“Move out of the way, you fool!”

These words, uttered harshly, jerk me out of my daydream as a man’s hand roughly grabs me by the cuff of my shirt and pulls me backwards. I would have turned to ask what the man’s problem was, or to apologise if he were from a noble house, were it not for the horse-drawn carriage that races past, only inches away from me. Realising that I had only just narrowly avoided serious injury, I turn around, shamefaced. Before me was Uncle Tim, resident hunter of the town, one of the few people I would consider family. He was not related to me by blood, but he treated me very well. We first met when he was hired as an instructor by my parents, and later on, gave me work and pay to help me supplement Rufus’s meagre paychecks.

“Sorry, Uncle Tim, I got distracted” I mumble, nearly unable to hold the man’s infuriated yet concerned gaze.

“You better be! If you got hurt, who would help me out at my tannery, huh? When I gave you a day off, it wasn’t so that you could break your bones. Fool! Idiot! Take better care of your health, or else… else… You’ll see! Nevermind that, what had you daydreaming so much?” Tim shouts, nearly taking my ear off at the start, only to dwindle down to a more conversational volume.

From the corner of my eye, I notice the wide berth the crowding is giving us. There are also some slightly curious looks at seeing a respectable figure like Tim shouting. With a sigh, I decide to indulge his curiosity as well as take this conversation more private. Seriously, what was I doing? Thinking about the future while subconsciously trying to prevent it? I really have my priorities mixed up, it seems like perhaps I am more worried than I knew.

“I’ll tell you about it in a while. Please join me for breakfast. My treat, If you hadn’t been around who knows how badly I’d have been injured. The usual shop?” I offer, already thinking about how to present my case to Uncle Tim.

“Hah! If it’s your treat, I’m fine with anything. Even if you insist on the Graceful Wind! Let us go then. I’m both hungry and curious to hear what had you so muddled” He barks out with a laugh, giving me a pat on my back and starting to walk. I roll my eyes at his joke about the Graceful Wind, as if I ever had enough money. We being walking to our usual breakfast place, a homely diner a street away from the tannery where I usually work.

We reach the place in a short time, with the travel being mostly conversation free. Uncle Tim was not one for meaningless talk. As for me, I was occupied in ordering my thoughts and deciding what I wanted to do. In the end, both of us were content to just enjoy the sounds of the bustling town as we walked. We settled in one of the dining booths and ordered our usual fare for ourselves, a mix of beans, bread, eggs and crispy bacon. I had the eggs cooked on both sides as I wasn’t one for an oozy yolk, whereas Uncle Tim had it the usual sunny side up way. Accompanying our dishes, Uncle Tim had a steaming hot glass of coffee, while I had milk.

No longer able to put off the conversation with the excuse of food, I look up at Tim. I see him chewing his food, yet he is obviously waiting to hear me out. Inwardly I wonder how fair it is for me to continually ask him for help, especially after all that he has done for me.

“Uncle, I really appreciate how much you’ve been looking out for me. Without the work you’ve given me, a weak, powerless kid like me would have been lost. Even today, you helped me out. There’s something on my mind recently. You knew my parents, right? Uncle Rufus has been telling me stories about how strong they used to be. Normally, a child of a person with powers will usually get one of the powers their parents had, and in some cases even stronger power.”

I pause for a moment, gathering up the courage to ask Uncle Tim for a favour. As I do so, I notice the joviality usually present in his eyes shift to a more stern look. Nevertheless, I press on.

“Please don’t mistake me as ungrateful. I deeply appreciate what you have done for me. It’s just, I have no strength, you know? I feel like even if I don’t have any powers, I should have at least some strength. I don’t mind working for it, I just don’t know how to. Would you please, please consider having me on your hunting team as a helper? I’ll help with anything, really. Cutting, cooking, cleaning, anything.”

By this point, my eyes are already closed, expecting an outburst about how ungrateful and greedy I was being. I open my eyes, wincing, expecting Tim to be fuming. Instead, I see an amused grin, the stern look in his eyes replaced by pride now.

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“Good, I was just about to smack you had you asked for a handout. I understand your situation. That same sense of powerlessness was what made me go pester my dad to teach my hunting skills at such a young age, and we all know how that worked out. Were it anybody else, I would flatly refuse, but for a reliable kid like you, I’m willing to give you a chance. Given that you will be one of the few without powers, even in the hunting troupe, you’re going to have to train twice as hard. You need to be one of the top 3 trainees within a year. That’s the baseline I’ll be expecting from you. Got that?”

I feel surreal. I can hardly believe that Uncle Tim is willing to have me train as part of the hunting troupe. Me. A 16-year old without any powers or skills to his name. My eyes water just thinking about how kind this man is to me.

“T-Thank you. Please, I have nothing I can give you, but I swear I’ll go beyond your expectations. You have no idea what this means to me. Thank you.”

