Aelfric, Ulia's father and leader of the forest village. [https://i.imgur.com/oDODh4k.jpeg]

It took me more work before the find was on the surface. The many long corridors and turns made it difficult to retrieve the sword quickly. I stopped and listened from time to time. I shouldn't have forgotten about the roctopuses. In the empty subterranean space, the sounds seemed different from those on the surface.

I had to move the cone aside to pick up my sword. Tush, who had been present at the excavation, ran his finger along the sharp edge and wrinkled his nose in frustration.

- He’s still alive!

I didn’t understand what Fluffy meant by that. Is the sword alive? Or someone else?

While I was pondering my little friend’s words, a guy I didn’t know approached the guard post, introduced himself as Grim, and said I could go rest. He was taking over for me.

We returned to Luko’s house, where the owner had already prepared a delicious dinner on the table - porridge flavored with appetizing meat gravy. Fluffy, interested as always, was the first to scramble to the bowl to savor his fill. He left me the gravy and a few pieces of meat, knowing that I would not refuse such a generous offer. Without further ado, we proceeded to dinner, and soon the empty plates witnessed the taste of the master of the house, allowing us to prepare for sleep in peace.

The next day, it was time for training. Everyone who wished to learn the art of fencing took part in this class. Even the youngest, children as young as six or seven years old, used wooden sticks to practice. Women were also present in the group, ready to show off their skills in this art. I exchanged welcoming glances with Ulia and stood behind a boy who seemed to be my peer. His gaze on my sword was strange, but he remained silent.

The warm-up exercises were a piece of cake. Step forward - swing, step back - block, turn - swing, turn backward - block. And I counted about a dozen of these exercises. Training took place without fuss, without shouting, in a very well-coordinated rhythm. Not a heterogeneous group of people was training here, but a single multi-legged and multi-armed being.

My peer threw glances at me I noticed. Sometimes he would lose his rhythm, and get confused, but to be fair, he would get back on track and catch up. His clumsy behavior annoyed me because his minute stops were affecting my training as well.

After the training exercises concluded and we were divided into pairs, my peer and I formed a partnership. He introduced himself as Yurik. They tasked us with performing training exercises with a real opponent, without striking, but only imitating movements.

- Where did you get that sword? - Yurik asked me as soon as we started training.

- I inherited it, — I answered.

- Liar! - Yurik exclaimed, drawing everyone’s attention. - It’s my brother’s sword!

Our loud conversation attracted the attention of the others, and Yurik’s cries would have woken even a dead man. I decided not to argue. If the sword has an owner, it should be returned. My desire to resolve the conflict and continue training was obvious. However, the porridge that Jurik was brewing continued to boil, and indignant shouts erupted from the crowd:

- He stole the sword from Lyon!

- And still pretending to be honest!

Yurik suddenly jumped up to me, snatched the sword from me, and began to scrutinize it. Elfric, the leader of the village, approached us. Frowning his eyebrows he asked me seriously:

- Tell us, how did the sword belonging to our valiant warrior Lyon end up in your hands?

It’s easy to say tell us. What if I don’t want the people around me to know that I have magical abilities? As far as I know, normal people are intimidated by superpowers in people they barely know. I’d like to build a relationship with Ulia, learn swordsmanship from Luco, and generally help the people of this village get rid of the scourge. What would happen if I told them I could make fire from my hand, create birds, and travel to an unknown destination? Would the people of the village shut down or start worshipping me as a deity?

The situation was saved by a fluffy little guy. Looking ahead, I’ll say that after this incident, I believed everything my little friend said. Tush must have sensed the tension of the crowd, and to remedy the situation, he ran up to me and held out the sword scabbard that I had left at Luko’s house before the training.

Fluffy tugged at my pant leg and squeaked something. Surprisingly, the people who lived in the village and met little interpreters before did not understand the language, similar to the babble of a two-year-old child.

- He brought me a sword! - I announced in a loud voice and pointed my finger in the direction of Tush. The small animal’s size allowed it to penetrate narrow crevices, which was an undeniable fact. It turns out that not long before my appearance, the “valiant warrior” Lyon, to win the heart of the first beauty - Ulia - went on an independent campaign against roctopuses. And disappeared in an unknown direction.

