《Legends of Dorthar: Kato's Tale》


 Chapter 1 - The Orphan

    In the street of Crumblebottom, inside district 3 of the city of Zareth an orphan with a dirt covered face and rags for clothes hobbles past the rundown buildings looking for any scraps that can sustain him for the day.


    To each side of the street are the poor and the homeless. Thievery, begging and prostitution are flourishing in the slums district of the city.


    As the young boy walks he sees a piece of scrap bread the size of an index finger in the gutter. little insects are festering on it and a rat scurries past to take a bite. He lunges forward with what little strength he has and fights with the rat over the bread.


    The bread breaks and the rat takes a little less than a third, the boy seeing this quickly shoves the other two thirds into his rag trousers and hobbles away.


    As the boy walks to find an abandoned shack to eat his spoils of war in, he stumbles over what is most likely the sewage of the inhabitants of the street and the small piece of bread rolls out the bottom of his rag trousers and rolls a further meter and a half.


    As the boy notices this he gets up to retrieve his bread, when suddenly a skinny bird with brown feathers and a green beak swoops down and steals his bread.


    The boy heartbroken, collapses on the floor and cries. Strangely enough it is not about the bread, but about the injustices of the world.


    He detests that a privileged few sit there and control all of the money acting as if they are some kind of god. He is jealous of the fact that their children are able to eat fresh meat and fruit, how they can waste as much as they want without any problems. He hates how a simple word from these people is all it takes for a happy family to be destroyed overnight.


    It is with these thoughts that the little boy cries further and further into a pit of despair.


    Suddenly he thinks of his own family, his strict father, his smiling mother and his annoying little brother. It is with these thoughts that eventually allow the boy to sleep on the cold floor in the middle of the street.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


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    An unknown amount of time later and the boy wakes up only to find that his stomach is rumbling and the sky is dark.


    He is unable to move a finger due to exhaustion and lack of energy. it is at this point that the little boy has resigned himself to death and hopes to close his eyes again to be able to see the faces of his family one more time before he drifts of into the stars.


    ¡°Are you afraid child?¡± says an aged voice.


    The boy shocked awake by the presence of another opens his eyes and realises that he is no longer in the street and is inside a house without a roof.


    He is unable to look around and talk due to a lack of food and clean water.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry child, it¡¯s almost ready¡± says the voice.


    The boy can smell something; it is not a nice smell similar to the smell of boiled red cabbage. However, to the boy who hasn¡¯t eaten in a long time it is like the scent of a succubus. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he was dehydrated, he would be salivating like a hound right now.


    ¡°Here¡± says the voice. The sound of footsteps approach and a shadowy figure in strange coloured clothing appears.


    The boy tries to open his mouth and is able to open about an inch from the top to the bottom lip.


    The figure descends and the boy is able to see his face. It is an old man. He looks to be in his sixties or seventies, he has deep wrinkles on his face a long white scraggly beard that forms a point at the bottom. His white hair is styled in a top knot and he has two studded ear piercings on his left ear and a nose piercing that makes a hoop from one nostril to the other.


    ¡°Eat slowly¡± says the man. He opens the boys mouth by an extra centimetre and uses a wooden spoon to pour a thick paste in his mouth.


    ¡°Purple Kruy from the marshland in the north, it¡¯s not very tasty or fragrant but it very filling¡± the old man smiles towards the boy.


    The boy swallows the food and almost vomits from the aftertaste, it tastes like a horse¡¯s ass thinks the boy, But beggars can¡¯t be choosers. He continues to swallow the foul tasting food when the man holds a strange object towards his mouth.


    ¡°It¡¯s a water skin, you must drink to increase your body fluids¡± says the smiling old man.


    The boys raise his head an inch from the floor with great effort and downs the water. The old man brings him another and the boy quickly finishes it off.


    After the second water skin is finished the boy falls straight back to sleep.


