Chapter 10

Things settled down, after that conversation. I was told I should rest, to which I argued that I had just been resting. I had been unconscious from the time I arrived back at the house until shortly after sunset. About six hours. After their insistence, I returned to bed.

The next morning, I asked Eva if she had gotten ready to leave while I had been out. That conversation went something like:

"I don't think I want to go into town anymore. The magic is gone. You're little stunt ruined it for me, I think," was her response.

"I am so, so sorry you don't think you'll become a sorcerer because of me," was the lie that came to me quickest. "Unfortunately, you are still going with me. I need to head into town, anyways, so we may as well get your annual inspection done."

"Yeah, no thanks. You really should rest some more before you leave. Maybe we'll see in a week or two."

"Look," I said, "There is a very expensive, decomposing head in our backyard. I would cut off a hand before I let that go to waste. You are going with me, and we are going tomorrow."

One of her eyes started twitching as she stared at me before, finally, "Fine, fine! I'll go. But you owe me five silvers."

"Absolutely not."

"Three, then."

"No."

"C'mon, give me something here."

"You can get one silver. That is it."

"Cha-ching!" She said, before walking away.

The pain in my shoulder had gone down significantly. Like, scarily fast. Aunt Lila, who had taken care of me when I fell unconscious, was changing my bandages, when she nearly screamed noticing how much it had healed over a single night.

Another thing I could attribute to being a sorcerer, but also another thing I couldn't really find the cause of. Was it because I ate the bear, or just a product of mana? I would know in time, I just had to find that time.

Despite my quick healing, I still took this last day slow. Being careful, not putting much strain on myself. It was weird taken it slow after such an eventful few days. It took a lot of pestering to final get Eva to start packing her things.

When my father realized that I was still planning on heading into town, he went on a tirade about how I needed to stay at home. I didn't really have a good reason for why I should go over anyone else in the house.

One of them could just deliver the bear head and get the things we needed. Somehow, I managed to convince him. It was mainly reliant on the fact he was as prideful as me, and realized that I wanted the recognition for having slain the bear.

The next day, my shoulder felt even better. At this point, it felt closer to a bad bruise, instead of a gaping wound. Eva and I had met in the stables. I attached the bear head onto Dasher's saddle. The two of us mounted our horses, Dasher and her little brown horse, Daisy. After a short convincing of everyone else in the house, we were on our way to town.

The trip was largely uneventful. Nothing exciting happened on the way, unless you consider constant pestering from a child interesting. I let out a sigh of relief when the large wooden gates of Lockwood finally entered view. The sun was just above the horizon.

"It's still early," I said, "We're going to go get you appraised now, before leaving early tomorrow morning.

She scrunched her face in response. "Someone's in a hurry. Lets enjoy the city a bit."

"First of all, this is not a city, it's a village," which got an eye roll out of her, "Secondly, I was just here, and I am only here for the silvers. I want to leave soon."

"Ohhh come on," accompanied by a hit on the arm. "It's great here. I want to stay a bit. I never get to come here."

"You never come here because you never want too. But fine, since you're so eager, we'll see about it tomorrow," causing her to smirk.

She clearly got a great deal of enjoyment from making my life more difficult. As our conversation came to an end, we were nearing the entrance to the MEB appraisal building.

"Alright. You can handle this yourself. I'll take the horses over to Rogier's, and then head to the Guild Hall to get my money. I'll be waiting for you here once I'm done. If you finish before me, head to the Guild Hall. I'll find you there."

"Alright, sounds like a plan," Eva replied, before heading into the building.

I did exactly as I said, heading to Rogier's, this time doing business with the man himself. Shortly after, I found myself face to face with the saloon doors of the Guild Hall, bear head in hand.