Soul of a Human

As everyone left to return to their daily tasks, many were a bit poorer than at the start, and there were a few stragglers. One of them, another Ice-kin youth called Jorgen, picked up the snapped hammerhead and inspected it interestingly. The hefty shaft of the weapon was snapped like a twig, and he marveled at the force necessary to do such damage. This sparked an idea in Jorgen, and if he plays his cards right, he can achieve his personal hunting goal in the process.

"Son, it's time to get back. If we don't fix the leaking roof today, your mother will give us hell!" His father, the one everyone calls Cutter, shouted.

"Yes, sir!" Jorgen replied, dropping the hammerhead but keeping his thoughts.

Jorgen had seen Elize hurry after Thor and the chief, probably trying to talk to them. Still, he wasn't worried. He knew Thor far better than anyone else. After a few minutes, he was sitting atop the roof hammering down planks to fix the leak while his father prepared said planks and the needed tared ropes to seal the bigger cracks between the planks. Ultimately, they would do a finishing tar coating between each plank to plug any leftover hole.

From his high perch, Jorgen had an excellent view of most of the village, and a particular sight made him smile brightly. "The patient hunter gets the prey. Just as father and Drop always say," he thought to himself.

Mor was helping Lize with cooking while Gorn's gaze almost burned a hole in his back. This help was nice for Lize because Mor could start the hearth fire with a little spell. Even if he hated the feeling of using fire magic because it let too many bad memories surface. Still, it's like human often says, if you want to overcome something, suffer through it and grow stronger.

"And I can really not talk you into staying? It would only be until the great gathering." Gorn asked again.

"No, I want to go home." Mor declined again.

"Come on, I could make you stronger than you could ever believe." Gorn tried again, and Mor sighed.

"No, I need to finish school. After that, I will come by and gladly train," he said.

"But!" Gorn started again.

"Leave him be. You can't convince him." Lize stated, and Gorn grunted something in annoyance.

Mor and Lize then set the table for dinner, with another big chunk of meat and more root vegetables, making Mor miss his mother's cooking again. The meat dishes were tasty, but they were also heavy on the stomach, a feeling Mor was not accustomed to. Also, he still vividly remembered the nausea and pain the meat-heavy diet had caused him in the beginning.

Because Elly had left to hash things out with her "boyfriend", and it wasn't clear when she would return home, so they started dinner without her. This seemed a premature decision because the door flew open as soon as Gorn had put food on his plate. The now open door revealed the form of Elly, drenched in tears, making Lize quickly get up and go over to her daughter while the two men shared a confused look.

"What's wrong, Elly," Lize asked, hugging her daughter close.

"He's an ass!" Elly wailed. "He said I was responsible for his loss, and now he wants nothing to do with me."

Lize patted the head of her crying daughter in compassion while Gorn made a quick under-the-table fist pump that, luckily for him, nobody noticed. Then opted for a concerned look.

"You know, that's not true. He lost because he underestimated his opponent. I mean, if Mor here had used magic, then the result would have been the same, but in a magicless duel, Thor normally wouldn't lose so badly." Gor stated.

"I know!" Elly cried. "He's the strongest of the boys my age and cool."

"I'm sorry," Mor said. "Would it help if I apologized to him?"

Elly looked at Mor for a second, then shook her head. She slowly calmed down in her mother's embrace, and the crying dissolved into irregular sobbing.

"No. He wants to beat you up for that and will only accept your apology if you're pleading for him to stop." She explained between sobs.

Mor's face grew sour at that revelation, and the human agreed.

°Tough luck, not happening.°

"I said, that's going too far." Elly continued. "Then he threw me out!"

"Forget him. He wasn't right for you anyway." Gorn repeated, but this was not reaching Elly at all.

It took Elly a bit longer to calm down, and after a cold dinner, everyone retired to their respective quarters.

°Think you're getting lucky tonight?° The human asked as Mor laid down to sleep.

°What do you mean?° Mor asked back.

°You know, a vulnerable girl in the same house as you. Needing comfort after a breakup.° The human explained with a giggle.

°You are disgusting.° Mor said, trying to get a comfortable sleeping position, and got interrupted by a silent knock that made the human laugh.

