Elydes

Chapter 11

People were adaptable and Greenside citizens were no different. Both the original and new population accepted their new reality.

The previously frenzied activity fell into a predictable routine. None were more bored than him. Kai had not made any new friends.

Exploring alone wasn’t fun and he still didn’t feel safe outside of the main streets.

Kai walked home exhausted, he had gone for a swim and bit off a little more than he could chew. Today he had to cook dinner—which consisted of a few boiled vegetables and fish. It was a sad meal, but while he had never been good at cooking, Kea was even worse.

Alana got home with Eleni half an hour later and the family got together to eat dinner.

“Thank you for cooking dear, it smells amazing,” Alana said with a smile.

Such a liar.

Kai inwardly rolled his eyes. He appreciated the sentiment, but the best he could aspire to was a bland smell and taste.

“Yeah, maybe in a couple of years your dishes won’t taste like sand,” Keandra remarked in a whisper loud enough for everyone to hear.

“You’re welcome to cook next time,” Kai said, glaring at her.

“Oh, I think I will.”

She never backed down.

“Are you also gonna pay for a healer after we get food poisoning?” He wasn’t going to let her win so easily.

Kea looked at her empty glass disappointed, “Next time you cook I’ll remember to bring a glass of seawater. It can only improve the taste.”

The back and forth went on for a while before Alana pacified the situation. Eleni ignored them, long used to their bickering.

“Kai, would you come walk with me?” Alana asked, after dinner.

Kai followed her outside, his mother wanted to talk with a bit of privacy that their house's thin walls didn’t allow.

“I’m sorry I argued with Kea, even if she is the one who started it.” Kai apologized halfheartedly.

Alana smiled amused, “That is nice to hear, but this wasn’t what I wanted to talk about.”

Greenside was only so big with not many attractions. They could either go towards the cultivated fields or the sea. This time they chose the latter.

They stared at the blue expanse sitting on the rocky shore.

“Kai, remember after you got Mana Sense we decided to get you a teacher in time. With everything that has been going on… well, things clearly didn’t go as expected. But now I’m looking for someone.”

Kai had to take a moment to remember what she was talking about. After they had been forced to move, he had already made peace that it was never going to happen.

“Mom, it’s fine, I don’t need a teacher. I can wait a few more years.” Kai said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Don’t worry about the money, I’ll find a way to make it happen.”

It was nice that his mom wanted to help, but he knew that with three mouths to feed they were barely scraping by.

“Mom, I don’t need one. I can train fine by myself.”

“Honey, it would be a waste not to cultivate your talent. It’s not only about learning about mana skills, improving your skills will also give you the XP to enhance your race faster.

“I know you’ve already reached your first enhancement a while ago and are on your way to your second. Don’t you want to reach it quicker? I remember you asked how to increase the number of skill slots. Well, the only way is to advance your race grade to Orange. Trust me, sweetie.”

Now, that explains a few things…

Kai took a moment to digest the new information, he would have much to think about later.

Even if it was tempting, he was firm in his decision, “You don’t have to worry mom, I’ve already had my second enhancement, I can do it by myself.”

His mind was still thinking about all the implications of the new revelation. Maybe that was why he didn’t immediately notice his mother had gone silent. When he looked up, he realized his blunder.

“How could you not tell me you have already reached the peak of Red, Kai?!” Alana stood up in a scolding pose.

Before Kai could stammer a response, she had started pacing back and forth in front of him.

“It’s my fault for not noticing, how could I not think of it? I should have acted sooner…”

Kai could almost see Alana’s brain going into overdrive as she found ways to take all the blame somehow.

“I’ll look for someone first thing in the morning. No, I can’t settle for someone not worthy, I’ll find the best teacher on this whole island, it’s decided.”

“Mom—.”

“Don’t worry, no sane mage would refuse such a talented apprentice.”

Kai tried to argue, but no matter what he said, Alana wouldn't listen. He was only able to make her promise she would not bankrupt their family. However, as he saw her make calculations in her mind, he was sure she planned to take another job.

Damn, my stupid mouth.

It wasn’t like he didn’t want a teacher, but with what they could afford he didn’t expect much. Even if he was a genius—which was debatable—he didn’t believe someone would teach him for free. He long reasoned that if he showed his real progress, he could probably find someone who would want to invest in him, but there would be strings attached.

On the plus side, he could freely boast in front of Kea and make her green with envy.

* * *

It was late summer when Kai was deeply tempted to shout his status aloud to shut Kea up. After her seventh birthday, she started tormenting him relentlessly with everything she could now do.

“Kai, why don’t we compare how much Life Experience we got today? Oh, right you can’t! You have to wait a week. How could I forget?” Keandra posed a shocked expression, struggling to wipe the smile off her face.

