-Winter-

[The Avarician Continent]

Snow sits atop the forestry and rooftops as the wind blows a sinister cold that makes it hard to breathe in, in what has been an unusually long winter on the Avarician continent.

For the four realms traversing the savage cold much work is needed to stay afloat post the season. Much more so for the boonies that inhabit them.

Therein lies the genesis of this tale… a little village, south of the human realm that struggles to keep up with the long winter.

The village, Barley.

A boon village in the human realm that due to the incompetence of the current King is facing one of its harshest winters in a long time.

The village being just one of the many states suffering under the incompetence of the current regime.

But the internal politics of the Kingdom of Avarice aren’t of matter to this tale… at least not yet.

Instead, here in Barley Village our focus should be placed on a boy.

A young man by the name of Arteus.

A ‘demi-god’. By the name of Arteus…

Standing at 5’10, Art’s brown skin, has a subtle glow to it in the winter snow that highlights his mixed race. A glow that is carried on by the fog of the snow to create a sparkling effect for his short grey hair and large dark eyes.

At age 17, Arteus’ body is surprisingly well toned! A possible testament to all the hard work he has put in over years to maintain his household.

However, if you looked at him now, you’d be hard-pressed to believe he worked a day in his life due to the heavy brown robe he now dons to shield from the cold.

“…Haaa…”

Art wipes off the sweat from his forehead in a tired sigh after clearing a heap of snow that sat upon a stone path.

A stone path, that leads to a small wooden shack.

A small wooden shack… that he calls home.

“That should do it for now.”

He smiles softly to himself, proudly overlooking the cleared path.

As the long winter continues, it becomes harder and harder to carry out simple day-to-day activities.

And with a lack the proper equipment in the boonies to handle the seasons, stress levels often rise when handling the little things.

More and more every time before each and every little thing feels all the more difficult to accomplish. That, in particular, is what our friend here is trying to avoid.

“Hey mom! Need help with anything else?”

Arteus shouts to the shack in a prompt change in tone from ‘satisfied’ to ‘work never stops’ as he walks up the now cleared path to the house.

“Mom?”

He calls opening the creaky wooden door.

As with most houses in the boonies, the interior of Art’s house is nothing to write home about.

A cramped space with tree stumps acting as makeshift seats coupled with a larger log for a table by the fireplace make for an improvised living room, whilst a short two step stairway provides the only optional two-way intersection of the structure.

The right side of the steps, leading to two rooms that act as bedrooms for him and his mother and the left side, where an open space acts as a makeshift storeroom, housing wooden crates and resources for the winter and other utilities.

With the house being made primarily of wood it’s fair to say that the biggest problem Art and his mother could face out here would be the whole thing catching fire in the summer heat! But… that shouldn’t be a problem for a while.

“…Mom?”

“Outback sweetie.”

Art calls once more when he gets no response, this time reaching his mother, who’s soft toned voice replies, calling him to the back of the house.

Passed the living room and through their makeshift storeroom. What awaits Art beyond this point is their backyard.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

An open space with trees in an oval alignment, that holds slabs of stone like altars and a multitude of herbs and measuring tools and equipment in the centre.

Far from your usual backyard, this space acts as his mother’s workbench.

“…”

“Am done clearing the front.”

“Oh? Thanks, dear. Why don’t you take a seat am almost done here.”

His mother smiles gently to him, barely turning to meet him as she retains a steel focus on her work.

Hannah Montfreed. The mother of Arteus is a tall young woman in her early 30s.

Her lean physique coupled with deep black hair and large brown eyes are the most striking features about her.

Though in the winter snow, the tone of her pale white skin glistens even more to create an almost hypnotic effect when accompanied by her big beautiful eyes. Much more so now as she wipes the sweat off her forehead here in her lab of sorts.

“The long winter this year has made deliveries hard. At least now am certain I don’t have to worry about tripping over on my way back.”

“…Hm.”

Hannah smiles brightly to Art whose nodded response gives trace of blank sentiment to her subtle joke.

One of only three herbalists, Hannah is one of the most important people in Barley. Though that doesn’t count for much due of what she represents…

“What you working on?”

“Hm? Oh this??”

“Just a couple of anti-venoms and flare ups.”

“Long winters equal more white-snakes and frostbite.”

Finger raised in response, Hannah shines a bright smile, sending what can only be described as an overwhelming dose of positive energy at him.

With every season on the continent of Avaricia comes different obstacles. And for people south of the Human realm, like here in Barley, the biggest worries in winter are Arctic-wolves, white snakes, snow leeches and of course the Yeti.

So as the winter trickles on an hour longer each day, the casualties in the boonies will only increase.