Mor sighed, got up, and opened the door, looking at Elly, who had a pillow in her arms. She looked embarrassed for a second.

"Can I sleep in your room? I don't want to be alone right now." She asked quietly.

Mor sighed, "Why do I always have those problems with girls?" He asked, himself and the human, though out loud.

"What do you mean? Do you have a girlfriend?" Elly asked interestedly, glad to have something to chat about and take her mind off her own relationship problems.

Mor thought for a second and then let her in. It was partly his fault that she was in this situation, so he thought sacrificing a night's sleep to keep her company might make up for it.

Elly sat cross-legged on the mattress, still hugging her pillow and looking at the Soul-kin expectedly.

"No, I don't have a "girlfriend"." Mor said, "But there are two girls who have a wrong impression of me."

"How so?" Elly asked.

"Well, because of circumstances, I saved them from danger, seemingly making them think they are in love with me. But they are of the noble class, and I'm a simple commoner, meaning it wouldn't work out." He explained.

"So they like you, but you don't like them? Also, I think you can't decide if it is love. That's for them to decide." Elly continued her questioning.

Mor also sat down, leaning against the wall, his pillow on his back, for support and comfort.

"Yes, you're right, but still... I don't know. I think we're good friends, and they are both cute. Also I would lie if I said I'm not flattered by their attention. Would I start a relationship with one of them… Maybe… yes. But we are just of such different standing that this won't look good in Soul-kin society." He continued, and Elly paid attention.

"I don't understand that whole standing thing. Can't you be with whoever you want?" She asked.

"There are no laws against it, but it is frowned upon. How to best explain." Mor mused. "Think about the nobility as village chiefs, but they only allow their children to be together with another of the same standing. While us commoners are the simple people."

"I still don't get it, but well, if you say so," Elly said, then continued questioning.

"So, who are those girls?"

Like this, they spent the night chatting and sharing secrets until tiredness took them both, the human silently watching over them. It was still strange for them to be so close on the second day, but it seemed that pouring their respective hearts out and letting down their defenses made quick friends of them both. Such things took a lot of courage and could have failed spectacularly.

Lize found the two youths the following day after none of them appeared for breakfast. Elly was still hugging her pillow and had her head on Mor's shoulder, sleeping peacefully, drenching Mor's clothes with spittle. Mor was slumped, back against the wall, his head leaning on Elly's. In summary, it was a very cute picture, and Lize decided to let them both sleep.

A while later, both appeared slightly embarrassed at Lize's smile, and Elly surprised Mor by hugging him. "Thank you," she whispered.

To Mor's luck, Lize had given her husband a few tasks, like getting supplies, keeping him out of the house, and sparing the boy from some rather uncomfortable talks. Still, after Mor had eaten something, he left the house to make himself useful in the village. He didn't make it far before he got stopped by an Ice-kin boy, luckily not Thor.

"Hey, Soul-boy!" Jorgen greeted Mor, making him sigh.

"What?" Mor said, annoyed.

"Calm down. I'm not after revenge for the idiot." Jorgen said this, which calmed Mor a bit.

"Then what do you need?" Mor asked.

"I want to fight you because I think fighting you will be good training," Jorgen stated.

"You think so?" Mor asked.

"Yes, after your victory over Thor, but he can be a hot-headed idiot and easily riled up. I'm calmer and maybe a bit less talented, but I still could give you a challenge." Jorgen answered.

"And what if I don't want to fight you?" Mor said.

"Then I ask again and again. Until I have annoyed you enough to say yes." The Ice-kin boy replied with a smile.

Mor let out a sigh. "How do you want to do this?"

Jorgen smiled, "We will meet up once a day and fight. We use the same rules as in your last fight. But I want to fight you at your strongest, so feel free to use as much magic as you like."

"I won't, it could kill you. If you want me to use magic, make me." Mor declared.

"I will trust me," Jorgen said confidently.

With that, Mor had added a new training regime for his almost two-week stay. Keeping up with magic and physical training was good, but Gorn seemed to want to do more, which Mor wasn't ready for and, therefore, he had always declined.

Jorgen, on the other hand, was delighted. This arrangement might help him get closer to his prey and make him stronger than Thor.