Chapter 3:Gaining a student

Chapter 3:Gaining a student

Sam's POV

For the first few days the boy was a good patient; he was taking the medicine I gave him, and he was resting. With all this, the boy was getting better. I watched fondly as he worked diligently; carefully carrying the wooden bucket towards the crops that I had planted a few days ago. His recovery was truly making haste!

The boy was quite short for his age; only standing at 1.5 meters. He had black, unkempt, spiky hair-which had white hues plastered onto its tips. His face was a tad bit feminine. He had clear, pale skin, with wine red eyes. These features eerily resembled those of a vampire (the only factor to discontinue this hypothesis was the fact that light magic did not have any harmful effect towards him).

He never said much, and only spoke when he was in need of food or water. Besides this, he kept his head down and never actually uttered more than a few words. I tried plenty of times to make conversation—finding random subjects to talk about—but his current memory situation made it quite the challenge for him to reciprocate.

It was about a week after he had woken up, the boy came up to me daily asking for tasks to do. At first I told him he didn't need to do anything, but he insisted and said it wouldn't feel right to let his savior work while he just loitered around. The look in his eyes was that of a sincere and child—like ideal, which was not usual in this world.

People around his age were usually quite the narcissists; they focused only on cultivating their bodies in order to create stable foundations. There was only a hand-full who would actually think to stop and help, so he truly was a breath of fresh air. In that moment I felt glad that he had lost his memory, he was not burdened by the need to push himself agonizingly in and also transverse the path of cultivation.

For a second I had considered just letting him live here forever, but I knew that that was impossible. His curiosity would eventually lead him to having many unanswered questions. Besides it wouldn't feel right to keep him here with me—whilst lying to him-just for my own selfish desire. But most importantly, I only had a few years of life left in me—I wouldn't be able to protect him forever.

"Hey mister!" I was pulled back into reality—from my thoughts-by a gentle shout from the boy.

"Yes?" I turned to him and asked-smiling lightly.

"I've watered the plants, is there anything else you need done?" he asked in a calm voice, which barely contained any emotion.

This caused me to let out a deep sigh. The only explanation to his inexpressive behavior was probably due to his past trauma. Waking up in a ditch filled with piles and piles of corpses would've affected anyone—even a hardened fighter like myself.

"Hmm…how about you help me with this then?" I suggested cheerfully and gestured towards the plant I was currently grinding against two rocks.

"Hm." The boy nodded and approached, picked up a smooth rock, and appraised it. After making sure it was to his liking, he sat down next to me and watched me intently—observing how the task should be done. I was only suggesting he bring more plants, but he seemed to really be interested in what I was doing. This task was quite tedious, so I was sure he wouldn't enjoy sitting and just grinding dry plant into powder, but he actually was intrigued!

I have a strong feeling that he is going to surprise me and do this job as diligently as the rest of his tasks. With this, I decided to tell the boy a little about what I was doing.

"Ahem! This plant is known as 'Vitality Flower', it has a variety of uses, but the most prominent is its ability to speed up the healing process of any injury." I picked up the flower that I was planning on grinding next, and explained to the boy what it was.

The boy mused with a small frown on his face, something was bothering him. I waited patiently for him to ask me what he was currently questioning in his mind, and after a second or two, he asked.

"Mister, what gives it these properties?" he raised his head and asked with interest. This question showed just how interested he was in this—and also just how he doesn't accept everything told to him.

"Well, to explain that would take a while since you would need to understand more about Qi, yin and yang, and how they all relate and interact." I replied. I was testing to see if my words would dissuade or encourage him to learn more.

"Can you teach me?" he asked, after thinking it through for a short time. Something in his normally cold and detached eyes was burning just slightly,maybe I could ignite it fully and make him forget all his traumas, even if it's just for a little while.

"I will help in whatever way I can boy, just make sure to learn attentively. Can you do that?" I asked—in a higher and more daunting voice.

"I'm willing to learn mister." His eyes stared back into mine, and his voice replied with a little more vigor, as he was trying to prove and show his sincerity towards the offer.

With a smile and a cheerful voice, I turned to the boy and said, "Then I shall become your master and teach you all I can about this world, and whatever else I may be able to offer."

"I shall do my best master!" he answered, with a determined voice and serious eyes.

"We shall begin tomorrow, for now let us stick to finishing up our current task boy." I said tenderly, and began showing him how to grind the flowers with the utmost efficiency in order to obtain the best yield.

The rest of the day flew by with the boy asking question after question, and me replying to each and every one of them. As the sun set and night was upon us, we went inside and had our supper; some boar meat mixed with wild vegetables, and maize porridge.

It has been a while since I had any company, I think I am going to enjoy these remaining years. I thought fondly as I watched the boy—who at the time was thoroughly washing the dishes.