“I’m so sorry,”—she didn’t look apologetic one bit—“why don’t we check at the beginning of the week then?”

Kai took a deep breath and ignored her, but it didn’t deter her in the slightest.

“Oh my, I forgot you can’t even change the time and it’s still stuck to the random day and time of the week you were born.”

She was more relentless than the waves crashing on shore. She learned he got a Mana skill and this was her chance to get back at him for being better than her. His only regret was not having teased her more when she accidentally found out.

He ran out of the house before Kea started her monologue on notifications for the third time.

She never cared about any of the intricacies of the Guide before now and made fun of him for being a bookworm—they didn’t have the word nerd here. Now she suddenly had to tell him the most insignificant thing she could do.

Before long he had to get back home. She was still waiting there like a cat watching a mouse walk to his inevitable demise.

“Don’t worry Kai, one day you’ll be as great as me. I mean, I’ll be even greater then, but you know, I can’t help it.” Kea patted him on the shoulder.

Kai wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of a reaction, “Didn’t you have to go out to do your thing?”

“Your thing, you mean my celebration for reaching seven, that you are too young to go to. That super important ceremony in the life of any person?”

“Yes, that dumb tradition I’ll also do in a year and a half. When. Do. You. Leave?”

Kea smiled, “I was waiting for you to come back to go. Don’t. Miss. Me. Too. Much.” With a laugh, she was out and his ears could finally rest.

Once each season, all the children who recently reached seven and unlocked their first seal participated in a ceremony that symbolized their first step toward adulthood.

From then on kids were encouraged to think about the profession they wanted and work towards it. The ceremony was about taking that responsibility and asking the spirits of the islands for guidance, or something along those lines.

It was just a boring tradition that he wasn’t allowed to see.

Eleni had stayed at home to keep him company, which made him feel only more pathetic.

After a bit of convincing, he agreed to let his older sister help him prepare lunch for when Alana and Kea came back. He might learn something to prove once and for all that his cooking abilities were superior to Kea’s. Following his older sister's instructions Kai got to work.

It didn’t turn out as good as he hoped, but the vegetables had not been overcooked and the fish was crisp. He had no idea how their mother made it taste so much better, only using salt and a few herbs that grew in their garden.

At least he was able to use the food to shield himself from Kea’s pestering. After she came back, she acted as if she somehow became an adult in a couple hours.

Thanks to the spirits his mother saved him when they were done, “Kai, help me fill the water containers.”

“Yes, mom.”

5 years in this world and I still miss tap water.

It was very tedious having to go to the creek to fill buckets of water each day.

Once outside, Kai noticed his mother was more lively than usual, “Kai, I have great news. I found you a teacher!”

She was the picture of excitement, Kai suddenly felt worried, “Mom, did you sell our house?”

“Obviously no—.”

“Did you take a loan?”

“I told you I would find someone we could affo—”

“Did you maybe sell Kea to someone?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, yo—”

“You’re right, no one would buy her. So how did you find me an ‘amazing’ teacher? Are you sure it’s not a scam?”

“Kai Tylenn.” Alana slowly spelled his name and he closed his mouth trapping countless words inside.

“Do you have so little faith in your mother?” She seemed a little hurt.

Kai lowered his gaze, he might have gone a bit overboard, “Sorry, mom. I should listen to what you found first.”

From how Alana was smiling again a moment later, Kai was reminded that Kea must have taken after someone.

“It’s not exactly a teacher…”

Kai raised an eyebrow for her to go on, maybe his first reaction wasn’t completely unjustified.

“So, I heard of a retired mage that is looking for someone to help around his house.”

“Do you want me to be a manservant and hope this weirdo that lives in the middle of the jungle will teach me something?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, first of all, it’s a very distinguished female magus. I thought she might hire me and we could bargain to be paid in lessons.”

“Mom, you can’t leave everything for my sake, who’s gonna take care of Ele and Kea?”

“Eleni found a job and I have put enough aside for a while.”

It didn’t look like his mom would back down, so Kai tried another approach.

“Where exactly did you hear of this mage person exactly?”

Alana mumbled something.

“Say that again.”

“Tally told me she ended up on her property when she was trying to get to Sylspring during the famine and she said she was hosted by a mage for the whole winter.”

“Old Tally, the old crazy hag that sells fish in the market, insisting her completely ordinary fish—a bit subpar if you ask me—is some rare magical specimen that fell from the sky on top of her house during a storm? That Old Tally?”

“Kai, who taught you to speak like that? You should pay more respect to the old members of our community.”

“You know she once dyed her fish with some strange algae for another of her crazy stories and gave food poisoning to half a dozen families?”

“Cough, that's an old misunderstanding.”

“It was two months ago at most.”

