"Luz, I'd like to lend you some books as a reward for participating in one of my experiments," Simon commented while he took out a bunch of books from one of his bookshelves.
The books were all dusty. But that was mainly because of Master Simon not touching his old beginner books for ages.
“Taking out these old books awakens some old memories,” sighed Master Simon.
"Thanks, but I think this may be a bit too much," Luz replied as he looked at the stack of books.
"Nah, Nah, Nah. These books contain all the basics for your level as well as most of the elements," Simon replied.
"I have no interest in most of the magic directions," Luz sighed.
"Still, you should give them all a read. You might like one of the books," Simon replied.
Before the two knew it, there was a knock at the door.
"Alfred, come in," Simon called as he opened the door for Alfred.
"I see you are well, Luz," Alfred remarked with a smile before stating: "Please follow me, Luz."
Luz nodded before following him, leaving Master Simon's mage tower.
"The children, as well as I, have been worried about you," Alfred told them.
"But why? You don't even know me," Luz asked, confused.
"The children may not know you well, but many of us would be worried about a new member being involved in a magic experiment after his first day. What I want to tell you is not to repeat such stupidity. So much could have gone wrong," Alfred sighed before glancing at Luz.
"Are you even aware that Master Simon couldn't even try this experiment successfully on an animal, let alone a human being? Do you even realize that neither Master Simon nor Master Brian knows what the long-term consequences of this might be?" Alfred remarked, shaking his head.
"I am aware of my stupidity," Luz admitted.
"Enough talk. Time for you to eat your lunch," Alfred replied as he led Luz into a small canteen.
Luz didn't expect that so many people were working under Master Brian.
"Grab a plate and get what you want to eat. It won't cost you anything," Alfred said before moving on with the pile of books.
Luz strolled through the cafeteria and was amazed at the amount of food it offered. The variety was great, around ten different types of dishes or so. He failed to recognize any of the served meat and vegetables. Did they import it from a foreign country, perhaps? As he walked through the cafeteria, he felt impulses shooting through his body upon standing in front of some of the dishes.
A strange voice in his head told him, 'this one!'
Astonished, Luz took a small portion of the dishes.
'If my stomach wants it, then it must be something good.'
He ended up sitting next to the boys with whom he shared a room. The kids chatted and occasionally asked how he was doing, to which he replied as usual. Luz's body seemed unsatisfied with three servings and asked for more.
"Well, I haven't eaten for several days, and that's why I'm probably so hungry," Luz muttered to himself as he went for his fourth portion.
On the way back, three people joined him, two of them being girls and one of them being a boy.
"You're already overdoing it with the food," replied the boy with a smile, trying to start a conversation with Luz.
Luz replied with a chuckle, "I'm just catching up on what I've missed in meals."
"That's right. You were the one who was used as a guinea pig for several days," said one of the girls, a black-haired girl.
"Yes, and it was horrible," Luz responded.
"Tell me more about this experiment and what happened there," asked the boy excitedly.
"Sorry, but I don't think I can tell you the exact information. However, I spent several days lying in a water tank with several cables connecting me to all kinds of machines," Luz answered as he continued to eat.
"Spoilsport," uttered the girl, who had been silent until just now.
"Anyway. By the way, my name is Francis, the one with black hair is called Alice, and the one with brown hair is called Anne," Francis said.
"My name is Luz," Luz answered.
"Well, let us know when you become a beginner mage. We could maybe hunt together than in the forest," Anna suggested.
"I would love to do that with you guys," Luz replied.
The parasites in Luz's body, on the other hand, used their time to deprive him of a large number of nutrients to promote their own growth. Most of the nutrients ingested were merely absorbed, converted into energy, and stored in the parasites for future use.
After the meal, Luz was called by Francis, who was supposed to explain his task to him.
"Sorry, I'm not the best at remembering names, but you were Luz, right?" asked Francis.
"Yes, I'm Luz," Luz sighed in response.
"Good, follow me. I'll take you to the place where you'll be working for the next couple of weeks," Francis announced. Luz followed him, and after 10 minutes, they arrived at a field near the edge of the forest.
"In summary, you're supposed to work in the fields and protect the workers. The things that we harvest here attract a lot of monsters, so you must make sure that they don't attack the crops. Don't worry, they're mostly small creatures like rabbits. If we're unlucky, we'll also have to deal with a pack of wolves," Francis told him.
"Sure, but to be honest, I have little experience with hunting, and the only weapon I have is a blunt dagger," Luz replied, embarrassed.
"We didn't expect you to have a weapon either. Well, it's time you start learning how to use a crossbow," Francis replied with a smile as he opened a box and took out a crossbow with some arrows.
"Fortunately for you, you and I are on the same shifts for this week. Starting with next week, you'll be solely responsible for the field for a couple of weeks. If you do this job well, there's a chance you'll be assigned somewhere else," Francis told him.
After about 10 minutes of explaining, Luz had the hang of roughly how to use the crossbow, even if his aim was not the best, he was shooting arrows regularly under Francis's care.
"Make your crossbow master Francis proud and hunt a rabbit for him when we spot one running across the field," Francis ordered him, nearly chuckling.
"The most I can manage is to chase away all the women," Luz replied with a smile.
Francis and Luz saw a couple of adults, as well as their children, that were younger than Luz's youngest brother, working in the field. He, himself, was walking along the edge of the forest with a crossbow leaning on his shoulder, and less than 30 minutes later, he saw the first hare, which had white fur and red eyes.
This one was within 20 meters away from him, and Luz slowly aimed at it with his loaded crossbow and fired. Only a rustling sound was heard before the arrow pierced the rabbit's back, causing it to shriek but unable to run away as it was pinned to the ground. He slowly walked towards it while his body was telling him to devour it.
"Congratulations on your first trophy. You'd better take it to the canteen later and let the cooks prepare it. They'll do it for free as long as they get to keep the fur," Francis told him as he gazed at the rabbit, which was the size of an adult skull.
"Bites and scratches from this rabbit can cause wounds to fester due to the germs it carries. Don't be fooled by its innocent cute appearance," Francis told him.
A shiver ran down Luz's spine before replying: “Thanks, Francis. I won’t be fooled by its appearance.”
Thx for the chapters!