Guardian's Farm 9

Eli moved silently through the forest, his footsteps light and measured. He was familiar with the forest, but it didn’t make the place any less dangerous. This close to the mountain, there were many threats. Poisonous plants, bandits, beasts, and even other hunters.

Ideally, he would stay away, but he did not. Unfortunately, as a seventeen-year-old orphan with not even a plot to his name, his life wasn’t filled with opportunities. He could work in the farms for others, but he had long learned that, as an orphan, without a family to defend him, he would receive half the payment for any work he did.

If he could get his employers to pay in the first place.

No, risky as it was, foraging at the outskirts of the mountain was the only way he could make money. Money that he needed to purchase a technique.

Early in his life, he had decided to be an adventurer, traversing the plains and mountains alike, saving lives, and getting rich doing so. And, while the idea of becoming a mage that could fly and bring down mountains was tempting, he knew that it was impossible even as a wild dream. Talent for becoming a mage was rare, and the investment it required was even higher. How much, he didn’t know, but he was reasonably sure that it was measured with enough gold coins to blind him.

And, all his life, he hadn’t even touched a gold coin, let alone spent one.

Which meant that only the martial path was a possibility for him. Unfortunately, that didn’t make it easy. Martial techniques were cheaper compared to the path of the mage, but that didn’t make them affordable for a poor orphan.

Not unless the said orphan risked his life on the outskirts of a mountain filled with wild beasts and bandits, trying his best to dig plants valued by the apothecaries to earn enough money to hire a tutor to teach him the technique he learned better.

Unfortunately, he was having a bad day, each stone he touched was turning out to be empty. He failed to find any valuable plants. He would have been afraid of a beast digging around, maybe a boar, but that would have meant traceable presence.

“Maybe I should go deeper,” he asked himself, indecision dominating his ambition, helped by his fear. He tightened his grip, ready to take a step —

Then, he noticed something unusual. A column of smoke, rising from the trees ahead. “That explains it,” he decided. It was either bandits, or another ambitious hunter from a nearby village. He decided to turn back and leave. He didn’t want to be forcibly recruited to be a bandit, and even if it was merely another hunter, the risks were too high.

He had learned firsthand that the morals of the people loosened significantly when there were no witnesses around.

Before he could take a few steps away, he heard a chilling sound. The angry howl of a wolf, the direction of it unmistakable. It was coming from the camp. All the more reason for him to leave them to suffer. No, him, he corrected. The noise made it clear that there was only one wolf, which meant there was only one hunter; which also meant that it couldn’t be a bandit team.

He couldn’t leave another hunter to die!

He rushed forward. A wolf was a dangerous opponent, but their usual tactic was to exhaust their prey before delivering the final blow, and they were smart enough to discern the situation. As long as he made a lot of noise, he could save the unfortunate hunter by scaring the wolf away.

He was hoping that he wasn’t making the worst mistake of his life. However, as he got closer and closer, he started noticing that some of the trees were showing signs of cut branches. Too many for it to be just for a campfire or two.

But, he didn’t have to slow down to consider the implications, so he continued to move forward, not pausing even for a second. When he finally arrived at the opening, he was ready to create a big commotion … only to freeze for a moment.

He didn’t expect to come across a farm.

As far as farms went, it wasn’t much. There was a small garden that was toiled properly that was no more than half an acre with budding vegetables, and two more acres were in the process of being toiled. There was a short hedge around the vegetable garden, and a large, half-completed hedge around a larger part of the land that explained the cut branches. At the center, there was a small cottage in the making.

But, none of those details properly registered, not when he could finally see the source of commotion. A man, tall and broad-shouldered, with a presence that reminded Eli of the guards, fighting the wolf that had been howling.

No, fighting was the wrong word. He was desperately trying to push the wolf away with his bare hands, his movements choppy and unsure. The wolf attacked again and again, its frustration clear as it searched for blood, but the man managed to push away it again with a palm at the last second.

Lucky, but Eli didn’t know how much his luck would hold. “Catch!” he shouted even as he threw his spear toward him, aware that leaving himself without a weapon was a risky proposition. But, he was ready for the risk. He still had his sling, and if the wolf attacked him, he could always climb a tree…

Or not, he decided with a dangerous realization when the wolf turned toward him, charging with a speed that Eli had never seen before.

Too fast for Eli to safely climb a tree. Eli did his best to pull his sling with his trembling fingers, realizing he was about to die —

“Sage, stop! He’s just trying to help me,” the man said. Eli blinked, not understanding what the man was saying. It didn’t help his confusion when the wolf actually stopped, though it continued to look at Eli with a suspicious glare.

