Book 1, Verse 34

Thankfully, Niels didn’t react the way I thought he would.

Instead of becoming angry again, he just sighed, looked thoughtful, then responded as we began climbing up a slight incline.

“My parents made it clear to me that blood is something that shouldn’t be spilled lightly.” He took his right thumb and ran it over the fingers on his right hand. “They were very traditional elves, I suppose. In tune with nature and mirra, to a level that most other elves considered them blessed.” He sighed. “When I took up alchemy, they were hesitant at first, but eventually gave me their full support.”

The three of us nodded as Niels spoke.

“However, one day, while I was experimenting with obsidian mixtures, I cut myself, and a drop of my blood fell into the alchemical mixture.” He chuckled slightly. “And my curiosity was piqued. Instead of bandaging up the cut on my finger, I let drop after drop fall into the mix. I was transfixed by the possibility of what might happen. The thrill of discovery, the possibility of getting caught, my own curiosity; they all combined to make an addictive moment.”

“So you got caught?” Elisa said, interrupting.

Niels looked at her, a little disrespectfully, but she immediately apologized. He shrugged, then continued.

“Yes. My father found out about what I was doing and, well, let’s say that I wasn’t able to sit properly for a few days after that.” He chuckled.

So did Elisa and Vivian.

“Wait, are you telling me your father spanked you?” I said, obvious concern, shock, and surprise in my voice.

My three traveling companions all looked at me, a little confused.

Right. Different time period and different world; they [probably didn’t consider spanking to be cruel.

“I thought churches were even more strict with their punishments?” Elisa said.

I smiled awkwardly.

Me and John did not agree on the issue of child discipline.

“U-uh, you see…” I looked away. “We, er, didn’t do spanking in my hou–monastery.”

Niels whistled.

“Well that explains how you’re able to get away with believing all the strange things you do.” He commented with a smirk. “Maybe that’s not a bad thing though.”

“Heh, maybe.” I replied.

“So what happened with the blood mixture?” Elisa asked eagerly.

“My father disposed of it; then he told me about how blood holds a lot of mirra, and using it in alchemy can boost the effects of whatever other ingredients were in the mixture.”

“Yeah, that’s why–”

“Hold on.” Niels said before Elisa could get going. “He also told me, and my mother agreed with him, that using blood in alchemy can drive a person to insanity; not to mention that drinking blood is usually associated with prevaim.”

What was a prevaim?

“Insanity?” Elisa said absently as reached the top of the low hill and stopped, overlooking the long winding path ahead of us. “I haven’t heard anyone talk about that happening before.”

Niels looked consternated.

“Perhaps my father was wrong about the actual effects of the usage of blood.” Niels said off-handedly. “But I still believe that taking the blood from a creature and using it solely for alchemy is cruel.”

Elisa rolled her eyes.

Vivian stayed next to me as the other two continued to discuss the obscurities of alchemy.

“Hey Shinko, did you ever do stuff you weren’t supposed to?” She said, a smile playing on her lips. “What was it like growing up in a monastery?”

I breathed deeply before I spoke and looked up at Vivian.

She was so much taller than me; it really wasn’t fair.

Then again, I was lying to her, so maybe things were even in a way.

“It was, um…”

My mind wandered as I spoke, and various memories of my childhood were dredged up.

“See, despite being a monastery, the other monks weren’t very strict with their beliefs.”

My parents, despite being normal churchgoers, didn’t really care that much about religion.

“A lot of the time, I would catch them doing things we weren’t supposed to be doing. And I would point it out, and then they would become upset with me.”

The church I went to was full of people like my parents; a whole bunch of morons wasting a perfectly good Sunday sitting around in a building listening to a man expound on a book that nobody present really cared about.

“So I eventually decided to do my own studies; separate from what the other monks were studying.”

Eventually, I started reading the darn book myself.

At this point, Vivian interrupted me.

“Wow that… wasn’t what I was expecting at all, Shinko.” She said sincerely. “I mean, the way you talk about what you believe… I thought you had a great teacher or something. I didn’t know you were self-taught.” She looked a little disappointed. “I–I thought that maybe, since you were different, there were more priests like you. More strange priests wouldn’t be a bad thing.” She shook her head. “But I should’ve known, since you matched me when I said that the church was full of liars and hypocrites.”

I’d forgotten that I’d said that with her.

“I hoped, though.” She said, looking away from me. “I hoped that maybe, after I left Clearwood, I could find a church with another strange priest.” She sighed. “Maybe give the whole ‘church’ thing another try.”

“Wait, why would you leave Clearwood?” I asked.

Vivian shook her head.

“For the same reason I left every other town.” She said, her voice getting quiet. She looked down at me and smiled weakly. “Shinko, maybe…” She stopped talking. “I’m sorry. I’m interrupting you; please tell me the rest of your story.

I looked at her, agape.

I glanced over at Niels and Elisa, and they were still leading the way down the path, chatting with each other about alchemy. I redirected my attention to Vivian.

“Vivian, what were you going to say?” I asked softly.

She shook her head and her long, wavy brown hair fell in front of her face, covering most of it.

“Shinko… I’m not… I’m not a good person.”