The young shepherd

In a cabin located on a hill under a willow tree, a boy slept comfortably as light cracked through the gaps of the wooden walls and shone on his tall figure. His brown hair messily covered his youthful face, heaving up and down as he inhaled and exhaled rhythmically.

The soft bleating of goats and the sound of the light autumn breeze sung the boy a lullaby, deepening his slumber.

Elias, together with his father had settled in Willow shade a few months ago. They bought themselves a cabin and began a slow life the modern hard working individual would dream of.

In these two months, Elias tried to keep his interaction with the villagers to a minimum. Only hunting a few hares, or chasing off some predators before selling his spoils for coin. Sometimes, he would even barter for other necessities.

Meditation and staff arts training have been going swell, both seeing considerable progress. According to his father, Elias was now a proficient staff arts practitioner capable of competing with others twice his own age.

The large warrior had conditioned his son to extreme levels, putting even the advanced martial arts practitioners to shame.

Under his father's guidance Elias became a well-rounded warrior with no large disparities between his strengths and weaknesses. Yet, his strengths were worthy of notice.

Elias was in all sense a damage dealer of insane endurance and dexterity. He did not possess the nimble figure necessary to dodge strikes repeatedly, nor the speed to do so. Thus, he compensated with insane dexterity and flexibility, allowing his body to bend and stretch in ways a normal human could not.

His technique would give the illusion of a lithe opponent, yet he was anything but. He already had the makings of a tall and robust man, just like his father.

###

The breeze whistled gently in the air tickling my ears and the sunlight escaped the walls of my cabin and shone directly on my eye lids. It did not long before I was woken up by the impatient duo, urging me out of my sleep.

With a frustrated grunt, I kicked off the bed sheets and walked over to a small empty basin beside my bed. The basin in question was a simple steel bowl with a rune etched on its bottom; Laguz [Γ]. The Laguz rune was a Norse rune for water, among many other things. And just like the Uruz rune, intent is key.

Tapping the rune etched on the basin was all it took for Aeter to be transferred and for water to fill up the empty basin.

'Nothing better than a splash of cold water to start the day'

I took off my sleeping attire and donned my hunting gear. I let the droplets of cold water remain on my face and grabbed my shepherd's staff that was hung on the bed frame. Holding it firmly in my hand, I caressed its wooden body and marveled at my father's workmanship. The staff, although simple, was beautiful. I could almost compare it to a shepherd's staff of biblical origins.

The staff was a long sturdy stick, with a hook at the end having its point flared outward. Not a splinter erred out of its wooden body, nor a curvature marring its undeviating frame.

Bleating reached my ears as I exited my abode, drawing my attention away from the staff and towards my fluffy companions.

"Good morning guys, ready for another day?"

More bleating ensued before it finally died down and the mix of goats and sheep continued drinking water out of their small tub.

Walking further towards them, I came upon my feathery friend Eset. The majestic black owl was poised straight as an arrow atop one of the goats' horns. The poor fellow was frozen in fear, not even sounding the least bit uncomfortable even when her sharp and deadly talons dug into his horn.

-Hoot

"Yeah I know, I over slept, you don't have to rub it in my face."

The mischievous owl stared at me mockingly before fluttering her wings and landing on my shoulder elegantly; an empress sitting on her throne.

"Cheeky little bird"

After much banter and provocation, Eset and I set out to take the flock grazing for the day. With a mouth full of feather and an owl beside me rubbing its bruised temple, we kicked off our small ranch and headed with a flock of goats and sheep to a field nearby.

I never took myself for a shepherd, it happened by chance actually, a chance born out of boredom. You see, when you are not fighting for your life every second of the day, you fight away the dullness of an entertainment-less life. Especially in a village like this.

Willow shade village was at the very extremities of the Empire's borders, it was known-by few- for its agricultural specialty. My father and I kept to ourselves and mostly stayed away from the rest of the villagers. My old man vanishes all day, and comes back sporadically, sometimes late at night, other times in the afternoon. Nothing out of the ordinary, he was behaving similarly in the jungle.

I, however managed to barter myself a flock of sheep and goats with the animals I hunt now and then. It happened on a whim when a farmer asked for a pelt I was carrying on my shoulder and offered me a young lamb as trade. Quite the lucky encounter if you ask me.

After that I bartered my way into a mighty fifty cattle flock. I am pretty proud of myself, I am one of the shepherds with the most cattle I this village.

*sigh*

'There are only three…'

###

The way to the field was peaceful, no predators interrupted our travel, nor did Eset launch another wing attack at my face

'Thankfully'

However the grazing field was a different story. Just as we got there, a pack of seven wolfs peaked out of the tree line. All of them were menacingly standing there, just waiting to lunge at their prey.

The alpha who strangely happens to be the smallest wolf of the bunch had a strange fur color, a mix of black and white. The rest were nothing out of the ordinary, three with auburn fur, and the rest with grey ones.

"Quite the big pack you've got there fella"

I had to hand it to him, he had quite the lineup; three fire element wolves and three wind ones. It is not easy to have larger wolves as your subordinates, he must have some strong ability to have earned their loyalties.

'I wonder what magic you have'

Before I could observe my opponents any further, the three fire element wolves moved first as their fur burned ablaze, singing the grass beneath them.

The wolves ran around the flock creating a ring of fire, with the only exit being a narrow path leading back to the rest of the wolves who were waiting at the ready.

