As a short knife fell towards him, Theodor reflexively reached for it with his left hand and grabbed the blade. Without a sound, the knife disappeared into his palm as he raised his right arm above his head. With a flick of his right wrist the knife was flung back into the air above him. I’m getting better at this, he thought. After doing this a few more times he caught the knife but did not throw it back up. Instead, a tattoo of the knife appeared on the back of his left calf.
Theodor sat up from his bed and looked around his large room. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread at the thought of cleaning up the clutter. Being the town’s best hunter’s son had its perks but more area to clean was definitely a draw back. Around the room were different piles of objects, from small weapons to books, that Theodor had practiced his power with. While not overly disorganized, everything was at least in neat piles, there was little one could think of when seeing this besides that’s a lot of crap. Aside from the small clutter, there was a half full dresser and a bed in his room.
With a small amount of resignation Theodor stood from his bed and began to get ready. He didn’t care much for appearances so without so much as flattening his short and unruly brown hair with his hands he quickly chose what to wear. He changed from the shirt he was wearing to one that had long sleeves and changed from shorts to pants as well. He figured he should cover the tattoos that the items left on him. Looking into a mirror, he checked to make sure there were no tattoos left on his face. While there were no tattoos, his dark brown eyes looked at the scar across his right cheek he had made when first testing his powers. Objects only go through hands he thought to himself.
Theodor placed the mirror he was holding back on his dresser and went to leave his room. Being 17, he now had other responsibilities he had to take care of besides staying home all day. Most kids in town began working earlier, around 14, but his parents always had a soft spot for him. That, and becoming the local hunter was dangerous until he had been properly trained. “By Nythra let today be exciting” he whispered to no one in particular. With that he opened the door to his room. “I’m going to hunt now,” he said as he stepped through the doorway.
“Finally,” a woman who looked to be in her early forties said. “I thought you were going to spend all day in your room this time. Get going before it’s too late, there’s some bread on the table.” Looking at his Mom, Theodor couldn’t help but wonder how he ended up looking like he did. While he wasn’t bad looking, somewhere slightly above average, he was in no way comparable to his parents. With light brown hair and amber eyes, his mother was still the talk of the town while in her forties. His father too, with his short brown hair and beard along with his muscular physique, was the target of more than a few jealous men.
Though they have shown nothing but love, it was hard to not compare himself to them. He tried not to think about things like this but the intrusive thoughts won most days. Trying to push these thoughts away, Theodor slung his bow over his back and picked up his quiver. “Don’t worry, I’ll come back with a good catch tonight” he said as he took the bread and headed towards the door. “And I only need to check the traps today anyway.” On the other side of the open door was an overcast day that brought a small smile to his face.
After leaving the house, Theodor walked through the town towards the forest's entrance. The town of Ervheta was a medium sized town, a population of around 5,000, and one could tell when walking down the road. Buildings of similar design densely lined the streets he walked. They mostly seemed to be made out of wood with tiled roofs, save for the buildings that were used by professionals that used strong fires or the wealthy. While the building not made of wood exuded wealth and quality, the wooden buildings had decorations to try and draw in customers.
A stone building that looked like it was not trying to draw customers in was what caught Theodor’s eyes. He slowed to a pace he believed wouldn’t draw attention while looking through the front window. He quietly read aloud a sign on an inner wall, “Ervheta Runesmith’s.”
Inside the store, there was only a woman behind a single countertop that was the length of the main room. The few customer’s inside were looking through catalogs of what Theodor could only assume were runic spell names. He had never been inside the store since one had to pay a substantial sum to enter, and even more to learn the desired rune. He passed this store most days, trying to imagine what the spells inside would be capable of. Magic, used through the drawing of runes, is known by all to exist, given to humans by the Goddess sisters Mythra and Nythra, but most don’t get to see it being used. He has only seen rune magic a few times in his life. One being when his father taught him the rune for hiding one’s presence when hunting and the other when he accidentally drew the rune that gave him his power a year ago.
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“Hey! What are you starin for?!” Someone angrily yelled, snapping Theodor out of his thoughts. Turning, there was a large man who could have been mistaken as a bear angrily walking towards him. He was in a well tailored suit that he still managed to have bursting at the seams with only pure muscle. The suit seemed to be screaming for help and the man didn’t look any more comfortable than it did. He had a clean shaven face with neat hair but his kempt appearance did little to dissuade others from being frightened by his appearance as his hands were covered in scars and there were a few scars below his glaring eyes as well. This, coupled with his height being 6” 5’, made for a man that wasn’t to be taken lightly. Theodor hadn’t noticed he had stopped walking while looking into the window before this man noticed him. “Did you not hear me?” The man barked at Theodor.
