Q'aila and the rest have finally arrived back home during the evening. What seemed like good news!

The group was at the entrance and had no way of getting inside, as everyone hurried over and blocked them without giving them a chance. They were bombarded by many of the inhabitants asking questions. He was on the way back as he was carried by Njal, but he was too far to hear what they were saying. Everyone seemed so worried about what happened with the other tribe.

He looks at their outfits, checking if anything was out of place. Their clothes were neat, nothing wrinkled, did anything even happen?

"Hey, Rudy. You want to come up close?" His father must have noticed him staring. The man's facial features were relaxed, free from any anxiety.

Aren't you worried about what happened?

He nods his head, yes, and they walk closer to the crowd. Hearing about the events that took place was a lot more clear up close. Everyone was cutting off each other, it sounds like multiple people attempting to sound like one but failing to get there. Luckily, there was no pushing or shoving but they were trying to go over each other.

Someone in Q'aila's group finally demands silence and asks for them to listen. They confirm that both representatives for the multi-tribal confrontation have been able to strike a deal with each other. Before they were able to say the contents of what they did, everyone became relieved and finally decided to pull them inside the tribe.

Njal moved to the side, letting some of the other inhabitants through so we didn't get trampled by them.

Seriously, guys pay attention to your environment. Actually, that wouldn't be fair because they technically do.

A person from the crowd separates themselves from the pack, it was a young man. He calls out to some of the guards that were still at the front of the entrance. The man was assigning them to hunt something down and told them which directions they were located at for them to have an easier time finding them. Rudeus looks in the general direction to where he's pointing at and… yeah, he can't see anything.

It looks like he's not the only one. The guards do the same thing, they look like they get the general direction but couldn't see anything either. A few looked tempted to bring the guy along but knew better and took off. Readying to hunt down the beast for the party that's being arranged.

Rudeus tries to zero in where the man pointed at. He could hear the distinct buzzing at the back of his head and it caught him off guard. He tries to zero in on them more to hear more clearly but he couldn't. He hears the buzzing but there's a door in between them making it impossible to know what it was. It was getting on his nerves as he was getting confused by it.

Q'aila is not going to have any time for him as she is part of the reason we are having a party. They aren't going to let her go. Even after that, she'll prepare lectures for tomorrow. Tapling is going to be busy with the cooking and organizing the party so he's out. Marcella is already in charge of the hunting and is going to be exhausted by the time she's back. Njal… actually may be free. He's carrying him right now so he must have time.

Yeah, he'll ask him about it after the party.

Do these people want to die?

How are they capable of partying all night till the sun is starting to rise. Is the concept of sleep a joke to them or does partying take priority to oversleep? Seriously, he feels so full that he may pop like a balloon.

Everyone is in the middle of the tribe, sleeping over each other. The kids are making a pile on each other searching for warmth with adults all around them. The adults huddling with each other, sleeping peacefully without a care in the world. He's in the middle of the huddle, both of his parents on each side, holding him in their arms.

A couple of the kids that weren't in the pile are the source of why the adults are huddling together. They love kids, huh.

He finds it sweet, they keep him out of the cold and warm him throughout the night. However, he can feel his arms going numb. Not only that, the sun is coming up and he can feel the unbearable heat coming through. The idea of being blinded by the sun is already painful to him; last time, he saw multiple colors for a while until it started to clear up.

Quickly glancing over the bodies, Q'aila is already up and gone. Same as for Tapling. Both are responsible people, they may have already started on their daily duties. Q'aila prepares for class while Tapling goes around, waking up the residents, and assisting them with clean up.

This is an assumption, not a fact. Rudeus doesn't know what they're doing and waits for them to help wake his parents up.

"Morning! Is everyone up?" Q'aila is trying to sound cheerful without being too loud. What a kind girl.

They're currently in her hut, sitting on top of some cloth that cushions the floor. The kids around him were drowsy, some falling asleep already. A few are paying attention or trying to pay attention, they responded with a 'morning' back. Almost all of them, excluding Rudues, weren't paying attention to her.

Q'aila wasn't bothered by it. She snaps her fingers grabbing the attention of the children towards her. Anyone not conscious enough to hear it, she walked up to them and tapped them lightly on the head.

"Wake up! We're having a new student joining us." A hand is placed on top of his head, rubbing it and messing up his hair. "This is Rudeus. He'll be joining us. Anyone have any problems?"

He is curious about the kids' opinions of him. Did they like him or did they hate him?

