Ch. 5 A Boy, Herbs, and the Hermit Alchemist16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXHp2nSQ7QZ
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A few weeks passed with the same routine he had gotten used to, waking up after the sixth or so time of his sister waking him up, it still took a while for his body to adjust from all the walking.
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Mr. Crow and Dad finally worked out a time they could meet and play and they finally trusted him alone well with Coby but the same difference… he was a little Sad to leave his sister, but she had nina and was always putting things off to oversee him at the shop so this was good for both them.
She promised she missed him and they could do things later if he still wanted. Nina was upset she couldn’t join him, but knew she had to work and still had his sister.
That was good enough for him as he knew more of what went on at the shop after weeks of working.
He left the house to go find Coby and was surprised Coby met him halfway it was not planned it just ended up that way, excited to see him, and they embraced.
“What are you doing here? I was going to meet you at your house?”
“I track you,” Coby replied excitedly
“What? “
“Well, not tracked more assumed you'd be home,” he replied sheepishly.” My dad has been teaching me how to track, so I was trying it in the village earlier. It doesn’t work, everyone’s tracks look the same, and it’s hard to tell new from old tracks. “
“Hmmm, he was listening intently this did sound fun and could lead to adventure. “ OK! Let’s try it out while exploring as he starts racing off, Coby soon, join him on our first adventure.
He wanted to go to the lake, but Coby convinced him to go the opposite way, saying that he could show him the hunting trials they used, so Wolf agreed. Since it was a new land to explore, it was strange to be surrounded by a forest; everything felt magical, and he knew he could get lost as everything was the same.
His friend assured him not to worry they have marks they leave to keep track of trails and make it easy to get back when he showed Wolf a tree with a line cut he understood what he meant but…
“How do you know where the trees are, you mark? Everything is nearly the same?”
“ Hmmm, a lot of ways. I guess?”
“The angle of the sun and the wind.”
“ just a feeling?” He said the last part as a question. He was starting to doubt this trip when Coby said he had been here for weeks well months really, with his dad but explored and hunted alone for a few weeks so it was ok to trust him.
He was shocked, “You've been alone for weeks!?” Coby laughed
“ as part of my training,”
“ Dad had me forage, check track, scout potential animals and stuff.”
“ he told me if I ever got lost to blow the whistle he gave me and just wait, he would come and blow his whistle to help guide me back. “
“Has that happened? “he wondered, curious about his friend’s adventure.
“Well… I did get lost but did not blow the whistle,”
“ I found my way back in time, and it only happened twice.”
“ I got better since then and carried a ration just in case.” he had a small pouch on his side filled with supplies.
They chatted for a while, wandering around before he was getting tired again, despite the workout he had been getting, it still wore him down.
Coby was still jumping with energy. He told him to rest while he foraged for berries and be back. As he rested on a tree, he noticed some odd herbs he had never seen before;
They stood out with an odd yellow color, so he examined them while he rested. Coby came back soon after, saying no luck on the berries; he saw a few bushes, but none were ready to eat.
He showed off his new find and copy, to was surprising. I had never seen that type.
“Think it poisonous?” Wolf asked excitedly.
“Hmmm, hard to say, we could ask the hermit or my dad, either of them would know better than me.”
“ hermit? He was confused.
“Yeah, he parts the village but doesn’t like people, though he is good with herbs. I see him sometimes when hunting or smell him. “
He laughed,” You smell him? he stinks that bad.
“ No, he just smells Strongs of herbs if the wind carries right you can smell him even if can’t see him.”
“ I tend to leave him alone since he doesn’t bother us either” That made sense to Wolf.
He was not sure about the herb as he was not even sure if it was ready to be plucked let leave it for now we can always check on it later if others don’t find it.
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The rest of the day was mostly adventuring by running around in the woods and seeing what they could find.
Surprisingly, he was starting to see the pattern in the trees. Yes, everything looked the same to a point.
