I let out a breath of air as I took a moment to stretch my sore arms. I did my best to ignore the sweat that covered the borrowed white shirt I currently wore, a gift from Danny since I didn't want to rough up the clothes I had arrived here with. The straw hat that they had given me was also rather nice since it kept the sun off of my pale and very sun-sensitive skin. I got sunburn far too easily and I had most of my skin covered to help prevent such an event from happening.

  At the moment I was surrounded by the corn-like plants that in turn surrounded the Wheatmen's home, which were apparently called Klesh, as I helped them finish some of the last bits of harvesting from the fields. It looked like corn but was blue and apparently needed to be boiled to cook rather than grilled or any of the other ways one could prepare corn. It was a popular crop in the kingdom which was why the Wheatmens were focused on growing it right now rather than say wheat which did exist here in a normal fashion.

  I had been at the Wheatmen household for about 5 days now. After eating some rather nice food and getting a wonderful night's rest in a guest room I talked to Danny and his parents in the morning after reluctantly getting up from the nice bed. After a short conversation, it was decided that I would stay for the rest of the season, called the Time of Air which just sounded like Autumn to me, and leave after the next harvest festival that Vanners would have at the end of the Time which was 20 days from when I had talked to them about it.

  The reason was pretty simple, during the festival dozens of merchants came to the town to sell goods and buy crops to take to the surrounding cities. I could simply ask around and hitch a ride with one of these merchants. Ideally, I would still be going to Dreshabour since that was the closest city but pretty much any city had an official Guild building in it. Not to mention the harvest festival itself would be a nice little event to attend and have some fun with.

  Until then I would be staying with the Wheatmen family and helping out with the last of the harvest and other chores. While I wasn't a fan of manual labor I wasn't a stranger to it with a childhood filled with helping out around the house and nearby neighbors. It was a strangely nostalgic feeling as I worked but ultimately that still didn't make it any less tiring. It had started out small, with Mr and Mrs Wheatmen giving me small chores due to my recovering injuries and believing that I wasn’t going to be a hard worker. However, my wounds didn’t last long and both of them realized I could perform physical labor just fine. They started putting me to work out in the fields.

  “I gotta say Alex ya doing a lot better than I would have thought. I guess you weren’t lyin’ when you said you had done some farm work before.” A country voice similar to Danny’s but more masculine and rougher spoke to my side. A simple tilt of my head revealed Jackal Wheatmen, the oldest son of the family and Danny’s older brother.

  He was taller than me by a good inch or two with a dark farmer’s tan like the rest of the family. He wore the same kind of white shirt I had on but did not wear old overalls like Danny's but rather some rough-looking brown pants. He had a full beard and short brown hair similar to his father who had a similar look but with a longer beard. All in all, he reminded me a lot of the young but grown country guys that I had seen back home, even the wide grin that he was giving me as he spoke while pulling some Klesh off the stalks had a familiarity to it.

  “As I've stated before Jackal. I grew up in a place that required me to perform various chores around the house and outside. I’m no stranger to work even if I am not particularly happy doing it.” I spoke evenly as I took a breath of air. I was glad that it was a cool day, it made doing all of this far more pleasant than it would have been on a hot summer’s day.

  “Ya really full of surprises ant ya Alex! I could have sworn that you were some noble by that posh way ya speak. And with that pale skin of ya’s looks like it’s never seen the sun once in its life!” Danny's voice sounded from nearby as he moved past some of the stalks that had been hiding the small farming mage. He was far more sweaty than I or Jackal but from what I had seen it seemed that it was from the magic that he had been using to help work the field. I made a mental note to ask him about what spells he could do later as I stretched my back a little before replying.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment, Danny. About seven or eight years ago I made a point to start expanding my vocabulary and working on the way I spoke. I felt it would help me later in life if I came across as more…sophisticated. As for the pigmentation of my skin, I was told it was simply a genetic problem.” I finished my stretching as I spoke before grabbing some more of the ripe Klesh to put into a nearby basket.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw both Danny and Jackal pause and look at each other in confusion as I heard the former mutter the word genetic to the other. I felt a slight twitch to my left eye as I realized I had said something I shouldn't have but decided to just keep silent and hope they didn’t press. In the end, I seemed to have gotten lucky as both Danny and Jackal seemed to decide that the conversation was over and started back to work once more.

  I had left unsaid that people tended to believe a person who talked in a charming and sophisticated manner more than a country bumpkin using shorthand that no one outside of the South would understand. The pale skin also seemed to help even if the sunburn I had suffered during my youth had been rather annoying.

