《Godlings》 Beginnings 1; The Peacock Dances The Peacock Dances It was a beautiful autumn morning. The temperature near the shores of the great lake of Alison hasn''t fallen very low, and the leaves on some trees still remain. Professor Agusthus was in his small balcony, sipping his morning tea. The expedition group led by the prof. was lodging in the historic ruins, The High Gardens, which were discovered a few years back by some loggers. He is an environmental historian and has been studying the old archives of the High Gardens for quite some time now, with his party members who are generally his students. Before coming to stay here in Alison, he has been a professor in the Royal Elven Academy for eight decades, which is, to say, is a short time for a high Elf like him. He spends his morning and afternoons in his study in the living quarters of the ruins. As the sun sets in the beautiful lake of Alison, he comes down to the bustling city streets and drinks and sings in the famous bar of Alison, the ''Mountain Hide.'' As a high Elf, his looks don''t match the age, and the fair maidens of Alison are easily seduced by his sweet words. But his peaceful daily life came to an abrupt end; as he saw a big bluish-white ball of light rising to the skies far off the shores of the great lake. The big ball of Energy slowly enlarged as it reached the clouds and disappeared after making a big soundless explosion. White waves of Astral Energy spread across the sky, the glow from which made the surroundings white. Prof. Agusthus immediately created the most substantial barrier he could make and protected himself with it until the waves passed. Most of the town people did the same after seeing the approaching waves. But some of the town people, who could not do so, came in direct contact with them and were severely affected. Some were paralyzed, some vomited out blood, and some were unconscious. Chaos and disturbance immediately spread throughout the city. Even the professor was not completely unharmed. His hands and feet were numb, and his head was dizzy with a nauseating feeling. Then he felt a cold chill down his back. But it was not due to the cold winds which immediately started blowing after the initial big wave; it was because he realized that something even more significant was coming. Times were changing, and the future would never be the same. ---- It was the 20th day of the first month of the year. Though winter has not entirely passed here in the northern city of Soldanella, the snow was slowly receding to the high mountains. But the town was already heated up by the long lines of carts and troops entering and leaving the city. It was because an essential summit of influential people of the western continent was going to be held in the Tower of Wintergreen situated to the north end of the city. Due to which many dignitaries and their followers have gathered in this neutral northern city.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The summit was held because of the disastrous natural event which happened on that autumn day, which later came to be known as Dawnfall. Many of the renowned historians predicted that it was definitely going to happen sometime in the future, but it came sooner. Everybody knew that times were changing, and the future looked uncertain. The western continent of Wisteria mainly consisted of the humans and closely related races. They didn''t have enough national power to stand still in the approaching storms. So, they decided to adopt some necessary countermeasures before it was too late. They decided to use the summoning ritual again, using the ancient formation left behind by the great Beings of the past. Generally, they use this method to summon powerful, monstrous beings of unknown origins, in case of emergencies like war, etc. But this time, they decided to try to summon intelligent beings. The summoning ritual is a crude taboo as it demands a soul for a soul. That means sacrifice is needed to summon something living. And in this case, intelligent sacrifices are required to summon intelligent beings. The rest of the body of the summoned creature is created by disintegrating the bodies of the sacrifices and then reconstructing them to suit the needs of the summoned souls. Most of the people that were present in the summit were against the idea of using human sacrifices. But then, somebody raised his hand and presented the plan that they could use criminals who have been sentenced to death for their crimes. After some deliberation, that idea was accepted by majority votes and was planned accordingly. ---- Time passed quickly. Criminals were being rejudged all across the continent for their crimes. The summoning ritual had not been performed before by using people of the races as sacrifices, at least according to the knowledge of the current historians. So, nobody knew the best way to perform it and also the number of sacrifices required. Hence, they acquired as many of them in a five months duration. Finally, on a stormy summer night, the sacrifices were gathered in a secret place, where the formation and formulas of the summoning ritual were drawn on four big walls that enclose a large crystal. A substantial protective barrier protected the site from the damaging effects of the environment. The ceremony was also kept top secret. The whole lot of sacrifices were blindfolded and brought into the open space around the crystal. Archmages were present behind those walls and were supplying mana to them. Their mana changed its form as it passed through those walls and slowly seeped into the crystal in the center. The crystal started emitting a faint glow that gradually began enveloping the sacrifices, and all of them began to drop to the ground, unconscious. As time passed, the air started creaking inside, and strong winds began blowing atop the hall. And then, suddenly, a whirling swirl of red, blue, and violet, centered at the crystal, opened and enveloped everything. It receded, leaving a bright blinding glow of Astral Energy, which burst open the top of the hall and the barrier; and reached the dark clouds which were brewing a storm outside. After a few moments, the light faded, and with it, brought down the heavy rain. But the inside of the hall was kept dry by the thin invisible barrier, which quickly reformed itself after being destroyed by the white beam. The crystal was still emitting a faint light, and in that light, seven naked bodies of children lying on the ground could be seen. Beginnings 2; Nova Mondo Nova Mondo It was a Monday, and our class time-table was pretty hectic than usual. I was sitting on the last bench, which was by the window, taking the last class of the day. Life was the same everyday, and like those average and regular high schoolers, I, too, was bored with my everyday life. At 3 pm, the final bell rang, and the teacher left the classroom. Sighs of relief and gossips immediately filled the class. Some students left for home while some remained in the school for afterschool activities. I was among the latter half. Though I was not a particularly genius kid, I had a little interest in chemistry and other sciences. So, I used to spend the afternoons in our school library reading books. I packed my bag and stood up to leave the classroom. But then, like a ray of light in my mundane life, it suddenly occurred, a tiny ball of light floating in the air at the centre of the classroom emitting otherworldly light in every direction. Then, in a split second, it expanded into a whirlpool of swirling red, blue and purple light and enveloped everything. I didn''t get any chance to make a reaction, and my vision went white. The next thing I remember is that, I was floating, and...I was not breathing. Something was seeping into my body through my skin and my other orifices, and it felt like I was breathing through my skin like a frog. My stomach was getting filled as if I was drinking water. No, it was not water; it was like alcohol. It was pretty refreshing and...I was getting drunk. I knew that it was not a typical situation, as my head was not panic-stricken. It was as clear as distilled water like I had just woken up from a good night''s sleep. But no matter how much I tried, I couldn''t open my eyes, as if my eyelids were stuck with gum; and the rest of my body was stiff as a corpse with rigor mortis. Then I felt my back touching solid ground. It seemed like I was at the floor of the water body in which I was drowning. The drunkenness started showing its effects, and as some time passed, my consciousness slowly slipped out. ---- My name is Kenny, and I am currently reading a book on geography in one of the studies of this newly discovered ruin called The High Gardens. As you might have guessed, I am now in a different world called Eden. This world seems to be bigger than the Earth, and it is filled with some form of mysterious energy called Astral Energy which exists in everything. The source of it is the star of this planetary system. Technically, I am not even sure if this star is in the Milky way or in the same universe that I know of. Because the physics here seems to work in some different ways than the Earth and things, like converting this energy to matter and then back to energy, can be done quickly; which results in something called magic; which existed only in the supernatural domain back in Earth. Overall, science seems to have evolved differently here. And everything is possible to some extent by controlling the Astral Energy, its flow and its conversions. The geography book that I am currently reading is a little outdated. So it doesn''t provide the full map of the world, or so I thought, but this world still has many unexplored regions and empty places in the maps. Well honestly, this map is very poor, it has only the full boundaries of this western continent called Wisteria, its essential cities and some important cities of the southern continent. It also has some rough drawings of other continents with Elven cities and the kingdoms of the demi-human races. Yes, you heard it correct, there are elves and demi-humans in this world like those fantasy stories. There are numerous other races also. But there is no adequate information on many of them. And, as a matter of fact, the person who found me is also a high Elf, Prof. Agusthus Agrimony. The races with ''High'' prefixes before them are the stronger counterparts of their parent races and with strong racial instincts. Prof. Agusthus was the captain of the expedition party which came to these ruins for research purposes. But, due to a natural disaster, all of his party members left and currently he is the only one who is staying here with his maid. The High Gardens was some kind of research facility back when it was constructed. It also houses a library with rare books, although most of them have been damaged with time. There is also a botanical garden surrounding it, containing rare plants, which is also in a state of a complete mess because of little maintenance. The ruins are situated in the middle of the Red forest near the lakeside city of Alison. But the most exciting part of these ruins are the natural caves which lie underneath these ruins, with the main entrance in the basement. And this is where Sir Augustus found me. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ??---- It was a stormy summer night, and the Prof. was planning to go to bed early. Just then, he felt the same nauseating feeling he felt about a year ago when the Dawnfall struck Alison. He hurriedly went to his balcony with his staff in his hand to have a clear picture of the situation. But he didn''t see anything unusual outside. But as he was about to return, he saw the bluish white light coming out from the basement''s door instead. He rushed to his room, wore his cloak, attached the protective gears in his arms and legs and hurried downstairs. Although he was nervous, he slowly opened the doors of the basement and saw strong streaks of light coming from the caves. This time he was confident that there was something unusual happening down there. He proceeded following the rays of light, and after some time, he finally arrived at the source. It was a typical wall of the cave, but it looked like it was a paper thin membrane and there was a potent source of light within. His mind was telling him to retreat, but his curiosity got the better of him, and so he decided to investigate. He created three arrows of the earth with magic and fired them at the wall. The arrows struct a small region on the wall and simultaneously, the wall crumbled. Strong blinding light seeped out, and after some time the whole wall broke down. He immediately constructed a barrier out of reflex and hid behind it. It took quite some time for the light to fade and he considers himself lucky to come out of that unharmed. When the light faded, he entered what seemed to be a hidden room inside the cave. What he saw there was a beautiful underground garden. The soil appeared to be high in Ynni content, the natural Astral energy, as it was seeping out in large amounts from here and there. He proceeded further, amidst the beautiful bluish glowing white flowers which were blooming in abundance in the garden, towards that mysterious energy source. There he discovered the legendary fountain of holy water which was the source of that blinding light. Holy water is nothing but water with dissolved Astral Energy. It concentration decides its purity. But all his senses were telling him that the fountain before him was the purest of the purest any explorer like him has ever seen. But there was something strange. The level of the water in the fountain was decreasing slowly. He stood there bewildered for some time looking for any possible clues. Then a human-like figure with glowing white skin, which was lying at the bottom of the fountain, came into view. ---- Of course, that was me sleeping peacefully, after getting terribly drunk for the first time in my life. He retrieved me from the cave and took care of me until I regained consciousness. And now you ask, how the hell was I alive after such an ordeal? Well, honestly, I don''t seem to be completely alive right now as there are no heartbeats in my chest and I am still not breathing. However, I do have to take in air to talk. As for the pulses, looks like I will have to dissect my body someday. Hmm, I think its Mimosa. I feel her approaching the study. My senses are unusually sharp now. If I concentrate on my hearing, I can hear the faintest of sounds. The resolving power of my eyes have improved, and my reflexes are surprisingly fast. "Kenny, lunch is ready," Mimosa announced cheerfully but solemnly as she came in. "Hmm...looks like you are doing something important. Shall I come in later?". "No no, I was just reading the books which the prof. bought for me." I said. "I will go down in a minute. You can set the table, Mimosa." "Okay, Kenny. Also, bring the professor with you to the dining hall. He didn''t come down for breakfast and had stubbornly holed up in his study." she requested. "Ah, that professor!" I wonder what he might be onto this time. "Don''t worry about Mimosa. I will definitely bring him down." "I shall prepare the food then. Just don''t be late Kenny." Saying so, she went downstairs. I closed my book and stood up to leave the study. It has almost been 3 weeks now, living in The High Gardens and I have grown a little accustomed to the tranquil life here. By the way, a year has 13 months here, with 30 days in each divided into 5 weeks. Now as I look back, everything was new and surprising for me back then... Chapter 1; A Romantic Fantasy A Romantic Fantasy Waking up to see an unknown ceiling, I was pretty uneasy as I regained my consciousness after such unusual happenings. I looked around the bed in which I was laying and found myself in a small bed in an old-fashioned garden house. The walls seemed to be made up of some kind of squarely cut stones, and the long windows were adorned with beautiful multicoloured glass. Beyond which I saw a beautiful, no, not well-maintained garden with beautiful red tulip-like flowers. But, there was something strange. No matter where I looked, I could see a mysterious white smoke-like substance, though very faint, coming out of everywhere, like the cracks in the wall, the floor, from the flowers outside and even in some spots in the ground. And if I concentrated more, I could also feel in the very air. I took a few deep breaths to taste that substance, and it surprisingly felt refreshing. The feeling was somewhat similar to what I felt when I was drowning. And then it suddenly occurred to me that I was not breathing at frequent intervals like the living. I jumped out of my bed and hurried outside taking deep breaths. But as soon as I stopped, the spontaneous breathing didn''t start. But strangely, I was not suffocating. Moreover, my body felt very light and cold. The surroundings looked bigger as well. I walked up to the crystalline glass windows and looked at my reflection. I was very confused when I saw a cute little kid with strangely bigger eyes staring back at me. I looked at my small hands which now has a porcelain white skin, and then I realised that I was wearing nothing but a pair of short pants and a tunic made from a strange fabric. It felt as if it had been made by roughly weaving some kind of animal fur. I was sure that this body is not of a human anymore and this place is not Earth. I sat down on the bed and decided to think about the events that had led to this. Then the door, opposite to the one leading to the garden, opened and a thin and tall man entered. His eyes appeared golden and sharp and his skin white. But his most distinguishable feature was his sharp pointy ears. ''If I am correct, then his is one of them, the well-known Elves that appear in the fantasy stories.'' I thought. ''Then, his young looks must also be deceiving, and he might be actually over a hundred years old.'' "So you woke up, little man." He smiled. "I was worried when there was no sign of life from you for over a week. But then I thought that you might be one of those, the undead...No no, you are not normal considering the circumstances where I found you. So, I waited patiently." He then looked at my eyes and asked, "Now then, what''s your name, little man?" "My name is Kenny." For some reasons I didn''t mention my family name. "And, I am not sure what I am. But I, don''t seem to be breathing nor do I have a pulse. I..I don''t even know where I am right now or how I got here." "Hmm...it is mentioned it the tales of the past that the High Undead didn''t breathe like the living. But we certainly don''t have much information to make any conclusions. And, as for the pulse, it is not unusual for some of the undead kinds to not have one." O no no, not having a pulse is definitely not unusual. "Your memory loss seems to the adverse effects of falling in the holy water fountain". What? Holy water? Was I floating in a big bowl in a church? "Anyway, you shouldn''t worry about anything Kenny. I safely recovered you from the caves and my maid, Mimosa used healing magic on you. Here, you are in a safe place with us. We can do your identifications again, in the city hall, later in the evening." He gave a very reassuring smile. "And by the way, my name is Prof. Agusthus Agrimony. I am currently studying the archives of these ruins called The High Gardens." I was surprised to hear unusual words like ruins and undead. But the word which piqued most interest was ''Magic''. So, I asked, "Professor, you mentioned things called magic and ruins. Where am I actually and where did you find me?" "Hmm...looks like you are also lacking the basic common knowledge. Well, don''t worry Kenny. I will teach you alll the common things." He looked somewhat happy when I asked that. Then he started explaining to me as a teacher. First, he gave a rough idea of these ruins. Then he narrated that story, how he found me in the holy water fountain in the caves in the basement. But the basin was drying out slowly. So, as soon as he carried me to safety, he returned there and collected some holy water in big jars, and is currently using it to create medicines and potions of his own. Looks like he is also good in chemistry. Or will it be alchemy, since I am in another world. He was pretty surprised when I asked about the holy water. So, he gave me a more elaborate lecture in it. What I managed to figure out is that this so-called Astral Energy is essential for the people of this world. It has the same roles as energy back in Earth, but here, it has a white smoky free form. It can a controlled by practice and changed to matter to achieve supernatural feats like magic. He demonstrated it by lighting a small bluish flame atop his finger like a candle wick. But the most surprising thing was when he concentrated some of that energy in his fingers and bent a metallic coin-shaped object, which he had pulled out of his pocket. He explained that the internal Astral energy of the body, called mana, can be used to strengthen the body parts as per the requirement. This technique is used by all living organisms to enhance themselves to fight their enemies. "Looks like its already lunch time Kenny. Let''s talk again after we have our lunch. You might also be very hungry after sleeping for that long." There was something unusual about that too. I was not that hungry. But I haven''t evidently lost my appetite. "For now, until you find your family or your friends, you can stay here with us. Most of my former comrades have left this place after the Dawnfall. So, you don''t have to worry about the rooms at least. My maid Mimosa will take care of the housework." The prof. further added with a bright smile on his strange sculpture like face. "She has also prepared today''s lunch. Now now, let us not keep her waiting shall we." "Yes, professor. Let''s go." I followed him to the dining hall which is in the ground floor of the main house. The High Gardens mainly consists of a vast western-style mansion hidden in the woods. The walls are cracked here and there, and creepers are all over the place. There are also many sheds covered with strange crystals, which looks like greenhouses, in the vast gardens surrounding the area. The interior is beautifully decorated with Victorian style furniture, most of which have been damaged with time. ---- I saw a beautiful young lady setting the table when we reached the dining hall. Her big beautiful eyes looked redder than a rose, and her short shoulder-length silky black hair was tied up on her head. "Professor and, the guest. I have set the lunch." She said with a sweet voice not lacking a fair share of attractiveness. "Let me introduce Mimosa. She is the maid who takes care of me. She is also of the undead race, Kenny. More precisely, she is from the vampire race." Vampires! Vampires!!!... I guess they are not considered to be dangerous here. Later, I came to know that their food is not limited to human blood. They can drink any kind of blood and eat flesh too. "Hello, my name is Kenny. I heard from the professor that you healed me when I was unconscious. I am really grateful for saving me when I was in danger." I tried to introduce myself as politely as possible. "Now now, please don''t worry about that. I did what I could to save someone in danger." Suddenly her face was close to me, and she gave a beautiful smile taking my breath away. "Now that you look completely healed, I am pleased to see that."Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Whats with that superhuman movement? As I thought, vampires are strong. "Mimosa, Kenny has just woken up. Cut him some slack please." She was probabaly planning to tease me more. I somehow separated myself and sat down on the table opposite the professor. The lunch consisted of fresh vegetables, soft buns and a bowl of soup which had a exotic meat. It was like red meat, quite fatty and incredibly fragrant. Like a cross between beef and mutton with extra meatiness. Well, my taste buds have also been upgraded, and I could tell a lot about meat, just by having a lick. There was also a little mana coming out of it. Mana is the internal Astral energy of a living organism, and the natural Astral energy is called Ynni. "W..whatt?" I almost cried out when Mimosa let me know that the meat was of the Armbrus wolf, which inhabits the north end of the Aster mountains behind the red forest. I didn''t understand that feeling. My mind was filled with disgust, but my tongue couldn''t forget its pleasant taste. It was my first time eating something related to a dog. I tried to calm down...and took another spoonful of the soup. "Kenny, you can also accompany Mimosa in her hunts. The red forest''s strongest beasts are the wolves. Until and unless you go deeper into the mountains, it is relatively safe. And Mimosa will be with you, too. Although she looks like this, she is pretty strong you know." "Professor!! I am not a child anymore!!" I, too, wanted to go out to learn more about this fantasy new world. It is a man''s dream to go for hunts and then cook and eat them. So, I happily agreed. Mimosa explained that she occasionally goes out for hunts. She drinks the blood and collects the body for meat and other materials. ---- After the lunch, the professor went to his room to take rest. Mimosa and I decided to go on a small hunting trip. She provided me with a set of outdoor clothes and went to the kitchen to do the dishes as I got ready. The set consisted of a long-sleeved Viking tunic, a pair of trousers, knee-high boots and a small, dull knife made from a strange metal. I remembered wearing similar clothes at a cosplay party when I was a kid. I was getting more and more excited. We started shortly after. Mimosa was wearing a long coat atop her usual maid dress. A similar small knife was hanging around her waist. We crossed the long gardens and passed through a gate and exited the ruins. After a short walk, we entered the forest. The forest looks like a typical woodland, with its tall black trees and red leaves, and the occasional patches of the red tulip-like flowers on the ground in small clearings. Now I could guess why it is known as the red forest. Moreover, there is a mysterious atmosphere around the woods with the eerie looking small patches of fog moving on the ground here and there. Wait...wait a minute...this is definitely not normal. What are these ghost-like things? I stopped on my tracks and started following them with my eyes. I would have definitely run away if Mimosa was not there. Mimosa noticed my uneasiness and quickly swept her hand in the air. Suddenly a gust of wind started blowing, following the movements of her hand and blew away those ghost-like things. "Mi...Mimosa, do the fogs usually move like that?" Hearing this, she started laughing. "I was pretty surprised when the professor said that you lack the common sense. You are like a cute little newborn child." She gave a ''hehehe'' teasing laugh. "Don''t worry, Kenny. I will teach you a lot of things." Yes, yes, you can make fun of me. I was disgruntled. You are actually correct Mimosa. I am indeed a newborn here in this world. I followed Mimosa deep into the woods, and she kept talking about a lot of things along the way. ---- First, she told me about the people of this world called Eden. According to common knowledge, there are mainly 7 different races in this world. The humans and the like are the majority. But they generally have a short lifespan of about 200 years, which is definitely not short if compared to earth. Second to them are the people of the numerous demonic races. The horned people are in the majority among them, and they generally have a longer lifespan of about 500 years. There are various other subraces, most of them live a farming or nomadic lifestyle. Next comes the demi-humans who live in the vast forests of the central continent. But in the recent years, they seem to have spread almost everywhere. Their lifespan varies according to their type. The elves and the sprites are next in numbers. They inhabit the small island continents in the far west. They have very long lifespans of about 1 to 3 thousand years. The rest of the races namely the dragon race, the undead and the angels are in the minority. The dragon race makes clans and lives isolated in their small cities. They live for about a thousand years. The angels are small beings with wings, and they live relatively long lives. They are more like the fairies, I guess. The undead are found in small colonies in the northern and southern parts of the continents. Some of them have the most extended lifespans of thousands of years. The ''High'' counterparts of the respective races have stronger racial traits and lives longer. The high beings of most of the races are rare and are held in high esteem. The beings with low intelligence are called beasts. They are used as livestock or killed when they try to harm. But there are many beasts which are strong and very dangerous. Let''s stay away from them as far as possible. The things I saw before were Wraiths. They are formed when beasts or people die in areas with more Ynni. Their remaining life force and mana coalesces in the surroundings and absorb the Ynni and become Wraiths. Well, in simple words, they are the ghosts. Yup, I was correct. ---- We crossed small streams and climbed small hills as we walked towards the mountains. But we didn''t come across many beasts. More like, they ran away after perceiving Mimosa. She kept tracks of the big reindeer like animals that we occasionally came across. They are called Aries, and they are bigger than an average horse. I got scared thinking about the wolves that hunted these. Gradually the path became more and more difficult to trek as we reached the foot of the mountains. Mimosa suggested that we should run, if possible, above the ground from here on out. She made a small leap and was immediately on top of a branch of a nearby tree. Similarly, she leapt to the nearby tree. Is she a ninja? Woah...today I have seen a real ninja. I was very excited after seeing her running like that. "Common Kenny. Let your mana flow to your legs and leave the rest to your instincts." ''Wait wait, I am not even sure if I have mana since I am not from this world, let alone make it flow.'' She came down and asked me to concentrate as if feeling my blood coming out from my heart and move it according to my will. ''What? Feel my blood coming out of my heart. This is confusing on so many levels.'' Although I couldn''t even feel my pulse, I tried as she said. As I closed my eyes, I had a cold feeling around my chest as if my heart was pumping out cold soda in my system. It felt so good that I thought I might get addicted to it. I recalled that I had felt it before, at that time when I was heavily drunk and drowning. Then, was it my mana that made me lose my consciousness? Slowly, the cold feeling spread all over my body, and I hurriedly opened my eyes to keep myself from losing my consciousness again. But fortunately, it didn''t happen. The surroundings looked completely different when I opened my eyes. The trees and grass looked brighter and with more colours. As if my eyesight had been upgraded, I could even see the smallest bug and the farthest trees. Do the eagles always see their world like this? "You succeeded in full Body enhancement in your first try." Mimosa was amazed. "Right..right...As I thought, you are very talented Kenny." "I...am not sure what happened. But, my body feels very good, and all my senses seem to have improved." "You have succeeded in a technique which generally takes a lot of time to learn and years to master. The strong warriors would definitely envy you. Your beautiful pearl-like eyes are faintly glowing, which is the result of your mana flowing all over your body enhancing all your senses and muscles." She came closer and caressed my cheeks. "Now, we are ready to go. Let''s hunt some wolves." She looked very excited and jumped to the nearby tree and disappeared from sight. The surging power in my whole body told me that I could also move fast like that now. I decided to let go of all my hesitations and then jumped with all my power. ---- Ahh...I was above the roof of the forest and was free falling. Nope, I didn''t have any parachutes nor did I have any suicide objectives. Actually, I used way more power than the required amount and launched to the sky like a rocket. BAM!! I landed on a branch. Surprisingly I was not hurt. Looks like It will take a lot of time getting used to this. Suddenly, Mimosa was standing next to me giggling. What is so funny about this!! After she calmed down a little, she informed me that she had found our prey. A group of Aries were sighted running down the mountain slope chased by two Armbrus wolves. It was time for the hunt! Chapter 2; Elves & Sprites Elves & Sprites A small herd of Aries was running down the slope. They were, in fact, being chased by the fearsome predators of the Red forest, the Armbrus wolves. The wolves stand tall at about 6-7 feet, and their silky fur is a beautiful mixture of white and orange. With their long sharp teeth, sharp claws and magic, they are a race of very dangerous beasts which inhabit the northern slopes of the mountains. They can coat their fur with intense lightning magic and release it on their prey at close distances. In fact, sometimes their magic can be so strong that most of their victims are burned to death. And...we are here, hiding on their path to make an ambush on the predator itself. When I was busy imagining how we are going to kill such a strong beast with just a small knife, the Aries ran fast and crossed our ambush point. The ground shook as if I was standing near a fast-moving diesel locomotive. The forest was also making strange noises. After a few seconds, the wolves came running. They were fast, but not enough to catch up to the Aries. Suddenly Mimosa lept on one of them and caught it by the neck and rolled over. She then quickly killed it by stabbing with her knife in between the ribs where the heart was supposedly located. The other wolf stopped on its tracks and was staring at her by baring its teeth and collecting lightning on its fur coat. I was spellbound by her display of such amazing movements and strength. "Kenny, I have left the other one for you. And don''t worry about the lightning. Most of the undead are immune to it." What? I have never even wrestled with a dog, and you want me to wrestle with that moving electric transformer? And how do I kill it with just this small knife. But no matter how much I complained, this other world it too crazy. Then something strange happened to the wolf. Yellowish mana was leaking from its whole body, and its eyes started glowing. Large flashes of electricity were surging from its head to its tail. "Hmm...looks like it can do a full body enhancement." Doesn''t that mean that it has become far more dangerous? Why are you just sitting there with such a calm face? Although I was pretty scared, I slowly pulled out my knife. When the wolf noticed this, it changed its target and charged on me. "Come on Kenny. You are way stronger now. Just let your instincts flow." When the wolf had reached close enough, it made a lightning attack. The yellow flashes struck my knife and travelled through my clothes. But none of it actually harmed my body. Looks like I am really immune to it. When its magic attack didn''t have any effect, it made a leap and tried to bite my hands. I managed to dodge it with my sharp reflexes, which also has been upgraded to a peculiarly high level. But its claws did manage to reach my left hand, though there was no wound. My skin is way tougher now. This boosted up my confidence. This time I made a charge. Its lightning attacks were all negated, and its fangs were dodged. After a few seconds, I managed to slip to its side and caught it by the neck like Mimosa. The wolf struggled with its claws and sent stronger lightning attacks. But none of them had any effect on me, and I, although hesitating a little, slipped the knife through its heart. ---- "That was awesome, Kenny. You even overwhelmed the wolf at its full power. Looks like your mana capacity is very high. I think you are an outstanding warrior." "I...I just tried my best." I replied. After that she dragged the dead wolf, and I stood up and straightened my clothes. Mimosa then made a deeper cut on the wolf and pulled out a small gem-like crystal from its chest area. Then she showed me the faintly glowing crystal. "This is what we call the mana core. When a living being dies, all of its remaining life force and mana converges near its heart and form this clear crystal. In other words, it contains the soul." Knowing that my mood dropped a little which was apparently evident in my face. "My my...don''t get so worked up over this, Kenny. This is all according to the laws of the Guardian. Here is the interesting part! You can absorb the core and improve your overall mana capacity. In other words, you can get stronger." Saying so she passed me the core. But as soon as I held it, the clear diamond-like crystal became cloudy, and then turned into beautiful white smoke and disappeared. I felt a small cold feeling in my hand, and it slowly spread to my heart. "Woah...that was fast Kenny. Generally, you have to supply a little amount of your own mana. Only then, the core starts to get absorbed." She said with a surprised look on her face. "It all really happened on its own. But it really felt good as it was absorbed." "Hmm.. well, let''s not worry about the little things and dig in." She tore one of the arteries and started drinking the blood straight from the body. Woah...this is real. I am watching a real vampire drinking blood. If I were to tell this to the fantasy lovers of earth, they would surely be burning in envy. But as I watched her, a strange feeling crept up my throat. I was thirsty. No, it was not just a healthy thirst. The fresh smell of flesh and blood tingled my nose. The feeling of disgust was being replaced by a strange attraction. I tried to calm down as much as possible. There was definitely something wrong here. I sat down under the shade of a nearby tree to rethink about this and calm my mind. Yup, I am sure. I think I also have vampiric urges. This is possible considering that I am an undead. "Ah...Kenny is a pervert. You have been staring a lot at me you know." She said teasingly. "I..I didn''t mean to. I am really sorry. Actually, I feel like, I want to taste the blood, too." She looked at me, with a puzzled look, for a few moments. "Are you also a vampire, Kenny? Your features definitely don''t look like one though." She asked. "I am...not sure. But I definitely feel the urges to taste the fresh blood and flesh." "Well, it is certainly not impossible. This world is truly vast, and there are a lot of unknown things." She said after a little thinking. " Come here, Kenny. Have a meal." Their smell was really invigorating. I took a drop on my fingers and licked it. Ahhh...the strong taste, little saltiness and the sweet aftertaste. It might become my favourite drink from now on. I thought. I sank my teeth further and drank to my fill. Mimosa was collecting good meat from the other dead wolf. "By the way Kenny, you ate your vegetables in the lunch right. Vegetables upset the tummies of vampires. Don''t eat them unless necessary okay." Heh...Am I on a flesh and blood diet from now on? I thought. But I don''t feel sick though. Better to stay away from those now on. I don''t wanna rush to the toilet in the middle of the night. ---- The return journey was swift and easy. I had learned to control my strength a little. So we ran fast and crossed the woods in no time. The fast-moving scenery, the wind on my face, the strength in my legs, it was an awesome feeling. I was little-troubled thinking that I might crash into something at that speed. But my reflexes that are sharp on a superhuman level kept me safe. It was evening, by the time we reached the High Gardens. The professor was surprised when he was told that I was a vampire. "Hmm..you are certainly an undead. But, as far as I know, all vampires have red eyes and do breathe. You must be a very peculiar vampire. Well anyway, we can accurately determine your race during the identification process. Let us head to the city hall when the sun goes down." He said. "I will also show you a nice bar and the pretty ladies that visit it regularly..hehehe..." He started grinning while imagining something. "Grr.r.. master...He is definitely thinking something dirty." Aah...Mimosa''s eyes are scary. ---- The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The town of Alison is a lovely medieval style town. There is a small port on the lake shore where fishermen sell fresh fish caught during the day. Some have set up grilled fish stalls and various other small eateries in the beautiful sandy beaches of the lake. A small market street, bustling with people, extends from the sandy shores to the centre of the town. It is filled with various shops, eateries and bars. Farther up the street, there are the government buildings, public facilities and the expensive merchant guilds. Small lanes branch off from the main street and lead to the residential areas. ''We are currently walking in the busy evening street. It didn''t take much time to reach here as we all ran fast through the forest like ninjas! The prof. is wearing a waistcoat like a jacket over long sleeved shirts and trousers and long boots. There is also a short mantle on his shoulders with a strange emblem. He said that it was the symbol of his party during his adventuring days. He didn''t explain much apart from that.'' Going on long adventures in a fantasy-like world in a man''s romance. I wanna join the adventure guilds sometime in the future too. There are numerous guilds in this world. In most parts, they are managed by a special branch of the government. The guilds receive fundings based on their annual achievements. Apparently, there are many perks of joining a guild; like getting exemption from