All of them aren't bothered by him. If anything, they all greet him warmly. They were still tired so most of them slurred their words by mistake. Hugging him and huddling all around him, he had to start pushing them away as they were trying to do a nap pile again.

Q'aila pulled them off of him and let them melt into each other on the sidelines. "Almost everyone is still asleep. That's going to be a problem." She mumbles to herself. The kids are already out cold so she checked if Rudeus was still awake. "Since you're new, Rudeus. I'll review what I already went over with the others."

She really does not slow down, huh

Q'aila went over the same information he had learned from the book but there were some differences with what she said. An example would be that incantations are required for a spell, something that he believed wasn't necessary was.

When he asked why she explained that it was due to the fact it was the most used across the world. To the point that people discovered [Truncated Spell-Casting] to shorten the incantations even further. She did explain that [Silent Spell-Casting] existed but very few individuals are capable of doing that; Where you can count how there are on your hand.

Should he worry for himself? He could raise his hand and say 'I can do [Silent Spell-Casting]'. Wait, that means letting her find out he rummaged through her hut… Let's not tell her yet.

As there are schools of magic that differentiated from each other, there are also ranks. Currently, seven ranks that everyone follows. She states each one and the purpose for their ever-growing power. The rank will also be the title you would hold for yourself as well. An example would be if your highest rank held Fire Magic: Kingly Rank, you would be referred to as Fire King Class Magician.

"Then what are Auntie Q'aila ranks?" He was curious. The young girl never referenced herself about anything and kept her time focused on others than herself. For that, he didn't know much about her in return.

"Oh? It's been a while since anyone asked." She hums. "If I remember, I should be advanced rank in earth magic, intermediate rank for the rest of attack magic, and advanced rank in detoxification magic."

Huh. She's a lot more capable than she looks.

"You're amazing, Auntie!"

She laughs to herself, covering her mouth to lower her volume to not to disturb the kids. "Thank you Rudy but there are people who are better than me. Everyone has a talent for it if you work hard on it."

And she's humble. Why hasn't she been married? Is it because she's too young? That can't be the issue, she acts way older than she is.

She claps her hands together, kids grunt to the sound; complaining that it was loud before falling asleep. "Let's go back to the lessons, shall we?" She walks over to the kitchen and picks up a cup. Placing it on top of the table, she distances herself from it and stands next to Rudeus. "I'll show an example of Elementary Rank Earth Magic."

Her hand is pointed outward, palm side directed at the cup. Then she says a short line of dialogue, which he considers being the incantation for the spell. A piece of rock is formed in front of her palm, its form is reshaped similar to a bullet. Injected from her palm and hits a direct shot to the cup, shattering it without any hesitation. It reminded him of the first time he met Q'aila, her entrance was something unforgettable.

The cup is in pieces so is the bullet. The spell was slick and straight to the point. She walked to the table, hovering her hand over the shattered cup. She repeated the same incantations but its purpose felt different.

The cup lost its structure becoming a pile of dust that laid on the table. As she raised her palm, it followed her, curving and morphing into itself. The base is formed and moving up walls are coming together as its shape returns to how it was before.

"What do you think, Rudeus?

"I wanna do it too, Auntie!" The girl did it as a demonstration but he does want to do it, damn it.

"I know. I'll teach you the other spells." She pats him on the head, calming him down and having him focus on her. "Make sure everyone is keeping an eye on you. We wouldn't want to have any accidents, right?"

Safety is always the main priority for anything, especially with now magic thrown in the mix.

She taught the rest of the spells, giving each their demonstration and explaining their use as well. She recommends working with each spell with adult supervision so she would be informed of his progress. All the other kids have been doing this for the past week so he wasn't too far behind them.

She assigned work for him and expects him to practice every day. The class was dismissed but Q'aila stayed behind as she waited for the children to wake up from their nap.

Back at his hut, Tapling and Njal weren't home. Great.

Before the party started, he thought he'll be able to speak with his father when it was over. He knows better now. A party is only over when you start seeing the sunrise, that's the time everyone thinks they should pass out.

Seriously, even when he was walking back, there were still bodies sleeping in the center of the tribe. Everyone who was up started assisting Tapling with the cleanup but they still looked tired. Some were even falling asleep on the job, Tapling was there to stop them and have them rest if they weren't able to work. A fair and courteous boy.

With no one home, he had to pass time somehow. There's a chance his father will come home, though he may end up sleeping in someone else's hut. If only he made a promise with him, it would have been a lot easier to work with than having his unpredictable schedule.