“Oh, sorry. I had zoned out. I’ll leave now,” Theodor said to the man, “sorry.” Theodor tried to walk past him but he was stopped by a large arm in front of him.
“Why were you starin?” the man said while blocking the path.
Before Theodor could say anything else, a shorter man came from the store and placed a hand on the large man’s arm. “It’s fine, David. He didn’t mean any harm,” he sighed, “look at how uncomfortable he is. Just let him leave.” He finished in a friendly tone. This man was a head shorter than David but spoke to him as if he wasn’t.. He had medium length deep red hair and a clean shaven face free of any markings. He was also wearing a well tailored suit but his did not look out of place, but rather like the suit was the natural thing to be worn.
David looked at the smaller man and began to say, “But sir, we don’t kno-”
“David. It’s fine. Let him go.” The smaller man ordered in a less friendly tone.
He motioned with his eyes to the group of people that were now gathering around them. Whispers wondering what Theodor had done to be stopped could be heard from the crowd. David looked embarrassed for a moment before he moved his arm to let Theodor pass by him. Theodor looked at the both of them for a second before leaving. The streets that Theodor took after that were rather empty, though that was because he was then taking the side streets. The main road still had a natural hustle and bustle of people lined up at stalls and going in and out of store fronts.
Since most don’t leave town, most everybody knew everybody so there was always a loud chatter that Theodor liked to avoid. Theodor hadn’t recognized the two that had stopped him but he didn’t try to think about that for now. He had hoped that their quick altercation would be soon forgotten and that he wouldn’t have any trouble later.
Theodor pushed the thoughts about the strangers to the back of his mind and stopped at another brick building in a secluded part of town. Above the door, a sign reading “Last Chance Tonics” hung. Opening the door, a voice said, “Hey Theo,” in a whimsical and drawn out tone. Before his eyes could adjust to the sudden dimness of the room, the voice continued, “need the usual? One nutrition and one stamina?”
The store was somehow both clean and dirty. All the tonics were wiped down and neatly lined on the shelfs but there was a grimy feeling around the room. This was no doubt from the room blocked off behind the counter; the room where the tonics are made. They offered a wide variety of good effects but could be dirty, and dangerous, to mix well. Many avoided this profession for these reasons. Despite that, this was the only tonic shop that Theodor trusted to at least keep the grime out of the final liquid.
“Yeah, just the usual please.” Theodor replied, rifling through his bag for some coins. He took them out and handed them to the woman behind the counter. “Thanks” he said as the woman handed the already prepared bag to Theodor.
“Hey, no thanks needed. You did pay me, you know.” The woman jokingly said. While she looked like a disheveled mage without the pointy hat, she had a proud air about her.
“I know, but thanks.” Theodor replied. Without anything more to say, Theodor headed back out.
With no more places to visit, Theodor headed to the forest in earnest. Buildings became more sparse as he walked and people became less frequent. By the time he reached the edge, there were only a few people in the streets, most of which looked like they slept outside the night prior. They stared at Theodor, but not for long. He had passed by them so often that many no longer cared to try and watch him as he went through.
Rushed footsteps caused Theodor to ready a knife in his palm with his power. “Theo!” a dirty child called out as he saw who had come to him.
“Casey,” Theo said while stopping his power and moving the knife back. Theodor reached into his bag and pulled out his bread. “I brought some bread today. Hope you aren’t too hungry.” He said while looking at Casey. Casey was obviously hungry but gratefully took the bread from Theodors outstretched hand.
“Thank you!” Casey said.
“Don’t worry about it.” Theodor said while giving Casey a warm smile. He bent down and whispered to her, “and go to the usual spot tonight, I’ll give you something from today's catch. Don’t let anyone else know.” Casey smiled at Theodor and used her free hand to lock her lips with an imaginary key. Ruffling Casey’s short hair, Theodor stood up straight and said, “Now get going.” With a nod, Casey ran back into the alley she came from. Theodor gave a glance to those watching from the sides of the street and they turned away.
Being on the outskirts of town, Theodor didn’t need to go much further to reach the forest after stopping for Casey. Not paying attention to much else, he reached the edge of the forest. Tree’s one hundred feet tall towered over Theodor as he took the first step into the forest. Already, he could hear the lively sounds of animals from everywhere in front of him. Stopping, he lowered himself into a crouch and drew the rune to hide his presence in the air with magic power. It took a few minutes and intense concentration to draw the rune. Once the rune was finished, but before it fully activated, Theodor reached out his hand and absorbed the rune into his right palm. A tattoo of the rune was clearly in the palm of his hand. He clenched his hand and thanked Nythra and all the practice he had done. Concentrating again, Theodor drew a second rune in the air but let this one activate, hiding his presence from most things. With his rune cast, he stood and walked into the forest.
Crouched, behind him in the distance, two people followed unnoticed. David, and the man that had stopped him.