BXBX NOVEL Chapter 8: Splitting wood
"Are you certain about what you saw?"
"My appraisal may not be high, but I can say for sure that it is true," Luke confirmed.
"How can a kid have stats up to forty? That is like the stats for a normal grown adventurer," Janeth said.
"It makes sense now. The other day he got into a fight, and when we came, his brother was thrown through a chair," Sarah said.
"This is something beyond normal. For a kid to already be level seven, what could he have done to raise his level that much?" Luke asked.
"I am not sure, but he started reading since he was one and has been obsessively reading for the past years. Could it be that it was the reading that pushed his level that high?" Sarah asked.
"It is not common, but very possible, and it would make sense. Though his strength doesn\'t make sense, maybe it is an effect of his legacy," Luke said.
Silva had been watching them as they spoke. He didn\'t say anything and waited for them to calm down, and when they did, he spoke.
"Would it be troublesome for people to see my stats?" he asked, though he knew the answer already.
"Indeed it is. If word of your stats at this age got out, and the fact that you have a legacy, you can kiss your family and life here goodbye. Even your sister, who came here with your mum last year, her information had to be hidden due to her legacy. And her stats were nowhere near yours, so do you get the picture?" Luke asked.
"I think I understand it," Silva said.
"We have to find a way to hide his stats," Sarah said.
"He will need to learn the skill concealment, but that is very hard, just like appraisal. The best thing to do is to get an item that can hide his status from prying eyes," Luke suggested.
"I can get the skill. I am certain of it," Silva spoke. Luke wanted to tell him how hard that was, but Silva spoke again.
"This town only has one appraisal user, and that\'s you. I have several years to try and get the skill before I ever think of leaving this place. I think for the time being I am safe, so there is no need to worry. I plead with all of you here, Sir Luke and Miss Janeth, help me keep my secrets," Silva said and bowed his head.
"I don\'t know how you did it, Sarah, but this kid is amazing. He keeps surprising me in ways I don\'t comprehend," Luke said with a smile as he raised Silva\'s head up.
"Don\'t worry, kid, we will protect your secret. After all, your mum helped build this clinic. I owe her more than she knows," Luke said.
Silva was relieved after he heard that, but now he had to seek out the skill like he promised. A skill was obtained in ways that no one understood. People just got them, some through training, and others just got it like that. When Silva said that he would get the skill, Sarah and Luke said nothing, but they knew that if he wasn\'t born with it, it would be near impossible.
The best thing would be for them to get an item for him to conceal.
After leaving the clinic, they headed home straight away. His mum rushed to tell his dad about what had happened. Silva, on the other hand, went to the back because today was the day he started his punishment.
He looked at the heap of wood and realized that Mike had yet to start his punishment as well. He didn\'t care, though, and took the axe that had been prepared for them. It was smaller than normal to fit their child builds. He took the first piece of wood and set it on the platform for him.
He took the first swing and cleanly cleaved it in half.
"This will be easier than I thought," Silva said before getting the next piece. It took him just under thirty minutes, with a few short breaks.
After splitting ten of the twenty-one pieces, he dropped the axe. He wasn\'t going to do more than he should, even if he could.
He was about to head inside, but he came face to face with Mike. Mike paid him no heed, walked past Silva, but froze when he saw all the wood that had been split.
"Who did this for you?" Mike asked.
Silva paused and turned around. "I did it myself," Silva said.
"Lies! I know when you and mum returned. There is no way that you finished this in that time. You cheated, you cheated your way out of this punishment. Admit it," Mike yelled.
\'This six-year-old surely knows how to talk a lot,\' Silva thought as he looked at his brother.
"Admit what? I did it myself," Silva said.
"You liar!" Mike rushed at Silva with his axe raised, but when he saw Silva smiling, he quickly stopped in his tracks.
If his rage had taken over him, he would have injured or killed his brother. That smile was simply Silva telling him that if you do that, I still win.
"I\'m telling father," Mike resolved that telling was the best solution, so he ran inside after dropping the axe.
"This will be an issue. I may have to seriously fight my brother one day, maybe to the death. I don\'t want that, but he is being too unreasonable," Silva said. He walked into the house and headed to take a bath; he was quite sweaty.
Later that day, Silva saw Mike splitting wood in the back with a face contorted in anger. It seems the plan to tell father didn\'t go as well as Mike had hoped.