He thinks over all the basic spells he learned and what Q'aila assigned to him. He was met to perform these spells in front of adults and do them on repeat to understand their purpose. What it sounds like, some of the kids went against her word and got themselves in trouble. That may be why she did demonstrations, it was an example of how dangerous they can be unchecked. Including the fact, no matter where we were, adults are always going to have an eye on them.

However, this was different. Everyone is exhausted from the party, the likelihood of someone watching him is low. Which is good as he wanted to experiment. If someone were to watch him, word would travel. Not only to Q'aila but to everyone. They're a tight-knitted community, everyone will know what you did.

He felt a shiver go down his spine, looking for buckets in the hut. He found about two stacked on top of each other, at the corner of a room. They were pulled to the middle of the hut with some effort, both were unstacked and placed side to side.

He'll be performing water ball. Out of all the spells he knows, that one seems to be the safest. From last time, he wasn't able to hit it with anything. It fell on the ground, twice. He'd like to learn how to aim but he'll learn how later. He has time.

He gave himself a small goal to achieve. He'll fill at least two of the buckets using water magic. With a goal in mind, he points his hand outward and a water ball quickly appears, falling into the pail…

He passes out halfway filling the first bucket.

It took him two more tries to finally fill them up. To be honest, each time became much easier than the last. Is it supposed to get easier over time or is he just an oddity? Probably the latter. He pulls the buckets to the side so no one would trip over them, it's a hazard leaving a pail filled with water in the middle of the room.

He wonders if he should dump it out. Where to dump is what came to mind later, preventing him from making a rash decision. How would everyone react to finding a puddle in front of the hut, they'll watch carefully to see why it happened. Curious people.

When Tapling came in, he noticed the filled buckets right away. The boy thought nothing of it, or he assumes and started preparing a bath with it.

Water boiling in a pot, heating up altogether. Steam floating to the top, escaping through the hatchet. One could easily believe that he was cooking something but no aroma was around the house so everyone ignored it. The wide, shallow circular wooden tub is supplied with cold water waiting to merge with the hot boiling water.

Tapling calls the other when the bath is ready. The bath feels pleasant as per usual.

When dressed, he asks, "Is Uncle Njal coming over?"

"He should be. Marcella said she was going to cover him so he can visit you."

Oh. He may be coming around dusk, that's manageable.

"I'll wait for him!"

Tapling raises an eyebrow at him. "I know you will. Remember to sleep when you feel tired." He pats his head, exiting the hut and Rudeus left alone to do what he wished.

The boy's words were kinda hypocritical from what happened today. Technically, you could say everyone wasn't tired as they kept each other up partying; whoever was tired, moved to be away from the center and fell asleep, waking up if they felt uncomfortable or if they needed to move somewhere else.

He doesn't feel sleepy, peeking through the drapes acting like a door, the sun was ready to set and cast the land with darkness. Well, he can't leave the hut now. Was he that focused that he didn't notice how much time passed? He's lucky no one started calling for him like a madman. No, wait, some of the residents in likelihood knew where he was.

Again. Scary.

Removing his head away from the drapes and thinking for his next course of action. At this point, he should focus on his training with magic. It's the only thing he can do, if Tapling questions why the buckets are full again. He can lie about it and say someone already filled it or just say he did it. The worst thing that can happen is that he gets scolded and that's it.

He started up the water ball training once more before it became dusk.

Njal is combing his hair using a comb made from animal bones strung together with string, he starts from the tip of his hair before going any further up. Taking his time, holding each part of it with a tight grip so Redeus doesn't feel the pain of his hair being detangled.

"Can I use it?"

Those are his first words he spoke with his father when he finally met up with him.

"What do you mean?" The man is curious. Asking gently to ease him, does he think Rudeus is mad at him? He can't blame him, kids can be random and confusing if you aren't watching them closely enough.

"Everyone can use telepathy but me." Rudeus is upset with the lack of ability that's something he's born with. Everyone in the tribe is born with it as it is essential for their survival and how they tame the Magic Beast.

He remembers what his father taught him his 'trick'. Looking back, he thought it was a joke since it sounds… well, ridiculous and strange. Their telepathy doesn't work on people, it works for beasts or anything that isn't a living person. As such, it allows for them to tame beasts with ease compared to the Rugonian Race.

Not only that, they expanded on this ability, capable of being used for detection. Thanks to that, they were always ready to avoid danger during their travels or when it was time for them to hunt. The sounds of the beast are used to measure the distance between them and the other. As such, figuring out where they are specifically located and how to get to them is their specialty. Hence, why that boy from yesterday was able to direct them to the beast they wanted the guards to hunt.

