Mom helped me pack stuff.
She'd bought me a big backpack that was basically bigger than me yet was somehow light and anything carried within it was also proportionally lighter. A magic item like the lamp Zena had given me; technically called Magical Devices. And I bet it was really expensive too.
"I'm packing your brushes and-"
And clothes, underwear (I didn't need to wear any yet) and a whole bunch of stuff I thought I'd never need. But Mom had me covered. She wasn't done though.
"What's this boxset?" I asked.
A wooden box. I opened it and there were small vials in there. Vials of glowing water. "Better than carrying a water bag that might leak, right?" Mom said.
If I recall correctly, we'd given a vial to Serec, Xerec, Den and Lyra. But the vials themselves were a little pricey at 3 silvers a pop. So technically, Mom spent a pretty penny here.
"Shouldn't you like… not spend so much money?" I asked.
I got a snicker but no reply. She kept on giving me stuff and before I knew it, the enormous bag had more or less been filled with at least something. Felt like I was carrying the whole house at this point.
The bag wasn't that heavy though. At best two kilograms. Which was good cause I didn't or couldn't carry that stuff. But wait, if they had something like this, maybe they also had Item Bag or whatever the hell that was called, the magical stuff that let you inventory everything in just a small pouch. Wouldn't this be more realistic though? I wasn't in a very realistic world though.
"And last but not least," Mom slouched down, buttoned up the first button of my shirt (I liked it unbuttoned). "Some pocketmoney."
A bunch of copper, some silver… and a gold. She deliberately hid the gold in my sleeve.
"This is too much Mom. You need-"
"I can do anything, and everything on my own. Besides, I kept a vial or two in case something happens," she winked and flashed me some empty vials.
"They're empty, Mom."
She cackled. I nearly forced her to take two vials of glowing elixir or whatever it was called.
And with that, we were done. Den had been waiting at the door all this time. Somewhat dark outside, no, strike that. It was really dark outside and soon it'd be dawn. I'd hardly slept last night.
And I had a feeling Mom and Den didn't have much sleep either.
"Guess I'll see you in a decade?" I turned, looked back.
"Yeah." She smiled. Not a trace of tears.
I made an effort not to cry and took my first steps out of the house… knowing I wouldn't be returning for a while. I walked out the front door, through veranda and past everything I'd know for the last four and a half years. The pond, the wheat, the rice, the veg….
I didn't look back. I knew I couldn't. The moment I did, I wouldn't be able to stop myself. I wouldn't be able to stop my tears. And… and mom wouldn't be able to either. Don't look back…
When I first came here, honestly, I didn't think the elf would last. I didn't think Lin would last. I didn't think she'd keep up the 'mother' attitude for long either. She was awkward, I was awkward and… I wasn't even a baby.
Yet, she persevered and by whatever miracle…her miracle, she managed to not give up. She managed to change my way of thinking. After two whole decades, for the first time, I could put a hand on my chest and declare… I loved my mother. I truly did. And I could bet my unborn children, heck, I could bet my own life that she loved me just as much if not more.
So yeah… Lin… my mother… "I'll miss you…" the words leaked out.
"I'll miss you too!" Mom yelled. Her voice shook a bit. "Don't get deceived by cute girls. Only marry someone you love, okay?"
"I'm Five, MOM!" I yelled back; getting a glance of her face. Some tears, a smile. Yeah, I couldn't stop my tears either.
Den chuckled, picked me up and- "Let's go."
"Yeah."
Time to go.
***
As we strode out of the forest, reality began to sink in. My heart was quite calm till now. But the further we walked from home, the more I wanted to scream and run back. Yet, I couldn't.
"See that hill, that's where we found you," Den said.
We actually never traveled that far. Den would take me out of the forest, train me in the grasslands and then take me back. He never took me past the grass, past the houses, towards the hills.
Green as far as the eye could see. And yes, I could see quite far, maybe two hundred-ish meters now. Everything past that was blurry though. I guess my Myopia never really got much better. It didn't get any worse though, so that was good.
Morning sun slowly illuminated everything. Dew on grass glittered, and the smell was quite refreshing. The breeze too.
"Was I alone," I said.
Birds flew by. A new day, a new dawn.
"Yeah. You were just sitting on a grass. Kinda suspicious if you ask me."
"Yeah."
"Do you ever wonder who your parents were?"
Den was probably trying to keep me distracted or something. "Not really. Why should I care about people who abandoned me?"
