Life in the Village [2]

Inside their house, Kaian was seen by his father "playing" with the leaves. He was sitting at a table. On top of it was a pot with a small green plant in it.

"Father... everything about life is pretty. There is nothing wrong with learning how a leaf stays alive despite being away from its stem."

"That is funny of you, Kaian. Our neighbors were calling you immature, but here you are, talking about how pretty life is."

"That is on them, Father. I only wanted peace, and fighting was not for me. I might be selfish for not learning. But I promise that keeping life is much better than destroying it."

Renardo sighed.

"I get it, Kaian. Then, put them away for now. We will now have our meal."

"Yes, Father."

Years had passed, and good news reached the Kaian's family. His excited and beautiful face came to run to his mother.

"Mother, is it true that you are pregnant?"

Kaian was already 15 years old, but by this time, he still didn't know anything about fighting, nor had he even trained his body to have some foundation. He remained the previous intellect and scholar-type of a kid that wanted to only study one particular body of knowledge, which didn't come across as fighting and destroying life.

"Yes, and you are going to be a big brother. Be sure to take care of her, okay?"

"Of course, Mother," he said, his deep voice deepening as he responded to his mother.

Kaian's outward appearance was limited to an average body.

"Hey, I heard that your mother is pregnant. Congratulations, you are going to have a younger sibling."

"Thanks."

Sitting under a tree, away from the training grounds of the village, and also doing his usual practice of observing leaves that he still hadn't studied in the past, a girl came to sit beside him.

She is Kela, Kaian's only "friend." She is a jolly girl who is curious about Kaian's ideals and strange actions. Being away from the people his age, Kela would secretly miss her training intentionally just to visit him. And since Kaian didn't think of it as bothersome, he just let her.

"I would start training if I were you. Since you are going to be a brother, you should learn how to fight. You don't know what will happen to your younger sibling. So, to keep him or her safe, you should know how to fight."

Kaian sighed.

"Fighting only leads to destruction. I might be omnivorous, but I still wanted to believe that. Having an understanding of life is much better."

"It is just bullshit. You don't want to train, don't you?"

"And now you tell me that it is bullshit? That is something heavy from you, Kela."

"Whatever. You are just lazy and selfish. Just admit it."

Kaian sighed again, and deep inside, he wanted to smile.

'Of course, why would I even try to admit it if I was doing all of this crap just to be away from that tiring life? I could continue to harness my mind, and leave this hateful village to find a better and easier life in the city.'

Kaian had read plenty of books that his father bought for him from the city. And from different stories from his father to the situations in the book, he discovered that life in the city was much better than fighting for their lives here in the village.

'Even though it is essential for me to learn how to fight, I just can't imagine myself being covered with all of that sweat and panting heavily. I have seen plenty of them, from my childhood until now, and I know that they are not good.'

All of what the villagers deemed Kaian turned out to be true. He is a selfish and lazy individual who has become overly attached to a peaceful life. And the definition of a peaceful life for Kaian was being away from physically tiring activities and fighting for his life in this village.

'I acted and tricked my parents as if I only wanted to intellectually learn things about life. And even though it's kind of bullshit, I grew attached to it as well. Now, I am more curious about how trees grow leaves.'

"Hey, are you even listening to me, Kaian?" Kela cut off.

Kaian then shook his head and exclaimed.

"I don't care what you are talking about, Kela."

"Jeez. You are still strange and crazy, Kaian. It is not normal anymore."

Indeed, from anyone's perspective, it was not normal anymore. But Kaian wanted it to be normal, so he deceived his parents.

"Anyway, I will be going now. Just think of what I said, Kaian."

Then Kela finally left, finally giving Kaian peace of mind.

'Tsk. I know that it is not normal, and I am just fooling myself. But who would understand me if I told them that my body doesn't want to grow physically tired? It is natural for me.'

"But well... I don't care about them anyway. I just have to pursue an easy life until I reach the city." Then, a smile appeared on his face.

Villagers knew that Kaian is someone who doesn't like physical activities, but instead, he likes things that could nurture his mind.

But even so, what they deemed him, that his family contradicted, ended up being real.

Everything about Kaian's personality was real.

...

In a faraway land, an old man went out of a cave with furrowed eyebrows. He had obvious white hair and facial hair covering his jaw. Furthermore, his clothes were naturally old, as if they had been unconditioned for plenty of days or even years.

"I finally woke up from my slumber. But what of it now? Things still haven't changed." A sad yet solemn expression came from the old man as he looked up to the sky and felt the wind brush against his body.