Chapter 8: How to learn magic after escaping the girl’s father
Speed is a terribly underrated virtue — especially when a brick of a man charges you with a broom like it's a holy sword blessed by the gods of janitorial justice.
First thing I did — as any genius would — was run.
Lina screamed, the old man screamed louder, and me? I vanished down the side alley like a chicken thief in festival season. My heart was pounding in my throat, my bare feet slapped against wet cobblestone, and my brain was already drafting three different escape routes before I even turned the first corner.
There was no grace. Only urgency.
And that's how, with my pride crushed and adrenaline burning like cheap liquor, I made it back to the edge of the forest. I slipped into the trees, took a deep breath, and finally pulled one of those fruits I'd gathered earlier from my bag. Still fresh, still weird-tasting, but they worked.
[Item Consumed: Dark Wildfruit]→ +10 HP (light regeneration over 10 minutes)→ Removes [Exhausted I] if consumed with fresh water→ Can be used to make calming tea or simple elixir (with basic alchemy)→ HP: 44/70
I sat beneath a twisted tree where I could see the faint outline of the village in the distance. The morning mist had started to lift, peeling back to reveal the little world I now needed to conquer.
Dark rooftops, chimneys still smoking, the creak of the first carts rolling through the main street... That place looked like a painting half-finished and abandoned by the artist. And me? I was just a dirt-covered intruder with a reckless plan.
But let's be honest... every empire starts that way.
I leaned against the trunk, chewing the last bits of the fruit, eyes fixed on the slow stirrings of Ashveil. This wasn't the time to act — not yet. First came observation. Analysis. Strategy.
And waiting for the right moment to crash the party.