Etherfield, this quiet forgotten spot in the heart of the dense forest, would wake up every morning to the pure melodies of nature, the rustling of the tall trees moved by the cool morning breezes, the chirping of the birds building their nests among the branches, and the sound of the small river making its way gently over the round pebbles, sending forth a soothing gurgling sound. But with the breaking of dawn, another rhythm, strange, dissonant, and disturbing, would begin to creep into this beautiful natural tranquility. It was the rhythm of Theo's arduous training.
Since he was a very young child, Theo had been undeniably different from his peers, he wasn't just an ordinary village child, he carried an aura of mystery and difference that the villagers couldn't fully understand with their simple minds, but they felt it instinctively.
His dark eyes that would sometimes flash with a strange, dark color like burning coal when he was angry or intensely focused, and the shadows that seemed to move on their own and dance around him when he practiced his magic, all this made them look at him with silent apprehension, an apprehension fueled by old stories and dark tales about sorcerers and their powers that could corrupt and destroy whoever wielded them and those around them.
Not everyone believed everything that was said about sorcerers, Celia his aunt was a wise and respected sorceress despite her mysterious power, but the seeds of fear were there and ready to grow in the fertile soil of ignorance and lack of understanding.
And with the start of Theo's intense and brutal physical training under the hand of Kyle, the strange trainer from outside about whom doubts also swirled, and the magical training that was no less intense under the hand of his aunt Celia, the old apprehension turned into overt and tangible worry. It was no longer just a difference they noticed from afar, they were now facing the effects of this difference directly and disturbingly, intruding upon their quiet lives.
The training ground, a relatively open area on the outskirts of the eastern forest, would sometimes turn into a stage for unusual phenomena that disturbed their comfort and aroused their terror.
The echoes of the harsh training would reach their ears even in the depths of the village, Theo's tired cries barely stifled, the groans of pain he was trying to hide, and sometimes, and this was the most disturbing and terrifying, the boom of powerful and sudden explosions that would shake the forest's calm and stillness, and leave clear marks on the nearby trees and the ground that would blacken or crack.
These explosions, while perhaps a natural part of the training of a sorcerer with excellent talent and powerful elements like fire or darkness, were completely foreign to the experience of Etherfield's people and their quiet simple way of life that had never known such phenomena before. They feared the power they did not understand.
In the mornings that followed the intense magical training sessions, especially those where Celia focused with Theo on his volatile fire element, the villagers would exchange conversations in low, worried voices, describing what they had heard of the sounds of explosions and seen of their effects on the edge of the forest.
In the central village square, where the women would gather at the old stone well to fetch water and exchange morning news, the tone of worry was clear in their talk.
"The sound of the explosion woke me up in the middle of the night yesterday," said Myrna, a middle-aged woman, her pale face and slightly widened eyes bearing witness to her lack of sleep and the fear that resided within her.
"I felt as if the ground was shaking beneath my feet, as if the roof of my house would fall on me. Are you sure, Eva, that this is normal, do his powers have to be this violent?"
Eva, an older woman with more experience in village matters and life, replied in a tone that also carried some apprehension and worry
"I don't know, Myrna, if it's normal or not for his powers specifically. I heard from Celia that his magic is different from the magic we usually hear about, that it has strange and unusual aspects. But I also see the effects of the training on Theo himself. He looks very tired, his face paler than ever, and dark circles under his eyes. I don't know why the training has to be this harsh on him."
Eva felt pity for Theo, but pity did not completely eliminate fear.
"They say he needs complete control over his powers quickly," another woman intervened, filling her wooden bucket with cold water. "Otherwise, they might be dangerous to the whole village if they get out of control. But when will all this disturbance and terror stop, when will the quiet return to the forest and to our lives as it was before his training became like this?"
There were no clear answers to comfort the worried hearts. Fear was feeding on this unknown surrounding Theo's powers and their nature, and on the absence of clear information they could understand.
The villagers saw the physical effects of the training, heard the terrifying sounds, noticed the change in Theo, but they did not understand the real reason behind all of it, they knew nothing about the outside world or about the continent of Arcanum. This ignorance is what generates the deepest fear.
