Luka sat and rested for several minutes, and then the mage resumed his practice with Void Step. This cycle of a hop, cleanse, and rest continued until Bel reappeared in the courtyard.
[That's a strange way to practice your spatial magic.] The familiar remarked after a brief observation of the boy's activities.
Luka appeared before his companion, and the two returned to the living room.
Ellaria awaited their arrival while sitting on a couch and knitting a new t-shirt for Luka. She suddenly sensed their presence and looked up from her work. The foster mother spent a moment observing the boy's physical appearance and frowned. Luka's body was sweaty, and his dampened attire clung to him. "You shouldn't overexert yourself," she warned. "Now, grab a change of clothes and wash up," Ellaria ordered.
"Yes, ma'am." The boy climbed the stairs and retrieved clothes from the chest. Then he went to the washroom and cleaned himself.
Ellaria nodded her approval when he returned to the living room. "Okay, it's time for bed. I'll wake you in the morning and provide breakfast before I leave for work."
"Good night!" Luka said and left with Bel riding on his head.
Chapter 25
Rejoining the Village
Ellaria marveled at Luka's diligence in his practice during his weeklong confinement in her home. Every night, he came back tired and sweaty from an exhausting training session by himself. She appreciated his work ethic and wished the other elvish children would learn from his example.
Luka felt nervous this morning because he wasn't sure how the villagers would treat him now. Breakfast was bland tasting oatmeal, but the boy couldn't complain about it because Bel did it on his behalf. Luka mollified his companion with a promise to hunt for wild game ASAP.
"Don't use teleport in the village. I'll cast Flight on both of you and bring you to the ground," Ellaria said hurriedly. She worried that the boy would surprise another cranky villager with his spatial magic, and thus, the foster mother cautioned him again.
"I won't!" Luka promised. With great trepidation, the teenager opened the door for the first time in a week -- only to find several elves blocking his path!
Someone spread flower petals in the air, and a few pieces flew into the surprised boy's mouth.
Luka remembered his etiquette as a noble and casually covered his mouth as he discreetly spat them out. However, fragrance lingered inside his mouth. The teenager saw a small group of elves smiling and clapping.
"Congratulations on leaving confinement!" someone said.
"Please allow us to take you down," an older, female elf offered.
"We can't let Phraan and his idiotic friends bully a young boy and sully our reputation!"
"That's right!"
"Luka is our honored guest! Alectos entrusted him to our care!"
Ellaria touched Luka's back and asked gently, "Is there something you want to say?"
"Thank you, everyone!" the boy replied with a proper salute. "I will be in your care."
Two bold elven boys grabbed his arm. "Let's go!" They cast Flight and dragged Luka along.
An elven girl hugged Bel tightly to her chest. "I'll bring you down," she said and rubbed her face against the rabbit. She followed the boys and flew after them.
The adults exchanged knowing smiles with Ellaria. They belonged to the Conciliatory Faction and spent the week brainstorming how to protect Luka. The group reached two conclusions. First, they will guard him secretly with faction members whenever Luka was out of the treehouse. Second, their children will become his friend and make the boy feel more welcome in the village.
Unfortunately, the elven race possessed low fertility rates, and therefore, they had few children living in Langerlan. The three kids, Dalyor Norsatra, Aquilan Liaynore, and Caeda Kelran, represented a quarter of the children within their faction. The other kids were currently away or busied with their work already.
Luka felt happy by the elves' warm welcome, which helped alleviate his concerns about living in the village. However, Luka worried that Phraan's friends and sympathizers would create mischief for Luka and expel him from Langerlan. Thus, the boy was determined to make more friends and allies in the village.
In a sense, this situation was no different than dealing with aristocrats because each side had its agenda. As long as their interests aligned, people willingly worked together to achieve their common goal. Since Luka was a newcomer to the village, he sorely lacked information on what the residents wanted and needed. Until he acquired this critical data, Luka would be hardpressed to offer what they desired.
