As expected, I found Aurel at the pub, but I wasn’t planning to drink today, I had a different reason for being there. I scanned and found the hunter I was looking for, he was with a group of people making merry. I was half tempted to wait for when he was alone before meeting him, but I didn’t know how long this would go on, so I decided to simply get it over with.
“Sir Rigle, may I have a word,” standing behind his chair, I called out to him. He turned to look at me, from the confused look on his face I could tell he did not recognize me; I was a little surprised.
“Oh, if it isn’t the lord's son, I wonder what business you have with Rigle,” one of his companions said.
Once it registered in Rigle's head who I was, he looked shocked, then apologetic. Your face is still as expressive as before huh, I thought, stifling a chuckle.
We went outside for some privacy, then I told him my business. He repeatedly apologized for not recognizing me, but I wasn’t offended and wondered why he was so apologetic, it wasn’t like we were acquaintances that met all the time. I usually employed his services to help me hunt once a year, and the practice started two years ago when Titus stopped taking me and Aurel to hunt with his hunting party.
Rigle was a quintessential hunter, having a wild look and scarring on his body one could only get from fighting monsters. It was rare to see warriors with scars, amongst the veterans that were part of the recruits I was training, there was only one such warrior. The reason for this was the presence of mages on the battlefield. Most warriors were healed on the battlefield so they could keep fighting, but there were a lot of hunting parties that went out to hunt without having a healer. Rigle's hunting party was one such party, and his body told the tales of the many battles he'd been in.
We agreed to set out very early in the morning, though I was a little worried about whether I would have father's permission before the agreed-upon time, I resolved myself to accept the consequences even if I didn’t. I went back in the pub to tell Aurel of the arrangements I'd made and caution him not to get too drunk and drag us down during the hunt.
All my business conducted, I headed back to my sleeping quarters; I needed to be up early to prepare for the hunt so I needed to sleep early, though the sun had set for a while already, it was still relatively early for me to go to sleep. Laying on the mat in my room, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep; no longer burdened by the fear that engulfed me the past few nights right before I closed my eyes. Just one night of good rest, just one night, that was all it took for me to forget the nightmares.
“You're here,” I heard that familiar voice before I was aware of anything, and the voice was like a cane of light that beat back the darkness surrounding me, dragging my awareness to the room the voice originated from, and it was a very familiar room too.
The old man sat opposite me drinking that black liquid from an exquisitely crafted porcelain cup—coffee—that was what he called that drink the last time I was here.
“Again?” I blurted out, that simple question containing all my emotions, my frustration, my confusion, all present in my voice.
The old man simply laughed, set down his cup, and then looked at me, nodding with satisfaction. Why… what are you looking at I wondered.
“I was examining you. It seems you have assimilated perfectly with your memories, that is good,” he said.
My memories?
“Yes, your memories. Did I not tell you last time? The dreams you have been having, they are your memories, I started the process of assimilation earlier to speed up your progress, but to protect your sanity it needed to happen while you slept so your mind could readily accept the memories,” he added.
I didn’t understand, but I wasn’t bothered by that, I had never understood the words this old man spoke. But I recalled my conversation with my sister and was determined to at least figure out his identity, so I tried to focus on his face, to make out his face, but I couldn’t. It was an odd feeling; I felt like I knew his face well, it felt very familiar, but even as I was looking at it I couldn’t remember it well, it was like a distant memory that was banished to the far recesses of my mind, vague and undefined.
The old man was laughing, I was so focused on trying to make out his face that I wasn’t aware, but his exuberant laughter finally registered. Why is he laughing, did I say something funny? But, I didn’t say anything I thought to myself.
“No—I just find your actions funny. I must say, watching you brings me so much joy. My… my days can be somewhat wearisome. Humdrum days pass by, I stay here and I watch and wait, wait for when you finally get here,” the old man spoke with a look of nostalgia on his face, it was odd, I couldn’t see his face but I could recognize the emotion on it. “Dragging you here and meeting like this is breaking my own rules, but these interactions are so much fun, as I do not get to interact in the same way with anything or anyone; sadly, it must end here. Your journey is about to begin and if I interfere further than I already have I…”
“My journey?” I interjected, “What does that mean?”
“Go back, live your days just as you have been, you will naturally come to find your purpose,” he said, waving his hand. My consciousness was swept away and swallowed again by darkness, and when I opened my eyes I was back in my room. I shivered, as the cold breeze blowing through my window hit my skin that was sleek with sweat. I circulated mana throughout my body to warm myself as I got up to prepare for the day's hunt.