That's why it bothers him that he doesn't know how to use it. Maybe he can't like everyone else.

"You're still a kid. I don't expect you to be able to do it."

"But I should."

The silence between them makes time feel slow, it follows along with them. are they hiding what they were talking about? Rudeus is being rude to Njal, he expects to be scolded. His feelings about his ability shouldn't matter for how he treated his father.

"... What do they sound like?"

He wasn't scolded. Instead, he was asked a question. "I hear buzzing but it's muffled. It feels like there's a door between me and it."

The man hums to his explanation. "You're on the right path."

He is? "I am?"

"Of course. Most of us when we're young tend to hear it like that. It's expected." His hair is parted into three sections, each holding the same volume of mass. He folds them over each other, starting a braid on one side. "It helps you ease into them without being overwhelmed. Most beasts are loud since we can hear them at all times. Kids, like you, can get a headache easily."

"So it's acting like a crutch?"

The man motions stiffen, confusion is etched as he speaks. "Crutch?"

"Ah! I mean, it's giving me time to get used to what they're saying."

"So… you understand?"

In a nutshell, yes. If he doesn't, he will come back to him for an explanation. "Yeah!"

He hears another hum from the man. He thinks the guy is smiling but he can't see his face. "That's good." The man finishes the braid on the other side of his head since the first one he did is completed and tied with string. "Try practicing on some critters that you see in sight before trying to look for them out of your sight."

"Like bugs?"

"Sure. It can be anything small and manageable."

So experimenting, huh. At least, he knows there's nothing wrong with him. Just a learning phase… Wait, does this mean he'll have to one day have to deal with fucking voices in his head? That's going to be an issue.

"How does uncle block them out?" He needs answers. This could be life and death with his sanity.

"The same way you described it. You put a door between you and them, it muffles the noise." The second half is braided with the same string, the braid is brought to the beginning of the braid and tied with the end. "You can also 'walk away' for them if they get too loud."

,

So you can't make them mute. At least, he knows what to do if they get too annoying. That's something, right?

Several days passed after his talk with his father and his first attendance at Q'aila class with the other kids.

"How old is Uncle Tapling?"

Why is he asking that? It should be obvious, curiosity. The boy is referred to as Uncle despise looking too young for the title. The only thing that makes him think he's 'older' is the fact he can see white hair at the roots of his head and some acting like highlights. However, it can be an attribute that everyone has.

"I think over two hundred fifty. I stopped counting after that. Probably my age is somewhere in the records."

Eh?

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I know you heard what I said." The man grunted in annoyance, he didn't want to repeat what he had already said once.

He did and he's still trying to process it. Two hundred… what?! How and why?! Is it necessary for them to live that long? Wait, he could only be referring to himself. Maybe, everyone is not like him but the world he lives in has magic and swords. Longevity is possible, right?

"I'm gonna visit Q'aila!" He rushed all the words under one breath. Q'aila is his teacher so she'll provide answers to his questions.

"Make sure you don't trip over yourself," Tapling warns him before he leaves the hut.

Rudeus tries his best to not trip but does anyway. A couple of the kids, no, are they adults? At this point, he's confused. They tend to him, checking if he has an injury, and sends him on his way.

He sees Q'aila hut in view, catching his breath at the entrance, and pulls the curtains aside to see if the young girl, or young adult, is in there. She was sitting on the floor, book on her lap and a feather in hand that looked like it was dipped in ink.

Eyes are on him when she realizes she has company. "Morning Rudy. Is something wrong?" It was too early for him to bother her, classes began at noon when the sun was directly overhead.

He walks into the hut, having the curtains falling to each other and closing the doorway. "How old is Auntie Q'aila and Uncle Tapling?" Sitting right in front of her, he can't back down from her.

She looks at him like he asked an odd question. As if, it should be obvious when you look at them. "Tapling should be around… two hundred ninety-nine years old and I'm one hundred ninety-eight years old."

He couldn't keep his mouth shut. "You guys are that old?" He says under his breath, she still catches him.

"If you must know, I'm pretty young for my age. Tapling is the one that's old." He notices a couple of drops of sweat run off her. "Don't tell him I said that."

He won't. He doesn't want to dig his grave because of Q'aila. "You and Uncle can live for that?"

She puts her book to the side and focuses her attention on him. "You do know that some people in the tribe are older than your parents besides me and Tapling."

