A couple of days had passed since the old man's display of strength — which he stubbornly kept trying to pass off as a life lesson. Honestly, I was still a little shaken. Sure, it wasn't the first time I'd seen a goblin or other low-level monsters, but never from that close… and never had I felt so in danger as I did in that moment, facing the pure killing intent of that little green runt.
The first thing I'd thought of, just like the old man had noticed, was to look for an escape route. Standard reaction. But in the moment right after, I was actually thinking something completely different: *If I attacked it, could I beat it? How strong was it? How fast?*
Maybe those thoughts came from the fact that the old man was next to me and the initial fear had already faded… or maybe, like I'd thought more than once, I was just a little weird.
Personally, I preferred the third option: I am a man who does not know fear. Yeah, that sounded much better than the other two.
I had also learned another extremely important thing: if you have to show your strength, doing it while leaning on a cane and holding a pipe in your mouth makes you look way cooler. In particular, it was very important that, once the fight was over, you had to look completely uninterested, as if you hadn't done anything special.
I was analyzing my new and extremely important discoveries while looking for a tree with good shade, a nice breeze, and positioned in a relatively quiet area where one could rest like every proper afternoon.
I was already thinking about the most comfortable position to fall asleep in when I noticed that near the village square there was far more commotion than usual. Considering how isolated the village was, the reasons behind all that noise were very few: either some monster had damaged the outer defenses, or one of the farmers had found a rock shinier than the others — and it was common knowledge that the more a rock sparkled, the more you were allowed to brag about it.
Looking more carefully, I realized both my theories were completely wrong. No farmers with wish-granting magic stones, and no village chief scolding the guard for falling asleep on duty again. Instead, in front of me stood two wagons decorated in a rather elaborate way that screamed one single word:
**merchants.**
They weren't the usual group that periodically passed through the village — otherwise I would have remembered and already hidden "jrfda" under my bed or inside my pillow.
I walked closer, full of curiosity and ready to ask the newcomers every possible question.
Yes, it was true that I didn't like talking to people — but only when those people didn't have an interesting story to tell. And unfortunately, that included almost the entire village. Almost everyone… except the old man.
Once I got close enough, I immediately noticed the smaller wagon opened like a traveling stall. A woman was carefully arranging fabrics in colors I had never seen before. Beside her, a young man in light armor scanned the square, clearly looking for any trace of danger — probably an adventurer hired to escort them.
Behind them, two other figures were tending to the horses near the second wagon, much larger than the first… but completely closed from view.
For a brief moment, one of the horses snorted sharply, stomping its hoof against the ground.
The woman noticed me immediately.
"Oh, today we even have a young customer!"
"No, I'm not buying anything," I said quickly, before I had to endure a likely tear-jerking story about how a ship had sailed the seas for months, losing half its crew just to bring the silk rolls in front of me so people could admire their incredible craftsmanship.
And yes — if it wasn't obvious — I speak from personal experience.
The woman didn't seem bothered.
"That's fine. You can look for free. And in exchange, if you know any adult who needs something, bring them to me, okay?"
Wow. She had basically offered me air… and yet somehow I felt indebted to her already. What a terrifying woman. Better not make her angry.
"Okay, ma'am!"
"You can call me Lyra."
"Okay, Lyra!"
I looked around curiously without touching anything — this woman clearly seemed much smarter than the merchant who had unknowingly donated my book.
The stall was full of strange objects I didn't recognize but that somehow looked both familiar and definitely expensive.
As I wandered around, I drifted closer to the adventurer — the true target of my curiosity from the very beginning.
I noticed something hanging from his belt. It looked like some kind of strange mirror… with tiny glowing points?
The adventurer noticed my gaze and gestured for me to come closer.
"Curious?"
"Yeah, I've never seen anything like it."
"Hahaha, yeah, it'd be pretty strange to find an artifact in a village this small."
"An artifact? What does it do?"
"Well, depends on the type of artifact. This one in particular is very useful for reconnaissance." He picked it up. "See, it lets me detect the position of awakened individuals up to two stars within a certain area aro—"
Suddenly he stopped, his expression turning slightly confused.
For just an instant… his eyes flicked toward the large closed wagon behind him.
Then he looked between me and the artifact a couple of times. Finally, after realizing something, he smiled and said:
"See this glowing point here? That's me. And this one… is you."
"Uh… but I'm not awakened…"
"Well, actually there's another case where a light appears: when someone is close to the Union. Congratulations."
"Oh… yeah…"
My brain translated his words with a slight delay.
"WHAAAAAT???!!! I'M ABOUT TO AWAKEN??!!! REALLY, SIR???!! Oh, by the way, I didn't even ask your name — I'm Kian, I'm ten, almost eleven, I like books, spending time—"
"Hahaha, okay, okay, calm down. My name is Daren. Take a deep breath. You don't know your potential yet, and in most cases people end up disappointed, so keep your feet on the ground."
"YES SIR I WILL BECOME THE GREATEST ADVENTURER IN HISTORY—"
"You didn't listen to a single thing I just said, did you… aaah. Now that I look more carefully, there's another child like you close to awakening. Maybe I should discuss this with Lyra and your village chief. I'll be right back — wait here."
I didn't answer.
I was still frozen by the news.
I was close to awakening.
I could leave the village.
Explore the world.
Visit the cities.
If this was a dream… I was happy to keep dreaming for the rest of my life.
I had to tell the old man immediately!