“You know, I choose the this life because it was easier, push, slash, block and repeat. Pretty simple right? But now I’ve got my hands in such complicated matters that I don't even know how should I start dealing with them.

New vows confirmed his innocence - most of it - but the kid was clearly hurt by air and no one else here except him can use it. Even so, I had no other way but to accept his innocence proven - even if I doubt that a family member can ever be called that - as the man's claims were backed by the Four themselves. No chance that he could evaded guilty with a play of words as I made the questions myself making sure to search for any guilt, small or big, but finding nothing still.

His "innocence", faked or not, tied my hands good nonetheless, the signed contract preventing me from actually doing something without taking the ire of the whole family to all of us without having a really good reason to. The best thing that I could, and did, was to put the boy as one of the band so the contract would also protect him in case Eann was really at fault and tried to do something again.

Now, tired and pained after a full night of questioning and heavy thinking I still have a camp to put in order, a boy to heal again and to deal with the fight that almost broke alive inside my own lines. All this because I’ve accepted doing work with the Frasan family, their extra coins not so inviting anymore with the amount of bad luck and problems they seem to carry, a discovery made too late. Briddell sounds almost fun at this point.

A question persists though, did Eann really found a way to fool the Four? If so, why would he actually revel it for such small matter? No, why would he revel it at all? Makes no sense, he would gain nothing by doing so and I'm pretty sure if someone ever discovered a way to actually do it they would make sure to keep his or her mouth tight shut. But if he is saying the truth and really did nothing, who did?

The boy definitely wouldn't be able to do something like that by himself even if he wanted to, not when he doesn't have a single spark of essence within him. And even if he did, again so, why would he? He almost died, no guaranties that someone would actually come close enough to feel the danger he was in, and yet, the frasan insists that he calculated everything, with every single step perfectly planned and made so to fool us into a bigger plan.

That from the beginning he knew his death would not come, aiming to something that we can't see yet. What is, of course, one of the most absurd things that I've ever heard, simply making no sense no matter direction looked at and yet being backed up by several vows of truth.

Leaving me, as you can probably imagine, in a not so good of a situation.

And then, just when I thought that I had enough problems already, I got two of my best men fighting at plain sight, stomping at my face by breaking the rules.” I finish, my voice growing into a loud shout at the final words.

Making a show of ruling over my false rage I move essence to the point of my fingers, controlling the branches in huge swings with fast and sudden flexes of my hands, adding some weight to my point while making sure that they are both awake and listening.

It responds instantly and at my will, the 2-3 stories high tree come alive, raging in both earth and air as the previous resting branches start moving like whips, dancing in the air at the fattest speed that I can make it non-lethal, taking the best of the rare chance to apply some punishment. A good way to make everyone remember their position in the camp and to free myself from the ever growing stress of the last few weeks.

Chance that I intend to enjoy while I can.

I make it go faster, slowly freeing the caged essence as the branches cut the air in loud explosions of sound, the hot power flowing inside my blood bringing with it the typical burst of excitement. Normal branches would crack and break, not even getting close to do such movements, but mine? Mine can do way more than just that.

In the midst of my little act I hear their screams, but oh, the explosions were so loud that it took me a few minutes to notice, how distracted of me. I slow down, stopping to hear what my so much loved comrades have to say.

“We are sorry chief, we did in the heat of moment, a little slip with no harm done, right?”

“Yes boss, no harm done, we best friends already”

“Yes, best friends, like sword and shield, inseparable”

“We know our wrongs boss, so can we go down please?” -  They scream, their voices coming loud even after the distance of forty or so meters high, making so that I can hardly ignore their pleas this time.

Crossing my arms while I stare them "down", I give them a few seconds of what I try to be an ice-cold stare and then, with the most polite and gentle voice that I'm capable of muster, say as I once more control it to go faster.

“You want to come down? Sure, good fly”

And then, it stops. Of course, at the higher possible point, and of course, freeing them from the branches at the same time, throwing both in the air. I watch as they both fly, fall, and eventually hit the ground.

Brod goes a little better, softening the earth before falling with a small thud, the ground itself taking him in its arms into a soft embrace. Fliytch on the other hand, takes it hard. There is not enough water to stop the fall nor to soft it, so he sends blood to the legs, giving it a kind of rosy red color, taking the route of breaking his fall by sheer power.

The legs, hardened by the extra blood turn bigger, with veins popping and bulging as he takes the ground head on, stopping the fall using muscle strength alone, gritting his teeth while doing so. Quite a sight, but it’ll a better one in a few minutes when the post pain starts, the small price that water practitioners pay for such gifts.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

A fast movement catches my attention however, making me turn to the Brod that started running, afraid of another round of punishment, what a fool… why would I do that? Let him escape I mean.  I lift my finger and roots crawl out of the ground like snakes, interlacing his legs as the sudden force and entangling gets him on the floor once more.

“Time for some light education punishment" - I say, I do not intend to hurt them of course, I understand what they did, and why they did but I needed them to calm their heads and to make some display of punishment to the frasan, holding them hung into a tree that can be easily seen from kilometers far was just convenient as it did both at the same time.

Still, even because they have a good reason to act doesn't mean that they act like idiots and put every single other member in risk without talk or consent first, so they truly need to be punished in some way, I just have to think of how yet.

