Tag Imbuing

Nathan was brought into the home of his new parents, or more accurately, Nathan's new home. He looked around with eyes full of wonder.

'This is remarkable…' He thought in awe.

It was something so primitive compared to what he was used to, yet everyone was content with it all. For them, it was simply another day. It was an eye-opening experience. His dreams would always haunt him of this place.

But it didn't seem so bad yet. There weren't bloodthirsty battles constantly occurring, or massive creatures tearing people limb from limb. Yet was the keyword however.

'There's always the possibility of it getting much worse, especially if my dreams are accurate. Since I have no reason to doubt the apparently magical dreams, I need to prepare for the future.' Nathan wasn't someone who liked to sit still.

There was a reason why he quickly rose to the top of the underworld – his unrelenting determination. His single-minded focus let him always beat anyone who simply didn't have enough will.

'This place must have magic or something, I need to figure out to what extent. But that will have to be number two on the itinerary.' Although he wasn't sure what happened to him after he fell asleep in the temple, his arms were completely fixed if you didn't include the discoloring.

That wasn't something that could happen in just one nap.

His parents were currently stoking the fire and warming up with Nathan between them. He sat there staring at the flames while deep in thought.

'Whether magic exists or not though, I need to learn this language.' His eyes drifted over to his new parents. The first thing Nathan would do was absorb everything his parents would say.

Over the course of the next month, Nathan was barely allowed to leave the house. It was the dead middle of winter and his parents didn't want him out in the cold after what had happened to him. So instead he spent most of his time by the window when he could.

From what he had gathered his new name was Oswin. It wasn't something he was going to fight, he had no need to. He wouldn't forget his time on Earth, but some things were okay to let go, including his old name. It wasn't like anyone would call him that anymore.

'Oswin.' He kept mulling over the name in his head. His father had gone out and he was sitting with his mother in silence. He was steadily learning the language and learned a few other things.

His mother's name was Rimilde and his father's was Wulfred.

He had also learned the monks name when he visited periodically. Finally, he could understand a word or two in most conversations. It was slow progress, but he wasn't actively being taught complex words yet.

It wasn't like his parents tried to explain to him every meaningless word they uttered.

Oswin enjoyed babbling though. It was weird having a family care about him. So seeing his new parents joyous expressions always made him somewhat happy. There wasn't much he could do besides wait though.

It was his body stopping him from doing anything. He couldn't try to have a full conversation with his parents, he'd be kicked out and called a freak of nature. He couldn't go out on his own, his body was way too young for that. So he bide his time and kept learning from his parents.

After some months had passed and the snow finally stopped, Spring was in full swing. Oswin could finally go out into the village whenever he wanted with his parent's permission.

The other kids always stayed away from him which made Oswin very happy.

'I'd rather die than have to deal with that many kids that often.' Was what he always thought.

At his foster home there were so many kids and they'd always pick fights over the most petty things. The house was always filled with verbal and physical fights from everyone, including his, 'guardians.'

It was enough for more than one lifetime.

Instead of socializing with other kids, Oswin enjoyed going from place to place just exploring. The culture in the place was fascinating. Spirits were worshiped constantly with people giving them gifts, even if they weren't actually there. From what he understood though, not all spirits were good.

Currently Oswin was heading towards the temple. It was small with only three rooms: the shrine room, the kitchen, and the sleeping quarters.

"Allric. Up." Oswin struggled to say when he saw the monk. He didn't feel like walking anymore since his body was tired, so why not make the most of his kid charm.

Allric snorted with a slight smile and lifted Oswin. He took him inside where there were a few people praying to the spirits. He brought Oswin to his makeshift office in the corner of the sleeping quarters.

"We've got a pesky little roaming spirit Oswin. Want to see how we handle them?"

Now that it had been a few more months, he could understand basic sentences. Something which astonished villagers. Allric just chalked it up to Oswin being blessed by the cat spirit. Oswin still had plenty of troubles forming coherent sentences though.

Oswin nodded in response to Allric.

Allric smiled and pulled out some long pieces of paper.

"These are papers tags. They're made from a few different things, but the important ingredient is widow's weep. This is just what I use from around the mountain, as there are plenty of herbs that can be used to make proper tags."

Oswin furrowed his brows as he pieced the complex sentence together. Eventually he nodded signaling Allric to continue.

"If you ever join an apprenticeship for tag imbuing, know that some ingredients are better than others. The best tag imbuers use their own ingredients for everything, except for the paper itself."

Oswin nodded again.

"You're a little young for me to explain inking, so I'll just show you instead."

Allric lifted a brush and dipped it into pitch-black ink. He quickly wrote on the paper dozens of characters in a flawless succession. After a moment of drying the tag over a couple of candles, he lifted Oswin with one arm and took him outside.

