Walking up to Tillett’s house I paused when I reached the door, taking a deep breath of the forest air that surrounded me before I knock on the door and start this god-awful day. However right before I could knock on the door Tillett opened it, causing me to almost fall forward.

Does this bastard wait till I am about to knock on the door, so I look like an idiot when he comes out?!

Standing directly in front of me is a gigantic man that stand past 7 feet, he doesn’t hold the most delicate features to say the least. Having a vast scar that starts from his jaw and trails below his shirt defiantly doesn’t help him seem approachable either. He possesses black thick hair that is a couple inches long. His eyes are almost as dark as his hair, and seem to hold little emotion towards me. This man’s build is massive I learned why after helping him for a few days, the amount of labor he does is immense. Though the most unapproachable aspect of Tillett is that he is a man of little words, not that we have anything to talk about anyways.

He walked past me without saying a word and I now know that is my que to follow. We walked into his small workshop directly next to his house, which has a wide range of furniture from tables and chairs to small little decorations that have the most intricate work I have ever seen. Not that I did any of that work, I was basically a free mule.

My job is to cut the trees and carry the wood to him. Sounds easy right? Maybe that would be the case if I could cut the tree into smaller pieces. However, Tillett apparently needs big pieces for the furniture he builds, I know this because I initially tried to cut a log into segments and let’s just say he wasn’t happy. He doesn’t express much but you can tell when that man is angry.

So, because of that I have spent the last three days attempting to chop down this god damn tree!

Explain to me why Tillett points to the biggest fucking tree in the forest? I understand I’m free labor, but hasn’t anyone taught this man restraint?

Luckily yesterday right before I was going to head home I gave one more swing and this tree finally came crashing down! So today my mission is to bring the tree all the way back to the workshop. The question I am now asking myself is how it is physically possible for me to bring this huge tree all the way from the forest to him? I tried of course, but as I expected the tree didn’t move an inch.

Now… this might not be the brightest idea that has come to me but, the only way I can move this tree is to use support magic. I know it’s extremely stupid of me to do the thing that got me here in the first place, but mother did want me to help with whatever Tillett asked, right? And I actually have some general knowledge on support magic I know it is usually used with the idea it can help amplify whatever you already possess. My mother didn’t tell me, but I know there is ten levels in support magic that you can eventually break through as a mage. I only know the basics of the first level and you’re not supposed to use higher levels if you don’t have enough magic, because the spell will pull the energy from your soul which can potential lead to being crippled or worse death. I only know all of this because I “borrowed” one of my father’s book.

haha thanks dad…

In the book it went over how you can potently find out the amount of magic your body naturally stores; however, it requires a ritual. Why can’t anything be easy?

Another benefit from doing the ritual is that it shows you what Mother Nature has blessed you with and your affinity to said blessings. I learned that there are four basics of Mother Nature these consist of fire, water, earth and air. They go beyond this but that’s after training, meditation and experience.

The city holds the ritual every year with a high-level mage conducting it, because of this families in our town make it a growing of age celebration and travel for three days towards the city. The chances of my mother taking me there is slim to none and that’s being optimistic. Even though I don’t know the amount of innate magic I possess I still find time to practice meditating every day. I might not know my starting point but I’m hoping fathers book is right and it makes a difference. Not that I’ll know…

Well looks like I’m going to do this…I glance around my surroundings, and then I chant the support magic.

I can actually use magic without chanting but I know that if I chant it, the magic is immensely more stable and in fact more powerful.

After chanting to support my arms and legs I decide it’s finally time to try and attempt to move this mass of tree. Even if I can only move it a little each day I can eventually bring it all the way up to the workshop. I decide to get right under it, and with much surprise it moved forward! Yes!

Without much resistance I am able to push the tree all the way to the workshop!

“Why didn’t I use the support magic earlier? I wouldn’t have wasted three days cutting this tree down?!” As I was saying this a hand came down landing on my right shoulder. With dread I turned around slowly to see the only person who could be in the woods with me, Tillett

Well time to beg for my life...

“Tillett please don’t tell my mother she will literally kill me! You don’t want to be known as a murder, right? well if you tell her, you are handing me to the slaughter! It wasn’t like I was using magic for my own purpose there was no other way to bring the tree here!”

“Why didn’t you ask me?” Tillett said this as if it should have been the most obvious thing to do.

I sat there dumb founded, why didn’t I think that?! Had I just wanted an excuse to use magic again even though that’s exactly what I was punished for?!

As I sat there asking myself all these questions Tillett simply said

“It’s fine, I won’t mention it to the healer.”

God bless this man he does have a heart. Tillett obviously meant my mother seeing as she was the only healer in the village. Apparently healing magic isn’t something that just anyone can do. The village gladly excepted her when my father brought back a woman he said he fell in love with while going to the blue kingdom initially for work.

“On one condition.” Tillett said this while staring directly at me with the look that he had just found something very entertaining.

what could this man want? Why did I believe for a split second this man had a heart?!

“What is the condition?” I ask hesitantly.

“For you to be my student.” He stated sternly.

“Tillett, I’m sorry but I do not wish to become a wood worker. I would rather you tell mother than be stuck in a job I have no interest in.” I realized I needed to stand my ground and be honest with my answer or else I would be persuaded to live the life of a wood worker instead of dealing with the wrath from mother.

He looked at me confused at first and then chuckled to himself. I looked at him in horror, what could this man be laughing to himself about?! Is he laughing because he said that on the premise that I had to, and it was not a choice?

“Neo, become my “magic” student.”

Before I can stop myself, I say what I was thinking out loud. “Do you even know how to use magic?” I put my hands over my mouth horrified that I have insulted him.

With a small chuckle he said “Yes and no but you shall be the first student I have taken, consider yourself very lucky. For many have wished to be in the position I have just offered you.”

If my head wasn’t attached to me, it would have rolled off that instant. At first, I wasn’t going to believe that Tillett even knew anything about magic let alone be some kind of teacher. But the way he said it and the fact he said it at all made me think that he was not one to joke about this.

Gathering what little composer I had left I asked, “Who are you?”

He laughed and said, “Oh me, I’m merely a simple wood worker.”

Did I know this man? Maybe I was wrong about Tillett since the beginning, maybe I had just gotten to see the man in front of me for the first time.

Without saying another word, he walked right past me, and headed in the direction of his house and just like this morning I knew that was my que to follow. I could tell that Tillett had given me the choice to either go back home or follow him.

A phrase my mother has always told me instantly popped in my head at that moment. "Remember Neo curiosity killed the cat" and as I walked right behind Tillett I muttered to myself "Good thing I'm not a cat.”