And then I appeared with his sword and claimed it as my inheritance. At that moment, I remembered Fluffy’s words, and only now did I realize who he was talking about. Lyon was still alive, being held captive by the Roktopus. I reported this to Elfric.

-Are you sure? - Elfric asked confused. I understood his concern. If I had told him this news only in particular, he might have taken time to ponder how to save the unfortunate young man. But I had spoken it aloud, and now any delay might have undermined his authority. The villagers had never dared to descend into the dungeons, but now the life of someone familiar to everyone was at stake.

At this time, a gong sounded alarming. The yard dogs barked. Little children rushed out of the square like frightened birds, and Elfric’s eyes filled with determination:

- You know what to do! Everyone to your places, arm yourselves!

Yurik handed me his brother’s sword. I did not understand the meaning of this kind of gesture. Did Yurik hand over the weapon permanently, or was he only lending it for the time when the village was threatened? But we didn’t have time to clarify these subtleties. The rocktopus were attacking the village.

They were attacking the villagers from several places. The ground would fall down, and a worm would emerge like a slimy fountain, whipping its tentacles in every direction. One dog approaching the roctopus was captured. Its fate was sad. Rocks and arrows flew at the worm. It wriggled, making unpleasant sounds. One daredevil approached the roctopus and cut off its head with a powerful swing of his sword. The tentacles collapsed and fell to the ground like inanimate whips. The worm convulsed for a while, and a yellow mass flowed from its severed torso.

It was too early to celebrate victory, however. At the edge of the village, the roctopus grabbed an old woman and dragged her into the dark depths. Her cries for rescue echoed through the air for a long time.

The village square was also under attack. Several worms were undermining the foundation of the leader’s hut at once. I don’t think it was his house that they targeted. I think the hut was chosen at random. People were running around the house in confusion and did not know how they could save the chief's property and most importantly, his wife Mary.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

She tried to get out of the hut, but the jolts from the roctopuses knocked her down and robbed her of her strength. Maria's forehead was covered in blood, and it appeared to me that the fingers of her right hand were broken.

Ulia was sobbing at the top of her voice, urging us to do the brave thing and save her mother. One of the young men, I think Grim, tried to cling to the window and was knocked down by a log of a dilapidated wall. The ground failed in two places and two roctopuses showed themselves on the surface. Some of the people were captured by the tentacles, some were shrill screaming and crying. Small children cried, women squealed in fear, and dogs wheezed with barking.

I looked at Maria and said: Fly!

After two unsuccessful attempts to move from one place to another - the third attempt succeeded. I found myself in the hut, next to Elfric’s wife. At that moment, the hut began to sink into the ground. The house was sinking into the ground faster than any sinking steamship.

The floor of the hut tilted, and we clung by the arms and slid down. The shouts of the people in the square increased, and they could see that we could not escape.

I pulled Maria to me wrapped my arms around her waist and threw her through the window. That’s how famous basketball players throw balls, trying to earn three coveted points per shot. The woman flew a dangerous distance and fell on one of the villagers, but she was saved. I had yet to get out of the wooden trap. Part of the wall was collapsing, and at least a dozen clinging tentacles rushed into the hut.

Sawdust, twigs, and some household utensils fell on my head. I swung my sword furiously, fighting the wriggling tentacles. Several were severed in an instant, spewing a yellow-green liquid. The hut tilted up, the roof sliding sideways, revealing an open space for me. Instantly imagining that I was like a grasshopper, I pushed off and soared upward. I almost had it.

The moment I was above the surface of the ground, several tentacles grabbed my legs and pulled me downward, so fast that I dropped my sword and stared fearfully at the open mouth of the worm, which could swallow and chew me up in an instant. I stretched out my arm, trying to avert my own doom, and shouted loudly:

- Ignis!

A torch of fire burst from my palm and burned the Roktopus’ head. The tentacles weakened, and I jumped to my feet. Holding my outstretched arm out in front of me like a flamethrower, I looked for any movement - a falling dish from the shelves, a piece of wood from the wall, a lump of earth from the ceiling of the underground hole - i shouted the incantation: - Ignis! - and burned it all to the ground.

