Chapter 12: Routine

Blizzard would often attack the Vineal Kingdom, or so the villagers said. Like a raging storm, they would appear in the heart of winter, intent on wreaking on all life in its breadth. Once during the coldest moment of the year, stirred to life from the chill, the Behemoth would descend from the skies, covering the land in mountains of snow and a white haze.

Perspiration dripped from Eluc’s forehead, saturating his brow enough that his sweat dripped past the eyebrows evolved to catch it. Acid attacked his eyes but Eluc only rubbed his stinging eyelids with the back of his palm and continued his run. His calves burned with each step and his thighs begged for him to grind the exercise to a halt. However, persistence was one of the few values he learned so far, so no pain stopped him from running.

Though, physical inability could stop him. Unable to push themselves any longer, his legs quivered and Eluc fell to his knees. He held himself up by his palms, fingers scratching into the dry earth and light snow on the ground. Tingling arose in his fingers from the cold but it was tolerable compared to the caustic feeling inside his legs.

“Twenty-six laps in thirty,” he said between heavy breaths. After he had reached the goal of thirty laps in an hour, Arthur immediately increased the challenge by cutting the time in half. He claimed it was exactly ten kilometers and running it in thirty minutes was something every recruit should be able to do before leaving basic training. Although Eluc had no intention of joining any army for the neighboring kingdoms, he understood the point. It was the price for strength.

While Eluc was still recovering himself from the rigorous workout, he heard the patterning of steps behind him along with a melodious humming. Long, wavy blonde hair bounced with each of Dendrick’s steps. He raced right past the other runner, weakened and heaving on the ground as he reached the chair Arthur was sitting in. Only about twenty meters from Eluc, he heard Arthur press in the stopwatch in his hand followed by cheering as Dendrick passed the imaginary finish line.

“Good job, boy. Right on time, too. Thirty in thirty was hardly a challenge for ye.” Arthur stood from his seat, nearly spilling his hot drink in the process, to pat the kid on the shoulder.

Dendrick gave a brilliant smile. “See, what did I tell you? I’m a natural, born to be a hero!”

‘He really is,’ Eluc thought to himself. It took Eluc two months to be able to run a ‘10K,’ as Arthur called it, and since he started, the season had changed from a cool fall to a frosty winter. He had endured running through mud from rainstorms and dense snow below his feet to get to where he currently is, a source of pride for himself. However, Dendrick was curious and decided to exercise in anticipation of becoming a [User] himself so he joined his first weight lifts and run today. Not to mention he could lift more than Eluc, an adult man, but his runtime was mind-boggling. The result was incomprehensible.

Eluc changed his sitting posture to crossing his legs with his palms on his knees as he thought more. Dendrick really was a fantastic child. Ever since Eluc had met him, he could tell the child was very intelligent from his speaking and mannerisms and that idea only deepened as he chatted more with the boy. His questions often provoked thought, uncharacteristic of the other village children, and he almost caught Eluc in a few of his lies a time or two. Now, the story was completely different. Intelligent and extraordinarily athletic proved that Dendrick was a child born once in a hundred or more years.

Finally rested enough to move, Eluc struggled to his feet and walked to the other two with a smile on his face, “It would be a disservice to the world if you weren’t chosen to be one.”

Dendrick’s grin stiffened and he let out a sigh, “It’s difficult enough [Initializing]. Someone like me becoming a [Hero] is next to impossible.”

Eluc only wanted to reinforce the child’s confidence, he didn’t expect to give it a blow instead. “If anyone could stand atop the world as a hero, it would be you,” he said.

Shaking his head, Arthur spoke his piece, “While I would like to have faith in the boy, as well, [Hero]’s are… different.”

An awkward atmosphere appeared from nowhere as the first snowflakes of another snowstorm landed atop the heads of the men. Eluc tightened the wolf cloak around his body with the shoddy straps made with his own hands. Feeling his hair getting wet from the precipitate, he pulled up the hood, showing off the dire wolf design of the cowl while protecting himself at the same time.

“Eluc, at what moment will I know I’ve [Initialized]?” Envy shown in Dendrick’s eyes as he saw the cloak, overriding the previous sadness and uncertainty.

“You just have to…“ Eluc stopped speaking. He realized that his situation was probably abnormal as [The Brand] directed him through the process. He continued with a lie instead, “You just have to wait. You’ll know when it’s time.”

In response to a frustrated grunt from Dendrick, Arthur decided to spread one of his many pearls of wisdom, “Patience is hidden in the fires of youth, boy.”

As Eluc was wondering where this old man got these quotes from, his keen ears picked up the sounds of playful screams and yelling in the field beside the river. A group of children had decided to enjoy the day despite its cold. Throwing of snow and yelps mixed with shivers coincided with laughter and joy. He turned back to Dendrick, about to add to Arthur’s words, but he noticed that the boy's cheeks were exceptionally red, even for the chilled air. His eyes were pointed at the group, but that was as far as Eluc could discern.

“Yet, youth isn’t a bad thing.” Arthur, on the other hand, whistled with a smile stretching from ear to ear. He gave a wallop onto Dendrick’s back, “Go enjoy it, boy, while ye can.”

