Jorin awoke to an ever present buzzing sound against his right ear. Afraid a bug was going to fly into his ear, he shot up from his bed, nearly falling on his face in the process, but managed to tilt his hips in a way that landed him on his left foot, left hand against the floor. He pushed himself up, and glanced at window in his room. Just like many times before, he forgot to lock it down, and it slowly opened itself throughout the night. Willing himself to fully get out of bed, he pushed all of the covers to the side after getting his right leg released from the wrinkled bundle, just to stand up and put them back into place. First morning accomplishment done, bed was made.
Jorin glanced around his room, not much was in the room beside his clothing folded in the corner, and it wasn't like he was eager to jump in work clothing just yet. He decided to take care of himself first, dragging himself to his door only to realize that his parents were probably still asleep, Jorin typically waking up just a little earlier than them. Jorin creeped closer to the door, making note to open it slow, but even slower at first to avoid the creaking noise that it occasionally makes upon opening. Now into the main room, he could simply get to the bathroom, then come back. Second morning accomplishment done, relief was had.
Now back to his room, Jorin did a quick sniff check just to decide that a shower was out of the question at the moment, as it would be much too cold to go outside in the early morning. He changed his clothing into the typical brown wool drab layered over a cotton undershirt, heavy wool pants, and brown boots. It was at this point, he felt footsteps on the ground coming from the room next to him, his parents were waking up. Fully dressed, final accomplishment done! I can't wait to go outside, Jorin thought.
It was time for yet another day at the moss farms. Jorin briskly walked into the main room, over to the work cabinet. Inside was the two tools one needed for successfully farming moss! The scraper, and the mist maker. The scraper was a wooden pole with a wide, razer sharp blade at the very end, height adjusters letting you harvest moss while not scraping the wall bare. The mist maker is actually multiple objects, several wooden buckets around the size of small tree trunk covered in charred circular marks, and finally what is called a charger. The charger is a small circular object you hold against the wooden buckets, will Mana into them, and it burns a circular mark into the wood which will turn any water you place in the buckets into mist for the next 8 hours.
Jorin sighed as he glanced at the charger, wondering when he will be able to finally will Mana into it. He tries everyday, yet every time his father must take over. Jorin grabs two scrapers, leans the scraper and stacks 3 buckets next to the door, then puts the charger into the top bucket. Jorin waits as his mother and father take care of their own morning duties, then prepares for his favorite morning event. Breakfast!
"Mother, what are we having for breakfast this beautiful morning?" Jorin says.
"Jorin, don't you think it's a bit much to ask the same question everyday? We rarely have something different" His father Garrick spoke, the wooden floors aching as he came into the room.
'It's okay, honey. We're having motato mosscakes again, though we recently had one of those travelling traders come into town, and I bought a sauce I have never heard of before. It's apparently made of peppers!"
Jorin watched as his mother fired up the oven with the grace of a hawk, quickly setting the dried moss beneath the burners alight with the flick of her finger. He thought about all the ways he could use an Arcana-based Innate Trait like his mom's. Envious, he couldn't wait to gain his. It was coming any day now, in fact it was coming any day for the past two years. Perhaps his would wait for the final day he turns 16. He didn't mind as long as he gets it like everyone else does.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
His mother flipped the moss cakes as the smell wafted itself into the air, forming a grassy but pleasant scent, a mix between freshly cut moss and fried potatoes. Jorin knew that some people don't like the moss cakes, but that just means extra moss for the Greystone family! He was excited, and by the time he was done daydreaming, the mosscakes were in front of him. Jorin took his hands and practically shoved the mosscakes into his mouth, surprisingly wasting little to no food as mess. He immediately regretted eating so fast, while that sauce smelled delicious, it was incredibly hot! Jorin shot up from his chair, pacing around the room as his face scrunched up. In the middle of his fit of pain, he managed to check on his parents who were slowly eating theirs with sips of mossmilk between. Like a lightbulb went off in his head, he went for the milkmoss in the cupboard, grabbing a small clump to squeeze directly into his mouth. The dark green liquid was like a earthy, grassy heaven to Jorin. Finally he came back to the table to find both of his parents fighting back laughter, his mom doing a significantly better job.
"This stuff is.....a little spicy ain't it son?" his dad stated with just the right tone that Jorin could tell he was making fun of him.
"Yes it is, Dad. Just a little." Jorin gave his father a swift scoff.
"Alright, lets get ready to head out, Jorin. Thanks for the meal honey, it was delicious, if a bit of a struggle for one of us." He said glancing at Jorin
"You're both welcome for the meal, and try not to leave Jorin in the forest too long like last time, I know he enjoys it, but it's not safe just yet to be out there for hours without access to his Innate,
"Alright, I'll keep closer watch this time." Garrick responded
Jorin and his father both grabbed both scrapers, the buckets, charger, and finally their wetcoats from the door. It was time to get to work. As Jorin exited the small but quaint house, he took a deep breath, savoring the smell of all the greenery growing around their property. All the moss made them have to walk carefully along the stone path, but he was used to that. His boots gripped into the plants growing along the stones, ripping them partially as he briskly walked along the path. Occasionally he would run ahead, then look back at his father to make sure he wasn't going to far ahead without him. Jorin always wondered why his dad walked the way he did, one foot stiffly in front of the other, like he was always confident in where he was going regardless of his pace. He always got there eventually.
The duo passed many, many trees, bushes, brush, and other such plants, but finally they started seeing partial stone walls, long since knocked down by something. This was the first sign of being near the Moss Ruins. They called it that because all the moss there seemed to grow extremely fast, what would normally take years took weeks, especially because of the mist makers. As more and more broken walls, started appearing, more shapes were formed by them. No houses are left, but the walls connecting to flooring were finally showing. As they walked, they hit what used to be the city outskirts.
This is the place. It probably used to be THE place to be back when the Ruins were a bustling city, but no one remembers that. Houses and other buildings were stacked side by side within feet of each other, all made of a solid stone. The roofs are long since gone, but the walls are still there for many. Moss has completely overtaken everything, forming colossal patches ready to be scraped off then misted for harvesting over and over again. You could walk into the city for over an hour and still be right next to the swathes of moss and stone. One day Jorin wants to pack a backpack and explore this place. Enough dreaming, he thought, as he put his buckets down from his pack.
"I'll go grab the old buckets while you fill up the buckets we brought, right father?"
"The usual. Meet back here first thing, I don't want to start seeing long shadows before you're back."
"Yes father, swift as a bird!" Jorin said as started lightly jogging towards the last scraped area where the buckets were left.
It was time for a little exploration!