the annual taxes, apart from the mandatory tax of the guild, and getting preferences while trying to get admission in military schools and research institutions. After walking a little, we came across an ample open space in the middle of the city and saw a big church like building at the opposite end. The prof. explained that this open space is used for public meetings and festivals and the building is the city hall. We entered a small office like building near the city hall. The interior was lined with numerous desks and counters. But, only a few people were present inside. All of them were human. Hmm..come to think of it, that was the first time I met humans after coming to this world. They looked no different from the humans that I knew. All of them had brown or blonde hair and fair skin. And they appeared taller, which might actually be because I became shorter after I came to this word. The prof. walked straight to the reception like a desk in the far inside of the hall and rang a small bell which was on the counter. He rang it a few more times. Responding to it, a short fat man came out from the door which was behind the reception desk. "Ah..isn''t it the professor? And you are here. Did you cause another trouble with the ladies?" "Hahaha...you do have quite an impression of me, Mr Dogbane." the prof. said. "Today I came to make an ID for Kenny here. He lost it in the forest on a small hunting trip." "Hou...you must be new in this town, young lad. There are very few people of the pixies here. Anyway, your ID is essential. Keep it, safe lad." Pixie! Do I look like a fairy? Aren''t those supposed to be girls? Come to think of it, I have not seen a pixie before. I might look similar. "Ah...you don''t have to worry Mr Dogbane. He is actually my distant relative. I will make sure to remind him of the important stuff." "Is that so?... Well then, let''s enter the basement." He said, pulling out a key from his inner pocket. We followed him to the basement of the church. There were lobbies alongside the corridor which led to a grand door. The professor requested for privacy. The man nodded and stayed behind at the door, and we entered inside. The inside was dimly lit by a rough pyramidal crystal structure which looked as transparent as glass. There was a different spherical crystal on top of it. The prof. explained that it is the tip of a large shard of a ''virgin crystal'', a crystal with no attributes, which is connected to the ley lines under the ground. Ley lines are the underground streams of Astral Energy that supposedly run all over the planet. The sphere on top of it is a product of ''Magic Engineering''. It uses the knowledge of the planet''s oldest spirits to determine a person''s race and identity, and then records it in a small virgin crystal card. The card then transforms according to the characteristics of the person''s mana and becomes a unique ID card, as if specially made for that person. Generally, the identification of a person is made when they become ten years of age. Then they are considered mature enough to be treated as citizens. The device required a small drop of the person blood as input to work. I bit the back of my hand and then, a small drop of white substance appeared from the wound. Dense white fumes arose from it, and a few moments later, the ''drop of blood'' became crystal clear. ''Is this supposed to be my blood?'' I was confused. Well, this world is strange in a lot of ways. Thinking so, I poured the drop atop the sphere. As soon as the drop touched the sphere, a wave of light ran down the sphere, and the crystal pyramid started glowing strongly. "Hmm..thats unusual. The glow should last for only a split second." The prof. pondered. "Well, the card should come out anytime soon. Do you know how to read the card, Kenny?" He asked, and then answered his own question, he said "You just need to spread your mana, and the letters shall appear. The card records your mana signatures, so it can only be operated by you." The card appeared from a slot of the sphere, sometime after the prof. finished his explanations. It was mostly white with a little blue around the edges. I poured a little mana and letters appeared with a glow. ---- Name: Kenny Level: (unknown) Race: High Undead, High Sprite Age: (unknown) Sex: male Note: This ID was made at the Alison relay point. The ways of using this card and the terms and conditions are on the other side. ---- I flipped the card and saw various official stuff written on the other side. "High Undead and high Sprite! I have never witnessed this before." the prof. exclaimed in excitement. "This can explain your unusual features, Kenny." He was baffled after I showed him my card. But, I was more worried about my age this level stuff. The professor explained that the level denotes the experience of the person in using mana and his mana capacity. A newborn usually starts at lv 1 and his level naturally increase till the age of 10. After which, its natural growth slows down and ultimately stops by the age of 15. After that, it can solely be increased by learning to control and use mana. It can also be increased by absorbing the cores of other living organisms stronger than the person. It is very similar to the levelling systems of the RPGs!! When I asked the prof. and Mimosa about their levels, they showed me their ID cards. ---- Name: Prof. Augustus Agrimony Level: 1024 Race: High Elf Age: 923 Sex: male Name: Mimosa Level: 1713 Race: Vampire Age: (unknown) Sex: female ---- ''Wh..What are those numbers? Isn''t that pretty high? Or is that pretty normal in this world? And that age...Then, aren''t they just old hermits who live secluded in some old ruins in the middle of the forest?'' I couldn''t stop myself from thinking like that. "Umnn...are those big numbers pretty normal?" I asked out of my sheer curiosity. "Hahaha....that is certainly not the case.'''' The prof. explained, "The level of a normal citizen is about 90-150. If your level is about 250, you can join the army as soldiers. A knight is generally at about 300-500. But a strong adventurer can go as high as 600. There are a few people who go as high as 1000. They are usually at the high positions in their line of work. And the people above that are rare. But there is an exception to this. There are people with occupations like blacksmiths, healers, priests, alchemists and few artists whose level are higher than normal. But generally, they lack battle experience and related skills." "Woah...then, aren''t you and Mimosa quite special?" "Professor was quite a big explorer in his early days, you know. He and his original party mapped out some of the biggest ruins and undiscovered lands of the west. He has also studied most of the archives that were discovered in those." "Ah..well, those are quite the stories of the past. These days only a few know about me." the prof. said. "Aren''t you quite the strong one as well Mimosa?" Indeed. Mimosa is quite strong, even from the perspective of a robust former adventurer like the professor. Mimosa said that she was rescued by him from a soul-trap crystal a few hundred years back when he was exploring the ruins in the northernmost part of Wisteria. Since then, she has been serving him as his maid. Now, she doesn''t clearly remember, for how many years she has been trapped there. Her childhood memories are also hazy. As for her strength, she was born with strong mana levels which continued to grow fast as she matured. There are many people like that even at present times. Such type of people is known as ''Godlings''. But, even among them, the strength of Mimosa is on a completely different level. "Well Kenny, it will be better if you keep you ''high Undead blood'' a secret. Most people still view them as followers of the Evil God. If people inquire about your race, you can introduce yourself as one of the sprite races. Your hair and eyes have many similarities with them. Even with the trained eyes Mr. Dogbane thought you to be one of them." the prof. said. Th...that is something dangerous that I heard there. Evil God...and his followers...will I be the target of persecution then? I was very terrified after hearing that. So, I decided that I will never let my secret out and try to live in the society as a pixie. Though I am not sure how much I resemble them as I have never met one. But, it is definitely better than being burned as a witch. Later, I came to know that the sprite races are rare, except the elven forests of the far west. The high Sprites are even rarer. Most of the scholars don''t even believe in their existence. "What is this Evil God professor?" I still asked him as there is no mistake in knowing. "He is known as a notorious and evil God. He appears in the stories of the creation of this world. I have a small book of legends and lores back in my study. You can read it later." he said. "Some of the stories are very exciting." "Oh! by the way, Kenny, do you know to read and write the letters?" Mimosa asked. "Yes, I think I can manage it." The language here is English, and I have no real problem with it. "Now then, shall we go down to the city and have some delicious ale?" the prof. declared with joy. ---- We returned to the High Gardens back at night. There were no real problems with night travels. Mimosa and my eyesights are well suited for the dark like having night vision. The dark forest looked bright, as much as a cloudy day. The professor can also see in the dark to some extent. But, not as good as us though. After reaching the mansion, Mimosa went to prepare dinner and the prof. and I went to take a bath. He was a little drunk after visiting the bar. By the way, Mimosa and I went around the market doing a little shopping. The visit to the market was fascinating. There were all kinds of unknown food items all around. From some strange herbs to the weird eggs, from the scary looking fishes to the exotic meat, everything was different from my memory of earth. We went to bed a little early that night, as everybody was a bit tired. One of the beautiful rooms of the second floor was assigned to me. I quickly crawled into the bed and closed my eyes. But there was no severe fatigue in me though. Well, that is one of the advantages of not being a human anymore. Various thoughts haunted me after that. What will happen to the people who knew of me back on Earth? Was I declared missing? What will I do from now on? Will I be able to return someday? Or....do I wanna return? Will I be able to live here? But more importantly, what happened to the other students who were in the class at that time? Did they also come here? If so, where are they? And, then again, how did I actually come here? I was thinking a lot that night till when I fell asleep. Chapter 3; Dawn of an Era Dawn of an Era When Jarred woke up, it was early in the morning. In the beginning, it was the yawns, then the eyes opened a little. Slowly his memories started flooding in, and when he was finally awake, he threw down his blanket, jumped out of his bed and ran towards the door. "Where do you wanna go, Jarred?"-Ren "Ah, Ren, you are here too, and Elm...looks like the others are here too. I was a little worried thinking what happened back then. So, where are we now? This certainly doesn''t look like a hospital." Jarred spoke in a rave in his confusion. "And whats with that getup? Were you two always into cosplay?" "Jarred, calm down and listen very carefully. This may sound very unreal, but...we are in a different world"-Elm "Different...world...like those games and manga that are currently very popular." Jarred laughed in a sarcastic tone. "Is that even possible, in the slightest of the chances? Hey, are you two plotting something?" "We were also thinking the same way when we woke up, Jarred. But we are really in a different world now." Elm tried to convince him. "These ears, eyes, clothes are all real. I think Ren and I became ''Elves'' when we came here." "That otherworldly light in our classroom was the one who brought us here."-Ren "You should look out of the window, Jarred. Think that will be more convincing."-Elm Jarred rushed to the tall windows which were on the other side of the room. They have beautifully decorated long curtains and coloured glass. He pushed the window open and looked outside. What he saw was a beautiful city with white stone buildings of medieval Greece style, bustling streets with goods being carried by carts pulled by strange animals, and all sorts of people of different races. Slowly, he realised that this level of the prank was not easy to pull for anybody. He was sure now. He looked up towards the sky, and the sun appeared bigger too. And the clouds were shining with different hues of light blue and gold. Strange birds could be spotted flying high in the sky. And, in the far of the distance, he could see beautiful snow-capped mountains. Ren and Elm had regained consciousness a day earlier. But, they too had been asleep for two days straight. When they woke up, they found themselves in a castle and were told by the maids and butlers assigned to them that they will have an audience with the king when all of their friends wake up. They were given permission to take strolls inside the castle. But they decided not to leave their private quarters until everybody woke up. So, they spent the day talking with the maids and butlers to acquire some information about this world. ---- They had their lunch with Jarred in their dining hall, and later in the afternoon, everybody woke up. There were seven of them- Jarred, Ren, Sorrel, Oliver were the boys and Elm, Calla, Jasmine were the girls. They have been good friends since middle school. Unlike Jarred, Ren, Elm, the others were frightened and sad when they came to know the reality before them. They had no idea if they will be able to return or not. The girls started crying thinking about the ones they had left back on earth. Jarred and Elm tried their best to help their friends in controlling their emotions. At last, Jarred decided to give a motivational speech. "Listen, guys. It is indeed certain that we are in a different world right now and there is no way of knowing whether we will be able to go back or not. But we are currently in a castle, and these people are treating us as guests. So, for a start, we shouldn''t have any problems getting a little used to this world. Fortunately, this world seems very similar to those fantasy worlds with swords and magic. So, I am sure that together with our knowledge and friendship we will be able to face any difficulty that comes our way. Exciting adventures and interesting people are waiting for us out there. Let us live a fulfilling and successful life here." Though some fear and anxiety were still there, the prospect something new and different from their dull, mundane life instilled hopes and excitement in the hearts of the youngsters, and they became restless to find out more about this world. Everyone raised their glasses with a "Yayyy" getting their mind and body ready for the days to come. That evening they were summoned to have an audience with the king. They were dressed in beautiful expensive clothes by the maids and butlers which made them look like prince and princesses from the fairy tales. Although they were pretty nervous standing before the big door leading to the audience hall, everything just vanished as soon as they entered inside. There were rows of soldiers and knights wearing beautiful shining armour who were standing on both sides of the red carpet which led to the inner parts of the hall. The hall itself was beautifully decorated with shining crystals and gems and layers of gold covering everything in between. Towards the other end, there was a long table on a pedestal, and five important looking people were sitting behind it on luxuriously decorated chairs. Several maids and butlers were serving them wine and sweets. Guards were standing behind them along with some other people who were probably eminent ministers. There were long desks on both sides with several people drinking wine and whispering. They were more guards and maids and butlers behind them, catering to their needs. The group of seven were escorted by a knight, an archmage and several maids to the hall. When they were in front of the pedestal, the six people sitting behind it stood up. The other people sitting below also stood up following them. Then, one of the five who was standing to the far right addressed them. "Greetings, my dear friends from another world. My name is Yarrow. As you can see, I am an Elder Dwarf. I am the leader of the dwarf colonies of Wisteria. And here are the other leaders of the kingdoms of Wisteria. Allow this old man to briefly introduce them. Starting with Lady Fallugia from my right here, she rules the city of Phacelia. Next is king Agonis El Von Chrysanthos, king of Westasia, where we are at present. Then, King Gazania, king of the demi-human colonies of Wisteria. And the last one is King Korg, ruler of the orc cities of the north." Their knight escort hinted them to introduce themselves too. They told each of their names starting from Jarred. When they had finished, the butlers had arranged chairs for them, and they followed suit after the kings. All the other people present in the hall did the same too. Then king Agonis told them about their current situation. For a start, he first talked about the tales of the past. Long ago, there were the seven Gods who ruled over the different parts of the world. They were the Human God, the Dragon God, the Elven God, the God of the sprites, the Demon God, the Demi-human God and the God of the Angels. In addition to them, there was a Guardian, who fulfilled the role of helping everybody and preaching wisdom; and an Evil God, who use to destroy everything as per his whims and fancies. He was a very notorious and cruel God. After many years of severe atrocities, the seven Gods became fed up with him and waged war against him. The Evil God had the High Undead as his followers. They were powerful and immortal beings. For many years, wars ravaged the world, and many people died. And at last, the seven Gods successfully defeated the Evil God and all of his high Undead followers. But, the damage had already been done. Four of the seven Gods perished in the war, and the Guardian was severely injured too. He passed away shortly after. But there are records which say that, before his death, he predicted that the Evil God will someday return to get his revenge. And, according to the historians, the time is near. Days are changing. The strong monsters are becoming more and more active. Violent storms are raging in the coastal areas. The volcanoes are tearing apart the mountains, and the sea has been trying to engulf the land. As if the world itself is getting ready for the birth of an Evil God.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The Gods have long left this world. And the Godlings, the ones who have inherited the powers of the old Gods, are not strong enough to fight for the cause. Still the people of Wisteria have tried to nurture and develop the Godlings by opening special academies for them. But, they are yet to show any significant results. So, they used the ancient summoning techniques to summon strong and intelligent beings from another world to help them. The summoning ritual randomly selects the summoned ones. But still, the king and the rest of the people apologised to them for causing troubles for them by bringing them here from their homeland. He promised to support them in every way he could. All the five leaders requested them for their help to protect their people from the coming dangers. As the decision, was entirely in the hands of the seven. Jarred was very excited after hearing the stories. He had played many fantasy games, and the thirst for adventure was tearing up his throat. He looked into the eyes of his close friends from his school and saw a similar resolve in them. This strengthened his confidence and resolved further, and he had made his decision. "Your Highness, we have decided to help the people as far as our capabilities allow us to. We will definitely save them from any evil."-Jarred "But there are a few conditions of our own."-Ren "Ren, what are you saying? His Majesty has already promised to provide us with any support that we desire."- Jarred "Calm down Jarred. These things can not be taken so lightly," said Elm. She and Ren had realised the fact that there can be a hidden meaning behind words. They stared straight into Jarred''s eyes, and he soon realised their intentions too. "I will be straight then. As we are from a different world, our morals and laws might be completely different from this world. So, our first condition is that the laws and ethics of this world shouldn''t be forced onto us. Secondly, we don''t have any strong moral obligations to the people of this world. So, in desperate times, neither my friends nor I will choose them over ourselves. Thirdly, our privacy and ''individual will'' must be respected."