I didn't have any memories of what happened before I took over this body. I wasn't sure if the baby was dead, or I'd murdered it. It never really bothered me that much, to be honest. I had way too many things on my mind and worrying about a six or so months old baby or what happened to it was the last of my worries. I wasn't necessarily running away from the thought; I just didn't care. Perhaps that made me an asshole or something worse but… but I really didn't care. I was just glad to get the chance to spend some time with Mom.
"Or maybe they were trying to protect you by running away from their country since they knew you'd be killed by the church?"
"Funny, how you're doing the exact opposite to protect me."
Den chuckled. "Maybe. But I've taught you many things and trained you. I have faith that you'll be fine."
"Right." I rolled my eyes. "You trained me and taught me many things such as how to run and do push-ups."
Dude walked faster.
"Tell me more about the academy," I said, barely keeping up with his pace.
He slowed his pace and reluctantly opened his mouth. "Large school. Attended by nobles and citizens alike. Various races. You might even come across Demons. They're not as bad as you'd expect but they aren't friendly guys either."
"You're seriously going to send me to a place where you know I'll be discriminated against?"
"You know what discrimination is?"
"I'm not a child," I retorted.
"You're five." Well, he had me there.
We walked for some time. The houses disappeared and then it was just green and green. Some ponds, some trees, barely any monsters. "Are there any strong Fiends out there?"
"During the day? Usually not. You might find some during the night but I wouldn't recommend it."
"Why are you talking like I'll go out and confront one."
"Well, you are quite curious."
I didn't know why but for some reason Den had a peculiar impression of me. To him, I was this genius kid who just didn't have any physical powers… like him. Maybe he sympathized with me? But unlike him I didn't have any talent with the bow or tree climbing. I tried but my vision was so shit, I had to give up. And no, they didn't have glasses here. At least I hadn't seen any so far.
"How far is the academy anyway?"
"Once we cross the hills, we'll come across a town. We'll take a stagecoach from there to Axel Port and take a ship to Xanir, and then another two days hike and we'll reach your school."
Sounded like more than a few weeks at least.
"You really want me gone that bad?"
Den shook his head in frustration. "If I wanted you gone, I'd just throw you at a fiend and pretend like I had nothing to do with it."
"Fair enough. Why didn't you though?"
"Lin would have been sad."
"At least pretend like you didn't want to?"
He chuckled and I waited for him to say something. But he never did. Dude was serious. Absolutely serious. Fucking hell…
***
I'd walked a lot. And thought that I'd walked a lot. But apparently… I hadn't walked a lot. Why? Because we weren't even halfway there.
They made it so easy in the movies and anime… But in reality, walking for hours in the sun was just draining as fuck. "Hey Den."
"Yeah?" He drooped just like me.
"Carry me?"
"Carry yourself."
Yeah, he was pretty much a weakling himself. Den was agile, and the best hunter in the group. However, whenever anything strength related came up, he was hardly ever the primary choice. Still, he did possess a lot of stamina even among his friends. Yet, for some reason the guy was just as hammered as me.
Which did make me wonder. "Just how much of a weakling do you have to be to not be able to carry two kilos of weight…" I wondered aloud. Apparently somewhere down the line, the guy had picked up my bag stating it'd be easier for me to go. So, I let him, and now he was dying from it.
I could almost hear a snap but he just clicked his tongue and walked faster. "And what's a kilo?" he stomped ahead.
"Measurement of weight?"
Apparently, they used crude stuff as measurements. Stuff like 'he was as heavy as a Cowpig.'
They didn't really have any proper units for measurements as far as I could tell. Of course, that was only true for the village and I wasn't sure if that was true for the rest of the world. In that village, you didn't need any units. So, they didn't care.
"I never heard about it though…" He mused.
I didn't bother. "Can't remember where I read it."
He didn't bother either. And we kept on going. And panting alongside each other. There were no proper roads and we didn't have any maps so I had no idea how Den was navigating.
"Let's just take a break. After a while of walking, we sat down by a tree. The calm breeze felt great but the green grass was starting to fade a bit. I was seeing more and more patches of just earth. Raw earth. I guess we were getting further and further away from the forest.
After a brief break, we crossed some hills. They were hills but they weren't that steep. And after roughly another two hours' worth of walking we finally reached a city with tall walls. Wooden walls but walls regardless. Den paid a fee and they let us in.
Lots of houses, lots of people, and a whole different atmosphere. But just as the excitement of a new world was beginning to stir, my mind snapped back. I really am going away. I really would not see her for a decade.
Sigh. "The Coach leaves in an hour, so we should hurry," Den said.
"Yeah. Let's." Yet, I put on a smile and marched ahead.