3 Errand Boy

We arrived at Thousans Swords City as if we were heralds of the Sun, as its light soon followed our steps and shone upon our backs, and with it, the white marble that lines the walls and roads resonated, echoing the steps and voices of guards, citizens and children. The city itself was stretching in order to welcome the arrival of a new day.

Soon, the wafting scent of freshly baked bread mixed itself among the ripe fruits, recently harvested vegetables and sweet perfume of young ladies, inviting oneself to discover and enjoy the tastes and smell of many wonders the city reserved.

The Thousand Swords City itself was a wondrous sight to behold, built to work as both settlement, fortress and watchtower, it flaunted wide pathways, ordered buildings with thick walls and large windows. Dancing on the sky above, stood magnanimous waterways, carrying fresh water from the top of spiritual mountains, which provided the whole city after passing through a purifying array, and later carried the rejects to another purifying array. To keep the enviroment clean was one of the lessons we received since we first learn to speak our own name.

Soon, the chiming of silver bells could be heard through the city, a warning that soon the Open Preaching would begin. I have to make haste in order to take a good place, except everyone else is thinking the same. Even before the most precocious child could take faster steps, the guards chanted orders of calm, preventing the citizens to turn into a stampede. Such was the influence of the Preachers. Such was the strength and discipline of the imperial guards.

The amphitheater was located at the main plaza of the city, thus it was not far from the entrance, and due to the order maintained by the guards, we could arrive there shortly before the Preacher started to talk.

"As I feel my body withering and abandoning this world as the days passes, each day faster than the previous, I decided to write my memories so the future generations might grow even stronger than I did.."

The same old lines that opened the matinal lessons, taken from the one of the many books that compose the heritage of the Preachers.

"To cultivate is to go against the heavens, and, through endeavor, to be blessed by the heavens themselves..."

As the Preacher spoke, waves of energy reverberated through the air, carrying his voice farther, making him sound louder, without hurting the ears of those near, nor being unhearable to those afar. His words teased the very soul of those listening, imparting knowledge and revelations even if the very words were the same.

"We, who were invited to this world through the blessing and mercy of Moirai, and were challenged to survive and strive here by the heavens, met animals stronger than us, plants capable of intoxicating our bodies and minds..."

The sorrowful intonation made us feel a longing desire for a homeland none of us had even known, as if we were stranded in a lost land, rejected by any land we could lay our eyes on

"...Yet, we were blessed, as the very energy that nourishes the world, accepted our endeavor, and the heavens taught our body and soul to conjoin with it, making us part of it, as much as it turns into ourselves, that is cultivation".

As the preaching went on, hope and bravery filled our hearts, we could feel the blood boiling in the veins of those surrounding, some agitating their fists, unable to contain the desire to simply run and make this world theirs, meanwhile some simply opened their eyes, achieving a moment of enlightenment.

Soon, the preaching ended. The blazing fire above our heads denounced it went for more than hours, even if it sounded as mere moments, fleeting as few lines of a paragraph. As we stretched our bodies and felt our willpower born anew, I bid farewell to my friends, as I still had requests to deliver and new orders to pick.

I had to rush, as the days of Provation could be at any moment.

First, I have to deliver the cutlery Butcher Paul asked Mother to strengthen. Mr. Paul is a man on his thirties, although his bald head and round belly speaks otherwise. But his plump body does not prevent him from cutting meat as if drawing with a pen, precise lines, done firmly, quickly and clean. His deep voice resonated on the bustling marked as he announced fresh meat and special offers.

He quickly opened a smile as he saw me

"Come're, me boy! You hold my precious daughters with you, eh?"

"Un, uncle Paul!"

I quickly open my leather sack and draw out two heavy handles of wood, as their blades were hidden by straps of white cloth.

He quickly reaches for the tools, with watery eyes, raising them as if their weight were the same of a feather "Shooting-Star and Meteor!"

Unwrapping the straps, he revealed a black cleaver, with a blade of almost 35 centimeters, lined in blue stripes perpendicular to the cutting edge, it seemed as all the stars in the sky were falling at the same time. Happily swinging his left hand, the metal sung while cutting the wind.

Soon, his right hand also felt anxious. Thus, to appease his curiosity, the straps revealed a pointy, curved edge, almost like a hook, except its inner face and point were sharpened, flaunting a vivid brown color with red stripes, as if molten lava were erupting from the ground.

"A masterwork indeed, sharper and sturdier than before! Madam Bi never let's me down!"

In case you were wondering, that's Mother, Hon-Ei Bi. As Uncle Paul paid generously for the work, he also sent a piece of meat for me to take home as a tip for the work.

As I finished my obligations and strolled deeper into the market, delivering goods from one stall to another, delivering packages from our village or picking delivers to take back as requested, Madam Chai, a herbalist caught sight of me and soon called me

"Come here, my child! I have a job for you that my old bones cannot accomplish so easily!"

Even if she said that, Ms. Chai seemed far from old. Smooth skin and shiny eyes, a firm and lean body, whose age was only declared by her plenty of white hair and Madam Chai herself.

"This apprentice salutes master Chai!" as I bow myself to the one who took upon herself to teach me a little about medicinal herbs

"I am no teacher, nor master, boy. Raise your head" as she slapped on my head "I am merely a herb merchant that likes to have a good supply, instead of selling common grass as if it was medicine"

I could see she was uncomfortable when being referred to as master, as her face turned as red as a blooming rose.

"Anyways, Madam Chay has a job for me?"

And she quickly turns serious back again

"Indeed, I need someone to pickup the fresh leaves of wild carnivorous vines for me"

"And I assume you already have a skilled ranger or adventurer in mind?"

She looked at me with irony "Ranger? Adventurer? Those have too much blood on their hands and would soil the leaves. However, the person I have in mind is quite skilled in going to places and fetching things"

"That would be me?"

"Of course! You are my one and only errand boy after all!"