In the dead of night I snuck out . Carrying nothing more than my silver ring and a small hunting knife. It took me a few hours just to get to the other side of the mountain through the monster filled woods surrounding the mountain. Although the so called monsters are small in size and number, they're still on par with an level 5 soldier. So no one below level five dared to cross the woods.
Even seasoned adventures and mercenary will think twice before entering the dangerous woods without preparations in advance. However time is of the essence, I have to finish my preparations before the Dawn Church priests tries to attack the village. Although I'm confident that the Dawn Church won't take matters personally, there's no guarantee that the Dawn Church priest won't use an off book method .
I have to prepare as best as I can in case the knights failed to defend the village. I went deep into the woods scouting the surrounding areas. The trees as high as the eye can see. The forest covered in fog during the day and knight. The prying eyes of monsters kept any who wonders within on edge. The rugged terrain meant that a large force can't penetrate through the woods.
There's no road within the woodlands, only a small path leading from the edge of the forest to the other side of the valley. It doesn't look man made , as if its simply a small messy clearing connecting the outside plains into the deep valley. Man made roads are made of several concoction of stone, gravel, sand , dirt , mud and a special adhesive to keep it all together. However this so called path is nothing more than a cleared rode of dirt.
Its barely 2 meters wide in size and it doesn't provide much cover to advancing parties. Its very unlikely that they would use this path to sneak through the villages defenses. Because even if they managed to find this path in the middle of all these vegetations , it still leads only to one place and that's the Valley. If they wanted to head straight to the village from this path, the would have to pass through the thickest part of the woods were danger lurks at every corner a long the way. Still one can't be to careful these days.
I took several branches scattered through out the forest and used it to make traps a long the path, a long side the area near the village. I made several types of traps ranging from pitfalls, stakes, fences, tripwires, swinging logs, barricades and many more. I took me the entire night just to set up all of the traps in order, afterwards I made a mapped area of monster territories, save zones and several camp sites.
At Dawn I went back home after hunting down a roe deer and a rabbit. I took a while to harvest all of its separate parts, but thanks to my skills with the knife , I managed to finish harvesting its organs and meat just in time to make breakfast.
I went back through the front door of the house , to look less conspicuous. And it works , when my family asked were had I've been since morning . I can confidently say , I was hunting at the break of Dawn. I put my game on the table all cleaned up and ready to cook. My father hit me in the back and say that he was proud of my hunting skills. My mother showed her worried face , but nonetheless tried to keep a smiling face as she prept the kitchen to cook.
My sister on the other hand were jealous that I was able to hunt down a roe dear and a rabbit on my first hunt. She's started pouting , since her first hunt, well every time she hunts, she's always had been accompanied by dad. So her pride for catching the game , was shattered.
I gently pat her head with my arm, trying to calm her down. Although she still felt defeated , she reluctantly calmed down. Her attitude changed quickly, in a blink of an eye. Her angry expression turned to that of curiosity and excitement. With a shine of her eyes , she kept asking me question after question , on how did I do it.
But before I could even say a word about my first time hunting. Lisa jumped on top of me and embraced me tightly . With childish look on her face she started to cry tears of relieve.
Lisa
" WAAAAAAAAAAAH ."
" Aether where did you go ?"
" You suddenly went missing !"
" I thought you were kidnapped or worst !"
" I came to wake you up in the morning , but you weren't there."
" Do you know how scarred I was , WAAAAAAAAAAAAH ."
Aether
" Okay calm down Lisa , I'm okay ."
" Sorry I've made you guys worried ."
" But I'm fine, I can take care of myself."
" So don't worry ."
Lisa
" How could you say that!"
" You're just a kid, kids are supposed to stay home with their family , not wondering out into the woods alone at night!"
" You could have been hurt or worse !"
Aether
" There are many dangers in our lives , we must face them not because we wanted to but because we have to."
" So don't worry ."
Lisa
" What kind of none sense is that Aether !"
" Who do you think you are !"
Aether
" I'm one of those who people look up to , I am he who stands at the pinnacle of the world were none can reach. "
" I am simply me , myself and nothing more. "
Lisa
" Shut up !"
" What are you saying ? "
" You're just a small kid , unknown to the world !"
" Don't get yourself killed for your absurd fantasies !"
Aether
" I will become stronger and stronger in due time , by growing ."
" However that isn't good enough , because of me everyone here including you Lisa, are in harms way thanks to the stunt I pulled in front of the Dawn Church Priest."
