Chương 11: Helping hand in Moesia

I woke slowly inside the small wooden cabin. The scent of grilled fish and wood smoke filled the air. A boy who looked about seventeen stood by the fire, turning a fresh catch on a stick. He had middle-length hair that fell neatly past his shoulders, unusually pale white skin that almost seemed to glow in the dim light, and simple, plain-looking clothes... a faded tunic and trousers that should have made him blend into any forest settlement. Yet something about him felt completely out of place.

He smelled faintly of clean linen and subtle herbs, far too refined for someone living alone in such wilderness. Even while cooking, he carried himself with an almost royal poise.

"Name's Galer," he said without turning around.

"Seventeen years old. What were you doing floating half-dead in the river? I saw the branding on your shoulder stump when I pulled you out. Must be a runaway. Not that I care.... plenty of people run from something or someone be in captivity or not. But that H symbol… never seen it before. Whatever. First, eat this." He handed me a wooden plate with a hot, perfectly grilled fish and some herbs sprinkled on top. The warmth spread through my cold prune-like fingers immediately. I ate slowly at first, then ravenously.

When the worst of the hunger eased, Galer sat across from me on a low stool looking over me.

"Tell me your tale if you want. No pressure." So before even finishing my meal, I did. I told him everything... how I was only nine years old, how my father was killed, how we lost the war thanks to their main weapon Siegfried, how I became a one-armed slave in Metia, the foraging, the Woldrians, Berntraut's kindness, the torture of Healix, and the desperate escape with Camrix and how he created a strong wave for me to escape with.

I held back only the part about Sentrix's hidden treasure, as i thought i should not tell this tale to anybody. When I finished, Galer was silent for a long moment. Then his eyes glistened and he actually sobbed... not faking it, a real sad face was shown to me.

"Man… I thought my life was tough. Yours is just next level of pitifulness." He wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"Don't worry. I'll help you get stronger, recover, and prepare for the battle against that Siegfried as much as I can. You're from Bener? Never heard of your region or this Siegfried. Shows how big this world, the Orbis Terrarum truly is." He leaned forward, suddenly serious.

"First things first... tell me about your attribute." I blinked.

"I… don't know. How does one even know?" Galer palm-fisted his own forehead.

"This is going to be harder than I thought." He sighed and began counting on his fingers.

"There are ten attributes. The weakest is Soul, then Earth, Water, Shadow, Thunder, Wind, Fire, Darkness, and Light." I interjected: "Wait... you counted nine?" Galer corrected the missing piece: "Yeah, well… Blood is the third strongest, but it's also known as the forbidden one."

"Michaelanius Order searches the whole world to find anyone who has it, before those sprouts of potential danger it can grow into. That's why I always forget to count it. I hope you don't have the Blood attribute...." He shrugged.

"I have no clue what you have. The nearest church is a few days away, so we'll use the old method." Galer took a small knife, gently pricked my left index finger, and let a single drop of blood fall onto a flat metal pan. He heated it over the fire and added some dried herbs. After a few minutes, a thin vapor rose. The color that formed in the evaporation was a strange color of reddish-black.

"Hmmm… you've got the Fire attribute," Galer said, frowning slightly.

"Weird though. Never seen blackish-red as fire before. Usually Fire is bright orange or crimson in color and easily discernable." He set the pan aside.

"The next part is trickier. What your Fire attribute will actually do is always predetermined by your soul. That's why heredity doesn't mean much. Even if your father had Fire, yours will take a different approach, than his. I know it sucks... I know it best." His fists clenched for a moment, then relaxed after looking at the curious face of mine.

"Well, let's see what you're made of. We'll have a sparring session... this will show me what current skill level you are." We stepped outside the cabin into a small clearing. After exchanging a few careful placed blows, Galer stepped back, rubbing his chin in judgment.

"You've got an intense spirit, you don't give up easily. That's good. But because you only have one arm left, your style is pretty predictable right now." He smiled encouragingly.

"Don't worry about that. The moment you get closer to your Animo growth stage, things will change for you."

"Animo?" i asked curiously.

"Ah, yes... you are new to all of this, it's your spirit level. Don't ask me how to measure yours exactly; that's not my forte. We'll find out properly once we reach a chapel or church of the Michaelanius Order, or you'll discover it naturally through training." Galer gestured at the dense forest surrounding us.

"This whole area is called the Abandonment Zone of Moesia. You'll find strong enough beasts around here. You know what, let's go hunt a Spider or a Centrux, both are good starter animals to go after. It'll test your reaction speed and show me what we're working with even more, since i can judge better as a bystander." He picked up a simple wooden spear from his weapon filled barrel and tossed me a shorter one that was easier to handle with one hand, as the design was made to train with one hand in the first place.

"Ready, Erumes Flamma?" I gripped the spear tightly with my left hand. The small flame my father had left in my chest flickered warmer than before. For the first time since the escape, I didn't feel completely lost. I had now found a perfect mentor to improve with. We crossed the river at a shallow ford and went deeper into the Abandonment Zone. The trees here grew massive, their trunks so thick that three men holding hands could barely encircle them. Their canopies blocked most of the sunlight.

Soon we started seeing thick spiderwebs stretched between the giant trunks. Then a spider emerged... not small at all, as I had imagined. It was easily one and a half meters across, its legs hairy and gleaming with a faint sheen.

"Perfect," Galer said.

