《Inception of Cultivation》


 Chapter 1 - Ezhno Stone

    To seek out eternal life, to be able to fly like the birds and cross over to other realms or worlds, to become a true immortal, it all must start somewhere. One must transform and prepare the body to become a vessel that can withstand the test of time. A body that can harness power greater then most could ever imagine.


    If the body is not prepared to take in the mysterious energies of the universe, then like a bomb, you will just blow up. It did not just happen out of thin air, it was created by someone or something. With all creations, there must be a starting point, a beginning of sorts. Anyone can start their world off into the age of cultivation.


    Maybe in some other worlds, or in other dimensions, people had the mindset and cultivated from the start of their creation, but in this world, in its beginnings, the path to cultivation is in its infancy and has only just begun to sprout the starting line to the path of immortality. Cultivation is only primitive at best. They did not know that there was energy all around them that could be used to cultivate.


    This large, flat like world is only known as Azurine to its inhabitants. Azurine has five large bodies of land and massive expanses of water surrounding them. In the middle of this world sits a large continent known as Petros. This piece of land is roughly 20 million square miles and is ruled over by 12 large kingdoms. In the Traherne Kingdom lies a small town known as White Rock, about 7 miles from the town of White Rock, a mile from the edge of the Grand Sea Forest, lies the village of Forest Shadow, surrounded by wooden staked walls.


    In a horse stable, slightly on the outskirts of the inner walls of Forest Shadow Village, stood an 13 year old boy named Ezhno Stone.


    Ezhno had rough, tanned skin from being outdoors most of his life. His black shoulder length hair tied in a ponytail. Eyes that glistened with a light blue color, that was considered uncommon for the people of the area. With your average height for a 13 year old at around 4 1/2 feet tall, he did not find himself to be handsome. Even though his parents said he would be a handsome man when he grew up, he just shrugged it off thinking his parents were just saying kind words to him. He weighed roughly 80 pounds. While slightly emaciated looking, he still had the look of a healthy growing child. He could stand to eat more, but he is limited to what your average 13 year old can find or earn on his own.


    He was given enough to survive on from what the stable master rationed out to him each week. His household share was a lot less every since his parents died, when he was around 9 years old. He did not know what happened to them on that dreadful day, because nobody would tell him the details of the event.


    On that morning, Ezhno abruptly woke up. He looked around the room and saw that he was lying there alone. Ezhno got out of bed and loudly said,


    "Mom...? Dad...? Where are you? Why did you not wake me up?"


    He did not understand why his parents left before waking him up. Usually they would wake him up to eat before they headed to the stable to start their daily duties.


    Maybe they wanted to let me get a little more sleep today? Yesterday was a lot hotter and it really tired me out more than usual.


    No point in continuing to wonder he thought to himself. I will just ask them when I see them in a few minutes.


    He grabbed a piece of bread from the table, walked to the door and put on his shoes. He opened the door and headed out to the stable.


    When he got to the stable, he looked around to see that everything was the same as it was the day before.


    Ezhno walked through the stable and yelled,


    "Mom...? Dad...? Are you around?...Where are you?"


    After walking around the area for about 10 minutes, he did not see any sign of them.


    Maybe they needed to head to town? He thought to himself. I will have to ask them later when they return. Regardless of what is gong on, the stables must be attended to. If nothing gets finished the stable master would not be very pleased.


    Confusion lingered on his mind as he continued on with his work for the day.


    While Ezhno was in the middle of mending a broken fence post, a messenger with a disdained look came to him with a message from the stable master. He slowly walked over to Ezhno, and with a mocking tone said,


    "Boy, Your parents are dead. If you want to work here than work here. If you do not wish to work for Master Redfield Then get the fuck out and leave the village immediately".


    "We already have plenty of horse shit littering up the streets as it is. We do not need a walking pile of shit stinking up our beautiful village."


    After saying what needed to be said, the messenger gave Ezhno a big smirk and with a loud mocking laugh he turned around and left. Stunned at the news, Ezhno had many more questions he wanted to ask and went chasing after the messenger.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    With red, puffy eyes and tear stained face Ezhno finally caught up to the messenger. He tugged on the back of the messengers shirt and yelled for him to stop. Not but a moment after, even before Ezhno could speak another word, he saw a large calloused hand, it seemed to be growing larger and larger, coming towards his face. With a swoosh and a pop of skin making contact with one another, the downward swinging hand hit so hard, it made a loud ringing noise that resonated in Ezhno''s ears. He was blinded instantly. His head spinning and throbbing, twinkling bright dots replaced the scenery before his eyes. With a loud thud and dust swirling in the air, the agonizing groan of a youth was heard.


    A minute later Ezhno opened his eyes. The foggy, hazy scenery slowly lifted up, back to one of sharper images. His erratic breath was slowly returning to normal. While rolling his glazed over eyes around, he noticed the side of his face was lying in a pool of bright red liquid and clumps of dark brownish red dirt. The sweet metallic taste lingered in every inch of his mouth. The loud ringing in his ears slowly faded away. His head was throbbing and pulsating constantly. He reached for his head slowly rubbing, hoping that it would alleviate this feeling.


    A loud reverberating laughter stopped abruptly. The messengers voice became more agitated. While bringing his hand back as if he was ready to give Ezhno another smack, he yelled,


    "You...you...Just shut the fuck up! I will not repeat myself again! You will either return back to the stables and finish up your duties or you can leave this damn village immediately!"


    The messenger turned around and slowly walked away. He snorted, spit, and mumbled annoyingly with each step.


    After laying there for roughly an hour, not knowing what he should do, Ezhno slowly sat up, rubbed his eyes, and gently caressed his swollen face.


    He grabbed the edge of his shirt and blew his nose a few times into it. He wiped the dried blood off his face the best he could, and slowly staggered back to the stables to finish up his duties for the day.


    After a long, agonizing day, he finally finished up and closed the doors to the large entrance of the stable. While feeling dead inside, he slowly dragged his feet in the direction of his home. If anyone saw this scene, they would not see a young boy, but instead a walking corpse.


    He entered his home, and without even taking his shoes or dirty clothes off, got down on his knees, crawled under the bed and silently cried himself to sleep the remainder of the night.


    Ezhno''s parents had worked at the stables most of their lives. He was born in the village and had basically followed in his parents footsteps.His father Ebed and his Mother Caria, were born into slavery. The neighboring kingdom invaded the Traherne borders for one of their rich mining settlements, a few miles passed the border. After news of the invasion spread, a long campaign was fought to win back their settlement.


    The armies of Traherne finally reached the settlement, and after a hard battle, they won, After freeing all the enslaved people they were given a choice to continue mining in the camp, with wages or they could be set free to do whatever they wanted within the kingdom. If they chose to leave, they would have to register a name with the local magistrate.


    If they did not have a first and last name they were to choose one upon registering. After they were registered, Ebed and Caria, along with approximately 100 other people, took off towards the middle of the kingdom. Ebed was not the smartest man and when having to pick a last name, like many other slaves, He chose one of the few words he knew how to spell, and that was stone, and this is how the Stone surname was created.


    While traversing thousands of miles, within the group''s travels, Ebed and Caria formed a relationship and eventually got married. After many miles of travel they stumbled upon the village of Forest Shadow. They entered the village and while walking around they found a job opening within the village head''s stable.


    Ezhno had worked in the stables every since he was able to walk and carry things. Stable work was all he knew how to do. He learned how to clean the stables and take care of the horses. Even though others his age were attending school or learning a craft from their parents, or from other artisans in the village. All he knew was how to feed, run the horses, and pick up there droppings. He was all alone doing the work at the stable.


    He was just happy to not be dead in a ditch somewhere or wondering where to sleep and what he would eat day to day. He was happy knowing he had a place to call home and food on the table.


    The other villagers shunned Ezhno and he could not understand why. No one would ever come by to say hello, or see how he was doing. While others in the village would give each other a helping hand or help feed those in there time of need, he has never received any of this kindness.


    Maybe they see him as a cursed child, maybe they disliked his parents. All he could do was keep to himself and live life day to day.


    While brushing the horses, Ezhno was reminiscing about the previous year, That moment in time was the most alive he had felt since his parents died. While in his stupor, a noise startled him out of his daydream. He looked over to see what the fuss was about and was shocked for a moment to see who it was.


    He put the brush down and walked over, gave a bow and said,


    "Hello Miss Odilia."


    Startled at his actions after a slight pause she said,


    "Ezhno, my grandfather is on his way, have you prepared the horses? You know how my grandfather can get when everything is not ready to go when he is."


    Ezhno had not seen Odilia since she left for the city almost a year ago to attend one of the top schools in the Traherne Kingdom. She still looked almost the same, only slightly different than what he remembered. The top of her head stood eye level with him now versus last year when she was around his nose. Her light silver bluish hair grew a few more inches passed her shoulders. Her skin used to have a light bronze tan color, but now it was whiter and paler.


    Ezhno thought to himself..


    She must not get out much anymore and just stays indoors studying, it seems.


    Her vibrant sparkling light green eyes were not as kind as he remembered. They looked a little tired and very sad. She looked like she lost a few pounds. Her clothes looked like they fit a little looser on her .


    Ezhno rarely remembered much about people, he did not have any friends or family, but with Odilia he remembered everything. She was considered someone he held close to his heart.


    After the initial shock of seeing Odilia, he started reminiscing about the time before she left. Before that incident happened that changed his world, That put any form of happiness to a halt.

 Chapter 2 - Triumphant Return

    Before the incident, Odilia would visit Ezhno from time to time to teach him how to read and write.


    Ezhno and Odilia were not good friends at first. On the day she came to visit her grandfather, Master Redfield, she was riding her horse towards the stables to retire for the day. The horse did not like something she did and was thrashing and was trying to buck her off the saddle. After a few minutes and a lot of yelling later, trying to calm the horse down, the horse gave a big jump, bucked and snorted, as she was thrown off behind her horse.


    Afterwards, the horse was still thrashing around, Ezhno came running over and just before the horse could kick Odilia in the head, Ezhno approached with a few soft words, some forced tugs and soft petting. Only then did the horse calm down.


    Odilia had remained on the ground, with her eyes tightly closed, she was crying and expecting the worst to happen but it did not come. After a minute with her eyes closed and hearing the soft words that were soothing the horse, she opened her wet eyes. As she opened her eyes the bright sun was beating down on her face and slightly blinding her, and within a few blinks she saw Ezhno. With the sun in front of her it looked liked Ezhno had a radiant aura around him, while his hair flapped around in the wind. It was as if a handsome knight in shinning armor had come to save her from her pending doom.


    She blushed slightly and got up on her feet and brushed herself off.


    Odilia asked, "Excuse me boy, what is your name?"


    "I am the one that takes care of the stables." Ezhno replied.


    "I did not ask you what you do, I asked for your name!" Odilia said in a slightly agitated, and aristocratic voice.


    "I am sorry, this lowly one''s name is Ezhno, Ezhno Stone." He obediently responded.


    "Mr. Ezhno Stone, my name is Odilia Redfield."


    With a slightly puzzled look Ezhno replied,


    "Oh, so you are Master Redfields granddaughter? I will take the horse back to the stables, Miss Odilia, please have someone examine you On your return home to make sure you are not seriously injured. I have many duties I still have to attend to before I can retire for the day, I shall excuse myself."


    With a bow Ezhno turned around to walk the horse back to the stable. Odilia watched Ezhno walk away, and before she did the same, she yelled out,


    "Mr Ezhno.... Is.. it, umm... ok... if I come see you again some day? I would like to properly thank you and reward you for saving me just now."


    While still turned around, Ezhno held his arm in the air, waved, and replied,


    "Sure, if you are not busy, but there is no need for a reward, I only did what anyone would do. The stables are always open to any of the Redfield family, if you want to see the stable and the horses come see me anytime." Again in another agitated voice Odilia replied,


    "Mr. Ezhno you deserve a reward and I will definitely come to see you."


    Ezhno stopped and turned around,


    "Sure, but when you come to see me, you can just call me Ezhno, I am no one special so no need to call me Mister."


    Odilia Was slightly blushing and Looking down at the ground, She was rocking back and forth, with her hands behind her back, she replied,


    "If I do, you must also drop the Miss and call me just Odilia then. We are around the same age so no need to call me Miss."


    They both laughed and agreed and went on their way.


    The following days after, they would meet up many times. Odilia wanted to give him something special as a reward and decided to teach Ezhno how to Read and Write. they both agreed together that this was a suitable reward. When Ezhno was not busy with his stable duties or if Odilia was not teaching him how to read or write, they would run around and explore the outskirts of the Grand Sea Forest together.


    The forest had many wild beasts and hidden dangers and only some of the stronger men of the village would enter and hunt and forage for things needed for the village or for their families finances. To prove who was braver and who was a scaredy cat, Odilia and Ezhno would constantly dare each other to enter the forest and would always say whoever can find the Jeweled Sage Berry Plant would be the hero of the village, and the loser would have to call the other from that day on, regardless of who is around, by the title of Hero of Forest Shadow Village.


    Having to call the other by that title would be too embarrassing, so neither of them wanted to loose, but the actual truth was that they were both scaredy cats and most of the time when they went their separate ways to go find The Jeweled Sage Berry Plant, they only went a few feet in and would hide in some hole or tree until the time passed and they would usually both lie and tell each other that they searched forever but could not find it.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The plant that they were supposed to look for and retrieve only grew about half a mile within the forest and beyond. They remembered hearing the stories on where this plant grew from the strong villagers who entered the forest to forage. They were also told that The Jeweled Sage Berry Plant was highly toxic and can kill a human.


    While the two recalled the story in question, one of the curious village children listening in the group had asked,


    "Senior, why do you risk Dying to gather the Jeweled Sage Berry Plant, why is it worth risking your lives over?"


    The village senior, replied,


    "The Jeweled Sage Berry Plant is worth some good coin, so we risk our lives to enter the Grand Sea Forest to enrich our way of life. There are many rich folks in the towns and cities who have an abundance of wealth, and are willing to spend a good amount of coin on their animals".


    "Also we humans can not eat this plant. It does nothing for us regardless on how tasty it looks, the plant is highly toxic and would kill us within minutes.It may not benefit us in any way, but to animals this is like a miracle medicine with many beneficial properties. To the animals that eat this plant, they would noticeably become stronger and faster".


    Ezhno was well aware of this and had seen the Jeweled Sage Berry Plant many times. He saw the benefits first hand and knew how beneficial it was, especially for the horses.


    Master Redfield had told him to fed it to certain horses and the ones who ate the Jeweled Sage Berry Plant would run faster and would be harder to stabilize and calm down when they got out of hand, because of their increased strength, and he would often take a good thrashing because of it.


    Master Redfield also told him in a word of caution that regardless on how hungry he was and how tasty it looked not to eat the plant. He warned that it was poisonous and if he were to eat it, that it would be his parting meal into the afterlife.


    Ezhno had to agree, after not eating for a half a day or more, he was tempted by the plant many times and wondered if Master Redfield was just lying to him because he just did not want him to eat it. The bright vibrant colors of the green leaves, the berries that hung down looked like sweet jeweled hard candies that the richer kids in the village would snack on. Such treats he knew he could never afford to indulge on in his life time, he thought.


    The children that were huddled around the village senior were full of oohs, awes and confusion. They were taught that animals were used for certain jobs or to be eaten. They did not really understand why one would spend their hard earned coins to spoil there animals.


    Within the noisy crowd another child asked,


    "Senior, why is it called the Grand Sea Forest? I do not see any water nearby?"


    The senior chuckled and replied,


    "If one was to climb the tallest nearby mountains, all one would notice is a sea of trees as far as the eye could see, and also if you still are not aware, the town forefathers derived the village name from the shadow that is cast from the 200 foot tall trees from the forest on certain hours of the day."


    Many of the kids were smirking as if this was common knowledge and many were dumbstruck as if they had learned some truly mystifying secrets that there parents were hiding away from them.


    One day, after once again daring each other, Ezhno and Odilia entered the forest and when they came back out after a certain time Odilia had a twinkle in her eyes and a look of extreme excitement on her face.


    She said to Ezhno,


    "Haha, Ezhno I am the bravest and The Hero of Forest Shadow Village. Who cares about a stupid plant. I did something only someone brave and strong would do! I saw a large wild beast, and being the hero that I am, I picked up a rock, aimed it at beast''s head and bashed its head in."


    Since Odilia was the only person he had any relations with, he would not have a shred of doubt towards anything that Odilia would have to say, and would be full of oohs and awes and praises as she retold her tale of bravery and how she did it over and over again.


    "Ezhno, night is soon approaching and we should head home now. I really don''t want my grandfather scolding me again for staying out so late." Odilia said.


    He agrees and nodded.


    The two headed back to the village with heads held up high and aura glowing as if they were mighty hunters returning home from a successful hunt. Even though Ezhno hid away and did nothing but cower in a tree, since Odilia was his friend, and successfully slayed the wild beast, he could not be any happier for her.