    ¡°uhhhhhhhh¡± the old man sighs ¡°what a pitiful child¡± the old man goes to get a blanket to keep the boy warm through the night. He chooses one of the finer ones made from a Khasa and drapes it over the boy.


    As the man himself prepares to go to sleep he looks one more time at the child and notices the smiling expression the boy has on him as he sleeps.

 Chapter 2 - Old Man Ulam

    An unknown amount of time later, the little boy lazily opens his eyelids only to notice the warmth provided by a fine khaki coloured blanket.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake¡± says an aged voice, the little boy now remembers about the old man from last night. With great effort he raises his head slightly off the ground and looks at the old man.


    Now that it is day the boy is able to see the finer details on the old man¡¯s face. he has a purple tattoo on the right side of his neck depicting a tree that constantly sways about almost as if there is a light breeze. There are some green dots on the bridge of his nose that move positions every now and then.


    Finally, the old man has a warm smile on his face, it is a smile that fills the little boy with security, this smile gives of the sense of experience, it gives the impression that the old man has experienced the ravages of time and was able to smile through it without any regrets.


    The old man himself is wearing a long sleeved shirt that is a strange bright green tucked into a pair of deep purple trousers. On the left hand side of the shirt above the heart area is a logo that is the same as the tattoo on the man¡¯s neck. The man¡¯s feet are bare, but oddly enough even though it is likely he has been treading through the sewage of others there is a lack of dirt on his peach coloured feet.


    ¡°Here¡± says the old man ¡°Open your mouth, child¡±, the little boy notices in the man¡¯s hand is a wooden bowl and a wooden cup.


    The boy can guess what is in the bowl due to the smell, purple Kruy, the mere thought of the aftertaste makes the little boy want to cry.


    The boy does as the man says and opens his mouth, more than last time only by an extra centimetre but still a little improvement. The old man helps the boy eat the food and drink the water in the wooden cup, once this is done he places the objects next to a relatively large duffle bag that is a bright orange in colour. After this is done he sits next to the boy on the floor.


    ¡°My name is Master Ulam, I am a member of the druid alliance north of here. If you have the ability child can you tell me your name?¡±.


    The little boy thinks for a while and responds to Ulam ¡°K ¡­ K ¡­ KAT ¡­ KATO¡± in a husky exhausted voice the little child named Kato reveals his name.


    ¡°Kato is it? Hmm¡± Ulam has a pondering look on his face.


    ¡°Well little Kato, may I inquire as to where your family are?¡±


    Kato exhausted from saying his name can only shake his head slowly to question asked by Ulam.


    Ulam still with his warm smile gently strokes Kato¡¯s dirty hair and says ¡°I am sorry to hear that Little Kato; I have business in this city so I shall stay with you a while until you get back to sufficient health.¡±


    Kato looks at the Ulam with reddening eyes. He thought We have never met yet this man shows kindness to me like a family member.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Ulam noticing Kato¡¯s emotions smiles towards him. He stands up walks to his bright orange bag and picks up the bowl, a small sparkle of light appears and Ulam walks over to Kato with the bowl and a yellow coloured cloth.


    ¡°first lets clean you up a bit¡± the smiling Ulam states as he soaks the cloth, rinses it and begins to gently rub Kato¡¯s face.


    Seeing the care, the old man gives him, Kato is reminded of his mother. He cannot say that his mother is a pretty woman but neither can he say she is ugly. She is wearing a dirty yellow apron and is currently cooking a meal for the family. He remembers his little brother who is sitting on the floor playing with a small wood carving made by his father.


    ¡°Kaatooo¡± his little brother Airin yells, ¡°come play until dinner is ready¡±.


    Kato who is sitting at a table playing with his own wood carving ignores his brother.


    ¡°MOM¡± Airin yells with a slightly broken voice ¡°Kato is ignoring me¡±.