Hence, the Luka planned to ask these children questions about Langerlan and its regular, day-to-day activities. If Luka could fulfill some of their demands, then the residents would accept a human in their midst more readily. However, Luka couldn't find any opportunity to begin his inquiry. During their commute, the elvish children played tricks on him by flying VERY close to trees.
Luka's eyes widened whenever he approached a large tree, and he couldn't help but yell and shout for the fliers to shift their flight path.
Somehow, the elves timed their turns perfectly and avoided all obstacles. But their mischief made Luka fearful to the extent that he finally fainted!
Bel noticed his companion's condition and smacked the girl who was holding him.
"Ouch! Stop that!" Caeda complained. She looked at the rabbit in her arms and saw that he was pointing at Luka. When the elf flew closer, she realized that the human was unconscious! "Something happened to Luka!" she yelled out in horror.
The two boys, who were dragging their captive by the arm, looked at Luka and confirmed that he had passed out.
"Oh, no!" Dalyor said and winced.
"We went overboard," Aquilan replied sheepishly. "Let's lay Luka on the ground and have Caeda examine him," he suggested because she was a healer's apprentice.
"Okay," his accomplice agreed and began to descend.
The two fliers became cautious when they drew closer to the ground.
"Drop him on the count of 3," Aquilan commanded. "1-2-3!"
The elves deposited Luka on a flower bed near the farms.
Caeda soon arrived at the drop site and landed on her feet. She released Bel and used her Appraisal skill to examine the human's condition. Her diagnosis revealed that Luka fainted due to fright. The apprentice saw that he was breathing normally and should recover soon.
"How is he?" the boys asked.
"He fainted from fear because of the way you boys were flying up and down in the air. How are you going to explain it to the adults?" she answered with a glare.
The two guilty parties looked at their feet.
"What happened?" Ellaria asked. She landed near Luka and examined his condition. Fortunately, she detected no sign of physical injury.
"Luka fainted because these two were flying like daredevils!" Caeda snitched on Daylor and Aquilan.
Smack! Smack!
An elf slapped the back of their heads with the heel of her palms. "How could you bully Luka like this?"
The two boys turned around and winced. The attacker was Shalia Liaynore, who was Aquilan's mother!
"Can you heal him?" Shalia asked with embarrassment.
Caeda shook her head. "Luka will awaken sooner or later. Using magic indiscriminately could worsen his condition," she warned. The healer sensed the human's tremendous magical aura and feared tampering with it. Luka possessed many foreign elements that Caeda couldn't use. His reserve of shadow essence surprised and frightened her, but Caeda couldn't reveal this information due to privacy concerns.
"But we can't leave him laying on the ground like this. He'll catch a cold!" Ellaria complained.
"You two will carry him to the guard station at the fields," Shalia ordered. When she saw them began to cast wind magic, she amended her command. "Carry Luka by hand."
The two boys dropped their spells and bent down to pick him up. Dalyor took Luka's ankles while Aquilan placed his hands under the unconscious boy's armp
its. With a nod, the two gently pulled Luka off the floor and slowly walked toward the farmlands. They knew that carrying Luka by hand was their punishment, and neither boy dared to complain, or else they won't be having supper tonight!
Ellaria followed closely to assist if Dalyor or Aquilan was too tired to carry Luka.
However, the boys were prideful and refused the help of a woman old enough to be their parents. Also, they wished to show off their physical prowess before Caeda! Therefore, Daylor and Aquilan engaged in a hidden competition by moving faster on their feet! If either elf faltered, then Ellaria would replace him to carry Luka and lower his self-esteem in Caeda's eyes.
Unbeknownst to them, Caeda thought both boys were arrogant and foolish. Hence, she wouldn't consider dating Daylor or Aquilan. On the other hand, Luka stirred her interest because he was Alectos' first acknowledged disciple in centuries. Also, she admired his bravery against a war veteran like Phraan. If Daylor or Aquilan fought Phraan, the result would be a quick KO in favor of the former soldier. Thus, Caeda felt that Luka was much more dependable as a man than the two elvish boys. Her main concern now was how the human teenager would integrate peacefully with Langerlan because trouble seemed to follow Luka!
