The town of Pharsha is located just southeast of the Dark Forest. It’s a town solely for the purpose of catering to traveling explorers as their rest and for the facilitation of the adventurers.
Inside the adventurer’s guild, the Pam’s were in a bit of panic mode. The peaceful guild house was now dirtied with blood spots.
The flesh melted almost into the bone, the Pam (Healer) that was stationed in the small town of the frontier bit her lips as she tried to heal Simon’s lower extremities.
The old man had a small burn on his shoulders and arms but it was alright, he was watching them fixing the boy.
“He will not be able to walk anymore,” the Pam said with a very sad tone but she was still trying her best, her hands became reddish green because of blood and puss.
The old man though had a cold stare at her. he was listening silently as he drank a mug of beer, he was just too relaxed.
“Just remove the poison and the corrosive fluids,” the old man said.
“Are you crazy!? I will be slicing some of his flesh…-” the Pam looked at the old man but the old man was dead serious. “-Okay,” the stare made her continue, she almost dropped a tear as she continued the operation.
Another Pam was checking on the old man’s legs. His legs gave away as soon as they arrived at the adventurer’s guild house. The old man was sitting on a chair in a room inside the guild house.
All the while the guild master quickly rushed down the medic area.
“Alphecca!! I thought I would never see you again… you look bad…-” the guild master said and he checked on the boy “-oh crap poor boy!!!” the guild master saw the situation of the boy.
“Don’t worry he will recover… he saved me” the old man said.
The guild master was quite surprised with the face Alphecca was making.
“Oh for your information, they will vote for your next successor” the guild master added the information out of nowhere.
But the old man didn’t care about it, rather he was not listening.
“You’re doing sloppy work, we found Tugaks, a swarm of it just outside the dungeon south… the hell are you doing!!!” the old man scolded him.
“Come on man, heroes have been scarce in the frontier after you retired!!!” the guild master complained but that alibi was not enough for the old man.
“Then leave it to us, we will raid that dungeon south,” the old man declared.
He must be crazy, the other patients and the Pam’s doing medical treatment could tell that the old man was insane, how about the boy that he brought? What’s he going to do about him? Leave him in the guild house?
“I can’t let you go there alone… Alphecca… we are getting old!!” the guild master was at least in the sane to say this.
“Now, now, I will be bringing that boy with me so don’t worry,” the old man specifically pointed out to Simon who was unconscious.
The guild master knew that Alphecca was quite not right in his brain but the sorry state of the boy made him question how he treated the boy.
“What’s with the look? Don’t worry, tomorrow please cook as much food as you can… we will pay for it, cook as much meat as possible please,” the old man smiled fiercely.
“Why does it sound like a threat?” the guild master asked.
“You will see later,” the old man then laughed.
<--->
They had to rent a room in the adventurer’s guild. The alcoholic smell permeated in the air. It mixed in with the smell of the blood. The bed in the room was enough for two people.
The old man was drinking again after a long while, but he was not taking it well, the alcohol didn’t taste much better… maybe he ought to stop drinking now? He was watching Simon as he slept… the regeneration was not yet happening. He was fidgeting with his metal tumbler, looking at it silently.
Finally, the boy snored and the faint smell of burnt flesh and salty-like smell permeated inside the room, the boy was regenerating his wounds. “There we go! Felt quite worried there” the old man said and finally tuckered for a night of sleep, he was just beside Simon.
<--->
The next morning. The sound of cluttering plates, knives and the lively gobbling of food in the cafeteria was actually produced by a single boy.
The boy was really eating hard… the old man warned them to cook as much as they could but it wasn’t enough, the boy’s stomach was growling as he was swallowing food as soon as he could.
“Slow down kid…!” the old man said but Simon kept on eating, he had already recovered much of his flesh that was removed by the Pam that fixed him up.
The old man was eating his share of meat too.
“I’ve never felt this hungry before” Simon paused for a while, stared around with a blank face, and started going at it again.
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“From now on you are not allowed to get hit by anything… do you understand me boy?” the old man suddenly declared.
“It's okay… I heal up the next day,” Simon answered. It seemed that the boy was aware of his regeneration, that answer colored the old man’s face in surprise but he was already resolute
“I said, from now on you are not allowed to get hit by anything…!” the old man repeated it and Simon just nodded.
“We will be training here for a week and we will go raid the dungeon south,” the old man said, he made sure that everyone that was eating in the cafeteria heard it.
“Boar meat incoming!!” the adventurer’s guild staff served the 7th plate of boar meat sliced into its finest.
“Ooh!! Delicious!!” Simon said as he began digging into it again.
The old man began to notice that the boy was not eating the side greens that were served along with the meat
“Simon!!! Eat the fucking vegetables!!!” the old man demanded. Simon nodded and wolfed down the vegetables easy, the boy resumed eating again.
“Is that your boy Alphecca?” suddenly the adventurer's guild master came to them.
“Nope… let's just say he was entrusted to me,” the old man answered. Simon was too busy eating to listen to the 2 old men talking.
“He is not human… is he?” the guild master asked more.
“I don’t know… but he has different eyes and he regenerates as fast as hell,” the old man answered. “But he does look like a human?”
The old man was thinking of ways to make Simon blend easily in towns since his eyes totally set him apart… but there were still many things he must address. A reward too for the boy, he shouldn’t use the stick approach all the time, shouldn’t he?
