4 The Master [4]

The girl woke up hearing the popping of bark and smell of coals. As she tried to open her eyes she started to panic.

She could no longer open them. But soon a calming chillness seemed to encompass her, a voice she couldn't place, a voice that sounded so familiar, like I everyone she ever knew talking at once, whispered in her head.

"Try...again...charlotte..."

She sat up in a fit and tried to open her eyes by instinct, but this time she saw a world, a new world. A world of fog and particles, though outside a certain distance it was pure blackness.

"Wh-wha-what is this?", she looked around to see the world, a world of color yet no color. As she went to look at her own hands, she looked down only to see a green slime like legs and hands with white strings flowing through it like veins. Just as she was about to ask what she had become, the voice returned.

"I am... sorry.", "Did you turn me into a monster?! I wont make it as a monster! Ive only ever been human, how am I suppos-" "...no you-", " I cant even hunt when I was human, I only knew how to cook, I mean.. im sure I COULD hunt if I made an attempt but-", " SHUSH.... you're seeing the energies of the world, your still human. ",

" Oh im human... thats good, but then where are you? I cant see you. ", " Im in your head, and id advise not telling the others..", " Others? ", the girl swiftly continued to look around, but when she looked up she saw two more green figures of people at different distances.

" Who are they? ", " From your perspective they can be considered saviors, as after reviewing the distance between your village and this city, there is high likelihood you would have died from starvation and frostbite. ", " So there good guys? ", " It will take me longer to understand human compassion and gauge emotions properly as they are psychological in nature. "

" Okay... how do you know such big words? I dont even think I know such big words, are you a scholar? ", " No, im communicating directly with your mind, which means my intentions are interpreted into whatever words you can think of, an entire sentence can become one word, one word can become a story, also shush. "

" Shu-? ", the old man pushed the door open and it flew back hitting the wall, being followed by his assistant who carried folded clothes and a blindfold.

" Awake now are we? ", he walked over and pulled open her eyelids, surprised she blurted out what she was thinking, " Who are you? ", " Not important yet, now can you see? ", she pondered it for a moment, " Not in the same way people normally do, but I can see. ", " Normally do? When you look at me what do you see? ", " A dim green man with a swirling circle, like a bluey color, in the chest, covered by a very, very slim layer of grey, I assume its your clothes. "

" So you cant see my masterfully sewn robe made only by the most careful of hands? My carefully groomed beard? My luscious locks that put the princesses from fairy tales to shame, my finely trimmed mustache, my sharp eyes that the ladies cant resist? "

" Your missing out on so much, I truly pity you. ", he sighed and shook his head.

He then clapped while the girl was in a daze from the ranting of the old man, " Now! My assistant over there in the corner near your new door who you may or may not be able to see, beats me, has some clothes I have had prepared for many blue moons, and a blindfold, as you may or may not be aware, your eyes are functionally dead, how you can currently see is also beyond my scope of knowledge, but it could make a good surprise tactic in the future when you must fight, so from now on you should refer to me as your master. ", he huffed out of breath.

" Why would I refer to you as master? ", she said while looking over at Brutus confused.

" Why? Well simple! Because no one else is going to take care of a criminal in this city, nor do they have the authority to get away with it even if they wanted to! So its either stay with me, learn the principalities of magic, become my official disciple, live the life of a noblewoman, enjoying all the finest delicacies in your area for simply being powerful, OR! "

" Or what? "

" Or go live on a sad life near the unbeatable beast we call nature, fighting day in day out against something you can never kill, only to be hunted down like a stray dog if you ever try to run, establishing a quaint little shack that is only destined to one day crumble under the winter winds while you sleep, killing you. ", he laughed at the end while begging Brutus over with his hand.

" So get dressed and follow Brutus as he aquatints you with your new home for the foreseeable future, until the day you die I am your master, and until the day you learn all of my knowledge, you are nothing but a bug in this world, something that almost anyone could squish under there boot, but through magic, I will make you a woman, someone capable of wearing the finest boots and squishing the largest of bugs, and one day you will be able to destroy there nests, and if you go any higher? Why you may even be able to destroy the entire colony, but those are some damn large boots for such a small bug. ", he laughed to himself while walking out of the room, confident she would become his disciple.

Brutus watched as his master left and shook his head, " I hope you don't mind the master. "

She looked at him and smiled, " Its no issue at all, though he is a tad odd he saved me when he could've left me to die, although I don't place all my trust in him now, he shouldn't be so bad. "

He walked over and helped her out of the bed while exhaling, " I'm glad you understand that much, although he is strange, and a pervert, and egotistical, and acts like a fool, he is undoubtedly a master, and kind-hearted, surprisingly he is well known, with many noble youths who would plea and beg to learn under him, though in this life they will never get the opportunity. ", he smirked, while talking he walked her over holding her shoulder to a folding wall that he stands her behind then shuts, throwing the clothes onto the wall for her to grab at her leisure.

She started grabbing them and putting them on, they included a pair of wool leggings, a wooly shirt with no sleeves, and then a robe that was thick to the touch due to the insulation, with fluffy ends at the hems of the robe, " So he's very impressive I should presume? Then why did he let me become his disciple? "

" I asked him the same thing when he saved me, and his answer was, ' Why not? Does a great man like myself need a reason to conform to the normality's of his weaker kin? Does a bear only eat berries when he can eat meat just because his weaker brothers cant catch prey?', although personally from what I know, he has always saved people who have lost everything to the harsh winters, young or old, he still tries to teach them his knowledge, although no one has ever learnt it all successfully.... "

She was almost finished putting on her new clothes as she noticed something weird, " There are other disciples? But I can only see you two around, or is this place just that big? "

" Yes, there are quite a few others, Id say around thirty, though many have died, so if you only count the living, there are twelve that I know of, though some left after reaching a roadblock, and many were simply not talented enough to continue on this path, so he gave them enough to live a normal life in comfort, and sent them out. Some went on journeys to try and increase their talent, others may come up dead any day now and I simply am yet to know. "

She pushed the folding wall back, " Okay then? What about you? How powerful are you then if you know so much and haven't been sent away? "

He smiled at her ignorance, " Its because the master is kind-hearted, I reached a block a long time ago, but if I left the masters side, id be dead before sunrise. "

This peeked her interest, she started to focus closer on Brutus, trying to notice anything wrong, he was a normal shade of green, not dim or bright, he didn't have any colorful veins running through him like her, he simply had a swirling hole in his chest like the master.

" Odd. . . "