The vine-monster's puncture had done a number on me. When the adrenaline wore off, exhaustion hit–knocking me out cold. I came to with a throbbing pain in my leg but I could see that the small village we spotted earlier was within grasp. With sleep inertia tugging at my senses, I pictured us wandering into a minecraft village, which I remembered playing as a kid. Simple, blocky houses, a couple of farms, a library. With no walls, no gates and no security, we waltzed right in. As my conscience cleared, all I could think was, "I hope word about the riot incident in Dracovenia hadn't spread this way."
The village was tiny, just thirteen structures, but it had a fantasy vibe that made it feel more unique than any town I'd ever ventured. Two farms with faintly glowing herbs, a medic hut with rune-etched beams, a library which was probably the only source of entertainment here. A few houses–one bigger than the rest, almost like a mayor's pad. "This place is small, huh?" I said, leaning on Aeloria's shoulder as a crutch while we walked in.
"Of course," she replied, steadying my sway. "A 'Sylvanic Neutral', a village like this must thrive on seclusion, self-sustenance and family, no need for sprawl I would imagine." Her golden eyes scanned the dirt paths.
As we hobbled toward our destination, two kids playing nearby caught my eye. One of which, a boy sporting slicked-back hair and an oversized maroon robe with golden streaks spotted us and charged over. Puffing his chest out, the boy began to shout. "Halt you peasants, It is I! Who goes before my greatness?"
"Huh, who are you kid?" I asked. Raising an eyebrow.
"You know who I am! The all-powerful god–Voz, master of all!" he declared with presto. What was this kid's deal? Calling me a peasant out of nowhere. I decided to indulge him for a bit, why not?
"Oh, great god!" I said, clutching my head dramatically. "Forgive my forgetful nature! As you can see by my bandaged leg and this limp, I am gravely injured! The pain throughout my body is messing with my head." I leaned harder on Aeloria with theatrical flair.
The boy's eyes sparkled with youthful joy. "I see that you're wounded, thus permit forgiveness for your inability to recognize my greatness!"
Got him. "Would thy greatness be willing to guide me in the direction that can cure this injury?" I asked, bowing slightly.
"O-of course, follow the all-powerful god–Voz, to the healer!" he proclaimed, marching toward the medic hut.
Aeloria and Elias chuckled, and we followed, leaving the boy's friend–who watched us confusedly behind. It worked, a personal introduction through one of the villages' own should play favorably. As we reached the hut, I noticed a faded mark on a wall, a maroon and gold symbol with the words "Healer" following.
Entering behind the boy, he called out, in the same loud tone used outside. "Mother, come tend to my loyal subjects, the subjects of the great Voz!" Had this kid not learned manners? You should use your inside voice now. With the creaking of steps, a middle aged woman in a maroon robe with golden streaks and a rope belt holding it together made herself present.
"Oh Paisos, what have you gotten yourself into now." The mother sighed while pulling the boy into her arms. "And who may you three be? Thank you for humoring Paisos–he is a bit of a folklore fanatic." Paisos stubbornly tried pulling away from his mothers embrace but quickly gave in, snuggling into her bosom–which carried a lot to snuggle with, if you catch my drift. "Oh where are my manners!" She frantically bowed her head. "I am Paiona, the mother of Paisos."
"No trouble at all," I began. "I am Reed Grant. These are my two companions, Elias and Aeloria. As you can see, we have been injured along our path while traveling. We have come seeking aid in healing our wounds; when we ran into little Paisos over there." I kept my tone cheerful, reading the room–happy vibes like these brought results. Elias and Aeloria quickly exchanged greetings with Paiona, echoing my story.
"Well I'm glad you happened to run into Paisos, I just happen to be the village's healer!" Paiona exclaimed. Letting little Piasos down who instantly ran upstairs.
"That is wonderful, would you be willing to treat us, Ms.Paiona?" I asked.
She chuckled. "No need for formalities, Reed. If my son brought you here in your time of need, this must be fated."
Fate huh. I haven't been too keen on the topic as of late. "Thank you Paiona, we will be in your care then." I said, as she led us over to another room.
The entire place was filled with glowing herbs, plants and similar items, likely for medicinal purposes. This was my first time viewing the medical understanding of this world. I wasn't expecting anything as grand as a hospital but could herbs and plants really make any difference?
