Nuclear Warlock

"See you later, mom!"

"Take care!"

After finishing breakfast, Artus left the house to roam around the village.

The Pinefall village was a small village located at the edge of the forest, most people here make a living by gathering herbs and fruits from the edge of the forest, and some of them hunt animals selling their hind and meat.

As Artus walked the streets, he spotted the merchant caravan.

People would usually eat fruit and rarely meat to maintain their daily nutritional requirements, they would save the rest intending to sell later to the merchants who come occasionally.

 If they were to sell them in the city, they would make more than what they get from these greedy merchants.

But the city was far, the cost of renting a carriage and traveling to the city would make the trip not worth the effort as they would have to pay quite the amount of coins, not to mention that the trip would last a few days, so they will be absent from the village and will not able to gather and hunt, all of that made selling the gains to the traveling merchants their only choice.

Lots of people gathered today, eager to trade with the merchants. Most people would not sell things to merchants, instead, they would directly trade their gain for items as they don't have much use for coins in this small village.

Artus approached the caravan slowly, his eyes were looking around as if searching for something, and then his lips curved into a smile as he hurried up.

"Uncle Glenn!"

A man was sitting surrounded by a few boxes, he wore a brown cloak underneath which was a simple shirt, pants with a leather belt, and long boots. He was carrying a small digger on his waist.

Glenn was an old friend of his father, so he treated Artus well, every time he came to the village, he would always give Artus a gift.

Artus liked to listen to Glenn's stories about his travel and his business. He was a smart child, he sometimes gave Gleen unique ideas that would help him, so he was very fond of Artus.

"Artus! You boy how have you been doing?"

"I am doing fine, thank you for asking Uncle"

"How was your trip this time? I hope you made some profit"

"It was pretty ordinary, nothing much"

"Oh… so there are no new stories…"

"What? Would you rather that I get attacked by bandits and lose an arm or leg to tell you an interesting story !!"

"Uncle! you knew I didn't mean that"

"More importantly… I have found another book for you"

Glenn took out an old book from one of the boxes, it was worn out, lots of the pages were torn, and some pages were even missing. Yet when Artus saw the book, it was as if he was given a priceless treasure.

"Thank you, Uncle"

 ****************************************************

Artus was holding the book with his small hand, he could not wait to reach home and open the book, he was learning how to read, his mother taught him words and characters, and he even knew how to count.

On his way home, he met a group of children, they were playing by the side of the road, carrying some sticks and simple toys.

"Yo, isn't that Artus"

Artus stopped by, greeting them.

"Hello there, how are doing?"

"We are playing the hunter game; would you like to play with us?"

One of the children who seemed to be the leader approached him.

"Thanks, Tom, but unfortunately I have some matter to attend to, see you later"

Artus did not wait for their reply and left immediately.

"That guy is always busy, he used to play with us in the past, but now he is obsessed with books"

"What a pain…. he is making things difficult for me….my father would always scold me when I return late…."

"He would always say…why aren't like the son of Gabell…. smart and polite ... blah blah blah"

One child said in an annoyed tone.

"Your father is right…. Artus is very smart… he already knows how to read…. he is a hardworking child …he doesn't waste all his time missing around unlike some people"

"How cruel of you Maggie, hey Tom say something"

Tom looked at the girl wearing a very cute dress; she looked no older than 9 years of age, she was staring in the direction that Artus left.

"He is acting as if he can read, he only knows a handful of characters"

Tom was the only son of the village chief, he was now 12 years old, he had a strong physique, since his early childhood he had routine training with the hunters, he was somewhat huge when compared to other children in the village as he did not lack anything.

His father always brought him the best of the best.

He had a crush on Maggie, so he was not very happy with her praising Artus.

"Oh… so how many characters do you know?"

Her reply was like hitting him in the face.

"don't matter…. I have just recently started learning…"

"In the end, it doesn't matter if I learn or not…I am stronger….my father is rich …. I will become the next chief of the village"

"As for reading and writing…. I'll just hire Artus to work for me"

"He is such a pitiful child…everyone knows he is sick … his body is frail … he can't even run for a short distance…."

"I'll even give a few copper coins to buy food….it would be a waste if such a smart person dies from hunger"

Tom said in an angry tone, he was very mad at Maggie for defending Artus, he felt threatened.

"Hey, don't say that! Don't forget that Artus's mother, Milla, is your new teacher who will teach you to read and write"

"Bella is the only lady in our village who knows how to read and write…. she is very knowledgeable on different subjects".

Maggie replied in an annoyed manner.

"It's not like she's doing that for free!"

"They own my father….8 years ago when they came to our village…. It was my father who sheltered them…he gave them food…. he even gave them the house they live in now!"

Maggie looked at Tom as if she lost hope, in her perspective he was too stupid to understand, then she left.

"Hey, Maggie! Where are going !!"