"Wait, so you're saying that you are willing to to help me and do little errands?" Toby inquired, it's not like he minded the extra help, but Juka was extremely under-qualified for this even if he put him on cashier duty. "Yup, I've made up my mind I'm gonna help you out from now on," Juka said enthusiastically " Whatever you ask consider it done." He was filled with determination, Juka wondered what kinds of tasks he would be assigned if his uncle took him on as an employee. Toby thought about it for a while and decided that it would be alright to let his nephew help him out a bit, but not too much, he didn't want Juka to get carried away and do something stupid...Like insulting a high-paying customer to his face or botching a delivery.
"You don't have to pay me" Juka didn't want his uncle's money, he just wanted to help out his family.
"I can't have you help out around here without paying you kiddo, it wouldn't sit right with me; if you plan on working here I plan to pay you for your services, whether you like it or not" He rustled his nephew's hair and smiled then got serious. "If you botch a delivery it's coming out of your pay" "Fine. I'll be careful with the products"
Toby proceeded to help Juka fill out an application form for part-time working.
"Have you had your magic level evaluated?" Toby asked Juka after finishing up the form
"No.....never to really understood the the concept of magic in the first place, I can do everything magic can with hard work and dedication"
"Most establishments won't hire someone with a Magic level below Apprentice, I'm taking a gamble on you by hiring you. Can you cash?"
"Uhhhh...." Juka looked away
"Unbelievable....Look I can let you do basic deliveries, but I can't let you do much else till you get schooled" Toby shaked his head and sighed.
Juka looked a bit embarrassed before Toby handed him two slightly curved daggers with the inner blade being serrated.
"Just because I couldn't make it for your birthday doesn't mean that I forgot" Toby rustled Juka's hair before sending him home, "I'll send your mom a letter with the times you'll be on shift"
Juka finally left the little shop and managed to get the last carriage out of town, the ride was bumpy all the way to Stonehenge but he had some time to admire his uncle's handiwork amidst all the rocking and shaking. After paying the driver and collecting his stuff, he headed to a small cottage down the dirt road while greeting everyone who passed by him, "Evening Juka" "Good evening Jack, how's the wife?" Jack replied "She's good, and how's your mother?" Juka shifted the bags on his back before answering, "She's fine, still a little sad but she'll pull through....she always has." Jack pats Juka's back and sent him on his way, "Don't want to keep your mother waiting too long now boyo, hurry home"
"Mom? I'm home!" Juka placed the bag of groceries down on the dinner table before his mother walks out from the kitchen. "Juka! My baby boy, did you get what I sent you for?" She hugs him and looks up at him, Juka replied, "It's all on the dinner table"
She inspected everything he bought and quickly got to sorting and storing everything that wasn't going to be used, Juka sat at the table and stared at his reflection in one of his daggers. "Mom?" "Yes dear, What is it?" "Why didn't you send me to school when I was younger?" His mother stopped and sighed. "I guess it's about time I told him the truth"
"Son. You're the child of two great heroes that stopped the Civil War within these lands, the Invasion of the Demons and the Great Catastrophe, while we would have had a much different life had we stayed in Alfder, your father and I wanted you to grow up to be kind, caring and considerate. Most children born to heroes are puffed up and egotistical….something we didn't want for you." She kisses his forehead and holds his face. "Moving out here was a good decision, you've grown up to be a wonderful young man."
While helping his mother prepare dinner Juka thought of a way to get schooled without leaving Stonehenge. "I could ask Farmer Johnson to teach me…but who'd tend to the animals….Maybe Miss Mabel would be willing....on second thought no…Her husband is sick and she tends to him round the clock" His mother bumps him playfully "Stop tenting your eyebrows so much. You'll get wrinkles faster than me" Juka relaxes his face and thinks to himself "When I get to that bridge I'll cross it"