 Chapter 3 - Precious Treasure

    Ezhno was so proud of Odilia''s feat of heroism the previous day that he could not hide his excitement. He tried as fast as possible to finish up all of his duties so he could rush throughout the village and tell everyone about what Odilia had done.


    On his way around the village to see if anyone had anything for him to do, and with a grin that went from ear to ear, he would recite the tale to anyone that was willing to listen to him. Ezhno retold the tale of heroism with the utmost enthusiasm. He would explain how the brave Miss Odilia Redfield had slain a viscous wild beast by bashing its head in with a thrown rock.


    Ezhno would embellish a little each time and add a few more little fibs around the truth but with a good heart and the best intentions, to make Odilia sound braver and stronger, but everyone that heard the story would laugh at him as if they were being tickled to death with a 1000 tail feathers.


    The villagers would say things like, "You may be a worthless piece of shit, but your story telling skills are truly amazing, You should be working as a storyteller, not a "pooper-scooper" your tall tales are stuff of legends."


    Or things like, "What audacity!, Poor people like yourself are always trying to seek attention. To make stuff up about the village head''s granddaughter!? Do you have no shame!? Watch your tongue, I should go report this to the village head, Watching you get stoned to death in the middle of the village would be more entertaining than your atrocious lies.


    Some were even full of joyful tears and laughter and even tipped him a copper coin or two and thanked him for such an amusing story.


    Ezhno never understood what was so funny. He did not understand why someone would laugh, scold or even give him money. Shaking his head with a sour expression he wondered why they would say the things they said about someone that was able to victoriously slay a wild beast. Every time one of the strong people of the village would slay a wild beast they were all full of praises, but when Odilia slays a wild beast, instead of cheers, she is laughed at.


    Ezhno would grow angry and repulsed on the inside, but he would just walk away with a smile on his face as if they were fools. Even if they did not believe him, he knew the truth.


    After the days of laughing villagers, Ezhno decided he could not be bothered to tell the story anymore.


    Ezhno said to himself, "If they only want to laugh and ridicule me, then there is no point to it. I don''t care what any of them think, Odilia is one of the bravest and strongest in the village and when she slays another beast you all will remember how you laughed and ridiculed me, and will be slapping yourselves in the face."


    While walking home with a smile on his face, every now and then he would laugh out loud as if he had gone crazy. The villagers who saw this would be startled and shaking their heads. They would walk around, far away from him, as if he had gone mad and might lunge at them and do something crazy, so they wanted nothing to do with it.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Minutes later, when nearing his home, while still slightly absent-minded due to the grandeur scene of face slapping and laughing, Ezhno was awakened by what felt to be someone punching him in the arm. He looked around to see who it was, only to see a copper kettle lying on the ground next to him. He heard a bunch of yelling and mischievous laughter in the direction of the house that the kettle came from.


    The comical scene had 2 children in their early teens running and dodging with sporadic movements. Their mother was trying her best to land anything she could lay her hands on to stop them from running away. These obnoxious children were laughing and patting their behinds, while sticking their tongues out and giving raspberries sounds. The angry and annoyed woman would grit her teeth, only getting more riled up by the behavior of her children. She would continuously yell at the 2 teens in an indistinguishable language,


    The middle aged woman furiously shakes her fist in the air and yells, "You brats get your asses back in here and finish fetching the water you were suppose to get this morning."


    As they were running away, the taller of the 2 kids yelled back, "Hahaha who wants to do that boring stuff, we are going to go see what the hunters have brought back from the latest hunt. I hear it was the biggest beast that anyone has ever seen!"


    "You lazy brats, wait till your father gets home tonight, I will have him discipline you with the greatest of care!", the woman warned.


    The 2 kids looked at each other with scared sour faces and continued running away.


    Ezhno was dumbfounded, as he watched the scene unfold He did not know if he should be scared for the boys or laugh at their plight. Ezhno lets out an envious sigh, and stares into the heavens, he wonders to himself, "If my parents were still around would that be me, getting yelled at by mom for running off to gawk at the beast the hunters brought back and would I get a good lesson as well when I returned from father?"


    With these kinds of thoughts running though Ezhno''s head, he continued on his way home, only to hear the middle aged woman shout at him, "Hey kid, you look like a strong boy, come help me fetch this water and I shall reward you handsomely with a gift that someone of your stature would not be able to afford."


    The middle aged woman walks in the house, looks around and grabs an object from the table comes out and opens her hand in front of Ezhno.


    Ezhno stares with wide eyes and an open mouth and enthusiastically agrees to help her with the water. Without hesitation, he immediately rolled up his sleeves, picked up the bucket and got to work.


    He thought to himself.."It''s just some water, what is the worst that could happen?"


    Later that night, while lying on his bed exhausted he opened his hand to stare at the treasure he just acquired.


    It sparkled and glistened in the candle light, as if he was holding the most precious of gems.


    That damn lady, if I knew I had to go fetch 500 gallons of water I would of asked for more than one!


    Well, I guess she was right with one thing, even if I could save enough money, I could not justify spending what little I work hard for to splurge on such luxuries.


    I am exhausted but this was worth it in the end. With a large tired smile he found a safe place to put his treasure. He would be damned if someone came in while he was working and stole his precious treasure.


    Ezhno blew out his candle, lay down in his bed, and fell asleep instantly.

 Chapter 4 - Many questions

    It has been about a month since Ezhno told the story to the many villagers of Forest Shadow, Ever since that day they returned from the forest, Odilia had never once visited him. The whispers and the gossip had slowly died down throughout the weeks, There were still some that spoke of the story from time to time, but those were in passing to kill time as the villagers did there duties throughout the long hours of the day.


    Ezhno was distressed and was getting very anxious for Odilia, he did not know if something had happened to her. He just wanted any news on how she was doing and if she was in good health. He had wanted to visit her on many occasions but he knew his place in the village and knew he did not have the right to go see Odilia at her home. He was just a parent-less stable boy who tended to the horses. He knew he was blessed enough for her to teach him how to read and write, and to play with on days he was free.


    Even though he did not have the right to go knocking on her door to see her, he would still find an excuse to walk by the house a couple times a day hoping he would see her outside, maybe a glance though the window to see that she was not injured and was going on with her day to day life.


    He also slowly walked around the village to possibly hear any news and gossip about anyone in the Redfield manor. He had heard anything from marrying her off to some rich aristocrat, to the manor was hit with a very contagious and serious illness and would soon spread to everyone in the village. All this passed though Ezhno''s ears and made him more anxious than not knowing anything at all.


    The following day, Ezhno worked with much haste to finish up all of his stable duties, He had a lot of anxiety from the night before and did not get much sleep. Today was the day he would steel his resolve, he would go knock on the Redfield manor gate and see what was going on once and for all. He stayed up most of the night trying to figure out an excuse to visit. Even though he was scared witless, he knew that there was a high possibility that he would be replaced at the stables and chased out of the village for not knowing his place in society. But Ezhno''s anxiety had built up to the point that he really needed to know when, where or how Odilia was doing. If she would have said something weeks ago to him, then he would not have all these bottled up emotions welling up inside of him.


    Ezhno''s plan was to go knock on the gate with a worried expression on his face. He would act like he did not know what to do and with great concern for the situation that he had no choice. He would then tell whoever was at the gate, that the masters prized stallion has not been looking too well, and that he needed to have someone look over him as soon as possible. He would then nonchalantly ask whoever If Lady Odilia was not feeling well and that many of the villagers were concerned for her well being.


    If he got an answer, then all the anxiety that was bottling up inside would melt away, He would just await for her to show up whenever she was available to do so.


    Ezhno did not think further ahead after this point. He figured, when the doctor noticed nothing was wrong with the horse that he would feign ignorance. He would then swear to the heavens that the horse was not doing well and it must have recovered right then and there. He was not very confident in himself, he did not want to lie, but this was all he could think of at the time. Ezhno shivered at the possible punishments that were awaiting him. He knew he would either get his rations cut for the month, or possibly, would get a severe beating. The one thing he dreaded the most was being replaced at the stables and ran out of the village.


    After knowing all of the possible outcomes that would take place, he still would weather it all to know what was going on with Odilia. His heart was truly aching inside and thoughts of her were the only thing on his mind. He did not know why he was feeling the way he did. After his parents died, Odilia was the only one in the village that would show any kind intentions towards him. Ezhno felt that if she was missing from his life, he would feel empty again. He did not want to go back to those days after he found out that his parents were dead.


    While running the horses around in the pasture, he went over the plan in his head many times. Once in awhile, his mind would venture off, and he would remember the times, laughing at all the silly things Odilia would say or do when they were together.


    He also remembered the one night when Odilia snuck out of her house and they went and watch the night sky together. They did not speak the entire time, but to him just laying there with her was one of the most cherished moments in his life.


    Ezhno blushed at the thought, he did not know why, but the scene made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.


    He would also have thoughts of possibly sharing a nice supper together with her. Ezhno had not ate a meal with anyone in a long time. His eyes would grow slightly misty with the thoughts of the last meal he had with his parents before the news of their deaths.


    Ezhno remembered sharing conversations around the dinner table, and the silly games they used to play to pass the time before they went to bed, One of his favorite memories he had was when is mother would sit him on the floor in front of her and groom his hair while checking for lice, at the same time she would hum a soft beautiful melody that would instantly make him fall asleep. However, during the time nearing the death of his parents, these times were few and far between. Sometimes he would go to sleep only to wake up to his parents arguing outside. He often heard other villagers doing the same, so thought it was just a normal thing adults did.


    Now that he was older and had a better understanding of things, he worried that it was possible that this had something to do with why they were killed. He wondered if his parents had stumbled upon something, or if they had done something that angered others. Did they steal something? He had a sinking feeling that something terrible had caused their death. He could not bring himself to think about it anymore for this moment. At this moment, he needed to focus on getting his work done as quickly as possible, before he lost his resolve and chickened out.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    After housing the last horse in the stable, he headed towards his master''s manor. At times he would run, at times he would slow down. The whole way, he repeated what he would say over and over again, until he finally reached the manor.


    As he walked up, his heart started pounding more and more. Every step he took towards the gate felt heavy, as if he had hundreds of pounds strapped to his legs. The manor looked as it it were alive, as if it was pulsating like a beating heart. He felt like a small ant approaching a large mountain as the manor got larger and larger. He was sweating profusely. Before he was able to take another step towards the gate, he felt a hand grab his shoulder. The hallucination he was in shattered and brought him back to reality. He was scared out of his mind, and fell on his butt.


    He turned his head around to see who it was, only to see that it was the same middle aged lady he helped out with the water that day. He quickly brought himself back to his feet. His face was pale white, like a ghost. His head was drenched in so much sweat it was as if he had just stepped out of the rain.


    With an air of arrogance spewing out from her, she said, "You lazy shit, I never saw you around anymore after the day I hired you to fetch my water. It must be destined that we met each other again today. As a reward, I will allow you to help me fetch some water again today. You should feel honored that I am allowing you to help me once more. You should feel gratitude that someone as lowly as you will have the pleasure to be around the company of myself and my home."


    Laughing while spewing arrogance from every orifice of her body, at the same time her inner thoughts were, "I may not be someone of much status but compared to you I am like the queen of the kingdom and a peasant should prostrate themselves and do whatever the queen tells them." She was laughing even more manically out loud, while spacing out in her own little world.


    After witnessing this woman''s comical banter, his dreary, pale look disappeared and the color returned to his face. With his wits about him again, his fragile mind regained clarity. He wiped the sweat off his face, He took in a large breath, A whiff of something foul lingered in the air, Ezhno had felt wetness near his bottom region.


    He again looked at the woman who seems to not even be paying attention to him anymore, laughing like a lunatic with an arrogant smile on her face with continues mumbling. He then turned around and ran to the direction of his home as fast as possible.


    After cleaning up and changing into a fresh pair of pants. he says to himself, "I can''t believe i shit myself. That woman literally scared the crap out of me. I really want to see how Odilia is doing, but as of right now my body is spent and i have no will


    at all to go back to the manor anymore today. It will be hard but i need to steel my resolve once more and set out what I plan to do tomorrow.


    Not knowing what he should do for the rest of the day, He decided to go back to the stable and clean up a little more to calm his heart and mind.


    Ezhno walked towards the stable, As he walked around the corner, Startled upon the scene in front of him, he jumped back like a frightened kitten. After the initial shock, Ezhno stood in place, his eyes were misting up at the scene in front of him. A mixture of emotions were raging around in his mind like a large flowing river.


    The person he was longing to see for so long was standing right in front of him. He held back the tears and rubbed his face quickly. Ezhno was puzzled to see that she had an angry expression on her face. With hastened steps he walked towards Odilia. He stopped in front of her and says. "Odilia you scared the crap out of me, why did you not call for me, I would have gladly dropped everything I was doing to come to you."


    After a minute of silence, Odilia did not reply, After the long period of silence, Ezhno was feeling slightly awkward, To try and break this awkward tension he put his hand behind his head, looked at Odilia again, and said, "Hahaha Odilia, It has been awhile since we last saw one another. You probably just wanted to give me a good scare, and it worked so well. I nearly pooped myself again today!"


    Embarrassment set in and his face turned bright red after thinking of what he just said.


    Did I just tell her that I pooped myself today and nearly did it again just now? Not knowing if he should crawl under a rock, he looked back up to odilia with a flushed, embarrassed look.


    Odilia did not laugh and was still standing there with anger on her face.


    Putting the embarrassing thought in the back of his mind, he continued to look at her, but saw no difference in her facial expression.


    Odilia what is wrong?


    We have not seen each other in over a month, You have anger written all over your face, Did something happen?


    Did your grandfather hit you?


    Is someone bulling you?


    Many questions were racing through Ezhno''s mind a mile a minute. He was concerned after the initial week of not seeing each other, and within the month his worries only grew. The situation must be sever if she can only see him now and tell him what was going on. The questions kept stacking up, he had so much he wanted to ask and say to her, Five minutes finally passed by,


    Odilia finally opened her mouth and yelled, "Why did you tell the story to everyone in the village?!... Do you know how much trouble I am in!?!... My grandfather, after he heard the story, came home right away and started questioning me about what happened that day. After I told him what happened, he turned bright red in anger. I have never seen grandfather so angry before.


    He said he was so embarrassed that even he could not stay in the village one minute longer, We went straight to Aneurin City and stayed with my parents for a month''s time, before finally deciding to return to Forest Shadow Village.


    Ezhno says, "Why would your grandfather be angry and embarrassed? Why would he take you away for a whole month? I know we are just children but still... You entered the Grand Sea forest that only the strongest adults venture into, against all odds you slayed a wild beast all by yourself. He should be full of praises and parade you around the village on his shoulders like a hero!"


    As Ezhno spoke his words got louder and louder, one could hear the passion in his voice as he went on about Odilia achievements.


    "I just don''t get it, you.... are the bravest and one of the strongest people in Shadow Forest Village, I don''t care how people may perceive me, from this day forth, no matter where I go, every person I speak to at any place or at anytime, when I say your name I will not be embarrassed or afraid to call you...."


    Ezhno, with every breath in his body, screamed at the top of his lungs. He wanted the whole world to hear his words, to let everyone know that,


    "ODILIA REDFIELD IS THE HERO OF FOREST SHADOW VILLAGE! AND SHE IS MY FRIEND!"

 Chapter 5 - The incident

    While looking at Ezhno, the expression of anger melted away and turned into one of shock and astonishment. She stood there not knowing how to react to what she just heard.


    After the initial shocked settled in, tears rolled down her cheeks like waterfalls. She still did not know what to do or say. She fell down to her knees with her hands covering over her face, sobbing as if someone had killed her parents.


    Ezhno walked over to Odilia, squatted down beside her, and said, "Odilia, why are you crying like that? You are the hero of Forest Shadow village, if people see you like this they would think that I beat you and stole your money. Then I would be stoned to death in the middle of the village."


    While slightly shaking her, Ezhno continued, "Please Odilia, stop crying, I don''t think getting hit by stones would feel that good."


    Odilia still did not get up, and her sobbing became more vigorous.


    Ezhno did not know what to do at this point. He did not know why Odilia was crying like this in the first place. He only had one idea that he thought might work.


    "Odilia, I will be right back," Ezhno said as he stood from his squatted position, and ran to his home as fast as possible. After a minute he returned and squatted back down next to her. He opened his hand and said, "Odilia, please take this."


    Ezhno opened his hand, as the sun light hit the object, it sparkled and glistened, as if he were holding the world''s most expensive jewel.


    With a big cheesy smile and wide open eyes, Ezhno looked at the palm of his hand. If one looked close enough they would see a little drool seeping from the side of his mouth. He said to Odilia, "This is a piece of candy the middle aged lady a few houses down gave me after I helped her fetch 500 gallons of water for her household. I have been saving this to eat on my birthday, but if it will help you calm down and make you feel better, then I am more then happy to give it to you."