The wooden part of the hut was burning, filling the underground space with smoke. I began to cough and gasp. Someone called out to me:

- Oris, are you alive?

Ropes flew down. Moments later, I was standing among the villagers. Someone clapped me on the shoulder, and Ulia kissed me several times in gratitude. Or maybe she was just taking advantage of the moment. I felt embarrassed. Yes, I had accomplished a feat, saving her mother. A natural thing for a human being to do. But why such public gratitude?

The battle ended in a near draw. The worms stole two villagers, killed a dog, and destroyed the leader's house. The warriors in turn killed five and badly burned several roktopus. For the rest of the day, the entire population of the small village carried the earth in baskets, filling in the colossal failure. Lyon’s sword stayed with me. The fate of the missing young man has not yet bothered anyone.

Some of the male population poured earth into baskets. There were plenty of dumps near the coal mine. Another part of the villagers, younger and more sturdy, carried the baskets to the collapse. I moved along with all of them, forming a link in an unbroken chain.

But the thought of an attack never left me for a moment. The roctopus attack was desperate, but not senseless. Why were they attacking? After all, humans and dogs are not part of the worms’ diet.

I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn’t notice the smiles of Ulia, who was greeting people at the entrance to the village. Her mother, Maria, had her broken arm splinted and bandaged. The wound on her head was a simple cut and promised to heal soon. The arm was much worse.

Maria, like her daughter, came to the gate and took a moment to thank me.

- I did what any other man would have done. The same Grim. The young man was just unlucky, he chose the wrong moment to jump. Where are you going to sleep, with your house in ruins?

- We have relatives. They’ll stay with us for a while, and we’ll rebuild our home in the meantime, — Elfric answered instead of his wife. - Leave this work. There is someone else to do it. We need to talk.

I put down the empty basket. My soul was filled with excitement. I’m always frightened by such statements. It would have been much better if he started asking questions without a preliminary introduction.

Elfric did just that:

- Many people noticed you released a fireball at Roktopus. Are you an Adept of Oceania?

- What? - I didn’t associate the new word with anything. - Who are you talking about? Nix?

It was Elfric’s turn to ask me,

- Nix? Who’s that? I don’t know who you’re talking about.

- Neither do I. Oceania— what is that? Or who is it? I don’t know the right way to say it.

- I heard from my grandfather about a powerful wizard who lived in these parts. They called him Oceania. No one had seen him, no one knew what Oceania looked like. His power was immense, his might was superb. He shared his power with anyone who could hold it. His adepts roamed the lands and helped the common people.

I listened to Elfric and thought that I completely fit the description of an adept of Oceania. Perhaps I am not an adept yet, but only an apprentice. A capable sorcerer’s apprentice.

- If you don't want to share your secret, we don't insist. We’ve seen your abilities for ourselves. Just answer this question:

- How can we, the common people, help you?

He had not yet had time to fully form his question, and I already knew what I could ask him.

- Teach me to sword fencing, archery, and spear throwing.

- I thought you were better at those things than we were, — the man said, surprised. I had to be cunning:

- You are right, I am a master of my craft. But often I want to get by without magic, trying to remain an undiscovered adept for as long as possible. And to do that, you need to know a lot of tricks.

We agreed that we would behave as on the first day of our acquaintance, without spreading rumors about my stay in this village. In addition to the standard daily pieces of training for the whole population, I would be assigned a special skillful swordsman. Such a condition suited both parties.

While we were talking to Elfric, all the holes gnawed out by worms were filled. In place of the vanished house, men were demolishing new timbers. As the day drew to a close, I was hungry. I was also worried about Fluffy. I hadn’t seen Tush for a long time and I didn’t know where he was. Elfric said goodbye to me and left to supervise the construction.

Ulia, barely waiting for the conversation to end, stepped toward me. I could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to say something nice to me. Yurik spoiled the situation. He squeezed in between me and Ulia, pulling me aside.

He started the conversation by apologizing, even though he hadn’t done anything wrong to me.