“Now that my guest has arrived, you can now make your requests.” Unrid said, glaring at each one of them for a moment before he continued. “We shall do this one after the other; we are villagers, not barbarians.”
Unrid moved to a corner of the small sitting room, leaving a confused Aodhán in the center of the room. A dozen men, dressed in farmer clothes, sat before him, and a moment later, the eldest of them stood up and introduced himself.
“I am Cairan Dathemir, the richest farmer in this village.” Some of the farmers frowned at Cairan’s declaration, but they didn’t contest his words, which led Aodhán to believe that Cairan’s words were probably true.
“We have heard of your abilities and have come here to request your services for my farms.
“Our, Cairan. Our farms! Surely, you aren’t so old that you’ve begun to lose your memory.” A burly farmer interrupted, and the others murmured in agreement.
“Apologies; that was a slip of the tongue. What I meant is that we would like to request your services on our farms for the dry season. It would increase the quality and quantity of our produce, thereby increasing the economy of our village.”
The farmers murmured in agreement, their eyes shining at the thought of a bountiful harvest, but Aodhán’s next words shattered those thoughts.
“I’m not sure this is a good way to utilize my abilities as an awakened. I will gain nothing from it.”
Clamor ensued as the farmers whispered and argued with themselves. Their voices grew, getting louder and more agitated, until a farmer seated at the back suddenly stood up and said,
“I’ll buy your services then; name your price.”
Noise rose again as the farmers shouted in anger and the burly man shouted. “Evaris, you dimwit! We could have offered the child something else!”
“I’m not a child.” Aodhán responded loudly, cutting through the noise, and when the room was finally quiet, he continued. “I think your idea is a great one, Mr. Evaris, so I’ll sell my services to the highest bidder.”
Another explosion of noise occurred as the farmers directed their anger at Evaris, shouting and blaming him for the terrible turn of events.
The noise subsided when Cairan stood up, and in the silence that followed, his next words were like a flame in a room full of gasoline.
“I can offer a single silver in payment for a week of service.”
“What! How could he start with silver? What happened to coppers?”
“Cairan is selfish and evil! How could he cut us out like that?”
“1 silver and 5 coppers.”
“1 silver and 7 coppers.”
“2 silvers.” Evaris shouted, and more than half the room turned to glare at him in anger.
“This! 2 silvers and 2 coppers.” The burly man shouted.
“2 silvers and 5 coppers.” Evaris countered.
“3 silvers.”
Silence descended as they all turned to look at Cairan, and the burly man suddenly roared.
“Are you insane, Cairan? You’re trying to use your wealth to force us out of this war, but I, Jalen, will not accept it. You’ve been the richest farmer in this village for long enough. I will be the next! I shall offer 4 silver coins as payment for your services per week.”
“4 silver coins and 2 coppers.” Evaris roared.
“4 silver coins and 5 coppers.” Jalen countered.
“5 silver coins.” Cairan shouted, his eyes hard. “That is the highest I can offer. I suggest you take it.”
Aodhán stared at the farmers for a moment before he gave a slow nod and said, “I will offer my services to anyone who can pay 4 silver coins per week, except you, Cairan; you’ll pay me five.”
At the end of the meeting, only five farmers agreed to pay such a large amount of coin for his services, which resulted in him gaining 21 silver coins per week.
The next morning, Aodhán planned his routine. He would visit each farm twice a week to water them. To make things easier, he scheduled a farm in the morning and another in the evening.
Cairan’s farm was the largest of the five, so he fixed it on the third and seventh days of every week. With the new routine, he only had the fourth day free, and he intended to spend it solely on training his abilities.
He hung the schedule on the wall of his room, and after breakfast, he made his way to Evaris’s farm, as it was the first one on his list.
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The walk from the Brystions house to Evaris Farm lasted half an hour, but when he got there, he was sorely unimpressed. The farm was barely the size of an acre and filled with dying corn stalks. Farmers moved about the farm, manually watering the plants in a futile effort to delay their deaths.
He walked through the farm, taking note of various stunted crops.
“Now you know the reason why I was so desperate for your services.”
Aodhán turned to see Evaris walking towards him. He was dressed in dirty work clothes stained with mud and weed. When he got close, he said, “Please tell me you can help.”
Aodhán swept his gaze across the farm, and after a moment, he replied. “I can certainly try.”
He closed his eyes, cleared his thoughts, and imagined a storm cloud about 30 feet in diameter. It boomed into existence, and Aodhán immediately decreased the sound until it became a slight rumble. With his eyes still closed, he focused on increasing the size.
He had gained more control over his abilities since the fight with the Rithclaw, but more importantly, he’d advanced a tier, which increased his overall power, although he hadn’t really tested the limit of his abilities yet.
It was time to put it to the test, though. At the time of his battle with the Rithclaw, he’d created a storm cloud about 25 feet in diameter; now he wanted to know just how large he could really make it.