But the random marks helped guide them surprisingly well, it would take a long time before he felt safe not getting lost but at least now it did not feel like a vast endless forest.
Well, it still was, but home was close, so it was not the same as being in the middle of it, trying to find a home.
Coby suggested that tomorrow they practice shooting his bow for Target Practice. Wolf was excited, he saw weapons and held knives, but never a bow that could shoot!
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The next day he packed a light lunch so he did not have to stop for lunch later, he managed to almost get to Coby’s house before Coby met him on the road from his house, his dad was with him and nodded when he saw Wolf.
“Morning, Mr. Crow.”
“ Morin wolf “ firm but not unkind. “Coby already told me you two are going to practice shooting.”
“Mind your surroundings and each other. “
“I’ll be out late. “
“been following a trail, want to see what I can find” Coby hugs his dad goodbye before heading toward the back.
I followed him back to his house. Mrs. Crow was outside with a bucket of water and moving back inside she stopped when she saw us “That was quick, son, already found your friend your tracking improved,” she said with a bit of mirth. Coby smiled at that.
“ I am getting better at tracking, just wolf was close by, so I did not get a chance to train it today.”
“O, ok. Are you hungry, wolf? The boys had already eaten, but their stew for later or bread if you wanted something now.
“ I’m ok, thank you, Mrs crow.”
“Such a good boy,” she smiled.” Now you boys stay safe and be sure to wash when ready to eat,”
“ I need to take care few things around the house, speak up if you need anything.”
Both boys said “ok” while Coby’s mother left to do her choirs the area around back past a shed had few trees growing away from others coby said they tend to use the shed to shoot
but stood near trees to help judge distance as well as give a feeling of shooting among the trees the distance he picked did not seem too far around fifteen yards.
Coby gave Wolf a few brief lessons on how to hold the bow and how to avoid hitting yourself,
and then he did a few practice shots to show how it worked. The shots were clean, fast, and on point. It was amazing to see.
He tried the same, but it felt like trying to hold a weight back in his hand when he shot, it flew true, yet after a few yards, it only hit the dirt, surprising him and getting a laugh from Coby.
“ It takes a bit more pulling, you were close.” Frustrated that his friend made it look easy, he pulled back harder with a bit of anger mixed with embarrassment, and aimed…
It was near a perfect shot, not the middle, but it hit the target solid.
“Nice, that’s some fast improvement. “ he was happy to be praised.
“Well, I had a good teacher,” they both laughed. Coby kept shooting for a while more, but the novelty wore off for him. It was an amazing tool, but the aiming and drawing tired him out. Add to it that he would have to buy more arrows, and he lost interest quickly.
It was nice seeing his friend know what he wanted and have such a passion. He liked the more laid-back shop, but doing nothing was boring.
Yet running around shooting was not for him either, he needed something to add to the shop to make it more fun…
As Coby was lining up a few more shots before they stopped for lunch when he noticed mushrooms near one of the trees. Amazed at his find maybe that is it, I can sell food!
He deflated when he thought about cooking. His mother did that was not fun either, but it was closer to something he could do… Coby noticed his friend in a daze and asked.
“ You ok?”
“I’m fine just planning for later” The talks turned to new places to explore after lunch and the rest of the day passed uneventfully.
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A few more weeks passed with a few changes wolf was spending more time with Coby and still spared days for Leena and nina.
Dad only had him help in the shop for a few random days when Leena was needed elsewhere.
Summer was out in force, and everything felt more lively. Dad mentioned he was trying to rely less on them for work, but Leena said she and Nina could handle it for now and to let Wolf find himself.
He went to the lake once more and explored for a bit, but found he found his new freedom boring…
He was happily exploring before, but now it seemed to just be the same woods…
He tried to make an adventure out of searching for herbs but it too was a bit boring since he wasn’t trying to use the herbs for anything, the day was little less than half over so he gave up and went back to the shop to help instead.
