Chương 42: Chapter 41: Baby Worries, Adult Sayings

Bren returned from training with another bruise spreading across his forearm. His father then lowered himself onto the bench, flexed his fingers, and winced when Elna reached for the injury.

"You said Tovin was teaching you to avoid being hit," she said.

"He is." Elna looked at the bruise. Bren followed her gaze.

"Learning takes time."

"That usually isn't what people say when the lesson hits them with a stick."

"It was a staff."

"Hmph. Potayto potato!" Ren sat nearby with the wand across his lap, listening while the warmth beneath his skin slowly returned. Over the past few days Bren had improved enough that the bruises no longer appeared in exactly the same places. Ren chose to interpret that as progress.

"What train?" he asked.

"Footwork and how to even hold the weapon first. Then holding a line with Hadrik and Tovin." Bren demonstrated with two fingers against the tabletop, moving one forward while the other remained beside it.

"Hadrik says a frightened man keeps looking at the weapon coming toward him. A useful man remembers the people standing beside him." Ren liked that saying. Elna threaded a needle and shook her head.

"My mother used to say a fence only falls where every post decides the next one can hold it." Bren smiled faintly.

"Your mother said that after Old Fenner's goats went through her garden."

"Because Old Fenner repaired one post and left the other six rotten."

"He claimed the goats had organized."

"They certainly had more discipline than he did." Tessa looked up from her slate.

"Did they eat everything?"

"Only the cabbages," Elna said.

"I still remember your mother yelling 'MY CABBAGES!'. Half the village could hear her!" Bren chuckled.

"Hey! It was a big loss, and my mom's cabbages were always extra tasty!" Tessa considered that.

"Smart goats, going for the tasties first." Ren understood the point, despite the goats. The villagers already knew how to work together. They shared tools, traded labor, watched one another's children, and stepped in when a roof needed repairing or a harvest came in too quickly for one family to manage alone. That had never been the problem. The problem was that cooperation only worked when every person could carry the part others trusted them to carry.

One repaired post did not save a fence if the next six gave way under pressure, and goodwill did not make an untrained defender hold his ground when goblins charged. Bren was not training to become the strongest man in the line. Not yet, anyways. For now he was simply training so the people beside him would not have to compensate for him while trying to survive themselves.

Learning where to stand, when to move, and how to hold formation was important so everyone else would know he would still be there when the attack reached them. Swinging harder could wait. First, his father had to become a post that held back the tide. It also made Ren wonder what magic could add to the defense line. Little Yara had warned him away from Invocation and anything else he lacked the control to attempt safely. That did not mean all useful magic had to involve throwing fire at goblins.

Or him, for that matter. Still… There might be a skill that strengthened someone else's weapon, sharpened their movements, hardened cloth, protected skin, or warned them of the upcoming attack. Even something small might be able to help them reduce the numbers of the incoming horde. And if it helped Bren survive one more strike or let Elna protect herself long enough to reach safety… Then he would want to know about it sooner than later. Ren looked down at the wand.

At his current level, the most dangerous thing he could do with mana was become distracted and give himself a headache. That needed improvement. He pushed another strand into the first section. The resistance yielded after several breaths, and the first charm drew the mana onward, but the pressure beyond the first section proved too much for him to overcome. His concentration broke, and the tunnel vanished. Spent, but before he could reach for the ball next, he heard several children shout outside.

Ren lowered the wand as the door opened and Tessa's research expedition spilled into the house without any obvious concern for orderly reporting. A knock interrupted them. Elna opened the door to find Lysa, Corin, Pella, Davi, and Niko crowded together on the step.

"Good afternoon, Mistress Marric," Lysa said. The others echoed her, suddenly much quieter than they had been outside. Elna looked over their dusty shoes and flushed faces.

"You came to see Tessa?"

"We finished the questions," Lysa said.

"And we brought answers!" Corin added. Niko glanced past Elna toward the room.

"And there is candy." Corin elbowed him. Elna stepped aside.

"Shoes on the mat."

"Yes, Mistress Marric." This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. They obeyed before gathering around Tessa and Ren. Lysa held out the slate, and the others began filling in what they had learned. At first, it sounded promising. They had asked around about defenses, hiding places, secrets, and who might help if something happened. But as for the answers…

Most of the adults had noticed what they were doing and told them the sort of things adults told children to get them out of their hair: stay close to family, do not touch weapons, keep away from traps, and listen when someone older gave an order. There were a few scraps mixed in, but nothing Ren didn't know or could build a plan around. The children had asked useful questions. They had simply been given useless answers. Tessa looked over the slate.

"Is that all?"

"We found out lots," Pella said.

"Not useful lots." Niko pointed at Ren.

"He is a baby. Maybe he did not know." Ren stared at him. Niko lowered his hand.

"Some of it." Useful information had apparently remained home for the afternoon. The children tried, but their answers quickly collapsed into vague warnings, obvious advice, and things Ren already knew. Whatever useful scraps they had found were buried beneath so much excited nonsense that none of it changed anything. So much for learning new useful things about the village. Ren would need better questions, or a different direction for it to become useful again.

But village aside, the next task would be one he was most excited about. He already talked it over with his sister too – after this the kids would ask about System stuff. Even in the worst case scenario he would learn more about Skills he has not learned yet, or might not find the use for yet. Tessa looked over the slate.

"That is all?"

