correctly, it was somewhere on the western side of the continent, while the Rovaerus Kingdom is in the east. I still need a map.


    According to the girl, merchants with maps would come here in a week, maybe he would even be able to join them until Pasford. With his fighting skills, he could earn money as a wandering mercenary or a guard and get a map at the town.


    Until now he had focused on survival, but now that his life wasn¡¯t in immediate danger, he was able to ponder about his teleportation to this place.


    I am fairly certain that I activated the magic¡­ but how?The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    That would be another goal for the journey to Pasford, finding out how he had activated that magic and what it was in the first place. For now, he could still wait for the merchants and regain his lost strength. The girl had also mentioned that she found him four days ago, so that meant they had to have a reasonably strong healer, as his wounds wouldn¡¯t have healed in that short time due to his enhancements mostly being gone.


    Come to think of it, he hadn¡¯t thanked her or even asked her for her name. On the other hand that mattered little to him anyway.


    *


    Aylin quickly left the room, as she was reminded that the stranger still was a person recuperating from his wounds. With an embarrassed face, she exited the house and hurried to the mayor to inform him about the man¡¯s origin and ask him about it at the same time.


    The man who opened after she knocked was a middle-aged, brown haired man with a thick brown beard and grey streaks in his hair. Though he wasn¡¯t especially tall and was just slightly taller than herself, Aylin felt that he still had an aura around him that made one respect him.


    ¡°Sir Dean, the stranger has awakened!¡±


    The mayor nodded and stepped aside to let her enter. She complied and took a seat at the table that was situated in the middle of the room. While telling the mayor about her talk with the patient, he stroked his beard and listened intently.


    ¡°Rovaerus Kingdom¡­ According to him it must be some important kingdom that many know about. So it is only reasonable to assume that he ended at basically the other side of the continent, or at least far away.¡±


    Aylin nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, but we should ask the merchants for more information. Kelrin also had doubts about him, but we have no way of knowing why or how exactly he ended up here and who he is.¡±


    ¡°Since that is the case, we should simply ask him to leave once he regains his strength. It¡¯s probably what he wants as well.¡±


    Aylin was a little shocked when she heard the mayor¡¯s cold statement, but didn¡¯t speak up as she could see some sense in it and not just simple fear or uncertainty.


    On her way back, she noticed that Granny must have come back from a patient at the edge of the village, since there was smoke coming out of the chimney of her house.


    When she entered, the smell of mushroom stew greeted her and put a smile on her face.


    ¡°Granny, did you already talk to him? He woke up earlier and even started to walk around.¡±


    Granny looked at her with a serious face and nodded.


    ¡°Indeed, I have. Though you better be careful with this person, he isn¡¯t normal.¡±


    ¡°Not normal? How?¡±


    Granny sighed and shook her head.


    ¡°I can¡¯t quite explain it, but I feel that he¡¯s dangerous. Call it intuition if you want, but when I looked into his eyes, I felt a shiver run down my spine. Let me tell you again, be cautious, Aylin.¡±


    Aylin frowned when she heard that, as she got reminded of Kelrin¡¯s doubts. First him, then the mayor and now even Granny, they all felt something was wrong. So why didn¡¯t she? Was she still too inexperienced?


    Well, for now he still is a patient and nothing else, so let¡¯s think about it later.


    ¡°Got it, I¡¯ll be careful, but he might know magic! Although he denied it, he still teleported here!¡±


    Granny sighed again and looked at her a little less serious.


    ¡°Child, if you want to learn magic so badly to even pester a stranger and patient about it, I will teach you at least a little for now.¡±


    Aylin blanked out for a second.


    ¡°Wait, really? Like, actual magic? Granny are you alright?¡±


    Granny chuckled and left the pot with the stew to get a book from her room.


    ¡°Yeah, actual magic. Though I didn¡¯t want to teach you and still don¡¯t, if that is really what you want, I will help you. But be warned, magic isn¡¯t as great a power as you think it to be. It is useful and indeed powerful, but at the same time many people envy you if you are able to successfully use it. You will make enemies with it.¡±


    All playfulness from the previous moment had now disappeared from her voice.


    ¡°I only know healing magic and even that forced me to retreat here, away from most people.¡±


    Aylin didn¡¯t dare to talk, as Granny basically never told anyone about her past or where she came from. She simply decided to live in the village some day and became known as the healer of the village, while living a quiet life.


    With a gloomy voice, she continued.


    ¡°You have a high aptitude for magic. That¡¯s why I don¡¯t want to teach you. It will be dangerous if you should ever decide to leave the village, which you will. I know you. Now, do you want to learn magic? Or do you want to continue living your normal life?¡±


    Aylin shuddered involuntarily and took a deep breath to calm down her rapid heartbeat.


    ¡°I want to learn magic, please teach me.¡±


    Granny looked at her with a warm gaze.


    ¡°Fine, start to read this book. Once you are done with the first chapter, come to me. But now, give the stranger some stew.¡±


    With a smile, the old woman put down the book and filled a bowl with stew.


    *


    Centum was silent, as he listened to the conversation between the old woman that talked to him earlier and the girl, Aylin, as the old woman had called her. Apparently the woman was the one who healed him and not the girl, as he had assumed.


    Healing magic seems useful. Since I succeded with that teleportation magic somehow, maybe healing can be a success too?


    In any case, it wouldn¡¯t hurt him to listen in to some of the lessons the girl was receiving. However, first of all, he had to find himself a new weapon and armor. Thinking that the merchants would come soon, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder about his luck.


    The next day, Centum was deemed recovered and was able to walk around freely again. Despite that, he still was allowed to stay in the guest room of the old woman¡¯s house. While taking a stroll through the village, he noticed that the majority of people looked at him warily.


    Must be because I apparently seem dangerous.


    Since the people didn¡¯t want anything to do with him, Centum left the village and built himself a makeshift wooden sword with a sturdy branch and a knife he borrowed from the girl, Aylin. Once he was done sharpening and forming it, he wrapped some cloth around the hilt and fastened it with two small nails that he drove into the branch with a rock.


    With the new sword, he was able to continue his daily training even though only partly. After about an hour of going through the different sword maneuvers, he noticed a few spectators, namely three boys from the village.


    Centum stopped in the middle of a swing and turned towards them. Noticing they had been noticed, the children flinched when they saw his glare and ran away.


    That was an unfortunate event. My reputation should be even lower soon. I need to leave here soon.


    In order to not be driven out of the village, he helped the people with some construction work or hunting, but the villagers seemingly got even more scared of him, when they saw how he killed a boar with nothing but a pebble thrown through its head.


    In the evenings, he listened in on the old woman¡¯s lessons for Aylin and started to understand its concept, however even though he understood a little, he knew he had barely scratched the surface of possibilities.


    Even if he got discovered and the villagers became hostile, he would still be able to massacre them. No training, crude techniques, no footwork at all. Convinced of his victory probability, Centum trained controlling the magic at his usual spot outside the village, but he never was able to heal more than a simple scratch from a branch.


    It was the sixth day after he woke up and he was trying out healing magic as usual when he heard the sound of footsteps and an old voice.


    ¡°So you have listened in after all.¡±


    Centum stopped his actions in an instant and went through the possible outcomes in his head. The next moment, he gripped his sword tighter.