Kosak stood leaning against the village gatepost, arms crossed and gaze steady. The hunters were returning — bruised, bloodied, but walking. Relief filled him... until he saw Talmir.
After Ulmak and Tolk carried him in on a stretcher, they laid him down as gently as possible. Then two guards lifted Talmir again and rushed him toward the church.
Two other guards flanked Darnel, half-carrying the seasoned warrior, his body scorched and his steps uneven.
Kosak winced at the sight.
"Oh man... Saldia isn’t going to be happy."
Reluctantly, he pushed off the post and made his way toward their cottage, each step feeling like he was delivering a death sentence to Talmir.
"I’m sorry, old friend, but she has to know... at least you ca back alive and spared from that fury and sadness from her." Kosak muttered, ntally preparing for any stray curses aid his way.
He found her outside the house, sitting on their porch and sorting bundles of dried herbs.
"Saldia," he said carefully. "You might want to head to the church..."
She looked up imdiately, eyes sharp and narrowing. "Why?"
Kosak scratched his neck. "It’s Talmir. He’s back....but hurt badly, I think...but don’t worry too much he’s definitely not dead."
The shock lasted only a mont — she didn’t respond, not with words anyway.
The bundle dropped from her hands, and in a blur she was gone, sprinting toward the church.
"Phew....Good luck," Kosak said under his breath to Talmir. "Alright, now that this hurdle is over... where’s the kid?" He headed inside the house.
Two guards carried Talmir through the threshold of the Dawn Church. Father Pella stood waiting, sleeves rolled back, a glowing flask already in hand.
"Lay him down here, on the table." Pella ordered. The guards obeyed and gently put him down.
Talmir’s breathing was steady but shallow — his face tight with pain. As soon as he was down, Pella tipped the flask to his lips.
"Drink. Every last drop of it."
Talmir grimaced at the bitter taste but he obeyed. The potion worked fast — numbing his nerves while enhancing the body’s response to life-mana and healing.
Pella placed his hands over the burns and closed his eyes. Green light pulsed from his palms, gentle but strong.
"These wounds are deep," Pella muttered. "I heard roughly what happened. Your skin was burned badly... but the heat also closed and sterilized the wounds. You’re a lucky boy, Talmir. This could’ve ended far worse with an infection."
He exhaled slowly, focusing as the light in his hands intensified.
"Now tell — how does our fastest hunter end up with a claw scar on his back?"
Talmir closed his eyes. "We ran into a mutant. It had the lightning attribute. It was so fast, i had almost no ti to react."
Pella raised an eyebrow. "Hoh? Looks like you have been slacking on your training. We’ll need to ssage the Count to send an extermination party through the woods again it seems... Though that doesn’t matter right now."
Just as father Pella finished the treatnt, the church door slamd open.
"TALMIR?!"
Saldia’s loud voice rang through the hall.
He winced. "Oh no..."
Pella shot him a dry look and patted him on the shoulder. "You brought this upon yourself, boy."
Saldia rushed to her husband’s side, eyes wide and glassy.
"You reckless idiot!" she cried, checking his chest, then his face, then his bandaged back. "What if—? What if it had been worse? What if—?!"
Her voice broke.
He reached for her hand — weak but warm. "But that didn’t happen...it’s allright."
"You promised ," she whispered, choking slightly. "You said you’d be careful after that god awful hunt."
"I was careful," he murmured. "I just didn’t expect sothing that fast."
"You were?!" Tears stread freely now — half anger, half relief. "What if I had lost you? What if Teclos had lost you? Have you thought of that?"
She leaned into his chest, burying her face, breath shaking and crying.
He smiled faintly. "I know it’s dangerous out there and i know you worry about every day... but soone has to do it. And I’m still here aren’t i? Just a bit... roasted."
He instantly regretted the joke when Saldia lifted her head with a furious frown.
"This isn’t the ti for your jokes, mister. You are forbidden from leaving your bed until you fully recover. And I an fully, no argunts!"
While Talmir was trying to apease Saldia.
Pella, watching with a softened expression, cleared his throat.
"He’ll live, Saldia. No long-term damage. But yes — he needs two weeks of nothing but eating and sleeping. No walking and no training. My life-mana did its part, but his body needs ti."
Saldia nodded, still gripping Talmir’s hand.
"Thank you father."
"No problem dear, now if you’ll excuse i have to check on another patient." With that Pella gave them space and moved toward the back of the church to check on Darnel.
That was when the door creaked open again.
—
Earlier that morning.
Behind the cottage, Teclos sat in a lotus position, tucked into the deep shade of the wooden wall. His breathing was steady. His eyes closed. Mana swirled faster than usual—smoother.
A small breakthrough.
His third circle was still forming, but now he could pull mana slightly faster. The difference was subtle, but real enough for him to feel it. And he’d noticed sothing else—training was easier in the shade or at night. Darkness seed to respond better at those tis, in the stillness of the night it responded faster and stronger.
Soone stepped into his quiet space.
It was Kosak.
"Oh, there you are, buddy. Listen — I’ve got sothing to tell—"
Before he could finish, Ralph ca running aswell.
"Hey!" he said, breathless. "Your dad’s hurt. Like... bad. They were carrying him to the church."
Teclos didn’t even open his eyes. "Right, right. Maybe try a more believable joke next ti."
"I’m serious!" Ralph protested.
Kosak added, more gently, "It’s true. He was brought in on a stretcher. Scorched pretty badly, but luckily he’s alive."
Teclos’s eyes snapped open in disbelief.
He was running before Ralph could even process it.
