Leaving the village

Four slow months passed, a time in which Seth kept researching more profoundly into the six energies he would cultivate in this life. Winter had also gone away, and it was now spring. It had not snowed for a week, and nature was already starting to awaken.

His parents initially found his enthusiasm to clean and help around the house a little weird, but they got used to it with time, not to mention that arriving home to a clean house and warm food every day was nothing to complain about.

Sitting on a tree's branch in the backyard, Seth kept staring into the distance while muttering, "In my past life, I was already taking the academy's test now…."

"That's right… I don't need the academy to form my source in this life."

Closing his eyes, Seth started feeling the energies around him and dragging the ones he needed inside his body, channeling them in the spots where he would form his sources.

The position of the sources was also usually crucial since one needed that area to ensure a smooth transition of energy and be a place not easily injured. Still, with perfect body control, Seth could form them anywhere in his body, so he didn't put too much thought into it except for his perception and lust, which needed to be created inside his head and, respectively, his crotch area.

Because of his past life experiences, knowledge, and the system's help, Seth could easily recognize most energy types. He could skip the long process of identifying your energy type in the atmosphere.

By the evening, Seth opened his eyes and heaved a long sigh.

"You did a great job, but now I only need the energy accumulation and fix my perception and lust issues."

"Perception's shell has some golden energy inside, which is positive energy from helping around the house, but I also need negative energy to form a balance. As for my lust source, well, I must head into the town first."

"I know," replied Seth, jumping from the tree.

Walking inside the house, he started cooking dinner, knowing it was about time for his parents to return. He was also thinking about how he should tell them he wanted to leave the village.

In his past life, he was too focused on growing stronger, and he knew his parents would disagree with him leaving, so he ran away from home, but this time, he decided to make things differently.

After everyone had dinner, his father was about to stand up when Seth said, "Father, can you please wait for a moment? I have something I want to talk to both of you about."

His father gave him a weird look and sat back down. His son has changed a lot since his 15th birthday, but it was a pleasant change, so his father never bothered too much about it.

Seth was much more mature, so his father even entertained the thought of finding work for him inside the village soon, but his mother kept saying he was still too young.

Seeing both his parents look at him, Seth cleared his throat and said,

"Mother, Father, I will leave the village."

Seeing both of them frown and about to speak, Seth continued, "Wait. Let me finish what I have to say first."

With his parents stopping, Seth continued, "Our situation is not good, and the village is poor. I know this has been the way for generations in this place and that you might be quite satisfied with this life, but I want more. I know things can be a lot better for us, and because of that, I will travel to the Capital and take a chance at the academy's admission exam."

"I know there are low chances I would make it in, but I still want to try it. If I fail, I promise to return here and seek work in the village or nearby town."

He knew entering the academy was nothing complicated, but explaining the reality of the situation to his parents was not something he could do. Not even considering if they could comprehend everything, they might think him crazy and grow even more worried.

His father was the first to decline, "No way. It's a half-year journey by carriage to the capital, and you've never even left the village before. You don't know what dangers are out there. If you leave, chances are you'll never return here alive."

Seth smiled as he remembered his journey in the past. After walking to the closest town, he stole enough food not to starve and lived inside the marketplace.

After finding information about a merchant caravan heading for the Capital, he sneaked inside his luggage and lived off his merchandise and food. Locked inside with the rest of the merchant's wares, Seth had to both and relieve himself in there, forced to keep completely silent the entire way.

It was a difficult journey, but his real goal was a hundred or even more times tougher. That simple thought pushed him forward when things got hard, and he felt like giving up.

Seeing the dumb smile on his son's face, his father got enraged and yelled, "What are you smiling about, you smelly brat? Do you think life outside is as easy as the one you've been living here?"

"Honey…" his mother grabbed his father's hand and stopped him from further berating Seth.

Looking at her son, she said, "Your father is right. What if you stumble upon bandits or wild animals? What would you do then?"

"Mother, I won't walk directly to the Capital. I'll head to the town and find some work to make some coins. After that, I'll find a carriage heading for the Capital and pay for them to take me with them. There are merchants and the likes always traveling back and forth, so I'll be able to find one willing to let me ride along and travel under the safety of their guards."

The family kept arguing for an entire hour, with Seth quickly finding a solution for every situation they threw at him.

Since his parents were both tired and Seth was too headstrong, they agreed reluctantly, on the condition that his father would escort him to the nearest town.

Realizing this was the best he could get, Seth agreed, and they settled to start their journey the following day. It will take them three days to reach the nearest town, but luckily the spring nights were quite warm.

On the morning of the next day, Seth said his goodbyes to his mother and started walking toward the town's edge, accompanied by his father.

They only took a bag with freshly baked bread, clothes, and two cloaks to cover themselves on the way and sleep on at night.

As they left the small village, his father smacked him on the back of his head and said, "Your mother cried the entire night. Are you happy?"

Seth sighed with a steady look, "I know, but it is better like this in the long run."

"Let me ask you, father; are you satisfied with living a poor life like this for the rest of your life? Look at mother. She's not even forty, and her back is hunched from all the work."

"Her life is nothing more than waking up, cooking, working, and sleeping in the evening before repeating the same thing the next day... That's not a life I want for the woman who gave me life..."

His father wanted to smack him again when he dared to speak back, but something in Seth's eyes made him freeze in place, forced to continue listening.

"And what about you, father? How long can you keep working so many jobs for a few bags of flour or a slice of meat on a good day? You are already old, and once you can't do hard work anymore, what will happen then?"

"I didn't want to say this in front of my mother, but even if I fail the academy, I plan on finding work inside the Capital or any other city."

"Once the two of you are too old to care for the family, how am I supposed to take care of you inside this small place? What about forming a family of my own? I will have to work myself to death and still not make enough to sustain everyone."

Hearing his son's words, the old man sighed and walked towards the town first without saying anything else.

What could he say? His son was right, and he knew it. The tone of his voice and the look in his eyes made the old man realize that his little boy had grown up, and he couldn't treat him like a child anymore.

Seth sighed and followed his father while carrying the bread sack, his eyes flashing a slightly dark red hue.

'Don't worry, father, give me a year or two, and I'll take all these worries off your shoulders.'