Chapter 6

When Zephyr awoke the following day, he felt like a burden had been lifted off his shoulders. The feeling wasn't physical relief or satisfaction. It was something intangible, spiritual, a sense of freedom that he had previously only experienced while wielding the sword.

It felt as if the chains of the past that were haunting him all this time had finally been taken off.

Thaddeus wasn't in the room when Zephyr woke up, so he decided to stay and wait for his return.

Thaddeus came back a while later and called Zephyr down for breakfast. The meal, though the best the inn had to offer, was somewhat bland. They then set out on the journey back to their house.

...…

The journey back was as uneventful as the walk to the town. Both naturally reserved, they left each other with only the company of their thoughts.

Zephyr had a lot on his mind; his emotions had felt tangled ever since he learned of the orphanage director's death.

He loathed the director; there had been times when he wished she were dead. Yet now that she was truly gone, he felt… confused.

After brooding over it for a long time, he decided it was best not to think of the matter any longer, choosing instead to simply accept the emotions he was feeling and move on, since dwelling on them wouldn't do him any good. He took a deep breath and raised his head to face the vast open sky, the hint of a small smile involuntarily playing on the corners of his lips.

...…

Thaddeus had gone to the town in high spirits, but what he saw there disgusted him to the core.

He understood that it was the life his disciple had been living until now, one in which he was shunned by society and tortured solely for the amusement of his abusers.

He specified in his letter that someone skilled in matters like this should be sent to take care of the situation and also told them to send a carriage to pick them up since he was returning home.

It would take about three days for the letter to be delivered and about a week and a half for them to reach here by carriage, so it should take around two weeks for them to arrive.

Thaddeus hoped those children wouldn't be harmed during those two weeks; he would've stayed behind in the town, but he had planned to give Zephyr a test before they departed, so they had to return to the house.

...….

They reached home as the sun was nearing the horizon. It had taken longer than the trip to town because they were weighed down by the things they bought.

Thaddeus immediately rushed to the kitchen and began preparing dinner after returning home, as they were both very hungry from the journey.

Zephyr headed to his room, deciding to catch up on his studies while waiting for dinner to be prepared. He had memorized the entire alphabet and was now trying to learn how to write words.

He lost track of time as he immersed himself in his studies and only woke up from his trance when Thaddeus knocked on his door to alert him that dinner was prepared.

Zephyr seated himself at the dinner table opposite Thaddeus per usual. It was a quiet, monotonous repetition of picking up food and bringing it to his mouth. Thaddeus had educated him on table manners, and he did his best to follow them, though he did find it tedious.

Most people would have found the eerie silence unnerving, but Zephyr found it calming. He didn't enjoy talking to anyone. He had been forced to live that way, and now it was an undeniable part of him.

Zephyr finished eating and was about to leave the table when Thaddeus called to him.

"Zephyr," spoke Thaddeus.

"Yes, Master?" asked Zephyr, wondering why Thaddeus had called him.

"I'm going to have you take a test tomorrow, so rest well." That was all Thaddeus said before gesturing for Zephyr to leave as he finished his food.

Zephyr wondered what his master had planned for him as he washed his mouth and proceeded to bed.

As he stared at the ceiling, it no longer felt unfamiliar. Instead, it seemed to provide a sense of comfort, a warmth he had rarely, if ever, experienced before, the warmth of a place he could finally call home.

....

The moonless night ended, and in its place rose a clear day.

Zephyr woke up as the first ray of light peeked over the horizon, waking to the sunrise like he always did. Thaddeus had already prepared breakfast and was waiting for Zephyr at the dining table.

"Are you prepared?" asked Thaddeus as they finished the meal.

"Yes, Master," responded Zephyr, a short reply, the usual with him.

"Alright then. We'll be going to the forest in a while," said Thaddeus.

.....

At the outskirts of the forest.

"Your test is to survive a week in the forest. I will wait here; come back if you get into a fight you can't win," Thaddeus said as he watched Zephyr enter the forest.

Zephyr walked into the forest with only the sword on his hip and a small cask of water. He would have to forage or hunt for sustenance and sleep in the forest, either on the floor or high amongst the branches.

He didn't venture too far into the forest, as there was no reason to tempt fate, but he also chose not to just linger near the outskirts, as he wanted to test the extent of his growth.

Once he had reached a certain distance from the periphery, he decided to search for food and water, scouting for a camp while doing so.

