"Do you really think I'll let you go back to wherever it is you came?!" Frita said as she applied the last bandages on the injury at his back.
"I'll tell your mother. You've only made her worry all this time"
Durma sat there as his nurse nagged on about his increased recklessness lately. He was obviously tired of the lectures but there wasn't much he could do. Obviously, there was a reason he had asked Gorr earlier for a nurse.
"You're causing everyone trouble and you know that"
"If you're trying to get me to be your sweet little brother in-law, it's not gonna work" Durma retorted complacently, triggering an infuriated Frita to pound his head heavily.
"Why?!" Durma cried out.
"Stop trying to destroy everything!"
"Juun is an annoying idiot. He deserves it!"
"Hyaaa!"
He left Frita's place for his home with one or more bumps on his head. Kiaki was the name of this small settlement and here, almost everyone knew everyone.
"Yooo, Durma! Your mother's been searching for you all afternoon!"
"Durma, you didn't go disturb the fishermen again, did you?"
"Where have you been ehhh? Causing trouble again, I bet"
These lot of questions from neighbours and other villagers who lived nearby always made him grumpy.
"Do they think I'm still a child?" he'd grumble.
Not so far from home and he could already see his mother busy with the laundry. When she saw him, she greeted him with a warm smile. It wasn't a facade. Indeed she barely got annoyed with her children. But then,
"Hwahhh!"
Someone had hit him very hard from behind. And it was Juun, his elder brother.
"You bastard!" he yelled at him.
"Where have you been all day ehh?!"
"What's it got to do with you?!" Durma yelled again and dived at his brother and they went at it again.
Dusk soon came and the day slowly faded into the night. Their father had returned home from the forge and his mere presence alone was enough to quieten the qualm between the brothers.
And despite all the trouble Durma had caused that day, dinner was still the best time for everyone in their family.
They would all eat together; himself, Juun, two younger twin sisters and their parents. He'd been in this situation four times now. During the first turn, it had been the most difficult for him, that is, finding a way to leave home. He had returned that time and naively explained to his people. A series of complications arose. He eventually left, sneaking out. And during the second turn, he tried forcing his leave without anyone's approval. And that was really hard to do.
And during the third turn, he never returned home from the cave. That decision backfired painfully for him. So in the fourth and fifth turns, he'd learned and matured enough to convince everyone with some lie.
That was the same thing he had intended this time; that he had gotten an invitation into a prominent martial school, showing them an insignia that he had taken from Kan.
"Whaaaat!" Juun would exclaim as Durma sat proudly.
"That's impossible" his mother would say as well. Even she wouldn't believe it but he hadn't just taken the insignia. This time around, he searched for the 'Yondal seal of approval'. Something he'd just realised from the previous turn that the Orrtaj students each had one in their possession. It was a letter on a small placard. And when they asked, he'd tell them Kan was just the messenger who traveled around seeking for worthy students. It was his certificate of professionalism.
Last time, it worked. And once again, it did too. He somehow convinced them not to worry about seeing this messenger since he had continued on his journey and that himself would simply proceed to the school on his own.
His father barely talked too much. But everyone could tell Durma's invitation gladdened him. He didn't understand it fully but he knew it was a rare opportunity, to be schooled in a martial society. One that only very few people from this village had ever had an opportunity to. Probably after this, his son would turn out to be a fine official for the empire. He even gave him a few materials he thought would help Durma out in school. And his mother, although unwilling now, would eventually see him off two days from now. His younger sisters, being affectionate siblings would bade him farewell as well, preparing his favourite dish that day.
And his brother would only tell him,
"Ha! They'll just be kicking your ass for me"
Two days later, he was ready to leave in peace, unlike some of the first three turns. He hoped no one would come looking for him again, like his mother did during his fourth turns. At that time, he'd made so much dangerous enemies with the ninja tiers of six provinces. They had killed her when she came around with a description of him, tracked down his village as well and destroyed it. And that was the cause of his fourth regression.
"What will you be when you return?" his mother asked.
"A master, soldier or..."
"He doesn't know, mother" his brother would scoff.
"Ha! No matter what I return as, I'll still be more than capable of beating you to pulp in front of Frita everyday"
They all bade him farewell, including the rest of the village, some of whom also gave him gifts so his pack was almost larger than him. The most that could walked him off to the harbor, where he boarded a vessel leaving in the opposite direction to Iron reins. It was a warm send off as he waved goodbye to his family who remained by the docks till the vessel left.
The journey took almost half a day before they arrived at Sansee, a large city island where Durma's alleged martial school was supposedly located. Durma dispatched himself along with his bags.
"Gorr" he called out summoning the figurine which materialized from thin air.
"This is it" Durma said dropping his bags on the ground. He hadn't left the port yet.
"Pardon?"
"Here"
The figurine rotated, studying the area.
"This is not Iron reins"
"Nope. But I just successfully left home without trouble, Gorr" he said. "It feels really nice, y'know"
"Don't tell me you intend on running away, shadow warrior"
Durma scoffed.
"We both know that's impossible"
"Yes, it is" Gorr concurred. "A great number of people are aware of the Etherealm and are very capable of detecting shadow energy. And as we speak, you bear the shadow seal, a consequence of opening the magnate's box. If you remain as you are now without getting proper training, you and the powers of this box will inevitably fall into their hands someday"
"Yeah, yeah. I know" Durma said. "And that's why you'll have to get me there now. We're too far from Iron reins and I don't want to use up all my money right now"
Gorr remained mute for a few seconds. Durma was referring to it's interdimensional ability. Gorr was like a gateway between the surface realm and the three shadow realms. But then, it was also capable of moving to specific places in those realms. It had the map of the six provinces of the surface realm and beyond. With that, they could transport themselves across the provinces using several coordinate checkpoints at certain places of significance within each province.
But then, he spoke of it as though he knew all about it. It would baffle anyone capable of thinking, that a human with no special connection to the original shadow magnate or the shadow seal would be aware of this or anything. Not even Kan nor the rest of the followers the Orrtaj knew exactly what was in that box except that it had something to do with the magnate. But Gorr, as expected would loose interest in wondering about such things.
"Very well. I shall now open the magnate's domain" it said.
"Yaimin"
The reddish aura on Gorr turned blue, like a flame, and the rune on the deity's head glowed. And then, in a flash, a dark aura expanded from Gorr, enveloping Durma and warping the space around him before vanishing into thin air.
It was a process that made him loose consciousness and when he came to, it was somebody's voice speaking to him in a different and much quiet place that was obviously not the port.
"Welcome, shadow warrior" an old man spoke to him.
Durma opened his eyes to another familiar environment. He now lay on a futon, staring at the ceiling again.
He sat up lazily like he had been asleep for sometime now. Then he looked to his side at the old man who had just spoken to him.
"Yoo! Old man" he said like they were acquainted and hadn't seen each other for a while.
The old man sat in a seiza position, neatly dressed in a light brown patterned kimono that complemented the colour the serene washitu brightened by the colour of sunset.
This was Sensei, with the long eyebrows and mustache. He was one of the people who had accompanied the original shadow magnate on his journey during his time.