“Sorry about it,” the man said as he walked forward to the wolf, and petted it. Unlike what Eli expected, when he pulled back, he still had all his fingers. “We were practicing, and Sage was getting frustrated with his lack of success. Between you and me, he could be a little impatient.” The wolf growled angrily, which should have been a scary sound, yet somehow, it was not.

It sounded petulant.

Eli wanted to say something, but his wild heartbeat didn’t allow him to say anything. A second ago, he was sure that he was about to die, and now, he was not.

“You look tired, why don’t you come here and rest a bit,” he offered.

Ordinarily, Eli would have been more careful about approaching someone in the wilderness, but if the man had any bad intentions, all he needed was to let his pet wolf — and wasn’t that a scary thought — to complete his charge, and Eli would have been dead. “T-thanks,” he stammered as he walked cautiously, trying not to fall down due to his trembling legs. “So, a farm, here?” he asked as he approached, desperately trying to distract himself from his encounter with death.

“Yes, it’s a good sport for retirement,” he admitted.

“Retirement?” Eli asked, observing the stranger again. It was a weird thing for a man in his thirties to say … especially when the said man was tall enough to tower above him, with arms thick enough to snap him in half if he desired. “But, you’re young.”

“I’m in my forties, and adventuring is a young man’s game,” he said. “I decided to return to my roots.”

“A-adventurer,” Eli gasped, feeling shocked.

“A failed adventurer,” he corrected.

Eli presumed that was the case, as even the weakest adventurer was supposed to be rich enough to buy enough land to turn himself into a landlord, or failing that, buy some land nearer civilization. But, that didn’t make his situation any less fascinating. “You were a farmer before you became an adventurer?” he asked in fascination.

“Yes,” he answered even as he gestured for him to sit on a large piece of lumber. “I decided that adventure was my calling, so I left my village and threw myself into danger. Somehow, I survived,” he answered, his tone wistful.

“Do you regret it?” Eli asked reflexively before blushing, realizing just how intrusive his question had been. “Sorry—”

“No, I understand the impulse. I was the same way,” he answered. “It’s only normal to ask such questions about the career you want to embrace.”

Eli paused, trying to remember if he mentioned anything about it. He didn’t, but it was probably his excitement making it obvious. “True,” he admitted.

“To give a simple answer, I don’t regret it,” he answered, his tone too complicated for Eli to parse. It was wistful, but also filled with grief. “It didn’t end as well as I hoped, but it was more about my greed of reaching for things I couldn’t attain, costing me a lot.”

Eli nodded, keeping himself from asking any follow-up questions. Considering he was setting up a farm in the middle of nowhere, he had probably lost all his money. Also, the way he fought with the wolf was too choppy for a professional adventurer, suggesting some kind of debilitating injury. It would be rude to ask.

Instead, he decided to change the subject, which left him two options. Either he could turn the discussion into something trivial, or …

“Can you teach me how to fight?” he asked. The man looked at him with a surprised expression. Eli could see that he was about to be rejected. “I can pay you!” he admitted. “I don’t have much, but I can pay half a silver for every training session.”

Eli tensed. He knew he was taking a risk. On one hand, he was seriously undercharging him, as none of the trainers had charged below a silver coin for a session, and the ones that weren't terribly charged much more. Also, they rarely accepted students without an initial bulk payment, which Eli lacked.

On the other hand, the way he trained against his tamed wolf without a weapon suggested that he was injured, so his training might not be as effective. No, it was certain it wouldn’t be as effective, or injured or not, he could have stayed in town.

“Are you sure? Even though I might be a terrible trainer?” he asked.

Eli was not sure. “Yes,” he answered regardless. It was an opportunity he could not refuse.

The man said nothing, looking at him with sharp eyes that felt like he was peering directly into his soul. Eli trembled in fear. “Fine,” he admitted. “But, only if you pay me in the form of tools purchased from the town. And, don’t tell anyone about me training you, or the deal is off. Actually, don’t tell anyone about me, period.”

“Deal, master,” Eli answered, feeling excited. He had just gotten a tutor. A tutor who was likely terrible, but as a poor orphan, he couldn’t afford any better.

“Good, I want fifty nails, thick enough to hold planks together, and a large hammer. And, twenty eggs. Come back with them tomorrow at dawn, and we’ll start your training,” he said.

Then, he waved his hand in dismissal. Eli jumped on his feet, too excited to care about the abrupt dismissal. Only when he left the opening, he remembered he didn’t get his name.

But, ultimately, he didn’t care. He was too excited to finally get a trainer. He had gotten a step closer to being an adventurer.

A tiny step.