Winds of Change

"Don't trim that much. You'll make the bush's branches weaker and thinner over time. Plus it'll waste time having to regrow them."

Li pointed to a berry bush which Azhar hunched over dutifully with a pair of creaking shears. He cut with a rapidfire pace, his trained agility boosted by his excitement. Azhar had been ecstatic in hearing that Li would take him in as a follower and wanted to immediately repay him through some kind of trial or offering.

Li remembered that he hadn't been pruning the berry bushes, so he figured it would be useful to put Azhar on that. Maybe it was not so bad having a few followers on hand if they were just going to be farmhands. But then again, having to teach Azhar the basics of everything put into question whether his labor was truly worth it.