I rolled away as a wolf pounced at me, barely avoiding its claws and fangs from sinking into my chest. I rose up and aimed for a stab at its side, but it leapt away and narrowly avoided the blow.
I grit my teeth in frustration, raising my blade to block its claws and then leapt away- creating distance between us.
The wolf's eyes gleamed as it sensed what it perceived as weakness and charged at me, aiming for my chest once again- its claws gleaming in the light of the sun.
As it leapt once more, this time I stepped to the side and swung my blade in a deadly arc, the steel slicing through its neck. Its body landed on the ground with a thud, head rolling a good distance away before finally stopping.
I took a deep breath; some blood having splattered onto my clothes and face... But besides some minor tiredness, I hadn't suffered any pai or damage in the fight.
I pulled a knife off of my belt and began the careful process of starting to skin its body, not wanting to waste a source of warmth in the middle of winter.
It had been two weeks since I had left the orphanage and ventured into the wilds to begin my short term goal of surviving in the wilds for a month. The first few days had been rough, struggling with starting campfires, washing my clothes, cooking, and a host of other problems.
Animals were also not easy to hunt... I suspected it was because Britain was still within the age of the gods, so even the animals were tougher than normal ones. Not that I'd ever hunted, for all I knew it was just my inexperience, and I was just trying to justify it to make myself seem tougher.
Regardless, I was surviving and that was enough for me.
It took me a good few hours to finish skinning the wolf since I still was inexperienced, even with lessons I'd taken from the local tanner in town. Still, once I got it washed up, I'd be able to use it as an extra blanket.
I lifted my sword and cleanly cut the now skinless wolf's leg off and left the rest behind. I had no way to store the meat for a long period, so I would be eating the leg for dinner. It did feel weird to say I was going to eat a wolf, but I needed food after all. I couldn't afford to be picky.
Besides, by leaving the rest behind I would draw other animals to the wolf's corpse, and I would be left mostly alone.
I walked for a good long while before I eventually found a lake. I let out a quiet murmur of apology as I pushed the leg into the water and began to wash the blood off of it, to properly prepare it for being eaten.
I sighed and looked up at the sky with a miserable expression as I worked. God, I had been so fucking lonely over the last two weeks.
Humans were meant to be social creatures, the lack of social interaction wasn't doing well for my mental state... Surely, two weeks were enough, right? I could just find a town and start bounty hunter work now?
I shook my head quickly. No, I couldn't think like that. I had to stick it out another two weeks at least, to clear my short term goal and then move onto Bounty Hunting.
"Excuse me, rude human?"
I blinked as I looked around for the source of the voice for a moment, only to see a stunning sight.
Half floating out of the water- only her upper body visible- was a woman. Her skin was grey and smooth, with crimson red eyes that looked at me with annoyance. From what I could see, she was clad in black robes like a witch's dress- even wearing a witch's hat upon her head. Her long white hair rolled past her shoulders in waves and curls, descending down into the water.
I was struck by her beauty, unable to tear my eyes off of her.
"Could you not wash that thing in my lake?" She asked with an annoyed look on her face. "It's a pain to clean out the blood."
"Um... Sorry?" I phrased it as more of a question.
"You should be," she snapped.
I gulped and shook my head. "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm being extra rude right now. My name is-"
Suddenly, without me even planning for it, my other hand snapped up and covered my mouth. It was pure instinct, a moment of pure dread and fear. Like if I had given her my name, something bad would have happened.
The annoyance in her eyes faded away slowly, now looking at me with intrigue as she observed me. "Oh...?" She hummed as she rose out of the lake slowly, revealing more and more of her curvaceous and sensual figure, a delicate finger tapping her cheek as her black heels stood atop the lake. "How interesting... You didn't plan to stop talking, did you? You instinctively covered your own mouth in order to prevent yourself from giving your name..."
She smiled slowly. "In other words, you instinctively realised I was a fae and prevented yourself from giving me your name so that I couldn't claim ownership of you... How fascinating..."
My eyes widened at her words as they registered in my mind.
Of course, how could I have let my guard down and almost fallen into such a trap...?
Fae Magic and rules worked differently than human ones did. Just by introducing yourself using your name, a Fae could claim your name and your soul- taking them for their own uses.
It was the same as giving someone your True Name in Kane Chronicles or Egyptian Mythology.
"Call me More," I finally told her after lowering my hand- giving her a false name instead of my real one.
"More it is then," she agreed. "I'm afraid my name just cannot be pronounced by humans... I suppose..." She tapped her chin. "You may call me Mellti."
"Right then, Mellti..." I nodded slowly, more wearily this time given I now knew she was a fae. I had to be careful around her. "I'm sorry for... Washing my dinner in your lake."
"As you should be," she nodded, but she didn't seem as annoyed this time. "Though I am curious, what brings a newly minted adult like you out to the woods- alone?"
