John raised his head and saw through the old window the first ray of sunshine appearing on the horizon.
He grabbed some cloth and wrapped it around his face while thinking.
'I have to show my face as little as possible so that no one remembers my face and notices that it doesn't change with time.'
After a few wraps of the dirty white cloth around his head, only John's black eyes became visible while his appearance became more and more like a beggar's.
A brown leather shirt with some holes but warm and dirty brown pants, that's all he was wearing, it seemed that his clothes didn't last with him and that's what confused him even more.
With the beginning of dawn, the sounds of the villagers' movements began to rise inside the village and life returned to this rural place.
John took a deep breath and his eyes shone with determination, it was time for him to explore and understand where he was and what this world was!
John stepped out of his small, dilapidated house towards the muddy road that had not recovered from the rains of the previous night.
The different smells of cattle, mud and things he did not even understand what they were entered his nose, he tried to ignore the smell as much as he could.
He started walking towards the village and noticed the villagers who were busy with their lives, some of them started their day by cutting firewood, some of them gave food to the cattle and there were some children who were up early playing together.
As he walked, he noticed that the villagers were looking at him for a while and then ignoring him.
It seemed that no one recognized him but they did not care about a little beggar like him.
But the next moment, John faced the first serious problem on his immortal path...
"Googh!"
"I'm hungry..."
Hearing his stomach growl reminded him that despite his immortality he still needed food and drink.
"But I don't have a single penny with me... I don't even know what kind of currency is used."
John muttered as he walked through the village and looked Around him
He could see a grandmother sitting in front of one of the houses giving food to some ducks, the grandmother seemed to notice his look and smiled at him while speaking
"You seem hungry, don't you?"
John nodded slightly as he was surprised that he could automatically understand the language of this world.
"There's an old church on the north side of the village, they distribute breakfast around this time"
The grandmother pointed north and spoke
"Thank you"
You said one word and headed north following the muddy road, which by the way made your worn and dirty pants even dirtier
After walking for a few minutes you noticed that the road had become a little better and at least it was solid ground and not completely mud, and there were some shops open on both sides of the road and even a small bar
At the end of this path, I could see a small church built of rock and some simple fabrics for decoration
There was a line starting from the door of the church where beggars stood waiting for their turn to get food
John heard the sound of his stomach reminding him that he had to stand with them and did not think twice, he stood and waited his turn
After half an hour, his turn came, he saw in front of him a young woman with simple freckles on her face and wearing simple black priestess clothes smiling and asking him
"Where is your bowl?"
"Should I carry a bowl?"
The young woman looked at him strangely and pointed to the pot of soup and said
"Then how will I give you?"
John looked at the hot soup and thought about his stomach that was almost dying of hunger, he gritted his teeth and put his hands together as he said
"Put it here for me"
The young woman looked at him strangely and said
"The soup is very hot...Are you sure?"
At this moment, some beggars were behind John They started making a fuss
"Come on what's taking so long!"
"Yes we want some food!!"
"Move fast!"
"Shut up!!!"
A loud voice like thunder interrupted the beggars' voices and made them swallow their words whole, it was one of the knights who stood next to the girl who was distributing the soup who spoke
He looked at the young woman and said
"Give it to him in his hand if he doesn't have a bowl, that's his problem"
The young woman nodded and took some soup with a large spoon and slowly put it in John's hand
John, who received the hot soup, clapped his hands together tightly so that he wouldn't spill too much soup while biting his lip hard to endure this scorching heat
"Thank you"
After a simple word of thanks, he quickly headed out of the line and started blowing on the soup while eating it so that it wouldn't all fall out of his hand
John felt the painful burning in his hands while swallowing the soup, but he still insisted and didn't open his hands because hunger was more painful than this burning!
He must eat and survive! He must fight against the odds!
After swallowing all the soup in two minutes or less, he looked at his two hands that were completely swollen and red like blood, he felt an incredible pain as if he wanted to rip the skin off them!
He looked away from his hands to distract himself with something else, he noticed that the young priestess who had given him the soup a moment ago was approaching him, and behind her appeared to be another young priestess who had taken her place
"Give me your hands"
The priestess pointed at John while a worried look was on her face
John hesitated for a few seconds, but the burning pain made him barely think straight so he raised his hands for the young priestess to see
"I'll fix it quickly"
The priestess muttered as she placed her hands over John's and started saying some strange words
In the next second, a strange blue light appeared around her hands and this light began to envelop John's hands completely
John, despite his shock at what happened, did not move his hands, he noticed that the burned skin began to fall off, and less burned skin appeared in its place
After a few more seconds, the blue light disappeared and John's hands were in a better condition, there were some minor burn marks, but much better than before
At least it doesn't hurt that much
"Thank you"
John looked at his hands as he tried to hide his surprise and excitement at this strange power he saw
"No problem, you're not from our village, are you?"
The young priestess exhaled some air as she smiled weakly and asked
"Is that very clear?"
The priestess smiled at John's question and said
"We're a small village, everyone knows each other and at least heard about each other, I've never seen you before and you don't even know that you have to bring a bowl with you to get food"
"It's obvious that this is your first time here"
John wasn't surprised that she knew he was new here because it was impossible to hide it, and since this girl took the initiative to talk to him, John decided to talk to her more, maybe he could get some information from her
"Why did you help me? And also this power you used to heal me, what is this?" "
The young priestess looked at John strangely and said
"I volunteered here to distribute food to the poor. Of course, I don't want anyone to get hurt in front of me and I don't help them."
"As for this power, it's the power you get after training in the mage system."
"The mage system...?" "
John muttered as his eyes shone
The young priestess noticed John's interest in the matter and said to him slowly
"If you are interested, the church gives some explanations about the mage system and the knight system every week, just general information, don't expect much, it's just to educate the population, although the majority know this information"
"And today there will be a lesson to explain some information about the mage system and the knights in the afternoon, if you want you can come, it's free"
John's thoughts stopped at the word free and he smiled as he spoke
"Of course I will come, she is very interested"
The young priestess nodded and bid John farewell as she returned inside the church, while John looked at his hands and still thought about the magnificence of this power
"I have to look for a job"
John looked around and saw some various shops, but he was hesitant that if he entered with his dirty clothes, no one would hire him.
"There is a river near where I woke up, if I go and wash my clothes and wait for them to dry, it will take a long time..."
John muttered as he walked through the village, looking around right and left, then suddenly stopped.
He saw a simple wooden house in front of him, at its door sat an old man holding a simple sign, but unfortunately John did not understand the words of this scholar.
He decided to go forward and ask this old man, perhaps he could find a job with him.
The old man saw a beggar in dirty clothes hiding his face approaching him, so he spoke cautiously.
"Do you want to take care of my sheep?"
"Taking care of sheep? How much will you give me in return?"
The old man looked annoyed at John and spoke while pointing to the sign.
"It says here 10 copper coins per day, no negotiation."
John did not really know the value of this money, but the presence of Money is better than no money
"How many hours a day should I tend them?"
The old man sat up a little better when he noticed that John was serious about his work and spoke
"With the first ray of dawn you take them to the nearby field, and you will keep an eye on them until the sun begins to set, then you will return them."
"Meanwhile I will stop by at different times to watch your work, I cannot leave you with my sheep like this simply."
John thought for a few seconds and then raised his hand
"Deal."
The old man smiled and shook John's hand as he replied
"Deal."