-Ren "Hahaha...I am impressed Ren-dono, though this was well under my considerations." exclaimed king Agonis. "As you all are from a different world, you might face some difficulties adjusting to this world. I understand. In the case of extreme situations, we shall have discussions with you all and the scholars of this world before making any decisions. But, please try to follow the laws as far as possible. As for the second condition, we promise that we will never hold you all responsible for the problems of this world. You all are free to make and follow your own decisions in life-threatening situations. And, of course, your privacy will be respected. Not only that, you all will be given high respect by all the people of Wisteria. Will that do, ''people from another world''?" ""Yes, Your Majesty.""(all seven) "So be it then. I, as the high King Agonis and as the leader of the Council of Five, at this moment, announce that as per the laid conditions, you all will be known as the ''Holy Knights of the Old Gods'' and save the people from all evil." ---- The next morning, they were summoned by the royal Priests into the inner parts of the castle. The Knight Melva, an experienced trainer of knights, and Lady Heather, a retired elf sorceress, guided them. They were basically chosen by the Council of Five to teach the basics of magic and combat and other common knowledge to the recently appointed Holy Knights. They arrived at a church like building at the back of the castle. There they were received by the Priests and were led indoors. The interior looked extravagant in its decorations with various paintings. There were rows of benches leading to a pedestal and with a tall statue behind it. One of the priests explained that it was the statue of the Guardian. The statue was of a man wearing long robes, and the head was shrouded entirely with a hood. No matter how much they looked, the statue seemed to be of a grim reaper, without the scythe, but extending his hands towards the people like an angel. But, without a doubt, it was a statue of the Guardian. In fact, it was the only real statue of the Guardian among all those that have been discovered. It was excavated some hundred years back when the basement of the church was being dug to insert the virgin crystals as a relay point. A stone tablet was also discovered near the statue which informed the scholars that this was the actual statue of the Guardian. The Holy Knights were led down to that basement, where the relay point was installed, for their identification process. They were surprised after seeing the strange crystal formation and the white smoke like substance that was seeping out from its base. Lady Heather gave a simple explanation that the smoke like substance is Ynni, the natural Astral Energy; with a promised to explain in detail later. There they did their identification one by one. The crystal cards came out respectively sometime later. They didn''t understand much that was written there. But, when they showed it to the people present there, everybody was surprised. They knew that the summoned beings are strong, but such results still surprised them. Especially, when they were told that the summoned ones had no prior experience in using mana. First up was Jarred with the highest level among them. In fact, it was higher than most of the Godlings of the country of the same age. Name: Jarred Level: 589 Race: High Human Age: 17 Sex: male Note: This ID was made at the Westasia Royal Capital relay point. The ways of using this card and the terms and conditions are on the other side. And also being a high Human, the priests were sure that he was destined to be a great knight. Moreover, his card was red in colour, which indicates that his mana was more suitable for strong fire and ice-based magic. Next was Ren, whose level was quite high too. Name: Ren Level: 522 Race: Dark Elf Age: 17 Sex: male He also had a promising future as a knight. His racial characteristics were apparent in his brown skin and white hair. And his card was golden in colour. It represents the strong lightning based properties of his mana. The others had comparatively high levels too. Name: Elm Level: 488 Race: High Elf Age: 17 Sex: female Her card was silvery in colour. The colour represents the storms. Basically, her mana has strong water and air like properties. Name: Calla Level: 513 Race: High Pixie Age: 16 Sex: female Her card was white in colour, as most of the sprite races. It means that she can become proficient in anything if she practised. Name: Oliver Level: 469 Race: High Demi-human(Felis type) Age: 17 Sex: male His card was bluish in colour. The colour represented the endowment type which means that his mana can endow various properties on crystals and magic metals or his own body. His friends were sure that Oliver was hiding his tail after knowing about his race. His cat ears were also entirely concealed by his hair. But, alas, he couldn''t hide it anymore, and everybody started laughing after seeing his tail. Oliver sure was quite angry. But his anger subsided when the ladies called him cute. Name: Jasmine Level: 439 Race: High Human Age: 17 Sex: female Her card was green in colour. She could become excellent in alchemy based works or healing if she trained. Name: Sorrel Level: 480 Race: Elder Dwarf Age: 17 Sex: male His card was brown in colour like most of the dwarfs. It meant high proficiency in using earth magic. The proficient earth mages can even produce precious magic metals out of thin air by converting their mana into matter. Although Sorrel was an Elder Dwarf, he looked almost human but with a bigger skull, large pointy ears and brown eyes and hair. Ren and Elm seemed no different from a human too, except the greenish-yellow eyes, long pointy ears, attractive faces and their beautiful slim figure like that of supermodels. Only Calla was a little different with her short stature and beautiful white eyes and hair, which had a faint glow. It appeared to be very out-of-the-world to her friends. Melva-san was very excited after looking at their levels. Unintentionally, his grin surfaced on his face as he was thinking of the training routines to mould them into mighty warriors. This terrified the girls. But lady Heather reassured them that she will definitely keep a check on Melva-san. After that, they were back in the church. The high Priests explained them about Astral Energy and its two types, Mana and Ynni. They also gave lectures about the use of mana using small demonstrations. Everybody''s eyes sparkled as they saw real magic for the first time in their life. Each of them was told about the fundamental nature of their mana, and for their first lesson, everybody tried collecting a small amount of mana in their hands. It glowed beautifully after being collected and concentrated at a point. It looked surreal, mostly to the girls, but the boys were expecting such developments from the knowledge of games. But at some point, the small ball of mana of Calla started getting hotter, and she screamed. Heather-san rushed for her help and quickly absorbed the raw mana with a ''virgin crystal'' which she had pulled out of her small bag. Heather-san was praised for her quick actions and judgement; although she denied it by saying that it was because of her years of experience in guiding students. She was, in fact, a former teacher in the Royal Elven Academy. The lectures were stopped for that day, and the Holy Knights returned to their rooms. ---- They couldn''t just suppress their excitement, and everybody started discussing loudly after they reached their rooms. A fresh new world, new bodies and the new found powers were curling up their blood. New places to travel, new foods to eat and exciting new adventures were calling them. How can they just sit idly? They decided to go down to the city in the evening. After lunch, they met with Melva-san and Heather-san and took permission from them. But, Heather-san said they shouldn''t go alone for now. So, both of them accompanied the Holy Knights in their first visit to a city in another world. Chapter 4; Red & White Princesses Red & White Princesses I spent the following week learning about this world and studying magic and combat in the High Gardens. There are a lot of books to read in the study. There are the encyclopedias of flora and fauna with beautiful drawings, books about the mighty kings of Wisteria and a few of them about the various races, their culture and their way of life. Although I couldn''t finish them all, I went through the essential parts and somehow arrived at a conclusion. This world follows the religion of the seven Gods. But, most of the followers are race specific. There is also a central figure known as the Guardian who is known all over the world as a great sage, who taught many things to the people of the races. Many of the laws of this world are said to be discovered by him. And also, it was he who further developed the use of magic. There is also a historical figure known as the Evil God. He is known as a malicious and notorious God. He used to live a whimsical life, destroying everything that displeased him. In the legends, the seven Gods are portrayed as battling him and defeating him, like the victory of the good over the evil. But that was not an end to it. Some of the historians say that Evil God will return to take his revenge and the world as we know today will change, and, the time is near. Oh good God! What a time to come to a different world! Honestly, I am not so fond of wars and tragedy. I want to live a peaceful life, earning enough to live without any difficulties and save enough for the future. Well, come to think of it, that might not be necessary. I won''t be getting old anyway. High Sprites have a very long lifespan. The prof. said that some of the sprite races live for thousands of years and they stop ageing after reaching maturity. Also, the High Undeads are believed to be almost immortal, although not much is known about them. So, I can safely assume that I have a long lifespan too, unless, misfortune befall me. Anyway, I have alll the time in the world to learn and play. For now, I should just sit under the trees in the garden soaking in the warm sunlight and relax... ---- "Kenn...Kennny...Kenny, wake up...It is already noon. Have your lunch quickly. After that, we have the training to do."-Mimosa Looks like I fell asleep. Ah, it is already noon. I slept the whole morning. Usually, I don''t feel the need to sleep. But, if I relax for some time and start wandering in my thoughts, I quickly fall asleep. The lunch was bread and fish curry today. The curry was light, without too many spices and the fish is called the red-tailed runner. It is big fish, about 1.5 meters long, found in abundance in the lake. Since my race was identified, my diet is no more limited to flesh and blood. After the lunch, I helped Mimosa do the dishes, and then it was time to practice magic and combat. In fact, this last week, Mimosa has been regularly sparring with me and teaching me the various ways to use my mana. ---- In the beginning, I practised a lot to learn to collect and control mana effectively. When I started, I required much concentration to control mana. But with time and practice, I became able to do that as naturally as breathing. It is like learning to ride a bicycle or learning to swim. Then I learned to form a ball of mana which can be used as a light source. It is done by compressing the mana into a small ball in your palm until it starts glowing brightly and becomes a little warm. Then it can be released into the air or stuck somewhere in a wall. It shines for quite a while depending on the amount of mana concentrated. By the way, the artificial light in this world is created the same way. Mana is poured into virgin crystal bulbs, and they are hanged on the walls. The crystals can be reused. On the third day, she taught me about forming small darts out of mana. She pointed her finger at a small tree in the garden. Mana started gathering at her fingertip and formed the shape of an elongated cone. Suddenly, the glowing dart flew from her hand like a bullet and tore off a branch from the tree. There were burnt marks in the freshly cut parts, and the plant''s mana was leaking from it. When it was my turn, she asked me to imagine the shape in my head when forming the dart. I formed a small white bullet, of highly compressed mana and imagined it flying out from my fingertip like firing a gun. The glowing white bullet flew off at incredible speeds leaving a white trail and destroyed my target tree including all the ones behind it and disappeared into the forest...I decided not to practice it in the garden again. Mimosa stared blankly in the direction of the bullet for a few moments. She said that she had never seen something so strong made out of pure mana. We stopped magic practice for that day and started our first combat practice. First lessons were about controlling the amount of mana while doing body strengthening. I could already do that from the running-in-the-forest practice. But apparently, that was not enough. She shot the dart again, but this time she moved fast as soon as the dart left her hand and caught it before it hit the target. Although the dart hit her palm, there was no wounds or burnt marks. I was confident that I could do it too if I concentrated more mana in my legs. Mimosa shot the dart again, and I ran as soon as it left her hand. But, I couldn''t stop right before the tree and crashed into the grove...I definitely needed more practice. ---- That night I decided to make runs in the forest to have more precise control over this superhuman strength, which is very necessary in this world to protect myself. I asked for permission from Mimosa and the prof. during dinner. The prof. was hesitant to let me go alone, but Mimosa reassured him that I will be okay. Although he allowed me to go, he asked me not to go too far out in the forest. I put on my outdoor gear, attached the small knife to my belt, in case of any dangers, and ran towards the forest. The cool moonlight, the silence, the occasional breeze and the small wraiths moving in the ground like tiny glowing rabbits; the forest is lovely at night too. I spread mana all around my body and turned on the full body enhancement mode. When I started my practice, I ran a little faster than usual. Though occasionally I hit the small branches here and there, it was better than not being in complete control. I also tried jumping and doing other acrobatics in the air, which I could never do so easily back in Earth, because of the risk of accidents, but that is not a problem here, as I don''t get hurt even if I fall on my face. I increased my power slowly and slowly, and after some time I was running with all of my strength. The scenery was changing so fast that it almost became difficult to keep track of where I was heading. It almost felt like, I could teleport. The moment I decided on being there, I was there. The speed was overwhelming. Slowly, my reflexes also caught up to my speed, and I never had any small accidents. And not only my speed but my strength is also at superhuman levels too. Once while running, my feet got stuck in a crack on a big rock, and when I tried to pull my leg out, the rock broke into two. I felt like I was just kicking sand. Afterwards, I tried my strength on some trees and other rocks. They...were obliterated. ---- I kept practising for some more time until my head started getting heavy and my power decreased as my mana levels went down. Suddenly, I noticed some clearing in the distance and decided to head there for a little rest. When I got there, I was surprised to know that it was the coast of the lake. I was standing on a high cliff, and down there I saw a small sandy lake shore. It was later when I came to know that I went pretty far from home that day and reached the southern coast of the lake and the northernmost tip of the Aster mountains.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I jumped down the cliff and walked towards the water. The calm waters and the big moon in the night sky looked very beautiful. It may be late now, but the moon here is more prominent and brighter than that of the earth. I am sure that the tides will be very high here. Now now, when you are in such a beautiful shore and don''t enter the water, it is called bad manners. So, I looked towards my left and right and sensing nobody, I removed all my clothes and entered the water. The cold water was very refreshing... I closed my eyes and slowly..... *sigh...I was again swept away by that beautiful feeling. When I slowly opened my eyes, I found myself sleeping on the lap of a lovely lady. Surprised, I jumped up and made some distance between us. I was confused. But it was certain that she had pulled me up from the lake to the shore. Anyway, I decided to introduce myself. "Hello. I am Kenny. I want to thank you for pulling me up to the shore." I made a small bow and thanked her. "Ara ara...Why are you acting like we have met for the first time and being so distant?" She stood up and replied to me smiling, in a beautiful pose with her hands in front of her. "And you have become quite a big pervert, haven''t you? Sleeping in the lake naked." "..." Now, that I recall I jumped naked into the water. That means...I looked down. Oh! Good, God! I am wearing my shorts. She chuckled. "Don''t worry. I slipped those shorts up your legs." My face was red. I was so embarrassed that I felt like I would dig a hole in the beach and bury myself. ---- Well, now that I have a good look at her, she is definitely beautiful. Her beautiful white hair that shines in the moonlight, her pearl-like blue eyes and the simple, yet elegant one-piece dress that she is wearing, beautifully accentuates her curves and she look like a beautiful fairy. But I was confident that I hadn''t met her before. Why is she acting so familiar? "Well, I think...that this is the first time we meet," I said a little nervously. "Is that so?" She tilted her head a little, looking confused. But a few moments later she gave a smile as if she had decided and said. "Ah...I mistook you for my husband. I always make such silly mistakes. I am really very sorry." No no no...that is definitely not a silly mistake. I look just a kid right? How can you mistake me for your husband? But I couldn''t retort like that when she apologised with such a beautiful smile. "Let me properly introduce myself. I am Mary. Some people know me as the ''Snow Princess''. I am a High Wraith." High...Wraith!! Is she like those little white ghosts of the forest? I was bewildered. But when I observed her carefully, I noticed that her waist long hair changed to Ynni towards the end. Her clothes were also indistinctive at the boundaries as if they were slowly dissolving in the air. "Ara ara...Kenny has constantly been staring at me for some time. Has my beauty, perhaps, charmed you?" She said in a teasing way. "No no no...I mean yes...I mean you are indeed lovely *cough, The thing is that, this is the first time I have met a high Wraith." "Ah..that was the reason. Looks like you were raised by the living in spite of you being an undead." This time I was the one who was surprised and shocked. "Umm..how do you know about me being a high undead?" I have to know to protect my secret from leaking out any further. "About that? It was your unique skill which told me a lot about you. You also seem to have sprite blood mixed in you. That explains your extremely high mana affinity." she explained. Then her lips curled up in a teasing manner and said, "And, looks like you are a virgin." "Though the last part was unnecessary." *cough, That did hurt my pride as a man. "What is this unique skill that you speak off?" "Ara...are you unknowingly using your skill? I thought you were gathering Ynni and life force from the lake." Gathering Ynni..and life force? Hmm...it is true that when I go to places with high Ynni concentration, my heart starts feeling strange and I start to get drowsy. Do that goes inside me? If this is related, this might help me to solve my ''automatic switch-off'' problem. I took a deep breath and decided to ask her about this strange skill. "Mary-san, you seem to know about this skill. Will you please tell me about it?" "Yes yes...I will tell you everything that I know." ---- We talked a lot after that. I learned many things from her. According to her, my unique skill is powerful as it allows me to absorb Ynni from the environment and convert it and store it in my body as my own mana. This skill also allows me to absorb life force from the living and undead directly. Though I can absorb from the wraiths and other undead like the lich or the zombies by merely touching them, the same is not possible with the living. I can acquire their lifeforce only by touching their internals directly. This unique skill of mine makes my mana capacity almost infinitely large, and I can do any powerful magic very efficiently. And my High Sprite blood gives me complete control over any magic affinities. She also taught me how to use my powers. My first lesson was to learn to absorb enough mana from the environment. I dived into the lake again, as according to Mary-san, it is easier to absorb while in water and so it acts as a perfect place to practice for a beginner like me. As soon as I entered the water and closed my eyes, the wild pleasant feeling assaulted me. My mind was getting empty, and I knew what ahead of after that. I opened my eyes and tried to concentrate on avoiding passing out. Mary-san advised me to try passing enough mana to my head if my consciousness works to slip away. For starters, I moved mana to all my body as extra safety measures and activated the full body enhancement mode. Mary-san was right. Now, I could feel the Ynni entering my body through my skin and collecting near my chest. But this time the drowsiness was not there. My head was as bright as a beautiful mountain stream. When I enhanced my senses, I could feel the flow of Ynni and the lifeforce of the wraiths floating in the water. My eyes were so sharp that I could clearly see the far fishes through the dark waters of the lake. I decided to test my full power, so I enhanced my senses further. I felt a wonderful omnipotent feeling as if I was floating in a vast open space and my brain was recording everything. I could sense the smallest shrimp-like creatures crawling at the bottom, to the giant water beasts in the far depths of the lake. It felt beautiful as if I was a part of this world. ---- Mary-san was very happy when I told her that I succeeded in my first attempt in the first lesson. The second lesson was to learn to absorb Ynni directly from the soil. To be honest, it was pretty hard in the beginning. When I told her that I was facing difficulty in learning it, she asked me to activate full body enhancement again and try to feel the flow of Ynni in the ground below. It was pretty easy after that. But, I had to learn to do it usually, as if breathing, without doing any enhancements in my body. I tried over and over again. Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. I tried to spread some of my own mana in the ground through my feet. I was correct. Because of my high affinity to mana, my mana absorbs a little Ynni. And once I get the feel, I could naturally absorb the Ynni. After that, I was pleased to know that I would never run out of mana again. ---- As it was getting pretty late, I decided to return home for that day. I wanted to get a little sleep too, though sleep is not a necessity for me as I am part undead. But, being a former human, I can''t say no to the beautiful feeling of sleeping. Mary-san said that she should return to her home too, which is somewhere on the plains on the east side of the lake. But before she left, she asked me not to tell others about our meeting. She also taught me a method to contact her if I want to meet with her again. ---- I reached home quickly as I could run very fast now. Finding my way through the forest was also not a problem because of my heightened senses. When I opened the front door, I found Mimosa standing there wearing a shawl, and...she looked apprehensive. She jumped and hugged me. "Kenny, you were out for such a long time. I was soo worried." She separated and said with moist eyes."You were also outside the perception range of both prof. and me. Where did you run off too? Did you come across some kind of danger?" "No no Mimosa, I didn''t come to across any kind of danger. Look, I am fine. Please don''t cry." Her moist eyes and worried look really saddened my heart. "I wanna apologise for making you worried. I also broke my promise of not going too far. I am really very sorry. The truth is, I became so excited when I was able to run fast across the forest that I completely lost track of where I was heading and reached a sandy shore of the lake in the south." "Southern shore? Did you go that far? The uninhabited shores of the lake are very dangerous Kenny. There are strong wraiths there. You should be very careful while visiting such places." she warned me with a serious look on her face. But she softened shortly after. "Mou...I am delighted that you are safe Kenny. Please inform me from now on, before going to such dangerous places." Strong wraiths...Is she talking about Mary-san? She did seem to be very strong I thought. Now, I was not sure whether I should tell her about meeting Mary-san. In the first place, I don''t know much about Mary-san. Neither do I understand why she asked me not to talk about her. But I felt very wrong to hide it from Mimosa. So, I decided to collect information about High Wraiths before doing anything hasty. "Ah, please don''t worry, Mimosa. The place was not that dangerous. Rather I think that it is a very good place for practising." "Even so...please be careful Kenny," Mimosa said. "Please never provoke the strong wraiths if you meet any." "Yes yes, I will never make you worry Mimosa." She gave a charming smile when I said that. If I had a camera, I would have definitely captured her smile. As it was almost dawn, we went to our rooms and tried to get a little sleep before another beautiful day begins. Chapter 5; Violent Delights Violent Delights The next day when I woke up, I noticed a few changes in my body; like my muscles were a little more developed, my shoulders were broader and, my height had changed too. I would have been confused by now, but...nothing can surprise me anymore. Yes, yes...that''s the correct way of thinking, right? Maybe it has to do something with me using my Unique Skill yesterday. Let''s ask Mary-san the next time I meet her. Thinking about Mary-san, she was...mysterious. I wanted to know more about her. After the morning breakfast of tea and lightly salted dried meat, I went to the library of the High Gardens looking for information about High Wraiths. Of course, I decided not to tell about Mary-san to the prof. and Mimosa. So, I kept my real intentions a secret. ---- The main library is located on the ground floor of the ruins. But later, a secret passage was discovered to some underground chambers, which contained more valuable books and other materials. Several priceless relics and antiques were found down there, most of which were sent to the Royal Elven Academy with the prof.''s previous party members for inspection. At present, only some general information books remain there and the prof. has allowed me to browse them. I have always loved books, the fantasy ones, the thrillers, the books on legends and myths, as well as the encyclopedias and sciences books. So, I was delighted when I visited the library for the first time. Although the books here are inferior in quality, probably printed with very primitive technology, the wonderful feeling of reading antique books cannot be belittled in any way. ---- I remember, Mary-san mentioned that she is known as the ''Snow Princess'' by some people. Here, ''Princess'' definitely doesn''t refer to royalty, I guess. Maybe she is a living legend. So, I started looking for books on folklores and myths. I quickly found some and read them. ...and I read. I read many myths, and all of them were quite dangerous. Many legends say that the High Wraiths were formed when the Gods of the past perished, and their strong lifeforce, vast mana, and powers were absorbed by the surroundings creating these powerful deities like creatures that roam the world looking for a way to get their revenge, even today. Quite dangerous!! Many other books also say that they are worshipped as deities, many are known as the New Gods. Some of them are considered evil and some good; some take lives, and some can even revive the dead ones, the latter obviously seemed like an exaggeration of the folktales. So, I decided to look for some real facts, instead of believing the myths. I found a book by an explorer-changed-author who provided some information based on his real-life experiences. He wrote in his book that he met a High Wraith for the first time when he was investigating a deserted village, which was known to be inhabited by strange monsters that occasionally come out and rampage in the nearby small colonies. He and his party were affiliated to a nearby Adventurers'' Guild and were handed the job by the guild''s higherups after many previous adventurers went missing doing the same. The explorer and his party, who were quite well-known during their time, were uncertain and nervous before entering the village too. So, they decided to investigate the monsters that came out first. They made their camp in a nearby village and awaited the appearance of the unknown. After a week of stay in the small village, one peaceful night, they heard it, fearsome bellowing of bulls strong enough to strike terror in the heart of any seasoned warrior, coming from the direction of the deserted village. Although they were on high guard, they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of the phantoms and other undead monsters that came out from that village after that fearsome roar. They fought bravely and defeated the monsters with great difficulty. As the battle drew towards an end, it appeared, half man half bull, almost 30 feet tall with stiff, bulky muscular arms reaching his knees. Shiny silvery fur adorned its body as if it was a sacred beast sent by the Gods to carry out His duties. It bellowed once again. The roars tore apart the earth, and the other surviving monsters fled. The explorer lost all of his party members in the battle which followed. He considers himself fortunate to survive that ordeal with few injuries. After that incident, he resigned from his job and settled down as a writer. Several years later, he made a few scouting trips to that village during the day when the monsters are least active and managed to collect valuable information. According to his reports, the village reared cattle in large numbers during its prosperous times. But a natural disaster wreaked havoc upon that village, and all of the residents, along with their reared beasts perished before any help could arrive. The lifeforce of the people and the animals slowly merged together and formed that strong Minotaur High Wraith. After studying his reports, many scholars came to the conclusion that High Wraiths are formed in places where the mass amount of living creatures died, either due to natural reasons or artificial ones like large-scale wars. But the theory changed little by little with time, and now, many people believe that the High Wraiths are messengers from hell who appear in vast scale battlefields to collect souls. ---- Seriously! All of this is a little too unbelievable. If this theory is correct, then, the High Wraiths symbolize death, and not just a single death, they express a...genocide. Okay, let''s calm down a little. All of this is a little too hard for me to imagine. As I cannot possibly comprehend the story behind the creation of a High Wraith like Mary-san, for now. But I did understand one thing. The High Wraiths are strong. And, as for Mary-san...she seemed very strong. Well, to my eyes, she didn''t appear dangerous, though. Instead, a lovely, charming aura was emanating from her. She also asked me to come and meet her whenever I feel so. But after reading all these stories and listening to the warnings of Mimosa, I decided not to meet her, at least for now, until I know more about her. Before we parted, she asked me if I remember anything unusual after using my Unique Skill, and when I said no, she looked a little lonely. I wonder what she meant by that... ---- It is late in the afternoon, and darkness is slowly covering the sky. And, I am here, in the middle of the red forest, some few kilometers away from the High Gardens, staring intensely at Mimosa, who is staring back at me with a predatory look on her face, ready to jump at any time and rip my neck apart. How did this happen?The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ---- In the afternoon, I met Mimosa for my usual daily lessons. I told Mimosa about my improvement in using my strength and also, about my Unique Skill. But I did omit some parts. I told her only that I can acquire mana and lifeforce from the undead and the living. I kept the part about absorbing Ynni from the environment a secret, as I thought that...Mimosa might consider me to be some kind of monster and discard me away. I was very insecure...and I was definitely wrong in that. After I finished explaining, Mimosa was surprised to the point of being speechless. And then, she was in deep thought. Finally, when she had decided to talk, she asked me if I remember anything before being rescued by the professor. I said that I didn''t remember anything, which was actually not a lie considering my sudden transfer to this world. "Ah! Now I get it, Kenny. You are also a Godling like me. And you inherited your powers from one of the superior Old Gods. I am fairly sure about this ''cause I, too, inherited a similar Unique Skill from the Old Gods. My Skill allows me to absorb mana from the living and the undead directly by touching their internals. In a way, my Skill is inferior to you, but I can assure you that I have vast battle experience and will not lose to anybody." Mimosa exclaimed with a hefty smile on her face. "C''mon Kenny, let''s have a match. I shall see how much of that strength you have mastered." ...and that was what led to this situation. Mimosa suggested that we should fight in the forest to avoid unnecessary destruction of the High Gardens. As for our own safety, we decided not to use any weapons. The use of magic attacks was banned too. ---- I put on my usual hunter clothes, and Mimosa wore similar garments too. And so, everything was ready...except my mind. How can I fight someone as strong as her, who has, who knows, how many hundred years of battle experience? Someone? Anyone? Please save me.....This onee-san is going to do some mean things to me. Please help me!!! But no matter how much I cried(in my mind), no matter how much I screamed(in my mind)...there was nothing that could be done. This world is too unfair!!! "Are you ready, Kenny?" she asked with a smirk. "Since this is your first proper fight after learning everything anew, I will go easy on you. But you can attack me with your full power." She is obviously provoking me to attack her first. Though I am scared to the bone, I cannot show her that, right? There is also the ''pride of a man'' thing. I twisted my lips and put on a (false)confident smile. "Save your confidence for some other day. ''cause if you don''t, I am going to crush that. I will show you my full power". That''s it! That''s it! I said it. There is no going back now. I activated my full body enhancement mode and made a charge, leaving the cracked earth behind. ---- My fist directed at her face was splendidly blocked by her crossed arms. Her legs, rooted firmly on the ground, didn''t move an inch. But the ground cracked and formed a considerable depression. "Not bad, boy." Mimosa smiled. "But that is not enough." And before I could correct my posture, a strong kick landed on my abdomen, and I was sent flying backward. I flew to a great distance crushing many trees on the way. Suddenly I sensed Mimosa on my back. Immediately I bent forward, rooting my left hand on the ground and performing a horse kick on her. This time I successfully caught her by surprise, and she flew upwards, breaking the tree branches. This filled me up with confidence, as I saw that I had a real chance of standing in front of her in a fight. "Not yet, Mimosa." I smiled. "Hou! Don''t get overconfident, Kenny." She replied. "Here I come." That was just the start of our match; one that started just as a test of my abilities; but became a competition of reflexes and ''techniques of martial arts,'' devastating the landscape of the peaceful Red Forest, as if a violent storm and earthquake had co-occurred. Unfortunately, I had little to no knowledge of martial arts and almost zero fighting experience back then. While on the other hand, Mimosa had full mastery in hand-to-hand combat techniques, enough to be called an expert brawler. So, I had to make numerous flying trips from here to there. Before I could know what was happening, punches and kicks came out of nowhere, and I was pushed to a defensive position. Although I made several counterattacks, all were splendidly blocked by Mimosa, leaving no openings. ---- The match was over when I found myself buried in the rubble of earth and fallen trees. Well, if it had been an actual fight, I could have got out of there in no time, and the match would have continued. But in front of expert warriors like Mimosa, that would have been an enormous opening, enough to silence me forever. "Let us stop here for today," said Mimosa, extending a hand towards me. I brushed up my clothes and sat down under a nearby tree, collecting mana to refill my power. Mimosa drank a small amount of blood, which she carries in small bottles, that basically look like potions from RPG games. Vampires use their saliva as anti-coagulant and preservative to store blood. Sometime in the middle of our fight, she did body enhancement too. So, I guess she used up some of her mana also. Honestly, I was terrified when I saw her in that form. Her eyes were shining crimson red, and a thin film of reddish mana was covering her upper body. This may be because her card is mostly red in color, with a layer of green towards the end and white boundaries. After that, she sat down near me, and we talked a lot. She explained to me some of my mistakes and taught several essential factors that must be remembered during a battle. Slowly the night fell, and when it was time for us to return, Mimosa suggested that we make a small detour. ---- After following her for some time, we reached the northern tip of the Aster Mountains. In a small clearing of the forest, I saw a beautiful pond dotted with pretty glowing water lilies. The water was as clear as glass with an unnatural glow to it. The lake was being fed by a small but tall waterfall, which was equally mesmerizing. The falling water shined like pretty snowflakes under the moonlight. Maybe that why this waterfall is known as the ''SnowFalls,'' which I learned from Mimosa. Hmm...thinking about Mimosa, where did she go? But as soon as I turned back, "Mi...Mi...Mimosa, what are you doing?" she appeared out of nowhere wearing nothing but her shawl wrapped around her body like a bath towel. "Now now, when there is such a beautiful waterfall lake before you, and you don''t enter the water, it is called bad manners," she said with a naughty smile on her face. "Moreover, didn''t we get quite dirty while playing in the forest?" She slowly walked towards the water, and when she had reached a waist-deep level, she removed the shawl and dived into the clear waters. She reappeared in the middle of the pond and called out to me. "C''mon Kenny, take a bath. This water is very refreshing." Well, I cannot say no to this, right? Please don''t misunderstand me. I am a very good boy with no impure thoughts. I kept on repeating this excuse in my mind, removed my clothes, but kept my shorts on this time, and dived into the waters following her. My water was very rich in mana and lifeforce, enough to dull my regular senses and cloud my mind. But, because of my practice, I could avoid losing consciousness, and after a little concentration, my senses were back to normal, and my mind was clear. I involuntarily absorbed some of the mana. The feeling was very refreshing, like entering a high-quality hot spring. Awesome! I would like to come here again, I thought. When I came to the surface, Mimosa hugged me from behind, with her hands over my shoulders. Her beautiful delicate hands with porcelain white skin contradicted the image of her during our match. So beautiful, yet so strong! But my mind was more disarrayed by the thought that there was a naked woman right behind me. "Kenny, do you like this place?" she asked with a whisper. "It is a beautiful place. The water has high concentrations of mana and lifeforce. It feels very refreshing. I would like to come here again." I replied with a little nervousness in my voice. She chuckled after hearing that. "The SnowFalls are fed by the ice of peak the Aster Mountains, where a divine beast lives. His mana and lifeforce slowly seep into the surrounding ice, which makes these waters so rich in mana. There is no visible outlet from this plunge pool, but the prof. found an underground channel, which drains the water during his first visit." she explained. "Divine Beast! Isn''t that dangerous?" I asked. "Don''t worry, Kenny. It is a very shy creature. It rarely comes down, let alone attack people. You can come here any time you like." She reassured me in her usual onee-san like voice. And that miraculously blew away all my anxiety. We relaxed in the water enjoying the serene beauty of the lake in tranquil silence for some time. She ran her fingers through my hair and hummed a mystic tune in my ears. After that she slowly separated from me and said, "Catch me, Kenny." in a hushed voice and dived again. I