Sun peaked at Kaju’s village from the sky, wondering if it was late to see Mannat in action. It got angry when it didn’t find Mannat out in the open, and sent its bright minions in search around the village. The villagers couldn’t handle its wrath and hid in their homes while suns bright tailed minions swept through their houses, penetrating every nook and cranny, peeking inside every window and open door.

They finally found Mannat inside Sai’s house, treating the last patient, an old woman who had more hair on her arms than on her head.

None of them had left the house since the start of the treating.

The whole group stood beside the elderly woman, holding her hand, talking to her to get her through the pain. She was not one of the four serious cases. Mannat had treated them early while he was still fresh, mana pool rich and control excellent.

The old woman’s case was slightly more difficult because of her age. She was weak and Mannat would rather waste a few more minutes by giving her breaks to handle the pain than jeopardized her health. Eventually, he managed to kill her parasite, but he could sense the pressure and pain of the treatment had adversely affected her heart and advised her to take rest from physical activities and retire.

“You should rest now. Let the younger people take charge.” Kaju told her and it was quite an emotional moment because she was the only one from the first group of herb gathers still active. Others were either dead or retired.

Mannat had taken plenty of breaks in between subsequent treatments to ensure he’d have ample mana to treat the person. In his opinion, it was well worth it. Thanks to his meticulousness, no lives were lost that day.

The girls called him handsome. He made some friends. Sai owed him a favor and one hundred and sixty silver coins, which was not bad for a few hours of work.

However, his work wasn’t complete yet. He still needed to find the source of the parasites.

That was the reason why they didn’t stay long in the village after treating everyone. They left for the forest with a team of seven men including Mannat, Pandit, Kaju, 3 hunters, and a boy on training. These men Sai had chosen to help them were excellent at their job, especially the hunter with the longbow; he had keen eyes, swift hands, and excellent marksmanship. Only he was a little too proud and stared in the boy’s direction every time he killed the small game.

They had been walking for the best part of two hours and hadn’t met any dangerous animals yet. It was questionable how good they were at catching prey, but the hunters definitely knew how to stay out of the predator’s way. It was their job to keep the group of herb gatherers safe in the forest.

The forest around was sparsely populated. There the trees grew in patches. Mannat and Pandit both couldn’t keep their eyes straight. It just felt wrong to the both of them, to Pandit more so because the forest was his second home.

“You don’t like it do you?” The hunter accompanying them asked.
“Huh,” Neither of the boys had an answer for him.
The hunter laughed at their hesitation. “Don’t worry. We don’t like how different the two forests are even though they are right next to each other. It’s like god poured love onto your side, but forgot about us. Well, if you didn’t know before then you know now. This is the real reason why our two villages went to war with each other. We weren’t greedy. We just didn’t have a choice.”

Mannat knew the living reason behind the disparity between the two forests. God hadn’t forgotten Kaju’s village. They just didn’t have the devil living in their backyard. The Witch and her mana-circulating tree were the real culprits behind the disparity of the forests.

Mana was the lifeblood of the world. Mannat knew about mana’s effect on vegetation better than most. If the plants with overnight growth were any indication, the forest around his village was just a giant extension of the Witch’s garden. The Witch’s tree had created that dense forest, not God.
 
Mannat kept his thoughts to himself. He was wise and knew which secrets to tell and which to keep. The Witch’s secret was of the latter kind. Not just for the sake of the Witch, but also his mother. Because the tree didn’t grow from a seed but from the body of a ‘flower’ of the No man’s land whom even the loud-mouthed Witch didn’t dare disrespect.

Their journey continued deeper into the disappearing forest.

Sunsets at around seven pm in the summer, so they still had plenty of time to look at the valley and get back to the village before dark. The leader o their party walked five meters ahead to keep an eye out on predators.

Mannat and the rest followed him at a distance. Well, they had started together, but Kaju had fallen behind. He was ten meters behind them and followed with a stick in his hand. He was too old to follow a bunch of young legs into the forest. Those were exactly his words as he told them not to worry about him and shooed them forward.