In the room, Paiona had me lay out on a white matt. Kneeling by my leg.
"Let's start with you first, Reed. I'm sure Miss Aeloria over here is tired from constantly carrying you." She chuckled faintly.
"Oh I really don't mind at all, Reed is my savior." Aeloria stated. My ego smirked–was I already so great?
Paiona slowly unbandaged my leg, revealing a dirty wound, not infected but definitely on its way there. "Ah.' I hissed as the bandaging peeled off along with a stinging pain. Paiona giggling. As this would be my first treatment in this world, I was curious to see exactly how it was done–this would be a useful part of my path to power.
Paiona placed both hands just above my wound and began to speak. "O my inner blessing, heal thy wounds, grant thy health, cleanse thy blood and guard the innocent children of your blessing." With the last words, I felt the pain wash away. The hole that tore through my leg moments ago was weaving itself together, knit by knit, fiber by fiber. It was a weird feeling. No wonder there was no advanced medicine, and why would you need a hospital when you have mana? How had I not realized?
"Hey, could I learn that too?" I asked while jumping upright, bouncing on the leg which had just recovered. Testing it.
"You're curious are you? Are you a magic user?" Paiona asked as she began tending to Elias's arm and Aeloria's shoulder.
"I… do use magic, yes." I said, the sentence still felt weird to say out loud. Also remembering the warnings of Elias. "Keep your unique abilities to yourself, do not let it become public knowledge, at least for a while."
She responded, "Then yes, you can. Though it is an ability that is learned through inner processes."
Hmm. I wasn't too sure what that meant but I had to learn. "Can you teach me?" I asked. Paiona paused for a moment then asked me to wait a moment while she went over to another room.
While she was gone, I had a curious thought that Elias could probably answer. "So why do some people chant before casting magic, some use hand signs and some nothing at all?' I asked.
"Great question," Elias said, flexing his healed arm. "Considering you have had no formal education regarding magic, I will explain in the simplest way possible." He seated himself across from me. "You see, up until now, you have utilized your imagination to form your spells. The issue with this is it can be limiting in battle, there are certain things you can vividly imagine over and over again, but not everything. Notice how your 'wind blade' is different every time you use it? Imagination is flexible but inconsistent."
Sure, that made sense. Up until now I've pretty much just been winging it, I thought.
"Chants or signs are vessels, binding the preferred magic to them for consistency." He finished.
That made more sense than I thought it would, I assumed everything was at random but it seemed there were measures in place to ground the nature of this world. "So can others use these vessels?" I asked.
"Of course, legendary names of this world are of those who have crafted the best and most convenient spell vessels for us to utilize." Elias replied. "Though utilization isn't as simple as mimicking them. It takes time and practice."
With that explanation, Paiona returned. "Here you are," she handed me a letter tied with string. "If you really want to learn about healing and much more, head to the town "Masva" which you will reach by continuing along the path you have followed here. There is one dojo. There, my master can teach you. Just hand the head of the dojo this letter. I personally cannot help as I like the skill, many apologies." She bowed.
This lady sure was submissive. We had barged into her home uninvited, requested unpaid services and asked for advice yet she was still bowing to me.
"Thank you Paiona, this will be extremely helpful along our journey." I said.
She offered to host us for dinner but we declined, stating new attire and travel to Masva was urgent. On our way out, Paisos came running over to me.
"..." holding a book out, he began–in the same loud voice. "Big brother, this is for you! This is my favorite novel about the tale of the all-powerful god, Voz! If I give you this, you have to come back and bring me along on your journey!"
His face flushed, embarrassed. I couldn't resist. Ruffling his hair, I responded. "I will return for you Paisos, make sure to grow strong because when I get back, I will be the strongest. Ok kid?"
"It's a promise then! I'll be like Voz!" Paisos shouted with glee.
With the interaction complete, the three of us departed from their household. "That sure was an energetic kid." I said. "Who is this 'Voz' anyway?"
"It's a folklore story about the olden gods, Voz is said to be the mightiest of them all, shaping the world's balance." Aeloria explained. Well with Paisos so adamant about it, I'll begin reading tonight.
With the provisions sincerely donated to us by Paiona, which included some of those glowing herbs and three sets of the maroon and gold robes, which seemed to be the staple attire of this village, we set off for the town of Masva to continue our journey. It was time to see what a town of this world looked like, as well as begin training.