    ¡°Kato play with Airin for a little bit please, food is almost ready¡± says his mother in a calm manner as stirs the pot of soup.


    ¡°Fine¡± says Kato in an irritated mood.


    The memory experiences an abrupt change, the house is on fire, his brother is lying in a pool of his own blood, tears dripping down his face and a sword cut from the top left side of his chest to the bottom right side of his stomach. His mother is lying face up on the floor with her legs spread and a ragged dagger cut across her throat.


    4 men all wearing red long sleeved shirts with a light plate armour on top emblazoned with the symbol of a red horse archer are standing over the corpses of his family.


    One of them notices Kato and thrusts a long sword into his left eye. Just as its about to pierce into his brain he comes out of the memory, once again exhausted tears and snot dripping down his face.


    ¡°Shhh little Kato it is all fine now¡± says Ulam hugging Kato¡¯s half cleaned face in his chest.


    Kato raises his tear stained face and looks at Ulam who still has his warm smile on his aged face, ¡°no one shall hurt you now, it¡¯s okay¡±


    Kato lowers his head into Ulam¡¯s Bright green shirt, strangely enough Kato¡¯s tears and snot drip from his shirt without soaking in it.


    ¡°I just cleaned your face and you dirty it again with your tears.¡± Says Ulam in a joking tone, still with his warm aged smile.


    Kato lets out a light giggle and relaxes on Ulam¡¯s chest, a sense of comfort is gained which bring the two people closer.


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    ¡°There all clean¡± says an aged voice. ¡°what a handsome young lad you are now¡±


    Ulam who has just finished cleaning Kato¡¯s body and hair looks at the skinny face. Bright green eyes, an unhealthy blonde coloured hair, pale white skin with a few scars here and there and chapped lips. A major improvement from before.


    Ulam looks at Kato¡¯s body which has been cleaned and sees the various infected cuts and extremely malnutrition body and the white coloured skin.


    Ulam sits at the bottom of Kato¡¯s small and skinny feet and places his left hand on his right foot and his right hand on his left food. He closes his eyes and mutters a few words, next a strange orange bubble appears around Ulam¡¯s hand.


    Ulam slowly brings his hands up the boy¡¯s body rubbing across each inch of his front. A strange but warm sensation passes though Kato¡¯s body and he watches as the wounds caused from fighting over food with vermin and people are slowly healed.


    Ulam slowly opens his eyes again, a drop of sweat falls down the left side of his face and he smiles towards Kato. ¡°I was able to heal your cuts and remove the infections in your body. But my magic will only go so far and won¡¯t help you to build up muscle and fat unfortunately.¡±


    Kato can only nod to Ulam slowly as he realises he is beginning to gain more strength in order to do things.


    ¡°Once I have finished with my affair for today I shall be back and I shall begin to teach you the basics of magic. You would however most likely be unable to read so some elementary teaching is required for you to be able to read and write.¡±


    Kato who doesn¡¯t understand the concept of magic can only nod his head towards Ulam whilst anticipating his future lessons from his new teacher.

 Chapter 3 - History

    Kato proceeded to go back to sleep when Ulam left in order to gain his strength and to be prepared for his lessons later on.


    ¡°Wake up little Kato.¡± Ulam¡¯s aged voice is heard along with the shaking of Kato¡¯s body. Lazily the boy¡¯s eyes open.


    Ulam is holding another wooden bowl and wooden cup filled with purple Kruy and water, which Kato proceeds to wolf down.


    Once the food is finished and the utensils packed away Ulam brings a big 2m in length by 1m in width piece of Blackstone which was resting against the side of the wall on the left hand side of the door to the abandoned shack, as the name suggests it is a flat piece of stone in the colour black.


    Kato with his strength replenished to a certain extent is able to slowly sit up and look around properly. The building he is in has 4 walls, 1 window on the south facing building that has been broken and a door to the right of the window. On the floor next to Ulam¡¯s bag is a black pelt and at the top of the pelt a pillow, which is most likely Ulam¡¯s bed, once more the building does indeed have no roof.


