Chapter 8: Work

Bandit’s Home - Forest, Jade Empire

“We should begin walking as well”, Kai suggested. Mark broke out of his daze and nodded in agreement. Together they exited the house, past the wooden fences, and entered the forest.

After roaming the outskirts of the forest for years, Kai and Mark knew exactly where the men were working. Kai’s knowledge was even broader as he tended to go deeper, carefully avoiding the attention of others while he trained. Halfway into their destination, Kai stopped and glanced at the nearby trees. He walked towards a tree and placed his hand on the mark that caught his eye. He ran his fingers across three roughly made cavities engraved into the tree.

These are the claw marks of a beast… could it be it’s marking it’s territory? They’re quite deep as well… the beast must be bigger than the ones I’ve faced.

“Kai is everything okay?”, Mark wondered.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

He mentally noted the areas of damaged trees and made sure he and Mark avoided them along the way. Mark questioned his detour but followed him regardless. The melody of metal playing against wood grew discernible as they neared the work site. The bountiful trees gradually dwindled until they saw a field of countless tree stumps and the sweaty figures of two men and boys.

Jordan and Adam worked together in chopping a tall oak tree. They wore simple loose clothes but their bulky muscles were visibly veiny as they each wielded a large axe. The shaft was a meter long while the blade was half as long. They swung the axe back and forth in a rhythmic manner on either sides of the tree.

Those axes appear to be weapons rather than tools for chopping trees.

Further away, two boys wore similar clothing but was chopping a fallen tree. Equipped with smaller axes, they reduced the tree into multiple blocks of wood, similar to firewood. Three wooden wheelbarrows stood besides them. One of the boys planted his axe into the ground, picked up the chopped wood, and walked towards a wheelbarrow. He filled the wheelbarrow with his contents and as he looked up, he noticed Kai and Mark watching them.

“How long are you two boys going to watch”, the boy teased with a smile.

“Coming Robert”, Mark replied as he ran towards him with Kai behind him.

Robert had short brown hair with heavily tanned skin. When Kai, Mark and Jennifer grew old enough, they joined the adults and older children for dinner and interacted with the boys. Robert was playful and loved to joke around. Even in their poor environment, he never failed to keep his bright spirit.

“Joran, Adam, Ben!” Mark called out as he ran. Having been so loud, Kai did not feel the need to add onto his greetings.

The boy lifted his head to Mark’s call, gave Kai and Mark a slight nod, then returned to work. Ben rarely spoke but was very attentive and caring. Kai remembered when they were eating dinner one night and Ben saw a small cut along his leg, he immediately tore off a piece of his sleeve and bandaged him. Sandy scolded him for using his own clothes for treatment but Kai was stunned at, and grew to admire, his level of compassion.

The adults looked towards Kai and Mark and smiled. Ben remained diligent in his work but the men lugged the axes over their shoulder and walked towards them. Reaching them first, Robert wrapped his arms around their necks and dragged them forward as he walked back to the work site.

“So it’s already been five years. It feels like yesterday that you two were babies”, Joran recalled in nostalgia. Jordan was two meters tall and heavily tanned with black hair. Adam had similar features except he was slightly taller.

“Don’t worry, you two don’t have to work too hard at first”, Adam reassured.

“It’s okay! We’re real men now, we can work hard”, Mark insisted.

“Oh really? How about you carry three firewoods into the wheelbarrow over there”, Robert pointed at the pile of firewood then the wheelbarrow.

“I can do it”, Mark huffed with his childish pride.

Wearing a face of determination he walked over to the pile of firewood and lifted three pieces of firewood into his arms. He struggled to steadily hug them and took a step. Losing balance immediately, he dropped the firewood and fell on his bottom. Joran, Adam and Robert laughed while Kai smiled. Ben snorted once then went right back to work.

Mark’s face quickly flushed a light shade of red and he felt dejected. Joran grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and patted his bottom down.

“It’s okay kiddo, you’ll become a strong man soon enough. One step at a time, you can start with one firewood. The key is to never give up, a true man never gives up”, he encouraged.

Instantly rejuvenated by Joran’s words of encouragement, Mark firmly nodded his head and went to work. Seeing how quick he recovered, they smiled and head back to their own stations. Mark lifted two pieces and took careful steps towards the wheelbarrow, determined not to drop them again.

Right behind Mark, Kai stepped up to the pile of firewood and lifted four pieces, two over each shoulder. He easily balanced the weight and strolled towards the wheelbarrow. With his strength, carrying more firewood was simple but his arms were too short to hold them.

Mark noticed Kai casually lift twice his amount and his competitive spirit surfaced. He figured if he could not carry more firewood, he could attempt to transport them faster. He fiercely wobbled to the wheelbarrow and ran back to the pile of firewood to repeat. Kai could not help but smile at his perseverance and considered if he made a mistake in withholding his training from Mark and Jennifer.

He occasionally thought about the idea but always second guessed it. He believed they were too young to endure the difficulty and pain that came with his training; he was afraid that he would be torturing them instead.

Should I reconsider training him? I don’t know about Jennifer but I can see that Mark has potential.

