Chapter 6: Home... and the Playground
Sometimes... the greatest lesson is not in climbing to the summit...
but in learning to sit and rest beneath the shade of a tree...
and realizing that the foundation which has always supported us... is the earth we stand on, not the sky we seek.
— From "The Teachings of an Old Gardener"
The sound of a hammer and gears in my father's shed... the sound of my mother's soft humming in the herb garden...
My small, familiar world had returned once more.
A month after the incident at the market... my life at the Craftsman's Guild came to an end... at least for now.
That night... after I had vomited from the potion... Vulcan spoke seriously with my father who came to pick me up. I heard their conversation faintly through the slightly ajar door.
"...His talent is real... but Aether... his body and mind are far too fragile," Vulcan said in a solemn voice. "To rush him now... might be to destroy him, instead of building him up."
My father said nothing... He just thanked Vulcan and took me home.
That night... I heard my father and mother talking in the living room... It wasn't a fight... but a heavy discussion.
"I'm worried about him, my love... He's too young... He should be running around... having friends... not just reading books in a dusty library." My mother's voice was filled with concern.
"I know... Elena... I know. I saw the spark in his eyes when he held the tools... but I also saw the fatigue hidden behind it... His talent... it might be both a blessing and a curse."
The next day... my father went to the Guild and informed Vulcan that I would be "taking a break from my apprenticeship" for the time being.
Vulcan did not object... He looked at me with an understanding gaze before handing me a small "copper tag."
"This is the Guild's identification tag... It will always grant you access to the library... Whenever you are 'ready'... the Guild's doors will still be open to welcome you."
[...Quest 'The Craftsman's Path' has been temporarily suspended...]
[...You retain the right to access the 'Guild Library'...]
And so... my life returned to simplicity once again.
But... it wasn't the same.
My mother began to take me for walks more often in the meadow behind our village.
"Look, Faelix... the moonglow flowers are blooming... Try touching the soil... isn't it soft?"
She wasn't teaching me about medicinal properties... but teaching me to "feel" the nature around me.
[...You have received the effect of 'Meadow Wind'...]
[...The rate of MP decay has slowed slightly...]
My father changed, too...
He no longer let me just watch him work in silence. Instead, he started to "invite" me to do it with him.
He built a small workbench for me in the shed... and gave me a set of portable tools he had crafted himself.
"Try it... Try building whatever you 'want' to build... It doesn't have to be useful... just create it."
He wasn't teaching me theory... but teaching me to know the "fun" of creation.
I started with simple wooden toys... slowly, through trial and error... No pressure... no deadlines.
And for the first time... I felt that creating something wasn't "homework" or a "mission."
[...You have successfully created a 'Wind-up Wooden Car'... Quality: Medium...]
[...Experience in 'Mechanical Engineering' has increased slightly...]
[...The emotion 'Joy' has restored 5 MP...]
I still secretly went to read books in the Guild's library once a week... to fill up on "knowledge."
But the rest of my time... I spent it "living life."
I learned to distinguish the songs of birds... learned to climb trees (even though I fell often)... and learned to laugh for real... when my father pretended to drop a tool and made a silly face.
My body was still weak... The "Shadow" was still with me at every step...
But now... my MP no longer came from just the "brain" and the "heart."
It began to come from... "life itself."
I still didn't know which path my life would take... I still didn't know what I was born for.
But for now... in this small wooden house with my quiet father and kind mother...
My battlefield... had become the warmest and safest "playground" in the world.
And for the first time... I felt grateful for that "whisper"...
...the one that gave me the chance to be in this place.