    ¡°don¡¯t worry little Kato, we won¡¯t do this for very long I believe that your strength is not fully there yet ok?¡± says Ulam with his trademark warm smile.


    ¡°Ok¡± says Kato in a relatively hoarse voice.


    ¡°let¡¯s start with simple Jiaquon. Jiaquon is the native language to the people of the Jiaquo continent, a continent is a large landmass and the Jiaquo continent as you may have deduced is the continent on which we are residing.


    From history scrolls we can infer that our language was established 130,000 years ago, with the previous inhabitants speaking a variety of languages. This was until the first Grunkarr Emperor, Makar I conquered the continent and enforced a law which the common language would be the Messar language, later changed to Jiaquon.


    Most people have the ability to speak Jiaquon however in the secular world the nobility are typically the ones who can write and speak fluently. If we take you for example you can most likely speak Jiaquon but have a very limited understanding when it comes to reading the letters and words of it, is this true?¡± Ulam finishes his relatively ambiguous talk about the history of the continent with a question and a smile.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Kato who is shocked with his mouth open can only utter one small word quietly after being told about the very vague history of the continent.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry child it will be fine, the Jiaquon language has 26 letters and relatively strict principles in the way in which it is written, but this will be covered later on, for now let us start by teaching you the forms of the 26 letters and their capitalisations.¡±


    Ulam pulls out a piece of wood that is an odd shape. It has a point at the bottom made from what looks like a greyish metal that expands outwards by about a cm it then continues straight in a cylindrical shape by two and a half inches then curves downwards by another 2 inches but in a flat oval like shape.


    ¡°This is what is now as a pencil it is used to write on things¡± says Ulam who proceeds to write the 26 letter on one row then below them the 26 capitalised versions.


    A little bit of time later Ulam who was absorbed into teaching Kato says with an apologetic look on his face ¡°Little Kato it has been an hour and 45 minutes we should stop now, to allow you to digest the information from today. I¡¯m sorry I went over the time limit.¡±


    Kato who looks a tired a little from physical exhaustion but mainly from mental exhaustion says ¡°Please don¡¯t apologise Master Ulam, but I am getting tired I didn¡¯t know that being taught can be quite tiring.¡±


    ¡°hehehehehe, that¡¯s right little Kato but don¡¯t get lazy I will teach you quite a bit from now on. I have also had this teaching and the basics are boring I know, but consider it as a building you need a foundation of boringness in order to get to the more important stuff, some of it is highly interesting whilst others are complex and will not be used for what you do in the future.¡± Ulam states with a light laugh.


    Ulam notes that Kato¡¯s condition is a little bit better now and decides to cook something tastier and nutritious. He walks to his duffle bag and pulls out a piece of see through wrapping containing a piece of meat, he starts the fire and places the meat on a Blacksteel pan.


    Kato watches this with his mouth salivating from just seeing meat, he watches as Ulam throws all sorts of strange ingredients in the pan with a confused look on his face which disappears a few moments later when an extremely fragrant smell appears.


    Once Kato smells this saliva spills from the corner of his mouth uncontrollably whilst his stomach is rumbling with a loud sound, embarrassed he wipes away the saliva and bows his head slightly but not too much that he can¡¯t see the process of the meat being cooked.


    Ulam he noticed let out a little laugh and then laughed a bit more noticing his actions.


    A little while later the food is finished and placed on a wooden plate, Ulam pulls out some eating utensils, commonly known as a knife and fork, and begins to cut up the piece of meat into small pieces so that Kato doesn¡¯t need to waste energy doing so himself.


    Once this is done the plate is then give to Kato, who has slightly red eyes noticing the care the old man who hasn¡¯t known him for long has given him.


