It was past noon by the time Simon made his way to the center of the village where he met the other children just the day before. He was walking slow, his legs a bit sore from all the running and stretching, but still usable. He was to meet his new friends here for their next meeting.
Sitting on a bench, Simon contemplated what they had talked about the day before, what roles he would choose for their games of Adventurers and Villains. Simon knew of a few types of adventurers, but he had never thought about the villains. He knew one or two to be dark mages of some sort. The others told him of their own choices and preferred styles to give Simon an example; Sarah either a ranger or corrupted druid, Alexander either a game or warlock, Mayce either a just cleric or a corrupted paladin, and Lucy as a barbarian either way.
Simon enjoyed the symmetry behind their choices and wanted to choose something just as cool as everyone else. He had asked his mother what he should choose, but she only told him "You will find your style eventually. I can only help you find what it is alongside you." She then proceeded to push the young boy nearly to his limits to start their long road of training together.
Simon had not gleaned any insight as to what he should do from the little training they had actually done. He thought he might try fighting like he had seen his mother do against the bandits.
"Rogue maybe? They are fast and agile like mom." Simon swung his legs as he waited for the others still. They each said they had to do chores daily, with the exception of Alexander who had lessons, so it wouldn't be until after lunch time before any of them were free. "Maybe a mage of some sort?" Simon voiced to no one in particular.
"A mage?" The kind soft spoken voice of Priest Kenly stepped up silently, carrying a bag of fresh baked bread from the bakery. "Are you thinking about the game the others play?" He leaned over carefully to brush off some stray leaves off of the other side of the bench before taking a seat. He pulled out a small roll that was wrapped separate from the rest and took a small bite.
Simon nodded as he continued to stare off into space. "Mage. But what kind?" Simon narrowed his eyes as he rummaged through his brain to think about the types of mages he knew about, which sadly was not enough.
"No interest in holy magic?" Kenly asked with a naked curiosity.
Simon shook his head and leaned back, turning his gaze to the dancing lights shining between the auburn leaves overhead. "The gods are ok, but if I do magic, I want it to be my own." Simon could not explain the conviction he felt in that, but he knew he would never budge. Simon quickly turned his attention to the priest and bowed a bit. "No offense, Priest."
Kenly nodded. "Most think that way." He did not seem offended as he stared off into his own space while slowly munching on his bread. "Magic from the gods has rules. Mages who seek power do not take kindly to others putting rules on them." Kenly took another bite of the still warm bread, chewed, and swallowed before continuing, a thought sparking across his eyes before he spoke, as if inspired by a thought. "Magic is magic. It has no morality. Good and evil do not exist without one to think of them." Kenly took another bite of bread, nearly finished with the small roll already.
Simon stared at him, rolling the thought over in his head. No matter how he thought of it, the child could not comprehend how that would help narrow his choices. "Yes, Priest. I will remember that."
Kenly glanced at the confused shaktaran child, his neutral face taking a shade of a smile as he added. "Everyone is the hero of their own story, but a villain in someone else's, no matter what role they take." He stood as he spoke, careful of the still warm bread in his arms.
Simon watched the priest walk off. It was not often Simon heard the young man speak, as most of his responses to anything were short and hastened sentences. Simon doubted he had heard the man speak more than 10 words in five minutes before. Extracting knowledge about mana had been excruciating. Why Priest Kenly suddenly spoke like a normal person perplexed the boy.
Simon had contemplated what the Priest said for the next stretch of the suns until the other four finally arrived one by one. Alexander was the first to arrive. He carried the bag from the day prior, but severely lacked all the books and scrolls that had overflowed from them.
"Hello, Simon. Lovely day." Alexander smiled as he sat up on the bench with Simon.
"Hello, Alexander." Simon smiled back and waved at the boy.
Alexander took a moment to fish through his back as he spoke. "I grabbed a few books to show you. I found one that is a collection of small stories of heroes and villains. This is where I found inspiration for my villain role, the 3rd story, the one about the old man who makes a deal with the star creature in exchange for his mortal soul in order to take revenge on the kingdom who betrayed him."
Alexander struggled to pull out a thicker book that looked slightly worn from use. The title read 'Stories from the Forgotten Ages' with a dark brown leather cover and a pale red ribbon bookmark slotted where Simon suspected the story Alexander just spoke of was.
Alexander removed the strap of his bag before putting the book on top of it and sliding it all over to Simon. "Take a read. It will take a bit longer for the others. Usually I'm the first by a good bit." Alexander had already taken another book from somewhere and started reading on his own.
Simon shrugged and opened the book to the first story to start reading.
Sarah arrived not too long after, followed shortly by Mayce and Lucy.
Simon opted to sit with Alexander and read up on the stories to see if he could find his inspiration.
-
It wasn't until the sun started to set that Simon arrived back at home, Alexander's bag hanging from his shoulder, heavy with the books Alexander decided to lend him. Simon had spent time watching the others play and reading the books Alexander brought. The boy gave Simon a total of 9 books to read, each containing different collections of stories from different areas. Most were about humans, but there were some about elves or dwarves. There was one book Alexander mentioned that had a story or two about Shaktaran adventures.
Simon had to restrain himself from reading while he walked, having tried and failed to before. He had already started carving his way through the books his mother had managed to get him, and most of those had no mention of heroes or villains outside the children's books that were full of overtheatrical villain types, usually hell bent on mass murder of a kingdom for some dark ritual of immortality or something. Simon could never find his attention lingering on those stories.
Simon stood in front of his front door for a moment, readjusting the strap of the bag as he reached up for the handle before opening the door and entering. "I'm home!" He called out.
Esmerelda called back from the kitchen. "Welcome back, kitten. How was playtime?"
"Fun. Alexander gave me some books to read. Mayce says that his mom was gonna make a special soup with the rabbits from the other day and that you should swing by for a bowl. Sarah said she was gonna bring some cheese tomorrow for me to try, and-" Simon rambled about his day as he carefully dropped the bag next to the fireplace before pulling out the books one by one.
The rest of the night was spent with the mother and son chatting about their days and plans before they broke off and slipped off to bed.