I woke before the sun. The barn was cold. The straw smelled like hay and dust. I lay still for a moment, listening. No chickens yet. Just the wind outside and the creak of wooden walls.
I sat up. My body was stiff. The Prophet Model didn't get sore like a real body, but it felt heavy when I hadn't moved enough. I stretched my arms, my legs, my fingers. Then I stood.
Today was the first day of training. Real training. Not just helping Marta with eggs or chopping wood. Fighting training.
I walked to Elias's workshop in the dark. A single candle burned inside. Elias was sitting at his table, sharpening a knife.
"You're early," he said without looking up.
"I want to start before the village wakes."
He nodded. "Good. Come."
He led me to the clearing behind the workshop. The sky was grey, just beginning to lighten. Elias had set up wooden posts with circles painted on them.
"Small blade," he said. "Hit the center. Fifty times."
I formed the blade on my right hand. It was thin, sharp, about as long as my finger. I walked to the first post. I struck. The blade hit the wood, left a shallow cut, but not in the circle. I struck again. Closer.
"Faster," Elias said.
I struck faster. The cuts got deeper. The circle got more scars. By the twentieth strike, I was hitting the edge of the circle. By the fortieth, I was hitting inside. By the fiftieth, my arm was shaking.
"Now the left hand," Elias said.
I switched the blade to my left hand. It felt clumsy. I missed the post entirely twice. Elias did not laugh. He just watched.
I kept going. By the thirtieth left-handed strike, I was hitting the circle again. Not perfect, but close.
"Rest," Elias said. "Then small tool."
I sat on the ground. My arms ached. My core felt warm from the mana I had used to sustain the transformations.
After a few minutes, Elias handed me a rusty lock. "Pick it."
I formed a thin metal pick on my finger. I inserted it into the lock. The inside was rough. I moved the pick slowly, feeling for the pins. One clicked. Then another. The lock opened.
"Good," Elias said. "Now do it with your eyes closed."
I closed my eyes. I felt the pins with the pick. Click. Click. Click. The lock opened again.
"Now small shield."
I focused on my left forearm. The porcelain shifted, became a curved plate of metal. Light, but strong.
Elias picked up a wooden stick. He struck the shield. The impact jarred my arm, but the shield held.
"Again."
He struck harder. The shield held.
"Again."
He struck three times in quick succession. The shield cracked. A thin line appeared across the metal.
"Enough," Elias said. "You'll need to practice that more. The shield won't stop a real claw yet."
I reverted my arm. The crack disappeared. The porcelain was smooth again.
We trained until the sun was high. I was tired, but I felt stronger.
---
That afternoon, I went to Marta's house. She was in the kitchen, kneading bread. The smell of flour and yeast filled the room.
"Marta," I said. "I want to pay for my stay."
She looked at me, her hands still in the dough. "Pay? You live in my barn. You help with the eggs. That's payment enough."
"I have gold. From the cave."
I took out five gold coins and placed them on the table. Marta stared at them.
"Where did you get that?"
"A dead goblin."
She shook her head. "Keep your money, Ash. You need it more than me."
"I want to help."
"You help by being here. That's enough."
I did not argue. But that night, I left three coins under her pillow. She would find them in the morning. I left two more under the henhouse. She would find those too, eventually.
---
The next day, a traveling merchant came to Oakhaven. His cart was old, pulled by a tired donkey. He sold rope, oil, cloth, tools, and a few medicines. I walked to his cart.
"You're the healer," he said. "The hooded one."
"Yes."
"I need rope. Strong rope. Fifty feet. And lamp oil. Two flasks."
The merchant raised his eyebrows. "That's a lot of rope. Planning to climb something?"
"Something like that."
"Fifty feet of rope, two flasks of oil. That'll be ten gold."
I paid. I also bought a flint and steel for two more gold. And a small glass bottle of antiseptic – for Lora's grandmother.
"You're buying a lot," the merchant said.
"I have a lot to do."