    The truth of the matter was that Ezhno really did not want to give Odilia his candy. The smell of citrus and berries was making his mouth water, and agonized him the more he thought about it, it''s lustrous shine captured his full attention. He has never once indulged in sweet confectioneries before. This was the first one he has ever possessed. He was always envious seeing the kids around town full of smiles and satisfaction, as they snacked on these heavenly, delectable treats, while enjoy the conversations with one another.


    He worked so hard to obtain this mouth watering morsel, and while he really did not want to give it to anyone, he also did not want to be stoned to death either. If people thought he bullied her, he would not be able to enjoy the candy anyway, so he might as well see if this would help to get Odilia to stop crying.


    Odilia finally looked up at Ezhno, and then looked at the piece of candy, and back at him.


    Ezhno thought that the candy had worked and breathed a sigh of relief.


    He thinks to himself, "Now I don''t have to worry about being stoned to death, giving her this was worth the sacrifice."


    Odilia finally opened her bright red swollen eyes, looked around, blinked a few times and then had a startled look on her face, as if she had seen a ghost. She gets up from her knees, looks at Ezhno, and smacks his precious treasure right out of his hand. The beautiful candy shimmered in the light as it flew through the air, It landed right into a small pile of horse manure . As Odilia steadied herself on her feet, she pushed him on his bottom.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Ezhno was shocked at what just happened and was surprised at the outcome. He was now getting annoyed, he got back up, rubbing his butt and yelled out, "Why would you do that?! ... Do you know how hard I worked to get that piece of candy, only to have it ruined, and now no one gets to eat it!"


    Ezhno starts to think to himself, "Why would she do that? If she did not want to eat the candy she could have just said no, but instead she smacks it right out of my hand."


    Desperate to save his precious reward, he tried to quickly think of a way to salvage it. "I can''t let anyone see me pick it up and wash it. That would be too embarrassing. When she leaves, I will pick it up and try to wash it off. This is utterly disgusting, but I may not have another chance to experience one ever again. Maybe it will still taste ok?"


    While Ezhno''s thoughts were on his candy, Odilia with a low muffled voice said, "Ezhno, if you still do not know why I am crying then you''re an idiot. You are the smartest person I know. I have only taught you a little on how to read and write, but after only a few lessons I was stunned to see that you are smarter than me. You can read things that even I have a hard time reading. Your writing is beautiful and better then even my 60 year old teacher that comes to my house three times a week to teach me writing skills."


    Odilia continued, her voice was getting louder and one could feel the anger with each sentence she spoke, "I thought you were lying to me and taking me for a fool. I even went so far as to ask around to see if you were even born in this village. I thought you were adopted, and maybe some rich noble family was hiding you in the village, I thought someone had paid your mother and father to take care of you, because your relatives wanted to kill you since you were next in line to inherit the throne or something of the sorts. While I asked around, I even found the woman who helped deliver you on the day of your birthing.


    After that, I realized that you truly are a poor worthless stable boy, and will only ever be a shit-scooper. While I am off doing amazing things, you will still be here taking care of the horses and picking up horse shit, for your entire pathetic life. You will die and be buried in a pile of horse shit. ... Actually, you are not worthy to even be buried in horse shit. Even horse shit has more worth than a poor worthless stable boy. At least the crops benefit from it, but you have no worth, and will benefit no one!"


    As she was saying all of this, tears started flowing even more. Ezhno was shocked, he did not know why she was saying all of this to him. Honestly, through most of what she was saying, he was still so engrossed with his candy, and whether or not it was salvagable. However, when Odilia got to the part about being worthless, and buried in a pile of horse shit, Ezhno also fell to his knees and started to cry. With confusion, he mumbled through the sobbing, "Why are you saying all of this to me? Why would you say I was worthless?! I even gave you the candy I worked so hard to get! Why would the hero of Forest Shadow village, who is my friend, say all this to me? "


    He stared at Odilia with red swollen eyes not knowing what he did wrong.


    Still crying as well, Odilia says to Ezhno with a normal tone, "My grandfather said while I''m still in the village, I am not supposed to see you anymore. Not only will he beat me and ground me to the house, he said he would also either sell you off to the fighting pits, or if you have no worth, he will just kill you and feed you to the beasts of the forest. Also, he said that no one would miss a worthless stable boy that can be easily replaced."


    After a few more moments of crying on both ends, Odilia also said, "In a few months time, I will be going far away from here, Through my parents connections, I have been invited to attend one of the top schools in the Capital. This may be the last time you ever see me, so I broke my grandfathers rules to come and see you before I left."


    Odilia walked passed Ezhno, while tears flowed faster again and in a light voice says "Please do not die."


    The moment she stepped past him, she started running away as fast as possible. As she ran away she yelled out, "You''re smart. Think about why I said the things I said."


    Under her breath she whispered to herself, "I''m so sorry. ... Goodbye my friend."

 Chapter 6 - Humiliation

    With a tear stained face, Ezhno watched Odilia''s back as she ran away. He yelled out over and over again, but it was as if she had turned deaf, and continued on further and further away until he could not see her anymore. He wanted to chase after her, but it was as if his legs were in quick sand, and he could not find the strength to stand up and give chase. He wanted to fully understand everything, but Ezhno was still in too much shock to fully comprehend the words that were said to him.


    As the words "Please do not die" Echoed over and over again in his head, a large shadow cast over him from behind. As Ezhno noticed the shadow he wondered if it was deaths door ready to take him into the afterlife.


    Ezhno said to himself, "It''s OK, you have no mother, you have no father, the only person you thought was close to any sort of family has just told you that you were lesser than horse shit and just ran off and will probably never see you again. If death is coming for me then so be it. Father, mother, your son is ready to unite with you once more."


    He closed his eyes and waited for his life to be taken away. After around 15 seconds nothing happened. He turned around, only to see a muscular man that was around 6 foot 4 inches tall with a head full of grey that reached down to the middle of his back, light tan skin, and some wrinkling around the eyes. He was around 60 years old. The dark black eyes that glared at him like a sharp blade ready to cut him in half.


    With a face full of fear and shock Ezhno tried to stand up but stumbled back flat on his behind.


    As Ezhno spoke he stuttered every word, "Ma Ma Ma Ma Master Re Re RedField!"


    As he tried to straighten out his words and attempted to stand back up, what welcomed him was a swift kick that came so fast to Ezhno''s side, he gulped and huffed as he went flying a couple feet.


    Ezhno spit out a mouthful of blood and was gasping for air while holding his side.


    It was pain, excruciating pain. He has been kicked by horses many times, but never as hard as the kick he had just felt right now.


    Spiting out blood and still gasping for air Ezhno looked up at the man with a defeated expression. Finally realizing why Odilia said what she said at the end.


    He feared he was going to die. He wanted to die a moment ago, but now he wanted to live. He wondered now if Odilia only said all the words she said because she knew her grandfather was around and was just acting out so they would not be in too much trouble. He still had many questions for her, but he feared he will not be able to ask them anymore. He closed his eyes waiting for his life to end at any moment.


    After a minute nothing happened. With his body still throbbing in pain, and the sweet metallic taste still lingering in his mouth, Ezhno opened his eyes to see Master Redfield staring at him like a deranged killer. Keane slowly walked towards Ezhno, swung his leg back and delivered another devastating kick.


    Luckily, Ezhno was slightly more prepared this time and adjusted himself to receive the kick on his rear end. Ezhno flew a couple feet away. The pain still resonated all over his body but it was not as bad as the kick he received to his side.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    While still lying on the ground, he was looking around to see if anyone could save him from the torment and pain he was receiving. He saw people look his way but they all looked away and walked off as if it had nothing to do with them, and they continued chatting as if there was nothing to see.


    With tear soaked face, he shut his eyes and just hoped it would all end soon because he was in so much pain. He did not want this anymore.


    He waited and waited and a rough angered voice finally reverberated in his ears, it said, "Boy I can easily kill you, you are as worthless as your father, and the death of your mother saddened me, but only a little. I will miss her services, hahahahaha."


    The rough loud evil laugh stunned Ezhno to his core, this was the first time he had heard anyone talk about his mother and father. He wanted to ask more questions but was afraid if he said anything he would be kicked again or even killed.


    "Boy, you''re lucky my granddaughter cut off all ties with you just now. If she did not, I would have killed you 100 times over already. You are not worthy to have any sort of relations with my granddaughter, a worthless rat should know its place. Remember, if I catch the two of you together again, I will not hesitate to feed you to the beast of the forest...Understood shit boy!?"


    With a loud muffled voice and a drawn out response Ezhno replied, "Understood Master Redfield."


    Master Redfield walked back over to Ezhno, picked him up from the back of his neck, and looked at his defeated face with a grin from ear to ear. He carried him over to the large pile of horse droppings and flung him into it.


    After spitting a wad of snot on to Ezhno''s face he said, "Now get back to work! Lucky for you I still need someone to tend to my stable. I will never find anyone willing to work cheaper than you. You''re damn lucky that a person as great as myself is still willing to take care of a worthless rat like yourself. If you do a good job maybe you will be lucky enough to maintain the same rations I allocate you each week." With a loud reverberating laugh, Master Redfield turned around, walked away, and started whistling his favorite tune.


    While lying there, listening to the whistling getting further and further away, Ezhno gave a sigh of relief, but did not try to get up. His entire body was aching all over, he was still coughing up a little blood here and there, and all he could really do was try to move his head around a little to have the stench of the horse poop fumes not smell so bad.


    With thoughts swirling all around his head, he was trying to comprehend everything that just happened. This was the first time he had ever thought of killing another person. Anger swelled up inside of Ezhno. With a clenched fist and gritted teeth, in his mind he yelled out, "Keane Redfield, when I am older and stronger, I vow that I will slice open your throat, piss and shit down your neck, and laugh as you choke on it. I will hang you in the middle of town, with your sliced off pecker up your ass. This pain and humiliation will be paid 100 fold."


    He did not know where these words or thoughts came from, as he has never once heard them, but for some reason he thought that this was the appropriate method to pay back what had been done to him today.


    His mind was now with the thought of Odilia and his parents. Even with the smell of the horse manure stinging his nostrils, he did not realize he had shut his eyes and passed out cold.


    That night there were many loud moans and groans and a very faint pulsating light coming from that area of the stable and the next day there were many rumors surfacing around all over the village, that an evil spirit was around the area of the stable.


    Anyone who walked by would hear the loud wails of agony that sounded like an evil vengeful being, wanting to spirit them away and take revenge. Many thought that it might be the spirits of the husband and wife that were rumored to have died a few years ago. So from that day on, many would stay clear of that area at night. If they had to go by, they would run as fast as possible.

 Chapter 7 - Evil Spirits

    Two days later, with a strong pungent and foul stench lingering all around Ezhno, he opened is eyes and gasped for air. The stench was stinging and permeating his nostrils, and with each deep breath he became more and more nauseated. His eyes were running and a stinging, tingling, burning sensations was felt in his throat.


    Ezhno dry heaved over and over again until he could not hold it anymore and threw up all over himself. The nasty bile after-taste did not settle well with him and he hurled a few more times. A few dry heaves later he finally settled himself and looked around. Noticing that he was still in the dung heap, he jumped out with the quickness, and was shocked to find that he was feeling no pain in his body. He ached a little, but he was not feeling like he was at deaths door like he was before.


    Ezhno thought to himself, "Did someone come over here and treat me while I was unconscious? If that was the case why would they not take me out of the dung heap, but instead just leave me here?"


    Looking over his body he noticed a slight black sheen on his skin, wiping it with his finger he readied himself, and with conviction brought his finger up to his nose and took a sniff. He pulled his hand back so fast he could of swore he heard the wind snap. Oh my, this stuff smells worse then the horse feces itself!


    "Is this what happens to one when they lie in dropping for a long period of time?" he thought to himself.


    Knowing that he was soaked in filth from head to toe, Ezhno ran back home to ready a bath. As he was fetching the water, he knew he was going to be pressed for time. It would take a while to boil some water so he could enjoy a warmer bath, so he quickly jumped in the ice cold bath and scrubbed his body from head to toe as fast and thoroughly as possible.


    While washing, he noticed that he had no bruising in either of the areas he was kicked by the stable master. Shocked and amazed he thought to himself, "Maybe my body is not as frail as I thought it was? You would think I would have a huge bruise, but there is absolutely no sign of bruising anywhere." Putting it into the back of his mind for now, he finished up his wash and put on a fresh set of clothing and went to start his duties for the day.


    When he reached the stable he noticed all the feed in each of the horses bays had been eaten up. Have I been lying in that filth for two days? I know I had put at least two days worth of feed in for each horse the last time I distributed the feed. He shuttered at the thought of himself lying in filth for that duration of time.


    After feeding the horses and cleaning up each bay, he led the horses out. Doing this usually tired him out, and he would feel the fatigue set in by the time he took the horses out, but today he still felt as if he did not do much work at all.


    Ezhno again thinks to himself, "I really wonder who treated me during that time?" He also wanted to ask them, "Why did they not take me out of the large pile of manure?"


    He was angry that he was lying in filth for two days, but truly grateful that someone did take the time to heal him. "Later, I will find out who was the one responsible for helping me, I will have to give them my sincere thanks. Maybe if I am lucky, they might give me some more of whatever they used to treat me with. When the horses get out of hand, and I get kicked, I always bruise and feel the pain for at least an entire week.


    While running the horses around the fenced field, he once again started to think about everything Odilia and her grandfather had said to him a couple days ago.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "Odilia, did you really say all of those things because of your grandfather? Was it actually something you had bottled up inside, and wanted to release before you took off to Traherne Academy, so that you would leave behind no regrets? I am now aware that you told a lie about the wild beast, and that lie had escalated out of control. I just don''t understand why you would lie to me like that. Me telling everyone around the village only escalated the lie and put you in the trouble you are in, and me at deaths door."


    While pondering these things, all of his anger welled up inside once again, especially when Ezhno thought of everything that Master Redfield had done to him. He was only a kid, yet he was punished like a thieving adult. He felt as if his life was simply toyed with and could be thrown away at any moment in time without any regret or consequences.


    While forgetting he was running the horses around the field his teeth started to clench and his hands were slowly squeezing into a tight fist. Without even knowing it, he had startled the horse he was leading around. The horse started grunting and bucking around. As he came out of his stupor he saw the horses had gotten away from his control, and a hoof was aimed directly at him. With instincts to dodge out of the way and to protect himself, he raised his arm up and blocked the leg. With a slight push of his arm, Ezhno was able to get himself away from the certain pain he was accustomed to by the kick of a horse.


    Amazed at the outcome, he had both of his arms raised in front of him and looked back and forth at each of them while squeezing his fist.


    He said to himself, "Did I seriously just do what I think I just did?" Usually when a horse bucks and thrashes about, Ezhno would typically find the "hoof of justice" landing on him, and he would be laid out sprawled on the ground rolling around in agony. As much as he wanted to block or get away, he was never able to do it before. Why was today any different?


    My bruises are non existent, my body does not feel tired and I was able to keep myself from getting injured just now. Was the medicine that was used to treat me really that wonderful? I really must find this person, and at all cost obtain this miracle medicine from them.


    After thinking to himself some more, in a dumb daze of confusion, he also had a thought. "Was that nasty stuff that was all over my skin the actual medicine that was used to treat me?" He shuddered at the thought that it was the stuff that smelled more awful then the horse poop did.


    Ezhno had a sour look on his face and started dry heaving after remembering the putrid smell that was all over his body. If that is the case, I will just silently remember this kindness and put the thought in the back of my mind. If I happen to find that person, I will sincerely thank them from the bottom of my heart. But, regardless of how wonderful the medicine was, he did not want to go through that again.


    He calmed down and controlled himself from throwing up anymore, he noticed the horse was still running and thrashing about. After chasing it and calming it down, he finished up the rest of his duties and retired back to his home.


    After returning home he cooked his meal and tidied up around his hovel a bit, he went outside to try and clean his filthy clothing from that day. Realizing that it was a losing battle, he threw them in the fire. He was saddened that he now had one set of clothing less, but did not want that stench to linger on anymore. Ezhno sighed, "I guess I need to start saving up for a new set of clothes now."


    When the fire settled he washed up and got ready for bed.


    After that Ezhno continued on day to day, he would just finish up his duties and go straight home. Every once in a while he would go around the village, but noticed everyone avoiding him as if he was someone with a contagious sickness. After a while, from the whispers, he found out that everyone thought the stables were harboring an evil spirit, and it was possibly Ezhno''s parents. They thought of him as a cursed being and did not want it rubbing off on them.


    Ezhno did not mind, he felt alone for a long time now and just treated this as normal. During his beating while staring with crying plea''s to those villagers that passed by that did nothing to help him and calm the situation down. The spite and hate for everyone in the village was all the same as the village head in his mind. He then said to himself,


    "You all will get yours in the end and my revenge will not just stop with that so called master of mine"

 Chapter 8 - Idiot

    Odilia was looking at Ezhno with a confused expression, she was wondering why he looked like a person in deep thought.


