While I was recovering from the shock of murder, I focused on crafting some things with what I brought; I also fixed the weapons the assassins who came after us used, or at least the ones that could be fixed and upgraded a bit.
With everything that's happened, I've locked myself in the forge. My parents asked me several times to stop working so hard, but it was a way to let out my frustrations. After ignoring them for several days, they stopped asking me to go out.
After arranging the Andon, we separated the things my mother would use, those that would be useful to me, or those we'd have to discard. For example, her organs wouldn't be useful and were better discarded; the meat. My mother had kept almost all of it; she gave some to some of her friends and kept the rest.
With some of the bones and the tusks, I was trying to make some tools or weapons. They were hard and very resistant, to the point of being difficult to handle; both the skin and the bones had the hardness of metal.
The Andon meat was very tasty, very similar to what wild boars tasted like on land. Although it was strange to me that its meat provided so much more energy than normal, after just a few cuts we were full. I hadn't felt this satisfied in a long time.
As the days passed, I was recovering. During that time, I managed to experiment with the Andon's bones in many ways. I had tried heating them, cooling them, and shaping them by beating them—many ways. The one that worked best was using them as if I were handling minerals. The bones began to soften with heat, and after a long time, they partially melted. I had experimented with the ribs and some of the harder parts of the Andon.
In the middle of it all, I was trying to make a kind of walking stick. It had turned out much better than I expected. By wrapping one of the Andon's horns around the horn, I had created a broad-headed staff that looked like some kind of snake was climbing around it. I had tried to follow the image of the staff of Asclepius, and it turned out very well.
As he used everything he had to forge the staff, several problems arose. One was that every time he tried to strike it in the forge, it absorbed the mana he was working with. Although he tried to control and direct it, he didn't quite know how. It felt like a black hole; after a few strikes, he had to rest. Its colour had also changed; it was no longer the natural greyish white of Andon bone, but much darker. It was almost black with whitish spots in some sections.
I was very pleased with the work; thank goodness it wasn't too heavy. That would have been a serious problem, since I wouldn't be handling it myself.
After I finished making the staff, I was trying to make some kind of sturdier armour out of the skin and some bones for myself.
My father had asked me a few days ago to accompany him to the city. I suppose he also wanted to try to get me out of the forge. I agreed; it was also convenient for me, and I could think about other things.
As I was about to mount Aur, I felt something tugging at my pants. When I turned to see what it was, I saw Nixen looking at me with my pants in her mouth. Nixen's legs reached almost to my belly button and her body looked much stronger. At first, I thought she wanted some food, but she kept insisting even after I refused.
It occurred to me that maybe she wanted to take me, our relationship had reached that level and her size was no impediment, when I caressed her and tried to mount a foot, she stayed completely still, as if she were waiting.
I pressed my legs against his ribs and hunched over slightly to grab his neck; when Nixen sensed I was in position, he began to run. With the speed, I automatically used a bit of magic on myself, covering myself in mana and also lightening my weight a bit with the wind spell. At that exact moment, I felt Nixen accelerate, it was as if I had given him total freedom; the wind was enough to cut my face, even with the mana coating.
Nixen continued running as if we were being chased for a while, but when my vision finally cleared, we had already reached the village. It had only been a little over an hour; a journey that in Aur would have taken almost four hours walking fast. Nixen had done it in just over an hour; her speed was surprising, and she still had a lot of growing to do and gaining more strength.
While my father was waiting, I decided to go for a walk around town. I didn't want to go far, just walk around and find something interesting.
First, I wanted to get some money, so I went to sell some of my most recent works. With Grandma Thea recommending the bald man from the gun shop, I felt a little more confident; so I headed to his shop.
With all the time I had, I had created several items, some of which didn't require much work, and I think I'll be able to sell them for a good price.
When I saw the sign for Vaziri, I walked in. Like last time, it was more or less empty. Even though it was a small town, customers would occasionally come in, keeping the shop afloat.
The bald old man saw me and nodded in greeting.
-"Hello kid, long time no see. You've grown a lot."
- "What brings you around?"- the old man asked me when he was free.
"Nothing new, I need some money and I thought you could keep what you promised last time," I told the bald old man. As I answered, I was taking out a pair of daggers I had made with the same mineral as last time and some Andon bone.
I placed the two throwing daggers, and the last one looked like a kind of short sword with a sharp edge on both sides. The daggers looked very ordinary, while the sword needed a little more work.
The old man was surprised and began to look at the weapons with great interest.
-"It seems you have improved in manufacturing, but they are still common, for the daggers I can give you 20 silver coins and for the sword 15"- said the old man.
I didn't reply and took the short sword. When I took it, I applied a little mana and it began to glow with reddish and grayish colours. The old man was so surprised that he snatched the small sword from my hand.
He began to apply his hands to each of the weapons he had brought.
The more he examined them, the more surprised he became. He had begun to cut wood, leather, and even other weapons. Apparently, he was trying to measure how much their effectiveness increased with the Mana he received.
-"Boy, this is amazing, how did you achieve this technique?"- asked the old man expectantly.
I didn't answer him and just kept looking at him, although his question had bothered me, I thought it was because he was so excited.