turned around and followed her into the depths illuminated by the beautiful glowing underwter flowers... Chapter 6; Peregrination Peregrination In the vast plains near the southern bank of the Abworth River, summer has not passed yet, and the grass is still green. The smell of rain still lingers around the sharp blades of grass and the bees buzz around the small patches of a flower. But the signs of early autumn are visible when one looks farther at the trees of the mountains. Somewhere in the middle of the lush green plains, one could spot several small groups of people chasing after some wild beasts which look like boars at first glance. They are actually several parties of adventurers trying to separate those beasts called Cape Warthogs from their herd and hunt them. They have already taken down one of them, and they need one more to complete their daily quota. It is actually quite a daunting task for an ordinary adventurer to face a Cape Warthog alone. The beast which stands tall at about 5 feet, with a large body wholly made up of firm bulky muscles is a powerful opponent. Its ramming attacks are especially very dangerous, as it can make a charge at unbelievable speeds in contrary to its size and slender legs. But it is more dangerous when in a group. The group can collaborate their mana to make magic attacks. They are outstanding in earth and defence magic. As for their eating habits, they are omnivores. They generally don''t hunt but eat carcases. They become very ferocious when provoked. So, many people avoid confrontation with them. But, the adventurers facing them are not ordinary. They are the most excellent parties comprising seasoned warriors and experienced mages of the commercial town of Moon-Harbor. They are here in an expedition, an expedition to fill up the blank spaces of the map of the southern bank of the Abworth River. ---- The strong warriors with large shields protected the mages as they barraged the herd with fire bullets from the back. The light warriors chased the crowd and tried to break their formation, avoiding the earth spikes that the pack would shoot occasionally. Slowly and slowly, they were pressurizing the herd and trying to create chaos among them and break their formation. But the Warthogs were not giving up that easily. Occasionally a strong one among the group would come out and make a charge at the shield bearers and the mages. The warriors were not completely safe, either. The battle continued for a long time, draining the strength of both sides. Then, suddenly one big Cape Warthog came out from the middle of the herd and made a strong ramming attach at the shield bearers. It was notably faster and stronger than the rest and sent several of the warriors flying. Maybe, they were also fed up with this cat and mouse game, and their leader came out to finish it. The beast stood there in the middle of the field with his head held high. It was apparently quite confident in its strength and wanted to pummel down anybody that dared to challenge him...and he was lucky, as his challenger was ready as well. "Leave this rascal to me boys. I will solo it down." - Filbert H''olland. "But, but...Filbert, this one particularly looks very strong. I think it will be better to encircle it with the shield bearers and barrage it with attacks."-Rody, his party member. "What? Didn''t you see how it overpowered our strongest shields? That bastard is powerful." Filbert declared with his sword held high "But I will crush its pride." "But...", realizing that he cannot stop him any more, Rody decided to give up. "Be careful Filbert-san." "Yosh, let''s do this." Saying so, Filbert stepped in front of the Warthog and unsheathed his treasured sword. The sharp katana-like sword glowed with a yellowish aura as it has been simmered numerous times in his mana. Filbert''s card is golden in colour with white boundaries. Naturally, he is one of the best thunder magic users of Moon-Harbor. He was born with high mana levels and an innate talent for swordsmanship and thunder magic. He has been training and developing sword techniques since childhood with his uncle, who is known as a legendary warrior surviving many battles. Filbert grew up to be healthy and wild and came to be respected by his peers. He wishes to put down his name in history by making significant accomplishments during this historic expedition. At a young age of 16, Filbert is a strong Godling. So nobody ever doubted his victory, except his opponent. The big Cape Warthog, who was presumed to be their leader, had its own share of pride. It made a terrifying war cry and charged at Filbert with all its strength and rammed with its enormous tusks. But its confidence levels took a considerable shock when Filbert stopped its charge by taking the full force head-on. Both of their sword and tusk were interlocked, trying to push each other in a competition of strength. "Is that all you got, little pig?" Filbert said in a provoking way. The Warthog got further enraged and attacked with magic. He stomped his feet, and the ground under Filbert collapsed. Filbert made some graceful backflips and took some distance. This time Filbert charged with yellowish mana wrapped around his sword. He ran so fast that his figure vanished from the eyes of the Warthog and numerous slashes landed on its body. Strong electricity ran through its body, stiffening the muscles. "Hora Hora" Filbert kept attacking, and wounds piled up on the Warthogs body, who was clearly at a disadvantage. Seeing no way out, the Warthog gathered every bit of mana of its body and enhanced the body. The stiffness of its muscles disappeared, and brownish mana enveloped its black fur, making it look more terrifying. "Filbert-san, be careful. It can do the full-body enhancement." Rody tried to warn Filbert. "Heh, that doesn''t matter. It will be our today''s hunt anyway," said Filbert. The Warthog charged at Filbert again. But this time it successfully pushed him back with its strength which had also increased tremendously. "Don''t...don''t worry. I will definitely kill it." Filbert struggled using all his strength."You bastard...you''ve left me no other option. I will show you my full force." Filbert had no other way but to his trump card. Yellowish mana was emitted by his upper body, and he activated his upper body enhancement. He could not do a full-body-enhancement as he hadn''t completed his training. Tables turned, and Filbert overpowered the Warthog. He made substantial cross slashes, and the tusks of the Warthog fell off. The Warthog was terrified and tried to escape. But its luck had already run out. Before it knew what was happening Filbert was there, before him, and the Warthog saw a flash...Its head flew off, and the battle was over. The remaining Cape Warthogs escaped towards the mountains seeing their leader killed. The three parties that were there for hunting congratulated Filbert for his incredible feat. "Heh...that was nothing," Filbert responded proudly. "Let''s go back and show its head to the old man." ---- Near the bank of the Abworth river, inside an unusually large tent, the atmosphere was tense, as several of the crucial members of the expedition team were participating in an important discussion. "Master Yon, I think, it will be better to move closer to the mountains. The Hissing Grove will be thinner there, and we will be able to cross it faster and safer." The dwarf leader Alfosdor proposed an idea about their future route. "Hmm, that may be a good idea. But it contains too many unreliable risks. We have no information about the south of Hissing Grove. There might be several monster nests at the base of the mountains. There is also the possibility of unknown strong monsters coming down from the hills at night looking for easy prey. I believe it is better to avoid that path. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.Furthermore, most of our luggage carts are not suitable for travel in mountainous terrain." The guild master of the ''Silver Hammer'' guild, the largest adventurers guild of the commercial town of Moon-Harbor, presented his view. He has accepted the role of Captain for this expedition. "Well, in that case, I think it will be better to stay close to the river bank. Though the forest will be thicker there, we will be able to gather a steady supply of food and water." Lady Jannet, an experienced and robust mage from MoonHarbour, is also participating in this expedition. "But Lady Jannet, most of the monsters also prefer to stay close to water. So our encounters with them will also be significantly higher. There is also the possibility of runnin'' into swamps, which retard our advance." Alfosdor said with slight irritation. "And I don''t wanna sleep with a cloud of blood flies swarming around me like voltures waiting for their prey to die." Blood flies is a common type of bloodsucking moth which is found near swamps in large swarms, and voltures are birds similar to the vultures of the earth; though they are significantly bigger here. "Well, swamps are also bad news. But we can''t roll too far from the banks, ''cause good water and food are important to maintain our strength." the Captain replied after a little thinking. "We shall also avoid random encounters with monsters. I don''t wanna lose any more of our talented young warriors before reaching our goal." The expedition team had already lost two of their members after entering the southern bank of the river. They crossed the river downstream because of the dangers of strong currents upriver. But the currents were still fast enough to land them further downstream in front of the ''Forest of Black Treants''. There they were welcomed by monstrous moving plants and strong undead that dwell in the dark forest. They had to struggle hard to escape with all of their luggage and members intact. But in the process, they lost two of their gallant warriors who sacrificed themselves so that the rest of the team can escape. The Captain wanted to fight back and save them, but the situation forced him to take hard decisions leaving unforgettable regrets in his heart. ---- Suddenly, the entrance of the tent was flung open, and Filbert with his party entered chivalrously carrying the head of the Warthog he had defeated. "Yosh, old man! Today I soloed down the leader of those Cape Warthogs. But the rest of the herd escaped towards the mountains." Filbert announced with a smirk on his face. "Let''s gather more members and raid their nests. What do ya say?" "Filbert, the objective of our expedition is to explore the southern banks of the Abworth River and ultimately find a way to the unexplored lands of the east where no man has ever set foot." The Captain yelled angrily."Did you forget that, lad? We are not here to salvage some monster nests. Moreover, who knows what type of strong beast dwell in those mountains other than those boars. We don''t want to make unnecessary confrontations." "Hmm, young bloods are so excited." Lady Jannet said with a teasing voice. "I am soo jealous of them." "Lady Jannet, you do look like a lovely young lass." The dwarf Alfosdor said with a flirting voice. "Ara, do you want to say that I am actually quite old, Master Dwarf?" Lady Jannet said with a smile but sharp eyes. Suddenly, the ground shook like the tremoring of a small magnitude earthquake. Everybody sharpened their senses and grabbed their weapons. A man came barging inside the tent and exclaimed, "Captain, a large Entelodont has come down from the mountains and is charging with a tremendous speed towards our base." The news terrified everybody inside the tent, except the large man, carrying an equally large sword on his back. His firm muscular build and confident eyes reassured everybody, and he shouted his orders. "Alfosdor, gather all the earth magic experts and build a defensive wall around our base. Lady Jannet, gather all the offensive mages and prepare for an attack. Ask Ryan and his party to be on standby on top of the wall. Filbert and his party, and the other shield bearers are coming with me. We are attacking it on the plains." The orders were heard loud and clear, and everybody rushed to their positions. ---- After seeing such a monster for the first time, anybody will flee hiding their tail between their legs. The giant Entelodont, standing tall at about 8 feet with an equally massive body, short slender legs, and a long muzzle is a very dangerous but rare beast. Its body is rather pig-like, with omnivorous eating habits and an incredible talent for earth magic. It can even destroy an entire village overnight. It also has two mammoth white tusks on its big head, which are considered legendary monster materials. Some scholars say that the Warthogs and wild boars are distant relatives of this ancient monster. It is indeed, quite a legendary monster. But the sharp eyes of the Captain, which had seen many battles and strong monsters, showed no fear. Holding the big black sword in his hands, he stood there in its way ready for another challenge. The Entelodont had also spotted him and decided his first target. It opened its big mouth, and mana gathered, forming a big ball of light, which shot out several large arrows of earth at unimaginable speeds towards the Captain trying to punch holes in his chest. But the Captain stood still, with seemingly no intention to evade. He made a broad sweep with his massive sword, and all the arrows vanished into thin air. The spectacle sent cheers among the expedition team members and enraged the Entelodont. Having decided to finish it with the next move, the Entelodont activated his full body enhancement mode and made a charge. His tusks emitted a glow and grew forwards forming a spear-like shape. "Is that so?" The Captain whispered in a low voice and then shouted. "I accept your challenge. Here I come." He, too, activated his full body enhancement mode and made a dash. The two of them clashed in the middle of the plains, sending debris everywhere. Sometime later, the roaring noises died down. When the dust cloud, the Entelodont had collapsed, and the Captain was standing proudly on top of it with his large sword stuck in its head and a victory glint in his eyes. The expedition team members cheered in joy. But the Captain was still vigilant. He immediately shouted his next orders. "This place is not safe anymore. We don''t know what will come down from the mountains next time to pay us a visit. Everybody prepare to depart. We are continuing our journey tomorrow." He yelled, "Rest tonight. We leave at dawn." ---- The Hissing Forest is a mysterious place. A disharmony of wild noises, predominantly those of foraging animals, reverberates through the air and overpowers the sounds of several woodpeckers and other birds in the distance. Although a myriad variety of dangerous monsters have made their nests deep inside the forest, the name Hissing Forest was not because of the various snake-like monsters that dwell in the forest in large numbers. It was mainly because of the strange curving trees, which wraps around the place mimicking mating snakes. These unique trees, and the creepers which hung from every tree limbs; and a mishmash of flowers desperately trying to claim the last remnants of light, which occasionally release a cloud of poisonous pollen; contrasted against the otherwise unchanging terrain, are the nightmares of the adventurers who had previously tried to enter the forest from different sides. But all these dangers were not enough to cower down the expedition team. They made their way through the lower parts of the forest, avoiding the dangerous mountainous terrain and other stronger monsters. They also managed to avoid the numerous swamps of the river banks by sending scouts ahead and made the intelligent use of smoke and other magic to scatter the swarms of blood flies and other disgusting and creepy insectoid monsters. They slew all the small-fry monsters which came looking for new, unusual prey. They cut down the poisonous plants and web-like creepers which blocked their way and advanced on their expedition. But the forest didn''t give up and managed to claim two lives by making a sudden poison attack. When the team had reached a damp but levelled part of the forest, they decided to lay camp and rest for the night. But suddenly, violet coloured mushrooms started sprouting all over the place at an unconvincing speed and released a cloud of poisonous gases. The members with high poison resistances helped the others to evacuate, and the mages applied detoxifying magic on a large scale. Due to the efforts of the senior members, the expedition team was able to escape. But the effects of inhaling the poisonous gases for a long time took the toll on them, and two of them collapsed. The team decided to abandon their corpses and put their effort into reaching safety, collecting small specimens for further research on the unusual monstrous plant. After a while, when they had left, and stillness had returned, the sparkling moss of the floor of the forest came alive, making wriggling movements and slowly swallowed the corpses whole. ---- A few days later, the expedition team discovered a corpse which they identified to be one of their scouts they had sent on ahead. He was killed by a tricky unknown trap set by goblins. This sad news sent anger and resentment among the group. And it was not too long after that when they got the chance to take their revenge upon those cunning little malicious and greedy monsters. The goblins ambushed them in a very dense part of the forest. Armed with poison arrows and blowguns, they attacked from their hideouts in treetops and thick bushes. Initially, they gave a lot of trouble to the expedition team. But they retaliated with all their might and hunted down all the hundreds of goblins. Their skilled healing mages were able to cure all of their nasty poison. The revenge was their, and they victoriously advanced through the dangerous Hissing Forest. ---- The Hissing Forest became thinner and thinner as they continued on their journey. The alleviation of the ground also rose, and their path became rough, inlaid with pebbles and rocks here and there. Slowly, the Hissing Forest gave away to a coniferous mountainous terrain. The temperatures also dropped, and they had to wear the fur of the Warthogs they hunted. After another few days of travel, they reached the headwaters of the Abworth River. Chapter 7; Mountain Sound Mountain Sound Coming out of the thick forest, the group was delighted after reaching the headwaters of the Abworth river. The tall frozen mountains in the south looked so magnificent that they stood there for quite a long time taking in all the artistic natural beauty, saving the images in their minds and swearing not to forget this beautiful sight for their whole life. Most of them had spent all their lives venturing out in the small forests and hills near the Moon-harbour. The scholars and mages have spent their lives in the north or in the Royal Capital. In a world with no means to look at fantastic colourful imagery, the surreal sight caught the young pioneers off-guard, and they experienced some of the best moments of their life during this expedition. In the distance, they saw the rumoured majestic ''Snowdeers''. The Snowdeers, in the backdrop of the beautiful mountains, looked beautiful like a painting. Even without having prior knowledge about them, one could tell that they are one of the rarest creatures in this world. One couldn''t even fathom the price of its pure white hide which glistens with a faint glow of silvery blue, which may be because of its mana and the rays of sunlight beating down on it. And, only a few have ever touched its diamond-like crystalline horns. It is an endangered beast found only in certain parts of the Aster Mountains. Legends say that there were many of them in the past. But overhunting has brought them to the brink of extinction. Nowadays, they are seen only in untouched places like this. But still, Filbert couldn''t stop himself from actually trying to hunt one of them down, before being smacked down by Lady Jannet. According to the legends, there is also a gate somewhere in this area, which leads to an equally majestic shrine at the mountain top. But as they had only a few hours of daylight left, they decided to search for it the next day. They set up camp for today, near the exit of the Hissing forest. The temperatures had dropped tremendously low, and some parts of the streams were frozen. So, they logged down trees and built many campfires. The ladies prepared hot barbequed meat and warm alcoholic drinks. The men with craftsman skills repaired their damaged weapons and sewed leather and fur into blankets for the cold nights of the mountains. The younger ones sat down near the fires singing and dancing, making merry until late in the night. ---- But the cold night was not as peaceful as they had hoped. This happened sometime past midnight. The captain was woken up by several strong presences. His highly trained magic sense abilities were sending off significant alarms in his head