Enfant Terrible

His name is Tristan. A five year old boy living in a small hamlet in the Urek mountains with his parents. The past five years have been nothing but an ensemble of curious events surrounding the youngling.

Born in an unassuming family where his father, the man of the house named Cain, was the village carpenter and his mother, the village school's sole teacher, Tristan was raised up with love and care.

Tristan's mom Lara learned quite early on that Tristan wasn't an ordinary child. He was already crawling around the house when he was six months old. The first time he disappeared from Lara's careful eyes was when she momentarily rested him on the bed to take time to fold clothes that she had washed.

In panic she turned the house upside down to find Tristan piggybacking on the family dog Charmy as if he were a royal knight looking at her with an innocently smug face. Moments later he rolled over the dog and fell asleep. But that was just the beginning.

Lara made it a point to tell him many stories about the World. From famous generals to the mystical lakes where caries frequent to the legend of the arrival of Adventurers who saved the world, Tristan heard this stories enraptured. Lara noticed that he was surprisingly able to understand stories and seemed to have considerable mental dexterity.

The number of stories Lara knew were unfortunately only a few. And when she began running out if stories to tell Tristan who would constantly nag her to keep going, she had no choice but to repeat the stories she had described before changing up some of the names, but Tristan caught on immediately! He sulked and wailed and grumpily turned away.

On Tristan's first birth year celebrations Lara gifted him an alphabet picture book, while Cain gifted a sculpted toy of the golden knight William Wallace, whose story Tristan especially loved listening to. Tristan enjoyed playing with the toy while looking at his father work with wood

Sindry village, where Tristan's family lived, was quietly nested in the valleys of the Urek mountain ranges quite isolated from the outside world. Other than the traders from villages beyond the mountains and occasional merchants coming to buy herbs and sell food grains and news regarding the outside, few came to this self sufficient small village.

Sindry was a pioneer village, made by colonists of herbalists who wanted a base for collecting the Trivial Fern, a rare herb that grew under moist igneous rocks near the base of the Urek mountains. Over the years, the colony grew and became a small village with about 150 people.

A few months after his birthday, Lara began taking Tristan to the school, where she left him to play around while she taught the village kids to read and write. Tristan showed considerable maturity in handling himself in front of others. He rarely cried now, observed other people carefully and used to listen to his mother's lectures along with the other (much) elder children.

Customarily villagers sent their children to school to learn to read, write and do arithmetic at the age of 8. They would study in school for four years before deciding to work as apprentices or help their parents in their work on the path to adulthood. At the age of 2, Tristan was already capable of reading and writing fluent enough to be able to read books. Bored of sitting quietly in the classroom while his mother taught, he would slowly walk around the tiny school building.

He was suddenly picked up by the arm pits and taken into an embrace by a woman with long red hair and an eccentric dress. She was Melany, the village witch who made medicines from herbs for people who fell sick. She knew Tristan of course, every adult in the village knew the naughty intelligent brat who spoke very few words but looked much more mature than his age suggested.

"What are you doing here kiddo?"

Wondered Melany as she nestled Tristan onto her left hand as she gently walked towards Lara's classroom to safely deliver him.

"...Book."

*****

Tristan was almost going to be two years old. Lara and Cain were worried. Their son had still not yet spoken a word. When Lara was expecting, they had lovingly argued whether Tristan's first words would be Papa or Mama. But Tristan did not speak. Tristan was clever, this they could see easily. He spent a lot of time writing alphabets, drawing the mountains and painting or reading the colorful Legends of the Altan Continent - a book Cain borrowed from Melany's considerable collection of books. Tristan chose it after being awed at the sight of so many books.

Tristan loved reading. He would converse only through gestures or by tugging at his parents clothes. Lara would urge him to speak, repeating Mama or Papa slowly in front in front of Tristan, but he simply grimaced as if he was insulted!

Lara took him to Melany to find out why he wouldn't speak, but she was reassured instead that he was fine and would begin speaking soon. Of course Tristan didn't lose the opportunity to tug at his Mom's dress and point at the books. Melany gave him a beautiful book bound with animal leather which was painted gold. Tristan reverently received the book and read the Title. Written in beautiful cursive calligraphy was the name 'A picture book Atlas of Altan Beauty'. It was a book with pictures and descriptions of various places in the Altan continent.

****

"You spoke huh! Haha!"

Melany excitedly barged into Lara's teaching time.

"Hey Lara! Little Tristan finally graced us with speech!"

A surprised Lara turns towards Melany holding Tristan with surprise.

