Guardian's Farm 13

Eli arrived at the makeshift homestead at dawn, just like he did every third day.

This was going to be his fifth lesson. Lessons that had been underwhelming enough that he no longer felt guilty for paying only half a silver for each lesson. The food was an unexpected extra, especially since he insisted on feeding him with meat even when he brought his own breakfast, but Eli did his best to pay back by helping him with the construction.

Combined with the tools and material he purchased instead of direct payment, the farm had taken shape, enough that Eli was having trouble believing there was nothing but a half-completed house when he first discovered the place.

He had to admit, his teacher had picked a nice location to set up his farm. It must have a surprisingly soft field, as he had already plowed four acres of it and seeded it with wheat. Normally, taming even an acre of land required the collaboration of several people, which could only be explained by his teacher’s luck.

Otherwise, ex-adventurer or not, he couldn’t have prepared the land and finished the construction of his cottage at the same time. Not with its walls thick enough to handle the cold of the winter as well as any wild beast that decided to be adventurous.

Not that any wild beast would dare to attack where a wolf had made his home. Annoying beast, Eli decided, feeling uncomfortable under his steel grey gaze even as he approached. He couldn’t help but feel uncomfortable near it, solely due to his gaze.

It was not a good feeling to be patronized by a wild beast.

As he approached, his teacher shouted from the other side of the farm, where he was busy with the fence. “Just in time, kid. I was running out of nails.”

“Yes, master. I managed to get a deal from the blacksmith!” he said happily. It was not the case, but during his last trip, he had managed to find more herbs than usual, earning him an extra coin, so he decided to purchase some extra.

While the training he received was worse than he had expected, his teacher still did his best to teach him, which was more than Eli ever had.

As an orphan, he was used to not only everyone around him forcing unfair trades on him, but also expecting him to be thankful. His teacher might not be as effective as he had hoped, but he was trying.

Making him the best person Eli had ever interacted with. So what if he spent an extra silver coin to help him build his home faster?

“Good news,” he replied with a big smile. “Drop them and start with your footwork. Sage will bring them to me.”

That made the wolf let out a whine of protest, which was still surprising. Eli couldn’t really understand how a mere beast could understand human speech, but he didn’t question it.

Probably some kind of adventurer secret.

Instead, he raised his spear and took his stance, just like he had been being drilled to do for the last two weeks. Knees were slightly bent, shoulders relaxed, elbows supple, and the grip soft yet strong, reminding him more of a dance lesson than a fighting lesson.

He closed his eyes and fell into a rhythm. One step forward, two steps back, one to the side…

“Not bad,” a voice rang in his ears sometime later, shocking him. “Don’t break your stance when surprised. It’s a terrible habit,” his teacher declared.

“Yes, master,” Eli replied, feeling his face burn. He didn’t like making mistakes, especially repeating the same mistake.

“Good,” he said as he examined his footwork. “You’re showing improvement. Let’s see if you can do the same while distracted.”

“Distracted? Are we going to —” he started asking excitedly, only to force himself to stop, admonishing himself for making his teacher uncomfortable. He had long realized that his teacher always deflected the opportunities for a spar, which only reinforced his first conclusion about him being injured enough to be unable to fight. “Move to the stab moves,” he corrected himself.

“Maybe. First, we’re going to make sure you can use your footwork appropriately. Tell me some of the town gossip while moving. It’ll be enough for now.”

“Yes, master,” he said, doing his best to move perfectly even as he did his best. “There’s not much of a change. With the harvest getting near, the food prices are going down. Most of the farmers that stockpiled grain made some losses, so they are selling in panic.”

“Maybe I should buy some for the winter, just in case,” he pondered. “What else?”

“There are rumors of a new bandit group making some noise at Semun,” Eli said. “A town on the other side of the city,” he added, knowing his teacher wasn’t fully caught up with the local geography.”

“Anything serious?” he asked, his concern clear.

“Nothing other than a few clashes, according to the gossip,” Eli replied, even as he took another step forward, doing his best to keep his center of weight situated by tensing his stomach. Just in time, he felt his teacher’s hand on his shoulder, pushing him.

He stood standing!

“Good stability,” he said. “Now, start moving faster.”

Eli obeyed, ignoring the frustration bubbling under his skin. He appreciated his teacher doing his best, but the lack of any talk of channeling internal energy, or any of the takedown moves the other trainers boasted about occasionally was turning annoying.

He wasn’t ungrateful, but sometimes, it was hard.

“So, anything else? Maybe some interesting gossip?” his teacher asked as he moved faster.

Eli did his best to think. “Oh, Baron apparently has some kind of fancy visitor from the capital.”

“Capital? Are you sure?” his teacher replied, his tone shifting slightly with worry. No, do not worry, Eli corrected himself. It must be interesting.

“Yes, master,” he replied. “The gossip is mixed. Some people claim that they are a new team of tax collectors, afraid that they will request even more from us. Others are convinced they are the guards for a traveling noble. Either way, they must have been important, as the town is having a feast in their honor for the last two days. Apparently, it’ll continue for another week or so.”

“A feast that lasts for ten days. They must be important,” he said. “Anything specific?”

Eli paused slightly. “Nothing much,” he said, closing his eyes and doing his best to remember. “I heard that they were wearing matching cloaks, with some kind of silver arrow on their back. Green and …”

“Black,” his teacher completed.

“Yes, how did you know?” Eli asked.

He paused slightly. “I heard of them. Royal Rangers,” he said. “They must have caused quite a stir.”

“Not really,” Eli replied. “As far as I know, they are just resting at the Baron’s Manor. But, I can ask around.”

“No,” he replied, his tone sharper. “It’s best not to get tangled in the life of nobles. Trust me, it doesn’t end well. Make sure to avoid the town until they leave, just in case.”

Eli nodded. It was the first time he heard his teacher sounding this grave. It must have been something truly important. He wondered if the nobles had something to do with his injury. He focused on his movement.

“Good work,” his teacher said. “Enough that we can move on.”

“Perfect,” Eli said. “Now, the technique I purchased—”

“Forget that technique. I have something … comparable,” he corrected.

“Comparable?” Eli said. “But, the one I purchased comes with a breathing technique, guaranteed to generate internal energy. There’s even several guards that use it.”

“I know, but the one I have in mind fits you better,” his teacher said. Eli paused, trying to remember if he shared the details of his technique with him.

He must have, maybe when he was too tired to remember.

“As you wish, master,” Eli said, deciding to trust his teacher once more. “But, I can’t pay you for the technique immediately.”

“You can pay me by helping me during the harvest,” he replied.

Eli nodded. It was almost fair, an inferior technique for several weeks of hard work — though that was only by assuming Eli got paid a fair wage, which was not how it usually went. He needed to find a way to make up for the difference.

Maybe he could save money and buy some iron pots for him.

“Replicate my position,” he said, then raised his spear cross to his body, his legs parted like he was about to take a step.

“Like this?”

“Perfect. Now, the first thing to remember about this technique is movement. You need to be agile like fire, soft yet punishing, stable yet unpredictable. Close your eyes, and imagine having such a fire in your chest. A spark at first, but getting stronger with every breath…”

“What’s the name of the technique, master?” he asked.

“Ember Jab,” his teacher replied. Eli nodded, remembering that he had heard the name. It was one of the common techniques that were on sale he had seen when he was trying to purchase, though not one that was particularly common. “But, don’t worry about the name for now. Just focus on my voice,” came the reply.

Eli sighed before following his teacher’s request. He had heard that tone enough times not to challenge him. His teacher could be very particular when the mood struck.

However, that did nothing to ruin his excitement. He was finally going to learn proper technique.