as if something strong were approaching them. He quickly got out of his tent and ordered the night lookouts to send emergency warnings to everybody. But they were late. The strong monsters which had visited them during the darkness of the night were the famous Cath Sith, popularly known as Shadow Cats. They are large and ferocious magical beasts, with a relatively muscular and sturdy build enough to hunt down those Snowdeers with ease. The spectral cats haunt the soaring peaks of the Aster Mountains and rarely come down to the plains, where the temperature is higher. And when they do so, it is mainly because of the lack of food or extreme weather atop the peaks. A young lad went towards the forest to pee, after their late-night drinking bouts. The drunken man froze when he felt the strong presences around him. His mind was howling to run, to escape. But the wild, murderous intent that was coming from all directions gripped his heart, and the fear petrified him. Suddenly a gush of cold freezing winds came out of nowhere, and his vision went white. ---- The ex-prince, currently an adventurer, Ryan was sleeping peacefully in his grand tent. Well, as for why he is an ex-prince, the reasons all sum up a royal feud and some other pretty complex circumstances. He was personally recruited by the captain for the expedition because of his talents with the bow. But his peaceful sleep was interrupted by the chaotic noises from outside. Suddenly a tall woman of a slightly darker complexion entered his tent. "Ah! You are already awake, Prince. I thought I would have the privilege of waking you up with my sweet tongue." she said, licking her lips with her tongue. "Mylisant, how many times do I have to tell you to call me just Ryan? And stop with your perverted tricks." He got down his hammock and continued, "So? How''s the situation outside?" "Well, it''s the Shadow Cats. You wanna come out and help the captain?" she asked and continued in a teasing tone. "This might be a chance to clean off that notorious name of yours." "Hahaha...I wonder what name you are talking about," said Ryan. And as he finished, the ground shook, and a massive explosion sound was heard. "O! I better be out there. Or that witch might blow us all down," Mylisant said in a hurry and prepared to leave. "Just don''t forget to look out for ''it''." Ryan spoke in a heavy tone, "and...Don''t die." "Oh my, look how caring you can be!" Mylisant said in a flirting tone and headed out. Further loud explosions and screaming shouts followed. But they were unable to instil the dread of the situation in the man. The mind of the man, called Ryan, was only focused on his objective. He sat there thinking for some time...then put on his battle gear, and left the tent. ---- Lady Janet immediately headed out after sensing the presence of enemies. Fear, you ask? It will be wrong to say that she wasn''t afraid. But she was bound by her duty; her duty to protect her fellow comrades. It didn''t allow her to sit idle while her fellow adventurers put their life on the line fighting the invisible enemy. The enemy was using the darkness of the night and illusion magic to hide. So the first thing she needed to do to help her comrades was to help them see the enemy. She decided to use an unusual spell, according to TPO. To preserve her own mana, she used 3 regular sized mana crystals and cast the ''Spirit''s Eyes'' spell. It is generally used by expert healers to identify the parts of the body which are alive and which are dead. The live parts show up by glowing with a faint bluish hue. Though this spell cannot pass through magic barriers and illusion spells, after long research, Lady Janet has been able to modify it to her satisfaction. Thus, it has become one of her original spells. All those alive began emitting a faint bluish glow, thus bringing their night visitors to the light. There were several of them. Knowing that they have been noticed, they began to come out of the dark.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. The weak-willed adventurers panicked at the sight of the mystical creature of the mountains. The shadow cats which stand tall at about 5-6 feet have a pitch-black furry coat with a white spot on its chest. No, that was not all. Upon close observation, one could see that their fur refracts and reflects light in strange ways, making them able to cast illusion spells. Their canines and claws were also made up of some kind of transparent material which gives them the ability to break magic barriers. With a large pool of mana, they can cast various ''Frost'' series spells. Their beautiful spectral white eyes send chills down one''s spine; as if they are directly looking at the soul. The captain was confused as to why they have attacked them, ''cause the cats tend to avoid encounters with humans. If possible, he wanted to avoid confrontation to reduce their losses. But, this time it looked like there was no other way. "Everybody, prepare for battle. Use fire magic as your main weapon and protect the mages." He shouted the orders, and the violent battle began. The battle that followed took a heavy toll from both sides. The cats were fast, enough to overwhelm even the highly trained warriors. So, they had to fight a defensive battle. Their barrier magic was failing and barely protected them from their Frost Breaths. Soon they were at the mercy of the shadow cats. The tables turned when Lady Janet arrived at the frontlines. With the help of her and the other mages, the adventurers retaliated with all their might. The captain himself plunged into the battle and protected his comrades from the cats'' frost attacks with his magic sword. The archers provided support with fire arrows. And slowly, the cats were reduced in numbers. The rest retreated back to the mountains when they realised that they might get annihilated. But the damaged had been done to both sides. 2 mages and 1 warrior had lost their lives. Slowly the dark clouds receded a little, and the moon shone its light on the aftermath of the battle. The captain stood there in the middle gazing at the beautiful heavenly object. His duty was to protect everybody in this expedition, and yet, he has failed again. He has again let his comrades die. The grief clutched his heart. "Those brave souls had already accepted the possibility of death when they joined this expedition. Master Yon, please don''t feel sad for their loss. They fought bravely and protected us. We should honour their sacrifice." Lady Janet said in a soft voice from his back. "Yes...right." muttered the captain in a heavy voice. "Come on C-a-p-t-a-i-n. Let us rest awhile before the sun comes up." "Yes." ---- The next morning the sun was late. No, it was not the sun, but the weather, which had become windy with occasional snowfall. The heavy clouds covered the sun, and the temperature fell further low. The conditions were very harsh to survive. They dismantled the corpses of the shadow cats and used the fur to cover their essential parts of the body. Food and alcohol were consumed in large amounts to maintain body heat. But the most onerous burden was on the head of the expedition team, the Captain, Alderman Yon. They had already consumed more than sixty per cent of their resources. Few of the members are suffering from significant injuries that take time to heal even with magic. And as for the death count, they have already lost 9 of their members. The current conditions are harsh, and it''s going to be even harsher from here on out. And...they have already accomplished one of their original objectives - to explore the southern bank of the river up to the headwaters. They why not return now, and try to conquer the unknown some other day. Another voice asked that - they have already come this far and their goal is not far away. So, why stop now? The captain was contemplating these choices and was lost in his thought. He was carrying the responsibility for the lives of the whole expedition team. Seriously, it was not a natural choice. Suddenly, a tall woman with a plain mask covering her face entered his tent. Her movements were so fast that someone ordinary wouldn''t have noticed her. But the captain had already felt her presence. He had also recognised her. So, he asked her without looking, "What is it, Mylisant?". Mylisant is currently acting as the leader of the scouts and rangers of the expedition group. She was tasked with searching the remaining shadow cats other possible nearby threats. "Ah Captain, I was looking for you, you know!" she said in her usual flirting tone. "There is good news for you. In search of those cats, I think I went a little further ahead, and...found it, the southern entrance to the ''Red Forest''." Hearing that he turned around and looked in her eyes with firm determination. "C..captain, w..why are you staring at me with such passionate eyes?" "No, its nothing." he answered in a firm voice."It''s just...I have made my decision." ---- (in first person POV) It was the day after the duel between Mimosa and me, as well as our visit to the SnowFalls. I woke up late. So I quickly jumped out of bed and dressed up in front of the mirror. As I put on my shirt, I remembered last night''s events. We were playing in the waterfall lake for quite some time. Suddenly, Mimosa''s naked image popped up in my mind. My cheeks reddened from embarrassment. *cough cough* It isn''t anything like that you know. Mimosa was just teasing me, like teasing one''s younger brother, or so I guess. And it''s natural to be naked when taking a bath, right? Yes, yes, it''s completely natural. I quickly put on the rest of the clothes, combed my hair and went downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast was already served and the prof. was sipping a cup of Spruce Tea. There are various blends of Spruce Tea found in the lakeside town of Alison. They are prepared from peculiar herbs gathered from the ''Red Forest''. Brewed with a spoon of honey, which is collected from cultivated bees, it is one of the drinks I quickly became addicted too. Accompanying it was the sweet cookies made by Mimosa. Ah! The mornings in the High Gardens are a bliss. "Hmmm, Kenny has a sweet smile on his face." the prof. asked with an even bigger smile. "Did you remember something good?". "Aaa...Kenny is a pervert!" Mimosa said with a teasing smile, as she sat down on the opposite side of the table. "Were you just recalling something naughty?" "No no, I didn''t recall about the mixed bath in the lake at all." "Whaaaat..a mixed bath!!!?" the prof. exclaimed. "Kenny we have a lot to discuss today." And then, a karate chop landed on his head, and his eyes became watery. "Mimosa, what did I do?". "Nothing, nothing at all," she said, angrily chomping on a cookie. "And Kenny, I will be teaching you some elemental spells today." "Ah, the first magic lessons!" the prof. quickly changed his mood and talked with dreamy eyes. "Those were some memorable days. Though my age makes my childhood memories quite fuzzy, I still remember the time, when I was first taught elemental magic by my mother. In the beginning, I had a very rough time understanding the underlying principles. I practised daily with my friends. But my knowledge and skills were solidified only after I learned to use them in real scenarios that contained the danger of failure. The huntings trips with my father provided some excellent opportunities to practice my spells. Later I learned more when I joined a guild and went on dangerous missions...Magic sure is interesting." "Is magic really that hard to learn, professor?" I asked, intrigued. "Yes, it was indeed tough to learn back in those days. But nowadays the aspiring mages are first taught the underlying principles from their childhood in academies. After completing that course, they are sent to higher institutions where they learn sorcery under the tutelage of various professors. So, the discipline of elemental sorcery has become rather easy these days, you see. But, as the saying goes - learning something is easier than mastering it; you gotta practise a lot to become an expert." "But, don''t you worry Kenny," Mimosa said with a confident smile. "I will teach you using some special techniques, and you will become a real mage very quick." "Hahaha." the prof. gave a peal of joyous laughter. "That''s good for you, Kenny." He continued, "Well, you know, sometimes, even with all the necessary background knowledge, it is quite hard to manipulate mana. So, only quite a few become successful mages. But I have heard that you are quite proficient in that area. So, it shall be easy for you." I was happy and said with a gleeful smile, "That''s reassuring to hear. I look forward to it." And so our jolly morning continued... Chapter 8; Swords & Magic Swords & Magic After breakfast, I helped out Mimosa with cooking and cleaning. Then, I tended to the flowers in the garden. Actually, I have been maintaining the plants in the garden whenever I got time since I first came here. I have also been studying the beautiful exotic plants using some books which I found in the library. Apparently, the previous owners of the High gardens were also doing the same thing, as there were numerous written records compiled by them anonymously. ''These are truly fascinating,'' I thought. There are many precious herbs in the garden too. They can be used to make potions for curing diseases and poison. The most fascinating fact about these potions is that, compared to Earth''s medicines, they work faster and with a hundred per cent success rate independent of the conditions of the patient. Of course, there are several other dreadful diseases and stronger poisons that can render them useless. But those are rare. Well, I have heard that along with tea, timber and high-quality ale and mead, high-grade potions are also a speciality of Alison. Of course, I have no ambition of doing potion business. But nevertheless, I seem to have an interest in them. That may be one of the reasons. But to be honest, I simply wanted to tend to the beautiful flowers in the garden. After that, I went to the library to go through the ''underlying principles of elemental magic'' or so they are called, as per Mimosa''s instructions. For today, I was asked to go through only the ''Air'' part. According to the prof. there is a book here in the library that can help me. It was written for a young demographic. So apparently it should be really easy for me to understand it. O, there it is! ''Principia Naturalis''...oy oy oy, are you serious? When I heard about it, I was a little sceptical. But now...someone, some famous scientist is going to sue you, you know. *cough* Well, for now, let''s go through the contents - "air is a mixture of gases...contents are not accurately known...is like a fluid...diffusion...it moves from high-pressure area to low pressure area...'' illustrations of a pump and other...''" and the next, "use of mana to create pressure...sensing air movements...creating artificial air flow...the power of storms...dangers of magic and precautions." Whaaaat!! Are they seriously teaching such physics to children? I was an average high school student. So it should not be that tough for me, I hope. Let us look inside...What blasphemy is this? There are no mathematical derivations. Physics without mathematics is just philosophy, you know. *cough* I suppose I have no say in this. I am no better at mathematics than others. If it is only to this extent, then there shall be no real problems, I guess. I skimmed through the rest of the book quickly and went to meet Mimosa in our training area inside the Red Forest. But she was nowhere to find. Suddenly, I felt a presence behind me for a split second. As I turned around, that presence was close, so close. I instantly took a step back and took a defensive stance. At the same moment, a considerable strike landed near my feet. It was Mimosa. She was swinging a broad branch of a tree, which of course, was instantly crushed to pieces. "You have improved a little Kenny," she said with a mischievous giggle. "You learn so fast. I am pretty sure now - that you had a lot of battle skills before." "Mi...Mimosa, don''t scare me like that." I strenuously voiced out. "Come on, Kenny. I just wanted to check on your improvements." She continued with confidence, "And, I won''t allow even a single scratch on my little Kenny. So, I used this stick as it is too soft to harm you. But, look closely, as I am going to show you a dangerous weapon today, that may be able to hurt you." She smiled again and pulled out a black obsidian-like ring from her inner pocket. A ring...a weapon! Is it like the ring from that fiction surrounding a ring? Well, it looks precisely similar, except this ring is black, very black, like dark lamp black inside a polished ring-shaped crystal. No, it is even more mysterious, as if you will be pulled inside if you continue to stare at it. "This is a type of artefact called a ''Case''. It is made up of a select class of crystalline alloy which can store a particular kind of Ynni in large quantities. These cases come in various shape and sizes." she explained. "It is basically used by master craftsmen as a storage device for their works." "Look, this case has a sword stored in it." Saying so, she applied a little mana in it, and the black mass inside the body of the ring began to come out as thick black fumes. She then caught hold of it and pulled it. When a considerable part of it had come out, it began to take the form of a sword, a short sword, having a straight black blade of about 60 cm in length. The hilt was wrapped up in some kind of leather. The guard was small and oval-shaped. As for the metal used for the blade, I couldn''t recognise it with sight alone. Overall, it looked similar to a ninjato. I had seen several different kinds of swords before in museums and exhibitions, but they all looked...kind of artificial. But this sword looked alive. As if it has slain many and is still hungry for blood. The sinister-looking black mana that was coming out of the blade made it look like a cursed sword. "Wowww" I was so surprised that my jaw was about to drop to the ground. "This sword looks so beautiful but deadly at the same time." "Rightt!!" Mimosa said with a happy smile. "This sword is apparently one of my family heirlooms. The prof. found it along with some other artefacts in the place where I was sealed." "A family heirloom! It might have been forged by your ancestor." I commented. "Hmm, that may be the case. We have no way of knowing that for now. Usually, there are inscriptions about the creator. But this sword has none." she said pondering. "But, that adds more mystery to it, right? It might even be a relic from the Age of Gods. We must take care of objects like this." "Yeah, ancient relics are the pride of a civilisation," I said. "By the way, Mimosa, why did you show me this sword? Weren''t we going to learn spells?" "Well, that''s because I thought you might have swordsmanship skills, which you have probably forgotten. Your movements yesterday resembled that of a short sword user," she said. "If you hold a real sword and try a few swings, you might remember them." Me? A swordsman? How can that be possible? I have never wielded anything like a sword. "No no, you might have a misunderstanding. I don''t think I have any swordsman skills." I said, rejecting the idea. "We''ll never know if we don''t try," she said with confidence and pulled out the scabbard of the sword from the ring, which was also black with floral patterns carved on it in red. Then she handed me the sheathed sword. I was surprised by its weight. And if I say heavy, it is actually very heavy. For you see, because of my newfound powers, I have become very strong. I can literally crush rocks with the flick of a finger. So, everyday objects feel very light to me. Hence, this sword must be inconceivably heavy for the old me.