He figured it would be better to help than be bored. Nina was happy to see him, but their not much he could do.
Leena had a small delivery to the inn, and she was happy to bring him along if he wanted, so he agreed.
She loaded up a small backpack with random items, and they set off to make the delivery.
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He did not pay much attention to his surroundings beyond running to and from a few places, yet the inn was surprisingly close.
It was only a few buildings down from their shop, much closer to the main road out of town.
He figured it was smart to try and catch the incoming travelers. The inn was a big building that made their shop look small, and their shop was large to him…
Getting inside was easy enough, and there were a lot of tables he saw with stairs in the distance leading to a second floor. Though not much business that surprised him.
His sister spoke up, making him focus, She said they were looking for the innkeeper when he saw him behind the counter, he was shocked, it was a Bearman!
He knew they existed, but seeing one in person was different. He was behind the counter, checking some glass; he did not even look up and spoke.
“You got my meat, kid? “
“How did you know?” he was shocked, he knew without them saying a word, why they were there. The Bearman barked a laugh at that.
“ my nose, nose” he smiled while looking at them with rows of sharp teeth it was a little scary but Leena just frowned.
“Stop trying to scare my brother.”
“He is not used to being around different beastkin,” he laughed and then laughed some more. “That’s why I like you, girly; you face things head-on like a real bear or maybe a wolf? I like it” The innkeeper bellowed with joy.
“THAT'S MY NAME! He exclaimed with joy, the innkeeper grunted, and then focused a bit more.
“Oh really? “
“Their story behind that?” Lean responded for him as he never thought why it was his name.
“Our mother saw a night wolf while pregnant while exploring with her father.”
“They’re rare now. “
“As hunters tend to keep them away from the village.”
“So she thought it was a sign her child would be strong as a wolf and went with it.”
“Father did not disagree,” she explained causally.
He was happy to learn the origins of his name and felt a bit of pride to be seen so strong before he was even born.
The innkeeper looked down at him, giving him a deep stare like a beast hunting prey; he froze at that gaze.
He never knew people could be scary or so tall that he was used to everyone loving him…
His sister stepped in front of him to protect him and stare down the innkeeper. He still wanted to look even if it was scary, and saw the bear innkeeper smiling.
“Just testing the pup. “
“twas meant no harm.”
“How but some food on the house as a sorry for being a little rough on you two since you did deliver to me.” The bear man casually spoke
Wolf feeling more brave knowing, despite his look, he was not evil, and Leena knew he was just poking them to liven things up.
The Bearman took the delivered items to the back, where they heard random noise, banging small curses, and the innkeeper saying “Give me a sec,” then the sound of cooking soon afterward.
He came back soon after. “It won’t be much of a small treat of meat to help you in your journey, here are some drinks too.”
It’s rose star honey, mixed with some herbs and water, nothing fancy but sweet and easy to make.”
“ popular with the ladies and kids,” he tried some and was shocked at how good it was.
“ you need to teach my mom this, it’s really good” Leena nodded in agreement, and the innkeeper laughed with mirth.
“One thing I love about this town is you all appreciate the little things.”
“It's not the same elsewhere?” he wondered, noticing a change his the bearman's posture.
“ Eeehhh….” The innkeeper paused, “Well, the people at the crossroad town just wanted more, better, faster,”
“ and I could not keep up.” He scratched his head in thought
“ I wanted somewhere a little quieter…”
“So that was a no to going back to the city, and this village was close by rest is history. “
Wolf, feeling a little sheepish, drank his drink. “We never heard your name.”
“ It will be awkward just calling you bearman, seeing that what you are.”
The innkeeper laughed again “You’re right, I bare my teeth and did not even bother to say hello.”
“ Sorry about that was rude of me, Wolf. “
“My name is Icarus.”
“I’ll be back, meat should be done soon, need to keep an eye on it lest it burns,” as he went to tend the meat. Wolf was wondering something, so he asked.
“You have been here before he said he liked you?”