-"Cough cough, sorry kid, I shouldn't have asked those things. As for the price, of course it's gone up."- While the old man tried to calm down with his fake cough, I just kept staring at him.
-"I think for what you brought, I can offer you 20 coins for the daggers and 35 for the short sword. I think it's a good price."-
-"Hmm, I don't think so, Grandpa. You're offering me almost the same price as the previous one. By the way, my name is Sam," I told the bald man. I was tired of him referring to me as a boy.
-"Oh Sam, I think you misunderstood. In total, I'll give you 75 silver coins, 20 for each dagger and 35 for the short sword."-
When he told me that my eyes opened wide, I didn't think he would give me so much for weapons that had taken me less than 3 days to make.
-"Sure, that sounds like a good deal to me," I replied.
We made the deal and while I was happy with what I got, Arman was much happier, he looked like a kid with new toys.
More than an hour had passed and my father still hadn't arrived, so as I continued walking I found a place to buy some food for Nixen and me.
After eating and doing some shopping for my dad, I started walking towards Grandma Thea's house. I think it's more likely that my dad will get there first.
When I arrived, the door was open. Grandma seemed busy, so I decided to sit and wait.
After a while, Grandma came out. She was sweating and looked tired.
-"Little devil, how long have you been waiting?"- asked the grandmother.
-"Not long ago, Grandma, I didn't want to bother you."-
-"It's no bother, maybe you could have helped. The patient was moving around a lot, and it took a lot of strength to get him to stay still."
"I understand, Grandma. I'm sorry for not letting you know." I said, looking down at the floor.
-"Now, kiddo. What brings you here? You're acting a little strange."
-"Grandma, I brought you a gift."- I said to Grandma Thea as I handed her a piece of cloth that was almost a meter and a half long.
Grandma, without saying a word, took it from my hands and uncovered it.
When he saw what it was, he was shocked. He picked it up with one hand and placed it on the floor.
The staff reached a little above his hip, which was a good measure, as he began to apply mana to it. A whitish-grey glow flashed from the staff. The floor beneath it began to crack, and the mana seemed to swirl around it as if following the coiled snake.
-"Boy, I don't know why you did this, but I don't think I can receive this for nothing."- Grandma said without taking her eyes off the staff, she had obviously liked it and seemed very reluctant to lose it.
"Grandma, I actually brought this as a gift and also as a request. I've always been grateful for your care, and I've also seen the need to learn some healing magic. Therefore, I thought bringing something to ask you to be my teacher was the most appropriate thing."
Just as I finished speaking, Grandma stood completely still, staring at me. I didn't know how to respond to her gaze, so I just stood like a statue.
"Kid, I don't know if your mother ever told you this. But the people best suited for healing magic are women. I can teach you, but it will be much more difficult. You'll have to work three times as hard as their counterparts."
"After all, it's not a big ask in exchange for such a good cane and the long friendship your parents and I have had," said the grandmother as she continued looking at the staff.
"Before you learn anything from me, you'll have to read some books. Some about the body, how mana works in our bodies and how your mana works in others," Grandma said as she placed some large books on the table.
After looking at all the books, I told Grandma what had happened and why my father hadn't arrived yet. She let me stay until my father arrived, and I took advantage of the opportunity to begin the reading I was supposed to do.
Many of the readings were very basic knowledge about the human body, some parts through which energy flows, which I knew a little about thanks to daily meditation.
After reading some of the books and seeing some of the lessons they gave in the books, I realized that they left practically the entire healing part to magic; they had no in-depth knowledge of the body or how it worked.
After a long wait, my father arrived. They seemed to have come in a hurry; my father looked noticeably tired.
After a short break, he went to sell the things he had brought and buy the necessities from the farm.
I had gotten a little tired of reading; the reading I had was very superficial compared to the topics covered in schools and universities around the country.
I had decided to go for a walk to get some air and to get Nixen moving a bit.
We were in the middle of the city when I saw the knight and the son of House Krail.
I didn't think about anything else and just kept walking. The conflict was over, and I didn't want to get into trouble. My mood was finally starting to improve and I didn't want to ruin it with a spoiled brat.
As we were walking away, I heard someone say:
-"Damn adventurers, they can't kidnap a Lirak without problems."-
Hearing that was like a switch flipping in my head. I didn't think about anything else; I just grabbed one of the daggers from my belt and threw it. I hadn't even realized I'd infused it with mana.
I heard a clash of metal, and before I knew it, Brandon was lying on the floor. He had a hole in his leg that ran from side to side. The dagger that was headed for his chest had been deflected by the knight. If he hadn't deflected it, there wouldn't be a hole in his leg.
-"Boy, do you know who you're trying to kill?"- Said the knight while gripping his sword as tightly as he could, the nerves could be seen in his eyes, Nixen was already ready to attack and I already had the saber and another dagger in my hands.
-"Of course I know, a little brat who tried to kill me and take what doesn't belong to him."- I replied, looking him in the eyes, releasing so much murderous intent that the air felt like it could be cut.
The three of us were ready to attack at any moment, staring at each other, holding the killing intent until we couldn't take it anymore.