"Interesting, this is the most intelligence any of the beasts I have faced has shown so far."

The words barely exited my mouth before screech frustration sounded from my companion, as her talons dug into my skin almost drawing blood.

"HAHAHH, e-excluding you of course."

Nervousness was clear in my voice as I tried to soothe the diva owl. Yet even with my efforts, her glare did not lessen until we heard the cattle panic.

Sounds of bleating echoed through the field, as the wolves completed their plan and circled back to their original position.

The flock acted as the mutts predicted and fled to the only exit they saw.

"Alright, time to go to work"

Even though it was unnecessary, and even though my stick was not a magical focus, I tapped it on the ground channeling Aeter into the earth creating a dome around my flock.

'That. Was. So. COOl!'

Stunned by the change of events the wolves desperately sent attacks at the dome to no avail. They clawed at the dome and even tried ramming it whilst being augmented by magic.

"Oh no you don't"

Controlling the shape of the dome, I manipulated its surface to turn into spikes, impaling one fire wolf that tried ramming the dome while enforcing his body with the fire element.

The small black and white wolf caught on to my plan and snarled, causing the other wolves to shift their attentions from attacking the dome, to attacking me.

The wind attribute wolves were the fastest as they ran at high speeds getting to my position in a matter of seconds.

One of them did not stop his sprint and directly lunged at my neck. With quick and practiced movement, I used my shepherd's staff to propel myself vertically a few feet off the ground, effectively dodging the wolf's maw. I then lifted the staff and struck his head with much strength, causing his eye balls to bulge and his fangs to dig into his own flesh. The wolf staggered from the blow, and desperately tried to get back into the fight.

Yet, just as he tried to shake off his disoriented state, Eset dove at him and crushed his eyeballs with her talons, robbing him of his last hope of survival.

"Way to go Eset!"

The little four months old owl puffed her chest in pride and flared her wings menacingly.

"Yeah yeah, Eset the mighty. Now focus, don't take your eyes off your enemies."

The prideful owl followed my instructions and looked carefully from upon my shoulder, trying to take advantage of any chance to attack the wolves.

However, no matter how hard she looked, the wolves became wearier after we killed two of their members and decided to surround us.

"Get ready Eset, this is going to get ugly."

I warned my feathery friend and conjured a round earthen shield around my left hand while I held the staff with my other hand in a reverse grip, resting its body behind my back.

A stare contest ensued between us before I decided to make the first move.

I swung my staff towards a grey wolf whilst striking the staff's butt with the shield giving it more power.

"GRAAA"

With a shout the staff struck its target and launched the wolf towards a tree curving his side and shattering his ribs.

Reacting late to my attack, a red wolf launched fire projectiles squarely at my face.

With quick reflexes, I blocked with the shield, and dispersed the fire attack, directing the residue towards the black and white wolf.

Using the broken pieces off the shield, I molded them into a sharper shape and sent them toward the remaining fire wolves, one of whom Eset had blinded with her talons.

Ever since I first used magic, I have been trying to improve myself. What I discovered and learned through the tomes, is that the more you use magic, the more it develops in both strength and efficiency. Not only does it cost less Aeter than it did, if I used the same spells before, but the strength increases as well. Previously, those earth spikes I shot would not have killed C ranked wolves even when targeted at their eyes and heads from close range as I have done today.

Having had enough marveling at my own progress, I looked to the last two remaining wolves. One was a wind wolf, while the other was the weird one, who strangely was not affected by my earlier attack.

'No need to over think, he must have dodged it'

The alpha remained without action other than directing the others, but the grey wolf sent out one of my least favorite attacks; a wind attack.

While these types of attacks remain very troublesome, Aeter control, which I have cultivated, allowed me to perceive a very vague shape of the attack.

The wolf slashed its claws at my direction and a claw like ripple in the air sailed in my direction.

'Heh, I can see them now you bastard'

Before the attack could get too close, an earthen wall protruded out of the ground and blocked it.

{Earth lance}!

The wolf barely processed its failed attempt, before a magic circle materialized in my palm and conjured a lance that sailed the air and struck the wolf, killing it instantly.

'Good thing I worked on the conjuration time, it sure came in handy'

Just as I turned back to face the last wolf, I felt my senses ring in alarm. Twisting my body 180 degrees I avoided having the last wolf slash his claws over my neck, only to have it tear the flesh out of my chest.

'Where the hell did that guy come out of? He wasn't using shadows I'm sure of it... Wait, that's it! Space!'

In anger I kicked the wolf's underbelly and augmented my staff, striking its spine at the same time. Even though, the wolf tried using his space attribute to teleport, I was able to act faster, denying him any means of escape or resistance.

Hooting in frustration and concern, Eset waved her wings in front of my face in nervousness.

"I am fine, it's not too deep…. {Nature's kiss}"

I calmed the anxious owl and placed my hand over the wound that was burning in pain. I took a deep breath and summoned the last few drops of Aeter fueling my healing spell.

My hand glowed and green threads of Aeter entered my skin, clotting the blood and mending the torn skin. It did not take long before tiredness washed over me, and the Aeter in my body ran dry.

"Let's wrap it up, I need a shower now"

I walked away intending to simply leave, before remembering that I was a goddamn shepherd.

Looking at the corpse ridden battlefield for my cattle, I noticed that they were still surrounded by the dome.

The dilemma presented itself, when I did not even remotely have enough Aeter to bring it down

"Shit"

-Hoot