  At least no one in this world has called me a vampire yet.

  “So this letter goes after this one. It’s also a vowel so remember that too!” I nodded absentmindedly to Danny's words as I looked down at the letters he was teaching me about.

  About 3 days ago I had asked to see Danny’s Adventure book hoping I could get some more info about the world I was in, only to find that whatever was allowing me to read my stats didn’t apply to the rest of the written language of this world. I had ended up making an annoyed noise which in turn led Danny to ask me what was wrong. One thing led to another and after a little white lie here and there I found myself spending an hour or two in Danny’s room before I went to bed studying the written language of this world with Danny helping me.

  Danny’s Room was decently spacious but also very spartan with a bed, a small writing desk and a chair, along with a large chest in the corner where he kept his clothes. The walls were the most decorated part of the room with nailed-in shelves that had a few books on them and other random nicknacks that Danny had found over the years. I had become decently familiar with the space after being here an hour or two every day for the past few days.

  I had actually been rather surprised that Danny could write and read in retrospect but apparently, Mrs. Wheatmen was taught by her father and she in turn taught her children. It had been a point of pride for Danny as it seemed most of the population of Vanners didn’t know how to read or write as it was a skill that was mainly used by people of nobility as well as more well-off folk like merchants or craftsmen.

  So far the studying had been going…well.

  “So putting this letter with this letter should make the word ‘Class’ right?” I said as I wrote down what I thought was the right combination of letters. The grimace that Danny tried and failed to hide did not bode well for my confidence.

  “Ya might have misplaced a letter or two there Alex.” At his words, I couldn't help the vaguely annoyed sound that came from my mouth as I slumped back into the uncomfortable wooden chair I had been given.

  While I seemed to be able to hear and speak the language of this world just fine, the actual written portion was completely different from what I was used to. There were thirty-two letters in this language compared to the twenty-four in English and while some of them were the same, others had been split into two letters. The fact that it was written and read left to right was just the metaphorical cherry on top.

  I got up from my slump to give the unfamiliar letters a glare from my narrow eyes as I tapped the pointer and middle fingers of my right hand on the table in annoyance. From the corner of my limited vision, I could see Danny holding his hands to his mouth as he suppressed some giggles from my situation. While I appreciated him trying not to laugh, the entire thing just annoyed me further.

  With a grand sigh, I leaned back in the chair as I spoke, “Danny I think I'm done for the night. I truly do value your help and tutoring but I believe that my mind has reached the point of no return for the day.”

  Danny seemed to force down his giggles as he took his hands from his mouth to give me his usual wide and friendly smile. “Don’t worry about it Alex. Ya doing better than I did while learning it. Ma says it just takes time to get these things down. I’m sure that you’ll get a handle on this better than a Beast Tamer handles his beasties.”

  I gave the smaller man a smile in appreciation as I moved to get up and start heading to the door. I was about to tell him good night as I opened the door and found myself shifting to my right to avoid a body falling on the floor as the door it had been leaning on stopped supporting it. I blinked rather stupidly as Danny and I stared down at his little sister who was now laying face down on the floor.

  Slowly her head tilted up to show a rather red face, whether that was from hitting the floor or embarrassment I was unsure. She quickly and frantically got to her feet as she stuttered out words without any order or rhythm before she seemed to find some mental balance and took a deep breath before speaking. “I was just checking up on ya’ll to make sure everything was dandy. Got to make sure that my brother is teachin' ya right.”

  With a decently confident head nod, she turned and walked out of the room and then out of sight. Danny and I stared at the doorway for a bit more before I found some words to speak. “Danny your sister is rather…”

  Before I could finish Danny let out a sigh as he started gathering up the parchment I had been using to write. “Don’t worry about it Alex. Me and the rest of my family know she can be a bit… boy-crazy. Give it a little bit more and I'm sure she’ll see that ya don’t have any interest.”

  I gave him an uncertain nod before making my way into the hallway and back to the guest room I was staying in.

  I did my best to ignore the slightly open door to Anna’s room.

  As well as the eye I'm pretty sure was watching me.

  I try my best not to let out an undignified grunt as I lift the planks of wood from the ground and carry them to the barn. The task wasn't too hard but the planks were just long enough to make carrying them a bit awkward so I took precautions to move slowly and purposely. But even with the slow pace, by the time I set the building materials on the floor of the bar,n I felt my muscles groan a little despite the task having only taken a minute at most.

