ã€ŠA Farmer&#x27;s Strengthã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Astoria

    Chapter 1

    Dusk approached. I wiped the sweat from my brow and assessed the extent of blistering on my hands. The orange sun hung over the land, it set the sky ablaze, as it began to descend even further from man¡¯s grasp.

    I placed my hoe aside and appraised my handywork. It had taken all day, but the land was finally fully shaped and thoroughly weeded. Preparations for this year¡¯s harvest moon festival were coming along nicely and I had a good feeling about the turnips that I had been cultivating further down.

    Yet, in spite of my euphoric and satisfied state, I was torn. Should I plant regular potatoes or sweet potatoes? Both have become increasingly popular in this region, however, both require differing soil structures to grow.

    The Innkeeper¡¯s daughter Astoria loves sweet potatoes and pouts every year that I turn up to the festival with regular ones. Then again, Astoria pouts at just about every action I take. It is no surprise to me that she has passed the average marriageable age and is still without a husband.

    She did not always show such a scrupulous attitude though. When we were younger, we would frolic in the valleys with the other children and cause nothing but mischief and strife for the Innkeeper.

    I remember on one such occassion, Astoria twisted her ankle after losing her footing when we were playing near the river. Being the tomboy that she was, she refused to shed a single tear and claimed that she was capable of making her own way home. Her fiery expression is still clear in my mind, even today. As we made our way back, I heard her wince and watched her struggle to walk. It finally got to a point where she was unable to move. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Being a farm boy, who had spent his entire life ploughing and working on the farm, I had enough strength to carry her. But no matter how many times I offered her a piggyback ride, she refused. Night was beginning to draw near and fatigue hit Astoria like a hammer hits an anvil. I suggested that we make camp for the night and Astoria eventually drifted off to sleep while leaning against a large evergreen. I waited till she fell into a deep sleep and made my move.

    I placed one hand on her back and the other under her knees and gently scooped her into my arms. As expected, despite her heavy and feisty attitude, she was very light. The moon shone as I made my way back to the inn with Astoria. Her gentle breathing, combined with the natural and calming sounds of the night, filled me with warmth as I drew closer to home. My arm supported her head like a pillow and we finally made it back to the inn.

    Astoria¡¯s mother sprinted out the moment that she spotted me approaching. She claimed that she was worried sick and that the men had formed a search party to find us, fearing the worst. She took Astoria in her bosom and I explained the situation to her.

    Soon after I explained what had happened, Astoria¡¯s mother thanked me wholeheartedly and breathed a sigh of relief when Astoria woke up. At the sight of her mother¡¯s face, Astoria began to cry. Whether she knew I was present or not, is still unclear to me. She embraced her mother closely and shed tears induced by pain and fear.

    That was the one and only time that I personally witnessed Astoria Gastwirt sob. She showed a side of herself that I had never seen before. She reminded me that no matter how headstrong and stubborn she was, in the end, she, like any other child, needed her mother¡¯s warmth, when injured and unsure.

    I sighed deeply after returning from traversing the memories of my childhood. I stretched my arms and flexed my shoulders. The sun had set and I bathed in the same moonlight that illuminated the night¡¯s sky all those years ago.

    I smiled to myself at the coinciding atmosphere and pictured Astoria¡¯s pouting face. I sighed again and lowered my head in acceptance.

    It was going to be hard work, but I guess I¡¯ll go with sweet potatoes this year.

 Chapter 2 - The invitation

    Chapter 2

    A few days have passed since I planted the sweet potatoes. My crops were growing steadily and I had spent the majority of the day planting some ¡°green manure¡± in a patch of land that was unused in this years rotation. I had a habit of doing this, because it maintained the unused soil¡¯s fertility and kept both weeds and pests at bay.

    My father had taught me the importance of preserving the usability of unused soil at a young age. Apparently there was a time, where the majority of my family¡¯s land was sterile and my grandfather and father were forced to sustain and closely cultivate small patches of land, in an effort to generate a satisfactory yield. While I could never imagine a time where our land was so lifeless, I wasn¡¯t about to grant a return to such dark times, by allowing a plot of land to stagnate.

    After planting the cover crop, I called it a day and made my way back to the farmhouse to wash and unwind. I stepped through the front door and noticed a white envelope a few inches away from being at the mercy of my muddy boots. I wiped the dirt from my hands on my overalls and bent down to pick up the envelope.

    There weren¡¯t many people in the village that could read and write and I only ever received correspondence from my former school teacher, who also happened to be the current innkeeper and Astoria¡¯s mother.

    I broke the seal on the envelope and read the letter. It was an invitation. The penmanship was elegant and after perusing the contents of the letter, I was certain that it was from Mrs Gastwirt. She would occasionally invite me to dinner at the Inn. She was worried about how I spent more time working on the farm, than I did mingling and socialising with the other villagers.

    It wasn¡¯t because I was attempting to avoid other people. I just prefer to spend my time cultivating the farm and continuing the log my father had created when he inherited ownership from my grandfather. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    Despite my reluctance, I decided that I would attend. Mrs Gastwirt always treated me like family and would occasionally send me books that she had received from the travelers and merchants that lodged at her Inn.

    I was supposedly her favourite student, because whenever I read or learnt something, I would never forget it. On one sunday, during the show and tell portion of the class, I left her gobsmacked, when I recited the entire contents of my father¡¯s log for the previous week word for word. I had initially planned to read from the neatly bound book directly, but she wanted to see if I was able to do it from memory, I was.

    I placed the envelope on the counter and went to go and wash. She requested that I come round this coming sunday. It had been a while since I ventured beyond the comfort of the farm and I don¡¯t think I had any formal clothing that still fit, but I suppose I could look through my father¡¯s wardrobe and see if I could use some of his formal attire.

    After washing the muck and grime from my body and making sure to clean the dirt from under my fingers, I went into my father¡¯s room and opened his wardrobe. I made sure to switch the mothballs periodically and ensure that his clothing was kept in perfect order. I would often need to use something from here, parricularly at the time of the harvest moon festival, so it was important that these clothes remained usable.

    I pulled a shirt and an old dinner jacket out of the wardrobe. I was certain that I had used them before, but they would probably fit me better now, than they did then. I spotted a pair of matching trousers and reached for them. They seemed to have been stuck on something, so I gave them a good tug and managed to dislodge them. However, as they came out, a small wooden box fell to the ground.

    I placed the trousers to one side and reached for the box. It was a fancy looking wooden box and I had only ever seen it once. It had played a big part during the one and only time my father had lost his temper. I had been snooping through his things, looking for anything farming related and I happened upon this wooden box.

    Just before I was due to open it, my father rushed in and snatched it from me. I would often snoop around my father¡¯s things, but this was the only time my father had reprimanded me for doing so. He placed the box out of my reach and said that its contents had belonged to my mother and when the time came, he would reveal them to me.

    My father never really spoke about my mother, she had supposedly passed away, due to complications at my birth. Although I was curious about anything related to my deceased mother, I was afraid of incurring my father¡¯s wrath and soon forgot about this wooden box.

    In spite of my reinvigorated curiosity, I put the box to one side and prepared the clothes for sunday dinner at Gastwirt¡¯s Inn.

 Chapter 3 - Familiar Faces

    Chapter 3

    Sunday evening arrived and I was on my way to the Inn. I had managed to pick some ripe red apples from the apple trees growing at the furthest part of my family¡¯s land. Mrs Gastwirt liked apples. I wasn¡¯t much of a drinker, so mead and wine were both out of the question as potential gifts and since the potatoes were a ways away from being edible, apples were the best I could do.

    I spotted the outline of the Inn as I made my way down the paved walkway. It had recently been renovated and was the most modern building/structure in the whole village. I made my way to the front door and knocked.

    Since this was an Inn, it had visitors at all hours of the day and on all days of the week, it was possible to just waltz in. However, I was a non paying guest, so I felt it necessary to show some decorum.

    A few seconds passed and the wooden door opened. A short plump woman, with auburn hair and warm emerald green eyes was stood in the doorway. She made eye contact with me and immediately pulled me into a strong bear hug.

    ¡°If it isn¡¯t little Cal Hemlock, ya look more and more like your Pa every time I see ya lad.¡±

    ¡°Good evening Mrs Gastwirt, thanks for having¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh pish with the Mrs Gastwirt! How many times do I have to tell ya to call me Gladus!? We aren¡¯t in class anymore Cal.¡±

    ¡°R-right, I¡¯m sorry.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha, ya haven¡¯t changed a bit, come on in. Astoria is just round back, tending to that blummin horse of hers, I¡¯ll just go fetch her, make yourself comfortable.¡±

    With that Gladus Gastwirt scurried away. In spite of how elegant and refined her handwriting was, she was still very much a full blown village lass. The juxtaposed nature of Gladus Gastwirt was one of her most peculiar and yet endearing qualities.

    I made my way inside and sat at a table. It seems the bottom floor of the inn was empty of guests, although I was certain that there was a few stragglers in the rooms upstairs.

    A few moments passed and Gladus appeared from the back door, followed by a disgruntled looking Astoria. Like her mother, Astoria had auburn hair and emerald green eyes. Her hair was a lot longer than her mother''s and had a youthful sheen. Unlike her mother however, her emerald eyes lacked warmth, but their sharpness complimented her genteel features well. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    She had pale and blemish free skin and a mature figure. I could see why the drunken old louts of the village called her the ¡°most beautiful rose¡± in the village. However, having known Astoria my whole life, I could also tell why they always added ¡°yet thorny¡± after the word ¡°beautiful¡± each time they made reference to her.

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you. Mother why is he here?¡±

    ¡°Now now lass, I invited him over for dinner. Ya can¡¯t only see each other at the festival now can ya. Are those apples?¡±

    ¡°Y-yeah, I picked some out for¡­¡±

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t want to see him?¡±

    ¡°Oh hush now, I¡¯ll just go and add these apples to tonight¡¯s servings, the other¡¯s will be along soon too.¡±

    ¡°Others? Who else is coming?¡±

    But Gladus had already taken the bag of apples and disappeared to what I can only imagine is the kitchen. Astoria sat at the other end of the table and did her utmost to avoid eye contact with me. The silence was maddening, so I decided to see if the Ice Queen would return my greetings today.

    ¡°S-so, how have you been?¡±

    ¡°What are you doing here Cal?¡±

    ¡°I was invited over for dinner.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t normally answer my mother¡¯s invitations, in fact, you never do, what¡¯s changed?¡±

    ¡°Dunno, just remembered the pouting face of a tomboyish girl I used to know and decided that I couldn¡¯t wait for the festival to see it again.¡±

    Following this last line, Astoria turned to me, for a split second, she blushed from cheek to cheek and then pouted and turned away in embarrassment, I chuckled.

    ¡°Tch, you love to bring up the past, don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Haha, only when it¡¯s so similar to the present.¡±

    Astoria scoffed at this.

    ¡°So, what have you got planned for the festival then?¡±

    ¡°Oho, so you¡¯re finally interested in talking to me are you?¡±

    ¡°Hmph! I was more than satisfied with sitting in silence, YOU¡¯RE the one that wanted to be all chummy.¡±

    ¡°Alright, alright, calm down.¡±

    ¡°Grrrrrrr.¡±

    ¡°Haha, sweet potatoes, that¡¯s my contribution this time. You like them don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Hm, what gave you that idea? I never said that, in fact, I prefer regular potatoes,you can prepare a fine stew with regular potatoes.¡±

    ¡°Oh? I¡¯ve planted some regular ones too, I¡¯ll make sure to hand those over to you exclusively and cook the sweet ones, for yknow, people that actually enjoy them.¡±

    Astoria looked taken aback and even a little worried at this revelation. The way she tended to have how she truly felt plain as day on her face, was adorable. It was a lot easier to tease her about it when we were children, but I was happy that remnants of this trait followed her into young womanhood.

    I broke the tension by chuckling again, doing so caused Astoria¡¯s ears to show a tinged pink colour. We sat in silence again, until Gladus reappeared with a tray of food for all of us.

    She served us stew and we awaited the arrival of the other¡¯s. I had no idea who was coming, but I was looking forward to seeing some more familiar faces.

 Chapter 4 - The Looming Threat

    Chapter 4

    Gladus served a plate of hearty stew, with buttery soft rolls. She had also placed the apples that I had brought in a woven plate. She offered me a pint of mead, but I politely declined and requested some water instead.

    ¡°Mother, it¡¯s not like I care or anything, but shouldn¡¯t we wait for the other¡¯s before we start eating?¡±

    ¡°Aye, normally we would, but this dinner was meant for we three only. Dunnit remind ya of old times? I remember when ya two were wee chicks, we would always insist that Cal have dinner before the lad went home.¡±

    Gladus was right. I would often be forced to stay for dinner, after I spent the entire day being at Astoria¡¯s mercy.

    ¡°Haha I don¡¯t remember who was more insistent I stay, Astoria or you Gladus.¡±

    ¡°I was not!¡±

    Gladus smiled but her expression soon turned to one of sorrow. Before I could ascertain why she had such a forlorn expression, there was a knock on the door and a group of men and women entered the Inn.

    I recognised most of them from our interactions at festivals and during day to day trades. They were all fellow villagers, although they all held key and influential positions in the village.

    The village head was at the lead and was accompanied by two men that I had never seen before. One of the men seemed to be dressed like a soldier and the other was wearing peculiar white robes and carrying an equally peculiar white staff. I could also tell that they weren¡¯t from around these parts. Where they from a large town or maybe a city?

    ¡°Good evening Gladus, thank you for allowing us to use your Inn for this village meet.¡±

    ¡°No problem Eamonn, I hope ya don¡¯t mind, but I want my lass and the lad to be present for this meeting. They both are of age and have a right to be involved.¡±

    The village head gave Astoria and I a quick once over and nodded.

    ¡°Fair enough.¡±

    All the men and women proceeded to take seats at the various tables except the village head and the unknown men, who stood in a centralised position. I looked toward Gladus to get some sort of explanation for what was going on, but she only gave me a weak reassuring smile and looked in the direction of the village head.