    Kato looks at the plate and sees small chunks of brown meat that is a little pink on the inside, pouring out the meat are red juices with the colours of the ingredients. To Kato this looks like a feast fit for a king.


    He slowly begins to eat and places the first piece of meat in his mouth, when he bites into it, it is like eating butter. The meat itself is very tender and is cooked to perfection. The taste can only be described as extraordinary in that the juices flow into the corners of the mouth, it gives the urge of wanting to chew it even though you would like to savour it¡¯s taste.


    Kato quickly devours it and when it is finished he looks at the empty plate with lonely and heartbroken eyes.


    Ulam noticing this takes the plate away with a laugh ¡°That¡¯s enough Khasa meat for today, it won¡¯t be good for your body to suddenly gain a lot of calories.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He washes the plate with a wave of his finger and with another he fills up two cups of water, one is given to Kato whilst Ulam drinks the other himself.


    Kato quickly finishes the water and asks Ulam ¡°What is a Khasa?¡±


    ¡°A Khasa is an animal that is extremely common on the Jiaquo continent, it is a domestic animal that has two heads with a horn on the left side of the left head and one on the right side of the right head, it has four legs, a long body and a big bushy tail. It is raised in farms and harvested for meat and fur. You blanket is made out of a Khasa, it is very soft and comfortable and if it is made be an expert it can be a top quality blanket.¡± Ulam explains with a smile.


    Kato examines his blanket and does indeed notice the neat stitching and can testify to its comfortableness and warmth himself.


    Kato with slightly reddened eyes looks at Ulam¡¯s smiling face and asks ¡°Why are you so nice to me?¡± in a broken voice.


    ¡°Why?¡± Ulam asks ponderingly with a smile ¡°The reason as to why I am here being because of the recent war, I came here by my own volition to aid not the soldiers but the civilians, the ones who are affected the most.


    I have been here for about a year and have helped many, but I have only been in Zareth for about a week. As I was walking through District 3 I found you on the floor and decided to help you.¡±


    Kato begins to cry, he remembers his father, who was a soldier. He was only cannon fodder at the frontlines so he is most likely dead. He remembers when the red armoured horsemen rode into his village. They killed the men, raped the women, enslaved the children and burned the buildings to the ground.


    His mother hid him and his brother under the bed in their bedroom. A few moments after being hidden, men charged through the door and attacked his mother. they ransacked the house and when they got to the room where he and his little brother Airin were hiding, Kato¡¯s heart stopped and his back felt cold from fear.


    ¡°Step, step, step¡± from under the bed Kato can see metal boots approaching, his brother is then suddenly pulled out and dragged out the room, whilst screaming and crying.


    Kato, too shocked and scared to do anything lays there and doesn¡¯t help his little brother, whilst a downfall of tears spills from his eyes. He knows that the soldier knew someone was hiding but not how many were hiding.


    ¡°AHHH¡± the sound of a man making a Deep yell is heard and the scream of a little child follows.


    ¡­


    A short while later some kind of black smoke comes from under the door. Kato realises that it is smoke and that the house is on fire. He quickly rolls from under the bed and rushes to the door. As he goes to open it he pulls it slowly so that if there are soldiers remaining in the house they won¡¯t notice him.


    He pulls the door enough for him to see through, no one is standing there and there is a raging fire on the walls and the ceiling. He runs through and rushes to the window to see the rest of the village.


    Chaos. That is all it can be described as, chaos. There are corpses of villagers on the floor fires are raging and soldiers are running about.


    Kato ducks and crouch walks to the door, as he approaches he notices two large lumps on the floor to the side of the door. As he gets close his face becomes pale and his eyes leak tears uncontrollably.


    His mother¡¯s corpse with her legs spread open, tear stains on her face is there lying face up with her throat cut. His little brother who he had left is next to her a large slash mark from the top left of his chest to the bottom left of his stomach, and blood in his mouth.


