37 Just Another Secret Magical Junction

After prancing around the forest for a day, my dirt-covered feet continue to disturb the sandy grounds of the canyon labyrinths, trying to find the way back to Obrecht's household.

Just as the dust dances in tiny ephemeral swirls at the fast-paced walking, they come to an abrupt standstill, to yet again, settle down on the ground.

Another dead end.

I debate whether to go back, or to go forward.

I should have waited for Obrecht instead of heading on my own.

Frustration and worry eat me as I remain lost among these sandy halls just before dinner time. I decide to try to tread back to where I was earlier, waiting for Obrecht who apparently had left something at the training grounds.

Alas, I ended up more lost than I should've in the first place. I shouldn't have been so confident about these abnormal labyrinths!

Taking a deep breath in, and then out, I walk to try to find my out again, or perhaps a familiar hall or archway. I even try to apply what I've previously learned in class regarding terrain and navigation.

Although the class seems simple, I have a hard time coping up. It wasn't that I couldn't recognize or memorize the way, it was just that the most Hunter-borns I've met had amazing terrain awareness and memory when it comes to geography. Just pass by once and they know it for the rest of their lives. Not joking.

My training had advanced smoothly for the last couple months, and I was allowed to leave the basic training class, much to the bitterness of Vera, and the indifference of Krael.

Obrecht, for one, was half happy and half frustrated. He was, of course, happy that we were now on the same class, but then, I needed a weapon before continuing with this class.

Since it has only been a couple of months, Obrecht hasn't successfully crafted a weapon for me yet. We ended up bickering about it before ending up in a compromise; his father, Halvalt, would present me a pair of blades he made when Obrecht was younger.

To be honest, I would've been more surprised if Obrecht succeeded on the first try of blade crafting. But though he might have failed, it can't be disregarded that he was talented enough to create an accurate, creative but realistic design, that even Halvalt acknowledges as a bladesmith. It's just that he lacked the experience, to which Halvalt has plenty.

In the end, I received a couple of twin curved daggers from Halvalt. I wanted to say that I'd just be borrowing them for a bit, but one stern look from Odeti and my mouth clamped shut. A gift is a gift, her eyes had wordlessly spelled out for me.

I'm beginning to wonder if I have a weakness for tenacious people.

"Who's there?"

A voice startles me out of my inner musings.

"You", she says, with a tiny hint of surprise painting her eyebrows.

A woman with thin gold-rimmed glasses steps out of one of the dimly-lit caverns and into the circular junction that I unwittingly chanced upon. The thin lenses that are caged by the golden frame looks as if it is alive, glowing slightly in the lack of light.

I recognize her from the day of my trial.

N-Nuri… Nela… No, what was it again—Ne... Nehal? Did Obrecht say her name was Nehal?

Immediately, I give a deep bow and turn around, not wanting to waste her time. Surprise flitters over me as I see numerous dark entryways lining up on the wall of the circular junction.

I hesitate for a second, trying to recall from which one I came out from.

Let's just take one in random. I'm lost either way.

I head to a random path after another fleeting deep bow at Nehal, and trudge towards my unknown destination. It isn't even a few minutes until I flinch and stop once again.

There, standing in the middle of the junction, is Nehal, staring blankly at me, like the first time.

But I… it was a straight path—how could have I come back here? She… She isn't an illusion, is she?

Not wanting to give up, I offer another bow once more and take the next entryway to my left. Unexpectedly, I still end up coming back to the junction to have Nehal stare me down.

As if she had already watched quite enough, Nehal says to me, "Come."

I falter for a moment, before catching up behind the quiet lady.

"Videre, was it?" Nehal asks but she her tone sounded as if she didn't need any answer.

Regardless, I answer her with a polite and quiet, "…Yes."

"Do you like books?"

Her random question throws me of guard.

"My Mother loved them", I quietly answer.

"Mother", she asks. "Mother", Nehal repeats, playing with the word in her mouth.

"My Ama", I correct myself.

Nehal gives me a sideward glance.

Feeling as if I owe her an explanation, I add, "My Mother read a lot of books. We didn't have much books at home except for the journals she used to print out the information in her head. If she felt lazy, she'd just teach us by embedding the words and illustrations directly into our memories." I smile unconsciously. "Father called her a walking database." I chuckle.

"Day…Data…base?"

I nod. "A place to store all the information available. Something that could rival the enormity of information capacity of a library… Maybe even more."

