“Good morning Yori.”

“Good morning, mother.”

The slender boy walked through the door of the charming kitchen, raising his right arm to block out the light from his hazel eyes. The morning sun shone through the window overlooking their small family farm, revealing the tint of orange in his shaggy, light brown hair. He wore an off-white tunic and baggy brown pants, done up with a leather belt. Inquisitive eyes surveyed the view outside, adjusting to the abrupt brightness by raising a hand to block the glaring sunbeam. The window faced the quaint barn, sun glinting off of the few spots on the hinges that were not rusted. A small field sat nestled behind it. It stood in contrast to itself; the untouched light brown soil on the left of the barn, the dark brown of freshly tilled soil on the right.

“Why don’t you grab some breakfast and go help your father. He mentioned yesterday he was going to plow and perhaps fix some fences this morning. We have to get the fields ready for planting if we want food on our plates.”

His mother glanced at him with a smile on her face as she prepared him a bowl of food, her own hair of a similar tone held in a haphazard bun above her head. Shallow wrinkles graced her kind features. Mrs. Yoshinaga’s simple blue dress was slightly worn, and hung on her loosely. Aware of all of the work that needed to get done today, the woman placed a bowl on the table promptly, sliding it in front of a pulled-out chair, and urged the boy to eat. Yori took his mother’s advice and swiftly ate his breakfast of porridge and bread. A slightly rusted faucet sat above their large wooden sink. After clogging the hole in the bottom of the basin with a cloth and a rounded puck of wood, his mother raised her right hand, touching a blue-tinted transparent crystal about the size of a person’s thumb with her fingertips, which sat on top of the faucet. The stone softly emitted a blue light, which was mostly blotted out by the sunlight. Water began trickling at first, and then pouring down the pipe leading to the sink. The water was crystal clear. After a few seconds she removed her hand and the flow of water stopped. Grabbing a plate from the counter to her right, she rinsed it in the cool water as he wolfed down his food, and dried her hands on her stained apron. After thanking his mother for the food, Yori headed out in search of his father. The sweet spring air greeted him, making him excited about the day ahead. It may just seem like chores to others, but to Yori it was a life he thoroughly enjoyed every day.

Like his father always said, “Nothing beats hard work, patience, and the accomplishments that come with them.” Yori had learned in his sixteen years to embrace this ideal. The feeling of accomplishment that came with a harvest was second to none.

I should go say hello to Autumn first.

Yori hopped down the run-down wooden steps of the family home’s front porch. Using his left hand, he steadied himself on the chipped wooden pillar that supported the porch awning, and headed towards the barn. The building was painted deep red, but many years had passed and most of the colour had chipped away from wear and weather, leaving large patches of grey-tinted wood poking through the dull colour. The faint smell of manure wafted up to his nostrils as he breathed in the crisp air, taking a deep breath to welcome the day. Making his way over to the large wooden door of the barn, he grasped the rusted handle and pushed it aside. Flakes of red paint drifted to the ground as the door creaked open. Yori walked over to a stall that was open to a small grass field behind the barn and reached his hand down to pat the animal standing by the stall gate. A beige sheep tilted its head upwards towards the boy, anticipating his arrival.

“Good morning, girl, I’ll come by later on and give you more oats, and maybe a treat too.”

This was his routine every morning. The family could not afford much but they had some sheep and chickens for clothing and eggs. His mother was quite skilled at weaving yarn, and often would sell items in the town.

Yori found his father out in the field plowing, making slow, but thorough progress. His brow was furrowed with effort, sweat already beading on his wrinkled forehead.

It seems like every year the work wears him down faster.

Yori was solemn as he thought about his father, eager to relieve some of the burden.

“Hey dad, need a hand?”

“Oh, morning Yori. I’ll be alright. Your sister’s finishing up her chores, then she’ll whip me into shape.”

His father spoke without taking his eyes off of his tilling. The man wore the same thing he wore every day; torn brown overalls and a beige long-sleeve shirt underneath. A tattered brown hat was tucked into his tan leather belt.

“Haha, don’t let her bug you too long, she needs to practice her magic.”

Yori leaned into his left arm and crossed his arms, passing off his sadness with a joke.

“It’s not long until she’ll be heading off to the Academy in Esaron, right?”

“Yes, I know, but she’s still my little girl. It may be selfish of me, but I want to spend every second I can with her before she goes off to the big city life and leaves us behind.”

Yori’s father looked grave for a moment, then quickly shook his head and continued working. Yori eagerly attempted to cheer his father up.

“It’s ok dad, it won’t kill her to fall a little behind. And she won’t forget us just because she’s been Blessed by the God of Fire. I’m sure she’ll be back to visit as often as possible! You, on the other hand, might just keel over if you don’t let me help you with the plowing.”

Yori did not quite believe his own words, but he smiled reassuringly.

“You might be on to something there.”

