Morning came before breakfast, while the mist still clung to the small woodland beyond the village. Leon followed Isabella between the trees, baskets slung over their arms, searching the damp ground for mushrooms coaxed awake by last night's rain.
The forest smelled of wet bark and soil. Leon moved carefully, eyes sharp, thoughts wandering far beyond the roots at his feet.
Nearly a month had passed since the thunder. His awakening was no longer a secret—his family had accepted it, and the village had, reluctantly, followed. Rumors lingered, of course. Some whispered that something foul had once clung to him, shaken loose by the storm. Others said nothing aloud but crossed themselves all the same.
Leon did not care much for the rumors. What troubled him was simpler: nothing else had come.
No signs. No call. No hidden gift revealing itself.
If power existed in this world, it was not handed freely.
Isabella knelt nearby, brushing aside leaves with practiced hands. She worked quietly, humming to herself, utterly at ease. Leon envied that ease.
He bent near an old fallen trunk and froze.
There—dark shapes clustered along the rotting wood. Not mushrooms, but ear fungus, thick and glossy. Valuable. Nutritious. In town, they could be traded for more than meat.
"Isabella," he called, unable to keep the excitement from his voice. "Over here."
She hurried over, eyes widening.
Leon harvested carefully, pinching each piece free without tearing the base. He left the smallest untouched and, when finished, covered the log again with damp grass.
The small act grounded him. Purpose, however modest, eased the weight in his chest.
"Let's take the log," he said after a moment, quieter now. "If we keep it wet, more might grow."
Isabella hesitated. "I've never heard of anyone doing that."
Leon looked at her, earnest, almost fierce. "Rain brings them. This wood remembers rain."
She studied him, then nodded, not fully convinced—but willing.
They struggled back toward the village with their baskets and the heavy log between them. The path felt longer than before, but Leon did not mind.
For the first time since arriving in this world, he was not just enduring it.
He was trying.