    Kato drops to his knees in pain and with his arm shaking uncontrollably reaches to close the eyes and mouths of his family. When he closes his brother¡¯s mouth he notices it is bleeding but there are no cuts. Most likely his brother bit his captor as he dragged him away and out of anger he killed him.


    Kato looks at their corpses with empty eyes and with great effort stands on his legs and walks to the door staggeringly. Because the soldiers destroyed it he can walk out easily.


    As he walks out the house he turns right and sprints towards the trees hoping to escape. ¡°THWACK¡± a loud noise is heard to his left and when Kato stops running to see it, he sees a red arrow.


    ¡°25 Tais to the one who is able to shoot the kid¡± says a voice behind Kato laughingly.


    Kato who heard this thinks of nothing and carries on sprinting with all his strength to the trees. ¡°THWACK, THWACK, THWACK¡± the sound of arrows continuously hitting the floor around him is heard.


    20 metres away the sound of horses can be heard galloping towards him, Kato pushes everything into his little legs and slowly accelerates.


    By the time he reaches the trees the horses are 10 metres away. The commander noticing, he escaped makes a grunt and the men turn around.


    Kato not knowing this carries on running.


    He runs and runs and runs until he collapses.


    A short while later he wakes up, exhausted lying there for a good half hour to regain his strength he slowly gets up and walks tiredly in the direction of the black smoke in the sky.


    10 minutes later the charcoal ruins of the village can be seen, Kato anticipating this outcome speeds up a little looking for survivors.


    He looks everywhere, the centre the north side, the east side, the south and finally the west.


    Nothing, no one.


    He musters his courage to walk to his house and see his family once more. Walking up the step into the main room he notices the two lumps that are his mother and brother.


    The only difference is that now ¡­ they are blackened lumps.


    Kato cries ¡­ he cries until he physically cannot cry and only his body is shaking. He drops to the floor hugging their corpses.


    ¡°MOOOOMMM ¡­ MOOOOMMM ... AIRIN ¡­ I¡¯M SORRY ¡­ I LEFT YOU ¡­ I COULD¡¯VE ¡­ HELPED ¡­ I COULD¡¯VE ¡­ STALLED THEM ¡­¡±


    Kato screaming at the top of his lungs whilst shacking uncontrollably faints from sheer pain and mental exhaustion.


    ¡°Klop, Klop, Klop¡± he is woken by the sounds of hooves and assumes it is the red armoured raiders. Heartbroken and desolate Kato walks out the house unsteadily ready to die.


    ¡°Captain, we have a survivor her a young boy¡± when Kato hears this he looks at hi soon to be murderers and his mouth opens from shock.


    The small group of horseman are wearing light blue armour and are searching throughout the village, most likely as the soldier says ¡°looking for survivors¡±


    The captain is a man on a white horse he has a small build and a bald head. He approaches Kato and says ¡°don¡¯t worry boy it will be fine now¡±.


    Kato rather than being happy about being saved, feels nothing and in a desolate tone devoid of any emotion says ¡°Fine ¡­ how is this fine ¡­ look around nothing Is fine ¡­ we were attacked by red armoured soldiers ¡­ you weren¡¯t even here to save anyone ¡­ how is any of this going to be fine¡±


    The soldiers and the captain who hear this, look down they feel shame and guilt. They feel it is their fault for this chaos. The captain walks to the boy ¡°I am sorry boy; we weren¡¯t able to come in time. Please allow us to take you to Zareth with the other refugees from the villages.¡±


    ¡°it¡¯s fine.¡± Says Kato in that unbearably emotionless voice ¡°please kill me ¡­ I wish to end this ¡­ I wish to see my brother and mother and father ¡­ please¡±.


    The soldiers are shocked and impacted emotionally and mentally by what Kato says. ¡°Ok¡± says the captain. He walks to Kato and hit him on the head knocking him out.