"Seriously?! You believe him and not ?!" Ralph shouted behind him.
Kosak tapped Ralph on the shoulder and went ho to get a cart.
—
Back in the present...
Teclos stepped into the church and saw his father on the cot — bandaged, but alive. Saldia sat beside him, wiping her eyes.
"You..." Teclos whispered in disbelief. "You got hit?"
Talmir gave a crooked smile. "I wasn’t fast enough this ti."
He beckoned Teclos to co closer.
"That’s all it takes sotis."
Teclos was more stunned than angry. He’d never seen his father like this — not invincible, not as an unshakeable pillar... just a normal human.
"Don’t worry," Talmir added. "I’ve had worse and i’ll be fine. Just need to calm your mother a bit, and then we’ll go ho."
Teclos nodded slowly, still uneasy — but grateful that Talmir was alive.
Later that day, after treatnt had finished, Kosak returned with a small pull-cart with padded feather mats on top of it.
He helped the still weak and drowsy Talmir into it, while Saldia steadied his legs and sat beside him. Teclos walked beside Kosak, helping pull the cart, watching quietly as the village passed by.
After they ca ho, they laid Talmir in his bed, Saldia turned to Kosak and said.
"Thank you."
"No problem," he said back quickly, already walking toward the door. "If you need anything, tell Marie or . We’ve got your back."
He tipped his hat and slipped out — partly to give them peace, partly because he still feared being scolded for sothing.
Saldia lingered near the bedside, checking the blanket for the third ti and pressing her palm lightly to Talmir’s forehead — not for fever, just habit.
"You’re not allowed to do that again," she muttered. "You’re too old for reckless bravado."
Talmir smiled faintly. "Thought you liked dangerous."
She flicked his forehead. "I like you alive."
She turned toward the kitchen, pausing when she saw Teclos standing nearby, quietly.
"I’ll make dinner," she said gently. "Don’t tire him out too much."
Teclos stepped into the room and sat beside the bed. Silence hung for a mont.
Talmir lifted a hand, gesturing him closer. "Co on. I’m not going to break."
Teclos ca forward, arms crossed, expression unreadable. Talmir pulled him into a hug.
"I’ll be fine," he murmured. "Just need to lay off the jumping-around-for-a-week thing."
Teclos nodded quietly.
Talmir’s gaze drifted upward. "You know... this reminds of my first real close call. First ti I thought I wasn’t coming back."
Teclos’s attention focused.
"It was a usual day. I went out for a hunt with Kosak — though he’d get annoyed if he knew I’m telling you this. We were after a vine buck. Maybe a stone boar if luck was with us."
"You know what a vine buck is, right?"
Teclos shook his head.
"It’s a nature-attribute beast. Its antlers branch like trees, and it can lash vines at you like whips. Not the most dangerous, but tricky to track and hunt. They’re hard to find — the rumors vary about why, but people say they can see through the vegetation the sa way earth mages can feel vibrations."
Teclos’s eyes sparkled at the new knowledge, and Talmir chuckled.
"Anyway, we tracked one and brought it down. I made a clean shot through the heart from the sky. A beautiful kill and almost painless for the buck — still proud of that, but I digress. I was gutting it when it happened. Kosak was at the river a few hundred feet away, washing bones and tossing scraps. That’s sothing I still need to teach you — gutting properly. Can’t waste ti when the blood’s fresh."
"You said it takes five minutes," Teclos said.
Talmir smirked. "You listen well."
The smirk faded.
"Then the bushes behind exploded in fla and heat. It was a Fire bear. Big one. Must’ve slled the blood and ambushed ."
"You didn’t hear it coming?"
"No. Fire bears are tricky. Their strenght is one thing but you also have to be careful of their cunning. It sneaked up on and pounced when Kosak was two minutes away and couldn’t help. With a knife in hand, no armor, and back turned. Not ideal."
"What did you do?"
"Survived. Barely." Talmir shrugged. "Rolled from its pounce. Hid behind the carcass when it breathed fire. Climbed a tree when it charged. Nothing smart — just stalling after I sent the signal flare. It clawed my arm in the first attack. Still got the scar."
He tapped beneath his right sleeve.
"Eventually it caught because of a mistake and mauled pretty good. Luckily Kosak arrived in ti and cast an earth sphere around , pulling beneath the soil. We ran. That was the end of the hunt that day."
Teclos stayed quiet — thoughtful.
"Point is," Talmir said softly, "out there anything can go wrong. Even when you’re good. Even when you’re fast."
His gaze t Teclos’s. "You’ll be a hunter soday so rember this. Prepare for things to go wrong. Always have a back up plan."
There was a pause — then a small smile.
"Of course, your father eventually tracked that bear down and killed it," he boasted. "That was also the day Saldia armost ripped my ears off. Take it as a lesson from your foolish old man — won can be scarier than bears sotis."
Teclos nodded. "Got it."
Later that night, after dinner and the sound of dishes being washed, Teclos glanced one more ti toward the bedroom where his father rested. Then he slipped into his own small room.
He sat cross-legged by the window, where moonlit shadows danced along the floor.
His mind wandered — to the story, the wounds.
Talmir wasn’t invincible. None of them were. This was crystal clear now.
"I should be more careful... and train even more," he whispered. "I don’t want to end up dead, thinking im the protagonist."
The room went silent after that.
But the resolve settled firmly in his chest.
He had all the ti in the world to grow stronger. Prepare as much as he can, gaing as much experiance as he can.
After all he intendet to explore this world and it’s wonders so day.
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