    ¡°Many of you have already been informed of this, but I called this meeting to discuss the reaction that our flourishing patch of land will give in relation to what has transpired.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°Cut to the chase Eamonn, you storm my forge in the middle of sunday, with nothing more than howdya do and drag me here. What is going on?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Amos, but I¡¯m afraid the severity of the situation called for a lack of courtesy. You see, these two gentlemen have brough news. News that the Caliginous Continent, are preparing an invasion.¡±

    The curious and unsure atmosphere that exuded from those present, immediately transformed into one of shock, anger and even fear. The Caliginous Continent was halfway across the Stygian Sea. It was said that it would take at least a year to reach it by boat and that it housed all manner of dark and dangerous entities.

    The reason the mere mention of the continent surfaced such a reaction from my fellow villagers, was because of what ensued just over 3 years ago.

    A voyage had been commissioned by the royal family of our Verdant Continent. It¡¯s aim was to reach the infamous Caliginous Contient, in an attempt to potentially open a trade route between our two nations. Something as politically and financially motivated as this, would normally have never even reached the confines of our small village. However, the same ships that were sent in search of greater riches and further good fortune for the aristocratic elite, returned quicker than expected.

    Instead of returning to fanfare and a grand welcome. The ships docked as far away from the capital as was possible. They docked off the coast of the mountainous valleys that surrounded a collection of villages and small towns. Under the cover of darkness, the inhabitants disembarked and pillaged the surrounding areas for just about everything, especially young women and girls.

    At first we thought it was a group of bandits or pirates that were using guerilla warfare in an attempt to take over our villages and towns, however we were wrong. These were not bandits or pirates, they weren¡¯t even human. They were a group of goblin and orc.

    They somehow managed to commandeer the ships and sail them back to the Verdant Continent. The known occupants of the Caliginous Continent were said to be primitive and incapable of building and sailing ships. The only unity they showed was with their own kind and there was even infighting when it came to that. So the fact that a horde of goblin and orc had managed to overthrow and sail fully specked and manned vessels, was paradigm shifting.

    A request for assistance was sent to the capital, but due to the sheer distance and danger involved in traversing the continent on foot to deliver the message, it was going to be awhile before assistance arrived.

    In the meantime, a defence force of local people from the neighbouring villages and towns was formed to fight the invaders. This force consisted of town/village guards, blacksmiths, farmers, merchants, you name it. My father and Astoria¡¯s father, both volunteered to fight in this defence force. The townspeople and villagers fought valiantly to protect their homes and property, but the invader¡¯s were just too strong.

    There was a vast number of casualties and by the time real soldiers and The Order of the White Mage arrived, more than 2/3rds of the defence force was tragically killed in the fighting.

    The incoming soldier¡¯s and representatives of The Order of the White Mage managed to clean up the remnants of the invaders and the crisis was ultimately put to rest. However, a dark shadow was cast over the villages and towns that were most affected by this tragedy.

    Our village in particular lost a large number of men. Women were widowed, children were orphaned, even entire villages were destroyed. Perhaps the worst news, particularly in relation to Astoria and I, was that our father¡¯s were two of the casualties of this conflict.

    I was barely 13 at the time. If it hadn¡¯t been for the moral and emotional support I received from fellow grieving villagers, as well as Gladus and Astoria, I don¡¯t know where I would be now.

    Astoria was particularly close to her father, the impact of losing him for the 15 year old Astoria must have also been difficult. The unity and sense of community that arose from the grieving villagers and townspeople, was heartwarming.

    A yearly festival was held on the anniversary of the final day of conflict. A festival that was used to commemorate the sacrifice of the people that gave everything so that we could live. It kept their memory alive and allowed people to grieve and celebrate the peace and calm that befell after the strife.

    My mind returned from trekking through those dark times and the tension in the room broke, when the two city folk stepped forward. We all directed our attention toward them. I quickly glanced over at Astoria and saw her eyes emblazoned with hatred and determination.

    Thoughts of which crop to grow and how to best maintain the farm, became fleeting and I focused my undivided attention on the threat of a large scale battle.

 Chapter 5 - The Validity of the Looming Threat

    Chapter 5

    The soldier was the first one to speak.

    ¡°My subordinates have been sent to all four corners of the Verdant Continent, in an attempt to round up willing recruits. Naturally anyone joining up will receive a reasonable wage. The validity of this threat is still in question, so his majesty is yet to decree conscription. However, I suggest those of you who wish to learn ways of fighting back, join up before you are forced to fight regardless. I¡¯m sure a village such as yours, is well aware of the horrors of the latter.¡±

    Amos the blacksmith twitched in anger after hearing what this soldier had to say. The man came across as the no nonsense type. Although his words were blunt, there was some truth to them.

    ¡°Whadya mean the validity of the threat is in question? You came all this way in an attempt to scare us or summit? Is it more taxes you lot want?¡±

    The soldier glared at the merchant that made this statement. Before he could respond, the man in the white robes intervened. He seemed to have been around the same age as Astoria, but he had an aloof expression and came across as someone who tended to go with the flow. He had blonde hair and cloudy blue eyes.

    ¡°Now now everyone, let¡¯s not get heated ahaha. The reason the validity of the threat is being called into the question, is because we were warned of the potential threat by a Warlock.¡±

    The people at the Inn began to whisper amongst themselves. Although we were all aware of the existence of the Mages that were aligned with the prestigious Order of the White Mage and the Verdant Royal Family. Warlocks were few and far between, some even suspected them as being nothing more than a myth. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    ¡°Ahahaha, you see, the distance between our two continents, combined with the lack of shipwrights and ships in general, would make it impossible for the CC to even attempt to invade. And following the tragedy, we have never ventured toward the mysterious CC again. However, Warlocks are not bound by allegiance to anything, nor are they bound to the restrictions of time and distance. Unlike we mages that rely solely on the 4 elementals to perform feats of magic. Warlocks use other and more sinister means. The warlock that reported the threat to the Order of the White Mage, had recently returned from the CC and claimed that the various tribes and clans had unified in an attempt to cross the Stygian Sea. He stated that the mastermind behind this, was a fellow Warlock named Caliban Crowley and that Crowley is seeking to usurp the throne from the Verdant Royal Family.¡±

    What was this guy talking about? The easy going manner and almost distant way he spoke about such serious topics, rubbed me the wrong way.

    ¡°We are just humble village folk, why must we involve ourselves in a conflict that requires the use of magic?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, you see, like the Verdant Royal Army, we at the Order of the White Mage, are also recruiting. While my buddy here, is looking for soldiers to fight against the goblin, orc and imp that will most likely make up the majority of the CC¡¯s army. We at the Order of the White Mage, are opening our doors to anyone, with a high level of affinity with one of the 4 elementals, in an attempt to provide support type magic, to the brave men and women that will fight on the frontlines. We also wish to groom mages to go up against the more sinister enemies, that we are bound to encounter¡±

    From what I¡¯ve read in the books that Gladus had loaned me. The Order of the White Mage, was an elitist institution. It taught magic to those from certain Mage families. In fact, it is even sometimes argued that Warlocks came about, due to the strict and highbrow way that the Order of the White Mage, selected students and successors.

    I don¡¯t know much about the 4 elementals or whatever, but supposedly, it is possible and even guaranteed that everyone has some affinity with an elemental.

    The amount of information provided by these two was a lot to take in. The village head stepped forward and told everyone that the two men would stay in the village for a number of days. He requested that we spread the information that we received here to our fellow villagers and those of us that wanted to enlist, should seek out the two men at his home.

    The village head then proceeded to escort the men out of the Inn. time passed and eventually the remaining men and women began to trickle out of the Inn and only Gladus, Astoria and I remained.

    We sat in silence, still digesting this information. Just when I was about to break the ice, Astoria spoke.

    ¡°I will be enlisting.¡±

 Chapter 6 - Astorias Feelings

    Chapter 6

    ¡°No ya blummin ain¡¯t lass!¡±

    Gladus responded to Astoria¡¯s declaration, in a manner that was expected.

    ¡°If I¡¯d known that those two city folk were goin¡¯ta pull a stunt like that, I¡¯d have never let ya two kids listen in.¡±

    ¡°You said we were both of age mother! I am 18 years old now, I¡¯m old enough to make my own decisions.¡±

    ¡°Ya will not be trottin off to fight in someone else¡¯s poxy war. That goes double fur ya Cal Hemlock.¡±

    Gladus gave me a fierce look. The frustration of this situation, finally caused Astoria to storm out the back door. Leaving me alone with a disheartened and dismayed looking Gladus.

    ¡°Well there¡¯s a possibility that this is all just a hoax. Also I don¡¯t think the soldier will allow Astoria to enlist anyway.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think the lass has her eye on fighting with sword or axe lad.¡±

    ¡°Eh? What do you mean? Surely you don¡¯t mean that Astoria fancies herself a mage? I know our Astoria has always thought highly of herself, but there¡¯s no way that she has any more affinity with the so called elementals than you or I.¡±

    Gladus looked distraught and offered no response to my comment. Her shoulders drooped and she stared at the floor as if completely and utterly defeated. I could no longer bare to see her like this, so decided to see if I couldn¡¯t go and talk some sense into Astoria.

    ¡°I¡¯ll go and have a word with her, see if I can talk her round.¡±

    With that, I left Gladus and proceeded to find Astoria. It wasn¡¯t too difficult, because there was only one place that Astoria went when she was upset.

    I made my way out through the backdoor and walked to the stables that were a little further down from the Inn. When I arrived I spotted Astoria brushing her grey shire horse. She had gotten it as a present from her father when it was just a foal. I cautiously made my way to Astoria, making sure not to startle her into lashing out. Just when I was within speaking distance, Astoria looked up and glared at me. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°What are you doing here!? Did mother send you?¡±

    ¡°No, no! I came of my own violation, look, I am unarmed.¡±

    I put both arms in the air to demonstrate this. Astoria responded by rolling her eyes and returning her attention to her horse.

    ¡°I see Snowball has grown a lot since I last saw him.¡±

    ¡°...*brush* *brush*¡±

    ¡°W-wonderful weather we¡¯re having huh?¡±

    ¡°*brush* *brush*¡±

    ¡°Say¡­¡±

    Before I could attempt to force a conversation further, Astoria put down the brush and got up.

    ¡°Look, I¡¯m going to see if I can enlist with the Order of the White Mage. I don¡¯t care about the Verdant Royal Family or warlocks or anything else for that matter. If there¡¯s a way for me to get revenge on the monsters that took Papa from me, I¡¯ll..I¡¯ll...¡±

    Astoria¡¯s face was wrought with anger and frustration. It wasn¡¯t like I couldn¡¯t understand her mindset. I too would give anything to be able to get retribution against the beasts that took my father from me. However, before my father left for the battle, I asked him why he decided to volunteer. I asked why he was willing to put himself in such danger.

    He smiled and ruffled my hair. He said under normal circumstances, he¡¯d have never done so. He said that it was only because the threat was at his doorstep and that people he loved and cared for were directly at risk. He would personally never leave the comfort of the village or the farm, if it wasn¡¯t in order to truly protect the village and the ones he held dear.

    For some reason, I only really understood my father¡¯s words recently. My father and the other members of the defense force, fought and died, so that we could live. I wasn¡¯t about to throw my life away, and if the Verdant Royal Family wanted me to join the supposed war effort, then the only way, was to enforce conscription. Until then, I will be on my farm, living life as normal, unless the invaders reach the village gates. Only then, will I willingly answer the call to arms.

    Although I sounded like a coward, I was more than happy to be labelled as one, if it meant that I could live peacefully and ensure my father''s sacrifice was not in vain. Besides, there wasn¡¯t much I could add to the homefront, unless, they needed farmers that could efficiently grow grain or other rations.

    In spite of my reluctance in joining the fray this early on, I decided that I would at least accompany Astoria when she went to go and enlist. I might be able to convince her to reconsider, when the mage informs her that her affinity with the elementals is not high enough to join the Order of the White Mage.

    ¡°Fine, but I¡¯m going with you.¡±

    Astoria responded to this by folding her arms and turning away.

    ¡°I mean it, don¡¯t go waltzing off to meet that blond mage without me.¡±

    ¡°Hmph! Whatever, it¡¯s not like you¡¯ll be accepted into the Order of the White anyway.¡±

    I had no idea where Astoria got her confidence from, but she truly believed that she¡¯d be granted entry as a potential recruit.

    We decided that we would meet up and visit the village head¡¯s house first thing in the morning.

    Before leaving, I spoke with Gladus and told her that I would try and convince Astoria to drop her desire to rush off to war after she is turned down by the blond mage. Gladus thanked me for my help but still showed a look of concern.

    Gladus let me use an available room in the Inn to sleep. I laid awake, wondering what the future held and anticipated another hectic day tomorrow.

 Chapter 7 - The Morning After

    Chapter 7

    I awoke the next morning to the sound of birds chirping. I got out of bed and stretched. I tended to start the day by doing some calisthenics. This ensured the remainder of soreness that my body felt from the previous day¡¯s farm work, eased.

    After finishing up my morning exercise, I got dressed and made my way downstairs to meet up with Astoria and make our way to the village head¡¯s house.

    I slid down the stair banister and reached the bottom with a thud, I spotted Gladus, scrubbing tables and preparing for the working day.

    ¡°Morning Gladus, is Astoria up yet?¡±

    ¡°Cal? What¡¯re ya doing back here lad? I thought ya left for Eamonn¡¯s?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Astoria said that ya were already waiting outside when she left.¡±

    My initial confusion was replaced with complete understanding. She left without me. Damn, that girl¡¯s attitude is becoming less and less endearing by the day...

    I explained the situation to Gladus and promptly left for the village head¡¯s home. Gladus claimed that Astoria left about 15 minutes ago. I didn¡¯t peg Astoria as the type to run, so if I sprinted and took the shortcut through old lady Muriel¡¯s land, I might be able to catch up to her.

    I made my way through the brisk morning breeze and felt the wind press against my back. It was a beautiful day for farm work, however, my precious seedlings would have to fend for themselves today.

    I clambered over one side of old lady Muriel¡¯s fence, making sure to avoid waking her by making too much noise. I sat at the top of the fence and spotted Astoria walking briskly toward the crossing that led to the village head¡¯s home.

    From what I observed in my elevated position, Muriel was still in bed, so it was safe to drop down onto her property and sneak toward the crossing. I entered into stealth mode and hastily crept through Muriel¡¯s land. If I was quick enough, I may even reach the crossing before Astoria. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    I arrived at the other end of Muriel¡¯s land and waited. I peered over the fence and saw Astoria walking toward the crossing. A few moments went by and I heard her footsteps. I jumped up in an attempt to surprise her and even potentially scare her, she ignored me.

