After I talked to father, I went back home. But, before I left, I made sure to feel around the entire training area for an unused sword lying around. After checking the entire area, I found a sword and took it with my tendril.
It was pretty hard because I had to make the places on the tendril that are grabbing the sword tangible. Meaning, I had to make more parts of it tangible, draining my energy a bit faster. Luckily, I was able to get it before anyone noticed that there was a missing sword.
When I was able to drag it all the way back to me, I dropped it into my shadow and dissipated my tendril. Another trick I learned during these 2 years was that if I can phase through shadows in different places, that means that there must be a middle area.
So, if there is a middle area, I could hypothetically store things in that area by closing it inside. Of course, doing this would continuously use up my energy and would use more energy the bigger the object I stored.
So, I am just temporarily storing this sword in my shadow until I get out of the sight of father and his knights. You might be asking, why would I need to bring a sword with me? Well, I am planning on going back to my secret hideout so that I can store all of my maps and documents into my shadow.
I can not read anymore but, I could get Luscia to help me with reading books and telling me the locations of every place on each map, so I can build my own mental map. And, just in case of a monster or an animal attack, I am bringing this sword with me to protect myself. Of course, I will be needing my own sword sooner or later because I can not always borrow (steal) a sword from the knight training area when I am going outside.
Though, I do not think that any sensible adult would let a kid have their very own sword. That is why, I will need to get one soon. Anyway, I am getting a bit off track here. I will think about all of this after I am done getting all of my maps and documents from my secret base.
********************
And so, I was able to walk all the way to the gates of the village without anyone stopping me. I was able to safely walk through because there were no knights and because the villagers living here are already used to seeing me walking out of the village.
I have already activated my ability and deployed my tendrils. I have a sword in my shadow just in case of an attack from an animal or monster. I should be ready for anything that might happen along the way.
Right when I thought that, I suddenly heard a voice I would never forget right behind me.
"Alex? Where are you going?"
Yes.
It is Luscia. I have not thought about the possibility of Luscia being here at all. I thought that she wouldn't be here because she would she still have lessons.
"Let me answer your question with another question. Why are YOU here?"
"I already told you that I would have a test today. It was very exhausting for me, especially the physical part. So, I decided to go home early. Don't tell me you forgot?"
Frick!
I was so caught up in my plan and my internal monologues that I forgot that she might be coming early because she only had an exam. I should try to smooth over this situation by just bringing her with me. She should be allowed to see what I am doing. After all, my secret base only has maps and documents, the very things that she likes.
"Alright, I will show you where I am going. But, you shouldn't tell anyone else about it."
"Huh? Um, okay. I won't tell anyone."
"Good. Now, follow me."
I then turned around and walked to the gates. I am pretty sure Luscia is following me because I can hear her footsteps behind me. Actually, has my hearing gotten better? Must be because I work hard everyday. And so, I led Luscia to my secret base. I made sure to ask her to find trees with 'X' marks so that we can reach it. When we did, the first thing that she said was:
"Wow! That is a big tree! Did you bring me here to show me this?"
"Not the tree itself. Come."
I walked to the back of the tree and found the small platform.
"Here. Put your feet on this platform."
"Okay?"
I could feel our bodies getting squished together when we tried to both stand on the platform. This thing is smaller than I remember. Did I really grow this much?
"Zeta."
"Wha-!"
I felt the both of us rise to the top and stop.
"Alright, Luscia. I brought you here because I thought you could help me with a small task. Can you help me find every map and document in this room for me? When you are done, leave them with me and go to the Adventurer's Guild and find a book called 'The Legend of The 5 Divine Beasts'. Bring the book here and we will discuss it's contents later."
"I have many questions but, I will listen to you."
And so, with those instructions, we were able to do almost everything we needed to do.
********************
Right now, I am putting all of the maps and documents I had into my shadow. Luscia should be getting the book about the Divine Beasts by now. I should try to make this fast as I don't think I can hold all of these for a very long time.
After storing everything, I spread my tendrils and start walking back. Wait a minute. How am I supposed to get back now!? Luscia is gone so, I can't rely on her. This situation is bad but, I should try to stay calm. I started taking deep breaths but then, I suddenly hear a shrill cry from behind me.
*SCREE!*
What the-!
I have no idea what or where this thing is but, I need to protect myself! I get the sword I borrowed and do a random cut at the place where I heard the noise. When I did that, I felt the sword cutting something and the noise stopped.
Wow.
Did I kill whatever that thing was with a random attack? That thing must be pretty weak if it died to a 7-year-old. I carry whatever this thing was and feel it. It is very soft. It feels a bit like silk. I also start feeling random balls near me that have the same texture. I grab all of them and walk away with the Adventurer's Guild being my target.
********************
When Alex arrived at the Guild and asked what the name of the thing that attacked him was, the people there said that it was a Magistrate Moth. They were relatively weak E-Class monsters that produced silk that was highly coveted by nobles. Their silk was top-class and had a certain magic imbued within them that lets them adjust to the size of the person wearing it. Monster researchers suspect that the silk can do this because the Moth has the same layer of silk covering its body since birth. Thus, they adapted to just let their silk adjust sizes instead of producing more.
The balls that Alex found were the abandoned silken cocoons of Magistrate Moth larvae. He was able to get 10 Silver Coins for the find and was sent away. Unbeknownst to him, someone purchased all of the silk from the Guild the exact same day they got it from Alex. When asked why they wanted it, they responded with some mysterious words.
"Let's just say that this silk will be used for both me and as a gift for a certain someone."
The Guild didn't know that the silk they received would be used to create the signature clothing of 2 of the most iconic historical figures in the future.