The sound of screams and flesh getting hit fills the air, not that it bothers me, it’s just like white noise at this point, it gives my mind a strange kind of calm that helps to think. It's not really hurting them though, the show nothing but an act. But still, I take some time savoring the feeling, with no hot baths and other small luxuries in the woods, if something, I could use some relaxing time.

After the job is done and a little sense was hammered down their heads I get myself walking to the boy, he’s not far, a bed at the side of the fire in the middle of the camp - at sight of a single of us at all times - , the healer said that the heat would make him good, probably right as he truly looked a little better after put close to it.

Not that looking a little better was a hard thing to accomplish, the constant injures and healing making worse to his already in poor condition body, a meter and fifty at most with almost no meat in his bones to start with. With hope that will be the last rushed heal that he’ll have to do in while, unfortunately that’s not likely, we’re going to Briddell after all. We intend to give him a chance of not going of course, but although not as dangerous as entering the forest itself it’s not like it’s the best solution either, but that's for later.

The boy gets on sight, sleeping with an old sleeping sack that we got from of one of the boys, some like to bring extra resources just in case although most find a waste of energy to carry doubles of something, good thing that some don’t.

I take some slow steps and sit at his side, the sudden motion and sound setting him awake as he half consciously and half not tries to get up to his feet and dodge a hit that was not coming, an instinct of his body already, a sad sight but a handy skill to have in our world still.

His body fails him at the sudden strain, turning the cat like jump to his feet into something close to a lateral roll, eyes focusing with understanding as he does so and soon finding his way to a cross legged stance like mine. I take the opportunity to send the prying eyes away with a few hand signs, giving the boy a little privacy, no need to constrain or making him even more uncomfortable.

It was embarrassing enough when he first woke, the oxygen deprivation got his brain messed up and he thought himself a cultivator already, poor thing, betrayed by even his own mind, his joyful face melting like ice in a hot day. War almost broke again at that time, even I got my blood rushing for a moment to talk true.

No doubt why the boys take a liking to him tough, in the end, and after all that happened he did not lose his fire, even if it's smaller now it still burns, easily recognizable in the way his eyes move, in the way he calmly searches for the "hidden" knife and so on. The boy clearly a born fighter.

A good thing that he is as it would be a shame to go so far as to make a blood binding and then having him give up from the practitioner's way after what happened, but again, that's for later.

The talk started badly, he was angry with us, with himself, with the world and probably with the Four themselves, hardly in the mood to trust a group that almost got him killed twice. He was also afraid, even if masking well, but with patience and after a few more tries I got him to speak, and the talk proceeded smoothly, “smoothly” I say, I asked and he answered, nothing more.

I Almost got him scared into a run when I brought up a info recently heard by Ainmh on his last trip to a nearby village, the boy mistaking my intentions as I inquired about his story. It matched with what he heard, there is indeed a bounty to a runaway slave in the regions close, a bountiful bounty in fact, leaving me only to imagine what the boy did in his way here to deserve it as I was sensible not to ask too much, focusing more on what he remembered from the day prior and what Eann did. 

As he told the tale of what Eann done at our backs fury filled me, forcing the boy to speak when I strictly saying to go slowly, even using force while doing so, it all just confirmed what I thought, he did in someway cheat the vows. The only two things that kept me from exploding in rage was the fact that I was still sitting with the boy, and the fact that was his words against one of a big family, a hard fight to just bite like that.

He did lie to me however, and that alone demanded retribution. 

As we talked a plan was quickly forming inside my head, I would wait, using the recent events to force Eann to teach the boy for longer and to delay our entry into the forest, squeezing every bit of information before we set a single foot inside it. 

The delay will overlap with our already lateness and the pressure of time would slowly set in on them, they are the ones in hurry after all. Then, when we finally enter the forest, they'll try to hurry, their haste bringing alive a mistake. That's when I'll pay them back, not even needing to break the contract and make a entire family of enemies. 

Of course, before entering the forest I will aso give the boy a chance to choose to stay with us or to take his chances alone. I first thought of asking some favors, maybe a merchant group to take him away, but with that newfound big of a bounty it’s too dangerous, people rarely give up in free money after all and I don't have people of trust that I can rely on. Not anymore.

We will try our best to help him sure, as we already talked he’ll take combat lessons with me by the noon and cultivate until night with Eann from now on - although now only at our sights -, his body still a little weak but I intend to start with combat theory so it'll be fine and in a week or so we can start for real.

He looked a little brighter when I said about the armed practice, the thoughts of learning how to fight filling him with enthusiasm and desire. A feeling that I could understand well, I felt the same a lot of years past when pa taught me the sword - even if I never came to be good with it - but just like I did he soon will find out that fighting is a lot less about glamour and lot more about not dying.

He got a little pale when I said about the cultivation practice though, thanks the Four that he didn’t seemed to get a trauma, again, after all that happened he is definitely not the kind that gets easily broken.

For the later part, which is not a decision that most will like, he got a little pale, but there is little to do as Eann's vows are still up and it's not a job that we can help with, better force him to do a good job than do a bad ourselves, we just need to give him the right encouragement to make sure that he'll not try something. 

After I finished explaining everything  that I had in my mind it was already late, the sun close to set against the high trees of the forest, so I let the boy to himself, everything set for the soon to come days as I waited for a hot meal and a deserved sleep. And with some luck there'll be no others problems.

A man can only hope.