It has been 1 week since we arrived in Thornbranch.
The villagers have gathered up their belongings and stored them in carts that arrived a few days before.
I was with Terra, sitting atop a hill overlooking everyone packing up.
I looked down on everyone as they said their goodbyes to their home put their stuff on carts and started to walk away was an interesting sight.
As I watched I couldn't help but reflect on everything that has happened in the past few days.
Orcs had arrived and destroyed the village, my parents died, and I was poisoned but was saved by my cousin and her parents.
I awakened my powers and became a Primogenitor and Spirit summoner, I met and beat up my egotistical great uncle, I fought against a god and met possibly one of my descendants, and I met a Princess and beat up 2 of her guards.
I travelled back to my home and rescued the survivors of the attack, I reunited with a family friend, I met a BeastFolk Druid, I learned about my father's past and a secret I can't let anyone know.
Now today we are leaving the village.
Many people didn't want to leave their homes but the village can't support them right now so it is safer to leave for now.
They know they can return when the village is rebuilt if they want but considering the memories many people have of the village now they may never return.
I remember the day of the funeral was a painful one for everyone as we burned the bodies of our friends and families.
Although some people wanted a proper funeral and bury the bodies, we didn't have much of a choice.[1]
Erik calmly asked me what I wanted for my parents.
I let him choose as I couldn't handle the thought.
He comforted me and said they would bring them with us and bury them at the Rondo household.
Now today everyone was packing up and getting ready to leave. It is starting to get cold as winter is starting so we are hoping it doesn't start snowing while we are on the road. Taking care of hundreds of people like this is not something we are fully equipped to do.
As I sat on the kill I pulled out the Black book and started reading one of the quests.
{Quest: Book in a book-2}
{Task 1: Infuse NoteBook with 2500 Spiritual Energy: 0/2500 | incomplete}
{Task 2: Gain any type of Perception/Sight Skill aside from Magic Sence: 0/1 | Incomplete}
{Task 3: Create a list of all residents of the Village of Thornbranch and record their status: 2344/2346 | Incomplete}
{Reward 1: Rank 3 Upgrade to the Leather Book}
I knew I couldn't do much of it right now but pulled out the leather book and switched it to the [Tomb of the Dead], opened it and turned to the first page.
...
Jackson Dravos: Alive
Alexandra Dravos:
Draven Dravos:
...
I sighed and wrote down their status and checked the quest again.
{Quest: Book in a book-2}
...
{Task 3: Create a list of all residents of the Village of Thornbranch and record their status: 2346/2346 | Complete}
{Reward 1: Rank 3 Upgrade to the Leather Book}
I closed both books, put them into the storage ring and laid back on the grass.
"what's wrong?" Terra asked
"hm? Oh, just thinking." I said.
"about?" she said while poking my arm
I swatted her away and sighed
"I'm worried about how the trip will go. Winter is almost here so some people may not make it."
"We have some fire mages and your mother's staff don't we?"
"yeah..." I said and pulled out her staff from the ring.
It does work as a heater but I can't use it as I don't know fire magic and I don't feel comfortable giving it to someone else who can.
"you know Fire Magic isn't that different than lightning magic right," she said
I turned to her confused "What do you mean they aren't the same at all."
"Yeah it is Mire and lightning are both hot and lightning can create a fire so they are kind of the same," she said with a smile
"do you actually believe that or are you joking," I said still confused
she smirked
*hehe* I laughed
"you are getting better at that."
"thank you," she said smugly standing in a proud position.
"though if you want to keep up the facade you need to work on not letting your ego and face give you away," I said bluntly
*humph* she turned to me and punched me in the arm. "rude"
I laughed
she let me continue for a bit then asked "Feel better?"
"Yeah. Thanks." I said but kept looking down the hill
"was that everything you were worried about?"
I gave her a sideways glance and said "I still haven't told anyone we are related. I don't know when I should or even if I should. They could blame me and Mom for the lack of protection the village had."
"Several people have asked about where I am going but I haven't given an answer by saying I had to go but I can't use that excuse for long."
She stayed quiet for a bit.
