When I opened my eyes, I saw what looked like a thatched roof, while the unknown roof was still scary. It was much better than the mouth of a beast. I looked down to find myself in tattered sheets that honestly didn't look like it was washed in years. Without hesitation, I pushed the smelly blanket off of me and continued to look around. I seemed to be in a small cabin, the only furniture was a small table and two chairs as well as a small bookshelf with only a few books attempting to fill it.
Slowly, I got up wondering where my savior was so I could borrow their phone or something, I needed to get home and take a nice long bath ASAP. "Hello?" I called out, holding to hear a response. Sadly, I got none, so I could only go towards the door. As I opened it, the first thing I noticed was that the sun was about to set. The next was a gruff looking man skinning what I could only assume was the wolf that chased me. This man was tall, almost six ft, old too by the black-grey beard he sported. The most striking thing about him aside from his current actions, of course, was the dark longbow on his back right on top of a quiver full of bright silver arrows.
"Hello?" I asked more unsure of myself seeing his rugged appearance. He turned his head with a snap, causing me to back peddle a few steps, debating on if I could run inside and pretend to sleep. "So you're awake," a deep booming voice echoed out of the stranger. "Y-y-yes I am, sir, I'm s-s-sorry for any inconvenience I may have caused you," I stuttered weakly in response.
The man slowly stood and proceeded to walk towards me. His presence was suffocating. I continue to backpedal as he walks to me until I run into the door instantly stopping me. Slowly, he drew closer and closer till he was only a foot away. With my heart almost exploding from my chest, he reaches towards me almost as if to snatch my soul. Then his hand landed gently on
my forehead.
"Seems your fevers gone down," he said with his deep, booming voice. I was confused, "what?" I whispered. "I said your fevers went down, you nearly ran yourself to death kid, had me worried" the man's voice seems to have taken on a cheerier tone although the depth of it makes for an odd combination.
Lost but also relieved by the fact he didn't want to kill me or something I decided to try and make amends for my behavior, "h-hi my names K-Kevin, thank you for saving me, sir." He look at me, almost confused before holding out his hand, "names Halt, and stop lookin at me like I'm gonna kill you or something", he started to glare as he finished his sentence. Not wanting to make such a man angry, I quickly reached out and shook his hand.
While still shaking my hand, half began to question me, "What are you doing so far in the woods, kid? If I hadn't been here, you'd be dead on the floor already!" While trying to keep my composure as he crushed my hand I told the truth, "I fell in the river and it carried me god knows how far, I had already been walking for a while before that wolf almost got me." Surprised by my answer he looked me up and down looking almost doubtful, "you don't look like someone who was carried down that river, I'd be surprised if you kept all your limbs much less ending with only a few scratches!"
I paused, trying to find a reason I was almost untouched, but I also couldn't find one, "I guess I'm just lucky then?" Honestly, everything has been touch and go sense. I woke up from the river, only now have I actually had time to sit and process everything that's happened. "How bout this, I'll escort you to the village, and you make sure you stay away from the river from now on, I doubt you'd be so lucky next time." He ended his sentence with that deep laugh of his. I paused for a moment. Did he say village?
Skirting around his weird way of saying city I? began to decline, "I shouldn't impose home should be close by, not to mention you've already helped plenty." I said this not because I was being nice, but honestly, he kinda scared me, I should be able to get home safe enough if I hurry. He responded almost instantly. "Nonsense boy, not only did you bring some excitement to the day you even brought me dinner, we should head out now if we want you home before dark." The tone of his voice left no room for negotiation, so I just shut up and accepted it. "Well, if it means that much to you, I guess a little company wouldn't be that bad," I half laugh as I say this, trying to hide my displeasure. "Well, let's get going," Halt said this so matter of fact, Lynn didn't hesitate to follow his hulking figure into the woods. "Do you know how long till we get there?" I asked this, knowing I already walked quite a bit, I'm surprised my legs aren't burning right now, but I'm focusing on what's important. Should take a few hours at this pace, I'd speed up, but you seem to not even have a one-star body, so it's going to take longer than usual.
"One star body? Im sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," honestly the inconsistencies have been adding up, and i'm just getting more lost in it all. "How could you not know about star bodies?" The way he looked at me when he asked this made me feel like I said something stupid. Did I miss out on something? "Can you maybe tell me a bit about them? Maybe I just forgot about them?" Not the best excuse, but what else am I gonna do?
Halt gave me a dumb stare, clearly not believing me, but he continued non the less. "Ok, so just to…remind you, once your body has reached a certain strength, you gain a star. You have to work extremely hard and push your body beyond its limits to gain a star." Ok, now I was confused. How have I never heard of this? Or is this guy just crazy? Sense there was nothing else to do. I kept listening, "Every star allows your body to grow much stronger than before, I myself have a two star body." He looked quite proud of himself as he said that must have been difficult or something?
We continued to talk as we walk, he told me more about *star bodies*, apparently, it's like your strength gets multiplied for every start you get. One star multiplies your current strength by two, two stars by three, and four stars by five. He said there's more, but he hasn't heard anything more than they exist. He also said something about purity of your body, but I started zoning him out after the first hour of him talking. Finally, after my legs started to feel like they were about to fall off, he said something that pulled me back in, "Finally, we're here!" I looked forward, expecting to see my favorite concrete jungle, but I almost tripped when I saw what he was talking about. There was no city, there was a small wooden wall, and through the gate, I could see crude wooden huts with straw roofs. This, compared to the gate guards who had long mettle spears, made me feel like I was back in medieval times or something. And I picked this time to remember I never asked to use halts phone. Honestly, i doubt he even has one at this point.
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hey just wanted to apologize for the choppy paragraphs, It seems to nkt like being transfered from my email. ima do my best to start writing them on here instead, hopefully that fixes the problem.