Chapter 23: Chapter 22: Adventure in the woods, part 1

Subtitle: Making prepartions

After Derek left for the city, everyone entered a state of relaxed nervousness. No one knew what was about to happen next. Was it a good thing or was it a bad thing? No one had any idea.But everyone knew that when Derek came back, it would decide their life.

If the deal was struck, it would bring benefits to them too. The smithy could expand and even start a new branch in the city. They would also be able to lead a more comfortable life. But if it didn't,life would be a little hard from then on.

Kiel's initial thoughts were that he was born in a rich family. But, after so many days passed, he realised that although they had a little money, they were in no way rich. Only in the village and the surroundings did they have a little reputation. And after seeing the fridge and clothes of Aunt Ena, he started to realise they were still in the lower strata of society. His mother's clothes were nowhere near his aunt. His sisters' clothes were not to be even talked about, as Derek didn't like the two little girls, and often ignored them. And again, his big sister Hazel. Kiel last saw her almost 2 years ago. He basically didn't have much interaction with her, but could still correlate her mental state, seeing the twins.

Seeing how his sisters trained themselves so hard yet, still remained disappointed with each other, Kiel would feel a little pain in his heart. 'I swear that I would protect you two with everything I got.'

He often thought that he would do something for his family, but being a little boy, too many restrictions were placed on him. Some were placed by his parents, while others were placed by his own body. But with the increase in age, slowly these restrictions were being lifted.

The one month that his father would be not at home, would be the perfect time to carry out some of his plans. Kiel planned to give a visit to the mountainous forest beside his village, the Virakali Mountain Range. The big green forest was home to various wild beasts and birds. Kiel also heard that in the inner ranges of the forest, resided the most dangerous beasts, the level 1 beast. Although Kiel, had no idea about these unknown beasts, he had read and heard a lot of stories about them. So he could predict that they were dangerous.

Kiel planned to give the forests a visit when he became five. But now that he had an opportunity, Kiel wanted to explore the unknown regions by himself.

Although he was a three years old kid, his body was almost like a five-years old. He didn't have any muscles now. But his chakra had augmented his body. He could even feel power oozing out from his body. Once Kiel tried to hit a tree bare handed and his hand really pierced through it although a little.

"This! Is this really done by me?" Kiel was hence excited to try his new found strength even more..

But he knew one thing better than anyone, going to the wild without any preparations was akin to seeking death.

'I need to prepare something before I plan to go to the forest. Firstly, a weapon. The sword is not a practical weapon now. As I don't have enough training in it. I may even harm myself with it, which would be bad. Let's see… oh ya a bow. A short bow would do good for me. '

'Now that safety is confirmed, it's time to think about food. Uhmm… I need a small bag for storing some dried foods and a bottle for some water.'

Kiel thought more what he would need in his small trip.

'Oh ya… a few bandages as a precaution. Noe can't have mom see me injured can i? And... finally I should talk with some hunters of the village to collect some information. After all the wise always say, knowledge is power hehe. Then I would be ready to go.'

Kiel planned his adventures slowly and methodically like planning his theories. 'The bow and arrows are not a problem. That can be achieved by asking aunt Ena or from the workshop. But I need to train in the bow a little too to use it properly. '

As Kiel made his plans an important thing came to his mind! ' Most importantly how to fool Momma to let me go? I can't say her I'm just going to the forest hehe. Maybe I can say that I will go around to play.'

"Yup that settles it. MOMMA...!!"

...

"Nope Kiel You can't go"

"But why momma?? You always tell me to play outside!" Kiel made a sad face. And Agatha melted a little.

"Alright Mom will let you go if you name a single friend that you have"

"OK its… em… emm"

"I'm still waiting!!"

"... how… how about Aunt Ena?"

"Sigh! What should I do with you? You don't even have a single friend your age."

"Amber-nee and Fawn-nee are my friends."

"THEY ARE YOUR Sisters. Now go on and don't disturb me."

As Kiel turned around, he mumbled in a quiet voice.

