Although I had seen some villages as I was flying overhead, I wasn’t sure how this one compared. It seemed decent enough since all the houses were in good repair and no one was obviously malnourished.

I wasn’t a history buff, on top of the fact that this was a completely different world, so I couldn’t really tell you if this was normal or if there was something special about this village. At the very least, it appeared to be a relatively well off, clean, and quiet countryside village.

. . .Or it would’ve been if not for the village guard screaming bloody murder as he ran around like a chicken with his head cut off.

After Alex/Caleb had collapsed and passed out in his arms, the guard had picked him up and immediately sprinted into the village, calling out for someone named “Elder Huga”. As he ran up what could charitably be called the main road of the village, villagers had begun to gather along the path or poke their heads out of windows and doorways. I heard them whispering among each other, “Was someone attacked?” or “Are there beasts about?” seemed to be the most common concerns while parents hastily shepherded their children back inside.

Finally he came up to a house near the center of the village that, unlike the rest of the houses in the village, was decorated with animal bones and odd sigils or runes. There was an older woman, short with black hair tied in a bun and looking to be somewhere in her mid-forties, hanging bundles of leaves on a wire outside.

The scowl she had on when she turned to see the guard vanished as she saw the body cradled in his arms. She quickly ushered him in and directed him to lay the boy on a table at the back of the room. Most of her house seemed to act as a dedicated hospital with several beds lined up next to each other, shelves filled with assorted tomes, vials, and jars, and a workbench in the corner with more of the same.

“Get Harry and Lucille, NOW!” she shouted at the, still somewhat shocked, guard. And, as quickly as he came, he was back out the door and into the village, thankfully without any shouting this time.

Before the guard had even left, the healer had already begun cataloging and examining my host’s injuries. He was mostly fine thanks to Gaia’s power, but he had lost a lot of blood before he died and it made his injuries look worse than they actually were.

In fact, as “Elder Huga” wiped the blood and dirt away from the cuts, her eyes widened in surprise as she saw how small the cuts were. Still, she bandaged him up and carried him over to one of the beds so he could rest.

Suddenly, the door burst open, nearly coming off its crude hinges as a group of people were framed in the doorway. I was not surprised to see Mr. Loudmouth Guard among the faces. I was surprised to see that he was not the one who busted open the door.

At the head of the group was a man with short brown hair, a bushy beard, and a body covered in well tanned, working muscle. Just behind him was a woman of similar height and colors, but was slender to the point of looking almost unhealthy. Finally, there was an older boy who looked similar to the man, whom I was coming to realize was likely Caleb’s father, although he had a little less muscle and his growing beard needed work.

The dad, I think the elder called him Harry, saw his son on the bed and nearly ran over to him, but Elder Huga stepped in front of him, putting a hand on his chest.

“He’s alright, Harry. He looks worse than he is and I was just about to put together a poultice when you came in.” Her voice was calm and even, putting to bed the worst of the thoughts that were probably going through the father’s head right now. And, although the looks of worry and concern in their eyes never left, the family seemed to take a collective sigh of relief at the healer’s assurances.

As they did so, she took her hand away and let them approach and take to either side of the bed, looking down at Caleb’s bandaged and bruised body. The healer stepped over to the workbench and started mashing some herbs with a mortar and pestle.

For a moment, silence reigned in the room save for the tapping of the pestle, before the father broke it.

“H-How did this happen?” Harry asked, his voice and body shaking with an obvious mix of sorrow and rage. I could see his fists clenching and unclenching, warming up, as he turned to the guard who was still in the room.

The guard just shook his head.

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“I only saw him when he was coming up the path from the woods. Kid looked like he’d walked through the hells and back, just to collapse when I finally got to him.”

Harry looked back down at his son. The mother, Lucille, was down on her knees as she tearfully brushed hair out of Caleb’s face.

I didn’t know if I should feel proud or guilty. Their son, the one that they had seen and talked to that morning had died, viciously beaten in the woods. I had brought him back in a sense, but he wasn’t and never would be the same.

The Earthling, Alex, had inherited most of the remnants of Caleb’s soul, his very essence of being. Although he seemed to be having some identity issues in the woods, I hoped he would be able to come to terms with his new situation.

I watched as Elder Huga took a break from her craft to bring over some chairs when it was becoming obvious that they were all going to be staying a while.

“. . .If only for their sake.” I thought, as I also buckled down to wait.

&&&&&&&&&&

It was hard to tell how much time had passed since they didn’t exactly have clocks here. The guard had stayed for a little while but soon left to resume his duties monitoring the village gate. And the not-quite-boy-not-yet-man, assumedly Caleb’s older brother, had left to look after the house after being dismissed by his parents.

