Earthling in Uncharted Dimensions

***

20 days went by like a blink of an eye.

Aleria would depart from home to report at the military base before the sun establishes his presence. All the soldiers followed this routine. When the guards spotted a few more beasts lurking around the northern wall of the city, the security was quadrupled.

Aleria and her squad along with five other squads would spread out into the forest around the town to detect any suspicious activities. They frequently came across a pack of Acid Rat but no confrontation occurred.

Living up to its name, the Acid Rat's saliva were highly acidic in nature. This was the only factor that deterred the soldiers from taking on the pack of rats.

Every carriage that entered and exited the town was thoroughly checked for anything suspicious. This was not out-of-ordinary as the town was susceptible to infiltrations by bandits and non-peaceful entities.

While Aleria executed her job with perfection, she did not forget to train her brother. Every evening before the sun sets, she would relieve herself from the duty and would return home to train Jonathan.

In the daytime, Jonathan was instructed to attempt to sense the presence of soil and stone around him. Although he could feel a certain link with the ground beneath his feet, It was too faint to stabilise and maintain. So usually, he would end up burning his energy for nothing.

But he was not disheartened. The training sessions from the memories of Lee Shen proved useful in building up a strong physique. After two weeks of self-training, Jonathan could feel the increase in his strength by a small margin.

The peculiar anatomy of an elf greatly helped Jonathan in the training sessions. According to Aleria's mother, elves are always lean and tall for unknown reasons. When she recollected her memories of meeting a bunch of friendly elves at her youth, she conveyed that the elves ate more than the humans and dwarves and yet retained their slimness.

This factor was handy for Jonathan as his body remained the same even after intense training and work-outs. Although Aleria's mother would see him training hard to build up muscles, she failed to comprehend that his development was invisible!

After Aleria's back home, she would clear up some space in the sitting room to teach him basic moves. Jonathan took some time to grasp, but he soon mastered the art of grappling, disengaging, dodging, guarding, manoeuvring and parrying.

When the sun shone brightly on the 21st day of his life, Jonathan could stand equal with Aleria!

Both the mother and the daughter were amazed by the boy's coefficient of growth. But when they considered his racial speciality, they could only smile proudly.

While they were having breakfast, the atmosphere was cheerful. Three distinct voices echoed in the room and the mood was happy.

Then, someone knocked on the door.

*knock* *knock* *knock*

There was a distinct interval between the three knocks and Aleria could tell who it was. As she rose and walked to the door, her mother followed her to the door.

The familiar face of the lieutenant greeted them with a good morning. Aleria welcomed him inside and the door was closed behind him.

"This came in today morning."

Hugo spoke as he extended a folded letter to Aleria. She took the letter from his hand and went through it.

"Jonathan's admission has been sanctioned."

Aleria's voice was brimming with delight as she turned to her mother. Hearing this, the old woman was bliss. Jonathan too was happy to hear this news.

"Tomorrow, the academy would reopen for all the new students. There would be a practical examination on the same day. Those who are to arrive at the kingdom city early would have accommodation provided by the academy.

That is the reason why I came here as soon as I got the letter of admission. One of the soldiers heard townsfolk murmuring about an elf boy recovered from the forest. I think his presence has been compromised."

Aleria understood the gravity of the situation. She nodded at once with determination and unwavering soul. She well knows about the amount of resentment the townsfolk holds for all non-human races.

(P.S. Reason - the town has a history.)

Quickly finishing his food, Jonathan was ready to depart. But his feet got stuck to the ground when he saw the teary eyes of the old lady.

Somewhere deep in his heart, a pain originated. This sensation triggered the recap of a particular event in the memories of Lee Shen.

"Mom, no matter how long we keep him here, he has to go one day. We would only delay the inevitable."

Aleria had grown a brotherly affection to Jonathan. But she had to put them away for the peace and safety of both the townsfolk and Jonathan.

The old lady walked to Jonathan and handed him over a small bag. It was the very object the lady had been absorbed in creating all these days. The sight of the leather bag with a long side-strap welled up tears in his eyes.

When Aleria saw that her mother had been preparing that bag for this moment, her mind became proud of having such a mother. Internally, she had an urge to hug and kiss her mother.

"Open it."

The lady asked Jonathan to open it and the elf obeyed. As he opened, his eyes fell on a pair of newly-knitted dress for his lean physique. Next to it was a water pouch already filled with water.

Jonathan knew that he would start crying like a baby if he was to stand there anymore, thus he bid farewell to the old lady and Aleria.

"My carriage is standing outside. Let's depart."

Jonathan nodded and glanced at the mother and daughter for one last time. There was an unspeakable sadness now looming inside the house.

Before exiting the house, Jonathan covered his head with a cloth and quickly walked to the carriage. Following him, Hugo entered the carriage, and Jonathan's life began to travel forward.