    I climbed over the fence and caught up to her.

    ¡°You left me.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Before I could continue to question her in relation to her antics this morning, we arrived. Well, we arrived to the back of the queue that is. There was a long line of people, leading to the front of the village head¡¯s house.

    I could just make out the blond mage from yesterday, giving villagers a clear crystal to hold and then apologising to them after taking it back. What was he doing?

    The soldier was standing a few feet to the left of the mage, however, there was no queue leading to him. Just when I was about to drown in the monotony of waiting, I heard the blond mage shout something at the top of his lungs.

    ¡°Step right up folks! Come and discover if you have the required level of affinity to learn magic!¡±

    I finally understood what the line was for. Having any sort of affiliation with the Order of the White Mage was considered to be a huge plus. I could understand why there were so many people here. I turned to Astoria and spotted a look of impatience on her face.

    The queue was long and I could also make out a group of village girls, huddled to the right of the blond mage. They were giggling amongst themselves and pointing at him. Occasionally he would smile at them and wave. I don¡¯t know what is was, but there was something about this guy that made my skin crawl.

    Time passed and the queue thinned. From what I gathered from watching the body language of the mage and my fellow villagers, there wasn¡¯t anyone that managed to demonstrate the level of affinity required to be recruited.

    We finally reached somewhere near the front and could overhear the conversation that the mage was having with the villagers that took the eligibility test.

    ¡°OK, let¡¯s see what we have here. According to the White Azurite Crystal. You have a 5% affinity with the water elemental Undine, Congrats! Ahahah.¡±

    ¡°D-does that mean I can learn magic?¡±

    ¡°Sadly no, but a beautiful young lady such as yourself, will have no problem in finding success elsewhere.¡±

    ¡°Y-you really think so?¡±

    ¡°I swear on the Pendragon name!¡±

    It seems the blond mage was named Pendragon and was softening the blow of failure, by complimenting and motivating villagers that had failed. Although, I noticed that he only offered this service to women below the age of 30.

    The day dragged on further and it was finally time for Astoria and I to take the test. Before Pendragon made eye contact with Astoria, I stepped between them, Astoria grumbled but decided to let it go, I¡¯d like to believe that it was her way of apologising for leaving without me this morning.

    The sun flared, I took the crystal and waited for instructions on how to test my affinity.

 Chapter 8 - Dual Affinity

    Chapter 8

    A few moments had passed since I took the crystal in my left hand. Pendragon stared at the crystal curiously, as if waiting for something to happen.

    ¡°Well, are you going to tell me how to test my affinity? Or are we just gonna stand around like lemons?¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha, well, normally the White Azurite Crystal instantly displays the affinity of the person that holds it. There isn¡¯t anything in particular that you need to do. The relevant Elemental usually manifests within the Azurite.¡±

    ¡°But nothing is happening?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve never come across a situation like this, give it here for a second.¡±

    Pendragon showed a bewildered expression, I handed the crystal back to him as requested. The moment the crystal left my hand and made contact with Pendragon¡¯s, it radiated.

    A fiery red hue emanated from the crystal. It set the surroundings alight with an impassioned glow. In spite of the animosity I had shown toward Pendragon, I was impressed by and in awe of, this development.

    ¡°Well it¡¯s definitely not the crystal, here, try it now.¡±

    Pendragon handed me the crystal for a second time. The moment I took the crystal in my hand, the intense red beam of light, instantly disappeared.

    ¡°Ahahaha, OK this is weird.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Well normally, there is some indication of affinity with an elemental. I¡¯m only at the level of an apprentice, but in the hundreds if not thousands of times I¡¯ve done this, there¡¯s never been anyone, that hasn¡¯t displayed some level of affinity with an elemental.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re saying that I have zero affinity with any of the 4 elementals?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, I guess so.¡±

    ¡°Is that even possible?¡±

    ¡°Not to my knowledge.¡±

    ¡°I see...¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, I¡¯d love for you to come back to the academy with me, so I can show my professor. He¡¯d know why the Azurite failed to react, but unfortunately, since neither of the 4 elementals manifested in the crystal at all, let alone to a satisfactory percentage, I¡¯m afraid you failed the affinity test.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    I looked toward Astoria, she shook her head and looked away in disappointment. It¡¯s not like this news bothered me. But I assumed that I¡¯d at least have some affinity. I shrugged my shoulders at this outcome and stepped aside so that Astoria could take the test. When she failed to demonstrate a ¡°satisfactory percentage¡± we would put this incident behind us and return to our peaceful lives anyway.

    ¡°Oho, I remember you from yesterday, you¡¯re the charming young lady from the Gastwirt¡¯s Inn. Arthur Pendragon, at your service.¡±

    Pendragon bowed elegantly, he then grabbed Astoria¡¯s hand and proceeded to kiss it. I initially assumed that Astoria would react unkindly to this friendly gesture, but she immediately reached for the crystal instead.

    The second Astoria had her delicate hand around the Azurite, it shone the same radiant red as earlier. Although it wasn¡¯t as intense as when Pendragon held it, it was still fierce.

    ¡°Whoa, 50% affinity with the fire elemental, Jinn...¡±

    Before Pendragon could finish his sentence, half of the crystal changed colour. It now displayed a leaf green colour, in addition to the fiery red from earlier. Although the colours were on opposite ends of the spectrum, they somehow suited Astoria¡¯s personality well.

    The red emitted from the top of the crystal and the green emitted from the bottom. It was like the crystal could tell that Astoria was red hot on the outside, yet tender and benign within.

    I focused my attention from Astoria to Pendragon and saw his mouth agape. Before I could gather the words to question his reaction, he spoke.

    ¡°D-dual affinity.¡±

    Astoria smiled triumphantly at this comment.

    ¡°50% affinity with the fire elemental Jinn and 50% affinity, with the wind elemental Sylph.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, naturally.¡±

    Astoria handed the crystal back to Pendragon, however this time it failed to showcase any light. I suppose being a fully fledged mage, meant that he could choose when to allow the elemental he had an affinity with to manifest.

    ¡°Name, what is your name?¡±

    ¡°Astoria, Astoria Gastwirt.¡±

    Pendragon finally regained his composure. He put the crystal away and signalled for Astoria to follow him into the village head¡¯s house.

    ¡°H-hey, wait!?¡±

    ¡°Dual affinity, I¡¯ve discovered someone with dual affinity¡­¡±

    Pendragon failed to notice my outburst and Astoria followed the dazed looking Pendragon into the village head¡¯s house.

    Just when I was about to pass through the arching doorway behind them, a sword blocked my path. It belonged to the soldier from earlier.

    ¡°Authorised persons only.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Step aside, I¡¯m with the girl, she''s my friend.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t let you in. On the off chance he actually finds a suitable recruit. He allows him/her to say goodbye to friends and family prior to departing, so you''ll have to wait for her back home.¡±

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    I was stunned. The soldier refused to converse with me any further and continued to deny me access to the village head¡¯s house.

    I initially came here to convince Astoria to drop her desire to enlist with the Order of the White Mage, by showing her that like many other''s, she lacked the level of affinity required to join. However, circumstances have led to the complete opposite, and I myself have been utterly emasculated in front of Astoria and Pendragon.

    I lowered my head in defeat and made my way to the Inn to report back to Gladus.

    Astoria the ¡°dual affinity mage¡± huh. What others secrets am I going to find out about the people around me?

 Chapter 9 - Gladuss Revelation

    Chapter 9

    I staggered through the hustle and bustle of the afternoon, toward Gastwirt¡¯s Inn. I was still dealing with shock from the results of Astoria¡¯s affinity assessment. My subsequent failure in attempting to convince her, to drop her desire to enlist with the Order of the White Mage, was also playing on my mind. However, there was something else that bothered me.

    Judging from Pendragon¡¯s reaction, Astoria¡¯s results were extraordinarily uncommon.

    It is my understanding, that fully fledged mages, usually hail from certain mage families. This much is evident by the many books that have been written on the subject.

    It is widely known, that these families are all closely associated with the Order of the White Mage and are given special benefits by the Verdant Royal Family. Especially if they give birth to someone that has a high affinity with one of the 4 elementals.

    I can assume that Pendragon and his fellow mages, were sent out to find people that would prove to be useful in the up and coming war. Said people, would primarily be taught to use basic feats of magic. The kind of magic that people with just the right level of affinity, but not enough to be a fully fledged white mage, could learn to use.

    It¡¯s safe to say, that they would not expect to find anyone that exceeded the criteria that was set. Let alone someone that would be able to learn a level of magic that eclipsed what they had in mind for the recruits.

    Pendragon was already impressed, when Astoria demonstrated a 50% affinity with the fire elemental Jinn. When the crystal confirmed that she had an affinity with another elemental, the threshold that Pendragon was informed to look out for, was probably exceeded.

    Ergo, I can gather that Astoria¡¯s results, do not tally with what Pendragon expected of the general populace and therefore, there is a strong possibility, that she is somehow related, to one of the mage families from the Order of the White Mage.

    I continued to ponder the possibilities and finally arrived at the Inn. I would normally knock first, but Gladus had a lot of explaining to do, so I nonchalantly opened the door.

    I spotted Gladus, serving mead to a table of fellow villagers, they must have stopped by to guzzle down a few frosty cold ones, after a long day. I made eye contact with Gladus and signaled for her to meet me in the kitchen, away from prying ears and eyes.

    ¡°Well, how¡¯d it go lad?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Gladus, but Astoria demonstrated a level of affinity, that exceeded our expectations.¡±

    Gladus grabbed a nearby chair and sunk into it.

    ¡°I knew it.¡±

    She placed her hands on her face and sat in silence. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    ¡°Knew what? Is there something you¡¯re not telling me?¡±

    ¡°W-what about ya lad?¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°Affinity, what was it?¡±

    ¡°Oh, um, well, I suppose you could say that it wasn¡¯t quite, what we expected either.¡±

    ¡°Ey?¡±

    ¡°I have zero affinity with any of the elementals.¡±

    Gladus looked up at me with a look of confusion.

    ¡°That can¡¯t be possible.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Cassandra, Cassandra said, that ya¡¯d inherit her power.¡±

    Cassandra? That was my late mother¡¯s name. Gladus continued to stare at me with a look of confusion, but soon turned away.

    Gladus sighed deeply and proceeded to reveal the truth about her lineage.

    ¡°Ya see lad, my Gran were a mage. My family come from a long line of magefolk.¡±

    My suspicions about Astoria, were somewhat confirmed.

    ¡°When I were a wee lass, my Gran told me, that she had fled her family. She never explained why, but she said that my late Grandad had summit to do with her desire to leave. Ya see lad, marriage is important for magefolk. Only thru marriage, do ya keep the strength of affinity alive. It were my Gran¡¯s decision to marry a normal person, that ensured that my Ma and me, would lack the affinity to be proper mages.¡±

    ¡°But if we go by that logic, then Astoria, should also lack the required affinity. ¡±

    ¡°Aye, I had thought that ta be the case. It were when Astoria discovered the news of her Pa¡¯s passing, that her power manifested. It shook her lad, she lost control. The fireplace erupted and a huge gust of wind sent all the tables flyin. The lass soon collapsed, but awoke with no memory of what happened.¡±

    I was stunned. Gladus was supposedly from a mage family and Astoria had somehow awakened to her latent abilities, when she was hit with the shock of her father¡¯s death. This was all too much to take in.

    I grabbed a nearby chair and collapsed on it. Wait, there was still something that needed answering. Gladus seemed to be struggling with coming to terms with the fact that Astoria was a mage, but there was something that she had yet to answer.

    ¡°Gladus.¡±

    ¡°Aye lad?¡±

    ¡°You said that my mother thought that I¡¯d inherit her power, what did you mean by that?¡±

    ¡°Oh, ya see lad. When Cassandra came ta this small village, she lodged at the Inn and she somehow knew that I were descended from magefolk. I initially thought that my Gran¡¯s family had tracked me down, but she soon explained that she were just a traveler passing through, and had fallen in love with the view and valleys in this region. She even claimed that she were considering settling in a local town or village. It didn¡¯t take long for her ta decide ta settle down here though. She met ya Pa and fell for him pretty quickly ya see. They eventually married and settled down on Hemlock Farm. The farm were sterile, it were known to be a dry and fruitless land. But when ya Ma started living there, the land suddenly became moist with life. It were this, combined with Cassandra¡¯s knowledge of my lineage, that made me confront her about also being magefolk. She never confirmed my suspicions, but also never denied them. When she fell pregnant with ya, she would always confidently say that her child, would also inherit her ability to bring life to barren and desolate land. I just put two and two together and assumed she were talking about having an affinity with the earth elemental, Gnome.¡±

    Gladus sighed deeply again. It seemed like she no longer wished to say any more.

    It was now a given that Astoria would leave with Pendragon. The validity of Crowley¡¯s threat was still uncertain, but the amount of time we had to play with, before a potential war broke out, was unknown.

    I was certain that Pendragon would take Astoria to the Mage Academy, to rendezvous with the other recruits and begin training to use the power of the elementals. Astoria, would without a doubt thrive in that environment and eventually become a fully fledged White Mage.

    I could understand why Gladus prefered her only child to stay away from any sort of danger as well as the Order of the White Mage. However, in spite of how she felt, there was no way that Pendragon was going to allow a willing prodigy like Astoria, to slip through the net.

    I sat in silence and stared at the wooden barrels of mead. My mind began to wonder and I even pondered whether I should take a swig to lighten my mood. The moment I began reaching for the nozzle of the barrel, I remembered something.

    The wooden box containing my mother¡¯s belongings

    I had no idea what I¡¯d find in there, but maybe, just maybe, I¡¯d find something that sheds more light on the current turn of events.

    I informed Gladus about what I intended to do andrushed back home.

    I hoped that by checking the contents of the box, I could potentially learn more about my mother and myself.

 Chapter 10 - The Wooden Box

    Chapter 10

    The setting sun hung loosely as I made my way back to my father¡¯s farm. I had no idea what I might find in the small wooden box, however, I was hopeful that it would clear up the mystery surrounding my mother¡¯s supposed magical background.

    Whether my mother was a mage or not, was irrelevant to me, however, every bit of information was useful at this point. I was curious as to why I had no affinity with an elemental and I was hoping that my mother left a note or letter explaining something.