Slowly, the cloud expanded, and the rumbling of thunder increased with every foot it gained. When it finally grew to a size of 40 feet, Aodhán’s head felt like it was about to split open, and the image rattled dangerously in his mind.
He took a deep breath to calm himself, stabilizing the image in his mind before it shattered, and with a small effort of will, rain fell.
At first, it was only a light drizzle, but with each passing moment, its intensity increased until it finally peaked, just short of a heavy rainfall. The wind swirled around the dying crops, not enough to destroy them, and lightning flashed constantly.
He moved the storm cloud slowly, making sure that the earth was properly soaked before moving to other parts of the farm. It took about three hours for the rain to properly soak the earth, but by the time he was done, the earth had consumed enough water to nourish the plants for the next two days.
Aodhán was tired, and his head ached painfully, but the smile on Evaris’s face made it just a little better. He rested in the afternoon, too tired to read anything, and just as the sun set, he went to the second farm on his routine.
In this manner, the days passed, and before long, an entire week had gone by. He’d spent most of his time watering the farms, and although it hadn’t gotten easier, he was able to manage the pain better.
Daruk had insisted that he fill his free day with an hour of weapon training, so he decided to give it a try the next time his free day came around.
He had continued to visit Mrs. Alderman’s library whenever he could, and although he still hadn’t learned anything major, he was much more informed about this world and the things happening in it.
Today was special, though. It was the last day of the week, which meant he’d finally gotten paid for the week. He clasped the brown pouch around his waist and smiled when it jingled.
The average person earned about four or five silvers per week, but he’d made 21 silvers, which was about five times the average.
The air shimmered with the heat radiating off zinc roofs, and even though the weather was unbearably hot, Aodhán moved with a spring in his step as he made his way back to the Brystions house.
He paused when he reached the Areli tree, but this time he made no move towards it; instead, he just basked in the feel of the tree’s energy.
He obviously wasn’t the only one there. With the dry season fast approaching and the intensifying heat, many congregated around the Areli tree.
He greeted the soldiers as he finally made his way past the tree. The soldiers had built a sort of barricade around the tree trunk to guard against the rising number of villagers that came to rest underneath the shade.
He soon made it to the Brystions house, but when he opened the front door, he found a group of people seated in the sitting room along with the Brystions.
He only recognized one of them, and as he stepped into the room, the man stood up and made his way towards him.
“I’ve been made aware that I have you to thank for being alive.” Lutor said with a bow. “How can I repay you?”
“There’s no need to repay me, Lutor; I’m just glad you’re alive and well.”
“We really cannot thank you enough.” A woman responded as she made her way towards them with a small child in her arms. “If you ever need our help, please do not hesitate to let us know.”
“This is my wife, Fajah, and my daughter, Eniola.”
The woman gave a small bow as Lutor introduced them, and Aodhán gave a small bow in return. They turned back to their seats, and Aodhán turned to the only stranger left in the room.
There was a beat of silence as they both stared at each other, and Aodhán got the impression that he was completely helpless before the boy. A feeling of danger caused him to shiver unconsciously, and the man let out a wide smirk.
“Stop it, Aldric; you’re scaring the boy to death.” Synové scolded, and Aodhán frowned as the feeling of danger suddenly disappeared.
“Aodhán , let me introduce you to my first son, Aldric.” Unrid said, and the boy walked towards him with long strides and a playful smirk.
“Nice to finally meet you, Aodhán ; I’ve heard a lot about you.” Aldric said, stretching a palm towards him for a handshake.
Befuddled, Aodhán shook his hand, and the boy’s smile widened further. The boy was only a few years older than him, but he emanated so much pressure that the only possible explanation was that he was awakened, and a high-tiered one at that.
His suspicion was confirmed a moment later when Synové asked. “So, how have you been coping in the academy?”
The boy draped an arm around his neck and gently pulled him along as he moved towards the dining area, where Fajah and Synové were busy setting the table for an early dinner.
“It was fun for the first few weeks, but it soon turned sour, and the last few weeks were just there, you know.”
Aodhán pulled away from the unsettling boy, as Daruk remarked. “No, she doesn’t know, Aldric, she didn’t Attend an academy.”
“It’s a figure of speech, or part of speech, whatever; the point is, it was boring, and I couldn’t wait to come home and have fun with you guys.”
“Learning is not supposed to be fun.” Unrid stated with a grunt.
“I disagree, father.” Daruk contested, “I have a lot of fun in school, and I learn there.”
“I had a lot of fun in school too, but I never really learned anything of worth.” Aldric said with a smile, and Lutor coughed loudly as he tried to stop himself from laughing, but he failed.
Conversation flowed smoothly, and before long, Aodhán forgot his unease and found himself laughing with the family even as Daruk and Aldric shot thinly veiled insults at each other.
They were halfway through their meals when a knock suddenly rang out. Synové walked towards the door and opened it to reveal a messenger dressed in a black cloak with a silver scarf wrapped around his neck.
The messenger bowed deeply and said, “I have news from the mayor.” Before handing over a sealed envelope to Unrid.