The rhythmic thudding of the horse's hooves was all that Emery could hear. His face pressed against the horse's mane; the rushing cold wind hit his shivering bones. He didn't know how many minutes had elapsed since he had been riding, but the sky above only showed darkness along with whatever light the stars shone. Slowly, he was loosening his grip, his consciousness fading.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Stupid. Stupid beyond help. You are naive, kid," whispered a familiar voice in Emery's mind.
Emery wanted to lift his head but it felt like his world was spinning. He responded, "I feel like I know you. Please, help me."
"I have helped you once but not this time. You need to learn. Whether you die right now, it's all up to chance," replied the voice.
"W-who are you?" Emery asked but the voice was silent until he fell from the horse's back and hit the ground. In the back of his mind, he thought to himself that this was the end for him; that he would have died for nothing and returned to nothingness. The thought however was subverted as he could someone's arm lifting him up. He tried to open his eyes but all was a blur, vaguely seeing a silhouette of a man.
There was another voice, "H… ther… a per… here…"
That was all Emery could hear before he finally lost consciousness. Someone had found him.
He fell into darkness once more. He couldn't move but could feel someone rubbing his arm with—with a lukewarm cloth? Emery couldn't tell how much time had passed and when he awoke, he first saw the rounded ceiling. Moving his eyes around, he realized he was in a house made with straw and wood. He then smelled a strong medicinal herb entering his nostrils. He tried to sit up but a stinging pain reverberated throughout all his body, making him groan.
"Granny, he is awake," said a young man entering the room.
"Indeed he has. It seems the ancestral gods still have plans for him," said the old wrinkled woman while stirring a cauldron presumably where the scent of herbs came from.
"What's your name?" the young man asked. However, Emery didn't speak. "Looks like he's still confused, granny."
"Leave him be for now, Lanzo. He needs more rest," said the old woman as she placed down a green paste on the side. She patted Emery's head before gently saying, "There, there. You're going to be fine."
The old woman then had Lanzo lift Emery to the side. She examined Emery's wound and rubbed the green paste on it. Emery groaned once more.
"The ancestral gods seemed to have favored you with a healthy and strong body for your age. You should be better in a few days," said the granny. "Now, lay him back down gently, Lanzo.
After Emery had been laid down on his back, he opened his parched throat and roughly said, "T-Thank you."
The old woman smiled warmly and Emery went back to sleep. A few days had passed and based on the interactions he had with Lanzo and the old lady, she only seemed to want to be called Granny, nothing else. They fed him with more herbs, rubbed medicine and changed the dressings on his wound.
On Emery's fourth day, he was able to move but still not as lively as before. He limply got out of the hut with a walking stick and breathed in the fresh air of the settlement filled with similar rounded huts made with straw and wood.
Emery walked around, hoping to get his energy back soon. According to Lanzo, there were about twenty adults living here aside from the small children. Lanzo mentioned that the name of this settlement was Mitshire, which somewhat rang a bell in Emery's memory. It should be one of the few hundreds small settlements south of Lioness Kingdom's near the Ambrose estate.
Emery continued strolling in the settlements and talked with the locals doing some crafts outside their huts. He asked various stuff, trying to make small talk, and surprisingly no one asked for his origins. When afternoon arrived, he finally understood why.
A crowd was gathering in front of Granny's house because the local hunters had brought another injured person they had found in the woods. Based on how the injured man's clothes appeared, he wasn't a local and like Emery, the wrinkled old woman took the person in.
As it turned out, Granny was also called a healer, a druid. Quite often the residents of the neighboring settlements or the hunters in the woods would bring an injured or sick person to her, so the locals of this settlement were used to not asking many questions since the person being healed would usually leave anyway after they had fully recovered.
Emery entered Granny's residence. She was preparing a new batch of medicine when Emery remembered that Lanzo went away this morning to gather more herbs in the forest.
"Is there anything I can do to help, Granny?" asked Emery.
"Ahh, yes dear. Could you kindly find me a couple of purple leaves from the herb garden? It's just a few walk beyond the large tree behind the hut. The dried ones here won't work for this man."
Emery nodded.
"Bring me the purple back leaves. It should be easy to spot with its large green leaves in the front, but its stem and back are colored purple. Get me dozens of them, will you dear?"
"I understand, Granny," replied Emery as he walked out of the hut, limping with his walking stick. Repay kindness with kindness, one of the lessons his father had instilled in him. Emery went behind the hut and not long after, he found the large tree in question. Behind the tree, was a small garden filled with various types of plants.
Granny said it would be easy to spot, but Emery hadn't seen one before. He looked around, spending a good few minutes, until he found a plant with a purple stem. He turned it over and to confirm its back was also purple when the symbol on his palm slightly glowed, sending a notification in his mind.
[Universal Flora Level 1 - activated - analyzing flora...]
[Analyzation complete]
[Heart Flower - medicinal herb level 1]
A list of the plant's properties, functions and how to use it appeared in Emery's field of view.