    I didn¡¯t know much about her, but Gladus said that she was able to rescue the family farm from decay, so she must have been a knowledgeable lady, magical or otherwise.

    I opened the ironclad gate and raced up to my father¡¯s bedroom. The door to my father¡¯s room was always open and I continued this trend following his death. I walked inside and spotted the box on the bedside table. I had left it there after preparing the clothes for dinner at the Inn.

    I grabbed the box and sat on the bed. Time had not been friendly to this box. The wood was beginning to become discoloured and the latch was rusty. Thankfully there was no lock. I placed my fingers on the latch and attempted to raise it to open the box, it was stuck.

    I put some force into pulling the latch up, but no matter how much strength I put into it, it wouldn''t budge. Despite its rustic look, the box was firmly closed. Just before I was about to give up and find a tool that I could use to break the latch, I cut myself. It was a small cut, but a cut nonetheless. I had caught my finger on the corner of the latch and blood had trickled from my finger, onto it. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    I pulled away and was about to go and find something I could wrap around my finger to stay the bleeding, when I noticed something. The blood that had trickled onto the latch had vanished. I was certain that it was there a few seconds ago and I was also sure that I hadn¡¯t smudged it away. I curiously reached for the bottom of the latch and lifted it, it opened.

    The stiffness that prevented me from opening the box had disappeared. I slowly lifted the lid and peered inside. A silver locket emblazoned with a dark and leafless tree rested on a stack of velvet cloth. The locket sparkled in the orange hue of the setting sun. Unfortunately, there was no accompanying note or anything else for that matter. It seems this box was only housing what looked like a priceless family heirloom.

    I reached for the locket and lifted it out of the box. The second I took the locket into my hand, I felt a jolt of pain run up my arm. Before I dropped the locket on reflex, the pain instantly disappeared. It seems the cut on my finger had also stopped bleeding.

    The tree faced locket seemed to open with a press of the button that connected the locket to the solid silver chain. Something told me, that if I opened this locket, my world would never be the same. Whether it was instinct or a sense that mankind had yet to discover, it told me, that opening this locket would unlock a path that had remained closed to me.

    I stood motionless. If someone were to walk in now, they would see the light of the setting sun, transmit through the bedroom window and overshadow a stagnant young man.

    Time passed, Astoria¡¯s determined look flashed in my mind and I used my thumb to open the locket. The front of the locket opened with a hiss and the leafless tree illuminated a purple hue. Before I could even contemplate how it managed to light up like that, time stopped.

    ¡°At last.¡±

    I heard a mature and strangely familiar voice. A purple haze excreted from the open locket, it coated my body and the whole room in a violet myst. I lost the ability to move and became extremely lightheaded. I had never been able to hold my liquor, a trait that I had inherited from my father, but this feeling was a little different from being tipsy or plain drunk. I stood paralysed, just before I reached the height of lightheadedness, I blacked out.

 Chapter 11 - The Woman in Black

    Chapter 11

    I awoke. The surrounding light trickled through my blinking eyelids and I could hear the sound of birds chirping. I grabbed my mother¡¯s locket and sat up to assess the situation.

    I was in a forest. A cool breeze spread the scent of various vegetation and I felt the same breeze press against my bare skin, it was refreshing.

    From what I could tell, I was not in the forest that surrounded the valleys and hills that protected my village. The last thing I remembered, was opening my mother''s locket, everything else was strangely hazy.

    In spite of this new alien environment, I felt surprisingly at home, it was like being on my father''s farm. This nostalgic sense of belonging, made it possible for me to collect myself and avoid justifiable panic.

    I could see a whiff of smoke in the distance. I was conscious of the possibility that the people that resided there, may more than likely be unkind to outsiders. However, I needed to know where I was and more importantly, how far I was from the village.

    Just before I began to make my way towards the smoke, I spotted something emerging from the trees, it was slowly but surely approaching me. I prepared myself for whatever was to come but was taken aback when I got a better look at the figure, it was a woman.

    She was wearing a long black dress and had olive skin. Her hair was raven coloured, but when light kissed her long obsidian locks, they reflected a bluish hue. Although her overall vibe was mysterious and dark, she was bewitchingly beautiful and her presence somehow made me feel reassured.

    I spotted a small cat like creature follow closely behind her, the creature¡¯s eyes were transfixed on my throat and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. A few moments passed and she finally arrived within speaking distance. I could hear the judgemental ¡°purrrrrrr¡± of the creature, as it prowled a few feet away from us. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    The woman raised her arms toward me expectantly and smiled.

    ¡°Calcifer, my Calcifer.¡±

    I was shocked. I hadn¡¯t been called by that name for a long time. Even my father begrudgingly decided to use the nickname that I opted to utilise. In fact, there were probably only a handful of people that even knew that ¡°Cal¡± was short for ¡°Calcifer¡±.

    I gazed curiously at the lady that appeared before me. Now that she was a lot closer than before, I noticed how elegant and charming she truly was. Her features themselves were not uncommon to the Verdant Continent. In fact, her olive skin and dual toned hair were very prevalent in certain parts of the VC. Yet, it felt as if she was cut from a different cloth than normal Verdantians.

    I was aware that it was not uncommon for such people to exist, but I felt as if she hailed from a different land altogether. She continued to stare expectantly at me, as if waiting for me to say or do something.

    I collected my thoughts and decided to get to the bottom of this encounter and figure out how and why she seems to come across as if we¡¯ve met previously.

    ¡°How do you know my name? Who are you? Where am I?¡±

    She showed a pained expression at my apparent lack of recognition and bit her lower lip. The creature behind her roared momentarily but returned to prowling when she regained her composure. She took a deep brief, studied me from head to toe and spoke.

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I know your name? I was the one that gave it to you after all.¡±

    ¡°E-Eh!?¡±

    As if not being able to contain herself any longer, the woman lunged at me. My time with Astoria had taught me how to prepare for a frontal assault, however, for whatever reason, all I could do was stand in place and clench my eyes shut.

    I felt the woman pull me into an embrace. I had been hugged before, but this felt strangely similar to the hug that Gladus gave me when we found out that my father had fallen in battle. it was warm and layered with motherly affection.

    I pulled away hastily and managed to lose my footing and fall backwards. My mother¡¯s locket fell from my hand and bounced a few feet away. Before I was able to reach for it and get to my feet. The creature pounced and took the locket in its mouth. It then scurried away and proceeded to rub itself against the lady¡¯s leg. She bent down and took the locket from the creature.

    She placed the locket around her neck and the leafless tree shone the same purple colour as before. She pointed at herself and looked from the locket to me repeatedly, growing increasingly impatient with every repeat of this peculiar sequence.

    It took the 7th sequence for me to finally realise what she was getting at. I felt a shiver travel down my spineand got to my feet. She looked taken aback for a second but showed a bemused expression when I finally regained some composure.

    ¡°M-mother?¡±

    She nodded and signalled for me to follow her.

 Chapter 12 - Son of A...

    Chapter 12

    We walked through the endless forest and arrived at a small cottage. Despite the vast greenery, I felt as if the forest itself was deserted. I heard the odd sound of wildlife but there was an obvious lack of human life in the surrounding area. The smoke that I had spotted earlier, was coming from the small chimney that sat at the top of the cottage.

    I had attempted to speak to my supposed mother, but she requested that I hold all questions for now and that she would explain everything, when we arrived at the cottage.

    In spite of the similarities in some of our key features, I could tell that I had inherited most of my appearance from my father. My father was a relatively rugged and handsome man. He was the strong and silent type, and was a popular target for marriage in the village, despite raising a child from a previous partner. However, I was certain that if I had inherited my alleged mother¡¯s looks, I¡¯d overtake the village head¡¯s son, as the village¡¯s most eligible bachelor.

    I was not totally convinced that this woman was my mother, but I was so far out of my comfort zone with this whole situation, that I had no choice but to go along with what she said for now. I was also weary of the creature that continued to prowl near us. It was still staring me down, but it never came within striking distance.

    We stood at the door to my mother¡¯s cottage. I could make out a large vegetable patch to the left of the small hut. The soil looked in good health and the produce seemed to be growing steadily.

    However, something bothered me. She was growing broccoli alongside asparagus. It was near impossible to achieve a good companion crop with these two vegetables, because both of them are heavy feeders and require a large amount of calcium for a healthy crop. My mother opened the door and walked in, I stood in place and continued to ponder this anomaly.

    ¡°Are you coming in Calcifer? Don¡¯t mind old Cat Sith, his claws aren¡¯t as sharp as he wants you to believe. Besides, he is in service to me at the moment, so he can¡¯t harm you.¡±

    ¡°Eh? Ah no, I mean that thing is pretty terrifying, but I was just admiring your vegetable patch.¡±

    ¡°Ah, I see. It''s wonderful isn¡¯t it? Giving life to something and watching it slowly develop and grow...There isn¡¯t a day that I regret not being able to do the same with you, son.¡±

    The solemn expression that accompanied this statement, made me question my initial reluctance to accept that she was my mother. I tore myself away from her perfect plot of land and followed her inside. The moment I stepped through the arched doorway, my mouth dropped.

    The inside of the cottage was strikingly different to what I had expected, it was bigger on the inside. I backtracked outside and walked around the entirety of the small hut, there was no mistake, it was definitely bigger on the inside.

    I regained some composure and walked back in, this time, I heard the door close behind me. I looked up and was met with high ceilings. There was even a lavish looking staircase that led to a number of upper floors, it was even larger than the Inn. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°Purrrrffft, if this is enough to startle the boy, we may as well give up on the whole thing mistress.¡±

    Cat Sith, or whatever my mother called him, just talked. He stood up on two legs and spoke, just what was going on? None of this made sense to me. The cottage was bigger and strikingly lavish on the inside and the bloody cat just spoke.

    I knew I was a glorified country bumpkin, but I had never heard of a talking animal, and I was certain that it was impossible to make things bigger on the inside, even with the help of the Elementals.

    I looked toward my mother for help, but she just signalled for me to follow her again. She led me to the living area and asked me to make myself comfortable. She returned shortly after with some tea and what looked like stew.

    ¡°Well, dig in son.¡±

    I reached for the plate of hearty looking stew and took a bite, it was gross. Despite looking like a normal serving of stew, it tasted really bad. I swallowed the first mouthful and reached for the tea, thankfully, it was drinkable.

    ¡°Well, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s um, really nice, I had a big lunch though, so I think I¡¯ll save the rest for later.¡±

    ¡°Hahahaha, you¡¯re a bad liar Calcifer Hemlock. Unfortunately, your mother was never really good at cooking or general domestic duties, It never bothered your father though. The first time I cooked this very stew for him, he just silently ate the whole pot. I could see his face turn increasingly green as time went on, yet he powered through. He insisted on doing the cooking from then on though.¡±

    My mother smiled and poured me some more tea.

    ¡°How is Tom doing? I made him promise to give you the locket when you came of age, but you look a lot older than 13.¡±

    My heart sank. She didn¡¯t know, she didn¡¯t know that my father was dead.

    ¡°He, he passed away, just before I turned 13.¡±

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    My mother looked taken aback, she sunk into her seat and was motionless, a few moments passed and she finally spoke.

    ¡°H-how? Tom was fit and strong enough to plough his whole land by himself, I also ensured that he was free from the effects of any epidemic or disease, how did he die?¡±

    The news hit her hard, she was visibly shaken. I decided to put aside the many questions that I had for her and fill her in on what happened. There was still a part of me that didn¡¯t quite trust her, but she had shown no hostility to me so far and she ultimately had nothing to gain from pretending to be my mother.

    ¡°There was an invasion. They docked off the coast of a few nearby towns and villages. It was a horde of goblin and orc. They attacked us in the dead of night. It would take a while for help to arrive from the capital, so able men and women were asked to volunteer and fight. Father decided to fight.¡±

    ¡°...I see.¡±

    I gave my mother an opportunity to digest this new information and then proceeded to explain everything that had happened since then. I mentioned how there were rumours of another invasion and that a so called Warlock was at the centre of it all. I told her how the Verdant Royal Family were sending out Mages and soldiers to gather willing recruits. I also told her why I actually decided to open the wooden box and how I felt about the current state of affairs.

    ¡°So you see, I thought that I could get answers as to why I lacked any sort of affinity with an elemental by opening the box. I didn¡¯t expect that I would somehow end up here. Nor did I expect to meet my deceased mother, is this a dream? It¡¯s a dream right? That purple haze made me faint and I¡¯m somehow dreaming this whole thing?¡±

    ¡°This is no dream Calcifer.¡±

    ¡°Eh?¡±

    ¡°The only person that could open that box, was you. If anyone else attempted to open that box, then they would suffer a terrible fate.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Only by unsealing the latch with a blood offering, does the box open.¡±

    ¡°Blood offering?¡±

    ¡°And only the blood of the son or daughter of the Witch or Warlock that sealed it, will suffice.¡±

    ¡°W-wait...¡±

    ¡°The reason why the Elementals shun you, the reason why you were able to open the box and avoid a painful death when you made contact with the locket, was because you are my son.¡±

    ¡°You''re a¡­¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right, I''m a Witch.¡±

    "Which makes me..."

    "That''s right, you are my son. Calcifer Hemlock, you are, a Warlock."

 Chapter 13 - Mother

    Chapter 13

    I rotated both of my hands and stared at them. They were the hands of a labourer, the hands of a farmer. They were layered with calluses and both had rough patches in various places.

    Although they lacked a warm and smooth feel, they were evidence of the amount of effort and love I put into my craft. They were not the hands of some Warlock.

    In spite of my reluctance to accept this revelation, I could not deny that it all somehow made sense. If I hadn''t cut my finger, broken the seal on the wooden box and ended up here, then I probably would never have believed something as far fetched as this.

    Seeing is believing. I pinched my arm just to make sure and sure enough, this was all real. This wasn''t anywhere near my village, this woman was a Witch and I as her son, was a Warlock.

    I wasn''t completely convinced, however I''d get nowhere if I lived in denial. There were also a lot of questions that needed answering, so I decided to bury my awe and get some answers before deciding whether to wholeheartedly accept this news.

    ¡°I am a farmer¡¯s son, that is all I know, it¡¯s all I¡¯ve ever known, yet now, you appear and open the door to a part of myself that I never knew existed...Why now? Better yet, why did you leave? Why did you abandon Father and I?¡±

    My mother bit her lower lip and turned away as if ashamed. I could tell that this was the question that she wanted to avoid, but I wasn¡¯t about to let her get away without answering it. I grew up with enough love from father, Gladus and the other villagers to turn out well enough, but I can¡¯t help but wonder what it would have been like if my mother had been around, especially when father passed away.

