As I take a cart to the outer edges of Jarleum, I continue to think about the offer given to me. I check the card out and it is labeled in numbers and a single word at the end.
"Sergio43 A New Dawn"
[Sounds like a terrible gamer tag]
Could be for all I know...
I think I will take his offer though. I am quite curious about this magic power I have since I didn't know I could use magic. But first I want to convey the to the villagers about the offer so they are up to date.
*20 minutes*
I hop off the cart and walk down the path walking by some of the villagers who are harvesting the farm and rotating the. I wave over some of the kids who are playing in the dirt.
Brings back memories of when Father wasn't always wearing a lab coat but just a normal jacket.
I arrive at the village hub house where most of the villagers gather, sleep, eat, and relax. The Elder spends most of her time here planning and organizing for the village with the help of Seelah and some others.
I walk into the front room wave to some kids, and then find the Elder sitting in a chair knitting like a stereotypical old lady would.
"I got the seeds right now ma'am, also got a story to tell you!"
"Oh, wonderful dear. Please, take a seat. I can have another person collect the seeds and plant them at a later date.
*10 minutes*
I sit down next to the woman and begin telling her the vents of the story for the next few minutes about the orb, my hand, the armored knight, and the academy.
"Hmm..." she says closing both eyes and thinking while rubbing her chin.
She pauses and thinks for a bit until finally opening her eyes and looking back at me with a sigh.
"Honey, you've contributed to our village for a while now. You've chosen to sleep in the shack outside exposed to the weather voluntarily because we didn't have enough space yet to accommodate everyone, and you constantly ran errands in and out of the city for us while we work here. But it might be my stubborn pride to depend on you for this long, and allow you to gain nothing from it all. So as my decision, I support you in applying to the Academy. I think you would get far with the hard work you present now. Just make sure to visit an old woman from time to time. I don't get much longer to live in this world. I would love to hear your stories about the school. I can give some assistance money-wise if you need it." she says finishing her sentence.
"Oh no worries, I will get by on my own. The last thing I want is to strain the budget of the village more. Oh, by the way, here are the 50 copper coins I got left from the seeds." I reach into my pocket and hand them over.
"Oh, you got a bag of other coins?" she asks noticing a more subtle noise of coin jingles.
"I got paid by some guy after I received a slight injury from something. I haven't counted how much I got paid so." I state briefly pulling the pouch of coins.
"I see, well then, I suggest you head back to the city and take things slow. When you get to my age, you'll wish you did things faster hehe" She chuckles resuming her knitting.
I get up from the chair and make my way out only for the Elder to ask something of me just moments before leaving.
"Say, before you leave the village for who knows how long, say goodbye to the kiddos, I am sure they will miss you. Heh, still remember you spent around 3 silver coins to purchase some toys for the youngsters. Bring them some gifts from the Academy when you visit us. Also, go speak to Seelah, she might be a little... devastated you'll be leaving. But I am sure you'll handle it well. Kids are dumb but I am sure you will handle it well. Or at least you handle it well enough to not be dead in the field hehe!" she gives herself a laugh at the last comment.
[Does she think Seelah can kill you?]
Nah, just the humor of elderly adults.
I spend a couple of minutes walking around the village. The people are hardworking people who I know will survive without me. Just leaving feels a bit bad on my part. Since I was diagnosed with KDD and it was required to have KDD in your record in schools, resumes, jobs, and even in sports I never felt like I belonged to anyone. So the fact my KDD is gone, and I felt that I am appreciated, just feels empowering.
[*Sigh* you humans are so overly complicated. If you had just had surgery to remove a part of your brain where specifi-]
If I removed the part of my brain where emotions are then I just become a soulless zombie drone. No ambition to go beyond, and no despair at all.
*8 minutes later*
As I am searching around for Seelah, I see her sitting at a bench that I built a couple of weeks ago the is on the highest hill in the territory which the village owns to look over the entire village. I begin climbing the hill with Seelah unresponsive to my approach.
I walk around the bench and take a seat next to her about 3 feet from her.
