Ben had just been adopted and abandoned on the same day. 'Life is full of twists and turns,' he told himself as he walked back into the wooden cabin. It seemed that this would be his home for the next few years. But the shelter definitely wasn't free of charge. He wondered what jobs he would be assigned. 'I hope it has little to do with these vile things,' he said as he looked at the plants on his left.
He noticed that the old man had already put away the items he traded from Jihon. 'This old geezer sure moves fast!' he thought, rather amazed.
"Hey kid, come here." the old man's voice came from further in the house. Ben followed it to a small room. He found the old man in there, sitting by a big wooden desk, a number of bronze disks in front of him, each smaller than a dinner plate. He was fiddling with them, scribbling some rune-like symbols in certain places. The old man looked at him for a moment, then his eyes went back to the disks.
"Your father has placed you under my tutelage," he began, stressing at the word "father" as if to point out how weirdly the bond had been formed, then he continued; "However, he has only paid for my basic tutoring services and a few other items. You will have to work to earn your food, water, shelter and anything else that was not paid for." He spoke in a very matter-of-fact manner. "Any extra training will also have to be earned. But don't worry too much, I will give you a small discount since your father is a regular customer." His smile revealed that he was profiting the most from this.
'This man only knows how to drive a hard bargain.' He only hoped that this wouldn't amount to outright slave labor.
The old man took a crystal tipped pen and etched another rune on the disk he was working on. He then carefully placed a whitish powder on the rune and raised his hand above the disk. Ben thought he saw the air shimmer under the old man's palm. The powder was swallowed by the disk. Ben's eyes widened with interest. The old man frowned, not entirely satisfied with the result. He picked up another tool.
"You will call me Master Forbes, or just Master." He said as he separated the bronze disks and spread them on the desk so that he could inspect them more easily. He stroked his short, neatly combed grey beard thoughtfully.
Ben felt a faint suppressive pressure when staring at the disks. The runes looked complicated and difficult to remember. The effort made his mind ache. He moved his eyes instead around the room.
Dozens of small containers of various shapes and sizes were packed onto shelves protruding from the walls. Some containers were ceramic, others looked to be clay, others yet were of expensive looking glass bottles, a few were carved from wood and bamboo and fewer still were carved from black stone. There were a number of weird carving tools, brushes and pens arranged on the table. He thought he recognized a container containing some of the Demonic Bear's blood that Jihon had collected. It looked like whatever the old man was doing required a lot of skill. Ben could not hope to understand any of it by merely looking and him working.
"Two rooms to the left is where you will be sleeping for the time being." The old man sounded generous.
"Now let's see" Master Forbes said thoughtfully, "You can start by having a bath and burning those rags. You will find the well outside. I have placed a clean set of clothes in your room."
Master Forbes looked at Ben again. "When you are done, you should take a look at the scrolls Jihon gave you."
'Why does the old man know about those? Wasn't he inside at the time?' Ben wondered.
Master Forbes looked like he remembered something. "You can read, right?" he asked.
"Yes." Ben replied. Back in the Grey Cloud chiefdom he was responsible for writing for that miserable old woman and her acquaintances. He found himself hoping she was doing well.
The old man was looking at him expectantly.
"Master." he remembered.
Master Forbes seemed satisfied. "I take it your stomach is still recovering?" he asked Ben.
"Yes… Master" he would have to get used to using the title.
"Hmm. Take this salve. It should speed up your recovery." Master Forbes took a tiny clay container from his sleeve and placed it on the desk. "Thank you, Master." Ben accepted it.
"We will settle the rest tomorrow then." the old man dismissed him with a nod.
'At least give me that tasty water!' his eyes pleaded, but the old man was focused on his work. Ben mentally sighed and walked away.
A number of oil lamps lit the cottage. Their flickering flames caused the shadows on the walls to dance eerily. Ben frowned in frustration. 'Where is the room?' He asked himself. He had already looked for it twice, even searching for it on the right. The instructions seemed simple, but after following them, all he could find was a tiny room packed with brooms, garden rakes, shovels and such other tools.
'Wait a minute?' he took a nearby lamp and entered, crouched. A set of clothes was placed on a small barrel in the corner.
'Was this his room?' It suddenly made sense now. Urgh that stingy old man! The cottage was quite large, and this was all he could spare? He took the clothes from the barrel.
He walked outside through the door at the back. There were some trees west of the cottage which formed a natural fence. He decided to get his firewood from there. The twilight lit his path. His bare feet treaded grass and leaves, the thick callouses dulled most sensation. A bundle of twigs grew in his arms as he bent down to collect more. He heard something move. His eyes scanned the area around him as his hand searched his waist for a dagger. 'Where is it?' he fumbled for a moment before he remembered he had lost the dagger some days ago while running from Jihon in the forest. 'Damn!' he cursed. He saw a form rushing down a nearby tree trunk. He breathed. It looked like a squirrel. He moved to find more twigs.
'Would pursuers from the chiefdom follow me this far?' he wondered. He felt it unlikely, but for the past few months he could sense someone chasing after him. On a number of occasions, he had been forced to flee into the forests, into danger. Even when he was chased by Jihon, he was certain there were other pursuers from the Grey Cloud tracking him. He felt uneasy.
Luckily for him, the Grey Cloud chiefdom was probably still stuck in a war with the Iron Beetle chiefdom and the Flying Tiger chiefdoms. That was the only reason he was able to escape in the first place. They probably couldn't afford to send highly ranked warriors to hunt him. Which is why he managed to make it so far.
He dearly hoped the Grey Cloud chiefdom would perish. But they were simply too strong and firmly established for that to happen. Maybe at best, all three chiefdoms would suffer some losses and then come to some agreement. Then it would be business as usual. The smaller villages and tribes would suffer.
'But maybe the masked warrior will change this?' he thought. The Iron Beetle and Flying Tiger chiefdoms were both weaker than the Grey Cloud. There were rumors that the main reason they had dared to go to battle was that they had a powerful masked warrior leading the effort. Not that Ben had seen him. But the other slaves had been whispering about it.
He wondered whether the old man would defend him if the Grey Cloud attacked enforce. But then again, was it worthwhile to spend so much of energy pursuing a slave? They might decide to give up once they discovered he was being tutored by Master Forbes Ben could sense that old man Forbes was another monster.
But then, maybe he wasn't just a regular runaway slave. After all, it still stumped him why Jihon had even agreed to help him back in the forest. One minute that man was calling him pathetic and meaningless. The next minute he seemed happy that Ben was asking him to train him. 'Maybe he was manipulating me with his words?' Ben thought, barely able to seriously consider this a possibility. Or maybe Jihon was a bit mad? That would make sense as well.
He still couldn't understand why that monster would adopt him as his son. A part of him thought this was a dream sent by the gods to mock him. But it had already lasted so long. 'Is it because of that bone?' he asked himself. Those two had definitely shown much more interest in him when he blurted his thoughts about it. 'What use is such a skill anyway?' He couldn't figure it out.
He felt with his hand for the token Jihon had given him. It was hidden securely in a make-shift pocket in his pants. 'Will the Raylor clan protect me?' he thought doubtfully. Unless they were all idiots, or had nothing else to do, why would they bother with a stranger such as himself? He remembered Jihon's words to him; "…in this world, your own strength is the only thing you can rely on." He already known this.
Anxiety welled up within him. He could feel the desperate desire for strength stir deep in the pit of his stomach. It mixed violently with the fear he kept sealed there. He needed time. Time and a place to grow his strength. Jihon had given him those. He would use both wisely. The bundle of twigs had grown heavy. These would be enough for the job. He walked out of the trees.