"... This is definitely not working. Need to do something else. Well at least I tried."

Kiel walked back to his room to start thinking about how to dissuade his mother. But he came into only one conclusion. 'Momma should never know about my adventures.'

As he decided that, Kiel walked out of the house to Aunt Ena for a bow.

"Mommy I'm going to the smithy for practice!"

"Kiel do you know the way? Should Momma come with you?" Agatha worried voice came from the inside.

"Mommy I always go there. So I know my way. Don't worry. I will be okay. See ya mommy" Kiel didn't want to hear any more lectures, so he just ran off.

And stood Agatha in the distance seeing her little kid's back 'Will he really be alright?'

Reaching the smithy, Kiel saw Awenasa at the counter. She was greeting the customers with a big smile on her face as always. But this time as he closely focused on her, Kiel still saw a warm smile on the surface, yet he now felt a sudden sadness deep inside. It felt like a mask, creating a barrier, which separated her from everything else.

The strange sensation felt like a mysterious attraction to him which drew him in, but it was so sudden that it also distracted him a little. And the feeling vanished immediately. Kiel focused on Awenasa again. But this time, he didn't feel anything.

'Strange what was that? '

Sensing a strange gaze on her, Awenasa turned around, only to see her little favourite kid at a small distance, and automatically a genuine smile graced her beautiful face. Now even her eyes seemed smiling.

"Kiel what are you doing here?"

Kiel didn't notice anything about her smile though. But seeing Ena, Kiel remembered his business with her.

"Uhmm… Aunt Ena! I want a short bow" Kiel asked with his puppy eyes.

"Oh! We do have something your size here, but what will you do with it?" This time her gaze was stern however.

"Practice archery! Saw a few hunters at the village. They looked strong. Papa is not here now. So I have to protect mama and sisters. Aunt I want to be strong too. So I want to practice archery." Kiel didn't notice her gaze at all. Hearing she had a bow, his turquoise eyes started shining with a cyan glow.

"Oh how cute. Come here, I'll give you a bow and some arrows." Ena giggled a little seeing the little boy's antics.

Knowing that his plan was successful, Kiel did a peace sign with his fingers silently behind Awenasa's back and went inside with her.

Nearly fifteen minutes later, after trying almost 15 short bows, Kiel was finally satisfied with a black coloured Shervage wood. It was small and matched his size perfectly. Although it was a little heavy, Kiel had no problem with lifting it.

After getting his bow and arrow, Kiel didn't return home immediately. He went to the back of the smithy,which had a small open spot. Kiel decided to practice archery here for a few days before adventuring into the forest.

First, Kiel set up a target. He took a wooden board and drew a few circles on it by a stone. Then he kept it near the smithy wall. After being satisfied with the target, he came to the firing spot, about 20 metres away from the target.

Nocking an arrow on his bow, Kiel stretched his hand back as much as he could. As he stretched the arrow with his hand, Kiel felt a small power building up in the arrow. Taking aim, he released the arrow.

Pssh… The arrow pierced the wind and stuck on the wall of the smithy on the right of the target, totally missing the target.

'Shit. That's way too far. Guess I have no talent in archery…. Yosh Let's train more then to be perfect in it.'

Kiel continued nocking arrows and then firing them at his target. Sometimes, he would even hit the target maybe by luck, but mostly he missed it.

'This is hard… In the games, it looked easy though. I'll never trust games again.'

Time passed on, as he continued his training. When he became tired, he would take a little rest and drink some water, then he would continue again. Going on like this, after sometime, Kiel felt that his aim improving and he could now hit the target board more often now.

As the day came to an end, Kiel could even hit the middle regions of the target. Now he almost never missed his target. Amazed at how he could hit his target so easily, Kiel even started thinking that he had some talent in learning things quickly.

As the sun began to sink, and a deep violet colored hue started coveting the beautiful blue sky, Awenasa came and called him. Kiel also felt that it was time to call it a day too. So he packed up his bow and went out.

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