The Calm Before The Storm Part II

They soon finished hanging up the clothes to dry and just as Leandrei was about to leave, Terza said to him "Go pick some fruits from the trees nearby the forest, take the basket with you". Leandrei sighed, he really hated working but he couldn't just refuse while he had no proper excuse. Even if he did Terza wouldn't believe him one bit. It was already five in the evening so he went ahead and took the basket with him quickly.

It took Leandrei a 20 minute walk to reach the outskirts of the forest and he soon spotted a familiar face. It was none other than Lyn the daughter of his neighbour. Lyn was an ordinary girl with an ordinary face and built. There was nothing special about her. She also had a basket and was picking fruits.

When Leandrei got closer she noticed him and said "It's unusual seeing you oustide" while smiling.

"I guess so, mind helping me after you're done?". Lyn's basket was almost full so she said "Alright". With the two of them working together it only took about 10 minutes to be done collecting the fruits . Then they headed back home which took them another 25 minutes due to the heavy baskets.

Afte two more hours Leandrei ate dinner and went to sleep, that's how his uneventful day ended.

2 days before Leandrei's birthday.

Leandrei hasn't done anything worth mentioning and is bored as always. However this time he notices that his father left for Darrio, he doesn't go there often, probably about once every two to three weeks to sell wood. But he already went a week ago so Leandrei becomes curious, he chooses find the answers from his mother.

"Mum, why did dad leave for Darrio when he already went a week ago?" he asks. Terza stops cleaning the floor and looks up, "Something came up so he went" she replied.

"What is it?" Leandrei's curiosity grew even more. "You don't need to know for now, you'll find out later" she then dismissed him and continued cleaning. Leandrei now disappointed opts to ask his father when he comes back.

'It takes someone 40 minutes to reach Darrio by walking and another 40 minutes to come and a few more minutes doing whatever they went there to do, so he will probably come back around half past twelve'. Leandrei begins to patiently wait for his father to return and his guess was close, his father returned at quarter to one.

Leandrei rushed to his father after he returned and saw a him holding an object wrapped in cloth. "Dad what's that?" he asked curiously. Leo replied with "It's nothing much" and proceeds to walk in his and Terza's room . He quickly comes back without the object wrapped in cloth saying "I'll show it to you later" and he leaves to go work in the fields.

'Just what are they hiding? Should I just sneak in and look? It won't be hard at all, but they might get annoyed. Hmm…oh it has to be a gift for me! Ha, no wonder they refused to tell me about it, it finally makes sense. I wonder what it is, well there's no point thinking about it anymore I'll find out soon'.

At midnight in the outskirts of the Northern forest,the leaves rustle loudly and footsteps could be heard. After a few more seconds it began rustling even more and several more footsteps could be heard. "Thud, thud, thud", it sounded like a drum each time and soon many outlines of creatures could be seen. They weren't quite visible in the moonlight while hiding behind the bushes and trees but many eyes could be seen staring outside the forest through the leaves.

Suddenly a sound could be heard "Grrrr…grrr….grrr!"

1 day before Leandrei's birthday.

The sun was beaming and the sky was bluer than usual. Leandrei is currently staring at the wooden ceiling while lying on his bed. When you're bored there isn't much to do in the village, specially when you are someone like him. He doesn't like going out which is why he doesn't have many friends. No, he has no friends. He occasionally meets other villagers and talks to them, well that's only if they start the conversation first otherwise he will continuing minding his own business and doing whatever he was.

'Just one more day and I'll turn fifteen. The Appraisal ceremony is close as well, I'll find out my aptitude and I already have guesses of what my bloodline ability will be'.

In Jira, the planet that Bordas continent is in there isn't only magic but also bloodline ability. Like the name says bloodline ability is inherited from one's parents. Bloodline ability can also be a key to a mages success, as some at the very top also have an amazing bloodline ability. Everyone possesses one and unlike magic it doesn't use mana. It's directly linked to one's soul and blood so it can only be passed down by blood. It's a very different concept when compared to talent as they don't have any relation. It has no correlation with ones talent.

Talent is determined by the affinity someone has with the elements. The more affinity one has with a element the quicker their progress in comprehending the said element will be. It's important gain understanding of an element as it helps creating new spells and gives a mage an idea of utilising that very element. But to first walk the path of a mage one has to go through the process of awakening.

'Us villagers have no clue about how awakening is done, only the people who meet the talent requirements for a mage can awaken in the first place and none of them would want to live in a village. I remember hearing that failing to awaken can lead to a shortened life span or other repricussions.'

Leandrei snaps out of his thoughts when the door to his room is opened by none other than Terza. "Leandrei take this to old lady Mira". Terza handed Leandrei the clothes which the old lady Mira asked for her to fix wrapped in cloth. Terza earns a bit of money by fixing clothes for others but many do it themselves instead of asking someone else to. However some can't do it for whatever they reason they have and one of them is Mira.

Leandrei nods his head and heads out to Mira's place with the clothes.

On his way he meets Craz the shoemaker, Mia the baker and passes by the bar which already has people drinking in. After a bit of walking he arrives at old lady Mira's place, Mira is very important to the villagers as she helps the village by making medicine by mixing various herbs. She is an alchemist and came here due to her old age. She has aged a lot over the last few years and her health has grown worse over time to the point she can't even fix her clothes. Unfortunately she doesn't have anyone to take over her position in the village.

Leandrei knocks on the door and hears "Come in" from a fragile old voice. He opens the door to find old lady Mira sitting on her rocking chair. "Oh it's little Rei, Terza must had finished fixing the clothes then" she said with a smile. Mira had many wrinkles and her white hair tied up in a bun, her most recognisable feature was her missing front tooth. Leandrei went forward and handed her the clothes.

"Thank you little one" she said with a little laugh and then asked "It's been a while since we last saw each other, do you want anything to drink?"

"No" Leandrei promptly replied. "I'll leave now that I'm done with my work and take care of your health" Leandrei opened the front door and left.

After leaving he thinks to himself, 'If I had agreed to stay there she would had gone on and on about her days when she was still young. If she talked about something other than that it would had been more interesting but now that her memory is getting bad because of old age there isn't any hope'. He sighed and kept on walking.

Leandrei continued the rest of his day with nothing else to do.