And so, as always, time marched on. The next couple of days just as I thought, my ork body adapted to it’s harsh new routine. Today though was special, because today is the day I finally pay off my debt. Yesterday Vegter told me that today I would have to apply for citizenship if I am going to continue working with him. Still haven’t exactly made up my mind on whether working here is the best thing for me or not. While on the one hand I get to continue learning how to forge, spend more time with Vegter and Caden and Clara, and basically stay in the same routine for however long I want, on the other hand I have my fast-learning ability for learning to forge If I ever really want to, and I could probably get into much more lucrative work with my magic, working easier for what is probably way more. Also there is a chance that changing things up a bit and revealing that I am a mage, could give me access to more runes, giving me a route to advance my magic. Really the only thing that I know I want for certain is to apply for citizenship here. How I go about that, and what I do after that though is really hazy. I must decide though, and very, very soon because the day has come for me to take action.

I am thinking about all of this sitting in my bed, not having been able to sleep at all. Even with the lack of sleep my body feels pretty normal. Guess that’s just another ork-ian trait. Probably gonna add that to the ever-increasing list of reasons ork body’s are better than human ones. I start drifting evermore into my worries once again when I hear Vegter’s huge honking footsteps. He sounds like a bear in the relative quite of the house. Guess it’s time to stand up and face the music. “get ’sher butt ready boy, it’s time for you to meet with the chieftain” Vegter yells. I move to Vegter the instant he opens the door, already knowing what he’s going to say, and already prepared. We go eat breakfast together with Clara as we always do every morning, except today there’s a certain nervous tension to everything. Even Clara looks a little affected by this, seeming a little nervous herself. We finish breakfast quickly, moving outside to go meet with the chieftain.

We walk silently towards the middle of the village, towards the place I was at when I first came into this village. “ah. Hello boy. Hello Vegter, haven’t seen you in a while” I hear this shout come from a somewhat familiar voice. “chieftain! I’ve been busy, what with my assistant getting his arm broken, and having to teach the boy how to be helpful in the forge” Vegter says. “well now you won’t have to worry about that anymore. The boy now has to decide what he’s going to do now that he has repaid his debt” the chieftain says. “bring the boy over here. It’s time we talked” the chieftain says to Vegter. Vegter motions for me to go over to the chieftain, and so I do, feeling the nervous feeling in my stomach increase with every step I take. Breath, breath. All you have to do now is decide. I say to myself.

As I step into the familiar room of the chieftain, I see the chieftain with his daughter next to him sitting near the middle of the room. “hello boy. You and I haven’t talked in a while” the chief says to me, every word coming out of his mouth sounding precise and powerful. “it’s time that you tell me what it is you are going to do now that you aren’t tied to this village anymore” he says. “really there are only two ways you can go about this. One, where you try to apply for citizenship here, taking the trials, and proving your worth to this village. Or two, you leave now, moving on to somewhere else. Your decision is now boy.” The Chieftain says. I struggle with my options as always, thinking on what to do before deciding to tell the truth first before doing anything else. “chieftain sir, I, um, I didn’t exactly tell you everything about me. I can actually perform some magic. I haven’t told anyone because I didn’t know how this village would react if I revealed that I could do magic” I say. “well I would like proof of this before committing any consecutive decisions . Show me if you can do what you claim to be able to boy” the chieftain says.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

I think on what I should do to show that I can perform magic. Probably something that isn’t too showy, but still asserts that I have power of my own. I settle on gathering some earth, then shaping it with a sphere rune, then finally putting a lot of power into a movement left rune. What I end up with is a ball of earth, around the size of a pedal speeding off to the left. The ball’s going so fast that it actually penetrates the wall. Oops, that was a little much, hope nobody got hurt from that. As I look to the chieftain and his daughter for any reaction, I see a pair of somewhat stunned faces. The chieftain covers up his expression quickly, looking like a disinterested viewer, his daughter on the other hand though continued to look stunned for a couple seconds after her father, covering up her previous expression somewhat poorly since you could notice some strain on her façade, unlike her father.

“hmm, something a little weaker would have done the job just as well but I guess this will do” the chieftain says, no strain in his voice. Wow this guy is good, I wouldn’t have known he was faking if I wasn’t for the last few minutes of the conversation. “well, now this changes a few things. For one I can now say with absolute certainty that you have a position working under the shaman Flaminius giving you access to more runes if you apply for citizenship, if you want it. And for two… well a lot of things make more sense now. Like how you survived in the forest alone” the chieftain said. Well, this really does change things, I now have way more incentive to actually apply for citizenship since I know for sure that I can advance my magic, learning new runes. This also puts a load off since I now know that I won’t be punished for having magic. This new series of events leads to the odds tilting to the favour of one decision over another, I know now what I will do.

“okay chief, I want to apply for citizenship” I said. “well boy, since you have been under Vegter for most of your stay in this village, Vegter will be the one to prepare you for the trials” the Chieftain says. “I will send my daughter along to observe Vegter and you so that everything may remain valid and fair” the chieftain adds. His daughter, not exactly looking happy next to him. Guess this must be real annoying for her. Also, crap. Vegter’s the one that’s going to be preparing me for this, and I really don’t think that he’s the best teacher for something like this. I think of protesting, but clamp that idea down since I don’t really want to be pared up with a total stranger for something as important as this. Still, though. Vegter? Really.

And so my journey for citizenship in the middle-o’-nowhere village began.