Start of the trip

Thomas and I went into another room adjacent to his office; this one was the polar opposite to the space that I was just in. There was little to no light apart from the fire in the corner; sets of used tools were neatly arranged on the four walls. His apprentice was busy hammering at a piece of metal and did not even notice that we opened the door; the level of concentration required to become a blacksmith was extraordinary.

I watched in awe as the apprentice was performing his magic; this was the first time that I saw a weapon being made. Thomas waited patiently at the entrance so that his disciple could finish the blade. After a couple of minutes, the orc heaved a sigh of relief as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. Suddenly noticing our presence, he turned his head and was surprised to see his master watching him.

"Master, what happened?" he asked.

"I'm here to fix the little one's vest."

"I can do it. You rarely do work yourself nowadays."

"No, I'd like to it for him with my own hands," Thomas replied.

The expert laid my vest flat on one of the metal tables before carefully examining the damage. He went over to his tool rack and picked out a weird looking rod; afterwards, he moved over to the crimson fire and began heating it. The tool turned scarlet while he looked for some jet black wires; he meticulously weaved the wires together, joining them using the red-hot rod.

The process was mesmerising and showed his decades of experience in the field. The heat was getting to me and I was sweating profusely. Even his apprentice was observing him with a watchful eye; the whole procedure lasted only ten minutes.

"Do you know, this would take me about two hours to do," the apprentice said.

His statement really put into perspective how advanced Thomas really was. He lifted the vest and plunged it in a container filled to the brim with cold water. Steam was emitted as water flowed out of the barrel. As soon as the garment was cooled, he took it out and handed it to me. It looked brand new as there were no traces of the previous cuts.

"Try it on," he said.

After sporting the vest, it began to shrink and once again fit me tightly.

"Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it and if you ever face issues with such orcs, just let me know and I'll deal with them," Thomas said with a bright smile.

[Day of the trip]

I was awoken by the light that shimmered on my face. My mouth was parched and I was desperate for a drop of water. Jasper was already up preparing a nutritious breakfast for me as I would need all the energy that I could gather.

"Will you be able to stay away from me for so long?" he asked.

"If you mean will I be able to wake up without seeing your ugly face, then the answer is yes," I jokingly said.

"I certainly won't be missing your snarky remarks."

"Do you need me to accompany you?" he asked.

"Of course not, what do I look like? A child?"

"You are a child though."

I rushed through the door and ran through the tribe towards the academy. The streets were bustling as crowds of orcs were ambling about and their chattering was deafening. Several vendors lined the roads and were doing their best to attract customers; they sold an array of products ranging from clothes to precious stones, but I did not have the time or money to shop. I sprinted past all of the orcs and kept up the pace until the walls of the academy came into view. As I passed through the gate, I bumped into an orc.

"I apologise," I said.

"It's okay, don't worry about it."

As I weaved through the crowd, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucas. Without wasting any time, I went over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"LISTEN UP EVERYONE."

Everyone turned to face the direction of the voice. A group of ten adult orcs were facing us with stern expressions.

"You need to stick with the group and not stray off. We can only guarantee your safety if you're with us."

Subsequent to giving us more instructions, we set off on our journey. We were arranged in rows of five and I was grouped with Lucas and Arthur...

"How are you my dear friend?" I sarcastically asked.

"Did you recover from the ass whooping I gave you?" I added.

"You piece of s-"

He stopped himself mid-sentence and looked straight ahead which elicited a laugh from both Lucas and I. Soon enough, we exited the city and were on a road that was off the beaten path. The sun was beaming down on us and we were guided by the moss-veiled trail surrounded by trees that were so tall they reminded me of towers.

This part of the forest had far more fauna than the area we hunt in; there were so many new animals that roamed freely. I focused on all of the beings around me using the way of the wind as a form of supplementary training. The sounds of our thumping footsteps could be heard throughout the forest. It was only then that I had a brilliant idea; seeing a golden opportunity, I also used the movement of the hundreds of students to train the amount of data that I could take in using my power.

"This is a protected area and if you are found guilty of intentionally killing an animal, you'll be imprisoned," the teacher said.

The trek was long and grueling; the young orcs who were huffing and puffing, kept on requesting breaks to catch their breaths. This walk however, was a piece of cake for me as Jasper put me through hell in our daily training sessions.