After forming my dantian my life did not change drastically after my lessons with Aitkens, I now spend some time building up my dantian.
When my father is around, he will sit in and share some insight or give me some guidance but for the most part it is really meditative practice.
Additionally, I do some shaping exercises that help to develop my magical control but those are really hard and boring. My parents have encouraged me to not perform any spell as without a dedicated magic teacher it is easy to lose control and things can rapidly get out of hand. My father doesn’t have the time to teach me as he has his job leading the fiefdom. So, most of time in the afternoons are spent exploring the area around the house and seeing what the servants are up to or helping my mom with whatever she is up to.
One afternoon while I was exploring our property, I notice an herb growing that looked a lot like thyme.
After I tasted it, I realized it was thyme! As I continued around, I notice that there seemed to be a lot of other wild herbs in the area. The cuisine that is served in the house mainly relies on salt for flavoring. I should investigate why there is not more herbs in our diet when they seem readily available.
Back at home while eating dinner before I could ask about the herbs my father had a question for me. “why are you not eating any meat Aurum” my father asked.
I had been a vegetarian since college in my past life and meant to stay the same in this life.
“Dad while looking through your books I notice some health almanacs mention the health benefits of eating grains and veggies, and there is a prominent mage, Grantham that noticed a trend in people who ate the most meat. He noticed that the people who eat the most meat are the unhealthiest. So, he stopped eating meat to see if he would become stronger. After not eating meat for a year he noticed that he had indeed become strong, healthier, and felt better. So, I think it is a good idea to do the same experiment for myself” I responded.
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My father chuckled “how novel, that is an interesting hypothesis I wish you luck with your experiment son.” I can tell he’s humoring me.
“Thanks dad” I say with slight sarcasm.
“Dad why are there so few herbs in our meals” I ask. “What do you mean” he asks. “While I was in the woods, I notice that there seems to be an abundance of herbs that are not utilized in our meals” I respond. “Is there?” my father responded. “I’ll ask the chef about it and see what he says” “OK” I say and leave it at that.
The following day my mother and I make a trip into the nearest town of Burnsburry.
We took our carriage which was painted in a nice brown lacquer and pulled by two strong horses.
Accompanying us was a maid to help my mother with anything she needs. The maid was pretty with slight stature, brown hair, and pretty brown eyes. Her name was Maryanne. The trip didn’t take us long only, with us only being a few miles from town.
The town was prosperous and clean. Most of the industry revolved around being agriculture and a good spot that people had to stop when traveling across the land. With a population of around 45,000 it was of decent size. The building consisted of mainly of wood with western style architecture. The carriage stopped at a dress store where my mother planned to meet with the shop owner and discuss the different things that she needed. I had the privilege of accompanying her on her talks. Which mainly consisted of discussing the fashion of the capital.
But spending the day with my mom was the important part, and she showed me the town afterwards. Mom didn’t actually buy anything today but was maintaining a relationship with the store owner so she could always have first pick on clothes from the capital.
When father returned after work we sat down for dinner. My father with his neat kept beard and my mother with her immaculate hair both looked very dashing today.