Dendrick was about to open his mouth to refute but chose to stay silent because he couldn’t find the words or out of helplessness. With a sprint, the boy ran towards the group waving his hands in greeting.

“Ho ho, the boy has found himself a lady.” Arthur stroked his beard while watching the kids engage in the snowball fight.

Eluc was confused as he thought the boy just wanted to engage in the fight, but looking closer, it was quite obvious. A dark-haired girl with hair down to her waist had tripped onto the ground and was easy prey for one of the larger boys who were ready to throw a snowball at her. However, before it reached its target, Dendrick intercepted the ball, taking the impact on his back. He reached down to help the girl up from the ground but instead received a snowball to the face as thanks. She picked herself up and ran away while laughing while Dendrick chased after her.

“What I wouldn’t give for one more chance at young love,” Arthur said, dwelling on an old memory.

With a nod, Eluc understood the situation. ‘Love is a good outlet for him. It should help him relieve a lot of his frustrations.’

Leaving his reverie, Arthur changed the air about him to one of business. “Yer progress is going smoothly.”

Eluc had to agree. Although he couldn’t compare to Dendrick’s boundless energy, his gains were enough that he was pleased with the effort he put in. Those grueling hours of running and swordplay had yielded results.

“By now, I have the confidence that ye can deal with the average fights without ending up as a pathetic mess. With yer [Spellsword] class, that’ll amplify what I’ve been teaching ye to an even greater degree.” Arthur turned his body to Eluc, who reciprocated. “However, despite whatever technical ability ye may achieve, it is useless if ye don’t take advantage of [Levels]. That is what truly separates a commoner from a [User].”

Seeing that Eluc kept silent, Arthur continued, “[Levels] provide the advantage of investing points into certain attributes of yourself, but also give ye supernatural abilities that others won’t have. I’m sure ye know all this, so I will skip over the rest.”

Contrary to Arthur’s thoughts, Eluc almost urged him to continue but it wasn’t worth the suspicion and confusion that may come with it. “Ye will take a short break from training to put yer effort to the test.”

In the biting wind and increasing falling of snow, Arthur debriefed Eluc on his first adventure, however short it was.

♢ ♢ ♢

Eluc stepped through the calf-high snow, pushing his way towards the edge of the village. The trek was bad enough in the current storm that most villagers chose to stay indoors, comforted by familial warmth and a roaring fire. Every window shone flickering orange on the white snow that covered the village path.

Two trails of footsteps dragged in the snow stretched past his vision, obscured by the snowstorm. The whirring of wind covered all sounds, but as Eluc neared his destination, he could hear the faint sounds of metal slamming metal. Brighter than the rest, the window of this larger building was akin to a beacon, shining brightly in the village regardless of the weather.

Knocking upon the door, Eluc waited, admiring the storm produced solely by nature. Roofs were burdened by hundreds of pounds of snow, nearly bending the walls under their weight. Blow by blow, they withstood the rushing wind, verging on toppling over, exposing the inside. Although it wasn’t as disastrous as an earthquake or tsunami, even this blizzard in comparison would take lives.

The hammering inside shortly stopped and footsteps towards the front door followed. Two pairs of eyes peeked through a sliding grille embedded in the door. Eluc gave his warmest smile to the man before it closed and he heard the unclicking of a latch. Creaking as it opened, the door revealed a sweaty Pheon, covered in ashes. With the wave of his hand, he invited Eluc inside to join in the warmth.

“Repairs?” Pheon said after looking Eluc over. Snow already covered the floor of the entryway, eliciting a click from his tongue as he used his arm to push the door closed.

Eluc nodded his head. “Just for maintenance before I head out of the village for a bit.” He unfastened the scabbard from his belt, holding it out for the other to grab.

With a quick glance, he took the sword, bringing it over to the forge area. Eluc followed along, enjoying the heat compared to the air outside. Raising the scabbard to eye level, Pheon brought out the sword, inspecting it for chips, scratches, or other unsightly marks. However, the longer he looked at it, the more his confusion grew.

“Where did you get this sword from?” he asked quizzically.

A lie quickly came to mind, “I bought it at a market in Theates.” Eluc didn’t go into further detail, keeping the response curt.

Pheon tilted his head slightly but then gave an understanding nod. “If you’d ever find a sword like this, it’d be in Godwind’s capital.” Sheathing the sword after his inspection, “It’s a good fighting sword and won’t need much maintenance. Practically brand new, still.”

For the most part, that was true. Eluc had only used it a few times since he picked it up and it would naturally repair every trip to the White Room like his other clothes. Since then, he never had a use for the sword outside of training and whenever he did decide to take it out, he would care for it by wiping it down and leaving it sheathed.

Eluc shook his head as he had the same thoughts as Pheon. “Arthur said I should at least get it polished and sharpened while I’m here. ‘A poorly kept blade is a useless one,’ he said.”

“Sounds like him,” he agreed. “Come back in a couple of days. Still repairing tools from the harvesting season.” Pheon then placed the sword beside the grindstone, walking back to the forge to continue the repair he was working on before being interrupted.

With a nod, Eluc gave a tight smile and turned to leave the house back into the raging storm. As he walked home, he thought to himself, ‘Nice guy, but dreadfully awkward to talk with.’