The sturdy man finally stopped and looked up at him, wiping moisture from his face with a worn cloth dangling from his waste. A tinge of pain flashed on the man’s face before regaining his composure. His orange hair looked like fire, illuminated by the sun behind him. He fumbled with the cloth, the stiffness in his joints becoming apparent at handling the small item. The small stained cotton fell from his hand, resting on the tilled ground beneath him.

Saddened by how much pain his father was in, Yori immediately bending to retrieve the material for him.

“Thank you, son. How about you go grab Naoki? That boy’s the size of a bear, we’ll be done in no time with his help.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. I think he enjoys it anyways.”

“Of course he does, he gets to escape that nagging mother of his. Not a hair can be out of place with that woman.”

Yori and his father joked back and forth for a few minutes, both hoping these days could go on forever. The young man reminisced about days spent with his best friend, Naoki. They were often asking the boy if he wanted to help around the farm since he seemed to like it, and his natural strength made Naoki excel at the physical labour.

Naoki’s house was on the other side of town, albeit it was a small town. As Yori walked the short distance it took to get to the abode, he took in the sights and sounds around him as he made the short journey. The sun peaked over the wooden rooftops, bathing them in warm light. Many of the roof slats on the houses in the village were worn but still sturdy. Anyone could tell that care went into building these houses years ago when the area was first inhabited by humans. His eyes wandered to the ladies chatting at the small market, hearing one of them mention his sister. The women noticed him and smiled, then continued their conversation, more guarded than before.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. His little sister was getting quite a bit of unwanted attention, mostly in the form of jealousy from the other villagers.

Ignoring the women now, Yori glanced at the faint glow coming from the floating crystal in the middle of town square. The sky-blue stone hovered over a small garden. The stone was about the size of his head. It glinted in the sunlight with wisps of magic glittering around where the sun struck the stone. The blue glow from the crystal was dampened by the sun beating on it. This was a monster core; the source of the barrier surrounding, and protecting, the small village. Yori was well-aware that no village could survive without one. It alone was credited with allowing humans to create civilizations without being destroyed by the monsters that lurked throughout the world.

As he approached Naoki’s well kept house, Yori quietly wondered whether they would make the time up having an extra person for the day. He was certain that his father had ulterior motives for sending him to visit his friend. Yori’s parents were far too kind and often put too much on themselves for the sake of letting their children relax.

I’m not a boy anymore though. I’ll have to make a life for myself eventually.

If he had received anything other than the Blessing of the Villager, he would already have finished school and would be working on his own, a life his sister had to look forward to.

Knock, Knock

A woman opened the door, towering over Yori. Her smile caused slight wrinkles around her gentle brown eyes. Her black hair was neatly pulled back in a half ponytail. The woman quickly smoothed a crease out of her white apron and simple green dress.

“Hello, Yori. Looking for little Naoki, are you?”

“Yes, Mrs. Taguchi. Not that anyone other than you calls him little anymore.”

The two of them chuckled.

“He’ll always be my little boy no matter how big he gets.”

She turned her head away from him briefly and shouted, her voice echoing up the wooden stairs. A baluster was missing towards the bottom of the rail.

“Naoki! Yori’s here!”

“Thanks mom, I’m heading out, I’ll see you later. Hey Yori!”

As Yori and Mrs. Taguchi exchanged pleasantries Naoki walked out the door to join his friend. Naoki’s frame towered over Yori, similar to his mother, but to more of an extreme. He was quite massive, his muscles protruding from beneath his clothes like an adult warrior’s. His messy dark brown hair and beige shirt with a hole contrasted his mother’s pristine appearance. The burly boy made Yori look like a child in comparison despite being the same age. The young men waved to Mrs. Taguchi and headed towards Yori’s family farm.

“You know, you should really learn to ask why I’m here before saying bye to your mom one of these days.”

“Pfft, it’s spring. I’m sure your dad could use a hand on the farm. Especially with your scrawny arms.”

Naoki teased his friend about his small stature as he squeezed Yori’s bicep for emphasis.

“Plus, you know you don’t even need to ask me for help.”

“You’re lucky you added that last part, I was about to smack you upside the head with these scrawny arms.”

Yori raised his right fist and flexed, placing his left hand over his bicep. Naoki smirked at this remark and pretended to be scared. He raised his hands in front of his faced to protect himself from the imaginary onslaught, his auburn eyes glinting in amusement.

Naoki’s robust strength always astonished Yori. They had been best friends since they were small children. When Naoki was younger he was sickly and little, often relying on Yori to help him. The roles had reversed now though, causing Yori to always feel like he was taking advantage of his friend, who followed him without question. To others it was apparent how grateful Naoki was to his friend for being there for him when they were younger.

“Hey, we should stop by the market and see if there are any baked goods for sale today! Can’t work on an empty stomach, right?”

Glancing at his friend, Yori shrugged lightly and smirked.

“Sure, if you want. Although it’s not like my mom wouldn’t feed you. You just want to be eating at all times, I think.”

They veered towards the few stalls set up on the other side of town square. Houses and a couple of stores lined the square, all in desperate need of repairs.

“Yori, Naoki! Could I ask a favour of you two!”

