Training

The strange stone statue in the corner of the enclosure was a "dummy", as Alex had called it, a tool he hoped would improve my comfortability with the staff.

Using the other half of the staff he had broken off, he showed me how to wield it; his strikes landed exactly where he wanted with a grace I wouldn't have expected from someone with a bad leg.

When I tried replicating his moves, I ended up falling face-first into the floor, receiving stifled laughter from Alex.

"I made this so you don't get bored watching the animals all day. Try just swinging the staff around so you get used to the weight while I'm gone."

With his signature wave, he walked off once again to gather materials for… whatever he needed them for, and I spent the rest of my shift just trying not to fall over.

**

BWOOOOOO

When the horn sounded, I was drenched in sweat. My arms felt like they were about to fall off, and despite not using my legs that much, I was having a hard time standing up.

"Hey Dylan! How'd it go? Oh."

Hearing Alex's cheery voice come from inside irritated me for some reason, and he looked surprised to see me so exhausted when he walked through the doorway.

"It… went fine."

Trying to stand up, I had to rely on the staff to hold myself upright, my legs shaking so hard it looked like I was dancing.

Then, I suddenly felt like I was falling.

**

After waking up, I found that my surroundings were unfamiliar. It looked like I was inside of a building, but I didn't know where.

Sitting up on the bed… it was an actual bed! It was soft and sank inwards where I put my weight, unlike the hard floor of my house.

There were actual pillows and a blanket and it seemed like I was inside what was called a "bedroom".

BWOOOOO

At the sound of the morning horn, I got up quickly, not wanting to be late to work because I woke up in an unfamiliar place and got lost on my way there.

Walking out of the room, I saw Alex standing with his back to me, the sound of tearing noises coming from his direction and a small square stone table between us, surrounded by four chairs.

"Alex? Where are we?"

"Oh hey, you're finally up. This is my house. You passed out on the farm yesterday and I had to take you here since I don't know where you live. Here, you'll need this."

Placing a plate with something on it on the table, he sat down with a similar plate.

Sitting down, I could now see that it was pieces of some sort of mushroom that I didn't recognize. I've only ever seen Stony Mushrooms and a Lavaworm Mushroom up close.

"It's a Dark Mushroom. It was my son's favorite…"

Alex's eyes glossed over as it looked like he was staring through the plate on the table to a place he wished he could be.

Taking a bite into the mushroom, the flavor was strange, to say the least. But as I kept chewing it, something about it gave me a complicated feeling in my chest, almost as if I had eaten this before.

I didn't even realize, but I had started crying.