"He.. Spoke? Tristan dear say it again! Speak my dear.."

"Speak kiddo! What did you want again?"

Melany looked at Tristan with a broad grin and asked fully expecting him to respond.

"...Book."

Lara's eyes were glazed, holding back tears and tore Tristan from Melany and hugged him tightly. She was worried that Tristan might be dumb. But.. Book? Not mama or papa but Book? Lara gave out a gurgle that was something between a laugh and a sniffle.

Melany looked at Lara with serious eyes and asked.

"Tristan..this kid is quite intelligent. Want me to take him as an apprentice? He can read all the books he wants at my place. I can teach him things which can't be learnt at school here."

Melany was one of the most respected and the most knowledgeable person in the village who knew lots about the history, politics, as well as many skills. She was after all a Witch who made medicines. She could even use magic!

Lara nodded vigorously. But she looked sternly towards Tristan and said.

"Fine Tristan. You can study under Aunt Melany here and read all the books you want to. But you must try to speak as much as possible! You should also say Mama..."

****

It's been 3 years since Tristan has been studying with a sense of urgency under aunt Melany. He had just turned 5. At his age children are still crawling around, squabbling or at best playing with toys or pets, Tristan was being a busybody.

If he didn't spend time collecting herbs and identifying worms and insects along with Charmy in the forests and documenting them as an exercise, he would be learning to cook food and herbalic medicines using wild herbs under Melany's tutelage. He also spent a lot of time studying carpentry under his father. He wouldn't be very good at it, because he wasn't physically strong, but he became quite talented at carving wood which required more finesse than raw power. So Cain would give him different woods and fire woods to practice sculpting. Tristan spent a lot of time reading. He had exhausted all books that Melany hadn't restricted from him.

Tristan learnt about the history of the Altan continent where he lived. It's great legacy of heroes and wars. He learnt about the other species who weren't human and could be found around Altan. Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Kobolds, Goblins, Demi-humans and Beastkin were the most commonly known, but there were many more species and even unique creatures whose existence was extremely mystical. Those unique creatures were often considered monsters, but throughout history there had been several who had both wrecked destruction as well as saved the world from cataclysm. He learnt about the arrival of new visitors who were not from Altan and whose origins were unknown. They looked like the beings from Altan but Melany told Tristan that they were probably from another continent beyond the infinite seas.

When he asked her how she knew that they were not from Altan, she would simply - "It is so."

The more he learnt, the more he realised that he knew very little. He realised how small Sindry village was and how big the continent was. He would often talk to merchants who came from far away to buy the rare Trivial Fern only found near Sindry village about their experiences and news from around the continent.

Tristan's thirst to know was unquenchable. And as he sat along the bank of the fresh water lake that forms every spring from melted glaciers, he carefully drew his faithful dog Charmy swimming in the lake with the backdrop of the legendary Urek mountains.

****

Tristan appeared at the herbalist center on aunt Melany's summons. He was hoping he could get to learn something new this time instead of the same old mundane tasks of grinding herbs with the mortar and pestle.

Melany looked at him affectionately. Melany was quite an accomplished witch who was famous for petrification medicine recipies that she had invented using the Trivial Fern that had made her an authority on the subject. It was why she lived in Sindry, an otherwise barren village with no need of a witch like her.

Despite these things, she wasn't arrogant. Because she knew that in the scheme of things in Altan she was just an ordinary magician who used medicinal alchemy. However, she had always had a thirst for knowledge and when she came across little boy Tristan she saw in him the same crazed eyes for knowledge.

However, she was wrong. Ever since she took him under her wings to teach him, she realised how wring she was. That boy was way more extreme than she thought.she realised that his potential was way more than anything she could handle and decided to impart a spartan training making him work long hours, identifying, cooking, refining, purifying. She practically taught him everything she knew. All he needed to learn now was magic. But she was hesitant because she wasn't sure if she should introduce him to dangers at such an age. Over the years she had come to care for him like an adopted son.

"Tristan, it has been three years since you've begun studying under me. Although I might as well say that I have been teaching you since you began learning to read. Hu hu."

"Aunt Melany, does that mean you won't teach me anymore?"

Tristan had straightened up, tensed at the prospect of losing his primary source of knowledge.

"Hah, to the contrary today we will start your real education! Everything you have learnt till now, all the hard work is for this day! You will now study magic as well as apply magic energy while medicine preparation to improve the quality of medicines, Alchemy! I open up my restricted library for your study."

Tristan wide eyed with a large unshakeable grin on his face could only nod.