"But if you want, I'll teach you, but then I'll be your teacher"
"I accept, is there a better choice than learning from the best of the generation? And I will also be able to learn your weak points to return today's beating."
She blinked and put her hand over her mouth a little too late, giving me time to see the corners of her mouth twitch into a smile.
"I'm sorry, it's great to be with you, after spending the day with these boring old men it's been my fun for a long time, thanks Julian"
then I feel my leg give way as she seems to notice, as she lifts my arm and rests me on her shoulder,
"Hey, I can walk alone"
I say with shame in my tone
She smile
"I know, but I want to show that I care about you and I'm sorry again, I'm going to take you to the old man, to see what needs to be done"
I widen my eyes
"you said"
she smiles while putting her index finger in her mouth
"No one needs to know"
'Now no one needs to know, when it's me everyone knows'
Seeming to feel my thoughts she looks at me and says
"What are you thinking about? I felt a chill here"
I can't hide my surprise at being caught
"I'm not thinking about anything"
We walked in comfortable silence as we passed some residents who, as always, greeted her with a smile.
After a while I have a sudden thought and I feel down
"Am I not going to make any friends here?"
she looked at the sky
"It's not always good to have friends, you have to be careful who you trust, people will always be people"
She narrowed her eyes as she looked at me.
"And by the way, I'm your friend, aren't I?"
I thought about using an ironic response, but I got a flashback to why I was limping
"Of course it is, and my translator and my savior and my master too, have I forgotten something?"
Looking amused, her eyebrows furrowed as if she was really thinking.
"What a good actress huh"
she raised an eyebrow
"Actress? what is that?"
'My God, I always forget that she never left the forest, sometimes it feels like I've known her for years'
"They were people who pretended to be other people"
"And why did they do that?"
"It was to spread the stories"
"Like what the gods do, right?"
I opened my eyes wide, swearing I felt a few drops of sweat on my back.
"You're not afraid to say that, are you?"
She frowned
"Why? They need us more than we need them."
'illogically this makes a lot of sense'
Interrupting my thoughts she took me off my turbo
"Well, we're here"
The old man was in his small chair near the porch of his house while eating a small red thing.
'this thing strangely looks like an ass'
Seeing us approaching, he smiled, we told him the story and as we did so, I noticed that his face closed immediately.
"in the best case scenario you will have to stay 3 weeks without forcing yourself if you can't take up to 30 more days"
I feel a sweat running down my spine, this time it's real
"That won't bother anything, right? And how am I going to eat?"
at that moment Catharine raises her hand with a sociable smile
"I can bring you food and help you with bandages"
'my god she's an angel'
At that moment the old man interrupts with a hint of concern in his voice.
"But we have another problem, the day of devotion"
"Day of devotion? what is this?"
They exchanged confused looks as if I had asked if the sun is hot
With a cough the old man continues
"My mistake for not telling you, all of us humans can have contact with a God who is interested in having us as... apostles"
"And why would I want to be an apostle of God?"
The old man gives me a weak punch on the head while saying with feigned bad humor
"Don't interrupt me anymore boy"
"If a god chooses you, you will gain some characteristic of him, for example Thor, you can gain total control over lightning or the power to create a storm, it depends on how much he values you and sees potential in you"
'hmm, who will be the crazy person who will choose me lol'
He frowned as he continued
"Well, that will be in 3 months, the problem is that the other kids will be way ahead and we won't be able to delay their help, we are in trouble..."
"I can tr-"
Catherine interrupted me while placing her hand on my head
"I teach you as much as possible, but know that we are going to create a little monster"
'why does she always put her nicknames in the diminutive form?'
I looked around and couldn't believe what I saw
'I swear I saw the old man look at her with hostility'
shaking my head I get that thought out of my head
"Thank you very much for your help Catherine"
She smiles as she strokes my head
"I will always help you, after all I am your friend and call me Cath from now on"