    The captain picks him up and puts him on his horse, looks at his men and says ¡°Let us return to Zareth.¡±

 Chapter 4: Basic Totemic Knowledge

    ¡°Shhhh, it¡¯s alright. Calm down, calm down.¡± Ulam says cradling Kato¡¯s small head in his chest.


    ¡°Ahhhhh ¡­ It won¡¯t though will it *sniffle* they¡¯re all dead *sniffle* ahhhh¡± Kato, absorbed into the destruction of his family, sobbed into Ulam¡¯s chest


    Kato, a little boy, thought of nothing as he wept loudly into Ulam¡¯s chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around Ulam¡¯s body as he held his head.


    Ulam thought for a few seconds, he lightly nodded his head as if he had made up his mind.


    ¡°Little Kato¡± Ulam says gently with a smile.


    In a sad and abrupt tone Kato utters ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I will not tell you how to grieve, or what you should or should not think. I will only tell you my experiences through observing human relationships over the course of 5 thousand years.¡±


    Ulam clears his throat and says ¡°Many people who are upset and grieving are told that ¡®things will get better¡¯ or ¡®they wouldn¡¯t like to see you like this¡¯ or even ¡®they will always be with you¡¯. I believe that you will only stop feeling sad by yourself.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean *sniffle*?¡± Kato questions, still crying and worked up but obviously much calmer than before.


    ¡°I mean that each person has their own way of coping with stress and sadness. I believe that things would only get better if you do something about it. Right now you feel sad and hate what has happened, this feeling will not just go away which therefore means that something must be done to get rid of it.


    If they wouldn¡¯t like to see you like this what would they feel to know that you are not grieving at all? Is it worse to grieve or not too? Would they feel like you don¡¯t care about them? My personal answer is, to an extent.


    I think you should grieve for a little while and then try to forget about the event but not the person, forgetting the event is what the person wants and not to be forgotten.


    And as for them always being with you, I believe that this is correct and incorrect. I believe that it is correct because they will always remain in your heart if they are close to you, however it is incorrect because all that is there is a memory.


    We spend time with people and avoid them because of what they make us feel, if you love someone you would spend more time with them, if you hate someone why would you be with them. From this I believe that you should feel the emotions you had them, both the good and the bad then use this as a drive to push you further in life.


    This will allow things to improve and at the same time if the people close to you would see your situation they would be proud of your achievements and would be happy by the fact that you used them as a basis for your achievements.¡± Ulam explained calmly with a smile.


    ¡°Use my feelings as a drive? *sniffle*¡± Kato says in a nasally manner.


    ¡°Yes I believe this is the best way to improve your current situation, what has happened, has happened the possibility of changing it is near zero. Therefore, don¡¯t give up accept and move on.¡±


    ¡°*Sniffle* How will I improve myself¡±


    ¡°That is for you to find out, I can give you advice but ultimately it is for you to decide.¡±


    Kato wiped his eyes, seeing this Ulam pulled a piece of yellow cloth from his trouser pocket and wiped Kato¡¯s face and nose, whilst wiping his nose he gave it a little shake and made Kato giggle a little.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°What should I do then?¡± Kato says in a relatively calm manner.


    ¡°As I said it¡¯s for you to decide, if I was you however I would spend my time learning and go from there.¡± Ulam replies in a happy manner.


    Kato thought for a few seconds and then looked at Ulam nervously ¡°Master Ulam ¡­ can you teach me please.¡±


    Ulam looked at his big watery green eyes and replied with a laugh ¡°hahaha of course I intended to teach you an anyway if you liked it or not.¡±


    Kato¡¯s lips formed a smile and he looked at Ulam in a happy manner before saying ¡°can we start again now?¡±


    Ulam looked at Kato and replied ¡°Not today, it would be too much work for you, go to sleep and we will do it after you wake up.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Kato said unhappily and then dropped to sleep.


    This boy Ulam thought with a smile pulled the blanket over Kato and went to sleep himself.


    ¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­


    A strange smell drifts into Kato¡¯s nose as he wakes up.


    He opens his eyes and is able to sit up with ease now, he looks over towards the smell and sees Ulam over the fire cooking something.


    Ulam noticing Kato is now awake looks at him and smiles ¡°Good morning¡±


    ¡°Morning, Master Ulam¡± Kato replies with a yawn.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to keep calling me ¡®Master¡¯ now just Ulam will be fine¡±


    Kato nods in acknowledgement. Ulam scoops up the strange smelling food into a bowl and gives it to Kato, ¡°what is this? Why does it look like sick?¡±


    Ulam laughs and says ¡°This little Kato is called ¡®Porridge¡¯ it is a very tasty meal for the mornings, I added some Yukka juice, which is thick and sweet tasting to improve its flavour. It smells strange but tastes heavenly.¡±


    Kato takes a small spoon of porridge into his mouth and begins to savour the taste, the porridge as a whole is mushy and moves easily in his mouth, as he chews the juices inside the clump of porridge spill onto his tongue, it tastes incredibly good with just the right amount of sweetness. It is indeed as Ulam said ¡®Heavenly¡¯ Kato thought.


    Kato quickly devours the porridge and gives the bowl to Ulam who washes it and gives Kato a cup of water.


    ¡°Today I shall be teaching you some more Jiaquon to expand on what you know and then some go over some druidic totems to give you e brief view of druid magic.¡± States Ulam in a happy manner


    Kato nods and looks at Ulam who pours water on the black stone to clean the writing from yesterday, Kato was able to learn it pretty fast considering it was simple letters and principles of the Jiaquon language.


    Ulam spend about an hour teaching Kato some more advanced language skills before wiping the stone clean and drawing a simple tree with his pencil.


    ¡°Now then, magic is the power to use energy from the surroundings to influence the world around us. There are many types of magic and many ways in which to draw energy from the surroundings. This tree on the stone is one of those ways.


    It is known as a druidic totem. A druid is the name for the people in the druidic alliance in the north, I am a master in the druidic alliance and I have some degree of influence in what goes on over there. A totem is the way people draw energy from the surroundings.


    This totem is used for apprentice druids; it doesn¡¯t draw much energy because it would be too harmful for their body. When someone puts a totem on them it is like a tattoo, they use paint that is mixed in with various things which can include beast blood, human blood, crushed up plants, anything as long as it corresponds with the energy being drawn in.¡±


    ¡°Is the tree on you neck a totem as well Ulam?¡± Kato asks.


    ¡°Yes it is. In the druid alliance I am master over the ¡®Grove of Herlighed¡¯, in the centre of the grove is the tree of ¡®Liv¡¯, it gives life to all the living things in the Grove of Herlighed and is something of great power. This totem is the depiction of this tree, the paint is made from sap and crushed up bark of the tree of Liv and means that I am able to harness a large amount of energy and convert it into the same power that the tree of Liv uses.¡± Ulam answers his question slowly.


    ¡°Can I have a totem?¡± Kato asks another question.


    ¡°Hmmm, I can indeed imprint a simple totem on you but you will have to wait first until your body becomes stronger maybe in about 4 or 5 days?¡± Ulam responds.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Says Kato in an excited manner.


    ¡°heheh, alright then let¡¯s take a little food and drink brake before we carry on.¡± Ulam goes to cook some more food and pulls out some more Khasa meat from his duffle bag.


    He cooks it in the same was he did yesterday but this time there is a side of rice as well.


    Kato knows what rice is because his family was poor and the most common food he had was rice.


    Ulam scoops the rice and meat on to 2 plates, he cuts up the meat on one of them places a knife and fork on it and then on the other. He grabs two wooden cups fills them with water, he gives the plate with cut up chunks and a cup to Kato and then gets the other plate and cup and eats himself.


    Like this the two ate together happily with a warm atmosphere.