She sipped her drink, still calm. “A few random deliveries,” he nodded
He took that moment to glance around the place. It was clean, six or so tables beside random booths, and beyond the bar, there were the stairs leading up to rooms, but it seemed like a big place for just one person to be working… his sister noticed his confusion at the lack of people or workers.
“They’re probably off running errands or getting busy at night.” he wanted to ask more when Icarus came back with the food it was two plates of sausages, and the herb scent was strong.
Icarus smiled as he served them. “I have a preference for only meat, but I do serve other things out of necessity. Just this herb mix is my specialty, it’s why I was even able to run an inn in a city vs. the competition.”The food was amazing, maybe even better than his mom’s cooking. Leena also enjoyed it while they were eating. He spoke up, “You can’t be the only one who works here, right?”
“ True, Icarus said, “I do have a few staff, though I gave them a half day today, to work to work tonight.”
“Business was a little slow today, and I already handled most things.”
“ It’s why I made a mess earlier in the back.”
“ They do not leave the items in the same place I do.”
“So tripped, I’m assuming you were wondering what the noise was and afraid to ask,”
“ I’m ok, too, by the way, “he said with a full-teeth smile, wolf smile back.
“ Glad you’re ok, is that why we made this delivery?” he wondered.
“ No,” he shook his big head, “ it was more of a friendly favor from your dad.”
“ I tend to use him for most of my bigger meat deliveries; other times, I get smaller orders from others.”
“Really!?” he was shocked. ‘How come Dad never told me we had a bearman len?” She frowned at that while Icarus laughed.
“He's not a bear man.”
“That rude, he's a beast kin, they’re blessed by the gods just like us brother”
' I did not know it was rude to say that, I apologize,” Icarus waved his hand.
“It’s no big deal, most beast kin hear it often enough, they know it's not said with hate. “
“ but awe and wonder”
“And any that do wish to harm?” He paused for a second, smirking,” Let’s leave it at that, kid. “
“I like this town.”
“And so far, you all treat beast kin well. “
“So let’s keep it at that and a warm welcome.”
He wasn’t sure how things got so serious, but he knew it best to leave it at that.
They finished their meal and thanked Icarus for his time. He shouted as they left, “You’re welcome here any time, pups, don’t be strangers.” he was happy to meet new people and was surprised how little he knew.
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The trip back to the shop was uneventful they told nina about how it went dad was listening he smirked about the events but figured it was good for Wolf to see different personality types.
Leena was already used to the innkeeper’s attitude from Dad’s tales and few vists and she forgot to warn her brother that he can be a little overbearing…
As the excitement of the day wore down, he noticed the shelf he had cleaned in the past was still empty. When he asked Dad, he said it was his shelf if he made anything, he could put it there. He thought about it, What could he do? His dad noticed the look and explained.
“Well, son, you can make spices or other things and sell them and keep the money minus any cost to make said items. It would be good to teach you about money.
“Really?! Dad,” he asked, shocked, “ I can make money!” Dad laughed at that.
“ Yes, you can. Leena already does make money when she runs deliveries, I make sure to give her something for the trouble.”
“ WOW, he said, amazed at what news, “but what does she do with the money?’
“Not sure? His dad, puzzled in thought, “Save it, maybe? Think I saw her get dressed before,”
“ but more than not, she seems happy not spending” he was once more shocked he thought having money meant you had to spend to saving never accrued to him…
“So how do I get the right herbs to sell?” he asked, lost. Dad was amused.
“You go out exploring every day, and don’t you know how to get herbs, son? He blushed at that question, feeling foolish.
“But those are for home and food, not selling? He asked, hoping he was right.
“ True, if you want to help the family. we thank and love you for that but…. “ He paused for a moment. “If you want to run a part of a shop you need to sell things.” it made sense hearing it from his dad he wasn’t sure why he never thought of it…
“Ok, Dad thank you! He hugged his dad while saying “I’m going to start tomorrow! He asked Leena if she help him she shook her head “You know I’m always willing to help you brother but I got to do deliveries.”