Their gibes were interrupted by a frail voice calling to them from one of these adjacent houses. The boys turned to see one of the villagers, Mrs. Handa, standing in the doorway of her house. She extended a wrinkled hand and waved at them. The woman’s gray hair was pinned up in a white bonnet, a dark blue dress adorned her hunched posture. She took an unsure step towards them, leaning heavily on the wooden cane in her left hand. Naoki’s face lit up with delight at her request. She always had some chores for them to do in exchange for sweets. She was a lovely old lady that everyone in the village respected, but her husband had fallen quite ill. The boys knew that she had a hard time taking care of him all by herself and did anything for her. Nothing was too much of an inconvenience if it was for Mrs. Handa.

“Hello Mrs. Handa, is there something you needed help with?”

Yori inquired as they approached, jogging towards her to limit the amount she had to walk. They stopped in front of the woman as they got close, entering the shade of her longstanding house.

“Did you make any more raspberry pie, ma’am?”

“Oh Naoki, my dear boy. Always thinking with your stomach, haha. I would love to make some for when you return. I’m afraid these old bones are not treating me well this morning. I worry that I may not be able to complete the walk over to the pharmacy to pick up the medicine for my husband today. We are just about out and he can’t manage without it. Would you boys be so kind as to get it for me?”

“Yeah, of course. I know how important it is that he has his medicine.”

“Oh, thank you, you two are so kind to us. I will be sure to make you something to take home with you when you bring back the medicine.”

She handed them a coin purse, and patted Yori on the head with her left hand, following it up by patting Naoki on the upper arm.

Everyone in the village knew that Mr. Handa was not long for this world as it was. Yori was aware that without the medicine he took daily he likely would not even make it through the night. Not only was this a truth not easy to face, but the medicine had cost the Handas their life savings, adding more stress to their delicate situation. Noaki and Yori were wise enough to recognize this. Whenever they did chores for her they always brought her some food that she would make into a delicious treat and share with them. It was their way of tricking her into accepting gifts from them without feeling like a burden. Once they were out of earshot of Mrs. Handa, Naoki piped up.

“You know she can’t afford to keep buying those herbs.”

“I know, but her husband can’t live without them.”

“Well, if that useless son of hers would send her money, then she wouldn’t be in this situation. The guy’s got a blessing from the God of Light and is in the military. I’m sure he can afford lots more then his poor old mom. Maybe we should ask some of the villagers to donate even a small amount to help them out?”

“You’re not wrong, but I haven’t heard anything about him since he left for school.”

This thought made Yori think of his sister.

She’ll be leaving soon too.

“You know how it is, people with real blessings don’t really like to associate with us Villagers. Even if it’s their own parents.”

“That is a good idea, though, about the donations, but do you think that would embarrass her at all?”

“Maybe, but there might be something else we can do…”

This was all too common a story in the village of Oseford. Being a small farming town there were few jobs for people with specific skills and abilities, so when someone was born with a Blessing from a God, it meant leaving the small town to learn at an academy and getting a job utilizing their talents. This would soon be the case for Yori’s own younger sister, but he tried his best not to think about it.

The two of them started heading towards the market to purchase the herbs for Mrs. Handa when Yori suddenly stopped, a pensive look furrowing his young brow. He proposed a new plan to save the woman some money.

“I saw some of the herb Mr. Handa takes, but it’s outside the shield.”

He looked up at his friend to gauge the response to his foolish thought.

“Outside the shield? Are you crazy!? We’re just villagers, we’ll be killed. There’s a barrier for a reason, you know.”

“It’s not as if every inch of the world is covered in monsters. We’ll just be cautious and keep our eyes peeled. If we come across any danger, we’ll run back to the village. We shouldn’t have to go far; I could see them from inside the barrier.”

Yori knew it was practically suicide going outside of the barrier without a proper blessing and leveling up a few times. The shield was a type of magic generated from a monster core to create a barrier to keep monsters out. It was an invention that led humanity from the brink of destruction to the founding of it’s first country, Mothein. Naoki was right though, Mr. Handa needed those herbs but couldn’t afford it much longer, and they did grow very close to the shield.

“Ok, let’s do this, but we have to be really careful.”

“Haha, I knew your heart was bigger than your head. Follow me.”

The two scurried to the outskirts of town, keeping behind the houses to remain unseen. They jogged with caution, trying to be as quiet as possible. They knew if anyone caught them, they would be in for an earful. Hoping to avoid a confrontation with a fellow villager they looked around them often, checking their surroundings to ensure they were alone. No one was around that they could see.

Naoki and Yori peered at the shimmering, transparent wall in front of them, a part of the bubble-like barrier that wrapped around the small village of Oseford. Squinting through the barrier, Naoki pointed to a small patch of a tall, thin plant up against a tree not far from them. They would have to walk about thirty feet to get to the herb, but it was right in their sight. There were no monsters visible at the moment. It seemed as if they would actually be able to reach the herb in relative safety!

Yori looked over at his friend and lowered himself, bending his knees slightly to begin his sprint to the plant.

“Ready?”