Far from the ears of the adults and their worried whispers and fears that he didn't fully understand, Theo sat with Rayn on a large, smooth rock beside the flowing river. The sound of the water flowing gently over the smooth pebbles, its voice was soothing to Theo's nerves, always tense because of the harshness of the training, the strange feeling of responsibility after knowing the world's secrets, and the villagers' gazes whose weight he felt even as he pretended not to care. Rayn was talking with great inexhaustible enthusiasm about the vast world outside the boundaries of little Etherfield, his favorite topic that ignited his wild imagination, drawing his information from the stories and tales he heard from any merchant or traveler who passed through the village from time to time.
"Imagine, Theo, they say to our north lies the kingdom of 'Ardonia', a kingdom of great warriors and impregnable fortresses that cannot be breached," Rayn said, his wide eyes shining with intense enthusiasm reflecting his wild imagination and his conception of a world full of adventures. "And to our south, there is the 'Astralian Empire', a vast and very powerful empire, its lands extend for hundreds of miles, it has massive invincible armies and powerful sorcerers in its service who can destroy entire armies with a single spell."
Theo listened intently, enjoying the temporary escape from his complex and painful reality into the world of stories and adventures that Rayn told. He remembered Kyle's words about real battles and the brutality of humans, and Celia's words about the history of bloody conflicts between continents. "And are, do all these kingdoms and empires you speak of, Rayn, live in peace with each other, or are the conflicts continuous?"
Rayn laughed lightly, an innocent childish laugh devoid of any knowledge of dark truths. "Peace, I don't think the outside world knows the meaning of true peace, Theo. They say there are always conflicts and disputes over lands, over natural resources, or simply for a ruler's desire to extend his control and power, and there are also dangerous monsters roaming the vast wilderness outside the kingdoms' borders, and other more dangerous things people only hear about in stories, like evil sorcerers or mysterious dark entities," he paused for a moment, and looked at Theo with a look that held some serious thought, "But you, Theo, with your talent and the power you are training in, perhaps you can do something important and great in this vast world someday. Perhaps you will become a great fighter or a very powerful sorcerer who protects innocent people from dangers, or, or even someone who changes things and brings peace to somewhere."
Rayn's words were simple, innocent, and honest, but they left a deep and confusing impact on Theo's soul. He wasn't thinking about changing the world, he was only thinking about surviving Kyle's brutal training, and understanding his volatile mysterious magic that sometimes seemed like an enemy, not a friend. But the idea that he could be more than just the different child everyone feared and avoided, and that his powers could be used for something truly meaningful and great in this vast world he was beginning to discover through Rayn's words and Celia's secrets, was an attractive and frightening idea at the same time.
'Can I really be like that, can I protect anyone with this fear I feel inside sometimes?'
In the following days, the training continued relentlessly and with the same ruthless intensity. Kyle suddenly disappeared and Theo didn't know where he went, and whenever he asked his aunt, she would reply that she didn't know. In the end, he had no choice but to continue training with Rayn who also needed a training partner, and Celia working with him on precise and complete control over his volatile magic. Celia was watching Theo very closely, not only to ensure his progress in controlling his magic and combining the elements of fire and darkness, but also looking for any other signs of the mysterious phenomenon that began with the strange sound Theo heard in the past, the sound Theo had forgotten he heard but that appeared in moments of extreme exhaustion.
Theo's old questions about the sound, and the strange feeling that he was being watched by an invisible entity, were disturbing her and driving her to search.
In her old library filled with forgotten books and yellowed manuscripts, Celia was diving into the depths of ancient knowledge. Her search was not organized and systematic at first, she was just following her intuition as a wise woman and a powerful sorceress who felt that something much bigger was happening. She was searching for any mention of unusual magical phenomena like those Theo possessed, for connections between the spirit world and the physical world in unconventional ways, for ancient prophecies speaking of extraordinary destinies linked to specific powers or certain blood, for signs of entities that transcended normal human understanding. She was searching for anything that could explain the sound Theo heard, and the meaning of its disturbing words
'You are the future, you are the sacrifice'
The information she found was very fragmented and vague, and often written in symbolic language or magical riddles that required deciphering. But it was giving her a growing sense of urgency and deep concern. She was finding references to ancient powers sleeping beneath the world's surface, and to connections between elements in ways never taught in traditional magical academies, and to the importance of certain destinies that seemed as if they were predetermined by these powers or prophecies.
'I must know more, this isn't just normal magic, something much deeper is happening with Theo.'