He wandered around looking for any animals that could serve as prey or edible plants such as berries and herbs, sparing half a mind for any non-poisonous mushrooms hidden in the leafage, tucked in the cool, dark crevices on the bases of tree trunks.

He didn't find anything for a long while. Time passed quickly. The sun passed overhead, then slowly drifted down as Zephyr crossed swaths of forest on the ground. The rays of the setting sun filtered through the canopy, making the surroundings appear golden in color.

It would've been a fantastic view if Zephyr could focus on it, but he was now hungry from the constant walking and lack of food.

Exhausted, he sat under a tree and lay spread-eagled on the damp and gradually cooling forest floor.

He lay there, taking in the wondrous view, and right when he decided to get some rest, as if the fickle goddess of luck were playing a trick on him, he heard soft rustling from the bushes at his side.

He slowly sat up, deciding against standing since he didn't want to scare whatever was next to him or draw its attention towards himself, depending on how dangerous it was. He kept a hand on his sword, ready to unsheath it at the first hint of danger.

The rustling came closer and closer, until finally, a rabbit poked its head curiously out of the undergrowth.

Zephyr let out a sigh of relief and wiped the gradually pooling saliva off his lips.

The rabbit looked at the human before it in curiosity, its head slightly tilted to one side.

Zephyr slowly unsheathed his sword, and this solicited a growl from the rabbit; it didn't sound like the noise any normal rabbit would make.

Just as Zephyr was about to bring his sword down on the rabbit, a spiked pillar of earth exploded from the foliage near its foot and nearly pierced through Zephyr's stomach had it not been for his quick reflexes. Even so, he struggled to restrain his momentum from the swing, ultimately failing to dodge fully, taking some damage.

Zephyr brought his sword back around to attempt another killing blow on the rabbit. However, as he swung, instead of dodging, the rabbit charged directly into Zephyr's stomach, knocking him backwards with a grunt. Zephyr crashed into a tree, then slid down to the ground, out of breath from the impact.

He lay there panting for a moment, frustrated that he couldn't kill even a single rabbit. He quickly got back up and decided to wait for the rabbit to initiate this time.

The rabbit jumped at him in an attempt to scratch his legs. Zephyr caught a glimpse of its flashing claws, but grinned as airborne was precisely how he wanted it.

Taking a quick lunge to add power to his strike, Zephyr swung his sword downwards and cut the rabbit in two, swiftly ending the impromptu fight. Panting, he was somewhat frustrated at himself for not being able to end it faster, though more surprised than angry. After all, it was quite unusual for a common hare to exhibit such combat prowess.

He noticed something that he hadn't noticed earlier: the rabbit had small pockets of brown on its fur, signifying that it had recently evolved into a soldier-class beast. Though this was a plausible explanation for its strength, Zephyr understood that it was weaker than the tiger, and knowing this, the protracted length of the fight caused him frustration.

He decided to think about what he did wrong in the fight later; dissecting the rabbit came first. Thaddeus had led him through the process a couple of times in the kitchen, so it was decently simple.

By the time he had skinned the rabbit and removed all the blood and organs, the sun had already set. The sky, dark with only a sliver of moonlight illuminating the forest floor.

Luckily, there was plenty of dry tinder on the ground.. Grabbing some, he easily lit a fire with the foliage. He skewered the rabbit he had eviscerated and roasted it on the fire, using some of the wild herbs he found earlier while wandering around as seasoning.

He sat next to the crackling, blazing campfire and played the fight out in his mind. Thinking back, he realized he had started the fight underestimating his opponent, something his master had warned him against.

Then, another thought crossed his mind. The opponent was unlike any of the others he had fought before; it was smaller and faster, making it a nimbler enemy than the others.

As these thoughts played around in his mind, the rabbit skewer began to emit a fragrant and enticing scent, his stomach growling in response and anticipation. He tucked into the food that he had prepared by himself for the first time.

It was, objectively, bland. The seasoning was poorly done, as expected of a novice. The meat was burnt in parts, well done in others, and even somewhat rare inside. Despite that, it tasted like ambrosia to his tongue. He had gone hungry since breakfast. As such, he wolfed down the poor hare without even a half-hearted muttering of thanks, giving an utter and complete disregard for propriety or table manners. He toyed with the thought that Thaddeus would be proud.

After finishing, he lay down on his back, far from satisfied, but with no other foreseeable striking of luck in sight, he dozed off. 

Had he paid attention, he would have realized the forest was eerily silent, but hunger and exhaustion took their toll, and he slowly drifted off into the land of dreams.