    "Ezhno, are you ok? Do you feel ill?" Odilia asked.


    After being jolted back to the present, he looked back and said, "Oh, hello Miss Odilia, I am fine, I have something important that I must do today and can not remember for the life of me what it is I needed to do. Oh well, it will come to me later, I suppose. So Miss Odilia, it has been a long time since I last saw you. You look like you are doing well for yourself."


    With a slightly disgruntled look upon her face, Odilia replied, "Ezhno, you know when we are alone you can stop with all of the formality. Miss is not necessary. I am angry that you forgot about this."


    "I did not forget Miss Odilia, but my friend Odilia, the Hero of Forest Shadow Village, has been dead for about a year now, and all that stands before me is Miss Odilia Redfield. The granddaughter of Keane Redfield, my boss, and the master of the stables."


    Ezhno sighed slightly after saying this, and continued on, "Miss Odilia, the horses have been ready for a while now, and I have been grooming them to ensure that they look their best, so Master Redfield and his men can make a grand entrance when they enter the town of White Rock. We can not have the people of White Rock thinking we are some poor, weak, dirty backwoods villagers who only know how to tend to crops and livestock, now can we? We can prove to them that we are worth more than horse shit, right?"


    Odilia''s eyes started to moisten and water up, she then turned away from Ezhno and replied, "You are right Mr. Ezhno, Grandfather has been in talks for a while now with the higher echelon of White Rock to allow some of the stronger men in the village to take part in next month''s event that will hand pick personal guards for one of the lord''s grandchildren."


    Ezhno replied, "That is wonderful, I hope and pray that the men of Shadow Forest bring honor to the village and the benefits that might come along with it. Now, you must excuse me Miss Odilia, I must go back to my duties and prepare for your grandfathers arrival.


    As Ezhno turned around, he heard Odilia with a sad crying voice yell, "Ezhno you truly are an idiot!"


    Odilia ran off as fast as possible, she did not want him to see the tears that were flowing down from her face. As she ran off, one could clearly see the tears trickling off of her face, each tear, which glistened from the sun rays like tiny little gems would splash down onto the dry ground and disappear into the earth.


    Ezhno looked up at the stable ceiling, eyes glossed over with moisture and sighed. He said with a sad low tone, "I know I am, Odilia. This lowly one truly is the world''s biggest idiot."


    He rubbed his eyes and grabbed his brush, as he looked off into a not so distant area, Ezhno sighed once more, and went back to brushing the horses as he waited for the arrival of the village head and his men.


    About 15 minutes later Master Redfield and his men finally arrived at the stable entrance. What awaited them was five horses, saddled and ready for their departure.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Ezhno gave a bow and said, "Master Redfield, please be safe on your journey." On the in the inside, Ezhno wanted to kill this man, but he knew his place for now. Ezhno was no match for him and would only get himself killed before he could lift a finger to this man. He hated being a coward, but what could he do? He was still a child. He knew if he were to buy his time and grow up, he would have a chance to exact his revenge, but for now he would act his part and be the good worker that he was.


    Keane replied with an arrogant laugh, and said, "Good job shit boy, the horses look like they were owned and groomed by royalty, you did your master proud. Now we can go to White Rock with our heads held up high.


    He looked over to one of his men and said, "Reward the boy. Even though he is a good for nothing, he has done myself and the village proud. As we walk down the streets of White Rock, everyone will be gossiping and whispering of our arrival. If it reaches anyone from the upper echelon before we see them, then this small reward will be justified."


    The man pulled out a bag of coins and with a tough annoyed voice said, "Boy, show your appreciation to the master, enjoy this moment, this is more than you will ever earn and will probably be the last reward you will ever receive." He unties the bag and flips it over, spilling the coins all over the ground.


    Before Ezhno picked up the coins, he bowed and said, "Thank you Master Redfield, this lowly one will forever remember your kindness."


    While reaching out to pick up the first of the coins, Keane said to Ezhno, "Boy, is there anything else you would like to tell me before you do that?"


    Ezhno froze, at first he did not know what Master Redfield wanted him to say, but then after thinking a moment about it said, "Yes, this lowly one had a visit from Lady Odilia about 15 minutes before your arrival, she wanted to let me know that you were arriving shortly, and wanted to make sure I did my job properly."


    "Is that all??" Keane asked, while dragging out his words.


    "She also tried to bring up the past, but I have told her that the past is dead and only treated her as everyone else would. As the granddaughter to the village head. After her arrival, I went back to my duties and she left."


    Keane replied, "Good. Know your place boy, this week I may throw in a little extra food ration for you. You are more mature then most your age."


    Keane had a vile grin and with a loud mocking voice said, "Good thing that your parents are dead, who knows what kind of brat you would have turned out to be."


    While giving a hardy laugh Keane shouts, "Men, lets go! Everyone mounted their horses and set off to the town of White Rock. Within the dust storm left behind, Ezhno was clinching his hand so tightly that you could see trickling blood oozing out a little. He stared at Keane and his men with blood shot eyes. After he settled down he went over to pick up the coins.


    Even if he did not want the charity from that man, he also would not pass up a free meal. He wanted to head over to White Rock the next time he was not busy and pick up a new set of clothes. He still has not replaced the ones from that day and would really like a backup pair in case the ones he was wearing now got holes in embarrassing spots.


    He counted all the coins and figured he had enough for a couple sets of cheap clothing and maybe some spices to spruce up his bland food.


    Ezhno finished up the rest of his chores and took off back to his home.


    On the way to the town of White Rock, Keane looked over to one of his men and asked, "Was there any truth to what that boy said, in regards to his meeting between him and my granddaughter? I put you in charge of watching over him in case they would meet up. He did not spot you the whole time did he?"


    The man replied, "Sir, I do not believe he saw me even once, even though he looked at my direction a couple times, he appeared to be just looking out at the scenery. Everything that boy has said was true, even though what he said has made Lady Odilia cry, he did what he was suppose to do and distanced himself from her."


    Keane replied, "Good, I do not have to sell him off into the fighting pits then, even though feeding him to the wild beast would be more enjoyable to watch, but it truly is hard to find anyone that is willing to work for next to nothing in this day and age." Keane gave off another loud roaring laugh and continued on his trek to White Rock.

 Chapter 9 - The Road

    Two days later, Ezhno had woken up a little earlier than usual. He headed over to the stable and quickly finished up his work so that he could get to town early. After finishing up his work, Ezhno ran home and quickly cleaned himself up. He strapped a burlap sack to his back, then made sure he had all of his money and affairs in order. Ezhno placed his coin bag in the pocket he had sewn on the inside of his shirt. He prepared a small sack of provisions and a lunch to snack on along the way, and proceeded to gates of the village.


    After leaving the village, he proceeded to the road and started his run towards the town of White Rock. The road was wide enough to fit 2 carriages side by side. The village did not have many people coming and going. They mainly exported the wood from the forest. When enough of the jeweled sage bush and various other plants and herbs were accumulated, they would have armed guards secure the payload towards White Rock. This was a large amount of the income for the villagers. Even though wood was steady income, it just could not be compared to the profits made when they sent off the plants and herbs to town. Wood took a long time to prepare so that it could be sold to the markets. Even though wood is abundant, it still was not easy to just go and cut.


    The rebirth tree, as everyone called it, was oddly peculiar, and had regenerative properties. Once the tree was cut, it would quickly start to rot and decompose. One of these 200 foot tall trees would take nearly 5 days before it rotted into dust. The peculiar part of the tree was not just the decomposing, but also what it did in that five day time frame. Around where the base was cut, the stump would decompose and a new tree sprout would take its place.


    There were special techniques that the founders discovered that could salvage this wood to make it useful. First the tree needed to be cut down as fast as possible. Then you would have to shave off about half a foot around the log. This was the part that took the longest. Each day this part of the tree was not shaved off it would lower the quality of the wood. Most of the trees harvested would be wasted after the 3rd day. After this point, it was not worth salvaging and was mainly left there to rot away or given to the villagers, who came and gathered the wood that could not be sold would be used as fire wood for there homes.


    This tree made up the majority of the trees that grew in the Grand Sea Forest. Due to its properties, most people called it a "trash wood" because only the 1st day wood was sought after and valued highly. Wood of the best quality was few and far between. It was hard to harvest the wood on the first day unless they had a team willing to do so. It was hard work and the money made from the 2nd and 3rd days harvest made more. It was the quantity versus quality aspect and it was not worth doing unless there was a high coin value customer who made a request for it.


    This is why those villages around the Grand Sea Forest had the means to thrive and make a living off of it. It was a dying craft since collecting plants and hunting beasts were more lucrative than the hard work needed to harvest the wood from the rebirth tree.


    Mainly those who did not have the courage or strength to run around the forest would do this labor. There have been many rumors that people of rich families sent people to the village in hopes of unlocking the secrets of the tree, but all end up in failure. To be able to obtain the life vitality, the tree would be the stuff of legends.


    While on the start of his trek to White Rock, Ezhno once again starts going over the things he needed for his day to day living.


    One would normally barter with the others in the village for this, but everyone in the village despised him. They would either refuse to give him any sort of service or they would charge him such a ridiculous price that he could not afford it. Even after he told them it was unfair, they still did not care. The normal response he received was, "Either you buy it for what I set the price at or leave. Be glad I would even attempt to sell anything to you. If the news spread out I would be shunned by the whole village and be no different from you."


    After the incident with Master Redfield, Ezhno had a whole new outlook on life. He could not look at anyone in the village the same again. He was an innocent youth, he worked diligently and was kind and he helped others. Even with his kind intentions, they either ridiculed him or took advantage of him. Every time he thought of that village, he would rather see it burn to the ground. He then would say to himself, "Fuck everyone there, it is just a resting place for me now. As soon as I get my revenge on that asshole I call Master, I will burn that place to the ground and show you what real disdain is like." He took a big long snort and spat to the ground. Thinking of all this gave Ezhno a sudden swelling of rage. It was looming over him and he felt power busting forth in his body and started running a lot faster, more like a sprint.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    After only 10 minutes of "rage running" he finally got to his half way point resting stop. He was surprised at how much faster he was today. He was also surprised to see that he was not as winded as he thought he would be. He said to himself, "I''m already half way there and it feels like I barely left the village. Today, if I really wanted to, I could probably run all the way to White Rock without stopping."


    He found his favorite tree, that he normally sat next to but decided against it for today. Ezhno thought to himself, "I have more than the usual amount on me today. Maybe I should venture in the woods a little to find a better spot to enjoy, away from the prying eyes of those passing by, who may see me as a free lunch. The woods here are known to be safe and do not harbor any wild beast, so I should be safe." Ezhno walked for about 1/8 of a mile inwards, As he slowly made his way though the woods, "Hmm, feels like I have been going down hill the whole time." he says to himself.


    As the woods finally felt like they were leveling off, he noticed ahead of him a small clearing, he walked closer and closer, as he broke though the tree line, what welcomed him was a small clearing with a small hill in the middle, on top of the hill grew a large tree that was dancing in the gentle breeze. While staring at this scene, only one word came to mind, "Beautiful". He slowly made his way towards the tree. As he reached the top, he placed his hand on the tree truck to feel its smooth, yet slightly rough texture. While his hand was still touching the tree, he started to circle the tree. It took him nearly 10 seconds to walk around the magnificent tree. As he stood there, the sour taste that was left over from the thoughts earlier faded away as he took in the view.


    Ezhno decided that from this day forward, he would make this his special rest stop on future trips to White Rock.


    He finally sat down and pulled a piece of hard tact from his sack and a gourd filled with water. He sat there taking in the scenery while munching on his lunch. He took in a nice deep breath of fresh air. He then thought to himself, "It is a wonderful feeling to be able to take in a deep breath and not have the smell of horse manure stinging my nostrils all the time."


    After finishing his dismal meal, he capped his gourd off and placed it back in his sack, he laid down with his hands behind his head to enjoy the scenery a little more. As much as he would love to go straight to town, sitting here and enjoying his lunch while taking in the world''s scenery was one of the things he enjoyed the most. There was no one to look down on him, there was no one there to ridicule him, no loud sounds of busy people talking and walking about. There was nothing but the gentle breeze kissing his skin gently. He listened to the wonderful music nature was orchestrating for him as he sat there enjoying his surroundings. After about 10 minutes, he rolled over on his belly with closed eyes, sighed and said to himself, "As much as I would like to spend the rest of my day here and also take a nap, I have too much I need to do at White Rock." After procrastinating for another minute, he opened his eyes, only to notice a small crevice opening about 5 inches long. As he stared at the opening, a gust of wind rushed though the area and the leaves and the branches swayed about.


    A ray of sunlight hit the crevice. His eyes opened wide, and he said to himself, "I can''t believe what I am seeing! This is a Jeweled Sage Berry Plant!" With its bright vibrant green colored leaves, the delicious berries that hung down and looked like sweet jeweled hard candies, he could never mistake this plant.


    Ezhno had a grin from ear to ear. If he sold this in town, he would have more money to buy a few extra things or maybe even splurge on some delectable confectioneries. Ezhno then soured his complexion when he remembered the event that happened the last time he owned a piece of candy. He gave off another long sigh and went to go fetch the plant out of the hole. He proceeded to dump the small sack of provisions out into the larger sack and placed the Jeweled Sage in it.


    Before closing the sack he had a thought, he plucked one of the berries off the plant and placed it in the ground back in the crevice. He pulled his gourd out, filled his mouth with a little water and sprayed the inside of the crevice. Then told himself, "Hopefully this will regrow. This can be something I can sell from time to time to help me down the road."


    After he finished putting everything away, he started his walk back to the road. When he got to the tree line, he turned around to look at the wonderful spot he discovered today. With a little sadness in his eyes, he says to himself, "I would have loved to have shown this to Odilia, but sadly that day may never come."


    Then another thought came to mind and he started laughing and tearing up while holding his stomach. After 20 seconds he finally calmed down and wiped a few tears from his face and said, "Well Odilia, I guess today, between you and I, I technically became the Hero of Forest Shadow Village." He giggled from time to time on his way back to the road.


    He crossed over the drainage ditch and continued on his trek towards White Rock.

 Chapter 10 - White Rock

    As he ran up the gentle sloped hill in front of him, Ezhno reach the top after a few seconds. He stopped to take in the view, and his eyes were met with the scene of tall breath taking mountains, and white rock quarries that littered the land. The town of White Rock was named after this stone that was abundant throughout the lands of this area. Even though the rock was no more special than other rocks, it was more aesthetically pleasing, so many people of the kingdom would purchase them at a slight premium because of it. There were also grain fields as far as the eye could see, and right in the middle of all this was the town of White Rock. The center of town was a mile across and had the iconic white stone walls surrounding it. Every building within the stone walls was also made with the same iconic white rock.


    Mainly those with money lived within the walls. Those that entered the town would have a small fee to pay under the guise of a city maintenance fee. Ezhno had never set foot in the inner walls and found what he needed on the outskirts. Even if he wanted to venture into the inner city, it was coins he was not willing to spend. Looking at the radiant glow from the sun as it hit the walls, it was as if the whole inner city was a pure land.


    Surrounding the area of the stone walls was a bustling sea of buildings, tents and homes that took up residence within the remaining surroundings.


    The circumference of the entire town is roughly 2 1/2 square miles. Even though it is not considered safe, since the land was one of the major commerce hubs of the area, people still took there chances to make a better life for themselves. The outskirts were considered somewhat lawless, even though you could see the town enforcers walk by from time to time. They were mainly there to extort money under the pretense of justice and civil duties rather than to protect. Even though taxes are collected, these enforcers did not really care what happened to anyone in the outskirts as long as their pockets were lined with coins and bellies filled with food.


    Everyone from the outskirts were technically not part of the town of White Rock itself. They drifted to the area in search of a means of building a better future for their families. They believed that in a time of crisis, those in charge of White Rock would not abandon them and would let them into the safety of the inner walls. Even though no major announcements have been made public, since the outskirts were a major hub of the area, they still took the chance in order to better there lives. They just believed the leaders of White Rock were not that heartless and cruel. Since catastrophe had never stuck the town, throughout the years rumors turned into the golden standard that gave people the peace of mind, so many flocked over in hopes that they too could better their lives. Since those in charge never drove anyone away and let them construct buildings and conduct business and even collected taxes on the people, it gave them even more peace of mind that they would not be abandoned.


    Ezhno walked closer to the outskirts of town. The closer he got, the sharper and nosier the sounds of a bustling city grew. Off in the distance you could hear the roars of the crowds cheering for there favorite fighters in the town''s fighting pits. The boos and jeers of the crowd over shadowed the noise from the exchanges going on within the busy streets from time to time.


    Ezhno was never fond of fighting, but wanted to at least visit the fighting pits once to see what all the fuss was about. He had never spent hard earned coins on entertainment, but he had overheard from the people within the village that there was no charge to enter. Since it cost nothing, maybe today could be the day he went over and took a look, he thought to himself.