  I had been right about the barn being near collapse, a fact that was well-known by Kalin Wheatmen. Said patriarch of the Wheatmen family was planning to spend the Time of Darkness, this world's version of the Season of Winter, putting in new supports and replacing any wood that had rotted to near uselessness. Apparently, the family usually didn’t plant anything during the Time of Darkness despite being more than able to because of the Evergreen Field’s baffling ability to grow healthy plants even during the coldest of times.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  It was an old family tradition to spend the end of the year reaping the farm and getting everything ready for the next year while also spending time with each other. It sounded like a wonderful and very exhausting time. And as the end of the Time of Air was soon approaching, along with the harvest festival that would mark my departure, Mr. Wheatmen wanted some help getting supplies into the old barn.

  As I took in a bit of breath I turned to see Danny also carrying in a few planks and noted how much of an easier time he was having compared to me. At first, I shrugged it off until Mr. Wheatmen came in behind him with more than ten times what me and Danny had been carrying. The sight took me off balance for a second as the novice mage moved beside me to set down his own planks while allowing his father to move past him and put the absurd pile of planks in the back of the small but surprisingly roomy barn.

  While my mouth had only opened a little in shock it seemed enough for Danny to notice and comment. “Ya ok Alex? Ya look like a Basher’s about to smash ya upside the head.”

  I caught myself as I smoothly fixed up my expression and spoke in my normal calm and charming manner. “Sorry about that Danny. I’m afraid I had not foreseen your father being so able to lift so much material all at once. It was a rather astounding sight.”

  As I spoke the words a wide smile spread across Danny's face along with a look of pride as he turned his head slightly and took a look at his father. Said man was taking his time making sure all the wood planks were stacked correctly and as he did I noted that while he was by no means an old man he was clearly decently along in age, late 40s if I had to guess. The more I thought about it the more confused I was about how the man held such strength.

  Soon my confusion was abated a little as Danny’s next words gave me some clarity, “Ya Pa probably has one of the highest Lv in the town! I think only Sir Haus and his personal guards are around Pa or higher.”

  His words gave me pause as I thought about them. In the past few days, the fact that this world was run on a level system has drifted in and out of my mind like a morning mist that would fade in the light of the rising sun. It wasn’t until I would see a member of the Wheatmen family do something that seemed physically impossible that the thought would ram itself back into my head.

  Like Jackal saying “Harvesting Hands” and suddenly his hands move almost too fast for me to see that he has collected several dozen Klesh in a few seconds. Or When Anna was working on the smaller garden by the house and said “Encourage Growth” on the plants she had just planted and a small green aura would envelop them for a few seconds before fading. There were a few more instances of this but each time it would feel like a bucket of ice water had splashed me in the face.

  It was a mixed sensation for me. On one hand, it was a terrifying reminder that I was no longer in my world and in a new alien one that clearly had monsters and magic. On the other hand, though I would be a liar if I said that there wasn’t a feeling of interest, intrigue, and even excitement about the whole thing. In the end, I did what I did with most of the problems i couldn’t solve, ignore them and hope they went away.

  “Good to know. If you don’t mind me asking what Lv are you at Danny?”

  My words caused the Mage farmer to pause and a slight red overcame his face before he spoke. “Well, that's kinda personal Alex. I know there are Skills and Spells out there that can tell ya what Lv someone is but it’s kinda a family and friends thing when it comes to telling someone.”

  About halfway through Danny's talking I was already making an apologetic waving gesture with one of my hands as I put a practiced look of shame on my face. Once he was done talking I started speaking, “Oh I apologize Danny. I wasn’t aware that it was a personal matter between loved ones. It was a bit different back where I come from. Do feel free to ignore my question and we can move on with the day like normal.”

  The redness on Danny’s face stayed but a shy smile also found its way onto his face as he scratched the back of his head. “No no Alex it’s fine. I guess I know ya well enough to at least speak about it a little. Just not used to having many friends is all. Not a lot of kids my age out in the farmlands around Vanners and most of the town kids think I'm a bit…annoying.”

  Danny said that last part in a lower tone than the rest and I paused as I found my eyes narrowing a little at his words. While it was true that the young man could be a bit too enthusiastic about adventuring and magic I had never found such stuff to be annoying. If anything It was slightly infectious and whenever Danny would talk a little about his dreams of the future I would find a small smile on my face as I listened. It left a sour taste in my mouth to think that others had insulted him over it.

  I opened my mouth to say something, probably some words of encouragement, but was interrupted by Mr. Wheatmen coming back by the barn door and speaking. “Come on boys were burning daylight! That wood ain’t going to carry itself.”