    ¡°Purrrrrr why you insolent little brat! Do you have any idea what my mistress had to go through? The responsibilities she has!?¡±

    Cat Sith spoke, the atmosphere in the room became gaunt and I felt the hairs on my back of my neck stand on end. It seemed as if Cat Sith was eyeing my throat, I prepared myself for whatever was to come, but before he pounced, my mother spoke.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough Cat Sith, you are dismissed.¡±

    ¡°Prrr, but mistress, I¡­¡±

    ¡°I said you¡¯re dismissed!¡±

    My mother glared at Cat Sith, who responded by flinching and scurrying away at full speed.

    ¡°...Forgive him, he is a good and loyal servant, but you have every right to be given an answer to that question Calcifer. Despite what responsibilities I had, my responsibility as your mother should have taken precedence over everything. You must hate me for abandoning you¡­¡±

    My mother showed another look of despair. I tried to maintain a neutral expression but part of me couldn¡¯t bare to see her make a face like that.

    ¡°No, how could I hate you? I hardly even know you. At this exact moment in time, I have absolutely no feelings for or against you.¡±

    The pained expression turned to one of fruitless acceptance, it was as if she had expected this very answer, but it seemed that in spite of her preparedness for a response like this, it still hurt.

    ¡°However, I¡¯m sure you had a good reason and it¡¯s not like I grew up without knowing the love of a parent, so stop making that face, mother¡­¡±

    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

    My mother looked up at me with a look of surprise, I saw her attempt to hold back the tears but it looked like she was a few seconds away from letting the waterworks loose.

    ¡°N-now come on, there¡¯s no need for that, plus you still haven¡¯t told me why you left¡­¡±

    ¡°N-no, it¡¯s just, that¡¯s the first time you¡¯ve referred to me as mother, I¡¯m happy...¡±

    Technically it wasn¡¯t, but I think I¡¯ll let her have this one. A few moments passed and my mother finally regained her composure, her expression brightened up and she refilled our teacups.

    ¡°It was a few weeks after I gave birth to you. Your father and I couldn¡¯t have been more happy, you were even exhibiting evidence of being a Warlock. You see, the Sorcerer gene is not necessarily passed onto next of kin, especially if one parent lacks the gene outright, so when you displayed that you inherited it, I was happy.¡±

    ¡°I was displaying it? I don¡¯t know much about a Witch or Warlock¡¯s powers, but I¡¯m sure that I¡¯d notice if I had been displaying them.¡±

    ¡°Ah, you see, the second you displayed your powers, I sealed them. You were making a mess of the farm and your father wasn¡¯t best pleased hahaha. So I sealed them away for a time when you were old enough to exercise some control.¡±

    ¡°So why did you leave? It sounds like everything was going so well.¡±

    ¡°I received a summons, a summons from the head of the Council of Sorcery. You see Calcifer, your mother was a free spirit, I spent the better part of my life traveling the Continents and seeing the world. While other Witches and Warlocks were living a secluded lifestyle, I trotted around the globe experiencing all that there was to experience. Normally I would have refused this summons, but I had just given birth to you and decided to finally settle down with your father, so I felt that this was the perfect chance to reconnect with my kin, in case you wanted access to that part of your heritage when you grew up. ¡±

    ¡°I-I see, so something happened when you went back?¡±

    Silence befell the room, my mother took a deep breathe and spoke again.

    ¡°I was only supposed to have been gone for a few days, it was, a trap. Caliban and his cohorts had defeated the Council Elders, rounded up all the prominent Witches and Warlocks and gave us two options. Join his cause, or die.¡±

    Caliban? This guy¡¯s name was beginning to crop up quite a lot lately, just who was he?

    ¡°There is one thing that Witches and Warlocks value more than anything Calcifer, and that''s freedom. The freedom to do and live however he/she wishes. We are unlike the Elementalist who attempt to control their own kind by restricting what they can and can¡¯t do with their magic. We Sorcerers like to be left to our own devices.¡±

    Being left to one¡¯s own devices was something that even I valued. It also explained how Caliban was able to have the freedom to put his plans into action.

    ¡°So when Caliban gave his ultimatum, what happened?¡±

    ¡°The vast majority of us joined him. What choice did we have?¡±

    ¡°Nobody put up any resistance at all?¡±

    My mother pondered over this question for a while. She seemed to want to word her answer very carefully.

    ¡°There are those among us...That agree with what Caliban has in mind¡±

    So that was it. I wasn¡¯t completely familiar with Caliban¡¯s plan, however it was abundantly clear that it wasn¡¯t world peace.

    ¡°So what does he want? What does he have in mind?¡±

    ¡°He¡­*thud* *smash*¡±

    Before mother could tell me what Caliban wanted, the cottage began to shake, it started off with just one, but a few seconds passed and it was as if the cottage was being rammed from all sides.

    ¡°W-what¡¯s happening!?¡±

    ¡°Damn! I thought we¡¯d have at least a little more time. Cat Sith!¡±

    My mother bellowed for Cat SIth and he appeared out of nowhere.

    ¡°Purrrr, yes mistress?¡±

    ¡°Change of plans, they seem to have tracked us down a lot quicker than I had expected. I will send Calcifer back to the Verdant Continent, you will accompany him. Ensure he arrives there safely and then take him to Granny¡¯s house.¡±

    ¡°W-wait, I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening mother? Are we under attack?¡±

    ¡°...I¡¯m sorry son, I wish I had more time to explain, but I don''t, now that you¡¯re powers have been unsealed, it won¡¯t be safe for you to stay in the village, Cat Sith will help you when you get back, listen to him.¡±

    ¡°W-wait I¡­¡±

    Before I could say another word, a purple myst excreted from the locket around my neck. The entire room became surrounded in a thick fog, I lost the ability to move and I felt light headed. A few moments passed and I felt as if I was falling through an empty lifeless void.

    ¡°Purrrr get up foolish boy.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Purr, I said get up!¡±

    I felt something sharp dig into my arm and sat bolt upright. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust, but when they did, I realised that I was back in my father¡¯s bedroom. The orange sun hung loosely in the sky as I gingerly got to my feet and cleared my head.

    ¡°W-what was that...Mother!?¡±

    I felt a chill go down my spine as I pondered my mother¡¯s fate in the face of that onslaught. I was about to open the locket again when I felt another sharp pain, this time it was in my left leg.

    ¡°Prr, relax, opening that won¡¯t do anything, my mistress will be fine, there isn¡¯t a single person in this world that could give her any trouble. You on the other hand, you¡¯re a liability.¡±

    I finally looked down and spotted the source of the pain and noise. Cat Sith was standing there with a disinterested look on his face. I stared at the bemused feline for a few moments and wondered just what I was going to do from now on.

 Chapter 14 - Goodbye

    Chapter 14

    ¡°Prrr, well? Are you going to just stand around like a lemon, or are we going to start making our way to Madame¡¯s dwelling?¡±

    Cat Sith¡¯s words brought me back to my senses. Mother said that she wanted Cat Sith to escort me to ¡°Granny¡±. I hadn¡¯t truly decided on whether I was going to involve myself with all this, but I was beginning to feel as if I didn''t have much choice.

    ¡°Prrrrrr, didn¡¯t you hear what my mistress said? It¡¯s not safe for you here anymore. Start collecting what little belongings you can carry and let¡¯s go. Prrrrrr, you smell so bad! I was wondering why the very sight of you irritated me, now that mistress unsealed your powers, i finally know why.¡±

    ¡°W-what do you mean it¡¯s not safe? Will Caliban¡¯s people be able to track me down now that my powers are no longer hidden?¡±

    ¡°Caliban? Prrrrahaha, he¡¯s the least of your worries boy. It¡¯s only a matter of time before, they come.¡±

    ¡°They?¡±

    ¡°The Bane¡±

    ¡°The what?¡±

    ¡°The Bane. Elementalist or Mages as you call them, attract the Elementals. Witches and Warlocks on the other hand, they attract the Bane.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand?¡±

    ¡°Prrrr, in layman¡¯s terms, a Bane is a creature that forms a pact with a Witch or Warlock. In exchange for sustenance, the Bane offers its services. I am said creature.¡±

    ¡°Ah so you¡¯re the Bane that serves my mother?¡±

    ¡°Prrr, I am one of many. The amount of Bane a Witch or Warlock can have a pact with depends solely on the strength of said Witch or Warlock.¡±

    ¡°I-I see.¡±

    ¡°Prrr, it also depends on affinity, the reason why I can¡¯t stand the sight of you is because our affinity is bad. It¡¯s made worse by the fact that your powers were sealed for so long. The stench of your magical aura is strong. Look, I¡¯ll prowl the perimeter and ensure that no blood thirsty Bane makes it through to you, make the necessary preparations and call for me when you¡¯re ready to go.¡±

    With that, Cat Sith disappeared as if he was never there to begin with. Bane huh? I took my Mother¡¯s locket into my hand and gave it a squeeze for some reassurance. I guess it truly was no longer safe here.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    I gathered some clothing and other bits and pieces and placed them inside a bag. I scurried around the house, ensured that every door was locked and made sure that all valuables that I couldn¡¯t carry where hidden. I rounded everything off by grabbing my fathers old log book and placing it inside my bag. I had no idea what use it would be, but the sentimental value alone was enough for me to want to keep it close by.

    I walked downstairs and placed my hand on the front door knob, when I remembered something or someone, Astoria. The whole reason I opened the locket, was to see if I could somehow go with Astoria to the White Mage Academy. It all felt so long ago that I almost doubled back.

    I stood in place and pondered what options I had. Leaving without saying a word to anyone wasn¡¯t ideal, but it wasn¡¯t like I had much choice. I also had to wonder whether Pendragon would be able to identify that I was a Warlock now that my powers were unsealed.

    A few moments passed and I heard voices, my heart rose into my mouth. I heard Astoria and Pendragon¡¯s voices from beyond the house gates. They were coming here, why? Why were they coming here?

    ¡°Ahahaha, this is his farm? Wow, he has a very robust growth cycle.¡±

    ¡°Hmph, is that so.¡±

    What the hell are they doing here? Better yet, how long have I been gone? It feels as if it''s only been a few moments but could it have been longer? I ran to the window and spotted them making their way to the front door.

    ¡°*knock* *knock* hello! Anyone home?¡±

    Damn, what should I do? Maybe if I pretend I¡¯m not home, they will just go away, so much for prowling the perimeter Cat Sith.

    A few moments passed and the voices from behind the door disappeared, just when I was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the door burst open and Astoria¡¯s fiery expression appeared.

    ¡°I was getting tired of waiting.¡±

    ¡°Ahahaha, sorry to bother you but¡­¡±

    Pendragon stopped mid sentence and glanced at the locket around my neck. He took one good look at me and smiled as if coming to some sort of realisation. The way he was looking at me was beginning to make me feel uneasy.

    ¡°On second thought, nevermind, come along Astoria, we¡¯re leaving.¡±

    ¡°What? Isn¡¯t he coming with us? What did we come all the way here for then?¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, just a pit stop on the way to the Academy, come along, we need to stop at another village on the way.¡±

    ¡°Wait...Could you leave us alone for a bit, Arthur.¡±

    Astoria¡¯s words took us both by surprise. Pendragon thought about it for a few seconds and nodded, he then proceeded to walk back toward the outskirts of the farmhouse. I invited Astoria inside and closed the door behind her. I led her into the sitting room and an awkward silence befell.

    ¡°So you¡¯re going with him huh.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you got Gladus to come around hahaha.¡±

    ¡°Come with us¡­¡±

    ¡°W-what?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you have affinity or not, you should come with us. Together we can get revenge on those filthy Orc and Imp.¡±

    Astoria had a mad look in her eyes. Her face was showing a look of pure hatred and I could tell that she was beyond the point of being reasoned with. It was out of character for her to openly make a request, so it was difficult to respond by using humour as a shield like I usually did.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Astoria, but I can¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°Why not!? I said that it doesn¡¯t matter that you don¡¯t have affinity, so why?¡±

    Going by how Pendragon reacted to seeing my locket, I could tell that my kind wasn¡¯t welcome in the world of Magefolk. The fact that he turned a blind eye to his realisation of my true self was troubling though.

    Astoria was beginning to lose her patience and was seconds away from storming out.

    ¡°Fine! Rot on this God forsaken farm for as long as you want. This is the last time that you will see me Calcifer Hemlock, goodbye.¡±

    Astoria got to her feet and stormed toward the front door, she took one last look at me before opening the door and slamming it behind her.

    I sat back in my seat and took a deep breathe. Something told me that this wasn¡¯t going to be the last time that I saw Astoria and Pendragon. However, it would most likely be the last time we met on somewhat friendly terms.

 Chapter 15 - Left & Right

    Chapter 15

    The setting sun set and was eventually replaced by the majesty of a crescent shaped moon. I closed the farmhouse front door and gazed at what had been my home for so many years. The memories of running around the house, causing nothing but trouble for my father played in my mind and the emotion of having to turn away from the place I thought I¡¯d spend my entire life residing in, was overwhelming.

    I walked briskly over to the farmland to get one last look at the plot of land that kept me going after my father¡¯s death. The thought of leaving my crops unattended to wither and die was maddening. However, I wanted to at least preserve the memory of my perfect plot of land while I still could.

    I stepped onto the plot and inhaled the smell of freshly maintained soil. I reached down and uprooted a turnip that was days away from being perfectly grown. The second the turnip emerged from the ground however, it withered away into dust.

    Without thinking, I uprooted another one and this time, the turnip disintegrated moments after making contact with my hand. I continued to yank turnips from the ground at an alarming rate until none remained. I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn¡¯t just seeing things but sure enough, all my turnips had withered and died.

    ¡°W-what is this!?¡±

    I ran to where my tomatoes were planted and repeated my actions, The ripe red tomatoes blackened and decayed immediately after I made contact with them. This occurrence was beginning to send me into a panic. I ran to various parts of my farmland and where ever I¡¯d go, the result was the same. My precious produce would wither away into nothingness with only a touch.

