Chapter Nine

By the time they stopped walking, it was well into the night, and Ven was so tired and sore she could barely keep her feet under her. Eujin led them into a thick copse of trees off the side of the road, and dropped his pack soundlessly against the trunk of a large pine. Ven dropped her pack unceremoniously next to his and flopped to the ground with a loud groan.

“Gods, I thought we’d never stop!” She said

Without warning, Eujin walked over to where she sat and backhanded her hard across the mouth. She tumbled across the ground, the left side of her face burning. She pulled herself back up, furious.

“What the hell was that fo-!” She went to yell, before he sent her sprawling with another blow.

“That is twice now you will have alerted anyone within a quarter mile of us to our location, Ven.” Eujin said calmly, his voice barely above a whisper. “Do it a third time, and I will render you unconscious. Are we clear?”

Ven wasn’t sure if he saw the look of murder she gave him in the darkness, but part of her hoped he did. Choking down her irritation, she straightened.

“Sorry.” She said softly. “I will be more careful.”

“I know you will be.” Eujin said. He moved noiselessly over to his pack and pulled something out of it. He walked over within a few paces of her and sat down on the forest floor across from her, his shape a black outline against a dark forest skyline.

“Now, open your hand.”

Uncertainly, Ven reached out her hand. Eujin pulled something out of what he’d grabbed, and placed it in her palm. It was small, and felt a bit like a scrap of leather between her fingertips.

“Eat that.” He said.

“What is it?” Ven asked.

“Something that will make the second part of this lesson much easier to practice. Now, eat.” He said, then added, a bit more softly, “...Please.”

Ven took whatever was in her hand and put it in her mouth. It tasted like musty dirt smelled, and grew more and more bitter and slimy as she chewed. It took everything she could muster to finally swallow it down, accompanied by an involuntary shudder of revulsion.

“Ugh, what was that?” She finally managed to muster.

“Catseye Cap. It’s a kind of mushroom that grows in caves to the far east. They are incredibly poisonous unless dried properly, but they have a benefit when dried that most people familiar with them don’t know about.” Eujin said. “Tell me what you see.”

As Ven sat there, staring at him in the darkness, something gradually began to change. Her eyes weren’t adjusting. Even she knew that they wouldn’t adjust more than to see basic shadows in this kind of darkness. But sure enough, things were growing lighter. Within a few moments, things were light enough that she could clearly make out Eujin’s face, and the absent fiddling he was doing with a couple fingers. It was all in grey, strangely, but still, the effect was striking.

“Whoa, it’s like the sun is coming back up.” She said, surprised.

Eujin nodded.

“As it continues to work its way through your body, things will get brighter until it feels like you are in daylight. The effects last a couple hours. There are only a couple things you need to be aware of when taking them. First, they don’t let you see color, only shades. Most of the time this isn’t a problem, but be very careful when color is important. Second, as a result of the mushrooms making your eyes far more acute in darkness, even the lowest direct light can be blinding while you’re on them. This includes the moon, so plan accordingly. Third, the effects are eliminated almost instantly by alcohol. A cup of wine or ale is more than sufficient for this purpose. Nod if you understand.”

Ven nodded, and Eujin continued.

“Until these wear off, I will be teaching you how we will be communicating from here forwards when sound cannot afford to be made. By the end of the night, I expect you to understand enough of what I teach you to be able to keep up. Come tomorrow night, you will not be speaking aloud again once the sun goes down until we are back among civilization. Do you understand?”

Ven nodded again.

“Now that we have my expectations in line for tonight, this is what is going to happen moving forwards. We are going to Transel. As Sevastian was able to escape, I now no longer have a clear idea where he will be next. That means information gathering, and the capitol is the best place for that sort of thing. As it is about two weeks by road, you will be spending every waking moment learning everything that can be learned while walking, or in the darkness and quiet aided by these mushrooms. If, by some miracle, you can convince me to keep training you by the time we arrive, then I will formally adopt you as my ward and continue teaching you. If not, you will be in the best city in the country for starting over. Either way, I will not be accepting any money from you to train you further.”

Ven opened her mouth to say something, but Eujin held a finger up to silence her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gilder she had given him earlier, and flicked it to her with a clink. She caught it, then looked up at him, confused.

“But what about that whole ‘I don’t care about anything but money’ stuff you said at the inn?” Ven said, unable to stop herself. “What about your ‘I’m such a bad guy and I don’t even care about anything’ nonsense?”

“I wasn’t expecting to actually be bribed into helping you, to be honest. I only took it initially to somehow convince myself that doing this isn’t a terrible idea. And it is a terrible idea.” Eujin said, crossing his arms again. “Most of what I said was at least partly true. The parts about killing changing you are completely true. I’m not the same me I used to be because of it. And I wouldn’t wish that on anyone else. I was trying to convince you to do literally anything else but follow the same path I have. But I’ve changed my mind about you, mostly because it is clear that you’d persist in following me and hounding me long enough that I’d have to tie you up and leave you in a ditch to have a hope of stopping you. So, if you want to learn, I will teach you, at least up until we arrive at the capitol. If you prove to me that taking you on permanently is the right thing to do, that gilder will buy your equipment. If things go otherwise, it’ll buy you an easy way into wherever you’d pick as a second option. Consider these the one gift I can give someone who’s lost everything.”

Ven looked at him, taken more than a little aback. This… was not what she had expected. Uncertain of how to respond, she let the silence hang in the air between them for a long moment. Eujin shifted, his eyes appraising her. Finally, she looked down at the ground.

“...Thank you.”

Eujin nodded.

“Don’t thank me too quickly, kid.” He said. “Because you are now bound to me. And it’s important that you understand what that means. Look at me.”

Ven looked up and locked eyes with him. There was an intensity in his gaze that made her shiver involuntarily.

“As of this moment”, he said, “you will do what I say, as I say, when I say. You will not ask questions. You will not argue. You will not suggest alternatives. You will learn at the speed I set. You will learn what I deem is necessary for you to learn when I deem it necessary for you to learn it. And you will do so without hesitation. Any resistance, any hesitation, any failure to do as I instruct or keep up with the pace of training I set will be met with swift and harsh punishment. Failure to correct the problem after discipline will mean the permanent end of our relationship. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes.” Ven said.

“Good. Now, from this moment forward, I am not your friend. I am your master. If you want a friend, speak now, and I’ll send you to find a different line of work. Now is your only chance to make this choice without consequences.” Eujin said, resting his palms on his legs.

Ven held his gaze, but said nothing.

“Very well.” Eujin said, rising to his feet. “Then let’s begin.”