"Oh." Nehal sounds intrigued, for a change, although her face remains blank.

"Mother said that she had read a billion books in their great library, and that there was more that she hadn't read yet." Too bad I would never get the chance to go there someday.

We come up to a small room, where a long table with eight seats is placed in the middle; three seats per side, and two at each end. At one corner, near the wall, beside the tinier square coffee table, is a small dusty barstool.

"Choose a seat", Nehal instructs, as she points to the imposing long table.

I eye the neat and clean table with its exquisite gold and red design and frills, and then glance down upon my dirty clothes that haven't been changed since this morning. Without wavering, I approach the barstool and sit down.

In my head, I prepare an answer of "I'm sorry I thing I'm too dirty. I don't want to damage the chairs and table. I'll be fine sitting here, but thank you for the offer" and revise it again and again to make it as polite as possible.

Sitting down, I open my mouth only to leave it hanging. My words have all escaped me.

It is the first time Nehal smile.

"A fellow observer", she murmurs.

It didn't take long for me to open up to the strange lady, and likewise.

Nehal and I take a long time talking about various subjects and comparing our knowledge together. She manages to pull out another barstool from somewhere. She puts it down on the other side of the small coffee table, and then sits down. We continue to discuss and compare the various subjects we have learned, as if this is the most normal outcome.

Spending only a few hours with her, I realize that she is an amazingly smart person.

Nehal is curious about the surface life, much more than she would admit. She's unexpectedly straightforward but compromising, quiet but curious, and simple yet likes pretty things.

Her questions are just as endless as her contradictions; she asks about the vocabulary we use, the terrain on the surface, the phenomena available there, the so-called sky, the number of human races, the culture and so many more, that it left my memory spinning.

In the end, I promise to teach her the same advanced theoretical subject in Mathematics, called Calculus, that my Mother previously tortured me and Tukare with. And in exchange, she hands me a book about the geography of Inferis, as she delivers me to the right path back to seventh seat's household.

It took me ten minutes to run back home. I didn't want anyone to worry. The first thing I did was to apologize to Odeti. After apologizing to Obrecht's Ama for being late for dinner, we wait for Obrecht this time. A minute later, he comes crashing at the door, with a look of worry, shouting that he could not find me anywhere despite searching for hours.

I hide behind Odeti in the kitchen out of embarrassment. She simply laughs at the silly kids, while Halvalt tries to settle down Obrecht by saying that I was already home.

An insidiously warm emotion lingers in my heart. It's like the same warm feeling you get when you drink sweet warm milk after going hungry and being cold for a night; the warmness seeping through different parts of you, slowly and relaxingly. It felt as if your worries didn't matter anymore.

I kept feeling like this all throughout dinner. Odeti's dishes are delicious, as always.

After dinner, I open the book that Nehal had given me to read. To my delight, it had a map of the underground labyrinth, and yet, after skimming over the pages again and again, I found out that there was no circular junction was ever included there.

I end up staying up late to read a third of the book. My interested mind kept clamoring, fighting against my closing eyelids as it desperately and selfishly tried to keep it open just for the sake of cramming more information inside it.

At times like this, I feel like inheriting Mother's sophophilic habits is my misfortune.

I didn't notice when I fell asleep.

In the morning, a tuft of fur prickles my neck and nose. I reach out my hand to wipe off the itchy thing that kept sticking to my nose. Did I forget to remove my mask last night before going to bed?

With no luck, I turn my head to avoid it, subconsciously trying to move my body away from it, and yet, I couldn't. It feels like my limbs are tied.

My bleary eyes open and turn to the side, only to see what looked like a chin, resting on my shoulder. A steady breath tickles by my neck, and I move my head a bit away to see what it was—a sleeping face.

Hazel brown eyes open slowly as I continue to stare, dazed and absent-mindedly. It isn't until Obrecht smiles and says, "Beautiful", that I realize I'm not dreaming.

A loud grunt, and an echoing crash reverberates throughout the house, as I send Obrecht out of the guest room that had become mine.

This isn't the first time Obrecht had the guts to sneak into my room.

I'm not surprised anymore, but… but I…

I cover my flaming face, shutting the bathroom door behind me. If this continues, I might as well look for a house for myself. I'm already considered an adult, even in Lumea. I might as well fully support myself and then find ways to repay Obrecht's parents.

It isn't even daybreak yet, but I clean and dress-up quickly. Obrecht and I have hunting to do before we attend advance class on the training grounds.