He did not ask more. I carried the supplies to the barn and hid them under the straw.
---
That evening, I went to Lora's cottage. Her grandmother was in bed, coughing. The cough was deep, wet. Lora was sitting beside her, holding her hand.
"She's getting worse," Lora said. Her voice was tired.
I knelt by the old woman. I placed my hand on her chest. I pushed a tiny thread of mana into her body – not to heal, just to soothe. The coughing slowed. The old woman's breathing eased.
"Thank you," Lora whispered.
"Your grandmother needs medicine. Real medicine."
"We can't afford it."
I took out ten gold coins. I put them in Lora's hand.
"Ash, no."
"For her. Please."
Lora looked at the coins. Then at me. Her eyes were wet.
"Where did you get this?"
"A dead goblin. And the shaman. I told you."
She nodded slowly. "I'll go to the merchant tomorrow. Buy the medicine."
"Good."
I stayed until the old woman fell asleep. Then I walked Lora to the river. The water was dark, the sky full of stars.
"Ash," she said. "Why are you doing all this? The training. The rope. The oil. The gold."
"I'm going back to the cave. To kill the troglodyte."
She stopped walking. "You'll get hurt."
"Maybe. But if I don't, it will come here someday. Or Kaelen's soldiers will. I need to be ready."
She touched my sleeve. "Come back."
"I will."
---
The rest of the week, I trained. Every morning with Elias. Every afternoon practicing with the rope and oil – tying knots, learning to set a trap.
Elias taught me about the troglodyte.
"It's blind," he said. "It hunts by sound and smell. If you make a loud noise, it will follow. If you cover your scent, it will lose you."
"I can use oil to burn it."
"Fire is good. But the cave is damp. You'll need a lot of heat."
"I'll lure it into a narrow tunnel. Collapse the ceiling."
Elias nodded. "Risky. But possible. You'll need to be fast."
I practiced running through the forest, carrying the rope and oil. I practiced lighting the flint and steel in the dark. I practiced forming the small blade and shield at the same time – one hand for fighting, one for blocking.
It was hard. I failed many times. The rope tangled. The oil spilled. The flint sparked but didn't catch.
But each day, I got a little better.
On the fifth day, I helped a villager. A young boy had fallen from a tree and cut his arm. The cut was deep, but not deep enough for stitches. I cleaned it with water from the well, then used a tiny bit of mana to seal the skin. The boy stopped crying. His mother thanked me.
"You're a healer," she said.
"Sometimes," I said.
---
On the sixth day, Elias gave me a small crystal. It glowed faintly blue.
"From my stash," he said. "Absorb it now. It will give you an edge."
I touched the crystal.
Mana crystal (small). Absorb? (Y/N)
XP gain: 30. Daily limit remaining: 20.
I absorbed it. The crystal crumbled to dust. My energy rose. My core felt fuller.
"Thank you," I said.
"Don't thank me. Just come back alive."
---
On the seventh day, I did not train. I rested. I sat by the river with Lora.
"Tomorrow," I said.
"I know."
"I'll be gone a few days."
"I'll wait."
We sat in silence. The river flowed. The sun was warm. A heron stood on the far bank, still as a statue.
"Ash," she said. "What's under your hood? Really?"
I hesitated. Then I pulled back the hood.
She looked at my blank face. The smooth porcelain. No eyes, no nose, no mouth. Just a pale oval.
"You're beautiful," she said.
I did not understand. "I have no face."
"You have a kind heart. That's what matters."
She touched my cheek. Her fingers were warm.
I pulled the hood back up.
"I'll come back," I said.
"You better."
---
That night, I packed my supplies. Rope. Oil. Flint. The small dagger Elias had given me. A few coins left over. A piece of bread from Marta – I would leave it for the birds.
I lay in the barn. I looked at the stars through the crack in the roof.
Tomorrow, I would go back to the cave.
Tomorrow, I would fight.
I closed my eyes.
In the morning
I went to the forest.