" Although Mother and Father spared no expense in helping me resolve this matter."
" In the end , more and more trouble will come , destroying our peaceful live together ."
" That's the one thing I couldn't live without , the people who are dear to me."
" So I will fight, till none dare to cause harm upon the people I hold most dear, simple as that ."
Lisa
" Fine then , at least tell me the truth what did you do ? "
Aether
" I went outside to hunt and train in the wilderness , on the way I draw a map of the entire region of the woodlands, to help father set up defenses."
Lux
" The woods are a dangerous place Aether , you shouldn't put yourself in harms way ."
Aether
" Yes I know but I have to get stronger one way or another to protect our family."
Lux
" Fine , I'll let you off this time, in the future however, prioritize your safety above all else !"
Aether
" Understood father ."
Lisa
" Aether if you really cared for us then you should stay here , that's what I wanted to say but knowing how you are , I won't say it ."
" I know you can take care of your self ."
" Just promise me that you will stay safe ."
Aether
" I promise Lisa ."
Afterwards I gave the map I drawn to Father. Mother went to the kitchen to cook the games I brought back. But before we ate together Lisa and Elise had something they wanted to talk about in private so we went to the second floor study room.
Aether
" So what do you want to talk about Lisa, Elise ?"
Elise
" Its quite simple, look ."
Elise opened up a dusty old book in front of us. The book looks ancient , the pages were browned from the paper decay , the book cover almost lost all of its original headlines . The smell of ash and burnt wood fill the air as the book kicked up a puff of dust. She averted our attention to the 129th page of the book. It stated a form of magic that allows the users to be more deeply connected through mana.
This magic has a binding property , meant that once the magic spell is cast the spell will be bound to its caster or target till the magical power of the subject (mana ) runs out. Sometimes this kind of spell will be attached to the target till death.
Elise
" This is what I wanted to show you two ."
Lisa
" This is ."
" Its vow magic ."
" A vow made by the mana heart."
Aether
" So what do you want to do by showing us this magic spell Elise ?"
Elise
" Lets use this spell together ."
Lisa
" What ? why would you want to do that ?"
Elise
" Its simple this magic spell will bind the three of us under a vow, connecting us to each other , bringing us closer together."
"With this magic spell the three of us can know the others state."
" This way we can be sure that we will keep each other safe ."
" Despite being separated by long distances ."
" Lisa won't you be more assured about Aether's safety with this magic ."
" With this we can know each others state of being ."
Lisa
" I don't know ."
Elise
" Aww, come on lets do it together , so that we will be bound together by fate ."
Lisa
" Alright then, lets do this ."
Aether
" I have no objections , lets do this ."
Elise
" Then lets do this ."
" Say the following words and fill in the first gap with you name and the lastly say the names of the others , easy right. "
" I'll do it first ."
" I Elise Lich Ares vow on my mana heart , that I will be bound together by fate till the end with my brother Aether and my closest friend Lisa."
Lisa
" Then its my turn ."
Elise
" One moment Lisa ."
" The spell stated that you have to say your full name , for the spell to work ."
Lisa
" Then what should I do I'm just a commoner , I don't have a last name ."
Elise
" Then how about this , you just need to use our last name. "
Lisa
" No , I couldn't possibly do that."
Elise
" Its okay , were like family to each other any way so just do it."
Lisa
" Alright if you say so ."
" I Lisa Lich Ares vow on my mana heart , that I will be bound together by fate till the end with my closest friends Aether and Lisa ."
Elise
" Good now its your turn Aether ,"
" And remember since your the last one you need to finish the spell ."
Aether
" I Aether Lich Ares vow on my mana heart , that I will be bound together by fate till the end with my sister Elise and my closest friend Lisa."
" With this vow , we declare our intentions , we shall be bound together by fate till the end ."
" May our mana hearts stay true to our vows ."
" May the magic of the world hold our words accountable ."
" With the world as my witness and my mana heart as the guarantee , here we swear to be bound together through all the good and bad of our lives ."
" We shall face it together , care for each other till the end ."
After we finished reciting the spell a blue light gently covered the three of us for a moment then it disappear leaving behind a strange mark on our right hand. The marks proved that the spell is complete. From now on we will always be bound by fate together. I could feel the presence of Elise and Lisa through the power of the mana heart. It felt warm and comforting.
Elise
" It worked ."
Lisa
" Now the three of us share the same fate ."
Aether
" Alright since we're done here lets eat together."
Elise and Lisa in unison
" Yes ."