I can feel tears of joy beginning to pool in my eyes. Uncle Rufus will definitely be so happy when I tell him the good news. He was always telling me “don’t lay around without making something of yourself like a certain old cripple”.

“I’m glad you appreciate it. I know you won’t let me down. To be honest, I have rather high hopes for you. I believe no matter where it is, you will be able to find your potential and use it. You have it in you. Now, shall we continue our breakfast? I don’t know about you, but the thought of how much training you’re going to need has me hungry.”

I chuckle sheepishly and nod along, and we both continue scarfing our food down in relative silence. Uncle Timtreats me to the meal as a “welcome gift”, and gives me the details for tomorrow. A hearty pat on the back later, I’m left alone as he goes and returns to whatever he was doing before he met me.

I make my way back to the small house Uncle Rufus, and I call home. Calling it a house is more of a history reference, as it has since deteriorated so much that only someone of our means would move in. I’d like to say that we have done an excellent job of fixing up the place, but it’s more likely that its a single bursting pipe away from collapsing. A rather small affair, it only has a single room and bathroom with the living room integrated with the kitchen. Small, but I prefer to call it homely.

Knocking on the door as I enter, I switch on the kerosene lamps placed around the house and set aside the groceries I’d bought on my way back.

“I’m back” I announce, wondering if Uncle Rufus was back from work.

When no response greets me, I shrug to myself and get around to fixing up lunch and dinner for the two of us. Nothing fancy, but filling enough. There were times when we could hardly afford anything, but with Rufus’s recent promotion and my work at the tannery, we’ve managed to make ends meet. Thinking about those times where a thin watery gruel with a few strips of cabbage was all we would have, 3 times a day still makes me shudder. Fortunately, I’ve got just the thing to get my mind off of it and to celebrate my good news: a few beautiful thick-cut strips of bacon.

I fry them up, intending to snack on them as I continue preparing the ingredients. For a while, the only sounds are the sounds of the stove, the slight whistling noise of kerosene lamps and the noise of the chopping board. Eventually, about an hour later, the dishes are simmering away on the stove, and I finish my last bit of bacon as I wash my hands. While waiting for the food to cook and for Rufus to come back, I mentally run over my physical fitness routine.

It was something I’d only learnt of recently. To be honest, for someone as desperate for strength for me, you would think that I’d have learnt of such training earlier. Unfortunately, I hadn’t, and it was only until recently when someone in the tannery had told me how he got his muscular body that I learnt of it. When I first started, it was definitely tricky and quite humbling to know how weak I was. Now a few months in, I was definitely much fitter and felt more muscular. Still, I knew that I was likely not training optimally. Nevertheless, I was happy with the progress.

Motivated by thoughts of training as part of the hunting troupe, I managed to push myself to new heights, squeezing in a little extra exercise near the end. Now that my muscles felt like they were utterly wrung out, I knew I was done. I had a quick shower, pouring cold water over my head and then scrubbing with a rough cloth. As I left the bathroom, I heard the door opening. I quickly towelled and dressed before going to see if Rufus needed help.

“Hi Uncle, anything you need my help with?” I ask, looking to see if his wooden stump was hurting him today from the way he favoured his right leg when it happened. Fortunately, it seemed the doctor’s salve was working.

“Nothing for today. How are you, nephew? You look particularly happy today. What happened? Did you get a raise?” He asked as he hobbled through the door, closing it behind him. Sometimes, it pained me to see what was once a valiant warrior, almost titled, reduced to this state. Whenever I think of that, I simply reaffirm my determination to grow stronger and to repay this man who single-handedly raised me for the past 9 years.

“Oh Uncle. You don’t even know. Sit down first, I’ll get you some tea. I have something important to tell you about.”

Soon after, both of us are seated on the only couch we have in the living room with our drinks held in our hands. I tell Rufus my story and the way his grin split his face and his proud smile just about made everything worth it.

“That’s wonderful. Bless Tim for giving you a chance, and you for working hard enough for it. I knew your extra hours at the tannery would give him a good impression of you. Good on you. Be careful, though, of both the animals and the people. The Hunters is a rather coveted group, and some people might be jealous of you. Not to mention the beasts you might run into. Take care of yourself alright, a young man like you needs to live nice and long and start his own family.”

I smile, nodding while disregarding what he said near the end. I knew he meant well, but in my opinion, without enough strength, I didn’t feel like I had the right to focus on anything else. I get his views on the things I planned to bring with me to training. It was likely that the first few weeks would have us training only during the day, before shifting to a more practical full-time camp where we would stay at the training grounds. We converse about all kinds of things that the hunting topic brought up. Memories, lessons learnt and cautious tales.

The day eventually passes, and I fall asleep, dreaming about the things I would do if I were strong enough.