"This library alone will never be enough," Celia muttered to herself in a low voice, after long weeks of intense searching that yielded no satisfactory answers. She realized that the information available to her in Etherfield, no matter how valuable, was very limited compared to the size of the secrets she was searching for.
She realized that she had to greatly expand the scope of her search, and that this inevitably meant leaving the village and searching in other larger and older libraries in other parts of Arcanum. It was never an easy idea, Etherfield was relatively safe, and her presence here provided a layer of protection for Theo and reassured Elena. She feared something bad happening to Theo or Elena during her absence.
But she was in a position where she could not choose between comfort and safety. Theo's fate might depend on what she would discover, she had not yet determined her final destination or the exact timing of her trip, but the idea began to solidify in her mind with undeniable force.
One day that seemed like any other ordinary day in the village, while Theo and Rayn were training advanced sword movements and prediction in an area near the edge of the forest where the trees were less dense, they suddenly heard a loud sound that pierced the stillness of the morning, a woman's scream carrying true terror that could not be faked. Rayn stopped training immediately, became completely alert, and listened with great care to the source and direction of the sound, his sharp, narrowed eyes staring in the direction of the sound that came from deep within the forest.
"A cry for help," Rayn said quietly, but his tone carried intense focus and undeniable seriousness.
"Someone from the village is in real danger, most likely a woman who was gathering firewood or herbs."
Before Rayn took his steps, Theo felt a sudden and powerful surge overtake him.
All the harsh training he had gone through, all the pain he had endured, all the tiredness and exhaustion he had felt, all of this was for one reason. To be able to help when others needed help.
He gripped his wooden training sword firmly, and said with a determination Rayn had never heard in his voice before, "I'm coming with you, Rayn."
Rayn looked at Theo and smiled sarcastically. "Looks like someone is already looking for a wife early."
Theo ignored him and took off ahead of Rayn through the dense trees while Rayn's expression changed from ignoring Theo. "Tch, ignoring me again," then he sped up, chasing after Theo.
They moved skillfully between the natural obstacles, the air was cold on their faces which had begun to sweat with the effort, and the deep earthy smell of the forest filled their lungs. The sound of screaming became clearer as they approached, mixed with a low, harsh growl, the sound of creatures very familiar to Theo but at the same time unfamiliar.
They finally reached a small open area in the middle of the trees, and saw the scene that made Theo stop for a moment in shock and terror mixed with determination.
A woman from the village, who was most likely gathering firewood or medicinal herbs as the village women were accustomed to doing, was trapped by three large goblins, much bigger and more threatening in appearance than the goblins he had faced in his first training sessions with Celia. These goblins looked clearly evil, their small red eyes shining with a craving for blood.
Rayn did not waste time thinking unlike Theo, he charged forward immediately with his sword which he always carried with him, moving with incredible skill and speed like a storm sweeping everything in its path.
With one strong and focused strike, he tried to knock one of the goblins to the ground, but he was quickly disappointed, it barely hit the goblin's shoulder. And as the goblin was about to strike Rayn, Theo appeared above him with his wooden sword, descending from the hidden branches like a quick shadow, and stabbed it in the head forcefully fearing that the wooden sword would not penetrate its hard head.
The first goblin fell with Theo's sudden and decisive blow. Theo did not give the creature a chance to even respond or make a sound.
The other two goblins noticed what had happened to their companion, and stopped advancing towards the woman for a moment, their red eyes turned towards Theo and Rayn.
Rayn wisely used this moment of pause, and refocused the goblins' attention on him by making a loud sound and starting to move lightly around them, using his sword to make quick feinting movements. "Here you ugly dwarves, come to me."
Theo used Rayn's movement that distracted the goblins, and quickly jumped from a nearby tree branch, landing behind one of the remaining goblins. In one crucial moment, he delivered a precise and quick strike with his wooden sword directly to the creature's heart.
And although the sword was wooden, the power inherent in the blow, driven by Theo's body weight and the strength Kyle had honed, was enough to penetrate the goblin's relatively thick skin and break its ribs to reach its heart.
The second goblin fell with a stifled scream that wasn't completed.
Only the third goblin remained, the largest and seemingly most savage. It had begun advancing towards Rayn with increasing anger when it saw its two companions fall so quickly.
Rayn returned to moving around the last goblin with greater agility, trying to occupy it with quick sword strikes to its legs to restrict its movement. The goblin was growling angrily and trying to hit Rayn with its large primitive axe.