That should be obvious. Actually, how old are his parents? "How old are they?"

"Njal is one hundred twenty-five years old while Marcella is one hundred eleven years old."

There's silence between them, she sighs at his perplexed expression. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she looks at him once more before speaking. "Everyone in the Blackwell Tribe can live for five hundred years and more if nothing happens. Most of us stop aging around our teens to twenties as a result."

Then that explains why almost everyone in the tribe appears to be so young. Funny, he thought they were all kids but they turn out to be a lot older than he is.

"This also accommodates our agelessness. Meaning whatever age you stop growing, you will continue to look like that to your grave."

Hold on, he has a problem with that!

"We do start to 'age' when we hit two hundred fifty years old. However, that's mainly our hair color shifts to white and those who are under the age of fifteen can have children."

So that's how it is here? He's been living here for two years so he can't blame himself. It's difficult to pay attention to everything since they move along so easily, acting like everything is working it should be.

"Are we the only ones with these abilities?" He kinda hopes they do.

"No. There are a couple of tribes and races that have longevity like us. Examples are elves, beastmen, and dwarfs. Ageless is more of a rarity so very few have this trait besides us."

"Elves exist?!"

She's shocked by his reaction. "Of course, they do. Why wouldn't they?"

Ah. That's true. "R-right."

She sighs, picking the book up and placing it back on her lap, feather in hand with the inked tip dried. "Did I answer all of your questions, Rudy?"

"Yes! Thank you so much, Auntie!"

"I'm happy to help." She smiles at him. Then it drops with her sternly glaring at him. "Now, can you please leave? I'm prepping for everyone's lesson today."

"Of course." Getting up from where he was seated, he pulls the curtains to the side and says goodbye to Q'aila before leaving. He'll meet up with her later in class.

Q'aila is a good teacher despite how young she looks, though her age goes against how he believed how old she was.

She assisted the students with their spells. Informing what they did wrong and how they can improve. Some of the kids are still having difficulty entering the elementary rank spells but she eases them to understanding that they should take their time and they shouldn't rush.

All the kids, including Q'aila, are using incantations. Maybe he's the only one who can do it without incantations? Is that a bad thing? He hopes not, he doesn't want to become beast food.

She assigns them the same work as last time but recommended we be more creative with our spells. Think about how we can use our chores or help each other.

He does have her permission so he does the same thing he has been doing for the last few days. This time, he goes around asking for buckets from the residents. There are two in his hut and they have been becoming easier to do overtime, he wants more of a challenge so he doesn't slow down on his progress.

When they ask why he tells him it's for his assignment as he's meant to practice and requires their pails. They asked if he needed help carrying it but he declined their offer. He can do it on his own, he thinks.

The buckets are slowly dragged inside. He has about ten, including his own two, making twelve pails in total. He promised he would return them by using Tapling. The man will have to carry heavy buckets of water to the residents, it's not like he can force a kid to do it. The advantages to being young.

Filling the buckets took some time, having him pass out in between sessions. It was dark when he finally completed the task. The problem was that he wasn't expecting to be able to fill it up that easily. Though, the pails are wide and shallow so it is easy to fill them up. He knows this since he always watched all the adults do that when it is time for him to get a bath, drink, or cook with.

Tapling reaction to having multiple buckets in the hut was priceless as he almost fell into one. The man looks ready to kill Rudeus when he realizes he's the source of the problem but doesn't say anything. He calls everyone over if they're missing pail and people come over, picking up the heavy-looking pails. Pulling Q'aila aside to speak to her about something.

He hopes it isn't anything bad.

Currently, he and the others are outside the tribe. He wants back in.

Q'aila brought specific kids that were already progressing well into their magic and having them test out intermediate rank magic with her. She got the suggestion from Tapling since they may as well check if they're compatible with it.

That bastard did that as revenge for yesterday. Not like he'll fight him. The man is quite literally in his elder.

Being outside was already uncomfortable for him. Q'aila is perspective, she may have noticed but chose to ignore him. Instead, she made sure everyone was following her, keeping an extra eye on Rudeus. She knew better than to have the kids go loose out of the territory. The other tribe is still nearby, there's only so much a truce can do.

Once the kids were assigned what to do, she kept her attention on him. Helping relax and reminding them that the guards are keeping an eye on them, making sure everyone is safe including him.

Arranging him in the appropriate position, she tells him the incantation required to activate the spell. She and the other have trust in him that he would do fine and were there to keep an eye on him.

That was the day I learned how to do "Splash Flow".