Dilya spotted the commotion from a distance, and she left her guard station to investigate. She used wind magic to reach the group and asked, "What happened?"
"Luka fainted. The boys dragged him through the air and went overboard with their antics," Caeda explained. "He just needs some rest."
The supervisor became exasperated with Luka because he brought dark clouds to Langerlan. He fought against a troublesome militant and exposed a deep division within the village. If this schism worsened, the militant faction might move out of Langerlan altogether. This outcome would devastate Langerlan because it lacked workers for development. Thus, Dilya harbored some resentment towards Luka for needlessly stirring up trouble.
The supervisor reached out with her hand and felt the unconscious boy's breathing. She noted that it was steady. Dilya agreed with Caeda's assessment that Luka would recover shortly. But the elder didn't wish to let the boy sleep and distract the workers with excessive worry over him. Thus, she retrieved some smelling salts from her medicinal pouch and placed them under Luka's nose.
The human child soon jerked awake.
[Good morning, sunshine.] Bel said as if he saw an entertaining play.
Luka sat up and noticed the numerous faces hovering over him. "What happened?" he asked.
"You fainted," Dilya replied. She turned toward the crowd and clapped. "Ellaria will remain here. The rest of you should go to work. Now!"
The crowd quickly dispersed. Caeda waved her hand at the rabbit and walked toward the herb garden under her care.
When Dalyor and Aquilan tried to apologize to Luka, Dilya shooed them away like flies. "Buzz off!" she said grumpily.
The chastened boys fled before she punished them.
The supervisor turned her attention to Luka. "Boy, my name is Dilya Petqirelle, and I'm the supervisor of the farms. Your assignment for today is to assist your foster mother in plowing the fields. Now, go!" She clapped her hands and dismissed him.
"Come on!" Ellaria said and led the boy away by hand. She went to the tool shed and picked up two rakes made of wood but were shaped and hardened with nature magic.
Luka frowned when she handed a rake to him. "You don't use horses or ox to plow the field?" he asked. The boy understood that this fantasy world lacked the machinery to perform fieldwork. But he was hopeful that the elves would have animals to assist their work.
Ellaria giggled at the silly question. "Where would we keep the horses? Heck, we don't shelter any farm animals within the village to avoid attracting wolves and other predators in the Great Forest," she explained. "Besides, don't tell me you're unwilling to perform manual labor because you're a noble, right?" the elf teased playfully.
Luka scowed at the mention of his nobility. He felt uncomfortable with his high social status within the Morninglory Kingdom and didn't expect his foster mother to bring it up.
"Sorry about that," Ellaria waved her hand apologetically when he became visibly upset. "Now follow me!" The farmer walked to her assigned field and began to plow the soil briefly as a demonstration. "Now, you do it."
The boy copied her movements until Ellaria became satisfied. Then she moved away to a different spot and started plowing. When Luka reached the end of her assigned territory, she yelled out, "Stop!"
He turned around expectantly.
"This is the end of my plot. Each farmer is responsible for an allotted area. Since Dilya assigned you to help me, she will probably give me another field to work on," Ellaria explained.
"That supervisor of yours sounds like a real slave driver," he grumbled.
"Don't let her hear you say that!" she warned and quickly looked around to confirm that Dilya wasn't nearby. "Just wait until I finish my portion. Then we'll plant the soybean seeds. You can check the seed bag and sort out the bad seeds." Ellaria untied a bag from her belt, tossed it in the air, and used wind magic to send the container to the boy's hands.
Luka was surprised by her application of magic. Although he didn't have access to wind magic, the mage could use spatial magic to duplicate this task. The boy shook his head and began to check the seeds. Healthy seeds should be roundish and possess a skin-like color. But when he checked the bag's contents, Luka discovered discoloration such as brown or even black in a small portion of the seeds. He quickly took them out and discarded the bad seeds in his spatial storage.