“What about me !” nina piped in excited he did not feel as happy about it so tried to let her down easily.
“Maybe another time,” he saw her visibly deflate, but did not push further. Leena tried brightening the mood and spoke up.
“We can help on the off days, “She looked at Nina to let her know she was included,” just not now.”
“Things have been getting busier, more people have been coming to town, and trade has been picking up from the crossroad to us.” Nina wagged her tail, happy for a compromise. Wolf was happy he had new options, and with that, the excitement of another day came to an end.
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It was a new day, a new adventure, sadly, Coby was. Still hunting with his dad. Leena, nina, and Nebo were busy helping Dad at the shop and Mom was mom keeping everything going and us fed and happy.
That left just me with another day to adventure and try to get some herb to sell, leena had a spare basket from when she would run errands so he used that.
He had a bad habit of wanting to explore near the lake. So this time, I will go in a different direction to try something new.
It became easier to travel as been doing it so many times he started to notice new buildings and people.
He had never really paid attention to it before there was a blacksmith and what looked like a butcher shop as he went down this new road as he kept going, it seemed to just be people’s houses and random people going about their lives.
Most ignored him as he passed, but few waved or said morning as he went.
It didn’t take long before he was outside the village on the road once more, heading to the forest.
He was worried as he never really went this way and was surprised there were already people foraging in the area he figured since people were already on the left side of the forest he go right.
They either already picked this side clean or he got first dibs, the forest was just as dense as always and he remembered coby trick of marks to help he brought some simple tools to help gather herbs so used that to leave random marks every few trees.
He did not want to go too far but felt nothing would be close with others gathering, doing the same…
About an hour passed with a few herbs gathered, but mostly a letdown. It seemed his old spot always had lots of berries and stuff, here it seemed like things were rare or he just was late and competition beat him to the prize…
As he was giving up and was going back following his marks he smelt a strong scent of a lot of herbs, like a lot of herbs…
Was there a rare herb batch nobody gathered?! As he followed the smell he started to slow down as it started to also smell of smoke as if someone was making something…
He knew it was not a forest fire as it was not burning trees he was smelling but the herbs themselves that must been the smell he was following…
But it was too hard to tell what the smells were due to the smoke, so he turned around to leave and almost screamed.
A hunch old man was squinting at him, holding a basket he was full of wrinkles wolf did not know what to do and just stared in shock as the Old man squinted back. Finally, the old man opened his eyes a bit and said.
“ Well, there reason you here?” he was still a bit shocked and did not know what to say, so the old man moved closer to look at him closer, squinting once more…
“You lost, boy?”
“ Got a name, or did nobody raise you to speak?”
“ I can guide you back, but I’m not taking you in.”
“ I don’t like the company, that’s why we have the church…” the old man said in a rush of words as he tried to focus…
“ I, I was gathering herbs to sell.”
“Herbs?”
“ Do you like herbs, or are you just desperate for food?”
“ Are you a street rat? “ He pressed, looking interested.
“A what? “
“Kid, do you have a home?”
“ I do, “ he was finally getting focused. “I have a mom, Dad, and sister,…”
“Ok, so why are you here and not with them?” Bit annoyed, he replied.
“ I told you”
“ I’m gathering herbs to sell.”
“ I usually scout near the lake but wanted to try a new place today…”
“ I did not know anyone was here.”
“ I’ll leave since I’m bothering you…” He started to leave, not wanting to upset the old man more, who was also upsetting him. “Wait, kid, I’ll buy your herbs.”
“ What?! “ He was surprised.” Why? “ not trusting this old man…
“ I always need more herbs. “
“Don’t like going into town.”
“Waste of time unless I need to. “
“I tend to get most things brought to me.”
“But more herbs are always slowly supplied for my needs.”