"Hey Seelah, how you-"
"You're leaving for the Academy aren't you." she says catching me off, guard.
"I uh, *sigh* yeah. I guess you must've heard the conversation huh?"
"Yes, I was just outside the entrance when I heard you speaking to the Elder. I had heard about your choices. But I didn't want to hear the answer. I want to hear it directly from you."
*Sigh* "Yes, it is true, I am choosing to go to the Academy in the Capitol city of Celicia. What you... what's your opinion of it?" I ask a bit nervous
"It is wonderful. You're going to a place of great opportunity. I think you deserve it. You've saved my life twice, I can't be selfish and ask you to stay when you told me from the beginning you are a traveler. All I ask is that you don't forget about us, and visit us at some point"
"Of course, I will visit you guys again."
She gives me a warm smile and closes her eyes, and looks back at the village as the farmer tends to the fields.
"Then I wish you luck Daniel," she says standing up confidently.
I stand up but she turns to me with her white sundress swinging when she does and I suddenly get a chill.
She leans forward and kisses me on the cheek briefly, smiling and running down the hill without me. Leaving me in brief shock.
[Ew...]
I head back to my shack and begin picking up some supplies for my trip to the estate in Jarleum.
*10 minutes*
I've packed a bag that has a set of clothes, money, and some food I have stored away. Moving back to the nearest cart pickup in the day cycle, I get a ride back to Jarleum and return.
*39 minutes later*
I arrive near the coordinates where the estate he spoke of and make my way through the streets. However, it seems that the area where this estate is registered as an "Official and government building" which means carts, carriages, and horses is restricted to government officials, Order knights, and nobility in the area. Which I am none of. I ask for directions from some people but some either ignore me, and some give me inconsistent information.
Maybe the card he gave me has directions that I didn't see. I pull the card out and look inside of it and only see the code word, and flip the card backward only for me to get knocked forward by someone behind me. The wind then picks up and blows the card away from my reach.
I see the card ascend beyond my reach and then it gets blown into a crevice of a roof tile. I need that to get into the estate!
I look around to see the commotion and I see a bunch of people gathered around what seems to be a carriage. I try to see what is going on and I see a blond-haired woman, who is roughly 5'7, has blue eyes, and below-shoulder-length hair. She is wearing a dress that is covering most of her legs, colored white with some minor pink highlights outlining it. She has an escort of 10 guards wearing armor with her all having a lion insignia in the center like the knight I met previously today. I am guessing she is royalty since she has a carriage.
I go up to the 4-story building and I hid my backpack somewhere behind some bushes. I then looked around the structure and look for places for me to climb up.
[You sure you can climb? You've never been much of a climber before so.]
Good point and I already got an idea. Got any expert-level parkour or climber files in your archives?
[I already had those ready. Downloading it into your brain now]
{Skill set added-Expert mountain climber references}
{Skillset set added-Expert parkour references}
"Agh!" I grunt out feeling my head hurt briefly from the flood of knowledge going into my head.
It however subsides and I begin looking at the side of the building differently. I now see cracks, ledges, openings, and many opportunities that I didn't see before.
I crack my knuckles and pop my joints readying myself to scale the side of the building
*Meanwhile elsewhere*
"Oh my gosh, it's her highness Julia Boshtov!" a woman screams wanting to get a closer look, but she is surrounded by her 10 bodyguards trying to spread the crowd of about 70 people away.
"Ma'am," an 11th guard says whispering to her, "I suggest we take a detour away from the public to avoid the late schedule of the meeting."
"Very well then," she says following him and a 12th guard away from the crowd.
*Meanwhile elsewhere*
I am almost to the top of the roof, just need to reach that ledge a bit.
I reach my hand but it is about 4 feet from my reach, I have enough strength to launch myself up to grab it. I use my legs and jump up catching the ledge, and pull myself up.
I am not on top of the building and look out to the public street to still see the gathering of people that might've doubled while I was climbing. Who is that girl supposed to be? I heard someone say "highness" or "royal" something.