    Before entering the battlefield that was the sea of vendors, he took in a few deep breaths, looked around, and patted the area of his inner pocket to make sure he still had his pouch of coins. He continued on towards the sea of noise and people. Ezhno finally entered the busy streets and started to ready himself for the beginning of the frivolous battle of obtaining the goods he was needing, for the cheapest price he could obtain them at.


    He had never thought himself to be handsome, but it seemed that the older street vendor ladies found him pleasing to the eyes and pleasant on the ears. They would always chat him up when he entered their line of sight. He knew this, and these were the only ones he would interact with if he saw they had something he needed. He had always received the best discounted prices from these pretentious ladies, so he did not shy away, but instead steeled himself for the constant harassment he would receive. This was all for his survival, even though it made him feel like a piece of meat, he could save a lot of his hard earned coins just suffering a few minutes of passes and sexual harassment.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    He finally stopped at his first stall, which had a middle aged plump woman selling pre-made clothing. Since his mother was no longer around, and there was no one in the village that would help him make clothing from bolts of cloth, he had to spend a slight premium for pre-made articles of clothing.


    The plump, middle aged woman said to Ezhno, "What a handsome young man! Come over and let this auntie take care of you and your needs. This Auntie does not bite." She gave a flirtatious, mischievous laugh and grinned the entire time as she placed her large hand on his shoulder.


    The vendors and some of the patrons in the vicinity heard this and started whistling, howling and laughing at Ezhno''s plight. An older man across the way, while loudly laughing at this small scene take place, yelled out a warning, "Watch out for her young man, she is known as the "Destroyer of Chasity" and feeds on young men such as yourself, but if you are looking for some free fun and don''t care how pretty and fresh the hole you stick your meat into is, then there is no better than that auntie right there. Be warned though, even if there is no coin to pay, you will still have to pay the price. There will be an insufferable itch that will be a never ending hell for weeks to come." As he delivered his warning, he furiously scratched the private area on himself. His laugh became louder and more infectious to the surrounding area.


    The middle aged woman had a sour and embarrassed look on her face as she heard the surrounding area full of loud laughter. She looked at Ezhno, and saw that there was no difference on his face, only closed eyes and a bright smile.


    These were the kind of vendors he loved the most, since he could get the cheapest price possible. It was as if what he heard the entire time went though one ear and out the other. He then said, "Hello auntie, I am looking for some work clothing, one pair of pants and a shirt, can you show me what you have?"


    The plump middle aged woman looked around and then back at Ezhno, with a now puzzled look on her face. She thought he would have ran clear across town by now. Since he was still standing with a bright smile on his face, she acted like nothing happened and started to pull the articles of clothing he was looking for.


    After 15 to 20 minutes Ezhno started to walk away from the stall, his burlap sack was now heavier than what he started with. Not only did he get a pair of work clothes, he also got a nice pair of pants and a shirt that the more well off kids of the village would be seen wearing. Even though he spent slightly more than he wanted, he still got a great deal that he could not pass up. Ecstatic at the huge score he had just made, and with a large smile on his face, he turned around waved goodbye to the plump, middle aged woman.


    He turned back around, patted the spot where his coins were at, and continued on to look for the next perverted woman with items he was needing. The older man who warned him and the plump woman stood side by side as they watched the happy youth walk away. The older man said to the woman, "So, were you able to seal the deal and sink your fangs into him? I saw you gave him a huge discount."


    She replied, "I told him to come back to the stall tonight and I would feed him and turn him into a man, but he politely turned me down and told me if he was not busy and had the time that he would come over."


    "So you still have a shot?" the older man said.


    She replied, "If that was the truth, I would be closing up early and back at my place already. Have you ever seen a horny young man turn down these large supple melons?" as she grabbed her chest and shook them up and down while laughing at the old man. She stopped and shook her head and then continued, "Since you had to meddle in others affairs and screwed with one of the only joys I have in life, you now owe me a good hole poking tonight. Swing by my place tonight and I can at least feed you dinner so you can keep me company the whole night." She punched him in the arm and turned around towards her stall, smiling and humming her favorite melody.


    The old man madly muttered to himself "Sheesh, I will never get rid of this damn itching" and walked back towards his stall regretting that he had warned the youth earlier.

 Chapter 11 - New Friend

    After running around stall to stall most of the afternoon, Ezhno had bought most of what he set out to buy. The amount of fake praises, flattery and radiant ear to ear smiles took a toll on him after a while. Especially all the suffering from the advances and sexual harassment he had to endure the entire time. He was mentally and physically exhausted. Ezhno needed to take a break, he was getting hungry. Previously he would not have the need to eat so much throughout the day, but after his run in about a year ago with the Master, he noticed that he had more hunger pains than usual and had an insufferable urge to eat more than he usually would to get him though the day.


    He found himself off hunting for edible foragables and some possible small game more than usual. Since his rations he would get from the master were not enough. He was usually tired after the day of duties, and with the lack of energy, this was all he could do to help fill the void in his stomach that he was constantly feeling.


    Since he had saved a lot of coins from all the great deals he was able to endure, he thought to himself that he should at least indulge in some of the wonderful smelling dishes that littered the food stalls all around him. If he was lucky, he would possibly find something super cheap to fill his ever growing hunger. Even though he fought hard with his penny pinching self to not do this, he could not fight the hunger pains that were constantly arguing with him every step of the way.


    He thought, "If push come to shove, I still can make some good coins selling the Jeweled Sage Berry plant i found in my new special resting spot. The coins i get from that will be more then enough to get me by for the next year so what''s the harm in splurging on a treat for myself?" After further conviction, he set off to find something to sate the hunger pains his stomach was constantly nagging him about.


    After a few minutes of stall hopping, he found a food stall that had a cheap meal. He did not hesitate to pass over the coins and decided to find a good shaded spot to relax and enjoy his meal.


    After walking around for a few moments, he had another thought pop up in his mind. "Why not head over to the fighting pits and see what that is all about, I can entertain myself, enjoy my meal from the stands and kill two birds with one stone."


    He decided to put his food away in his burlap sack and head off in the direction the occasional roar of the crowd came from. Since the roar of the crowd was not constant he would ask a random person for the right direction to head towards.


    On his way, Ezhno passed many stalls and buildings. There was one building that stood out from the rest, It was an old and decrepit building. Inside was a general store that had food items, dry goods and spices. He had wanted to grab a few spices since the bastard rewarded him many coins a few days ago.


    Ezhno figured since he was already here he would go in and grab what he needed to save some time.


    As he walked around the cramped area, he stumbled across a large crate with live critters inside. This crate must have housed a few hundred turtles. He decided to watch them for a moment. He never saw so many turtles in one spot before. Sometimes he would see one or two out and about near the forest edge but had never thought about eating them before.


    He found them to be fascinating creatures. They could just go about life in their mobile home. They can find a suitable home and if they felt like moving they were free to do so, without a care in the world. They always had a place to call home in that hard shell that protected them.


    After a couple minutes of watching, Ezhno could not help but happily smile the entire time, but the smile on his face soon turned into a frown. He saw the smaller, weaker turtle getting pushed around non stop by the other larger and stronger turtles. The food that was lying around him would constantly get gobbled down by them. Every time he would attempt to get a drink of water the others would try to block his path and push him out of the way.


    Anger set in, Ezhno wanted to help him, so he reached in to help push some of the bigger ones away. As he reached in to put them in their place, the bigger turtle that was missing an eye and had a scared up face and shell, bit his finger. Ezhno screamed and pulled his finger away, The frustration and annoyance set in. He said to the bigger scared up turtle, "You little bastard, you will get yours in the end! I have never had the notion of eating a turtle, but after meeting you today maybe i should make the exception and feast on you for my revenge!" He laughed hysterically to himself as he pointed and said this to battle scared turtle.


    The shop keeper, behind the counter, could not help but laugh and shake his head at the embarrassing scene of a young man verbally abusing a turtle.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Ezhno heard a few subtle coughs and a voice from behind the counter said, "If you''re not buying, do not touch or play with the merchandise. "


    Oddly enough, Ezhno felt a connection with the weak looking little turtle. It was as if he was watching a play of his own life right before his eyes. Being pushed around and ignored by those around him. Trying to survive day to day alone, it''s as if everyone just wanted to see him fail at life or dead in a ditch somewhere.


    Since he saw a lot of himself in this turtle, he felt the need to buy it. "The upkeep should not cost anything and we both could possibly enjoy each others company and traverse the life of solitude together." he thought to himself.


    Snapping out of his little stupor, he says to the shop keep, "How much are the turtles? I would like to purchase one along with 10 pounds of salt, a pound of black pepper and if the price is right, possibly a small 3 pound bag of sugar."


    The shop keep repeated back his order and said, "Young man, the total for your order comes out to 35 copper coins."


    Ezhno was trying to think of a way that he could persuade the man to give him a better deal. He needed the shop keeper to drop his order by at least 5 copper coins, because he only had 30 copper coins left.


    "Please uncle, the one I want is the smallest and weakest in the whole batch and will probably die in a week''s time. It could possibly spread disease to the entire batch when he does die. How about 30 copper coins? "


    The shop keep paused for a moment and said, "Young man, it has been a slow couple days and I have been bored sitting around here with nothing much to do. Since you showed me such a comical scene earlier, I guess I could make an exception this time and give a little special service."


    Ecstatic over what the old man said, Ezhno could not keep a straight face and was smiling from ear to ear.


    The old man went and put together his order. Ezhno reached in to grab the smaller turtle. But before doing so he made sure to reach over and quickly flick the head of the big scared up turtle that bit him. He smirked and laughed at it and said, " You got off easy you little bastard, you will not be eaten on this day but instead suffer from my "Flick of Revenge", you little shit." The smaller weaker turtle oddly enough looked at Ezhno as if justice was served and strangely enough looked like he was smiling and appeared to give a nod of approval for what he had just done.


    Ezhno was puzzled for a moment, not knowing if what he was seeing was real or just his imagination. After a few more seconds of staring at his new friend , he took the money out of his inner pocket and replaced it with his turtle.


    After putting away his spices in his burlap sack, he walked out of the door. Now outside, he gave a long sigh and said, "I am now officially broke. He found a spot underneath a shaded tree, sat down and pulled his new friend out. As he pulled him out and held him in his hand, the turtle popped out of his shell. Ezhno said, "Now that we are out of there, I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Ezhno Stone, you and I will now become friends from this day forward, I do not have much but what mine is yours. Even though I do not have much, I promise i will feed and take care of you. You and I both had messed up lives but at least now we can traverse the unknown future together." He laughed and continued, "You probably do not understand a word i said, but i really hope what i saw earlier was me not just seeing things and you have some form of understanding me."


    The turtle just kept staring at Ezhno, "Well, you do not have a name, so lets think of something to call you from now on. I can''t just keep calling you turtle, now can I? Hmm, lets see." While thinking long and hard for a few minutes, the turtle did not budge once, and continued staring at Ezhno.


    After another minute, he says, " I got it, since you look like a small circle while in your shell, I will call you Little Maru. How does that sound to you?"


    Oddly enough the turtle finally moved and bobbed his head up and down. This shocked Ezhno once again, This was the second time he had seen this turtle respond to him in a way that did not seem possible. He thought to himself, "I must be hallucinating, I know it''s been hot all day, the heat must have really gotten to me. He laughed and petted Little Maru''s head. "Now that we are now friends, I should give you a gift," after a minute of thinking he said, "I have got the perfect gift for you, even though I should sell it, I really want to celebrate this new found friendship with something really special." He put the turtle on his ground and opened up his burlap sack, he pulled out the small sack that he stored the Jeweled Sage Berry plant in.


    "I do not know if you can eat this, but what do you think? I know this is good for horses, but what about turtles?" he asked Little Maru. As Little Maru looked at the plant in Ezhno''s hand, his neck reach out so far, it was as if it was about to fall off. His eyes bulged wide open, and he started walking towards the plant in Ezhno''s hand. "Haha little guy you must really like what you are seeing and smelling, huh? This is all yours, this is my gift to you."


    Even though selling it would give him much needed income for the year, He saw a lot of himself in Little Maru and felt that it might be the one and only time he could ever indulge in something in his lifetime. Since it will make Little Maru happy then Ezhno was also happy. He brought the plant over to Little Maru, only a minute had passed and Little Maru devoured the entire plant.


    "Wow little guy. you sure can eat." With what appeared to be a satisfied look, he tucked back into his shell and appeared to have gone to sleep. "Well, after a large meal, I too get tired." Ezhno put Little Maru back in his inner pocket.


    His stomach growled fiercely. I really need to get over to the fighting pits and eat the food I got from earlier. He got up and shook the dust off his pants and headed towards the town fighting pits.

 Chapter 12 - Mistakes Were Made

    After traversing the smaller maze of streets and building for 20 minutes, Ezhno finally reached the wider road he had been searching for, since he left the general store to head towards the fighting pits.


    His stomach was rumbling a fierce tune of gurgles and gargles. He said to himself, "This was a mistake! I really should have just ate my food after I bought all of my provisions at that run down general store. I can not back down now, I said i would eat while watching the fights in the pits, and I will be damned if i back out now." Ezhno pursed his lips together, made a fist, and nodded his head with full conviction to finish what he set out to do.


    He navigated around the dilapidated road, which was littered with pot holes and large and small puddles of water and muck . "How can there be such a shoddy road in a grand place like White Rock? This place looks like a battlefield. Even in the village, the roads are not this horrid." He said to himself.


    After hopping over yet another puddle and walking over yet another large pothole, Ezhno stopped in place. He could not stop feeling that he had made a terrible mistake and pondered long and hard whether he should just head straight back to the village and call it a day. He thought to himself, " If I would have just left town and headed back to the village after getting the last of my supplies, I could of had enough time to enjoy my meal and rested for an hour or so back at my special spot.


    Why the hell did I think watching a bunch of men and women fighting one another would have been entertaining in the first place? Would watching that and eating at the same time really be that enjoyable?"


    After getting lost in his own thoughts, Ezhno did not hear all the commotion going on from a short distance. A horse drawn carriage was heading straight for him and the coachman was yelling and cursing for him to get out of the way.


    After phasing back to into reality, he finally heard the yelling and rude remarks piercing his ears from the young coachman. The young coachman then yelled out, "Since you just want to stand there and not move, don''t blame me for sending you into the afterlife!"


    The horse and carriage was about 15 feet away from him. He stood frozen, unsure at what to do, The horse was just about to slam into him when Ezhno bent his knees and propelled himself backwards like a spring that has just uncompressed and had flung himself about 6 feet back.


    As Ezhno landed, he lost his balance on the slimy large muck puddle. He slammed his bottom hard to the ground. The vile concoction of horse feces, mud and water splashed around and the entire area below his stomach became filthy beyond saving.


    He was shocked at the outcome. Not shocked at the filthy mess he landed into, but by the jump he had just performed. He never thought he could launch himself that far back while standing in place.


    While sitting in the cesspool of filth, Ezhno was bending his legs back and forth, not believing his legs were capable of doing what they just did. If one were to guess what was happening, it would appear as if he was trying to kick an imaginary wild beast away as a last desperate attempt to keep himself from getting ripped apart and eaten.


    The young children stared and laughed hysterically at the scene they were witnessing, The elderly people shook their heads and wondered what weird things this youth had drank or eaten. The wealthier people would stick close to one another and walk further around the area. They did not want this mad youth attacking them, because he appeared to not be right in the head. The noise of the crowd snapped Ezhno back to reality. He looked around staring at these people that were gathering all around him.


    As he scanned his surroundings, his eyes finally saw what the crowd was gawking at. Ezhno stopped in place, it would appear even though he was no longer in his daze, he was still pumping his legs back forth. His face turned bright red like a ripe tomato.


    He got up on his feet and immediately sprinted away in a random direction, Ezhno did not want to be in that embarrassing situation longer than he already had. After running around for a couple minutes, Ezhno ducked into one of the alleyways that appeared to be empty. He sat on the ground next to a barrel of runoff water to catch his breath. After taking in a few deep breaths and calming himself down, he said to himself, "I can''t believe that jump I was able to do. This truly can''t be real, right?"


    Ezhno pulled up his pant legs and started looking at, and rubbing his legs. He then started feeling all around his body, he paused for a second and said to himself,


    " I have never really looked that closely at my body before, have my muscles always been this lean and sculpted? What the hell is going on with my body? After the horrible day about a year ago, strange things have been occurring that do not seem normal. I am constantly hungry, I am now able to easily block and evade the horses when they get out of hand. My eye sight seems to be sharper and I am able to see things a little further away than i was normally able to see. When i do my daily duties around the stable I do not get tired that fast or often. Even that sprint halfway to town did not tire me out like it should have, and now today with that leap backwards."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    Many thoughts continued to swirl around in Ezhno''s head as he looked back at all the strange events that had happened to him. As he was lost in thought once again, a nauseous, foul stench was constantly attacking his nostrils. Ezhno''s face started to sour up and as if by reflex, he started to heavily dry heave. He said to himself, "Not this shit again, It was almost as bad as the time I laid in that filth for two days about a year ago. "


    Ezhno paused for a moment, as if he had an epiphany, but as soon as it sparked, the distraction of the odor once again stung his nostrils and the spark of enlightenment was gone in a flash. Ezhno started to dry heave once again, he thought to himself, "Dammit! Just now it felt like I was on to something and this damn stuff all over me had to go and ruin it. I really need to get this muck cleaned off of me."