“Oh, I want to commission a carving knife to a blacksmith, give me a discount,” the old man said and it came out of nowhere along with a haggle. The guild master nodded his head, the old man would haggle at everything.
“How much do you have?” the guild master asked, seemingly knowing how the old man operated.
<--->
The next 2 days.
The 2 would start their day early rather; the old man literally dragged Simon out of the bed.
“Wake up you slob!!!” the old man’s words, he had been taking a notice about Simon’s peculiar sleeping habits. He had been training the boy for some time now but the boy was still true to his nature.
He released some blood lust as he was really starting to get angry and the boy instantly woke up. Simon was looking around to find where it came from. The old man smiled, it seemed that he accidentally found a way to wake Simon up properly.
“Let’s go boy, we will have to go a bit far for today!!!” the old man said and Simon smiled back at him, the boy excitedly prepared his things. They are going to get the baggage that they left in the forest south.
Simon was totally recovered, even the Pams and the guild master couldn’t believe their eyes, the boy was now full of energy and raring to go.
“Thanks for everything, as an exchange, leave the Cavern Dungeon to me… we will push it deep after a week of training, rest assured, also could you save this room for us, we will come back at night” the old man handed his hands for a shake and the guild master happily shook it.
“Understood, Is the boy going to be alright? Don’t be harsh on him okay?” the guild master said.
“Don’t ever tell me how to raise that boy… I’m going to do it my way… see you later,” the old man said. The guild master worried for the boy and even the Pams who was listening to them.
“Sir, who is that old man? Why are you so respectful to him?” one of the guild staff members approached and asked this.
“That is Alphecca of the sword of light, the last hero of the era… the man who pushed the dungeons so far that its effect can even be seen now… we live in these peaceful times because of him” the guild master answered.
The guild staff and the others were quite surprised. It was rare for the guild master to speak of praises. The guild master knew that the dungeon south was a new dungeon that sprouted. It was just 10 years old. He had sent for heroes in the central but no one came, the Elford was too busy in maintaining the lands, and their forces were spread thin.
“That boy… he will survive for sure… probably” the guild master muttered as he went back to his room for paperwork.
“Sir actually I found something strange when I was healing the old man,” the Pam suddenly opened up a conversation, Pam usually did a quick scan on their patient before healing them, it was just an SOP
“What’s it?” the guild master asked… his eyes widened as he heard it “Send the findings to the magic tower,” That was the order of the guild master.
“But it would take weeks or even months, we don’t know how long,” the Pam said complaining he was concerned with the condition of the old man.
“Trust me… put my name under the letter,” the guild master sighed as he left the scene and went back to his office.
<--->
Their things were still there, the old man left them in a hurry for Simon a day before but the meat bag was already ransacked, probably of a beast. The smell of the bodies of the tadpoles was bad, the 2 began cleaning up, it is important that Simon understood the purpose of this.
It was an emergency earlier but usually, adventurers or even knights would bury or burn the carcasses of the monsters they hunt. Since there was a water stream nearby the old man decided to burn them all to avoid contaminating the water, like the ones they did with the bandit’s corpses but before that, they had to extract usable parts of the monster like its skin and the fluids.
They finished around mid-day.
They had to carry a lot especially the rough skins and armor-like hide from the 2 large Tugak, it was an impossible task. Instead, they built a small shed to put it inside for a while and they would hire adventurers to collect them later. The old man really knew his thing as he taught Simon the basics of carving and weathering monster skins.
It was already deep in the night when they arrived back in the adventurer’s guild. They sold the parts they brought back and posted a job for tomorrow. In this opportunity, the old man went to teach Simon the currency.
The old man lined up the coins they had. There were 3 Large Gold Coins, 1 medium Gold Coin, 2 small gold coins, 60 silvers, and 10 bronze. The currency that was generally used in the whole continents was called the Imperial Crown system some call it crowns some Imper for a shorter term.
l Large Gold Coin = 100 silver coins
l Medium Gold Coin = 50 silver coins
l Small Gold Coin = 10 silver coins
l Silver Coin = 50 bronze coins
“You look like you don’t know what I’m talking about?” the old man checked Simon's face... Simon stared at him while scratching his head.
“I want to take a bath,” the boy was not even listening.
“Little shit!!!” the old man lightly tapped Simon’s head.
After taking a bath near a well just outside of the guild house the 2 ate, it was really late in the night so the old man had to cook their own food, so he taught Simon some of his culinary knowledge.
They were eating outside looking at the stars.
“Tomorrow we will resume training again, it seems that you are quite good at dodging boy,” the old man said as he took another sip of the soup he made.
“Yeah… I can feel something in a direction then when it's coming I dodge it!!!” Simon said trying to explain what he experienced during the battle with the Tugak.
The boy learned well in action rather than theory which was quite annoying since the 2 were the same. Unconsciously the old man was fidgeting with his metal tumbler again, tracing its carved designs as he was listening to the boy.
Simon had been noticing this “Why do you always touch that thing?” the boy suddenly asked, The old man smiled and put it back on hanging on his waist.
“Nothing boy… force of habit…” the old man said this like an excuse.
The old man needs a ball… no... a lot of it, a small room and a stick… the training will start tomorrow. The old man had a plan on his mind.