  Danny snapped at attention and gave his father an enthusiastic nod before hurrying off. When Mister Wheatmen turned toward me I also gave a confirming nod of my head and that seemed to be enough for him as he nodded back and went out of the barn. I lingered for a second as I thought once more about what Danny had said before simply shaking my head and leaving to grab some more planks.

  In the end, I suppose it wasn’t my business. I wouldn't be around much longer after all.

  “Shit!”

  I waved my hand a little as the stinging pain from pricking one of my fingers with a needle slowly went away. Just as it finally faded into nothing I looked back up to see a disappointed look on Jeaneta Wheatmen's face. I found myself awkwardly pausing at the look as it reminded me a bit too much of the look my own mother would give me when I did something that she did not like. However, that look had stopped working on me once I had grown into my teenagehood.

  Mrs. Wheatmen’s look was still very much working though.

  “Now that language isn’t befitting of a young man like ya self. I can’t be havin' ya set a bad example for Anna and Danny.” Her words had a soft but firm tone to them which made me start nodding my head without thought. Part of me whispered in my mind that I was an adult who had finally gotten away from my family after they refused to let me go to college the year following my graduation from high school and did not need to listen to this woman.

  That part of me died a quick and painless death when the rest of me told it how dumb it was.

  “Sorry about that Mrs. Wheatmen. While I did my best to make my vocabulary more elegant over the years, some habits never quite die.” I spoke softly and gently to her like I was trying to placate a mighty beast. Her eyes narrowed for a second before she gave me a slight nod and went back to sewing up holes in the clothing next to her. An act that I too started to do once more.

  It was a rather chilly evening which had seen the rest of the harvest finished up with Jackal, Danny, and their Father doing the lion's share of the work while I helped out where I could. Afterward, Jeaneta had asked me to help her sew some of the damaged clothes up. Apparently, she had remembered the offhand comment I had made a few days ago about having to fix up some of my own clothes a while back. Sewing was by no means a hobby or anything like that but it had been a useful skill I had picked up from my childhood back when my mother spent more time with me.

  We worked mostly in silence with the occasion little talking here or there. Mainly tips and tricks that Mrs. Wheatmen had picked up over the years as a farmer’s wife about fixing clothes. She was rather patient with me which was more than appreciated as I was going at a slower pace than her. As time passed I found myself enjoying the job more than I had when I was doing it alone in a college dorm.

  It was as the golden sun was setting on the horizon and the silver orb they called a moon was climbing just opposite of it that the task was finally done. As I massaged my fingers I couldn't help a smile at the work I had done despite the pain and soreness that I felt now. While I definitely wasn’t a fan of hard work there was still a certain sense of satisfaction that came with it.

  Just as I was about to sit up Jeaneta started speaking as she put the newly repaired clothing to the side. “Right so me and Kalin have decided to let Danny go with ya to Dreshabor.”

  The statement came so out of nowhere that I felt like I had almost gotten whiplash from it. I found myself unable to stop the surprised look on my face as I turned towards Mrs. Wheatmen while she finished stacking the clothes so that they could all be picked up and stored together. I felt my mind run through dozens if not hundreds of words as I processed how I felt about this new information. Before just now it seemed like my prior assumption of Danny’s parents not letting him go off was correct.

  Just as I was finally able to formulate a sentence that I felt would work for this situation the older woman spoke once more. “Now don’t get me wrong. I still worry about Danny but me and Kalin have been slowly comin' to terms that he would be headin' off to be an adventurer one of these days. But at least it will be with someone we trust.”

  Her words once more took me off guard but I was able to find my own words much quicker this time. “Trust? Are you sure about that Mrs. Wheamen? You have only known me for the better part of 20 days. While I appreciate the words, I'm sure that you could find better options for traveling companions for your son.”

  Despite my rather well-put words, at least in my humble opinion, Jeaneta was already shaking her head before I had finished them. She took a moment to look out the window at the fading light of the day before turning to me once more with such an earnest look on her face that any argument I had in my mind vacated it like dust in a storm.

  “Alexander,” She began with a sincere tone to her voice, “Your good people. Both my husband and Jackal think you're a hard worker despite your lack of strength and were more than impressed with your efforts. Danny has loved havin’ ya around these past few days to talk to and work with. Anna likes ya too, probably a bit too much if I'm honest but that girl just knows what she likes I suppose.”

  She paused as if to let her words sink in before looking at me with a bit more of a hard expression as she continued talking. “Now I know that you haven't been completely honest with us. There’s a few holes in ya story young man and I would suggest not talking about the Ashen Isles too much like you actually know what goes on there. But actions speak louder than words and I feel like I can trust ya to look after Danny on the road. He’s a bit too naive than I would like.”

