Avrin & his father followed behind him. Dried herbs Avrin had read about were strung up; there were many he didn't even recognize. Some herbs were even wriggling as if alive. The entire interior, other than a bed & small section for dining, was filled with alchemical goods that were all hand-made rather crudely. What caught Avrin's eye was the small bookshelf filled with notes & books; the second thing was the vials of unusual liquids that glowed or were so thick & murky, they gave the impression of giving diseases from even looking at them.
"Let's see... no, not this one, or that... hehe, this one would give you quite a bad rash." The herbalist was rummaging through a basket of things. Whenever he picked up something & looked at it, he simply threw it to the side, not caring if it broke or not. "Here we go..." The herbalist turned around & held a small wooden container. He then plucked some herbs & used a mortar & pestle to grind them up. Afterwards, he reached over for some liquids on the shelf and then mixed some things into the concoction. Before long, a substance almost like liquid metal was left. He poured it into the container & handed it over to his father. In return, his father gave the herbalist some coins & two dead rabbits he had tied to his side.
"Once a day for three days, then your face will be just like the day you were born. When you're all healed up, bring back the container. Those things don't grow on trees, or maybe they do. I forgot..." He smiled again with his rotted teeth. Avrin didn't know what else to say. His eyes simply drifted to the shelf of books & alchemical things again, whilst his father bowed, thanking the herbalist profusely.
The herbalist waved him off and then focused on Avrin again, seeing how the latter's eyes were darting around with interest. "You got an eye for learning, I hear. Are you interested in herbalism & alchemy? Why not learn some things from me? I give the kids tests all the time to test any good seeds..." The old herbalist turned around & reached to the shelf. He pulled out a book and then handed it to Avrin. "If you can remember the descriptions, properties, & the respective methods of harvesting for at least 20 of the herbs listed within 2 months, I'll consider taking you in as an apprentice. What do you think?"
Avrin's father knew that the position of the herbalist was irreplaceable and that having a second would be a delight for the village. He gently nudged Avrin, who took the book & bowed in respect. "Thank you for the opportunity."
Nodding in response to Avrin, he sent both of them away. The father and son then headed back home. When they returned, they saw Audrene with her arms crossed while gazing back at them, glaring at Avrin's father for making her stay & then looking at Avrin lovingly before rushing over & hugging him.
When they were inside, his mother helped apply the ointment on his bruises. The feeling was cold yet incredibly soothing. it numbed the pain immensely, & a few seconds later, the pain was gone. What was more incredible was there was no feeling of paralysis; the herbal concoction targeted the injuries directly & had no side effects that he could feel, at least not yet.
"This place is incredible," he marveled in astonishment. Such a topical ointment may or may not have existed in the Earth Federation, but it would have definitely been quite costly, yet here, it was in some rundown village concocted by a crazy herbalist. Just what were those places with long-lasting heritage able to make? Could they regrow limbs or even organs? Avrin pondered before thanking his mum. They all then ate dinner together & talked.
Afterwards, Avrin helped out with some other tasks & headed back to his room. A few new candles in his drawer, he pulled one out & went back to reading the large book by Rumi Vermilion. Sometimes, he would stumble upon useless parts, such as Rumi rating women of the night he had visited; no doubt his mother would strangle his dad if she knew the contents.
But other times, he would find interesting pieces, such as what he read now which surprisingly had to do with his own situation. It went over spirit veins & those born without them. Even back during the time of Rumi, they were looked down upon by society. Even the lowest of the low had spirit veins despite their shoddy quality, but those born without them were outcasts of society.
Avrin could relate; his circumstance nearly led to his death. He continued reading the passage Rumi had left.
"What is the cause of this defect that denies the presence of Spirit Veins to those unlucky newborns? This is not a case of environment or the affliction of a curse. From the highest of royalty to the lowest in the slums, they can all be born with a lack of spirit veins or possess unique constitutions. Surely then, a mundane matter of nature or curses is unlikely to be the cause. If so. that truly separates these unlucky ones from those with spirit veins? Could it be that there is some external invisible force that interferes somehow? Are these people truly hated by the gods and destined to never be able to grasp power? Or is their existence meant to serve some other role conjured by the divine?"
Avrin's mind shook, his heart speeding up. Some of this rationale inspired, especially with what he saw. However he was unsure of too many things and didn't fully believe in anything yet. After all, didn't he notice a mysterious or invisible force previously? Was it the weird entity who had helped him reincarnate?... He pushed the thought aside. That entity definitely wasn't so bored. It must be something else.
For now, he closed his eyes, feeling for that mass of cloudy darkness inside his mind for the first time after his birthday. He suddenly froze in thought, quickly switching to a look of excitement on his face. He noticed that the fog seemed ever so slightly thinner, like a spoonful of it was taken. Avrin could now barely make out the outline of something, although with much uncertainty.
"Why did it thin out? What happened!?" he asked in bewilderment. He tried to visualize it more & get a clearer view, but it was still too hard and showed limited success. In the end, he could only sighed & gave up. "It's useless to think too much about it. I'll continue what I always did." He closed the book about Rumi gave him and then looked to his side; it was the book the herbalist had given him.
Reaching over to it, he opened it. There was no introduction or fancy glossary or any name of the author; it simply went straight to the point. A beautifully drawn design of a flower with a green stem, like other plants, though its leaves had blue veins, & the flower at the top was also blue. Avrin saw detailed descriptions regarding each part, even what the plant would look like while closed or in a growing state.
Avrin had no doubt the old herbalist was the one who wrote this; he was just astonished by how detailed this was. He clearly took his profession seriously. Avrin spent the rest of the night reading what he could from the herbalism book rather than Rumi's. In the end, he would have time for both.
Every day, a new door opened for him. He would discover similarities between here & Earth, yet he would also uncover where these similarities stopped. Why did humans exist here as well? What was the connection between everything? He hoped he would one day find answers, but to do that, he needed necessary knowledge and "strength," which were things that he severely lacked currently.
He didn't feel too disheartened, though. After the events of today, his father promised to start training him in swords & archery tomorrow, and Avrin looked forward to it. After all, he always wanted to be more useful, but more than anything, he wanted to explore out of the village as early as possible and expand his horizons.
There was only so much he could learn here in the village to begin with. What his father said is something Avrin understood; to him, it made no difference if he was in his room or in the village, they all had limited knowledge. They were both closed-off spaces that he wanted to one day leave from.
Avrin, finishing his session of reading, closed the book & set it aside. He quietly laid down, reaching up & touching his face. The ointment had already been absorbed into his skin, the soothing sensation still there.
For him, he was still a human in spirit, but curiosity was something every intelligent being had. Currently, he simply wanted to learn, learn some more, & learn even more after that.