"Your goal today is to dodge its spin-net shots. Do not get caught." The first shot came fast. I twisted my body and dodged it cleanly, feeling a small spark of smugness in myself. The second shot followed immediately. The sticky net wrapped around my legs and started dragging me toward the spider with surprising force. It wasn't as overwhelming as the Woldrian's pull, but it was still strong. I resisted, digging my heels in and pulling back with everything I had.

Galer stepped in and sliced the net with his knife, freeing me from its grasp.

"Don't be smug," he said, lightly punching the top of my head.

"Celebrate only when you're sure you've earned it." The second round went better. I dodged six shots in a row before the seventh finally caught me. This time the pull felt weaker. I managed to free myself before Galer had to help.

"Better," he nodded.

"Next target, the Centrux. They nest in the high branches of these massive trees. I'll throw bait and they'll come diving down. When they do, focus on spatial awareness instead of pure reflex. You need to track movement from all directions at once in a small enviroment." He pulled a fat, wriggling worm-like creature from a small pouch on his belt and tossed it into a clearing. Moments later, a large feathery bird launched from the treetops.

It had enormous, unblinking golden eyes that seemed to swallow light, soft mottled brown-and-gray plumage, and powerful talons. The youngling dove straight at us at terrifying speed... easily reaching 180 km/h. Its body measured about one and three-quarters meters from beak to tail. I dodged the first dive. The second attack was smarter. It used the environment, disappearing behind the colossal tree trunks before swooping in from unexpected angles.

Its claws raked me seven times before Galer finally jumped in and chased it off with his knive coated in light.

"For the first time we can work on your spatial awareness," he said.

"Your direct reflexes are definitely above average,... probably from all those years concentrating on single tasks in the mines. But spatial awareness is something we'll build upon." Training began in earnest. Every morning we started with fishing. It strengthened my back and taught me real survival skills in nature. At first I only managed to catch two fish. I was still happy with that. By the eleventh morning, after three hours of practice, I caught three fish of different sizes.

Then came three more hours of spider dodging, with the difficulty increasing as more spiders joined in to test my endurance. After a short break, we moved to the hardest bit, the Centrux test again. For a long time i tried to dodge it, but I still got caught every single time. This pattern continued for a full month. Slowly, I improved.

At the end of the first two weeks I was catching three fish reliably, dodging four spiders without being caught, and finally on the last day of the month I managed to evade the feathery bird completely. I let it fly away unharmed. It had grown into a great training partner. The next one was now about 25 cm larger and noticeably faster, reaching speeds of 244 km/h, but I somewhat handled it well. Galer nodded with satisfaction.

"Now it's good. Let's head to one of the Moesia's caves in Dacan, a small area in the former nation of Dacram. I need some resources there." The cave was a four-hour walk from his cabin and surprisingly safe. Inside, we jumped across exposed or broken stone tiles that formed natural bridges over dark chasms. Eventually we reached a huge chamber. The floor and walls glittered with gold... piles of coins, bars, and nuggets scattered everywhere, as if someone had simply dumped them there.

Galer took only a single small piece. I couldn't help asking, "Why so little?" He smiled.

"I see you're curious why this place is overflowing with gold, silver, and osmium, yet no one comes here. The story is well known where I come from. It's used in studies to teach people to be smart and not make stupid decisions in life." He sat on a golden mound and began: "About 1, 200 years ago, this region was called Dacram, after its King Dacram the Third, whom met a Nibelungen... small, brightly shining creatures said to be playful in nature of theirs.

They love playing hide-and-seek across our world, the Orbis Terrarum. If you find one and win the hide-and-seek game or any other given challenge, it grants the winner a blessing. The king, wanting to improve his developing but still young nation, wished that whatever his people desired in currency be it silver, gold, or Osmium... would appear. What do you think happened?" I thought about it for a moment.

"Everyone became rich. No need for infighting… but also no reason to work hard anymore. Work efficiency would drop and only return to it once the money ran dry." Galer looked surprised, then grinned.

"Not bad. You're a smarty-pants. But not fully right either. In just two years the entire nation plummeted. Prices inflated wildly. Daily necessities became unaffordable. The currency lost all value compared to neighboring regions. Business died because people were drowning in so much gold and silver that it became worthless. In the end, the king killed himself to stop his own blessing from activating on his naive folk. His heir was only twelve... too young to fix the already growing disaster.

As a last resort, they hid all the excess money in caves across Dacram. To this day, the villages and cities of Dacram carry the pain of the past, broken fences, bronze pots instead of proper tools, cities without walls. That's why this country harbors so many dangerous people now. The whole region sadly fell and might never recover to its former glory."

"Interesting story," I said.

"But what about the Nibelungen? How many are there? Where do they come from?" (I lied a little. I had heard the name once before in connection with Sentrix's treasure, but I truly knew almost nothing about it and my curiosity took over) Galer shrugged.

"They're mostly just folktales, probably used to scare or inspire people. Some say the origin of the Nibelungen lies in Jeruem, on the Middle Eastern Plateau. But that place is guarded by incredibly powerful monsters. Those who wander deep inside unprepared return with no tales. Why would they give others an advantage? If someone really wants the truth, they'd have to reach the Inner City of Jeruem themselves. But like I said… it's probably just a folktale. Don't believe everything you hear.

Stories like this exist to make the impossible feel reasonable." I stayed quiet, thinking about Sentrix's hidden treasure and the name Nibelungen once again. Galer stood up, slipping the single gold piece into his pouch.

"Come on, Erumes. Let's head back. You've earned a good meal tonight."