    He looked around to see if anyone could see him. He took the burlap sack off his back and placed it on the ground, Ezhno while resisting the urge to vomit was trying to work though the foul smell. He proceeded to take everything in his sack out to make sure nothing was ruined. He then checked on Little Maru to make sure he was ok.


    "Looks like he is still sleeping, I can''t believe you slept though all that little buddy. He then placed Little Maru on the ground. He picked up the sack and thought to himself, Luckily the sack was water proofed, I am glad i was able to find wax near the edge of the forest a month back and was able to make a bunch of candles and put a nice coating on my sack with it. Sadly the hive was dead and i was not able to procure some delicious honey." He then took the empty sack over to the barrel of water and proceeded to clean the filth off his sack. Once cleaned he inspected all of his goods one at a time and placed them back in the sack.


    He left the two pairs of clothing on the ground and wondered which one he should wear. "Well, since the work clothing have no inner pocket sewn in and the nicer pair does, I might as well wear the nicer pair so Little Maru has a nice place to rest. "


    Ezhno gave a quick glance around to make sure no prying eyes were locked on to him and he started to undress. He had never done anything like this in a public area before, so he wanted to clean himself up as fast as possible, change, and get out of the potentially embarrassing predicament he was now facing.


    He finished up his super quick wash, grabbed his pants, and started putting them on. He looked up and saw two young ladies staring at him from the end of the alleyway. They both had bright red faces as they gawked at the scene in front of them. One even had her hands over her eyes but you could clearly see they were cracked between the fingers, still staring at the naked youth in front of them.


    Ezhno was frozen in place, eyes wide open, as he stared back bright red at the embarrassing situation that was unfolding at that moment. The two girls both looked at each other and giggled and then continued looking at this handsome youth. One of the ladies whistled while staring at the impressive lower half, and said, "My, My, My what do we have here?"


    The one that had her hands over her face from earlier looked at Ezhno''s upper half and slowly gazed downward. If one had good hearing or could read lips, as her eyes made contact with his lower half, they would know she uttered the words "wow" under her breath. The atmosphere turned dead quiet. From behind the two girls, a horse with a high pitch neighing broke the awkward silence as the two girls once again stared at each other and then back at the lower half of the naked youth. In unison, with a not so serious playful voice, both said "Horse Man!"


    Ezhno, finally snapped back from his frozen state and quickly covered his manhood and darted behind the barrel of water. The two girls then ran off towards their destination while laughing and giggling like little school girls. They were neighing back and forth at each other while laughing hysterically afterwards .


    While hiding behind the barrel, he could not believe what he just heard, he said to himself, "Impossible. Do they know me? I have never seen them before. How do they know I take care of the horses and stable duties back in Forest Shadow?"


    After a couple minutes, he decided to poke his head up and look around. After seeing the coast was clear, he stood up and buttoned up his pants. He grabbed his shirt, and put it on as fast as possible. He then proceeded to put his boots on and squatted down to pick up Little Maru. As he reached for Little Maru, he saw something protruding a little out of the ground. He pushed the dirt away only to find it was a copper coin. To his surprise it was not only one, but 5 coins in total.


    To make sure that there were not anymore hiding around, he pushed the dirt around a little more, but sadly that was all that was there. He then said to himself. "Well, i guess there is something good that came out of all this, I am no longer broke." He chuckled to himself and put Little Maru away in the inner pocket.


    He looked at the small pile of clothing next to the barrel of water, that was made up of his revolting soiled shirt and pants and said, " I am seriously not going to go though this again, sadly I am out of some more clothing, but luckily i was able to buy two sets earlier so it is not going to be a complete loss."


    He continued to push them behind the barrel and made his way to the end of the alleyway. As he reached the end, he peaked around the corner like some kind of shady thief to make sure the two girls from earlier were not still lurking around waiting for him to pop out of the alleyway.


    He gave a long sigh of relief when he saw they were no where to be found and said to himself, "I really should head back home now. This damn fighting pit is like a curse, a plague to my existence." As he stepped out of the alley, the anxiety of today''s events finally wore off and Ezhno''s stomach rumbled so fiercely that he could not help but clench it with his arms tightly. He was seriously thinking of just sitting down right then and there, not having a care in the world and just eating his meal he had bought earlier.


    Just then, a large roaring crowd of cheers and boos, like a shock wave, jolted him from head to toe. He looked at the direction it was coming from to see the iconic old White Rock quarry not that far away from where he was standing. He turned around and started walking in the direction out of town towards the village, Ezhno then stopped in place, he shook his head, and bitterly laughed at himself, turned back around and said "Ezhno, you truly are a retard!! you seriously are a glutton for punishment today" Then proceeded over towards the fighting pit.

 Chapter 13 - Fighting Pits Part 1

    Ezhno made his way though the sea of people coming and going from around the entrance of the pits. The array of patrons faces were plastered with all sorts of different emotions. Those who had won money had celebratory cheers and big grins, while those who had lost had sour faces, fear and regret. Those who enjoyed themselves had arms around the shoulders of there friends and comrads, while being loud and obnoxious in a happy drunken stupor.


    After finally making his way though the crowds, Ezhno finally passed though the gates and made his way towards the seating area of the arena. While standing at the top of the pits, the classic white rock was more noticable. As the sun reflected off the white rock of the entire area, it stunned Ezhno for a moment. It was as if he entered a Holy ground, and he did not know if he was worthy to enter such a grand area.


    He stood there gazing at the sea of people that gathered around the spiral shaped quarry. The strip mine sprial shape made it a perfect setting for a fighting arena. A long row of cut and chiseled benches made for perfect bleacher seats for the mass of spectators who would visit the fighting pits day to day.


    The place was littered with trash and uneaten food. Ezhno had to shake his head in shame, seeing the scene of wasted food littering the area. The arena looked like it was split into three different sections. You could tell that those at the top were of the lower class of society, a lot looked as if they had just left the fields or the mines and went straight here. Their appearance was like his own, before he changed in the allyway.


    The middle and lower levels were roped off and guarded with large burly men who only allowed those who were dressed well, and looked like they were better off pass.


    It was hard to see past this area from the top since it was covered with cloth awnings. It would seem it was to protect those from the ones above so they could not throw things or get those below tarnished with food, drink or bodily fluids since there was litter and food on top of them.


    The ones seated on the lower area, closest to the fighting area had the best accomodations. Most wore rich garments and you could tell they all had an arrogent air to them of wealth and power.


    The bottom of the pit was a smooth flat surface, about 100 yards in circumfrence. There were four tunnels that had gates blocking them. Each facing one another for the fighters to come and go.


    Near each gate, there was one cart and a wheel barrow. Some carts had a couple of bodies lying in them, and Ezhno assumed the wheel borrow was to lug the injured away after a fight.


    As Ezhno made his way down the flight of stairs, he looked back and forth. It was hard to find any good seating around the top of this area. To him, one of his stature in society would normally sit in this area. As he made his way lower and lower, he could not help but shake his head and say to himself, "This is going to be hard to find a good seat, let alone see much of the action going on at the bottom of the pit." He stopped and stood there for a moment, and thought, "I might as well test my luck and see if I can go though to the middle section. As he made his way closer to the roped off area, he was greeted by two burly men who looked at him from top to bottom.


    One guard thought to himself, "I wonder if this handsome young man, is some young master from within the inner walls? But what is up with that God awful sack he has on his back?" He looked over at the other guard who shrugged his shoulders. The second guard said, in a lowered voice, "It is possible he is from a prominant family, but then again it looks like he might not be. It''s better to just let him though, rather than deal with the wrath of his family, if we are wrong and do not let him pass." They both nodded at each other and took a step back while lifting the rope up.


    It was hard for Ezhno to control his excitement inside. He did not think they would allow him to pass. He hurried his steps before the guards changed their minds, and headed lower down the middle section.


    As he looked around, he could not believe how different it was compared to sitting above. The seats in this area all had arm rests, and room so you were not bumping elbows or swapping sweat with the guy sitting next to you in the hot sun. Behind the seat in front of you, there was also a small area where one could set their food or feet while they enjoyed the show.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Pleased with the decision to put on his nicer set of clothing, he thought to himself, "I am happy I decided to buy Little Maru. Without him, I probably would have wore my plain looking work clothes, and would not have been able to enjoy myself in a more relaxed environment. After seeing the seating above, it would have truely been hard to enjoy my food and relax while trying to watch the fights."


    Ezhno then proceeded towards a section with little to no people around, and found himself a nice little area. He pulled the sack off his back and took a seat. He could not wait anymore and pulled his meal out of the the burlap sack. As he opened the flimsy, cheap wooden box, he was starting to salivate, as if something burst open in his mouth and the druel was slowly trickling out from the sides of his mouth.


    His stomach was rumbling something fierce, and he could not take it anymore. He opened his mouth and took a bite. Chewing vigiously, his eyes moistened and tears of joy were slowly drizzling down his face. "Finally, finally, I am able to eat!"


    At this moment, it was the best thing he had ever eaten. Even though it was just some cheap fried potato wedges and some kind of fried, unknown breaded meat or intrails, it was like a meal fit for a king in his eyes. He truely did not want this meal to end, so he decided to slowly eat and enjoy every mouth watering bite. He did not know why he had to be head strong and not eat when he had the chance, since there were many opportunities to do so, but at this moment he did not care anymore, and put those thoughts behind him.


    While in his blissful stupor, the loud roars of boos and cheers were resonating all around the arena. Ezhno was so engrossed in his food, he forgot that a fight was going on at that moment. He stared at the middle of the fighting area to see two men exchanging a few blows. The shorter of the two looked like he was at a disadvantage, taking most of the blows in the exchange. However, it also appeared he was not taking any heavy damage.


    While taking another bite, Ezhno stared more closely at the smaller fighter. After a couple of minutes, a few exchanges, and circling each other, Ezhno thought to himself, "He could have easily dodged half the blows, but it seems like he is taking them on purpose? Why would you purposly take on something, if you could avoid it?"


    The shorter man then did something that made Ezhno''s eyes open wide. He ran foward and the larger man threw a kick towards the shorter man''s stomach. As he took the kick, it appeared he jumped back right when the kick landed. He clearly saw the man jump back right at the same time, and he flew about 6 or 7 feet backwards. This was almost the same kind of jump Ezhno displayed earlier that day, before the horse was about to ram into him.


    As the shorter man landed, he rolled around a few times and then landed on his rear end, he was gritting his teeth and clutching around his stomach area.


    Ezhno then said to himself, "Is he faking it? I clearly saw him jump back at the moment of impact, he couldn''t have taken that much damage?" The taller man slowly walked towards him with a smirking grin plastered on his face. As he got within a really close distance, and with his leg cocked back ready to send another kick over, the shorter man let go of his stomach and with no time at all planted both his hands on the ground and did a sweeping kick that caught the the larger man off guard.


    As the larger man was falling down, the smaller man lunged foward and mounted the larger guy, as they landed on the arena floor. He started wailing his fist furiously at the larger man''s head until the larger man could no longer resist, and was lying limp and motionless on the ground. The smaller man saw this but did not stop. He was swinging both arms back and forth as blood was flying all around with each slam of his fist.


    After a minute of furious punches, he finally stopped. While still mounted on top of his opponent, his arms relaxed down to his sides, while staring off into the sky. His chest was concaving in and out with his heavy rapid breathing, clothing soaked with a dark crimson red and small chunks of what appeared to be skin stuck in a select few places. Blood slowly dripped down off both of his arms and face. One really could not tell at that moment if what they were staring at was beast or human.


    The larger man''s body suddenly twitched slightly. The shorter man did not hesitate and took both of his hands and intwined them over his head and like a heavy sledge hammer, and swung down with a heavy force over and over again at the unrecoginizable head of the larger man. Each time he plunged down, you could see his hammer like fist sinking further and further down as crimson blood and brain matter stained the white arena ground.


    After the smaller man appeared to have slammed his entwined fist all the way though to the arena floor, he stopped, looked down, and then with ragged heavy breathing, he slowly proceded up to his feet. He stood with his head dropped down and arms dead to his sides. He paused for a few moments and with his remaining strength, he looked up to the sky with his arms raised in the air and gave a loud fierce roar while looking around at the crowd above him. As he did this, the cheering roar and boos of the crowd shook the entire arena.

 Chapter 14 - Fighting Pits Part 2

    Ezhno''s eyes and mouth were wide open, staring at the scene that had played out. He had just witnessed a man being killed right before his very eyes. Only two words popped up in Ezhno''s head at the time. "Savagely Brutal." He had never seen anyone savagely beaten up by another human until they were dead.


    He could not shake the fact that he was let off pretty easy. ''That could have easily been me back then,'' he thought to himself. Maybe it was because he was just a child or maybe he was just being toyed with. He could have easily been killed like the man he just saw today. This more or less made him realize the simple truth, that he was weak and he needed to learn how to defend himself, so he did not end up a dead bloody mess on the ground.


    Witnessing someone die today was not the most shocking thing to him though. He was not scared of the fact that the man died, since he had witnessed many scenes of animals being slaughtered around the village, so death was not a huge thing to Ezhno.


    He was more shocked at the scene of the shorter man''s jump the moment the kick touched his stomach region. ''I really wish I could talk to the shorter fighter,'' he thought to himself. ''I have so many questions, but I have no clue on where to look, or who to ask. Here is someone going though what I am experiencing, but I have no way of asking him what the hell is going on.''


    After the thoughts lingered on his mind over and over, he put the them in the back of his mind and said to himself, ''Today I have finally seen what takes place at the fighting pits, and I really don''t see or understand what all the excitement surrounding the pits was all about. After I finish the rest of my food, I am just going to head off back to the village.''


    Ezhno continued to savor his meal as he watched a few men with a wheel barrow chuck the victor of the fight on it and roll him out of the arena through the gated entrance. He then watched two other men chuck the body of the larger man into one of the carts as another 6 men began to scrape up what was left of his head and begin to scrub and wash the floor of the fighting area.


    A few minutes later Ezhno finished his food, he thought throwing the box out would have been a waste. He figured he could find a use for it back home and continued to put the empty box in his burlap sack. He stood up and did a quick stretch, picked up his burlap sack and strapped it to his back and started his way back to the arena stairs.


    As he made his way, something from the other side of the quarry sparkled and shined into his eyes distracting him for a moment, and before he realized it he had just walked into an older gentleman, and they both fell back on their behinds.


    Ezhno rubbed his eyes and stood up right away. He started frantically apologizing to the old man, because he knew it was his fault and genuinely wanted to let the older man know he did not do it on purpose. He really did not have any money to compensate, if the old man started screaming about it.


    After a minute of bowing and apologizing, the old man said to Ezhno, "Why the rush young man?" Ezhno continued to explain even further about what had just happened. The older gentlemen, who looked to be around 65 to 70 years old said, " I see..." he then continued, "Well, as for compensation...." When Ezhno heard the word "compensation" his heart felt like it stopped, but the next words surprised him even more. "You shall accompany this old man for a little bit and watch a few rounds of fights."


    Ezhno really wanted to head home, but since all he had to do was sit down and watch a few fights and not give any form of coin compensation he could not turn the old man down. It was his fault in the first place that he knocked the old man down and it was the least he could do to make up for it. He then said to the old man, "Ok, it would be my pleasure to accompany you then."


    With a hearty laugh, the old man replied, "That''s the spirit young man! Men testing each others skill, and beating each other up is something young men as yourself should be looking forward to watching."


    Ezhno put his hand behind his head and gave a half hearten laugh. He honestly did not care to watch such brutal things, but as the next fight went underway, to Ezhno''s surprise, one could say it was a rather lack luster, dull fight. The two men exchanged a few blows, then a few minutes into the fight, one of the fighters took a solid kick to the head, and was knocked to the ground, flat on his back, and admitted his defeat.


    After seeing the uninterested look on Ezhno''s face, the old man said to him, "Not all fights are as brutal as the last fight you witnessed. Some come to the pits to test their skills, others seek fame and money. The fighters in the last match must have had no choice. He must have been a slave to the pits and if he did not kill his opponent, it could have easily been himself beaten to death."


    Ezhno was in a state of shock at the words the old man had just said to him. In an astonished loud voice he said, "Slavery!? How could there be slavery in the Traherne Kingdom? I thought that was abolished a long time ago?"