“What do you do with them? “
“Alchemy, boy, the greatest thing humans have done before they lost themselves to magic.”
“ that has made them weak.” he was interested, but he did not agree about magic, that was real power. Yet he also wanted to know what the old man was talking about…
“What’s alchemy? What does it do? The old man smiled at that. “Almost anything,”
“Probably everything if we only focused on it… “
“But magic broke it, and now everyone is chasing that.”
Wolf did not understand. “How did magic break alchemy? “ The Old man sighed.
“Alchemy is mixing herbs into potions and making very specific things.”
“Magic follows no rules or laws.”
“It can change anything with enough power…”
“And that bad?” Wolf asked slowly not sure how that was bad the old man shook his head.
“ I can make a potion that heals and cures a sickness; the same mix works every time.”
“But magic? “
“Maybe it cures everything, maybe it won’t.”
“Maybe it restores stamina? Maybe it won’t. “
“Magic is volatile, prone to endless change, and requires a will and force at it.”
“Or it will not do what you want but herbs and my potions? You get the same cure every time…”.
Said like that, he could understand why the old man felt that way. “What about magical alchemy?” The old man scoffed.
“They exist and they do make passable water down drinks that can help some.”
“They also profit from people wanting an easy fix.”
“ I don’t blame them. “
“Everybody tends to want easy answers and easy fixes.”
“Even if it means others suffer…” he went quiet with those words.
He was not sure he trusted the old man he was a little rough talking but not mean, the old man must have sensed his mood so he said.
“If you ever wish to know more, I’m not going anywhere,”
“ I tend to have deliveries once a week.”
“ I also look for my own herbs to fill in while I wait.”
“Can you find your way back or need me to guide you?” He was sure he knew way back it wasn’t too far from the village if he thought about it the time he spent was mostly searching for herbs…
“ I’ll be fine, sir, thanks for offering to help.”
“Eh? “The old man exclaimed, “Sir?”
“ Me? Hah, he was amused at that “They call me Herbert or Hermit, whatever makes you happy”
“It’s not my real name, but I like it.”
“ Herb-ert? “ He thought it was odd that he wanted to be named a herb.
“Yeah,” Herbert said, “Play on words with herb.”
“ I like it, so I used it if not hermit is fine, not like a lot of people ask about me.” He said indifferently.
“ Ok, well my name is Wolf”
“wolf? “ Herbert said, mildly surprised. “It seems I’m not the only one fond of using unconventional names. “
“Un-con-what? “ He asked
“ Heh,” Herbert amusedly replied, “ just means not a normal name, not bad, just different.” He was not sure how to feel, but he trusted the hermit’s words for now…
“Let’s say I do sell to you?”
“How much would you give me for the herbs?”
“Hmm… well, I prefer barter and trade.”
“ but can easily pay with coins or potions.”
“ Potions? “ He asked, a bit excited. Herbert squinted at him and frowned.
“Were you not listening, boy?”
“I AM A. ALCHEMIST,”
So yes, I make potions, “
“Why else would I offer to buy herbs? “ He was annoyed at the back and forth with the hermit, but swallowed his pride; he wanted to be an adult, and the hermit did have knowledge …
“ok, I’ll trust you and sell whatever herbs I get.”
“ I probably won’t stop by tomorrow.”
“ I want to check near the lake for more herbs.”
“ I might have some herbs at my dad’s shop, but I want those there, my dad is teaching me how to run the shop, and I want stuff to sell there” The hermit waved his hand dismissively.
“That's fine, that's fine.”
“ I always need more, never enough.”
“ I’m sure what little you find or sell in a shop won’t matter much, this is more sharing alchemy than anything.”
“It has been too long since anyone showed any interest, so this could be fun,” Herbert said.
Wolf nodded he was still confused and wary but the hermit seemed harmless, and as he watched the old man squinting as he walked away, mumbling to himself while searching the ground, he even wondered if the old man knew he was still there watching him go.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9MSfd7e4Kw