    The last remaining spot that was free from my death touch was where I had been growing the sweet potatoes for the Harvest Moon Festival. I hesitantly approached them, they were nowhere near ready for picking, but I bent down and dug one out. I closed my eyes as I pulled it out of the ground, I half expected it to disintegrate like the others, but unlike before, it didn¡¯t. I slowly opened my eyes and witnessed a spectacle that almost made me drop the potato. It grew, in fact, it grew to the point of being ready for use in cooking. I rolled the perfectly grown potato in my hand and wondered what was different to before, then it hit me.

    Unlike when I had been uprooting the crops earlier, I only touched the potato with my right hand, the other produce were plucked through the use of my dominant left one. To test my theory, I tossed the potato into my left hand and my suspicions were confirmed when it withered and died the instant that it made contact with it. I stood in place for a few moments and pondered this outcome.

    ¡°Purr, having fun?¡±

    I could just make out Cat Sith slowly making his way toward me, he was covered in blood and his fur was wild and spiked. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°W-what happened to you?¡±

    ¡°Purrft, you should have seen the other guy, besides this blood is not mine. As much as I enjoy hunting, I think it¡¯s time we left, there will be another hoard of Bane due any moment.¡±

    ¡°Why do they want me so badly? Also, why did you let those two Mages make it through to the farmhouse?¡±

    ¡°Prrr you¡¯re a hot commodity, until you bind a Bane to you, there will be many that will hunt you down. It¡¯s like I said before, your powers have just been unsealed, so your stench reaches the four corners of the world. Two Elementalist? I only spotted one, the girl. I allowed her through so you would be able to say your goodbyes.¡±

    So he allowed Astoria through, why did he know that we were acquainted?

    ¡°Prrr, stop making such a confused face, in the early days, mistress requested I check up on you occasionally, fortunately I was freed from such a burden when the situation changed and it became difficult to travel between continents. That is how I knew that she was your mate.¡±

    ¡°Whoa, whoa, hold it, we don¡¯t have that kind of relationship, I mean...not yet at least.¡±

    ¡°Prrrahahaha, forget her boy, she¡¯s an Elementalist now, besides, I can name an endless number of Witches and all manner of Bane that outclass her in attractiveness. Our kind do not mix well with hers.¡±

    Cat Sith took a good look around the farmland and nodded to himself. He then signalled for me to follow him and we began to make our way toward the dense forests that surrounded the area where the village was located.

    I walked behind the devilish cat and pondered whether I¡¯d ever be able to see Astoria¡¯s pouting face again. I knew we¡¯d cross paths in the future, but there was no telling how much further she¡¯d fall into the pit of anger and hatred by then. Would the remainder of her girlish charm disappear and be replaced completely by ruthless misdemeanor?

    ¡°Cat Sith, why is Caliban using Orc and Imp in his invasion plan? Surely he¡¯d be strong enough without them?¡±

    ¡°Prrr, Orc and Imp? Oh, that¡¯s what you Verdantians call them, those of us from the Calliginous Continent refer to them as lower class Bane.¡±

    ¡°Wait, Orc and Imp are Bane?¡±

    ¡°Purr, of course.¡±

    Before I could question him further, Cat Sith stopped in front of a mighty oak tree. Despite looking huge and healthy, I could tell there was something off about the tree. It was emitting an uneasy aura and there was a small circular hole about 6 feet above the base of its roots.

    ¡°Prr this is the one. It hasn''t been used for a while, but it should be able to get us to where we''re going.¡±

    Cat Sith got on two legs and drew his claws, he proceeded to carve a symbol on the tree and placed his paw over it. A few moments passed and the carving evaporated into the tree bark.

    ¡°Prrr place the locket into the hole.¡±

    Cat Sith stepped aside and beckoned for me to place my mother¡¯s locket into the allocated spot on the oak tree. I hesitantly approached the tree and placed the locket in the allocated space.

    A few seconds passed and the locket began to exude a purple hue, the tree became illuminated and before the entire tree was drowned in a purple shade, an arched doorway appeared in the middle of it, with the locket at its centre.

    If it wasn¡¯t for all the stuff I¡¯d seen up till this point, I would probably have stood slack jawed at this sight.

    ¡°Prr come along now, the fact that Madame gave us leave to enter is in of itself a miracle, we must cross the threshold before she changes her mind.¡±

    With that, Cat Sith opened the door and walked through. I stared at the doorway for a few more seconds, before tentatively stepping through and closing it behind me.

 Chapter 16 - Walburga

    Chapter 16

    It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the change in environment. We were in another forest. The moon was now a hazy purple, the sky was tinged violet and it was slightly colder. Unlike the lush evergreens that spread across the forest that surrounded my village, the trees here were dark and crooked.

    ¡°Where are we Cat Sith?¡±

    ¡°Prrr, Madame¡¯s territory, Caliginous Continent¡±

    ¡°W-we travelled across the Continents just now!?¡±

    ¡°Prr, yes, we were able to use a dormant archway.¡±

    ¡°I-I see.¡±

    I had decided to keep all the questions I had for when we actually reached where we going, but all this stuff was beginning to become overwhelming...

    I looked at my hands and remembered what happened on the farm before we set off for this place. Thankfully, there were no further incidents of things turning into dust. I had no idea why simply touching my crops caused them to disintegrate or grow, however, it seems this effect was redundant when it came to other things. Plus I wasn¡¯t worried. If there was something to worry about, then I¡¯m sure mother or Cat Sith would have told me.

    ¡°Say, Cat Sith.¡±

    ¡°Prrr, hn?¡±

    ¡°Earlier, on the farm, when I uprooted some produce, they turned to dust when I touched them with my left hand, however, when I used my right hand, it had the opposite effect, that¡¯s normal for a Warlock right?¡±

    ¡°Prrr, no.¡±

    ¡°W-what! What does it mean then? Am I gonna be OK!?¡±

    ¡°Prr, my Mistress made no mention of your magical prowess, it could have just been a one off reaction caused by the build up of magical pressure. It is your own assumption that holding the produce in differing hands caused them to react differently. You may be the son of my esteemed Mistress, however that does not make you remotely special.¡±

    Something told me that this guy wasn¡¯t fond of me...We walked in silence and I stopped thinking about the incident on the farm. Nothing had happened since and maybe it was just a one off like Cat Sith rudely stated.

    We reached the centre of the dense forest and Cat Sith came to a halt. I could spot a small cottage up ahead and could just make out puffs of smoke escaping the chimney.

    ¡°Prrr, this is where I take my leave.¡±

    ¡°Eh? You¡¯re not gonna at least introduce me to this person?¡±

    ¡°Prrr, my mistress ordered me to escort you here safely, I have done so. There are also no Bane in the vicinity, so it¡¯s perfectly safe for you here, with that, I will take my leave.¡±

    ¡°N-no, wait!¡±

    Before I could muster a fumbled response, Cat Sith disappeared.

    After standing motionless for a few moments, I took a deep breath and made for the cottage. The cottage was similar to my mother¡¯s in shape and size, so I assumed that it would be bigger on the inside.

    I reached the wooden front door and knocked, there was no answer. I waited a few moments and knocked a second time, on this occasion I heard the lock on the door click and unlock. The door then proceeded to open and sit slightly ajar. I knew better than to just walk in without permission, so decided to call out for someone.

    ¡°H-hello, can I come in?¡±

    ¡°Where¡¯s the kitty?¡±

    A gravelly voice came from within the cottage. The voice sounded like it belonged to an elderly person, however there was strength behind it.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°U-um, he said that he would take his leave after escorting me here safely.¡±

    ¡°Damn that elusive feline! I thought Cassie sent him to recruit me again. I already told her I¡¯d join if she¡¯d relinquish ownership of that cat. What are you doing here boy? He didn¡¯t just leave you here did he?

    ¡°He was just told to escort me to Granny¡¯s House.¡±

    ¡°Granny!? Who you calling Granny? You are testing my patience boy, leave!¡±

    A pressure exuded from within the cottage, it sent chills down my spine but I couldn¡¯t turn back now, Cat Sith had already left and I had no idea how to leave on my own accord.¡±

    ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, those were mother¡¯s words, not mine.¡±

    As if a reaction to that last statement, the pressure stopped.

    ¡°Mother?¡±

    ¡°Yes, my mother, Cassandra.¡±

    A short silence followed after this revelation and the door swung fully open. I hesitantly stepped into the cottage and was met with a surprising sight. It wasn''t bigger on the inside. It was a normal cottage, however there was a dark green door toward the back of the open plan sitting room.

    There was a fireplace toward the right of the room. A cloaked figure was sitting in a rocking chair smoking a pipe. Her back was toward me but it still felt as if she was staring directly at me.

    ¡°Prove it, prove that your her child.¡±

    I slowly approached the figure. The closer I got, the harder it became to breathe. Just what was in that pipe? I stood in front of the hooded figure and raised my mother¡¯s locket so she could see it in the light of the fire. I couldn¡¯t quite make out her face under the hood, but there was enough light for her to verify that the locket was my mothers¡¯.

    ¡°That¡¯s Cassie¡¯s alright, who are you?

    ¡°Hemlock, Calcifer Hemlock¡±

    ¡°Hemlock? So the rumours were true...¡±

    The figure pondered something for a few moments and then turned toward me. Her breathing was haggard and she seemed to be shaking erratically under her cloak.

    Another few seconds passed and then she took off her hood and revealed a wrinkled, dried up and tired face. She studied me with sharp crimson eyes and smiled to reveal rows of fang like teeth.

    ¡°You¡¯re a lot more handsome than I thought you¡¯d be kid.¡±

    ¡°T-thanks¡­¡±

    Her expression was beginning to morph into a wicked one and her fixed gaze was becoming more and more uncomfortable.

    ¡°So boy, what do you want from me?

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t know, mother told me to come here.¡±

    ¡°...Don¡¯t play around boy, if you have no business with me, then conjure your Bane and leave.¡±

    ¡°I-I don¡¯t have a Bane¡­¡±

    ¡°W-what, you crossed into my territory without a Bane of your own?¡±

    The cloaked figure began to mumble to herself, she scratched her chin and smiled wickedly. She reached her boney arm toward my left hand and flipped it over. The lifeless shrivelled skin felt cold against my left palm. She used her stick like fingers to trace the lines that spread across my hand. I finally processed this weird turn of events and pulled away from her.

    ¡°Heh, heh, heh, well played Cassie, well played. Alright boy, the names Walburga, you will call me Master from now.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°You have potential kid, Cassie sent you to me because she knew I wouldn¡¯t be able to resist taking you on as a pupil.¡±

    Walburga continued to grin wickedly and her expression told me that she was planning something. Was what she said true? Did mother send here to learn sorcery from this woman?

    ¡°You see kid, normally she¡¯d teach you herself, but I guess she wanted to do the smart thing and send you to someone who would...understand your abilities better.¡±

    Walburga placed her boney finger on her chin again and became lost in thought.

    I allowed her to mull things over and pondered my own situation. After making it here safely and avoiding contact with a blood thirsty Bane, I realised just how crazy all this was. It was like my entire world had been flipped upside down and I was just being dragged along by the winds of change.

    What surprised me the most, was that despite her appearance, Walburga didn¡¯t scare me at all. I don¡¯t know why, but it was as if I could see the shadow of a beautiful lady trapped behind Walburga¡¯s wicked appearance. The shadow stared at me with an empty expression, it looked devoid of hope and appeared lost and...alone.

    ¡°OK boy, the first thing we need to do is get you a Bane, then¡­¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Walburga looked taken aback at my outburst but it was about time I attempted to regain some control of the pacing of these events.

    ¡°What if I don¡¯t want a Bane? What if all I wanna do is return to the life I¡¯d been leading up to this point?¡±

    ¡°Oho, aren¡¯t we ungrateful...Looks like we have a lot more in common than I thought heh heh heh.¡±

    ¡°Ungrateful?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve been blessed boy! Blessed with the ability to to reject and annul all types of magic. An ability that is the rarest of the rare. You have, the Lich''s Touch.¡±

 Chapter 17 - The Twilight Tower

    Chapter 17

    The Lich¡¯s Touch. The ability to null all types of magic with just a touch.

    Walburga allowed me a few moments to take in this new information and then signalled for me to take a seat in a nearby chair. I hesitantly sat down and stared at my left hand for the nth time that day.

    Thinking back to the incident on the farm I realised what had happened. Gladus said that my family¡¯s farmland was barren before my mother showed up. It was obvious that mother used magic to make it fertile. Since my powers were no longer sealed, I was able to cancel out the enchantment on the farmland and subsequently annul the miraculous produce that it had grown. If this was true, then this was bad. Mother wasn¡¯t joking when she said I was making a mess of the farm when my abilities surfaced in my childhood.

    ¡°What¡¯s the matter boy?¡±

    ¡°Walburga, if what you say is true, then does that mean that I¡¯ll never be able to grow anything on my farmland again?¡±

    ¡°What are you talking about foolish boy?¡±

    Walburga was beginning to gingerly rise from her seat. She seemed to have made my decision to become her pupil on my behalf, because she was showing a wicked smile and was mumbling to herself.

    My precious farm would never be the same again¡­

    I would need to get some control over this power to ensure that the meticulous soil structure and well maintained saplings were upheld. Just when thoughts of my farmland took over completely, it hit me.

    I outstretched my right hand and showed it to Walburga. She hesitated for a moment and grabbed it to trace over the lines like she did with the left. The second Walburga¡¯s boney finger made contact with the lines, she scoffed and pulled away.

    ¡°I was able to make plants grow when I touched them with my right hand.¡±

    ¡°tch, I can¡¯t sense anything special here boy, come along now.¡±

    The news hit me hard cause it meant that what happened back then was just a one off. It was looking like the only way to get some control over this new cursed ability and refrain from doing damage to my beloved farm, was to go along with Walburga, at least for now.

    Walburga slithered to the green door at the back of cottage. She adjusted a round technicolour wheel to the right of the door, which made a loud click sound. The door opened and Walburga waited impatiently for me to reach her.

    ¡°You coming or not?¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    I shrugged my shoulders and made my way toward her. I had made it this far and it wasn¡¯t like i could go back to living a normal life, especially with this stupid rediscovered power.

    Walburga walked through the doorway and I followed after her. As expected, the green doorway led to an entirely different location. Witches and Warlock probably saved a lot on carriage travel...

    We emerged at the bottom of a grey tower. We were inside and the walls were surrounded by a winding staircase. I could just make out the stain glass windows that appeared periodically along the route to the top.