At which point the of course most important thing to these people becomes the number of herbs they have to battle nature, lest they want Barley off the map that is.

“Logical assumptions… that way of thinking could make us quite a lot of money… that is… if mom actually sold the herbs…”

Salty with his mother’s gullible nature, Art’s eyes waver with a tinge of anger and resentment as the thought races across his mind.

“…Need any help?”

“Hmmmmm…. Nope!”

Hannah chuckles softly before turning away with a bright smile.

“Tsk… Moooom.”

“What? Hahaha…”

“I mean I do need some more melt flower but I was going to pick that up after am done here…”

“…”

“I’ll pick them up.”

A sharp response accompanied by a short pause leaves them staring at each other in blank silence.

“…”

“Okay.”

Thumbs up and a bright smile is response enough for Art to take a step back in preparation for his next job today.

A woman too considerate of others for her own good. Hannah’s tendency to shackle herself to her workspace and ‘do it yourself mentality’ has always been one of the things Arteus hated about her.

Though as a single mother, in a foreign land, without a stable income or family and friends to lean on. Can she really blame her for having adopted a ‘workaholic’ mentality?

“Anything else you might need?”

“Like from Red square.”

Art poses the question in his usual tone deafened manner.

“…Hmmm… well…”

-Later-

“…Tsk…”

“Crazy woman… tell her to take a bite and she’ll eat the whole thing!”

The energy is vibrant in the Barley marketplace as a salty Arteus mumbles childishly at how busy he suddenly finds himself!

A little village with plenty of personality.

Unlike Art’s home, the marketplace is constantly packed and bubbling with life and not even for obvious reasons like the need for the day-to-day necessities, no. The residents of Barley are just a tight knit community that appreciates interaction above all.

“Welp… where should I start…”

The boy thinks to himself looking to a piece of paper where he wrote all his mother’s needs.

-A Short While Ago-

“In that case can you get me some bread. Ouuu and I’d like some of Duncan’s fish for dinner too!! Aaaah we’re running low on that sweet smelling soap Aunt Millie makes… Pass this note onto Mathias too, tell him I’ll have the flare ups ready soon! Oh, and if possible, on your way back, pick up some more Thinthe weeds, am almost out, thanks sweetie… Hehe.”

“…”

“eh.”

-The Present-

*Sighs

“At least she’s leaning on me a bit now, that’s progress.”

A bitter moan that’s quickly replaced with a warm and dutiful expression on his face as he bashfully scratches his head.

Hannah Montfreed… Serial workaholic… Busy body… and general all-around good person! But also… the person in most need of a break in all of Avaricia!

Tell her to take a bite and she’ll eat the whole thing!

Her reliance on Art this one day? Pleasing.

“…”

“…Hmm… red square maybe… hm?”

A sudden halt from Art when he gets to the middle of a four-way intersection and the mumble of the crowd all around is enough to remind Art that this isn’t a tale about a mother and son’s wholesome relationship. Instead…

“…”

“Tch. With how today was going I almost forgot where I am.”

…Instead, this tale centres on an ostracized family. A boy and his mother, living in poverty and poverty itself rejecting them.

With how peaceful everything had been this morning Art can’t be blamed for forgetting that he’s not welcome here… Neither him nor his mother.

Among the many… many problems with the human realm primary are the Laws of All-sky.

And in particular the one that forbids having children outside of wedlock, the penalty? Death of the child or exile.

And since Art is still around it’s not difficult to guess what choice the then sixteen-year-old Hannah made.

“…”

“I guess I’ll have to circle back on my way from Mount Kendo.”

Art scratches his head, his face blank and emotionless as he departs the marketplace. Heading south west on the intersection to the snowy Mountain that leers over Barley. Mount Kendo.

[Back At the Shack]

*Knock *Knock

“Ah… I’ll be right there!”

A shout from out back, and Hannah comes rushing to the front door, untying her apron when…

*Swings Door Open

“Welcome to Herbs with an A.”

“How can I help y- “

*Apron falls to the ground

“…You…”

A sharp crack in her voice and its immediately apparent that whoever stands opposite Hannah at the door wears a familiar face, but not one she had expected to see today… not after all these years.

[Mount Kendo]

“Falls… springs… melt flowers.”

Arteus repeats the words to himself as he stares to the top of a hot spring inside Mount Kendo.

And the ceiling of the cave he now stands where the sweaty teal glow of the melt flowers shines a blurred blueish colour. The glowing indicator for the famed upside-down plant!!

“…”

“…”

-To be Continued-

.l0_0l. Hi there, thanks for reading, this my first work after reevaluating my writing style, thanks for reading. Any support you drop will muchly appreciated

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Until next chapter.

S’Ya!!!