Theo was watching the battle, looking for the right opportunity. He saw the goblin raise its axe to strike Rayn, exposing the back of its neck and skull. In a fraction of a second, Theo jumped again, using trees or nearby elevated areas with surprising speed he learned in his training.
He landed directly behind the third goblin, and delivered a very strong and precise final blow with his wooden sword to the base of the creature's skull.
The third goblin collapsed to the ground like a mass of flesh and muscle, its sound completely gone.
"Just in time," Rayn said, giving Theo a thumbs-up, although his face was somewhat pale from tension and excitement.
Theo felt a sharp pain in his arm, he looked at it and found the mark of a deep bite from the first goblin before he ended its life. Blood was bleeding profusely from it, but the adrenaline and excitement from the fight had made him not feel it completely until now. 'Injury, in a real battle.'
After ensuring the safety of the woman they had saved, who was still trembling with fear and shock, Theo and Rayn helped her return to the village slowly and cautiously.
News of what had happened in the forest had already reached them with unexpected speed, as the rescued woman had preceded them, recounting the story in broken words filled with terror and gratitude, describing the sudden goblin attack and how Rayn and the boy Theo had saved her with strange shadow magic and his speed and strength.
In the open village square, people were gathered in small groups, talking in low voices, looking at Theo with different looks this time than he was used to. The old apprehension had not completely disappeared, no, rather it seemed to have begun to increase for some, and their fear had increased for some reason Theo did not understand, a fear mixed with hesitant respect. Theo did not care much about these looks, he had been used to them since he was young, and he had learned to ignore them. But Rayn saw the matter from a completely different perspective, he saw that the power that appeared publicly also increased fear, not just admiration, and this was only from Theo's side.
As for Rayn, the girls were surrounding him and praising him, and the villagers were laughing with him and joking with him, and there were those who were inviting him to a feast or to training or to an honorable arm wrestling match.
Rayn noticed the difference in their treatment of him and Theo, but he quickly blended into the atmosphere because while he was still a child nearing puberty almost, he was looking for praise among people.
Theo walked away and looked at Rayn and those around him, no sadness, envy, or even any change in his expressions appeared on his face by which we could assess his feelings, no one knew what he was thinking or what he would do next, but what was certain at that moment.
The village died in Theo's heart forever.
That night, Theo sat in the warmth of his home with his mother Elena and his aunt Celia. Elena was holding him with an involuntary strength, happy that he was fine and had not been harmed in the confrontation with the goblins, and proud of him for trying to help.
Celia was looking at him with a look that carried a clear mixture of pride in the courage he had shown and the effective use of his powers, and increasing concern for his future and the challenges this power would bring him.
She knew that Theo's use of his powers in this way in front of a villager witness was important to change the village's view of him from just a different child to someone who could help, but news of the villagers' increased fear that Kyle had noticed had not reached her, she was focusing on the apparent positive side to the village.
"You are a little hero, Theo," Elena said in her warm voice, touching his face gently. "You saved the life of one of the village women. I am very proud of you."
Theo felt the warmth of his mother's words reach his heart, but he could not feel completely like a hero.
'I used the shadows they fear'
"I didn't do much, Mom, Rayn is the one who finished them off."
"But you were the one approaching them from behind, boy, and finishing them," Celia intervened in a calm tone but one that carried clear appreciation.
"It was a quick and accurate use of your powers in a real situation. This proves that your training is paying off, and that you are able to use your magic effectively under pressure. This is a very important step in your journey."
Celia looked at Theo with a look that became more serious. "Today's incident also proves why you must leave the village soon, Theo. The goblins were strong, but they are not the most dangerous things you might face outside. The world is full of threats that require greater strength and deeper skills than you can acquire here. You must learn how to use your full powers, in ways I cannot teach you completely here," Celia said and then thought
'And you must understand the nature of the world of 'Arcanum' a part of which I have revealed to you.'
Although she did not say that last sentence but it seemed as if Theo had picked it up.
Elena looked anxiously from Theo to Celia, her eyes questioning the sudden urgency. "Leaving, the dangerous place, the world outside," the words were echoing in Elena's ears as an alarm of danger and separation.
Celia realized Elena's worry, she sighed quietly. "We will explain everything to you, Elena, in due time. But now, let Theo rest. He has had a long and hard day."