"Training, you could call it... I want to become a knight. However, to do that I must achieve feats since nobody wants to take me on as a squire since there's nothing special about me. So, I'm planning to become a bounty hunter. I'm training myself to survive in the wild so that I don't have to worry in case I don't get any jobs."
She raised an eye and rubbed her chin slowly. "How practical... What a fascinating specimen you are..."
I shuddered. "Do not call me that, I feel like you're about to experiment on me."
She let out a melodious laugh that sent ominous shivers down my spine... Something about her laugh felt off, almost threatening to listen to.
"Well now..." She smiled. "I've never met a human that I didn't want to kill immediately, but there is something special about you..." She slowly looked over me. "Yes... The threads of fate are woven around you so interestingly..."
I did not like the sound of that.
"However..." She frowned. "You said there was nothing special about you, correct?"
"I mean, yeah," I nodded. "I'm just an orphaned human; there is nothing worth noticing about me."
For a brief moment, a flicker of confusion crossed her face- as if she herself didn't understand my words... Or as if she believed there was something inherently wrong about them.
"He hasn't realised, how is that possible...?" She murmured under her breath, so softly I couldn't hear what she said.
Her ruby red eyes locked onto me, and a smile curved on her lips- a feeling of dread pooling in my stomach.
"Well then... If no human will take you on as a teacher, I suppose I don't mind teaching you a little bit."
I froze at her words and pulled the wolf leg out of the water.
"Pardon, what was that?"
She looked amused. "I said that I will teach you," she told me. "I've lived quite a long time, after all- I know plenty about sword play and the works. After all, humans come to hunt us depending on the mischief we cause- and I caused quite a lot of mischief in my younger days. While I have dedicated my studies now closer to magic, I still know my way around a sword."
"And what do you want out of this?" I asked her. "There is no such thing as a free lunch... On top of that, you are a Fae. Your kind always use loopholes in deals to screw over the other party- turning a blessing into a curse."
"Well, you are not wrong about that," she smiled. "You know an awful lot about Fae, don't you?"
"Less than I should."
She just rubbed her hands together in amusement. "Very well, I'll make this contract simple. You will be my student for the next two and a half years. Once you have finished being my student, you are free to go wherever it is the wind takes you. No strings attached, no hidden clauses, no loopholes. I will even add a clause that I shall follow the intended spirit behind the wording as according to you, not myself."
... Something was off.
This was too much.
Too generous.
"I want a Geis," I responded.
A Geis. A form of Magecraft that represented an unbreakable contract between two recipients. Only special items such as Medea of Colchis's Rule Breaker could hope to sever such a contract.
With such a suggestion, I was sure she would react with annoyance...
But, instead, Mellti just smiled and snapped her fingers, a contract slowly manifesting before my eyes- a black quill hanging above it and waiting for me to grab and sign the contract.
I leaned in and read it over piece by piece... Exactly as she had said it would be.
... It was too easy.
"What is your end game?" I asked her. "You're making this too easy for me. Why do this for me?"
She just smiled slowly. "Let's just call it... Wanting to screw with certain people, and by helping you out I'm going to be able to witness a very interesting show."
Well, that was certainly ominous...
I read over the contract again and again- I didn't want to miss a thing in regard to this... I even felt the paper for any signs of hidden ink or secret words she may have slipped in, but there was nothing. The paper checked out as fine, and even my own instincts- which I had come to rely on strongly- told me that the contract was as it appeared. No falsehoods.
I was weary, this was all too convenient. Too easy. Too lucky.
But could I refuse? Could I truly?
Wasn't this what I had been looking for? A teacher? Someone to help me train? While Fae were not to be trusted, a Geis scroll assured by security- and also ensured a positive relationship between us.
"I want to add a clause that, during the duration of your time as my teacher, you will not attempt to trick or deceive me in ways that will result in me being bound to you in some way, shape, or form that is magical in nature."
She pouted. "Tch, smart... Fine. I'll also add that I'll make sure not to injure you in such a way that leaves you permanently inhibited or with lasting damage," she snapped her fingers and several more lines appeared on the contract.
I read the lines over slowly and then took a deep breath... I knew that, once I signed this, there would be almost no turning back for me. I would be under the care of Mellti for the next two and a half years.
I hesitated a moment longer... Before I finally grabbed the black quill and signed my name with a simple stylised 'A.'
She took the parchment and the quill, signing her own name on it. The parchment flashed, golden ethereal chains manifesting and interlinking around us- sealing the Geis... It was far more dramatic in the age of the Gods than in the Age of Mystery...
She smiled slowly. "Well then, nice to have you, my cute little student... Make yourself something to eat, and we can begin our first lesson..." She began to laugh. "Oh, we're going to have so much fun..."
... I was already regretting my choice.