The hunters could do nothing but follow his command. The third hunter stayed by his side to keep an eye on him and help him in need. Kaju had taught them everything they knew about hunting. Where did they have the courage to tell him about the dangers of traveling alone in the woods? The hunters didn’t want to get on his bad side. They still had much to learn from the old man; Kaju hadn’t taught them everything he knew after all. He had kept some secrets to himself. Told them he would only tell them to his successor. The only problem was that Kaju had no successor.

Now it was Pandit, Mannat, and the boy in training all walking together, following the third hunter. Pandit and the boy had hit it off since one was a complete hunter and the other was training to become one.

Mannat didn’t get lonely between them. He was glad Pandit had someone else’s ears to chew for a while. He had his senses for company, and they were blazing.

The animals that had been scared away by Little butcher from their part of the forest had made home here. Although most had returned, the forest ecosystem still hadn’t recovered. Pandit was exceptionally vocal about it, while his father’s partner had directly left the group since they weren’t catching as much as they used to. He was in it for the money; when the money dried so did their relationship. Khargosh's new partner was not so great; at least he was not a shrewd man… at least not on the surface.

“How many hunters are theirs in your village, Tote?” Pandit asked the village boy.
“There is only one actual hunter in the village, or was one until the monster killed him last year.” Tote replied solemnly.
“We are sorry for your loss.”
“Oh don’t be. It’s not like you killed him.”

The two friends looked at eachother and tactically decided to kill the topic before it could go and explode on their faces.

Tore continued solemnly. “It’s alright. Anyways, the men you met are former soldiers who returned from the army. The game has improved in the last year so they stayed around to work.”

“Are there a lot of soldiers in your village?” Pandit asked curiously.

Mannat smiled. Guess Kaju’s charms were finally working. Persistence really was the key to success.

“We don’t have the choice to be anything else?” Tote said. “There are too few jobs available in the village. You can be either a hunter-gatherer or a basket weaver. Anyone who wants to learn a job has to go to the town. No one has the money to learn books.” Tote's frustration was the reality of his village.

There wasn’t even a smithy in the village. Everything other problem was smoke and dust in front of that.

“Why don’t you learn alchemy from Deacon?” Pandit asked.

Tote snorted; it was an instantaneous reaction, as it was his go-to answer for this particular question.
 
“Don’t talk to me about that man.” The boy started with grand hostility. Something must have really happened to set him off like that. “People respect him as an alchemist, but nobody likes his character. He thinks nobody can learn from him.”

Tote looked at Pandit, causing him to flinch. The stare almost made Pandit worry if he did something wrong. Was it the way he breathed? Or did he step wrongly?

“I know you are trying to get into Deacon’s good books to learn his craft, but you’ll be better off using that time to do something else. You won’t get him through persistence. I know. I have tried. Many have and all have failed.” Tote shook his head. “And it’s not like he’s around all year long. He came around a few months ago and will leave the village again a few months later. Last time he was gone for three years. He doesn’t let anyone follow him either. Who can wait around for him to learn something that might not even be valuable unless you leave home and go to the richer states?”

Pandit’s fists remained clenched while Tote talked.

Mannat thought Pandit was being rebellious when he stopped hunting with his father after Little butcher's death. He would have helped Pandit if he knew his friend's thoughts. The Witch knew alchemy; she might not have taught Pandit directly, but she would have given him a book or two to read, and together they both could have learned a thing or two. She would have laughed at them for their failed attempts but that was how she showed care. It was the truth.

Suddenly, Mannat noticed Pandit squint and decided to intervene before the clenched fist ended up on someone's head.

“Don’t you have farms?” Mannat asked.

Tote shook his head. ”We do have farms, but they barely produce enough to meet the village's demand. There is nothing to sell. A full stomach is not everything. Everyone needs clothes on their back and a roof over their head. Coal might be cheap for those who can spare a coin, but it's a luxury for the rest of us. At least we men can hunt and earn a piece; it’s tough for the girls, especially now. The best tide caused by the monster last year destroyed the herb farms that our elders had cultivated over generations. Now they have to go deeper and farther to gather herbs, putting their lives in great risk and danger.”

Tote talked a lot and would have talked more if the party leader hadn’t raised his fist as a signal for them to stop.

The hunter turned around and nodded. “Come up. We are here.”