Monica took in a deep breath, in part to buy more time, in part to calm herself down.

  “I trust you, Ban.” She exhaled. “But I don’t know my affinity. My brother’s… He’s always been overprotective of me, and I love him deeply. I have never been tested before, and I’m kind of afraid to know.”

  Ban touched Monica gently on the hands, then drew the girl in for a hug.

  “I see. It must have been tough. Do you wanna know?”

  To which, Monica gently pushed Ban back, giving both some space and gave her answer.

  “Yes.”

  At the forge, Chief Ata was looking into the warm embers of his furnace, deep in thought, his hands placed on his cane as his fingers drummed against the handle. He did not notice the arrival of Gad and Morus, perhaps he did, and was making them wait on purpose.

  After about 5 minutes, Chief Ata turned around and looked at Morus then at Gad.

  “Gad.” Chief Ata looked at the large man, it was the look of mutual respect between colleagues, “Would you like to stay?”

  Gad, warhammer resting against his shoulder, met Chief Ata’s gaze, turned his head to look at Morus, then back at Chief Ata. The large man thought for a quick moment, grinned, and shook his head, “No, Chief! I’ll see you at dinner.”

  “Russel.” The Chief looked straight into Morus’ eyes, and saw a gaze that was calmer than the one hours before. “Do you know your way around the forge?”

  “Can’t say I have. It’s not related to my line of work.”

  “I was the same as you, once.” The Chief circled around the anvil, his cane thumping into the ground with every other step. He stopped in front of Morus. His cane struck the ground rhythmically as he spoke, “I dove in headstrong into my work. Believing that as long as I succeeded in my role, I would never fall out of favor. But shit happens, sometimes, one mistake was all that was needed. One. Right. Whisper.”

  He let the silence hang, the only sound the faint tap of the cane's iron ferrule against the brick floor. Then, with a final, definitive thud, he planted it squarely between them, leaning on it not with weakness, but as a man plants a standard. "Whoosh. And here I am."

  Morus’ eyebrow twitched from the sudden impact, “That’s sorry to hear, Chief. It must have been a difficult time for you, as if watching your entire world crashing to the ground in an instant.”

  Chief Ata stood dazed for a second, Morus’ silhouette was overlapping with someone else’s but slightly taller than the man in front of him, then he snapped himself out of it.

  “Sigh. You understand it well. That’s when I took up blacksmithing, long after my Brother had suggested I try it. Twenty years I hear his voice, his advice whispering into my ear as I hammered away. My Brother was an insightful person, supremely so, nobody could rival him.”

  “Sounds like you miss him, Chief. Desperately so.”

  “Yes, I do. For twenty years, I hammered away, sometimes thinking about what I’ve done wrong, sometimes about what’s our purpose, sometimes reminiscing about the old days with my Brother. There were times I stood here, hammering before the sun came up, it went down, and the stars came up again for a few more times.” He spread his arms, as if encompassing the forge, his forge with his sight and embrace. “This was the only solace I had from keeping me sane.”

  “The grief must have felt as overwhelming as the sea, Chief. Tell me more.”

  “I’ve been wondering about my purpose for the past twenty years.” Chief Ata’s eyes focused onto Morus, a hunger in them, a hunger for answers that were absent but now sated, temporarily. “The two of you are my answers.”

  Morus nodded in confusion. His tactic to make the Chief keep talking by stroking his ego seemed to be working, because that’s how they function, they wanted and needed someone to bond with them.

  “Please elaborate, Chief.”

  Ignoring the young man, “As a gesture of good will, I will tell you of our plans.”

  “Alright?” Not sinister at all, the young man thought.

  “Ten days from tonight, we will be leaving the village. By we…” Chief Ata drew a horizontal circle in the air, “I mean everyone in the village. You, your sister, the Guardian — Vigil, included. We have spent enough time living here, the time is ripe for us to move elsewhere to pursue our crafts.”

  “I appreciate you telling me all this, but I fail to see how I am involved here? Where does my sister and I fit in this?”

  Morus could tell that Chief Ata was genuinely shocked, because the old man was now stroking his beard in a way that said ‘He made a good point’.

  Chief Ata opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it once again, “You’re one of us now.”

  Morus gave him a confused side glance, “How exactly did that happen?”

  “Alright, alright! How about this? You seemed ill earlier, you look like you’re feeling better now, you seem reluctant to talk about it so we won’t.” Chief Ata blubbered, clearly flustered by the young man who dared to challenge his authority.

  “Tomorrow, before lunch, go meet the herbalist. She might have some clues. Worst comes to worst…” Chief Ata trailed off for a second, “Anyway, just tell me how it goes after lunch.”

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  “What about our deal?”

  “No deal. We do this out of the generosity of our heart, because I like you, Ban and Asa likes your sister. Tomorrow, meet the herbalist, you leave with us in ten days, or you’re free to stay here if you want, and you can leave us at any point during the journey should you join, does that sound fair to you?”

  Morus was pleasantly surprised, “That sounds more than fair, Chief. Fairer than most trade offers I’ve encountered for a long time.”

  “Hah! Whipper-snapper! Unless you want to watch me work, you can go about your own business!”

  “Then don’t mind me staying to watch, opportunities to watch an old artisan work their craft is few and far in between.”

  “A charmer too!”

  Chief Ata then walked over to one of the doors facing them, pushed it open and placed his cane inside what Morus assumed to be the Chief’s office.

  He walked back to his furnace and stepped hard on the bellows, the embers dancing in delight as the hearth roared with fire.

  Morus noticed that Chief Ata wasn’t limping, he held the cane like something else, to which he couldn't put his finger to right at this moment, but one he might be able to uncover with sufficient observation.

