Salem sat around the familiar fire, feeding off its warmth in the cave. Upon making it back the storm outside seemed to have stopped and gleams of light could be seen piercing through the dark clouds.
With their previous ones soaked the seer and Salem changed into a new set of clothes, and they let their wet ones dry near the fire.
"Did you plan for that, Mr. Seer?"
The seer turned a spit roast over the fire with a turkey in a slow and controlled manner. He was humming a soft tune before Salem posed his question.
"Perhaps I did, in the end you were naturally going to take the easiest and most impulsive path. Only upon learning how futile such a path was that I can reason with you."
The words came out naturally and dug into Salem. The seer however did not mind and went back to humming his tune while turning breakfast.
The sword… I assume he was the one who planted it then. That also might be why he was able to find me, he knew where I would be and why… but then…
"You can see into the future right?"
Salem's nails dug into his skin as he questioned his savior's, twice now, ability.
"Indeed I can…"
"Then… Why didn't you save my village? Warn us? We could have prepared better. I could have prepared better."
The seer clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"While I can see the future I am limited to the information that my future self would know. I knew a boy alone and starved would show up at this location but I didn't know why or where. If I knew about the attack perhaps I would have taken a different course of action."
Salem's fingers relaxed and his hands fell back to his lap as the seer paused for a moment to inspect the turkey. Cutting a small hole and peeling back the skin to look inside of it and peer into its meat.
"We seers can only see one stream at a time, a path we can take. From there we can decide to trace its steps to that future, one misstep however and the stream is useless. Something as small as being 5 seconds late to do something can change everything and the future changes."
While saying that he stared at Salem for a moment and stopped turning the spit roast. His fingers tapped against the handle as he inspected Salem. The gaze was one of thoughtfulness, and to Salem he could see a hint of disappointment.
"Is something wrong?"
The seer turned back to his duty of turning the handle.
"No, don't worry. In the end I can make this work, I broke my stream but there is hope."
The seer seemed like he was talking more to himself than to Salem so he only nodded his head to that.
He broke a stream… was there a future that was supposed to happen but didn't? Hopefully it wasn't a way to save my village.
"How far into the future can you see? I'm certain you would hear about my village's raid from me at some point in your vision, right?"
The seer began to stroke his beard with his free hand which gave Salem a slight feeling of disgust since he was cooking but not wanting to seem ungrateful he stayed quiet.
"We seers by ourselves can only see 1 hour into the future. Depending on our skill it can vary more or less though. Even then we only see one pathway or stream as we like to call it.
Only when we come together as one, a choir of seers, can we see farther into the future and peer into more streams. Sadly that happens very rarely. We are often born with brittle bodies like mine so traveling is often difficult.
But to answer your question, no. By the time I saw a future where I gained that knowledge the attack already passed. There was nothing I could have done."
Salem, satisfied with the response, decided not to probe more for now. He did however make mental notes all that he could in case it comes in handy later.
It is a strong possibility that he is working with other seers, he did mention they can see farther into the future and multiple paths. It wouldn't be unreasonable to think that was how he knew I would end up here. But was I truly the best option out of all of the streams they saw?
Upon checking the turkey one last time the seer tore off the turkey leg and handed it to Salem.
"Eat up, we are going to start your training soon. First I want to test to see if you have any magical aptitude and then from there I can craft a training regimen."
Salem stared at the turkey leg for a second before grabbing it with a small, "thanks." He immediately bit down into it without a second thought but his eyes quickly widened as his tongue burned.
Not wanting to spit it out he swished his head from side to side not letting it stay in one place for too long. Only once the meat cooled down in his mouth did he begin chewing and stared over at the seer.
"Harhar- no need to rush now, the turkey is already dead."
He blew on his turkey leg before tearing off a piece of meat like a savage.
"Magic… My sister had an aptitude with magic early but I never really showed signs of it. There were even plans on sending her to the college to learn more before…"
Salem coughed into his hand and the seer listened while chewing on his meat.
"But I've always been a late bloomer! Maybe there is still hope for me!"
He stared at the seer with expectant eyes, ones filled with hope.
If I even have a little aptitude in magic, just a small bit, it can change everything. I'll specialize in fire magic and learn to cast those spells which can destroy armies like in the legends. Yes! That would be awesome and very effective!
With his turkey still in his right hand, the seer moved closer to Salem and placed his free left hand on his chest. Salem sat straight and stood still as the Seer seemed to be peering through Salem.
After what appeared to be a solid 2 minutes the seer ripped off another chunk of meat as his left hand retreated to his lap.
"Did you see it? Do I have aptitude with magic? Perhaps you saw something the village elder missed."
The seer shook his head and began to speak, small chunks of meat flying out his mouth as he did.
"Nope, your hollow is too small to absorb mana. It's to be expected though, having a big enough hollow for magic is rare. I even checked to see if it can take in small amounts, sometimes people only have one that allows petty spells to be cast but not even that."
Salem let the words register for a moment and his face filled with hope instantly shattered. Letting out a small sigh his gaze moved to the floor.
Ahh, my hollow is still too small. If I remember correctly my sister said a hollow was basically a metaphysical hole which leads to the soul that is connected to the body. If one has a big enough hollow they can absorb mana from the world through it to cast spells.
Usually it expands around the age of puberty but it rarely does. For those like me, we are just out of luck in terms of magic.
"Well it was too hopeful. I guess I'll just have to stick with the sword for now. I am not very strong though… "
"Do not worry, I have something that will give you strength. Now isn't the right time to show you, we need to build up your body first."
Salem finished the last of his turkey leg and tossed the bone out the cave entrance. The seer, being a quick eater, did the same earlier. Upon seeing Salem finished he clapped his hands to get his attention.
"The rest will be for dinner later, now I have something I wish to show you. Follow me."
The seer began to go deeper into the cave with Salem following close. It slowly began to curve until they reached the end. There were 3 wooden boxes that came up to Salem's knees and a sturdy iron door that seemed to lead into a room.
Salem, ever so curious, began to walk toward the door. His hand reached out toward the handle but it was quickly grabbed by the seer.
"In due time, I will show you what is inside. For now let us stick to the plan."
Salem nodded his head and slipped from the seer's grip. Now he was even more curious but out of respect for his savior he decided to listen.
The seer walked over to one of the boxes and opened it, inside there was a variety of weapons. At least 5, each looked like a strange variant of a sword to Salem.
"There is a sword here which I found while traveling the forest, perhaps it is from your village?"
The seer pulled out a beautiful sword made of steel. It was the cleanest sword he has ever seen, it looked like it just came out of the forge. What truly got his eyes though was the carvings on the handle, waves. A symbol which appeared on most swords on shoreline villages and cities.
He took the sword from the seer in a gentle manner, it felt wrong for a failed warrior like him to hold such a pristine blade. Despite that though he buried that shame deep down for a moment and a small smile appeared on his face.
He thrust the blade forward in a practiced manner; it was light and very fast. He brought it close to his face and peered at his reflection in it.
Though I am unworthy, I am very happy to receive this blade, this work of art. I promise to treat you well friend, you will taste the blood of many beastmen I promise. First though, we must train, we must get stronger.
He looked toward the seer who also had a smile at the scene.
"I'll take it!"