"I see you have access to storage magic," Ellaria remarked when she finished plowing her lane. "How much free space do you have available?" she inquired.
The boy looked up and tilted his head. "I haven't used it for anything aside from storing my sword and clothing from home. I would say there are two fields worth of unused space," Luka answered honestly.
The elf became stunned because she expected a far different answer. While the amount of storage available differed from one Spatial Mage to the next, most of them could store several chests worth of items, and each item was limited in size. Some mages with higher proficiency could retain a roomful of goods. Ellaria had never heard of anyone who claimed to possess a field's worth of storage! But when the foster mother looked at the boy, she didn't sense any deceit from him.
Ellaria's expression turned serious, and she warned him, "Don't tell other people how much space you have, or else they might take advantage of you with unreasonable demands. For example, Dilya might ask you to store extra crop yields and make the farmers plant more seeds than normal. She would use the extra food as trade materials to other villages. But the benefits won't necessarily flow back to the workers."
Luka became frightened at the prospect of doing more work under that slave driver's bidding, and he quickly nodded his understanding.
The foster mother smiled warmly at the obedient child. "Now, I will show you how to plant these seeds. Soybean is the staple of our food, and we use more than half our fields to grow them. Suppose you familiarize yourself with plowing, seeding, and later harvesting soybeans and making them into tofu. In that case, the elves will accept you more readily as an important contributor to our village," she noted.
"I understand," the teenager nodded. He became energetic and anxious to learn from Ellaria.
The elf demonstrated how to plant the seeds and watched the student imitate her actions several times until he correctly performed the task. Then Ellaria assigned him the task of planting the seeds while she plowed the rest of the field. With two people working diligently, they finished the job by sunset.
"Let's go home," Ellaria said while wiping the sweat from her face. "I know you're hungry," she added with a guilty look. The two took a short lunch break but ate very little. "Tonight, we're eating fish," the coworker announced.
Bel became animated and danced because he enjoyed eating seafood.
She noticed him and added, "And tofu
casserole."
The rabbit immediately froze, and his floppy ears drooped.
Luka carried Bel in his arms and followed Ellaria as they walked through the fields. "Should I carry one of the rakes?" he offered.
"No, your hands are full," she declined with a smile. The foster mother felt that the pet had a lively personality and entertained Ellaria whenever Luka was away during the evenings. Thus, she didn't want to make Bel walk when he snuggled in the boy's arms like a cute animal.
After Ellaria returned the rakes to the tool shed, Dilya made two checkmarks in her logbook. The supervisor nodded as the workers walked past her. "Luka, try not to get into trouble again," Dilya warned the human child.
"I won't!" the boy promised.
Ellaria nodded in agreement; she, too, decided to watch Luka more closely when he departed her treehouse in the morning because this time frame seemed to be the most treacherous for him.
As the trio continued traveling on foot, Luka raised a question. "Why are we walking home when you could cast Flight?"
The foster mother smiled at this intelligent question. "There are several reasons. First, elves, as a race, strive for balance in our lives. That means we shouldn't become overly reliant on magic for our daily activities. This independence from magic is our patron deity's philosophy; as Alectos's followers, we must practice this core belief."
"Second, walking is a good form of exercise and helps to keep our bodies in shape. Third, when we walk on foot, this allows us to greet any neighbors we encounter. Flying is an innately dangerous activity, and we can't afford to divert our attention with casual conversations while we're in the air," Ellaria explained in depth.
Luka found her answer surprising, reasonable, and enlightening. This explanation touched on the elven culture and way of life. "Why was Phraan walking in the morning last week? If he flew to work, then I won't surprise him with my teleportation," he noted.
Ellaria was surprised at the mention of the antagonist's name; somehow, she maintained her neutral expression even though she felt angry with Phraan for attacking Luka. "He's a war veteran who trains with other former soldiers under an ex-general. They practice as a unit every morning. Phraan probably wanted to walk off his fatigue and get some fresh air," she speculated.
The Divine Summoner: Godson of Altima Page 20