    Walburga stood on the bottom step of the staircase and pointed to my feet. I looked down for the first time and spotted a huge slab of symbols and markings, they were aligned perfectly and the entire floor was covered in them.

    ¡°Well boy, summon your Bane.¡±

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°We are in the Twilight Tower, young Witches and Warlocks come here to get their first Bane. make an incision on your left index finger and press it on the centre of the summoning circle.¡±

    I approached the centre of the circle and dug my nail into my left index finger. It was having no effect at drawing blood. A few moments passed and Walburga¡¯s face became distorted with annoyance, her continued impatience told me that she wasn¡¯t going to make a good teacher...

    Another few moment passed and I pulled out my father¡¯s log. The paper would do the trick and my suspicions were confirmed when a paper cut materialised.

    My index finger oozed with droplets of blood and I pressed it down on the centre of the summoning circle. A second or two went by and finally the markings on the ground began to shine. They pulsated all the colours of the rainbow and then settled on a blinding white colour. I felt something within me surge and was overcome with the feeling of infinite power. My vision became blurred and the piercing white light took over all my other senses.

    The entire tower disappeared and I was in a neverending world of white. The shadow of a figure appeared in front of me. It studied me closely shook its head and vanished. The figure was then replaced by another, the same sequence continued for what felt like a lifetime, an assortment of figures appeared periodically, some of them were humanoid, others were not, they studied me for differing lengths of time but all ultimately shook their heads and vanished.

    It got to a point where my sanity was fading, it was beginning to feel like I''d be here forever.

    Finally, as if sensing my restlessness, another figure appeared. The figure was humanoid, except the outline of huge bat like wings extending from its back was visible. The shadow it cast was elegant and feminine. Although it was a mere shadow, its presence was regal and domineering.

    Unlike the others, the figure stuck around for more than a few moments. It raised its delicate fingers and placed them on its chin. Every action the figure took was dignified.

    Some more agonising moments went by and finally the figure decisively nodded. It adjusted its posture and glided toward me gracefully, right before it made contact with my stagnate self, it disappeared along with the neverending white world.

    I opened my eyes and was back in the tower, covered in sweat. I looked up toward Walburga and noticed that she had a look of astonishment on her wrinkled face. Following her line of sight made me turn around to get a look at what left her mouth agape. The instant my eyes made contact with it, I fell to my knees in shock.

    It was on that day, that I ceased being a simple farm lad, it was in that moment, that I first met...her.

 Chapter 18 - My First Bane

    Chapter 18

    My breathing was haggard, fatigue hit me like a hammer hits an anvil and It felt as if I¡¯d been ploughing the fields for three days straight...However...it wasn¡¯t my tired body that took my breath away, or made me weak at the knees.

    Standing in the same elegant pose as when we were in the neverending white world, was the figure that I had seen. Her bat like wings spread across her back and she stood floating in place above the ground, as if rejecting it. Her skin was blue-gray and blemish free. She had lustrous silver hair that flowed down her back. The whites of her eyes were inky black and her pupils were a luminous gold. With features as sharp as a kukri, she gazed down at me.

    We stared at each other for a few moments. Energy finally returned to my legs and I stood up. As if seeing this as her chance to finally regain some control over the situation, Walburga spoke.

    ¡°W-what are you doing fool! Bind her to you now! Don¡¯t let her escape! Outstretch your hand and call her name!¡±

    Walburga¡¯s eyes were laced with madness as she spat out this order. It seems to ¡°bind¡± her to me, I¡¯d have to call out her name, there was just one problem with that¡­

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know it.¡±

    The figure raised her delicate fingers to slide a few silvery strands of hair behind her slightly pointed ear. Her voice was graceful and dignified and she was effortlessly able to regain control of the pace.

    Another few moments went by and nobody said a word. This whole situation was beginning to drag so I decided to do the only logical thing and introduce myself.

    Despite having a domineering presence, she was shorter than me. I faced toward her fully and took another long look. Her age wasn''t something I could pinpoint, but her aura and figure indicated that she was at least the same age as Astoria, if not older. A round necklace made up of miniature skulls hung around her neck and she was wearing a tightly fitted leg cut black dress. I caught her eye and held her gaze.

    ¡°I am Calcifer Hemlock, I suppose I am the one that summoned you. This is my master Walburga....¡±

    ¡°Summoned me? Hah! You are mistaken Calcifer Hemlock, I came here of my own volition. You think that someone as green as you could conjure meand attain ownership of my services? Laughable. ¡±

    The figure briefly glanced at Walburga.

    ¡°So this is what¡¯s become of Walburga the Wise, pitiful...Looks like your obsession with power and knowledge has led you down a path of ruin.¡±

    ¡°What was that girl!? Who do you think you¡¯re talking to!?¡±

    Walburga snapped her boney fingers and an ominous red ring materialised around the figure.

    ¡°If you don¡¯t start showing me respect girl, I will have to resort to teaching it to you the hard way.¡±

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.¡°Hm, pathetic.¡±

    With a simple wave of her hand, the ring surrounding the figure disappeared. Walburga looked taken aback for a few seconds but regained her composure and was about to do something else...

    ¡°STOP!¡±

    The heat and bloodlust that was beginning to surround these two was now directed toward me.

    ¡°L-let¡¯s calm down eh? Ummm, well if I didn¡¯t summon you...why did you come here?¡±

    ¡°Hm, I felt a compatible source of nourishment. A surplus of Lich Essence was discharged from this location, paying particular mind to Walburga the Unwise over there, I can safely assume that it came from her, if that¡¯s the case, then I will¡­¡±

    ¡°Why I outta!¡±

    The figure turned away and looked as if she was preparing to take her leave and Walburga was edging closer to another furious outburst.

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    They both stopped and turned around to reveal looks of irritation.

    ¡°I grow tired of these stoppages, Calcifer Hemlock...¡±

    ¡°That discharged whatever, was mine. I was attempting to summon a Bane. You¡¯re lying...the one that summoned you WAS me, I saw you, in that neverending world of white. When I felt as if I would be stuck there forever, you appeared and helped me return here.¡±

    ¡°So...what of it? I didn¡¯t give you my name in the Realm of Quandary, You can¡¯t bind me to you, if you don¡¯t have my name.¡±

    Something about her way of thinking reminded me of a certain someone...I cursed my luck, flashed a wry smile and thought back to the white world.

    Now that I had calmed down a little, I remembered something. Along with shaking their heads and vanishing, the figures in that world also verbally rejected me. They would state something like ¡°I xxxx am not worthy¡±. I was too enthralled in the suffocating atmosphere of that place, that I had overlooked this.

    The hundreds, if not thousands of names began to circulate in my mind, they were all slowly coming back to me.

    I replayed the appearance of every Bane in my mind and worked my way toward the moment where she appeared. My memory had always been a strength so it was easy to recollect every single encounter.

    Finally the point where she appeared in front of me in the white world surfaced. I focused in on that moment and tried my utmost to remember. There hadn¡¯t been an occasion where someone didn¡¯t give me their name, so it was probably necessary to do so before appearing or disappearing. The moment where she nodded and flew toward me played back in my mind.

    Sure enough, she didn¡¯t say her name like the others, she mouthed it...it was blurry but the sight of her moving her lips after saying ¡°I¡± was on constant playback in my mind¡¯s eye. What was her name?

    The reasons why she tried to make an effort to deny that I summoned her was unknown, however...there was a loneliness in her eyes, a loneliness that I had seen a little too often recently. Plus she was able to dispel Walburga¡¯s magic so she must be pretty resourceful. One way or another, I¡¯d make her mine.

    Another few agonising moments passed and the sweat on my brow was becoming increasingly visible. The figure¡¯s patience was beginning to wear thin and she turned away for what could have been the last time. She parted her bat like wings and prepared to ascend to the upper echelons of the Twilight Tower.

    My mind raced as it attempted to piece together every syllable of her name. Frame by frame, letter by letter, it was becoming clear, until finally, it was complete. It wasn¡¯t a name that I had heard before, but I was certain it was hers. The scene replayed one last time in my head and I made my move.

    She was in the latter part of her ascent, when I reached out and called for her, for the first time.

    ¡°Va...Vasilisa!¡±

    ¡°H-huh!?"

    A piercing white light extended from my outstretched hand and surrounded Vasilisa. I felt something inside me surge and knew that it had been done. Vasilisa had been bound to me, I had attained my first Bane and going by this feeling, she was a pretty powerful one.

 Chapter 19 - New resolve

    Chapter 19

    ¡°Hah, I didn¡¯t know that you had it in you boy, well done.¡±

    A cheshire grin spread over Walburga¡¯s aged features. Her wrinkled face distorted to reveal an array of sharp fangs.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to the hut, we need to disappear before anyone else traces the discharged LIch Essence to you.¡±

    Walburga slithered back toward the archway and walked through it. I gazed around the majesty of the Twilight Tower and took a deep breath. Fatigue was gradually creeping up on me and my body felt heavy.

    The slow melodious sound of a beating heart vibrated in my ears, The image of Vasilisa sitting in the fetal position flashed in my mind. She was in an empty world and her movement seemed inhibited. Was this what it meant to bind a Bane to you?

    The image disappeared and I could hear Walburga growling from the other side, so decided to make my way back to her hut.

    ¡°Get some rest boy, the hard part starts tomorrow, I have some business to attend to, so I will be gone till the morning.¡±

    Without warning, Walburga waddled to the wooden front door and vanished. (A/N: try saying that over and over without getting tongue tied LOL)

    She asked me to get some rest, but there was no bed in sight...The armchair next to the crackling fireplace was my best bet. The allure of it¡¯s upholstery was inviting. After sinking into the surprisingly comfortable chair, I began to doze off. It had been a long few hours and sleep was irrefutable salvation.

    Vasilisa¡¯s image flashed in my minds eye for a second time.

    ¡°Leave me alone will you, I¡¯m tired.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°What do you want?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    There was no response from the lifeless Bane. Every time I closed my eyes, her pitiable image materialised on the underside of my eyelids. Why isn¡¯t she saying anything? Better yet, why hasn¡¯t she made an appearance?

    ¡°Vasilisa, if you¡¯re not gonna let me sleep, then can you at least explain why?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Vasilisa?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°*sigh Come on, at least show yourself.¡±

    As if awaiting this response, she came out. Her hair fluttered as her figure manifested in the dimly lit backdrop of Walburga¡¯s cottage.

    ¡°Took you long enough! I am unable to materialise in this realm unless you call for me, idiot!¡±

    ¡°R-right, sorry, I didn¡¯t know...¡±

    ¡°Urrrgh, how green are you? I can¡¯t believe that you managed to forcibly bind me to you. What would my Grandfather say if he heard about this?¡±

    ¡°zzzZZZZzzz¡±

    ¡°D-don¡¯t fall asleep! Wake up you idiot! *smack"

    ¡°Ouch, come on, there¡¯s no need for behaviour like that, we¡¯re gonna be together from now on right? Let¡¯s get along, OK?¡±

    Vasilisa¡¯s showed a look of disbelief, it was as if the current state of events finally dawned on her. A few moments passed and I felt a sharp pain in my chest, Vasilisa gritted her teeth and seemed to be struggling with an invisible rope. The pain in my chest heightened, just when it was about to become unbearable, Vasilisa exhaled and fell to her knees.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°*pant, *pant, *pant...I¡¯ve never had trouble separating myself from a Witch or Warlock before, is my affinity with you so high that I am unable to sever our link?¡±

    ¡°M-my heart, my heart was gonna burst...It¡¯s only been a few minutes and you¡¯ve already surpassed Astoria in terms of the amount of pain you¡¯ve caused me¡­¡±

    ¡°S-shut up! Stop talking, I¡¯m trying to think of a way to escape, I need to return to my search for the Legendary Witch Cassandra. Only she is powerful enough to help me succeed in my mission. Damn it! I should never have rescued you from the Realm of Quadry.¡±

    ¡°Eh? I admit that you rescued me, but you didn¡¯t have much choice, I summoned you remember¡­¡±

    ¡°Grrr, be quiet!¡±

    Vasilisa turned away from me and began to mumble to herself, I took a deep breathe and cleared my head.

    ¡°*Sigh, look, if you really wanna leave, then I will release you, tell me how, but¡­¡±

    ¡°Really!? All you have to do is say it! Just say my name and that you release me¡±

    ¡°At least let me finish...I¡¯ll release you, but first tell me what business you have with my Mother?¡±

    ¡°Brilliant! W-wait, what was that!?¡±

    ¡°Cassandra, my Mother, what business do you have with her?¡±

    ¡°Y-you¡¯re the son of Cassandra?¡±

    ¡°Well, I¡¯m the son of a Cassandra, I don¡¯t know if its the one that you are¡­¡±

    ¡°There is only one Cassandra!¡±

    ¡°I-I see¡­¡±

    Vasilisa turned toward me and showed an appraising look with her dark eyes. She held my gaze for a few moments and I felt droplets of sweat appear on my brow.

    ¡°Hmmm, hmmmm, hmmmmmmm.¡±

    ¡°Q-quit it!¡±

    ¡°Well, you do sort of look like her, if I squint a little, I see some similarities in your eyes.¡±

    ¡°Y-you think so? I¡¯d say I look more like my Father than my Mother. Well, what business do you have with her?¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Vasilisa hesitated for a moment, her untrusting eyes studied me closely, she seemed reluctant to tell me.

    ¡°Look, I¡¯ll release you first. Vasilisa! I hereby relea¡­¡±

    ¡°W-WAIT! I need to find Cassandra...So I can rescue my Grandfather.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    Vasilisa showed a defeated expression and clenched her delicate hands in frustration.

    ¡°Caliban, Caliban forced my Grandfather to become his servant and is now using his power to make soldiers for his army. He threatened my Grandfather by holding the citizens of our Kingdom hostage. My Grandfather is a benevolent man, he would never hurt a anyone, but he is now being forced to create soldiers for Caliban¡¯s campaign against the Order of the White Mage and Verdantian Monarchy.¡±

    Vasilisa gritted her teeth. I could tell that just talking about the plight of her people and her beloved Grandfather was difficult for her.