There was a cage on the ground with a small spirit. The spirit didn't even reach the height of Oswin and was almost entirely see through. However, it grabbed the wooden cage and tried rattling the bars, only to fail miserably.

"It's just a weak Roaming Spirit. Even if I let it out, it would only have a tiny effect on the material realm. That's why it's almost see through, the more opaque they are, the more they can influence the world around them."

Using context clues, Oswin learned the word for opaque, causing him to smile for a moment. The smile didn't last long because Allric threw the tag at the spirit.

It attached itself and the creature fell to the ground convulsing. This caused Oswin's smile to turn into a slacked jaw.

"It's trying to fight the tag's power, but it's too weak to do anything." Just as Allric finished saying that, the creature stopped moving. Allric walked forward and pressed another paper tag against the spirit's body.

This tag simply had a name on it and a line straight down the middle. After a moment, the spirit disappeared.

"And now, it's in this tag. If I rip it down the middle, along the marked line, the creature will appear back in the material realm. Right now it's sealed in the spirit realm."

It was a lot of information, but Oswin soaked it up like a sponge. It was simply amazing!

'I need to learn this!' Oswin thought with a determined face causing Allric to become surprised.

"Why are you so serious all of a sudden? Ah, are you intrigued about this art?" Allric inquired, he just wanted another apprentice since it had been ages since his last one. He knew Oswin was smart and was throwing some bait out.

Oswin nodded ferociously, causing Allric to be shocked again. Even if he wanted an apprentice, he didn't intend for Oswin to be so serious about it.

This time he laughed it off.

"Well, come to me on the weekends. I won't teach you about tag imbuing, instead I'll give you a proper education. Tag imbuing is too early for you, first you need to understand our language." He laughed giddily.

Oswin couldn't tell who was more excited, himself or Allric.

'That doesn't matter, as long as he's willing to teach me, I'll accept it no matter what.' Oswin thought.

The monk gave Oswin a meal before sending him home. On his way back he noticed a commotion among a large crowd, so he took a detour.

Oswin was always one to seek out information, even if it was in a dangerous environment. The village was safe, so there was no harm in investigating.

He pushed through the crowd to see two people haggling. There stood the village chief, who Oswin had only seen a few times. He ran the village when those of the estate were otherwise busy. Standing across from him was a strange looking man.

His lanky body was covered in a large cloak and he wore a backpack the size of three Oswin's. Covering his face was an intricately crafted wooden mask. He smoked a long pipe while leisurely debating the price on some products.

On the other hand, the chief seemed to want to pull out his hair. Oswin wasn't sure what was being sold, but he appreciated the merchant's prowess in destroying their opponent's willpower. That was something Oswin always tried to do.

The chief tried to keep haggling but was only making things worse.

Oswin was surprised the chief hadn't folded yet. At this point it was a pride thing and would be a detriment to the village finances. In the meantime, the merchant's eyes traveled over the crowd in boredom.

He was sure that the villagers would tear apart the chief as soon as he left, but that wasn't his concern. Eventually his vision paused on Oswin with his strange arms and pale blue skin. He hummed as if he found something interesting.

Oswin left a moment later though.

There wasn't any reason to stick around. He didn't care to see how much the village would get screwed over, nor the ensuing beating. He discovered a traveling merchant, which meant word about the wider world.

He decided to track them down before they left town and ask them about some things.

He pushed open the door to his house and found Rimilde and Wulfred eating some porridge while chatting. They motioned for Oswin to come to the table to eat once he entered the house. They lived in a safe village so they weren't concerned about Oswin being hurt while he was out.

They both were raised in the same way and Oswin found the relative freedom refreshing. He had a curfew that was a few hours before the sun set, but it was far better than nothing. Coupled with only having to ask permission to leave and he was practically a free man.

Oswin took a small portion of food and sat down to eat with his parents. He couldn't help but notice their excited expressions.

"Oswin, I heard you were visiting Allric?" Wulfred asked with a smile.

Oswin looked up with his mouth open, the wooden spoon inches away from delivering the food.

"Ahh-" Oswin closed his mouth responded in confusion, "Yes…?"

It wasn't uncommon for him to visit the monk nor had his parent's ever asked about it.

"Well, he told us that he wanted to teach you!" Rimilde said with excitement.

"…yes?" However, Oswin was till incredibly confused.

"It's an amazing opportunity! Getting an education at such a young age from the monk! He's incredibly wise you know? Some say he was even a scholar before he became a monk and settled here!" His father explained.

'Ah.' Finally it clicked for Oswin, 'Education wasn't widespread in medieval times so I bet the same is true here. Especially any education that isn't just for a trade. I guess it makes sense for them to be so excited.' He reasoned.

He wasn't sure how to respond so he gave brief answers. Luckily his child body was amble cover.

The rest of the dinner consisted of Rimilde and Wulfred showering Oswin with affection. He wasn't exactly sure how to process it, so he just silently waited for it to end while eating.