  “How does one discover their affinity?” Monica asked while fiddling with her jade bracelet, she sat cross-legged on the couch as she faced Ban beside her.

  “It’s tied to your innermost desire. It can manifest suddenly, or you can go through a ritual to know what your affinity is, then you can start working in that direction, if that makes sense?”

  “How did you know you were a water mage, Ban?”

  Ban looked flustered, and stared into Monica’s eyes, “Promise me you won’t laugh.”

  “I promise.”

  “We couldn’t find any water at the time… I was still young, alright? We, I mean Bay and me, were thirsty, we didn’t have any water on us. We’re inside a cave, it hasn’t rained for days, so we’re super thirsty. I cupped my hands and wished there was water, like this.” Ban cupped her hands together, and the hand-cup suddenly started filling with water.

  “That. Is. So. Cool.” Monica stared at the woman’s hands wide-eyed.

  “Hehe! Not long after that, our Lord found us.” Ban uncupped her hands above a bowl and the water spilled into it.

  “I don’t see what’s funny about that.”

  “Here’s the funny part! You see, Bay and I have only been drinking this water for a month.” Ban pointed at the bowl of conjured water, “We’ve been having these cramps constantly, and one day the two of us just fainted while playing under the sun. Our Lord tried to figure out the problem, he didn’t ask if we ate our veggies, because we did! He asked if we were drinking any water, and we did! He thought for a bit then asked me to show what we’re drinking, and I showed him that!” She pointed at the bowl of magical water.

  “What happened after that?”

  “He looked confused? Then he took a sip out of our bowl of water, and his eyebrows knitted together. ‘Flat’, he said. ‘Show me, how'd you get it?’ Then I did the thing.” Ban motioned with her cupped hands and tossed the water into the bowl.

  “Uh huh, uh huh?”

  “His eyes widened with shock, then he started laughing.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  The man, after his laughter, looked at child Ban, and petted her head affectionately. His hand gentle, his voice warm and caring, “Ban. Remember this, although you may not understand right now. Magic is a powerful and useful tool, but you shouldn’t over-rely on it. The water you conjured is pure water… It doesn’t have #### …”

  “Elec-something.” Ban failed to remember the exact word of the thing he said.

  “Electrolytes?” Monica suggested.

  Ban snapped her fingers, “Yes! That’s the word! How’d you know that!?”

  “Uhm… I overheard people talking when I was younger, so I assumed that was it?”

  Monica! You’re not out of the woods yet, you silly girl.

  “So yeah! That’s how I learned I was a water mage! Lesson of the day? Apparently drinking too much magical water can make you sick. Who would have known?”

  “That’s a super interesting story! I would have liked to meet your Lord. He sounds like an awesome person.”

  “Yes! He’s super awesome!”

  “But Ban! You didn’t tell me about the rituals!”

  “Oh right, rituals.” Ban tapped her fingers on her forearm as she organized her thoughts about the topic. “Different places do it differently. I’ve heard the elves eat magical mushrooms, the orcs bask themselves in beast blood. But for humans… The most common method is either through the Diviner’s orb, or an Affinity stone that glows a certain color based on your affinity.”

  Ban’s tone turned serious, “However, If you manage to find a mystic… They need a drop of your blood into a bowl of water to activate their magic. Those who undergo this ritual claim they saw the Gods granting them their affinity during it.” Ban looked into Monica’s eyes, her gaze as serious as she could make it, “Which is why the influential and the rich would go to all ends to meet with a mystic! Meanwhile, there’s one right outside our doorstep!” Her tone became light-hearted and mischievous as she spoke that last sentence.

  “Woah… I have so many questions. Is that part about the mystics true?”

  “I don’t know! I’ve never gone through a ritual with one! It could all be hearsay?”

  “Magic mushrooms and Bloody Orcs… You know a lot, Ban!”

  “Hehe!” Ban rubbed her nose in embarrassment at the praise.

  Monica intuited that this was a good time to make her exit. “Hey Ban, I’m feeling a bit tired! Is it okay if I go to my room and take a short rest? When’s dinner by the way?

  Ban realized that she may have been a bit too excited, the first young girl she had talked to in a long time, “Uhm. Sure! Dinner’s at sun down, so maybe four? Five hours? Do you need me to walk you back?”

  “It’s only a short way back, so I should be fine, and I remember the way.” Monica stood up and headed for the door. If memory served her right, the longhouse was just on the opposite side of the crossroads, up a small slope. Sure enough, there it was.

  “Alright then! I’ll get you when it’s time for dinner!”

  As soon as Monica left, Ban sat down on the couch. For a few minutes, she was as still as dead water. The events of today, especially after meeting Monica and her brother, the naming ritual, past memories that she had rather kept buried suddenly surfaced.

  “My Lord… Have you forsaken us?” She questioned into the empty void, she leaned into the leather couch, wanting to melt into it, as her memories melted into the past.

  "Hey, kiddo." A man’s voice, warm as hearth-light. A calloused hand gently pinched the cheek of a little girl trying to hide behind her younger brother. The boy puffed out his chest, shielding her.

  "You're shy, aren't you? You heard me give that girl her name, right? She’s called Asa." He leaned down, his eyes crinkling. "Do you want a name too?"

  The shy girl peeked out. She nodded, her azure eyes glimmering with sudden, fierce intent.

  "‘Ban.’ It can mean 'night' in a certain tongue. But no — I prefer the meaning from a language far east of where that was. It means ‘Companion.’" His voice softened, wrapping the word in a promise. "I wish for you to find the greatest companions you could ever have... and to become the greatest companion anyone could ever desire."

  He placed a hand on her head, a solemn, gentle weight.

  "I hereby name you ‘Ban.’"