    ¡°If I find Cassandra, then I will be able to help her stop Caliban. There are many Sorcerers and Bane that support his proposed conquest of the Verdant Continent, but there are a few that oppose him. Cassandra has gathered the latter and I need to find her so I can also help.¡±

    Caliban huh... How many times have I heard that name now? The man that turned my world upside down and has ruined the lives of many others. It felt as if fate was continually nudging me toward this man with every new encounter. Part of me even felt that Walburga¡¯s current appearance had something to do with Caliban as well.

    Vasilisa sank to her knees and showed a pained expression. Her melancholic pose in the faint radiance of Walburga¡¯s fireplace was beautiful, yet lonesome...

    I stood in place and thought things over. Astoria, Gladus, Mother and now Vasilisa, all of them are suffering as a result of the machinations of a power obsessed mad man. My peaceful nomadic lifestyle of a simple farm lad had also become a distant memory due the materialisation of this mastermind.

    So far my heart had not been in it, but it was time to awaken from the dreamlike daze of a traveler. This was my world now. Hemlock Farm drifted through my minds eyes for what would be the last time for a long time and I steadied my resolve.

    ¡°On your feet Lisa! We have work to do.¡±

    ¡°L-Lisa!?¡±

    Vasilisa raised her head to reveal a look of disbelief and confusion. I returned her look with a confident smile and outstretched my hand to help her up. She stared at my hand for a few moments and hesitantly reached out and took hold of it.

    I helped her to her feet and returned to Walburga¡¯s armchair. I sat down and flashed Vasilisa a determined look. She said nothing and we both awaited the return of Walburga, so I could start my sorcery training.

 Chapter 20 - Time in Lieu

    Chapter 20

    A few hours have passed and there is still no sign of Walburga.

    Lisa has said nothing, she refuses to make eye contact, but is also belligerent in her desire to ensure that I do not fall asleep. She does this by clapping her delicate hands together whenever she notices me drifting off. I¡¯m sure that this would be considered a form of torture in some parts of the world...

    ¡°Lisa, come on, let me sleep, I can feel my vitality fading the longer I keep my eyes open...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°I read in a book that sleep deprivation is one of the main causes of erectile dysfunction in a large number of men.¡±

    ¡°W-what does that have to do with anything!?¡±

    ¡°Aha! I got you to say something, now that I have your attention oh silver haired Bane of mine, could you please just let me rest?¡±

    ¡°S-since when did I belong to you? Ugh, you¡¯re so annoying! If you fall asleep, I will have to return to the void. You need to be able to get accustomed to my presence, you feel tired because the Lich Essence that binds us is continuously being utilised to maintain my manifestation in this realm.¡±

    ¡°ZzzzZZzzz¡­¡±

    ¡°H-hey!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, fooled ya, OK, I get it, you could have just told me from the start, if that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s have a rummage around the cottage and the surrounding area while Walburga is awol.¡±

    ¡°E-eh?¡±

    Before Vasilisa could respond, I leapt to my feet and stretched. The fireplace crackled as my muscles forcibly dissipated fatigue and built up lactic acid. I walked over to the emerald door that we used to travel to the Twilight Tower and gave it the once over. I could feel a strong energy from behind the door and was mesmerised by the door¡¯s allure.

    ¡°An MPA. I have to hand it to the old crone, she has some interesting artifacts in this damp shack.¡±

    ¡°A what?¡±

    Vasilisa elegantly made her way toward me and stood a few paces away. From the corner of my eye I could spot her golden pupils as they traversed the circumference of Walburga¡¯s modest abode. They sparkled in the dimly lit room, our eyes met momentarily but the moment itself was fleeting.

    ¡°MPA, Multi Purpose Archway. It can take you to a number of predetermined locations. From the technicoloured wheel to the side, I can tell that it can take us to the Twilight Tower, The Library of Abramelin and...two other locations that I cannot discern.¡±

    ¡°Whoa you sure know your stuff Lisa.¡±

    Vasilisa faced turned purple for a split second but soon returned to its moonlit blue, did she just blush?¡±

    ¡°S-shut up, it¡¯s only natural for me to know these things. But for the old crone to have access to the Library of Abramelin, I guess I underestimated her.¡±

    ¡°Abramelin?¡±

    ¡°*Sigh* Abramelin was one of the greatest sorcerers in history. Some say that he still dwells within the hallowed halls of his endless library and grants wisdom to Witches and Warlocks that he finds to be worthy enough to inherit his knowledge.¡±

    ¡°Ahhh, wow, so this endless library must have a lot of books on Warlocks, I¡¯d love to go there and read them.¡±

    ¡°Idiot, not everyone can enter the Dwelling of Abramelin, only those that are found to be worthy. I suppose that is why Mistress Cassandra sent you to this place, she wants you to get access to the library.¡±This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Vasilisa placed her finger on her chin and became lost in thought. Her hair glittered and I could feel the beating of her heart and hear her rhythmic breathing.

    ¡°Say Vasilisa, why is Caliban doing all this anyways? Is there a specific reason that he is attempting to raise an army to invade the Verdant Continent?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Oh, well, there are a number of reasons but I suppose it¡¯s probably because he wants the resource rich Verdant Continent under his direct control.¡±

    ¡°A war over resources huh? Typical¡­¡±

    ¡°Like I said, there are many reasons, personally I couldn¡¯t care less, I just want to release my grandfather, it just so happens that the only way to do that would be to stop him, what about you? In fact, how can you be the son of the Great Cassandra and not be familiar with sorcery?¡±

    Lisa turned to me with a look full of curiosity. The circumstances surrounding our eventual union were still unclear to her. I took a deep breath and explained everything that had happened till this point, I left out any information relating to Astoria, there was no reason that Lisa needed to know about that.

    ¡°I see. So you decided to dive head first into a whole new world because you wish to help your long lost mother.¡±

    ¡°Ah, no, not really.¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°Ahaha, well I suppose that¡¯s part of it, but if I want to go back to my farm and live out the rest of my life in peace, then I will need to learn how to control the Lich¡¯s Touch. Also there¡¯s a certain someone that I need to bring back safely...I also need to help you too now Lisa and the only way to do all of those things, is to put a stop to Caliban¡¯s plans.¡±

    Lisa¡¯s went purple for a split second and then her expression distorted to one of confusion, I laughed nervously and smiled in her direction.

    ¡°We hardly know each other, why would you help me?¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that you remind me of a certain someone, and whichever way you look at it, our fates are now linked. Also I have experienced the horrors of conflict first hand, I¡¯d rather that my small patch of land and the people that surround it, are spared from it. Normal folk are the ones that suffer the most when someone sitting in front of chessboard moves a piece for his/her own benefit.¡±

    Lisa stood wide eyed at my revelation and then facepalmed.

    ¡°*sigh* You sound just like my grandfather, why am I fated to be surrounded by men who drown in their own self righteous idealism¡­¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m sure he is a good man, but you misinterpret my desire to protect what¡¯s mine for blind humanitarianism.¡±

    Lisa scoffed at this and turned her attention back toward Walburga¡¯s cottage.

    ¡°Hm, you say a lot of complicated things for a simple farm boy.¡±

    ¡°Hah, I¡¯ll take that as a compliment.¡±

    I turned away from Lisa and began making my way to the front door. The aged wooden frame creaked as my footsteps edged closer. Just when I was about to twist the knob to open it, the door swung open to reveal a disheveled looking Walburga.

    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going boy?¡±

    ¡°I-I was just gonna step out for some fresh air?¡±

    ¡°No time for that.¡±

    Walburga barged her way in and made her way to her armchair, she sat down and lit her pipe.

    ¡°*exhale* now then.¡±

    Walburga reached into her cloak and took out the thickest book that I had ever seen. The binding was leather and the book itself had seen better days. The pages appeared yellowed and there were ink stains splattered everywhere.

    ¡°Can you read and write boy?¡±

    ¡°Eh? Aye, I can.¡±

    ¡°Good, this is a handwritten tome that lists every symbol in the Walphabet, i went to a lot of trouble to find one that was translated into the language of the Verdant Continent. Learn it. I can¡¯t teach you anything until you memorise this reference book.¡±

    ¡°W-what? That is going to take him a very long time, we do not have the luxury of following a curiculum here.¡±

    ¡°Quiet wench! I do not do anything half assed.¡±

    ¡°W-what was that you old bag!?¡±

    ¡°Haha, now now, it shouldn''t take to long. If there¡¯s one thing I excel at, its memorising text.¡±

    I grabbed the book from Walburga and sat down near the fire. The book itself was a lot heavier than I thought. It was handwritten and the author of the book was someone with the initials ¡°A.S.¡±

    I unclasped the dusty tome and began to read.

 Chapter 21 - Instinct

    Chapter 21

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°...¡±

    ¡°......¡±

    ¡°Urgh this is taking forever! You¡¯ve been at this for hours now¡­¡± (A/N more like months Lisa hahahaha...haah).

    Lisa¡¯s frustrated voice reverberated inside my eardrums as I sat cross legged in front of Walburga¡¯s roaring fireplace. The delicate edges of the tome rustled as they flipped to reveal what was written on the subsequent pages.

    Amazing...there is a spell for just about everything. From everyday sorcery to more sinister and deadly enchantments it is all here. I noticed a few recurring symbols next to certain spells, unlike the spells themselves, these symbols were not translated. I wonder what they meant?

    Although this book listed and referenced a wide variety of magic, there was nothing written about how to cast it. It just listed the spell itself, written in what I could only imagine were runes, along with a small translation of what spell it was and its effect. Memorising the layout of the runes and translation was easy enough, but I could not imagine how I was going to bring these spells to life.

    Like Lisa said a good few hours had passed and I was reaching the halfway mark with the tome. Walburga had dozed off a while back and I could hear the gentle hum her crooked nose made when air passed in and out of it.

    The further I progressed, in the book, the lengthier the runes displayed next to a spell became. There was a distinct difference between the various symbols and the runes. Runes would always appear next to a spell¡¯s translations but the symbols would only show next to a select spell here and there.

    From simple observation, I could tell that the runes were a written reflection of whatever language this book was originally in, however the symbols were more like a formula, they somehow reminded me of Gladus¡¯s arithmetic lessons from my village school days.

    More time passed and soon complete immersion in the task at hand superseded my discovery of the distinction between the runes and the symbols. On another note, Lisa had finally decided to turn in, her heartbeat and breathing synchronised and I could spot her out of the corner of my eye. She had managed to pull up an empty chair and nestled herself close to the crackling fireplace. It seems like the so called ¡°void¡± was a no go for her, even when she was asleep.

    The warm hue of the fireplace sparkled on her clear skin as she slept. The pressure that was exerted by her when she stared daggers into me with her sharp expression was now a distant memory. Vulnerable is how I¡¯d describe her now. My heart melted as I attempted to burn the image of her defenceless demeanour from the corner of one eye, while keeping the other firmly on the task of text memorisation.

    Another few hours passed and the thin yellowed parched pages became increasingly thinner. It would only take a few more minutes to finish reading this book. The last few spells were superseded by pages worth of runes, they were spells that would cause natural disasters on a whim and it looked like they were more than a one warlock job. In fact from the translation, I could tell that you would need a specific Bane to even think about casting them.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

    I finally turned the last page, committed it to memory and gently closed the book. Almost with complete continuity, Walburga awoke when the front and the back of the book met. Lisa¡¯s eyes also flickered, she used her hand to rub away the fatigue in her eyes and her patented pressured poise returned as soon as our eyes met for a split second.

    ¡°*yawn* So you¡¯re finished boy? A lot quicker than I thought¡±

    ¡°Thanks master!¡±

    ¡°Master huh? Hah, I like the sound of that¡±

    Walburga¡¯s mouth contorted to reveal her sharp fanged teeth.

    ¡°Master, I have memorised this tome, however it feels like something is missing when it comes to these spells, the book doesn¡¯t show me how to cast them, just what runes and symbols are linked to the casting OF them.

    ¡°*cackle* You catch on quick boy, it seems that Cassie¡¯s loins were not wasted when giving life to you.¡±

    I put what Walburga said about my mother¡¯s loins to one side for a moment and waited for an explanation...

    ¡°Eh? What is the meaning of this you old crone!?¡±

    ¡°Quit you!¡±

    They only just woke up and they were already at each other¡¯s throats, it felt like these two were never going to see eye to eye.

    ¡°Now now you two, is there a reason why you asked me to memorise this book master?¡±

    ¡°Hah...Boy! When you combine the runes and symbol for the water element, what do you get?¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Answer the question!¡±

    I thought back to the chapter on water magic from the book and pictured the runes and symbol for the water element, if we were talking about simple water then it was pretty straightforward, it wasn¡¯t too difficult to understand it¡¯s makeup. In fact it was interesting to learn that you needed to infuse two separate forms of wind or air element to forge it.

    "H<sub>2</sub>O...Its H<sub>2</sub>O."

    ¡°Excellent¡­¡±

    Walburga grinned like a cheshire cat, then in an instant she raised her right arm, formed a blade shaped jet of water and fired it directly at me. There was no time for me to react, the cottage itself was small and there was only a short distance between where Walbuga lurked and I stood. From the corner of my eye I spotted Lisa attempt to come between the ever approaching sharpened stream and my motionless frame, however it seemed like something was holding her in place, was it Walburga? Despite my predicament...I did not feel afraid, if anything there was a part of me that found this whole situation somewhat amusing.

    Almost on instinct I raised my left hand and directed it toward the water, I combined the runes and symbol for the water element in my head again and focused on the blade, right before the blade sliced my left arm in half...it vanished. I could feel it, it was me, I made it vanish, no...it wasn¡¯t completely gone, it was gone but¡­

    Walburga laughed maniacally and Lisa sighed deeply, but the show was not over yet, far from it.

    I stepped forward and raised my right arm, I directed my hand toward Walburga and shouted

    ¡°Water blade!¡±

    The same water blade that Walburga fired at me reappeared, no, it was the same blade, but it was much sharper, the water element within the blade felt heavier and purer than before. I marvelled at my creation for a split second and then noticed Walburga and Lisa¡¯s expression, for the first time they both seemed to be on the same page, they both stood in place, mouth agape. I smiled to myself and without warning, the crescent shaped water blade dissolved as quickly as it appeared. Curiosity and confusion welled up inside me, I wondered why the blade dissolved? I emulated the water element in my head as clearly as I could, yet it didn¡¯t hold? I thought about this for a few more seconds and then felt searing pain in my right arm. It became difficult to breath, I looked toward the bewildered Walburga and Lisa for one last time and fainted¡­