I went to the armory to pick my weapons, hunters were heavily armed; even though every hunter had an assigned role it is understood that anything can happen when battling monsters, so they were armed with all kinds of weapons. I chose a good sturdy bow, a large quiver with plenty of arrows, a sword, and a few daggers. After checking to make sure the weapons I selected were in good condition, I headed over to the gate to wait for the other hunters—I’d woken up earlier than I planned to, so I knew I was going to wait a bit.
Wonder what the old man meant, what journey was he even talking about? I still don’t know who he is. What was so funny that made him laugh like that?
Inevitably my mind drifted back to the dream I'd had. I was filled with a lot of questions and as was always the case whenever I met the old man, I got only very vague answers that always filled me with more questions whenever I got them.
“Brother, where are you?” I heard my sister’s voice ask. I was so grateful for the interruption as my mind was beginning to spiral, the more I thought of my encounters with the old man, the more questions I had.
“I'm at the gate, I'm waiting for the hunting party I commissioned to arrive before I set out. How did the experiment go?” I asked.
“It went well, though when we tried adding [sharpness] to the weapon the rune had a bit of issue, but we figured it out. Father was very impressed, seeing as he was in a good mood I asked him to grant you permission to go hunting and he did,” my sister said, from the way she sounded, I could tell she was a little tired.
[Mind talk] was such mysterious magic. There are no sounds, the magic works by searching and linking with the mind of another, and the linked parties communicate using their inner voices. However, except for cases when the emotional state of a speaker is extreme, the inner voice shouldn’t be able to transmit emotions and inflections in the voice, but [Mind talk] did. I always found that to be somewhat of a mystery, and even though I knew magic theory well, I didn’t know how this magic did that.
“You sound tired, you should get some rest. I don’t know how long I'll be gone, but I hope we make it back before the first rainfall. I'll see you when I get back,” I said. My sister cut the link afterward.
Not long after that exchange with my sister, I saw Aurel walking towards me. He was wrapped in fur to protect him from the cold winds, in fact, looking around a lot of the people about were wearing fur too. Thinking back to how cold I felt when I woke up, it was understandable. It was basic for anyone who trained to be a mage to be able to circulate mana through the body to protect them from weather changes by adjusting their body temperature, so most people not wearing fur were likely mages, though I didn’t recognize any.
“How long have you been waiting?” Aurel asked, standing in front of me, looking slovenly.
“Not too long. Did I not tell you not to drink too much?” I asked.
“I didn’t, don’t worry, I may not be able to keep up with you, but I won’t slow the others down,” he replied with a grin on his face.
The hunting party, led by Rigle, arrived not long after Aurel did. Rigle was the leader of the group of four, there was a female who primarily used a bow and two other men. Rigle was the oldest in the party, he was well into his 40s, a true veteran hunter. The woman was in her early 30s and on the slim side. She was a tall woman with blonde hair. The other party members were not much older than me.
“I thought we were right on time, sorry if we kept you waiting,” Rigle said to me.
“It's fine, we got here early,” I said, waving my hand to dismiss his apology.
“You've gotten a bit taller,” Mileena— the only female in the party—said to me.
“Yes, I'm taller than you now, you can no longer make fun of my height,” I said to her, smiling from ear to ear as I spoke. She being a tall woman, she'd always teased me on our hunting trips, and the last time we went hunting I found it a little unbearable. Thankfully, even at twenty, I was still growing, and now, a year later, I was taller than she was.
“OK, let's do a final equipment check before heading out,” Rigle said, then started disarming to check all his equipment, and we all followed suit. “OK, final check completed. Now, to confirm, we are headed for the Ulssa mountains, our prey are Willows. The trip to and fro should take about three days, hunting should be completed within a day, so we'll be gone for four days. Is everyone ready?”
“Yes,” we answered Rigle's question in unison.
“OK, let's head out. Remember, monsters are unpredictable, and the Ulssa mountains can be dangerous with some powerful monsters lurking, always be on your toes and never let your guard down,” Rigle said as he began walking towards the gate.
Following behind him I got a little excited, I rarely ever ventured outside the settlement, and for good reason. With a Lycan settlement so close to ours, venturing out was risky. Though the Lycans didn’t attack the settlement outside of their moon festival, they sometimes attacked at random outside the settlement. Counting the time Aurel and I snuck out to hunt the Lycans, and the hunting trips I'd been on, I have only left the settlement a total of fourteen times. That was why I always looked forward to going hunting.
