“It’s fine, I feel alright…” Otto told the man.

“How can you be alright after that kind of attack? You need to rest up!” the healer replied.

He sounded worried.

Otto breathed a sigh of defeat.

“Thinking positively, sleeping in an actual bed might be cool…” he thought.

“Though I’m surprised how well you deal with people using magic,” the healer remarked.

“Most people would assume I’m some shape-shifting monster…”

They were travelling through a denser part of the forest; no path lay before them.

“Well, I can use magic too so it’s only natural,” Otto replied, he was holding his muddy book under his arm.

“Yeah… even if you say that… it’s hard for me to believe…” the man replied with a light chuckle.

“N-not that I don’t trust you!” he exclaimed.

“It’s just that fake magicians keep coming to and from our town, promising they can use magic only to make a run for it with our money…” he sighed.

“N-not that I’m calling you a fake!”

“…ok…” Otto replied with a shrug.

“Anyway… using artefacts or magic is risky in the forest… the monsters can feel the mana in the air being pulled in and they follow its flow!” the man explained.

Otto raised an eyebrow.

“Artefacts?” he asked.

“Mm, like a wand or a self-healing ring,” the healer clarified.

“I see… I’m not from around here you see…” he replied.

“Oh, you’re from an actual town?” the healer asked.

“Not to say our town isn’t really a town!”

“We’re just not recognised as one just yet!”

“But I’ve sent the paperwork to the capital before!”

“No, I’m like… not from anywhere here…” he replied.

“As in, I had to cross the sand to get here…” he added.

The healer spun around giving Otto a compassionate yet pitiful smile.

“It’s fine, the policy of our village is not to question the past of people!”

“Though, you should come up with a more believable backstory!” he laughed.

“Not that I’m implying you’re a bad storyteller…!”

“I mean, follow your dreams!”

Otto placed a hand on the man shoulder.

“It’s alright…” he said breaking the healer’s mental loop.

“I see… then… let’s keep going! We’ll be there soon!” the healer explained.

Hey continued walking for another twenty or so minutes before reaching a big clearing in the woods, several homes stood, several more looked like they were mid-construction.

Large patches of crops took up about a quarter of the space available.

“Our town… well… perhaps village is a more accurate word; our village relies heavily on farming, the mana-rich soil here works great with certain types of plants!” the man explained.

“Things like carrots grow here in about two days!” the man explained.

“Seriously?!” Otto asked looking at the patch of harvestable-looking crops.

The healer nodded.

“Ah, that’s right, since this isn’t officially a town, you’re free to stay as long as you like,” he began.

“And if you get yourself a house before it officially becomes a town, you’ll be able to stay here!” he explained.

His smile faded away slightly.

“Not that I’m trying to force you into staying!”

“You’re free to leave whenever you like!”

They headed further into the town where about a dozen people sat and chatted whilst going about their daily chores.

“Well, if I don’t need a citizenship I’d like to stay here for a bit…” Otto said looking at the wooden homes.

“A place to study magic, another magic-user AND people to stop me from talking to myself? What more could I ask for?!” Otto thought.

“Great! I’m keeping a list of all the citizens for when we get recognised as a town, I’ll just need your name and we can figure out a place for you to stay!” the man offered.

“Sure, my name is Otto Einhart,” he explained.

“Otto? Quite the strange name,” the healer laughed, he assumed it was fake.

“My name is Gredrick, though, most people around here just call me Gred,” he explained removing his hat and exposing more of his messy blond hair.

He extended a hand forwards towards Otto.

“Welcome to WorkInProgressVillage!” Gredrick exclaimed.

“…”

“WHAT’S WITH THAT NAME!?” Otto thought shaking the man’s hand uncertainly.

“T-thanks…” he forced a smile out of politeness.

They headed over to Gredrick’s home and got Otto’s name recorded as a citizen of the village.

Once the paperwork was dealt with, they headed back outside for a quick tour of the town.

Gredrick pointed to a notice board standing outside.

“Sometimes I or another villager will leave job requests out there, aside from that we make money trading!” Gredrick explained.

“Right,” Otto nodded.

“Currently there are twenty-four adults in the village, about a quarter of them are retired merchants, so you might want to get to know them if you plan on pursuing work outside of the village!”

“Ok…” Otto nodded.

In reality, all Otto wanted was to be given access to some wooden hut where he could read and sleep.

“Now, we’re working on some homes for when we get approved as a town, a lot of people are going to move here and we want to be ready!” Gredrick exclaimed.

“So, there are some homes you can stay in,”

“Usually you’d have to pay for them but since you joined us so early, we can wave the fee this once!” Gredrick laughed.

He gestured towards a wooden home with two windows, it looked like it had two rooms, a bedroom and an everything-else room.

The house itself was raised off the ground by a bit, a wooden platform about two inches high kept the building up.

“How much would the house cost?” Otto asked.

“Uhmm, well, about a silver, so twenty-five coppers,”

“And what could one buy with one copper?” Otto asked.

“Uhm… most places offer meals for one copper; a loaf of bread would be one copper…”

“Something like a pair of boots or clothes would be in the region of five to ten copper unless you’re buying the fancy kind…”

“Damn, housing is cheap in this place! A home for twenty-five loaves of bread?!” Otto thought.

Otto reached into his pocket and pulled out the handful of silver coins in his pocket.

He handed Otto a silver coin leaving him with six more.

The healer hesitated to accept the money.

“I-it’s fine! Really! When I said you could stay here for free, I meant it!” Gredrick exclaimed.

“You said this village relies on trade, right?” Otto asked.

“At the end of the day, the better the village does the better it is for me!” he replied.

“I… I see!” Gredrick nodded.

“In that case, thanks! You should come to the inn after dark to meet with the others!” he said gesturing to the only two-story building in the town.

“Alright,” Otto said stepping towards his newly bought home.

Gredrick heard his name being called by one of the farmers, he turned to face them and waved a hand at them as if to acknowledge he heard them.

“Well, looks like I’ve got some work to do!” Gredrick exclaimed with a smile.

Otto nodded.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me, I’ll think I’ll just go in and take a nap,” he laughed.

“I see, well, enjoy your new home!” Gredrick said as he began heading towards the farmers that called him moments earlier.

“Oh, and one last thing…” he began.

“And most importantly, welcome to the town, Otto!”

Otto entered his home; it was more furnished than he expected.

A wooden table, a few stools, a fireplace and a cupboard with a bowl and some cutlery.

He stepped into the only other room in the home, it had a wooden bed and a bedside table.

The bed actually looked comfortable; he didn’t have to sleep on a stone slab anymore.

“Nice place you got yourself…” the book remarked.

“The perfect place to study!” it added.

Otto breathed a sigh.

“Is that all you care about?” he asked.

“Essentially,” it replied.

He placed the book on the table beside the bed and laid down on the bed with his hands crossed behind his head.

“It’s not like I don’t want to learn more magic, but I can’t afford to set this town ablaze y’know…”

“Do as you wish, but nothing good can come from going against your destiny…” the book sighed.

“Oh, so you’re a fortune teller now?” he asked.

“…”

The book remained silent for the remaining few minutes before Otto passed out on the bed.

Looks like the meet n’ greet would have to wait until the next day.