After a while, she said "Dad was meaning to talk to you about it but was too busy. If you don't want to let people know we can say that you are related to one of the servants at the Rondo family mansion and are moving in there."
I turned to Heinis a surprise and said "Really? You guys have no problem with it?"
She shook her head and said "You are family no matter what. We will take care of you even from the sidelines if needed. Besides we are nobles it's normal for us to keep secrets."
I couldn't deny that last part.
"ok so officially I will be living with you as a servant or is there something else."
She smiled "Officially yes you will, but in truth, you are my cousin. You will not be required to attend parties or noble events but when it is happening at our mansion you need to hide so nobles don't start gossiping."
"Already planning on how I will do that. Don't worry." I said with a smile.
"good to see you are doing better Jack." a voice said behind me
we both turned around and we saw Brakos walking towards us.
"Wait... it's you?" Terra said but I didn't say anything
Brakos smiled "When found you in that forest I was worried you would die. You're lucky you have a family like this."
I didn't say anything but with a thankful expression, Ii gave a slight nod.
"Um, if you don't mind me asking, who are you?" Terra asked
I shook my head slightly so brakos knew I didn't want her to know.
"I am a travelling Spirit who cares for the lives of all. I could sense the impending death of our possible saviour and rushed to help him."
I sighed knowing where brakos was going.
"Savior?"Terraa asked confused.
"Spirits sometimes call those like me Saviors as we have the power to free them from Spirit masters," I explained.
"Aren't they just summoners like you?" she asked.d
Brakos shook his head and said, "The slavers, or Spirit Masters as you call them, capture Spirits and force them into slavery."
Terra was shocked. She knew of the Spirit masters as they are very common.
"There is a difference between us. I can use spirit magic and summon Spirits I have a contract with even if they aren't nearby. While Masters, even if they can't summon/attract spirits as I can, can still capture spirits and use their powers. they are more like cruel beast tamers rather than summoners." I explained
Brakos nodded and said "We hope that a Spirit summoner like Jackson will one day come along and tear down the old ways and build up a new world where we can all live side by side. Where we don't have to live in fear of being enslaved and can live truly free again."
It took Terra a second to break out of her shocked state.
"if you ever need help let me know I will help however I can!" I said determined to help
"thank you Terra but I need to train before I can even try to do any of that."
"What kind of training?" she asked worriedly
I thought about it for a second and said "I intend to join one of the academies when I turn 16, but before that I need compact experience so when I turn 10 I will become an Adventurer and start doing quests and learn more about spirits and make more contracts.
"I am not very powerful right now as I can only use Lightning magic and it requires too much Mana for me to fight with right now. If I can have spirits teach me other elements and how to use spirit magic then I don't have to worry about it."
Shocked she asked,d "Are you doing all that?!"
"Well maybe not in that order and that isn't everything but the basic summary... yes," I said like it was normal.
"that is already a lot don't you think?" she said
"I have 8 years until I can join an academy and even if I don't do it all by then, I can do it during my time at the academy."
"You are crazy," she said
I turned to her and said "I am an 8-year-old who is smarter than most adults, has killed monsters, has beaten up 3 people 3 times my age in cold blood in the last 2 weeks and is planning to basically overthrow an entire faction of knights and Adventurers. What part of that made me sound sane."
She raised a finger to retort but hesitated and stood down.
"I have a long road ahead of me but I won't let it stop me from racing my goals and helping those who rely on me," I said just before I got up and started walking down the hill leaving the 2 others standing behind me.
Brakos smiled and turned to leave but before he did he stopped and said Stayy by his side. He may be acting confident but he is terrified about what will await him in the future."
Terra, breaking her stunned silence again, turned and said "You saved him once but I never got to say thank you. So thank you for saving him and don't worry about it, I have known him this long that I can tell when he is acting."
Brakos smiled and said "I hope you do. Good luck." he walked off and Terra followed Jack down the hill as they got ready to head home.
[1]: in Primus, dead bodies can turn into undead if not attended to.
Graves are attended to by priests daily by pouring holy water on them and/or saying prayers during the burials. If they don't they run the risk of the dead rising so it became a necessary precaution a long time ago.
(no zombies don't infect people by biting them, it is necrotic magic)