Looking through the cracks in between the boards of the walls, I could see that the sun had fully set and darkness had blanketed the village. Crickets and cicadas did what they did best, making noise, off in the distance, present but not annoyingly loud.

I tried looking outside the house, to explore the village a little, but it turns out my awareness is tied to my host. I hadn’t realized this because I was still getting used to my new sense, but it only extends out to about 5 feet away from my host. I could see and hear farther and with better accuracy than a human because the bubble of awareness essentially acted like one massive eye, ear, and everything else wrapped into one.

I had traded independent mobility for being one giant sensory organ. Great.

Everyone’s heads snapped to Caleb as he groaned awake, looking around dazed and confused.

“Where am I?” he asked, barely a whisper. His father leaned over his bedside and put a hand on his shoulder, keeping Caleb in place when he tried to sit up.

“Stay down, son, you’re still hurt. You’re in Elder Huga’s place. Do you remember what happened? Who did this to you?”

Caleb’s eyes were still unfocused as he looked from his father’s face to the room he was in, seeing the many items and decorations that made the house look like a witch’s hut. He looked down at his own body and I felt his dismay through our link. Clearly he had hoped this had all been a dream, he wasn’t dead and still back in his old life. Unfortunately, this was very much real.

He looked back at his “dad” and slowly shook his head.

“It gets all foggy from when I went into the woods.” He lied. Another thing I could tell from our connection apparently. I didn’t know what he was thinking, it seemed to me if he knew which kids beat him up he should just tell them and let the parents hash it out. Then again, I was fortunate enough to never really be bullied when I was a kid, so maybe he had a plan?

Harry was silent for a moment before he dropped his head and sighed in resignation. He put a weak smile on his face and tousled his son’s hair. “I’m just glad you’re back home with us.”

Another pang of guilt struck through me, echoed by a similar feeling from Alex/Caleb.

“You and me both, buddy.” I thought.

Elder Huga took the lull in touching family moments as her chance to step forward, taking a place on the other side of the bed across from Harry and Lucille. She had the jar of leafy mash she had been working on since earlier, which, as far as I can tell, really was just boiled and mashed leaves.

“How are you feeling Caleb?” she asked, as she unwrapped the bandage on his leg, revealing several bruises and cuts. His parents were shocked at the injuries and looked at the many other bandages on Caleb’s body.

“Hurt,” he replied, “really hurt.” He winced as she took a small wooden paddle and began to spread some of the poultice over the wounds.

I watched the covered wounds like a hawk, expecting to see them heal in the blink of an eye, only to be greatly disappointed when Elder Huga finished with that leg and moved on to his other. I guess medieval medicine is still just medieval medicine no matter what world you’re in.

My hopes of fantastical creatures and adventures having been tempered by cruel, cruel reality, I turned my thoughts inward.

When I took Gaia’s offer of becoming a system, I had been under the assumption I would be like all the ones I’d read about back on Earth. But, as I was right now, I was just plain weak. With the amount of causal energy I was getting from my host, it would take decades at least to get to any truly superhuman feats. And that’s assuming I use what I’m getting full sale on making him stronger or giving him superpowers.

But. . . maybe this is better. I have all the time in the world, right? A few decades of watching a medieval peasant reality show, gathering energy, then taking on a new host, and repeating until I grow enough to be like the systems I had read about.

I took a mental breath and turned back my focus to the loving and happy family that surrounded my host. Alex/Caleb, or really just Caleb at this point, seemed to quickly be getting used to treating these people as his family. A calm and simple future of Caleb watching over the fields, falling for one of the village girls and having a bundle of kids flashed before my metaphorical eyes.

Well, this was fine too.

Finally, Elder Huga finished spreading the last of the poultice mix over Caleb’s wound, the deep green gunk covering a large portion of his small body.

“Now,” she said, spreading out her arms, “let’s get you better, shall we?” A bright verdant light emitted from the spreads of poultice as the wet mixture rapidly dried and withered. I watched as the light funneled down into Caleb’s wounds, reducing the swelling of his bruises and stitching the cuts closed.

Caleb looked on in wonder as the light brushed away his pains like a candle chasing away shadows. Meanwhile, Harry and Lucille had a mostly non reaction to the spectacle, save for a look of relief seeing their son healed.

Soon, the light died down as Elder Huga lowered her arms, small beads of sweat having gathered on her forehead.

I had but one thought in my mind.

“. . . . . yeeeEESSSSS!!!!!!!”