  I milled over her words as she finished talking and truly thought about the situation. On one hand, I did want to travel alone since I felt like if I spent too much time with Danny he would figure something was not right with me. He would probably leave me just like some of my other ‘friends’ had over the years. But on the other hand… I did genuinely like the man. He was a breath of fresh air with how earnest and forward he was. I felt like I could take whatever he said at face value without wondering if he was trying to imply something. And these past 20 days have been rather nice as I spent time working and learning with the novice mage.

  Maybe having him around for a bit more wouldn’t hurt.

  Just as I was processing all of this Mrs. Wheatmen picked up the clothes and started to walk off with them but not before speaking once more before leaving the room. “In the end, it’s up to ya. I’ve already messaged an old friend of my Pa to take ya to Dreshabor. You won’t have to pay or anything all that's been taken care of. Danny will be going with ya but when you get to the city it’s ya choice if you want to stay with my son. Just take care of him until then please Alexander.”

  Her words echoed in my mind as she walked out of the room and I found myself processing my feelings for the next few hours before heading to bed. Even as my mind faded to the ever unpleasant land of dreams I still haven't found the answer I was looking for.

  I hadn’t even processed that she had called me out on my lying.

  Or that she hadn’t seemed to care too much about it.

  (POV-Danny Wheatmen)

  I felt my eyes flutter a little as the light of a new day hit me. For a few seconds, I thought about just turning around and heading back to bed. Me, Jacka,l and Pa had finished the harvest yesterday so I had nothin’ to do today. Great time to get some extra sleep. It didn’t take long for those thoughts to skedaddle though when I remembered what the harvest being done meant.

  The Harvest Festival!

  As I all but jumped out of bed my mind flashed to the day before when Ma and Pa set me to the side and told me that I had their blessin’ to head off to the city with Alex. The memory left me giddy and the little laugh that I did every once in a while left my lips. It was a laugh! Not a giggle like Anna keeps saying!

  I pushed that last thought to the side and I grabbed my clothes and started to put them on. I eyed my hat and staff but decided that I wouldn't wear it in town. Last time I had done that Bakton had heckled me the entire time I had been there. My thoughts got a bit angry at that memory before I started to think about better stuff.

  Like hangin’ out with Alex!

  The fancy-speaking man had been a gift for the Great Six themselves. He didn’t seem to mind me talking about magic or adventuring like others did and even seemed to listen, unlike Anna or Jackal. Not that I blamed my siblings, they tried but just didn't have my energy for the whole dang thing. But Alex was more than willing to listen to me!

  I took a moment to make sure all my clothes looked good before rushin’ out of my room and headed right towards the guest room to get Alex!

  Without thinkin I burst into his room, “ALEX! GET UP! THE FESTIVAL IS TODAY!”

  The guest room wasn’t very fancy or even that big but it was still a nice little place to stay. The bed took up a good bit of the room but there was still a decent amount of open floor to walk around on. Or in this case to fall out of the bed on.

  Alex let out a surprised sound as he scrambled in the bed before falling out of it and softly hitting the floor. I winced as the pale man lay on the floor for a few seconds. While he regained his bearings I saw that Alex was sleeping without a shirt on. I could see a decently toned back that was just as pale as the rest of him. Not that it gave the fancy man much strength, but then again without any Class to add on to his stats then I guess it made sense that even Anna was stronger than him. Heck, even my Mage class raised my Strength stat to two stars.

  “Danny,” Alex began as he slowly got to his feet, “ While I do love the enthusiasm, truly I do, I would appreciate you not shouting me out of my bed like a mother with an unruly child.”

  I realized that I might have been a bit too in a hurry as he talked in his usually smooth and silky tone. The fact that even when he was startled he still spoke like that amazed me to no end. “Sorry about that Alex I’m just been waiting for this forever. Ma said she would talk to ya about me going with you after the festival and I just can’t wait!”

  The pale man gave me an understanding look as he looked around for his shirt. After a few seconds, he found it and started to speak while he put it on. “Yes, your mother did speak to me the other day. It will be a pleasure to have you with me while I journey to Dreshabor. But please give me a minute to prepare myself. We have all day to have some fun and talk about the details of the journey”

  Fightin the embarrassment on my face I gave him a nod. Sounded like a plan!

  “You got it Alex! I’ll be waiting in the eatin' room for ya!” And with that, I closed the door and started rushin' through the house.

  Today was going to be a great day!