Still indecisive, he pondered the question as he worked. Hours passed and the sky showed signs of darkening. Joran saw the transition and impaled his axe on the ground, motioning Adam to do the same.

“Alright everyone, let’s take a break”, Joran called loudly enough for the boys to hear.

Robert and Ben expectantly heaved their axes over their shoulder and walked towards them. Kai and Mark, however, were confused on their sudden halt and froze in place with firewood in their arms. When Adam saw their position and expression on their faces he laughed.

“There’s no way we can work from afternoon to night so we take a break around this time. It also gives us some time to cultivate since, if we don’t, we can only do it in the morning and at night which doesn’t give us much time”, he patiently explained.

Mark grew excited in anticipation and used the last of his strength to throw the firewood into the wheelbarrow but overexerted himself, falling on his bottom. He laid on his back, arms and legs spread out, and took deep heavy breaths.

“You go first… ha…”

Kai smiled and walked over to the gathering spot. Upon seeing Kai, they grew confused on the whereabouts of Mark before he pointed at the wheelbarrow. Their eyes drew towards the location, saw the exhausted boy, and laughed.

“Don’t mind… ha…. me, I’ll be there in… ha… ha… a second…”, Mark tried his best to say in between breaths. The action further enhanced their amusement and laughter.

Taking another minute, Mark finally composed himself and joined the others on a nearby grass field. They sat down and crossed their legs but before closing their eyes, Adam spoke.

“Since you two are new, do you have any questions for us?”

Kai shook his head but Mark asked, “I don’t have any questions for work but I’ve always wondered how you two got here.”

Mark blinked in curiosity, unknowingly crossing every sensitive emotional landmine. Joran and Adam were taken aback but saw the innocent gleam in his eyes. Joran let out an awkward laugh, “You sure know how to ask hard questions.”

“I guess I’ll start first. My parents were merchants and I was soon to inherit their business. To teach me, they would have me travel with them and introduce me to their contacts. On my third trip I ran into these savages”, Joran cursed, clenching his hands.

“Of course we had a bodyguard and hired mercenaries but they were useless. The bandits came from all sides, catching us by surprise. My parents and bodyguard were Initial Barons but they were no match again the bandits. Eventually they fell but I begged for my life and I became their slave. I had to live, I had to… for my fiancee…”, he trailed off then sighed.

“She probably found another man by now but I just want to see her again, even if she’s no longer mine”, he finished with a heavy heart. Before they could comfort him he clapped his hands on his face and smiled. “I’m okay. What about you Adam? Come to think of it I haven’t heard your story yet.”

“Me? Oh… I had a wife and child but I got sick and my wife was taken by a disease. My child…”, Adam stopped and stared listlessly at his hands.

Joran realized continuing proved difficult for him and lightly gripped his shoulder in comfort. “You don’t have to continue.”

“Alright enough with the depressing talk, let’s start cultivating”, he suggested. Adam recovered from his stupor, nodded wordlessly, and they closed their eyes. Robert and Ben copied their actions and Kai was about to until he saw Mark nervously shifting in place. He caught Kai’s eyes and shuffled over to him.

“What should I be doing?”, he whispered.

“What do you mean? Do you not want to cultivate?”, Kai asked, confused.

“I do but… I don’t think I have the talent for it. I wasn’t able to sense anything this afternoon but you did”, he stated sadly.

Kai vaguely picked up on, and related to, his sense of inferiority. He thought back to his past life and the memory of him as a young boy surfaced. He recalled the frustration and weakness he felt when he was unable to improve quickly. The words of his master floated into his mind.

“If you don’t possess the talent for strength then work hard. If you are unable to work hard then you are dead. Death is the only obstacle standing between you and strength, everything else are excuses”, Kai recited.

Mark was startled at his profound words but after careful thought he understood the general meaning. “So you’re saying if I work hard I can make up for my little talent?”

“Essentially, yes”, Kai confirmed.

“I see… wow Kai you’re so smart”, Mark smiled brightly and closed his eyes, joining the others in cultivating. He scrunched his eyebrows in concentration.

… That was simple enough.

He relaxed his body, prepared to feel his sixth sense once more, but before his eyelids fully shut, he noticed something strange. Standing on his feet in an instant, he hastily made his way to a nearby tree. On the tree, visible only upon close inspection, was a faded mark. The familiar outline gave him an ominous feeling as he ran his fingers across it.

It’s the same beast… but the mark is old… could it be?

His absence and actions were unnoticed as he unconsciously used Silent Steps to skirt around the trees. After inspecting the surroundings of the work site, he found several more marks; some faded, some fresh. He turned to warn them but his instincts roared danger. Heightening his senses, he scanned his surroundings and felt a ferocious killing intent drawing near. It was heading straight for the cultivating group!

“Beast!”, Kai immediately yelled as a shadow pounced from the trees. With all the strength he could muster, he instantly retrieved his knife and threw it to intercept the shadow. The group opened their eyes just in time to see a spark flash but missed the knife as it skittered to the grass. The knife deterred the shadow from its original path and it landed on the grass, growling at Kai.