    The old man looked at Ezhno, and with a sigh he answered, "Even though it is illegal to own slaves in this kingdom, a lot of those in power at the time did not like the rule of the land. They found a loophole, and under the guise of "Apprenticeship", they are able to own slaves. These people are forced to sign contracts stating until the apprenticeship fees are paid off, or until an amount of time has passed, they are to serve their master well. Under these types of laws currently passed in this kingdom, they can force the person into basically signing a contract of slavery. Do you honestly think those under the contract will have many means to earn money, let alone a good wage? With these laws in place and under certain circumstances, if the contract is breached it is even possible to be punished by death."If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    "Why couldn''t they just pass new laws to try and correct the loopholes? Those enslaved... couldn''t they just try running away in the middle of the night?" Ezhno said to the old man.


    The old man sighed again and explained, "Since this only affects a small percentage of people, they turned a blind eye to it. Since the people are not revolting and those in power are satisfied with the way things currently are, why would they want to change it? One could try to run away but how far would they go before being caught? You could brave the wilderness, but with the amount of wild beast running around, could you last long enough to get to the next kingdom or get far enough away that your contract master could not find you? If you do get caught, what waits for you is probably a harsh disciplinary session. Then comes the medical bills and more than likely your contract will be extended even further. In the eyes of those unfortunate enough to fall into this ploy, it would more than likely be easier to try and pay off your fees or wait until your apprenticeship contract is up. Since you are not chained up and you have food and a roof over your head, some people willingly give up their free will and freedoms for a little security and peace of mind, instead of suffering the rough hardships on their own."


    Ezhno, was shocked at the news he just heard. He was not aware that something like this existed in the kingdom. His parents had told him they were slaves from the neighboring kingdom and were set free when the Traherne military took back the mines they were enslaved at. So hearing that slavery still existed did not bode well with him. He then thought to himself, ''Since my parents were new to the kingdom and did not know any of its rules and laws, did they sign a contract with the village head? Am I no different than a slave? Luckily, I have no contract and still have my free will and freedoms.''


    Seeing the ugly perplexed face on Ezhno, the old man knew he probably touched a sore spot with this young youth. As the next fight still had yet to start the old man waved at a vendor. As the vendor came closer, the intoxicating smell shook Ezhno from his thoughts. His belly had a mind of its own and grumbled.


    The old man looked at Ezhno and laughed as he said to the vendor, "Give me two of those mutton casings in bread and put all the extras you have on it." Ezhno could not help but stare at the food that was passed in front of his face. One could clearly see the saliva droplets on the side of his mouth. The old man handed over a few coins and then handed one of the wrapped up casings over to him.


    Surprised at the gesture, Ezhno gulped and put his hand out while shaking his head back and forth, politely refusing, he said, "Old man, even though it looks delicious I can not take this, I have no means to pay you back for it."


    With a deep loud laugh, the old man insisted, "Boy, just take it! Think of it as an apology for bringing up a sour subject just now. You could also think of this as an old man''s selfish wish."


    "Selfish wish?" Ezhno asked, with a confused look on his face.


    "This used to be my grandson''s favorite thing to eat. It was the only way I could bribe him into accompanying me here when he was younger."


    "Why is he not with you today?" Ezhno asked again, while confused at all that was being said to him.


    The old man sighed and stared off into the distance. His eyes slightly misted over as he answered, "He went and followed in his father''s and grandfather''s footsteps and joined the military. Sadly a few months after joining there was a battle with another kingdom over a mine and some land they took over, and he perished in combat."


    Ezhno was well aware of this battle, it was precisely the same battle that freed his parents from their shackles, and he could not help but feel grateful to those that helped them escape that life. In this situation he did not know what to say. After a pause he said, "Old man, it looks like I have opened up a memory that should have been left unopened."


    They both looked at each other, the old man then said, "Enough with talks about the past and enough of this old man business, just call me Gramps."


    Ezhno nodded and replied back, "Gramps, my name is Ezhno." At the same time, he took the mutton casing and bread from him.


    The old man could not help but nod in approval and gave a big smile back at Ezhno.


    After taking his first bite, Ezhno could not hide the joy beaming off his face. This was the best thing he had ever eaten before. The meal before this was trash compared to what he was now consuming. He wanted to hold back and savor it but the urge to gobble it down took over his body. Watching the scene, Gramps could not help but laugh, he then said to Ezhno, "Good, right?"


    All Ezhno could do was vigorously nod as he stuffed his face with the mutton casing with bread. Bite after bite of mouth watering goodness was happily ingested. He did not realize that it ended until he had taken a bite of paper. He was instantly saddened at the thought that this was probably the last time he would get to taste such an exquisite meal.


    Just then, two men finally walked to the center of the arena. They did not immediately fight and appeared to be waiting for the signal.


    "This is the betting period Ezhno. Let''s make things more interesting today and place a bet." Gramps suggested. Ezhno was sweating a little when he heard the words "place a bet". He really did not want to take the risk of loosing the last of his coins, but he also did not want to turn the old man''s suggestion down.


    He thought about how to respond for a bit before his better judgement kicked in, "I do not have any money Gramps, I will just sit here and watch instead." as he said this, the perspiration on his body set in faster.


    The old man could not help but shake his head at him, "Boy, who said you had to wager your own coin? This old man has plenty of coins, so don''t worry about it and just pick the fighter you think will win."


    Again, not wanting to turn the old man''s suggestion down, with a slight hesitation he nodded and looked over the fighters a little more closely. After a minute of thinking, Ezhno pointed to the fighter on the left hand side and said, "I choose that one right there."


    "Good eye," Gramps replied back to him in a satisfactory nod. "What made you decide on him?"


    "I do not know how to really explain it. While he was warming up, I saw some subtle movements that did not seem to be normal and he also has this confident air around him. Even though the other guy is bigger and also appears to be a lot stronger, you can see he has a nervous twitch to him and could also say a fearful aura to him. Even though he is trying to hide it, you have to watch him closely but every action he is making, indicates that he does not want to fight this man in front of him."


    Nodding at everything Ezhno was saying the old man then said, "I actually know something about this fighter. He is the grandson of one of the Generals I served under during the time I was in the military. That young man has enhancements. He is what the people would call an Enhancer."


    Ezhno looked at the old man with confusion, "Enhancements....? Enhancer....? What the heck is that?"

 Chapter 15 - The Culling

    The old man looked at Ezhno surprised that this youth was impervious of the strong people of this world. He then said to Ezhno, "You honestly have never heard of an Enhancer before? Are you some country bumpkin, born in a stable? Raised in a small village or something?"


    Ezhno looked at Gramps with a look of surprise and shock on his face and said to Gramps, "How did you know? Are you also from Forest Shadow Village? How do you know I was born in a stable? Do you happen to know me and my parents?"


    Gramps looked at Ezhno with a guilty embarrassed look on his face, and coughed while attempting to laugh and said, "Boy I was just trying to make a light joke about it, I am sorry I did not know of you, or your background."


    Ezhno stared and then started laughing, "It''s ok Gramps, everyone makes fun of me so it''s nothing new. But I am sorry, I really do not know what an Enhancer is or what is so special about Enhancements. I only came to the fighting pits to see what the fuss was all about while I ate my meal, since I was in town getting some supplies and provisions."


    The old man felt bad at this point. Ezhno brought back good memories of the time spent with his grandson, he wanted to apologize, so he called the vendor back over and bought him another mutton casing and bread. He said to Ezhno, "Treat this as my apology for my rude joke to you."


    At this point Ezhno knew what the old man was like and was not overly polite. He gladly took it from the old man and said, "It seriously was not a big deal Gramps, but I will gladly accept this. These things are too damn delicious to pass up!" They both looked at each other and playfully started laughing.


    Gramps got out of his seat and went over to the betting booth. Once his bet was placed, he sat back down next to Ezhno who was enjoying his food like a greedy pig.


    "You truly do not know what enhancement or enhancers are?" Gramps could not believe there were people out there who have never heard of this before. So he had to ask again


    "Gramps, if I honestly knew what they were, would we seriously be having this discussion right now?"


    The old man nodded his head. While staring at the center of the arena, the old man started his explanation.


    "Well, Enhancers are people who have eaten meat of a wild beast. Those that eat the beast meat have miraculous things happen that enhance the body''s potential. It allows one to become stronger. They can lift heavier things, that normally would take a few people to accomplish. One will run faster, and go longer distances without being short of breath. Your reaction time improves, You will be able to see things come at you and move as if it was natural. Those with enhancements are known to display jumping and blocking abilities that are abnormal. The body will heal faster, if you were to normally take a week to recover, it may only take one a couple days to feel like your old self again."


    At the same time Ezhno was hearing the old man''s explanation, his eyes were wide open and his body instantly froze stiff, as if he had seen a ghost. His mutton casing and bread fell from his hands straight onto the dirt ground below. It was the answer to nearly every question he had been pondering about regarding the changes to his body. His brain felt overloaded trying to process the abundance of news flooding his head. It was as if a small dim ball of light in his head was circling around and the info was the fuel, instantly igniting the ball of light making it explode to every inch of his brain.


    The old man looked at Ezhno, he was surprised at how Ezhno was reacting. He then said, "Boy, are you ok? Did you get a bad mutton casing? Panicked that the food might have been poisoned, he put his hand on Ezhno''s shoulder and started shaking him at the same time saying "Hey Ezhno are you alright, what''s wrong with you?"


    Finally snapping out of his information overload he then looked at the old man and said, "Sorry Gramps the information was just hard to believe, so I was just shocked into silliness I suppose." With his hand on the back of his head he gave the old man a silly grin while giving a half hearten laugh.


    "Boy you scared me, I thought you were poisoned there for a moment." Gramps said, with panic still resonating in his voice.


    "I''m really ok Gramps," as he reached down to pick up his delicious meal.


    The old man slapped it back down and scolded Ezhno, "That is just dirty! When you are around me, you don''t do stuff like that! I will just get you a new one."


    "It is ok, don''t waste the coins," Ezhno replied.


    Gramps angrily looked at Ezhno and said, "The vile stuff people step in is all over the place. Don''t argue with me and just take a new one."


    Ezhno shook his head up and down, inside he was sad knowing delicious food was going to lay wasted on the ground.


    After ordering another casing Gramps said to him, "If the info is too shocking and hard to believe, I can just leave it at that. We can just enjoy the rest of the fights."


    Ezhno really did not want the old man to stop his explanation, "No, no, it really is fine. I am truly fascinated with these Enhancers now. You have broadened my horizons and I really want to expand this small world of mine."Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Ezhno knew he must get every bit of information from this old man. If he could better understand what was going on with himself, he would be able to defend himself from those who wished to do him harm. The dim road to his survival and a better future was now growing brighter each second. The path to revenge had finally opened up. He was still unsure about the thoughts of killing anyone. His resolve was not quit there, but in the past year these thoughts were always swirling around in his head. Those who wish for nothing more than misfortune, why should he care about them? ''Treat them like human beings, Ha! They are nothing more than wild beast in my eyes.'' He thought to himself. He was getting sick of bowing down to all those that only wished for him dead in a ditch somewhere.


    With no one to mentor him or show him the way, and being mistreated day in and day out, the once kind and gentle child that never wished ill on anyone, made his outlook on the world different now. Ezhno now knew happiness is but a dream and loneliness is his future. He knew that he needed to change in order to survive, if that meant taking out those before they took care of him, then it needed to be done. The future scared him, he only wanted a happy life and loved ones to share his ups and downs with.


    Ezhno needed to know more, if he did not want to be scared of the future, and this may be his only chance. He now understood one thing, he was an enhancer, but was confused because he had never consumed beast meat before. He thought to himself, ''If beast meat is the only way to become an enhancer, then how the hell did I become one?''


    Ezhno now needed to understand how it came to be and if he could grow from it. He knew he needed to ask as many questions as possible before the door to his future was shut.


    He asked the old man, "Is there any other way besides beast meat to become an enhancer? If all you had to do was eat beast meat why isn''t everyone an enhancer? After eating these delicious mutton casings that could possibly be meat from a wild beast, why isn''t my body full of enhancements? Ezhno stared at the old man with child like curiosity, his face was beaming bright with twinkling big eyes. To the old man, this face was something he was all too familiar with. It was the same one he would get from his grandson when he would visit, awaiting for the gifts he knew he would receive.


    The old man''s heart melted instantly, thoughts of his grandson once again filled his mind. After the moment passed, he reached over and ruffled the hair on Ezhno''s head and gave a hearty laugh while explaining further. "Boy, there is no other way I know of, besides eating the beast meat. However, only certain beasts will allow one to enhance the body. These beasts are often hard to find, and are extremely dangerous. Currently they have what is known as the Great Beast Hunt. Many gather in the capital in hopes to be picked in the many expeditions to hunt these special beast. Those that make the most contributions in the hunt will receive a share of the gains."


    Ezhno did not know what to say at this point, this was all new to him, and his curiosity was in over drive. He had a million questions and yearned to know more, so he asked, "Why are they so hard to hunt? Wild beast are everywhere. The larger the groups, the easier it is to hunt them down, right? What is the point in gathering and hoping to get picked? Couldn''t they just gather in their own parties and hunt on their own? Why is it that those that ate beast meat before did not get enhancements to their bodies, but that man did? Why...."


    At this point the old man''s head was spinning with the questions rapidly firing at him. He attempted to break Ezhno''s rapid firing of questions, "Slow down, slow down! This old man can''t keep up when your mouth is moving a mile a minute."


    Ezhno obediently shut his mouth and stared at the old man as if he were the king himself. The old man laughed and said, "That in itself is the problem."


    Ezhno was confused. He did not understand Gramps'' answer, so asked. "What do you mean? What was the problem?"


    He expected Ezhno to once again bombard him with a massive amount of questions, but was quite surprised by how he obediently slowed down and waited for the answer.


    "The problem was the amount of people hunting these beast. Many years ago, when the first person discovered the changes to his body, he decided to let the world know about it. After the news spread, the entire continent was in a frenzy. They went on a killing spree and slaughtered every wild beast that came across their paths. After the great culling, the beast that many depend on for their livelihoods were so sparse that many people of Petros were dying off and the economy of many kingdoms were almost in ruins."


    Seeing that Ezhno was desperate to hear more, he continued, "After all that happened, everyone eventually came to know that not all beast allowed one to enhance their bodies. They discovered around 1 in every 100,000 to 250,000 beasts killed at the time would produce the special meat that gave one the ability to enhance the body. After the great culling all the kingdoms put aside their differences and got together to research the phenomena. They could not allow the entire continent to turn to ruins. Massive amounts of messengers were dispatched to every corner of Petros. The pieces were starting to go into place and many discoveries were made. It was discovered that only certain beasts had the special meat. Even so, those beast still were not a guarantee. It was said that they had the best odds of being the right one. They also found that those beast with the special meat were extremely dangerous, one hunting party had 1000 people circling one of these beast. Only 3 people survived, but eventually they also succumbed to death from the wounds that were inflicted on them. Before they died they told the tale of the beast that moved and killed in ways that should have been impossible to do."


    Ezhno stopped the old man for a moment, he did not understand if the beast were that dangerous, how did they end up killing them? He asked Gramps, "So how did those who became enhancers end up with the meat? If the beast is able to wipe out an entire party of 1000 people, how could anyone get their hands on it?"


    The old man paused for a moment, then replied, "Those that end up victorious were mainly from large prominent and wealthy families, many of those large families breed and trained as fighters, eventually they become leading or main figures in their kingdom''s military."


    Gramps gave a long winded sigh, and said to Ezhno, "When I joined the military, I also had dreams of becoming an enhancer, I hoped that being in the military would give me a good chance at a spot in a hunting party. Sadly I was not up to the standards and the many years I tried and ended up in failure. Sadly in this day and age, being an enhancer is a game only the rich and powerful can play and the foolish pawns lucky enough to be chosen."

 Chapter 16 - Itching for knowledge

    The boos and cheers of the crowd were roaring all around Ezhno, but he could not be bothered with his surroundings. It was as if he were encircled by a sound proof bubble and the words of the old man were all he could hear. The old man''s story made Ezhno realize that he could now conceivably build a future that would not be filled with death, but one bright with many possibilities and opportunities. Ezhno knew in order to break the shackles of oppression and to free him from the cage of his little existence, he could not squander this lucky encounter that was bestowed upon him.


    He said to the old man, "Since being in the military did not work in your favor, how does one go about getting picked in the hunting parties? How does the great beast hunt work?"


    The old man sees that Ezhno has a strong yearning to know more about the great beast hunt. Gramps saw the same eyes on Ezhno that he himself had when he was a hot blooded young man. He did not want this youth in front of him getting himself killed before his time had come. "Boy, if you are thinking of joining the great beast hunt, I suggest you stay clear of it. You are still too young for starters. You do not even look like someone who has ever fought before let alone picked up a weapon! You still have a long life ahead of you, go appreciate the simple pleasures in life. You should experience the warmth and special touch of a few women before getting yourself torn to shreds by a wild beast," the old man jokingly howled in laughter.