Alana had a hard time keeping a straight face at that, “Sweetie, stop arguing so well. How I gave birth to such a silver-tongue monster I have no idea. You are my son and you’ll do what I tell you.”

Over the years he understood people had a different standard for weirdness in this world. His mother thought he was very precocious and learned new words by reading his father's books.

Kai wondered if he should be worried they were developing such a strange relationship. After the accident, he stopped acting like a child and tried to be a bit more like his father. Even after all these months, it felt weird not hearing his voice in the house.

“Sure, mom, we can go. It’ll make a nice story to tell at the market.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic, I confirmed with other locals that someone is living by themselves between here and Sylspring. It wasn’t uncommon for outsiders to retire on the Archipelago even before the latest changes.”

“And she wants to hire a maid…?” His tone communicated all the skepticism he felt.

“If we wait to confirm the rumor someone else might take advantage. We need to see for ourselves and then we can negotiate a deal when we know more. You’re so talented any mage would be crazy not to take you.”

Alana became a little more serious. “I know it’s a stretch, but at most, we do a little journey for nothing. It can be a great opportunity and we aren’t going to find much better here.”

He wasn’t too convinced, “Can’t we wait until I become seven?” That was usually the norm and their situation would be more stable by then.

After a lot of back and forth, he was able to convince her to wait till spring, after his sixth birthday. It wasn’t ideal but Alana was being more stubborn than him.

* * *

Time flew and things didn’t go exactly as he planned. A week after his sixth birthday they were hiking through the Veeryd Jungle.

The path was a barely visible line on the ground, more often than not covered by overgrown weeds and shrubbery. If it didn't follow the coastline with a few cuts through the forest, they would have already gotten lost several times.

They had taken advantage of a low tide for the first portion of the way, then proceeded through this sham of a path.

The sea breeze was stopped by the trees. Their clothes stuck to their skin with sweat after the first hour. This was the fourth day.

Somehow, the further from Greenside they went the better the humidity got. That place truly was hell on earth.

There were fewer insects than one would expect since they stayed at the edge of the jungle. It appeared humans had yet to spread mosquitoes and other invasive species to every corner of the globe on Elydes. Only the pests native to the Baquaire Archipelago were present, buzzing around annoyingly close to his face, but it could be much worse.

The ‘road’ went north along the eastern coast. It used to link many small villages, but now the nearest settlement was Sylspring beyond the forest. Probably the reason why this path looked abandoned.

“Mom, are you sure someone is living here?”

“I’m sure, we must be close.”

Kai was more and more convinced it had all been a big mistake. He felt miserable, his legs were dead tired and he was all sticky from the sweat. He was just glad he didn’t stink like an adult, but the smell wasn’t pleasant.

Alana looked like she went out for a stroll by comparison. She looked a bit fatigued too, but compared to him it was as if she came out of a spa. She was even carrying all the supplies for the journey. He didn't know much about her status or profession, but she must have a higher physical focus than he thought or some useful skill.

If they didn’t find anything, he could probably use that to make her answer a few questions on the way back.

“Look!” Alana woke him up from his musings, pointing to an indistinguishable spot in the lush vegetation.

Only when he got nearer, he did notice an opening in the trees with a path as poorly maintained as the one they were on. Without another choice, he reluctantly followed. Their destination was only a short way farther. The trees opened up to reveal a small bay with a long beach with actual sand, not the rocks and pebbles of Greenside. Kai couldn’t believe his eyes.

The whole place looked like a photo with color correction, but not so much to look fake or unappealing. The plants were greener, the flowers more colorful. Even the sand and water somehow looked better.

In the center of it all, a magnificent mansion stretched along the shoreline with multiple conjoined secondary buildings. Despite its imposing appearance, the white and warm earthy tones with blue accents made it perfectly fit into the landscape.

It looked like how he had imagined the secret residence of a drug lord in the Amazon Forest would be. It probably was one of the villas the governor took inspiration to start his project, just four or five times better.

After a minute of awe, he was the first to regain his senses.

“Mom, I’m happy there is someone here, but I doubt they are going to hire me or you. I thought we would find a crazy old lady living in a hut, not someone who could buy the whole of Greenside twice over.” He had run many scenarios in his head but was still caught unprepared. They were way out of their league.

Alana recomposed herself, “Come on Kai, at most they are going to say no, it’s always positive getting to know our closest neighbor. If they are that rich, she must be a very powerful mage, we’ll never find someone better.”

“Mom, I look terrible, what impression am I gonna make?” Meeting and speaking to strangers had never been his forte.

“Kai, we are going. Remember to be respectful.”

“I’m always resp—.”

“Sure you are, honey. Also, remember not to stare too much like you usually do. And for the spirits’ sake don’t use your sarcastic tone.”

Alana didn’t wait for him to reply, grabbed his arm and started marching toward the mansion.

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