One awoke from his sleep feeling groggy. His eyes took a moment to clear and adjust.

"..." 

"...ack..."

Naturally, he tried to move his head to get up but it felt heavy and a bit painful to move.

He instead relaxed it back onto what felt like some kind of pillowy material, looked up and squinted his eyes at the daylight that was coming in through the nautral skylight above him.

Reflexively he tried to shield his eyes but realized that his arms weren't responding.

"..."

"..."

He took a moment to inspect this surroundings.

This place was a small stone house, he noticed several paintings on the walls, along with what looked like huge pelts that fashionably lined the walls. There were tables that were littered with parchment and beakers along with wooden drawers and boxes that were placed around them.

Toward his feet a few meters away was the entrance.

To his left...

"(gasp!)"

"..."

It took him by surprise when he saw another person laying beside him.

Another guy? he thought.

The strange man was sleeping soundly.

He leaned his head toward the man to get a closer look.

As he saw his features it felt as though this other man didn't feel too unfamiliar to him.

He stared for a few more moments before turning his head to his right.

Again he saw a person, a young woman who looked to be busily organizing and cleaning a few feet away. She was dressed in what resembled a maids outfit; the clothing was a mix of burlap and flannel.

At the sight of her, he spoke weakly.

"..hhh-elo?"

Instantly the young woman turned with quite a fearful look on her face.

"(gasp!) eeek!"

Startled, she dropped her duster and cleaning rag and ran out of the hut.

Confused, he watched her as she scurried out.

"..."

"u-mm...?"

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

He turned to the other man beside him to see if there was any kind of reaction to the small commotion.

The man was still sleeping -- breathing deeply even.

He relaxed back onto his bedding, sighed and thought.

what is going on?

what exactly happened to me and where am I now?

Not a minute after he asked this question did he hear the sound of footsteps. Several footsteps.

He struggled to pull up his head, and looked outside through the entrance. He saw movement, legs and bodies that were approaching the hut.

He felt the need to tense up. Perhaps to be ready for whatever could happen.

A few seconds later, two arms stretched into the hut and pushed aside the cleaved tarp that functioned as a doorway.

This person stood there for a moment and stared the men. He was a big fellow, sturdily built, but had quite the pot belly. His reddish-brown hair grew out to his shoulders and shared the same color as his arms and beard which had thick amounts of hair.

This person then calmly walked towards the two men.

Just outside of the entrance were several people, men and women and children. They all looked wary.

Looking at the big man, he did not look frightening, but he felt as though no one could mess with him or treat him lightly.

The big man then finally stood to the side of the two men.

He looked upon them and wore a smile. Turning toward the entrance, he bellowed.

"Hildi!"

Amongst the crowd of lingering people, an old woman made her way past the entrance.

"Yes. Yes. I'm here." she replied. In her hands were parchments that looked to be an filled with shapes and alphanumerical characters.

As she walked she began to shuffle through the parchment and after finding the one she wanted, placed the rest on the nearby table.

"Here, Arth." she said as she handed the parchment to the big man.

He took it and examined the characters that were written.

"I see."

"OH!"

The big man, Arth, seemed to be surprised at the parchment he read.

The old woman cackled as she went to a table to grab a beaker.

Arth followed Hildi and a jovial expression on his face.

"Hildi, this is great. Bungroot, Mint, and Aalic Mushroom were never used, never even considered to be viable as a solution for this." he said, gesturing to the men.

Hildi smirked and nodded in aggreement.

"Oh, I thank you for your praise. It's thanks to Compact Eyes that I was able to see a hidden quality in these ingredients. It took me quite some time, however.

She reached for the brown satchel that she carried across her shoulder and rummaged through it to pull a few strange items.

A small plant which had a bright orange color and long fibrous roots, an average mint leaf, and 2 mushrooms with a red-brown cap, similar to the Suillus genus.

"Such average flora and yet, their qualities can still be uncovered." said Hildi as she placed them into the beaker.

"I'm impressed." said Arth

"What time approximately will it be prepared?" he asked.

Upon hearing this, Hildi's expression dulled.

"Arth..." she sighed.

"My work is not something that should be timed. Alchemy can -

"give life and take it away... yes, yes." Arte interuppted. His face wore a bit of annoyance, surely he'd heard this before.

"Yes. That's right." she replied.

"If you know me so well, then surely you understand." she smiled.

"Yes, but a frame of time would help to..." Hildi stuck her finger out at him, quieting him.

She held up the the beaker that contained the ingredients, focusing intently, then spoke at it.

After a few quick words, a small amount of water suddenly manifested inside the beaker.

"..h-huh?!"

The weak man who was viewing all of this reacted to the phenomenon he just witnessed.

Immediately, Arte and Hildi turned their attention toward him.

They looked at each other and smiled.

"Well, well." Arte said, as he inspected the man.

"It seems you are recovering quite well."

The man tried to then respond, but looked to be unable to voice out his words.

"Are you capable of speaking?" Hildi then asked.

The man weakly shifted his right hand from left to right repeatedly.

Hildi understood.

"So-so?" she replied.

The man softly nodded.

"I see."

Arte chuckled.

"I didn't fully believe the claims of the maidservant that you spoke to her... much less the chance that you'd even be awake and alert... much like your friend beside you."

"Yes. This is peculiar." Hildi added. "The injuries that you both sustained were gruesome. It was only with a top grade rejuvenation potion

that we were able to save your lives."

"...those are not easy to come by...." she said begrudgingly.

Arth turned to her wearing a tastless expression on his face.

"Hildi..."

She scoffed then went back to the task she was working on.

She faced a table with distinct alchemical instruments and placed the previous mixture onto a burner.

After saying a few words, the burner suddenly lit up.