"Yup!" Niko confirmed.

"But there was nothing useful!"

"Nuh uh, we still answered!" The argument shifted to whether answering badly still earned candy. Tessa guarded the pouch while the others crowded around her, each insisting their contribution counted. Ren patted and signaled his sister that it was fine. Though she didn't look convinced. Soon as the candy was distributed, Niko immediately started shifting about. Ren saw his attention leave the candy and settle on him. His expression brightened. Ren began shifting backward. Niko lunged.

The first grasp closed on empty air where Ren had been a heartbeat earlier. Balance and Athletics carried him sideways quickly enough that Niko's hands passed beside his ribs. Ren nearly felt proud. Then Niko adjusted and caught him beneath the arms on the second attempt.

"Got you!" The floor vanished. Niko lifted him and swung around before anyone understood what he intended. Air rushed across Ren's face, the room turning into walls, children, hearth, ceiling, and walls again. His body went rigid. All the training in the world had not prepared him for being turned into an enthusiastic child's improvised festival attraction. Tessa shouted first.

"Niko!" Elna's chair scraped back.

"Put him down!" Corin yelled that Niko was going too fast. Pella grabbed at his sleeve. Davi moved in one direction, changed his mind, and moved in another. Lysa began telling everyone to stop shouting while shouting louder than most of them. Ren tried to react. His hands reached for Niko's wrists, but the movement of the turn dragged them wide. His legs kicked without finding anything useful. The rush of air filled his ears, and every attempt to focus arrived a fraction too late.

Niko laughed through one more turn before Elna caught his shoulder and stopped him. The sudden halt sent Ren swinging forward against Niko's chest, but before anything could happen, he was already in his mother's arms.

"What were you thinking?" Niko's delight collapsed beneath the combined force of Elna, Tessa, and every other child accusing him at once.

"I was playing."

"He is a baby!" Tessa shouted.

"He can walk!"

"That does not make him a wheel!" Ren clung to Elna while the room stopped moving. His stomach rolled, but the rest of him recovered faster than he expected. It had not been entirely hopeless. He had seen the first grab coming. More importantly, he had moved quickly enough to avoid it. Niko had only caught him because the boy adjusted faster than Ren could escape a second time. Several weeks ago, the first grasp would have lifted him without resistance. That was progress. Though obviously… he was still just a baby.

Elna kept one arm firmly around Ren while ordering Niko to sit. Tessa moved close enough to inspect her brother from several angles.

"Are you hurt?" Ren shook his head carefully.

"Dizzy?"

"Yes." Tessa turned on Niko.

"You made him dizzy."

"I said I was sorry."

"You did not." Niko looked at Ren.

"Sorry." Ren accepted the apology with what dignity remained after being spun through the room like laundry in a storm. The gang played together a little more before dispersing. By then, Ren's mana had regenerated… but his desire to use it had not. He sat against Elna for a while longer, listening to the quieter house and the irritating calm outside. An irrational side of him was still worried that something unforeseen might happen. But no warning horn sounded, and nobody arrived from the forest.

Bren had heard nothing during training, and Hadrik had sent no new message. The village continued preparing without any sign that the goblins had noticed. That should have reassured Ren. Instead, the calm bothered him. Simply knowing the tragedy that waited ahead made him anxious despite things going smoothly so far. The calm stretched too thin, as though something waited just beyond the part of the world he could see. Ren knew the attack should not come yet. There was still time. There should still be time.

Everything he could do urgently had already been done or was being handled. Hadrik had the proof. A message could be sent. Bren was training. The village was preparing. Ren still found himself listening whenever footsteps approached too quickly. His thoughts returned to Little Yara. Her house stood beyond the village proper, hidden among trees and gardens. During the first visit, the walk had been peaceful. Now the distance seemed much greater for a different reason. It was far from Hadrik, Tovin, or the village.

Far from anyone who might hear a warning or reach her quickly once fighting began. Little Yara had charms, knowledge, and whatever defenses a young witch living alone considered sufficient. Ren did not know whether sufficient meant enough for thieves, animals, or an organized goblin raid. He doubted that last part. Ren needed to warn her. And he also needed some answers. His parents could explain what people commonly knew about attributes and triads, but mana belonged outside their experience.

Little Yara might know what completed Mana Sense and Mana Manipulation. She might also know what skills Ren could pursue without accidentally invoking something through his own throat. Perhaps she even knew magic that could hurt goblins. Ren would like to have that. He did not need a grand spell, just something usable. A way to strike from a distance, strengthen another person, interfere with an enemy, or make Bren's weapon deadlier. Anything he could help with at all. Attack, or protection didn't matter.

So long as it kept his family safe. Anything that tipped the deadly scales of the future he remembered, or turned the deaths of his loved ones around. Ren looked toward the patterned ball and the wand beside it. The visit could not wait much longer. Every peaceful day made the road safer to travel, but also brought them closer to the point when that safety could just up and disappear. Tessa sat beside him and shook the treasury pouch.

"One left." Ren looked at her.

"And you promised me two!" He had hoped the chaos might make her forget. Apparently fear, research, and Niko-induced flight could not dislodge a proper candy debt.

"Tomorrow," Ren said. Tessa narrowed her eyes.

"Visit Yara tomorrow?"

"Yes," he said.

"Tomorrow." Ren looked toward the window. The road remained quiet. For now.