    Ezhno did not know what to say to this, he did not want to get himself killed, he was just curious and wanted to learn everything he could. His face was bright red, his words stuttered as he said to the old man, "Who said I wanted to get myself killed, I was just curious, that''s all. You perverted old kook! Hmph, if I really wanted to, I could head back to the vendor area and get all the warmth I could possibly handle."


    The old man gave a playful smile at Ezhno and replied, "Perverted old kook you say? At least this old man has never paid for a night of pleasure. I shall accompany you to the vendor area and see how a youth with no coins plays around with the ladies of the night." He continued laughing obnoxiously while slapping his leg at Ezhno''s comment.


    Ezhno''s face got red with embarrassment, agitation set in and he said to Gramps, "Hmph, who said I will have to pay with coins? Hmph, I was told the only price I would pay was an insufferable itch. Many times I have had annoying itching on my arms and legs, so I don''t see what the difference is. If being with a woman makes a man itch, why the hell would one want to do it all the time anyways?"


    The old man fell silent, and looked at Ezhno. It was as if an ice cold breeze ran though him and froze him into a statue. The old man had never heard anyone utter such things in his entire life. He was baffled by the words that just came out of this youth''s mouth. Not being able to contain himself any longer, the old man nearly fell off his chair, he hugged his stomach area while a roaring laughter came from him as if he was a wild beast being tickled to death. Many of those in the vicinity could not help but stare with agitation at this old man''s hysterical laughing.


    Ezhno could not help feeling annoyed by the old man''s reaction, he was confused. Why would Gramps laugh hysterically at something that was the truth? Ezhno did not find anything that warranted such obnoxious laughter. He tried to calm the old man, "What''s so funny? You are causing a scene and everyone is staring at us!"


    The old man''s laughter was slowly subsiding as he looked around at the crowd of people and said, "Sorry everyone! Sorry for disturbing you while you are trying to enjoy the fight."


    He looked over at Ezhno and said, "Boy, I do not know if you are pulling this old man''s leg or if you truly don''t know what I am laughing about." As he said this, he could see that Ezhno still had a blank expression on his face. "You honestly do not know?"


    Ezhno shook his head back and forth, with an innocent and confused look.


    Lifting his hand towards Ezhno, Gramps gestured to come closer, he lightly coughed a couple of times and whispered in his ear to explain why the insufferable itch was not a good thing and clarified that this was not normal.


    Ezhno grimaced and his face was bright red throughout the entire explanation. When the old man finished, Ezhno could not help but stare at the ground with an embarrassed look on his face, he said to the old man, "Gramps, can we pretend this never happened, I am truly embarrassed right now and wish to forget all that I have said. Please just drop the subject and go back to what we were talking about before."Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The old man said, "Sure, what were we talking about?" Once again he started laughing and giggling like a little girl. Ezhno looked at the old man and then looked down to see the old man indiscreetly scratching his private area.


    Ezhno was angry with a face bright red like a tomato, he yelled at Gramps, "You perverted old fucker!"


    The old man slowly wiped the tears from his face and laughter subsided once more, "Sorry, sorry I could not help myself." With a smile from ear to ear he controlled his laughter, and carried on, "Every since the culling of the beast so many years ago, each kingdom decided they should put regulations on hunting the beast. In the Treherne kingdom, if you are hunting beast you can not have more than ten members in a party. If you are caught and reported to have more than that, the penalty is death on sight. They do not want a calamity to befall on the kingdom like they did in the old days. However, once every year they have the "The Great Beast Hunt". For two weeks you are allowed to have any number of party members to go hunt beast in the wild."


    Ezhno had to interrupt the old man for a moment asking, "How is that any different than it was before? If you can have any number of party members to go hunt wouldn''t that still thin the number of beasts?"


    The old man was annoyed by being cut off, "Boy just be quiet and let me finish, or would you rather I start talking about..." as the old man laughed, his hand slowly went down itching his crotch.


    Ezhno had a horrendous look on his face and shuttered at the thought of reliving those embarrassing moments. He nodded his head without saying another word and sat there quiet and obedient.


    The old man pondered for a moment, "Now where was I?" Then continued on, "Those who are leading a hunting party have to register with the kingdom and then pay a ridiculous amount of coin per party member. Remember what I said before, enhancing is a game for the rich and powerful in this day and age. How much money can us poor people scrap together to form a party and even if we could, would it be worth it? Unless you are organized and have the resources, then the probability of coming home with the prized meat is low. Even if you are lucky enough to come home with the prize, there are a lot of rumors that are floating around that say one could eat the entire beast and see little gains to their bodies. Others have had significant growth and could lift 1,000 pounds over their heads after only ingesting one fifth of the beast meat. There are even some that say ingesting the meat could cripple the body and deaths have even been reported."


    Ezhno again could not believe what he was hearing, he thought to himself, ''Cripple? Death? Only a possibility of becoming an enhancer? If beast meat was truly the only way and still not a sure thing, then how the hell did I become an enhancer?'' He closed his eyes and starting thinking of the possibilities.


    The old man saw that Ezhno had his eyes closed and was no longer listening to his explanation. He thought that Ezhno was day dreaming about being a mighty enhancer gaining fame and fortune throughout the entire kingdom. He sighed to himself ''Oh to be young and foolish, if I could only go back to those days!'' He decided to let Ezhno be and continued to watch the fight in the middle of the arena.


    While his eyes were closed Ezhno thought back to all the events that happened to him in the past year. His eyes were constantly rolling around behind his closed eyelids. He kept mumbling unintelligible words over and over again, then the memory of the master played in his mind as a sour expression now showed on his face. The kick to his mid section, being tossed in the large pile of horse poop by his neck, the foul smell.... His eyes suddenly popped open like large dinner plates and he yelled over to the old man, "GRAMPS, WHAT HAPPENS AFTER ONE EATS THE BEAST MEAT AND GAINS THE POWER OF AN ENHANCER!?"


    The old man was suddenly startled and nearly jumped out of his seat, "Boy what the hell has gotten into you? That scared me half to death, did you forget that I am an old man, you could have killed me you know!"


    "Sorry Gramps, but please answer my question, what happens to those that have ingested the beast meat, did anything strange happen to them on the day they acquired their enhancements?" Ezhno pleaded for an answer.


    The old man thought for a moment and said, "Well now that you have mentioned it, I heard people say that after one achieves their enhancements that no one dares go near them. Maybe it has something to do with the special meat but the person secretes an oil, the smell is so unbearable and vile that many will vomit, including the person themselves. So those that hunt take a piece of fat from the beast and if the smell is horrendous then there is a good chance that the beast is the one they are looking for. Why do you ask, have you just realized that you have heard of the stories of an enhancer before? You could have saved this old man a lot of trouble..."


    Ezhno once again interrupted Gramps from his speech and asked, "Is there truly no other way besides eating the beast meat to become an enhancer?"


    Agitation set in on the old man''s face, "Ezhno, why do you always cut me off when I am trying to say something to you? Youths these days... Whatever.. To the best of my knowledge this is truly the only way that I know of and I am almost positive that this is the only way one can enhance the body. If there is another way, then they are keeping this secret to themselves. I am getting on with my years Ezhno, if you know of another way to get enhancements this old man would be willing to try even if it cost me my life. I have fulfilled almost all of the things I have wanted to accomplish in life, the only regret I have so far is not being able to experience the world of an enhancer. If you do know of a way, please grant this old man''s selfish wish and let me have a chance to fill the one void in my life. "

 Chapter 17 - Inception of Cultivation

    Ezhno was legitimately shocked at the moment, knowing he must not divulge this secret to anyone. He had stumbled upon a new method of enhancing that did not require beast meat, if others knew of this information, it would cause the world to go into a frenzied free for all that would provoke another collapse in society.


    Seeing the look on the old man''s face, Ezhno knew he needed to veer from the topic. He said to the old man, "Gramps, I just remembered over-hearing some people in the village talking about enhancers and got excited that I was able to figure out what they were gossiping about is all. I also remember them discussing a way to get their hands on some beast meat but don''t think it would be appropriate for you."


    After hearing the overwhelming news, the old man was brimming with excitement, he saw an opportunity to fulfill his dream of becoming an enhancer. He said to Ezhno, "You possibly know of a way to get your hands on the special beast meat? What did the villagers say? You must explain all of the details."


    Since the beast meat was now the center of attention, Ezhno felt he was successful in diverting the old man from prying deeper into his secret. He wanted to exact his revenge by playing a prank on the old man for consistently making fun of his embarrassing moments earlier.


    With a grin from ear to ear, Ezhno wagged his finger and shook his head back and forth and said, " Gramps, I think you should just enjoy the simple pleasures in life and forget about this method. At your age, even if you gave it your all, you will never succeed. If you are not killed and somehow survive the outcome, the humiliation will make you yearn for the afterlife.


    The old man became agitated he said to Ezhno, ¡°Boy, stop looking down on this old man and let me decide whether I am capable. Is the reason you are withholding the information from me because of the embarrassment from earlier? Please stop stringing me along and explain what you have heard. My heart really can¡¯t withstand any more of this torment."


    Ezhno with an evil grin smirked and said, "Ok, ok, I will tell you what I know, but I will warn once more, you will defiantly not like what I have to say, this way may work for me but will be impossible for you." He could not contain himself anymore at this point and started laughing loudly at the old man.


    "You little shit, I may be an old man, but I''m not scared to beat the living snot out of you in front of all these people." Gramps gritted his teeth and growled as he shook his fist towards Ezhno.


    Ezhno giggled and said "Gramps, that temper will be the death of you someday. But before I reveal anything, there is something urgent that must be taken care of." He looked directly into Gramps'' eyes with a straight face and said, "I am still hungry, go buy me another one of those scrumptious mutton casings and bread. My memory tends to fail me when I am still hungry.


    Gramps'' angered expression subsided and turned to one of defeat, he gave a long sigh, "Fine, but stop keeping this old man in suspense, I honestly can''t take it anymore."


    After the old man handed over the food, Ezhno licked his lips and started slowly eating away on his mutton casing. The old man could not take it anymore and said, "It''s a damn mutton casing and bread, you are acting as if this is the last meal you will ever enjoy, spill it, or I shall feed you my fist!"


    While still slowly savoring every bit, Ezhno looked at the old man and replied as he gave a mischievous laugh, "Gramps, did you forget, I am a country bumpkin, I rarely eat stuff like this! I may not get another chance to enjoy such delicacies." He could tell that the old man was at his wit''s end, Ezhno thought it was time to end this little charade and conclude his plot for revenge.


    He ate the rest of his food quickly and lifted up his arm at the old man gesturing for him to come closer. Gramps could not contain his excitement and leaned in closer towards him. Ezhno whispered to the old man saying, "It''s very simple. All you have to do is go to every rich and prominent family and tell them that you are the bastard to the head of the household and that you came to see your father."


    His hysterical laugh echoed all around. He looked at the shocked face of the old man and said, "Serves you right, this is my revenge for constantly making fun of me and that itching."


    Gramps'' leaned back on his chair with his head facing the sky in defeat, with a somber sigh he said, "I should have known better, you were just getting even with this old man for his misdeeds from earlier. I was so frenzied over the possibility of becoming an enhancer that I let this youth get the best of me. I really should just give up on my dream."


    While looking at the dejected old man, Ezhno''s laughter dissipated, It was now replaced with sadness and remorse. With his conscious now shrouded in guilt, he thought to himself, ''Well damn, I suppose I took it a little too far, I honestly feel bad for him now.'' he had not joked, laughed and enjoyed another individuals company in well over a year. Ezhno did not discriminate against age, he really admired and felt he could call this old man a friend.Stolen story; please report.


    Ezhno reached over and put his hand on the old man''s shoulder and said, "Gramps, I am sorry for taking my joke too far. I just wanted to teach you a little lesson for teasing me earlier, but I "Ezhno Stone" will promise you one thing, if I ever get my hands on some special beast meat or find another way to enhance the body, I vow to fulfill your dream in becoming an enhancer."


    Ezhno had promised the old man because he knew it was vow he could keep. Even though he considered Gramps to be a friend, the bond between them was still minimal at best. He needed to strengthen that bond, trust needed to be ensured before he could divulge the secret to him. If the masses knew of a new radical way to enhance the body without the aide of beast meat, it would be another catastrophe and create chaos in society once more. If Ezhno wanted to secure a future, he needed to make sure that he was ahead of everyone else.


    Gramps stared at the young man, whose eyes expressed absolute resolve. At that moment, he thought of his grandson, the slightly moist eyes glistened in the sun, as he nodded and gave the young man a warm smile. After a moment, he sat upright in his chair and said to Ezhno, "Boy, enough of this mushy stuff, why are you acting like a woman all of the sudden."


    With a "Hmph," Ezhno said to the old man, "Calling me a woman? Why don''t you go search for your long lost father, you old bastard!"


    Gramps responded back by saying, "I would rather be a bastard than a fool who thinks an insufferable itch down there is something normal! " They both stared at each other with gritted teeth and squinted eyes, after a few moments, they both roared in loud laughter then turned their attention back to the middle of the arena when the laughter subsided.


    A few minutes into the fight Ezhno said to the old man, "Gramps, I was wondering, why call them enhancers instead of cultivators? Since these enhancers are trying to cultivate and acquire a more developed way to enhance the quality of their bodies wouldn''t it sound better to call them cultivators instead? The Azurine Cultivators; Doesn''t that sound more appealing than just boring enhancer?"


    The old man and many in the surrounding area that heard Ezhno''s explanation all nodded their heads in unison. It was as if a storm was brewing around the arena and was hailing the word "cultivator"; the arena did not know where it originated from, they all wanted to be the first among their friends to coin the term. After the buzz died down, Ezhno looked over at the old man and said, "Well Gramps, as much fun as I am having here with you right now, I need to be heading back home soon."


    The old man had a sad expression on his face. He said to Ezhno, "I''m sure your parents will start to worry if you do not get back home soon, I shall escort you outside the arena and take my leave as well. I am finding the fighting to be rather dull and boring now. But before that, I need to head over to the betting booths to see if our fighter won. I was not paying attention to the fight earlier and do not even know if we won any money." The old man laughed, "Wait here for a moment while I go and check." A few minutes later the old man appeared before Ezhno and said, "Ok, let us take our leave now."


    In front of the gates to the fighting pits, a youth and an old man were facing each other as they exchanged a few words. "Well Ezhno, I enjoyed my time with you today, I am glad you bumped into me and knocked me on my ass." The old man gave a hearty laugh. "Open your hand, I would like to give you a gift before we go our separate ways."


    Ezhno cupped open his hand, and the old man placed a small, yet heavy pouch into it and said, "This is half the coins won on the bet from earlier. You can not reject this gift. If you refuse this old man''s kindness, I will scream for the guards and tell them you are a thief that has stolen my coin purse and have you stoned to death!" The old man laughed as he emphasized the last few words.


    Ezhno was speechless at this old man''s generosity, it was hard for him to fathom anyone that could show a caring side to a person such as himself, all he could do was nod his head up and down. After placing the pouch of coins in one of his empty pockets, he rubbed his slightly moist eyes and said to Gramps, "Old man, you sound as if this will be the last time we will ever see each other, come visit me anytime at Forest Shadow Village if you are ever bored. I am easy to locate, my dwelling is the only hut near the village head''s stable, that I tend to."


    The old man nodded his head and replied, "If this old man ever finds himself in that direction, I will make sure to give my greetings, now run along before it gets too late. Do not get your parents worried because of this old man''s rambling. I shall now take my leave." As he turned around, he heard Ezhno respond, "No worries Gramps, my parents are not amongst the living. Till we meet again."


    Gramps froze in place; he didn''t realize that this youth was an orphan. After a moments thought, he turned around and said, "Ezhno if you ever need help or are visiting White Rock just drop by the inner walls and tell the guards you are a relative of Sergeant Conrad Rossiter. If they refuse or give you a hard time just tell them the Sergeant will not be pleased, and if it comes to that point just mention the words re-education training." as he gave an evil grin and laughed. "After that you shouldn''t have much trouble."


    Ezhno was a little taken back by his evil laugh just now. He once again nodded his head and said, "Till we meet again! Stay well Gramps." He turned around and headed towards the nearest exit out of town. After a few minutes of traversing the densely packed streets, he decided to find a general store, now that he had a little fortune, he needed to pick up a few more supplies he now deemed as a necessity.


    Fifteen minutes later, Ezhno made his way towards the wooden bench located on the side of the building. Once he found a comfortable position, he began to situate his newly acquired items. He placed a small pouch of sweet confectioneries in his outer shirt pocket. They were the exact ones that he could not enjoy a year ago, he prepared the inkwell beside himself on the bench and held the quill in his hand. He placed the leather journal on his lap, then said to himself, ''In order for me to understand this new form of cultivation, I must record everything related to it.''


    After dabbing the quill into the ink, Ezhno than proceeded to write Inception of Cultivation on the first page of the journal. After a few moments, he placed the quill back down and proceeded to blow gently to dry the ink. While staring at the page, he nodded with a satisfied expression over his choice of words and closed the journal.