Convalescence

Shops and stalls in the Mist Village were preparing to close up as night approached, so Ben had to hurry to offload his loot. He was careful not to sell everything at one place, as all the things he picked up from the forest was worth a considerable amount of silver and a transaction of that size might attract unwanted attention. He spread out his sales over a number of shops and stalls, even choosing to sell the beast core separately. He earned 70 silver from all the sales, the beast core itself was sold for 30 silver, making up the bulk of his earnings. He calculated that Oram and he could live quite comfortably for atleast 4 months on the total 90 silver he made out of this two day hunting trip. He resolved to come back in the future, so that he could have some reserve money and reduce his reliance on the family for his needs.

He began his return journey, two hours past nightfall. He was more alert and careful, as he was heavily injured and carrying some decent amount of cash, any bandit's dream victim. He kept off the road where ever he could, avoiding anyone he came across on the road. All this led to him taking double the time he had estimated he would take, to return home. He arrived back at the family compound, 3 hours past midnight. He again successfully slipped past the patrolling guards, security seemed to be extremely lax, if ever someone decided to attack the family, they would have an easy time doing it, no one would know what was happening until it was too late.

Oram was alarmed on seeing his battered and bleeding state. "It's ok Oram, I'm injured, and quite seriously, but I'll live", he tried calm Oram down. "Come Young Master, sit down, we must take and look at your wound. Should I inform Master Richard about this?", Oram asked. " No, we don't want anyone knowing about this. First, draw a warm bath, I need to clean myself, then we can dress the wounds", he instructed. "Right away, Young Master", Oram replied. He hurried away, to start heating some water for the bath and find the medicines and bandages for dressing the wounds. When the bath was drawn, Oram helped Ben undress and get into the tub. Ben, with some difficulty, washed himself, and dried himself with a towel, before Oram returned to see to his wounds. " Young Master, the preparations for the awakening ceremony will start in 3 days, and your condition will surely be noticed", Oram informed as he dressed the wounds. " Don't worry, I'll be in much better shape by then and we have time to come up with a suitable explanation", he replied. He intended to rest for then next 3 days, complete bed rest, so that he could downplay his injuries on the day when the preparations start. And, just as he told Oram, he needed a good excuse for his injuries.

He woke up late the next morning, he had badly needed a good night's sleep with worrying that a beast would pounce on him at any moment. He slowly and painfully, got himself dressed and exited his room. Oram was in the dining hall and immediately came to him to help him get to the table. " Young Master, you shouldn't be out of bed, you could have just called, and I would brought breakfast over", Oram admonished. " Don't make a fuss Oram, I'm just injured, not crippled. Now, bring me something to eat, I'm starving". Oram quickly set the table with food. Oram told him that Uncle Richard had come that morning, while he was still asleep, enquiring about his health, " I reassured him that you were feeling better and that you would be able to attend the preparation orientation", Oram said. "Good, wait what orientation?", Ben was confused. " The preparations for the awakening ceremony starts every year with an orientation for those who would be awakening their martial spirits that year, Young Master. They would be provided information about cultivation, cultivation techniques and the challenges that they would face as they start cultivating. I knew that you would want to know more about it Young Master, so I asked around". " Good job Oram, you did well", he was now really interested in this orientation, now that he knew that he would get information on cultivation by attending it. He also reminded himself to brush up on what he already knew about the topic. He usually avoided all clan functions and gatherings, so he didn't have any idea about what the preparations for the ceremony actually entailed.

" Oh! Oram, here before I forget. I believe that should cover us well for the next few months", Ben handed over 70 silver coins to Oram. Oram was clearly surprised by the amount of money, " I believe it will, Young Master and now I know why you were in such a poor condition, Young Master", Oram replied. Ben just smiled in return, " That's not all by the way, I'm keeping some amount of silver in reserve, as a form of savings, just in case", Ben said as he dismissed Oram. He needed to rest, and so he headed back to his room, thinking about what he would learn at the orientation. Next two days also passed in similar fashion, with him spending most of the time in bed. All the resting did have a good effect, he was in much better condition after three days than when he had arrived. He had also asked Oram to find out who would be awakening their martial spirits this year apart from him.