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. But the bigger surprise was when I unsheathed it. My hand felt hot, and the heat travelled up my hand to my heart. It felt similar to absorbing a mana core. The black fume like substance that the sword was emitting was gone, leaving a simple dull black sword. "Aaah!" I panicked thinking that I had damaged an ancient relic. Sweat formed on my forehead, and I started making excuses. "It..it happened automatically." "Are you hurt Kenny?" she frantically snatched the sword away from me, looking way more panicked than me. "I am alright," I replied. "I felt a sudden warm sensation and the sword..." "Hmm, you might have absorbed it all in one go," she said after examining the now lifeless sword. "Don''t worry Kenny. It was not your fault. Actually, this is one of the abilities of this sword. Here, let me explain. This sword can steal lifeforce from the opponent it cuts or stabs and store it, somewhat similar to our unique skill. And then, it can be absorbed by the user at any time. This sword had a lot of life force stored in it, and the sword passed all of it to you. This happened with me too, when I unsheathed the sword for the first time." She stopped abruptly and stared straight at my eyes, "And Kennyyy, don''t you worry about the sword over your own safety. Such a high amount of lifeforce can burn one''s mana circuits. Please be careful from next time." "But, it is such a priceless sword." I received a chop on my head after saying that. "Let us leave it at that and try sword swings." She again handed me the sword and commanded, "Go hit some rocks and trees." "Yes, ma''am." I obediently followed. I found a big rock nearby and took a stance near it. I gripped the sword with both my hands and held it above my right ear. When I was ready, I swung it down, diagonally with a lot of power. The sword faintly glowed white and cut through the rock without any resistance making a shrill sound. The rock was sliced in half, and a loud bang echoed a second later, leaving me surprised and terrified. The mistake that I had made became visible when both the halves of the rock fell apart. The forest and everything else in the way of my sword trail was cleanly cut, and the destruction continued for quite a long distance. I am sure the environmentalists from Earth are going to put me on trial for this. "Kennnyyy..." Mimosa growled. "Did you forget to hold back again?" "Sorry, Mimosa. I was not sure as to how much strength I should apply." I tried to come out with excuses. "*sigh* well anyway, your strike had passing marks. You should practice sword swings whenever you get time." She said, taking the sword away from me. "But not with this one. You have to first practice with weaker swords. Only then you will learn to control your power." Saying so, she stored the sword inside its ''case''. The sword deformed into black fumes and disappeared inside the ring. "Yes.." I replied powerlessly. "My my, don''t feel down Kenny," she said with renewed excitement leaving me surprised by her swiftly changing mood. "As I said earlier, I am going to teach to some ''wind'' elemental spells now. I am sure that will lighten up your mood." ---- (third-person POV) It was sometime at noon. Louis Dogbane was checking some documents in his office with the help of his butler, Balcro. As it was almost lunchtime, almost all the other staff had gone for lunch. Balcro brought packaged lunch for his master in the office, as his master had a lot of work to complete. Mr Dogbane is currently acting as the ''Merchant Lord'' of Alison, which is a well-known government post. All the major merchant guilds of Alison has to answer to him, and he himself has to answer to the treasurer of the king. As there are no other high ranking government officials in Alison, Mr Dogbane yields the highest authority. He also maintains civil records with the help of some other officials working under him. As for public security, there is a small garrison of soldiers under a constable who maintain law and order in the town. Under the urge of his butler, he took a quick break to eat his lunch. Suddenly he noticed a twinkling blue light coming from the basement of the town hall. The light was coming from the room containing the relay point. Generally, the twinkling light means that an urgent message has been received by the relay crystal. It is a product of magic engineering and can be used to relay/receive messages to/from the ancient earth spirits as well as other relay points. "What can it be now?" he thought. As Alison is a satellite town far from the capital or the commercial city, hardly anything significant happens here. And so, there are no frequent contacts from outside. Hence, the emergency message at such an unusual time of the year intrigued him. "Balcro...Balcro, are you there?" he called his butler. A few moments later, Balcro came out of the door of the basement and said in his usual weak and nonchalant voice, "Master, I have recorded the message. Here are the contents." Saying so, he handed a rectangular transparent crystal plate to his master. It is similar to the crystal cards used as id cards, a product of magic engineering; except it has larger dimensions and can be reused to store different pieces of information. The amount of information that can be stored depends on the quality of the product, ranging from just a few sentences to a thousand pages of text. Mr Dogbane passed a little mana into the card, and the letters appeared with a glow. He read and reread the contents a few times in silence. A few minutes later, he opened his mouth again and spoke with an excited smile, "Balcro, get our luggage ready. Adventure is calling us again." "Yes, master," said Balcro in his usual tone. But a faint excited smile, similar to his master, could be seen in his nonchalant aged face... ---- (first-person POV) *cough* Mimosa cleared her throat and started her lecture by imitating the prof., "Listen Kenny. ''Wind'' elemental spells are the very basic spells that every aspiring sorcerer learns first. This knowledge helps in learning every other elemental spell like fire, water, earth and even lightning. Generally, the instructors of the magic institutions do not explain the intricate mechanisms of the spells to the students. The students are expected to learn them the hard way - by repeated practices under the supervision of an instructor." She paused to catch her breath and continued, "But I am going to explain exactly how I activate these spells. So that you can learn them real quick." "Woahh, *clap clap*" and I acted like an obedient student eager to learn. She held out her right hand and said, "Look closely. I will control the air with my mana and concentrate it atop my palm. This will create a sphere of air under high pressure." As she said, a cloudy sphere of about 5 cms in diameter formed atop her palm. The cloudy white was probably because of condensed water vapour, which disappeared exactly like it developed, leaving a glowing transparent mass of swirling dense air. "Woah, cool!" I was really amazed. And it looked exactly like the primary attack of some orange ninja. Mimosa continued her demonstration, "And now, you can propel it in any direction by creating a force of the wind. For that, you need to remove the air near it. The surrounding air will rush in and push it forward." And then, I couldn''t notice how it happened, but suddenly the sphere shot upwards and blasted making a shockwave. Many exciting things happened today. But definitely, this was one of the best one. Making explosions and shockwaves out of thin air is a man''s romance. To learn elemental wind spells, my first objective was to learn to control air using my own mana. And it definitely wasn''t easy for the first time. But slowly, I managed to feel the air with my mana if I slowly release it from my hand. It was like, my own nerves had extended out of my body as my mana as the medium. I could feel everything my mana touched. After that, it was simple as putting the numbers in a formula and calculating the value. I managed to form the sphere of compressed air and shot it. And unfortunately, that was where the mistake was made. I couldn''t pinpoint the direction, and the sphere went towards a treetop, crushing the branches and leaves as it exploded. But still, instructor Mimosa was pleased with my quick learning. She praised me again and again, and it made me really happy. I practised with her for another hour and eventually managed to correct my trajectory. Apparently, this particular spell is inefficient for long distances, for it slowed down after travelling a little distance. For such cases, there is another spell called ''air dart''. Its mechanism is similar to the sphere, but it is shot by just using mana bursts like the ''mana dart'' that I learned the other day. I tried it, and as usual, it was crazy fast and destroyed the target. The ''air dart'' can also be used to cause burn-damage by heating up the compressed air to a scorching high temperature. When I tried forming the dart, it was very hard to control and consumed four times more mana than usual. But it was highly destructive, as it obliterated the target. Please don''t worry environmentalists. We limited our targets to rocks to reduce damage to the forest. ---- As the sun set in the horizon, we returned to the High Gardens. I took a bath and later helped Mimosa with dinner. We had the meat of a sizeable Emu-like bird called ''Aptery'', which I used to cook a spicy curry. I used some simple local spices and vegetables. Unfortunately, we did not have rice. So, I served it with bread. The prof. was surprised by the hot taste. Mimosa generally avoids vegetables, but she couldn''t stop herself after being assaulted by the fragrant smell. I received praise from both of them, and it made me really happy. Apparently, my cooking skills are also improving. Chapter 9; Strange Visitors Strange Visitors It was the 6th day since I came to this world. According to this world''s calendar, it has already been a week. It was quite eventful, wasn''t it? Back then, I was just a regular student, attending classes every day, the same neighborhood, the same roads, the same environment, the same delinquents in school, the same people crying for unrequited or failed love... It will be wrong to say that I hated them. It was merely a lack of interest, profound boredom, one that comes from being grown-up of it. Some people say that the opposite of love is in the utter disinterest. That definitely makes me someone severely lacking the wonderful feeling of love. Maybe they were not wrong, or... entirely off the mark. Maybe that was why I was so delighted when I came to this world. I have no knowledge of what happened to my body, to the me in that world. One of the possibilities is that I have been declared missing. Or maybe my dead body was simply lying there in that classroom. Or, in the rarest of chance, somebody else has entered my body and is living in that world as me; like I am occupying this body. Maybe, that person is also keeping quiet about his different memories and enjoying a new different life in that world. Well, there is no way to confirm, so we can only make speculations for now. But for the current me, I have wholly adjusted myself to this body and have made it my own. To be honest, I do miss my parents, my siblings, and that small bunch of weirdos I used to call best friends. Nevertheless, this may be very selfish of me, but...the me from that would have died, and have been reborn as a different individual in this world; except with his memories still there. So, I want to live a happy life in this world and make others happy as I inevitably move towards the end of my life. Though my lifespan is vast, there are no such things as forever. At times, some of the uneventful memories from back then also become hazy, and that really scares me. I fear that, if I lose my good memories, my convictions, and the principles that I have held on to for my whole life, I will become just an empty shell. I might also go down the path of destruction because of all the grief that is hidden inside. Well, that is only the worst-case scenario. Please don''t worry about that, ''cause I do remember all the good memories, all very clearly. And I doubt that I will ever forget them. Moreover, Mimosa and the prof. are always there for me, looking after me like guardians, and I love them a lot. It is their utmost trust that I can continue without any worries. I am also learning combat techniques to protect myself and those that I love. I am also training to use magic so that I can find a way of livelihood. Hence, I am sure that I will be able to live here. Talking about my power, I think my level has increased a lot after I absorbed all the life force from Mimosa''s sword. Accordingly, my maximum mana capacity has also increased. I felt lighter when I got down from the bed. I also tried achieving full body enhancement after. Though the mana consumed was more, I felt way stronger than before. According to Mimosa''s estimate, my level is well above 1000, though it is not near hers. Still, the number doesn''t come up in the id card. It is always shown as (unknown). Well, I shouldn''t complain, though, as I am like an irregularity in the system. Similarly, Mimosa''s age is also not shown. She has also become an irregularity after being trapped in that crystal for an unknown period. I was very excited to go outside, i.e., in the Forest, to test my strength and try to control my full-powered self. During breakfast, I told Mimosa about my recent developments, and she was delighted to hear that. Though she had predicted as much, still, my level-up to such a degree astonished her. The Professor was also pleased, and he said that I might have already surpassed him in raw strength and combat techniques. Though he is more inclined towards studying magic systems and environmental history, he was also a veteran adventurer in his days and survived quite a lot of dangerous battles. My excitement level went up further. Mimosa asked me to go alone for a hunt today in the evening. This should serve both as my training as well as a collection of food and materials for us. If I hunt the Armbrus wolves, its fur and skin can be sold separately for a high price in the market. Moreover, Mimosa can drink its blood, and its meat can be cooked to make exquisite dishes. Though the mountain deer, Aries, is also tasty, they cannot match the umami-filled hard red meat of the wolves. Also, there is no need to worry about overhunting. The females of those wolves give birth to about 8-10 pups each year. Considering about 5 of them survive and mature, there should be a lot of them in the mountains. Apparently, there are also frost wyverns further up in the mountains. But their population is not that high. So we hunt them only once a year in the summers. According to the prof. their meat is even tastier than the wolves and goes very well with high-quality wine.Ah! I can''t wait for the summer. The wyverns are Pterodactylus-like creatures, but with a stronger body and adept at long-range magic attacks. Out of curiosity, I asked the Professor about other reptilian beasts. He recounted that he had actually seen and fought several such creatures. One of his descriptions matched the features of the T-Rex. And I was again very excited to hear that.Seeing an alive T-Rex is one of every boy''s dreams. ---- After breakfast, I studied some other plants in the garden. When the sun was high in the sky, I retreated indoors to the library. Well, it is not like I get sunburned. It is more of a mental weakness that I inherited from my past life. Bright sunlight makes me slightly uncomfortable. But I do love how the beautiful flowers and green plants in the garden glisten under the majestic rays of the sunlight.It is soo soothing! Today, I was looking for the second volume of the book that I read yesterday. I found a rather ancient copy after searching for some time. The letters were printed on thick paper, and the quality was deficient.These days books are published using modern magic engineering technology. But this copy looks like it was written using primitive methods. This might be more than a thousand years old, I thought. I sat down under a tree in the garden and read the book. And as I continued, I was more and more engulfed by the book. Apparently, my surprises for the day were not over yet... According to the book, the mana of a specific individual takes unique properties as the person grows and develops. And as per its traits, it can render various select properties on the matter. As someone with red attribute mana can use his or her mana to lower or increase the temperature of matter. That is how heat can be generated by magic, and that was how I formed the superheated bullet yesterday. But that is not all. Mana itself can be converted to create something out of nothing. Some master-level craftsmen can even create precious metals themselves, after working on such metals for a long time. So, one needs to first deeply understand the substance that one wants to create by studying it. I think that probably means that one needs to understand the molecular structure if we speak in terms of science. Only then, it is theoretically possible to create it using mana. Using my knowledge of the simplest and the lightest substance I can think of, I tried to create it. I collected a little mana atop my palm and simply imagined it converting into the substance. I noticed that my mana was disappearing fast.Well, as the colorless gaseous substance cannot be seen with the naked eye, I guess it is diffusing into the surrounding air as quickly as it forms. So, I tried a simple test to see if my experiment was a success. I tried the burn test, and... that was pretty dangerous. As soon as I increased the temperature, there was a large super hot bluish flame atop my palm. I was lucky that my skin is callous. Otherwise, my face would have suffered some severe damage. But! But isn''t it super exciting? To be able to create anything that I want, by expending my mana, which is almost infinite if I make full use of my unique skill! This has so much potential! Excitedly I tried to create the next lightest element. But to my disappointment, nothing happened. The mana ball was not changing in any way at all and simply dispersed away slowly. No matter how much I thought, I couldn''t understand it. I did successfully create the first element and then applied the same process to create the next element or other heavier elements. But it was a failure again and again.It is not like I don''t understand the atomic structures of the elements. There might be something else in this world, something... different that I don''t know. Well, the physical laws seem to be the same on the macroscopic scale. But, there is the possibility that it might be different on the microscopic level. So to know more, I decided to read other books. But then I heard Mimosa calling for lunch.Ah! I was so into the book that I didn''t notice the time. Well, I shall continue some other day. After lunch, I helped Mimosa as usual. Then I took a small nap in the quiet garden house. When I woke up, it was already afternoon. There was a cup of tea near the bed.Ah! Mimosa. She is always looking after me like.I warmed it a little with magic and sipped slowly while relaxing in the verandah facing the garden. Unfortunately, there are no sunset views in the middle of a forest, and the darkness falls faster. So, I quickly washed my face and put on my outdoor gear.The wolves come out in the evening to hunt, as they have ''dark vision,'' and that gives them an advantage over many preys. Thatswhy it will be easier to find them if I set out now. ---- I activated full body enhancement from the beginning and went out with full power. The strength felt overwhelming, and I could control it with a little extra effort. My speed has probably reached that of the fastest trains from the Earth.No, I guess I can even surpass them.I played for some more time, learning to control the power. And, slowly, darkness fell on the Forest. I could hear the howling of the wolves coming from the distance. By heightening my senses, I could precisely tell their direction. So, I immediately headed towards them. Surprisingly, they came further down the mountain today. Moreover, there were many of them, as if the whole pack had come for hunting. There were growing cubs among them too. If they advance further, they might enter Alison and attack the townsfolk. So, I decided to chase them away. I confronted them and attack with several ''wind sphere''s. Now, that my level has increased, I could control mana more precisely and form the spell at a surprisingly fast pace. But, none of the spheres hit the wolves. They easily evaded the magic attacks with their agile movements. Nevertheless, I am not disappointed. As my motive was to just scare them away. Moreover, the ''wind sphere'' spell is not useful for long-distance attacks.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The blast of the spell did its job, and the wolves retreated with their young ones. But a few of the courageous males stayed behind probably to keep me busy while the pack escapes. I can recognize their gender because the females are entirely white. Only the males have beautiful orange patches in their fur. The male wolves did their job bravely by keeping me busy with their magic and physical attacks. They were not backing down, no matter how much I dodged or nullified their attacks. So, I decided to kill one of them. That would probably scare them, and I would also get my today''s prey. I took out my knife and attacked the biggest one of them, which was supporting the others from the rear. The enormous amount of mana he was emitting marked him as pretty strong and my magic perception abilities were sending warnings. I realized that it will be dangerous to ignore him. He was about 1.5 times the size of a normal Armbrus wolf. The orange markings on his fur were so beautiful that they looked almost like tattoos. His eyes were big and shined deep orange. But the most peculiar feature about him was his small white horn, like that of an antelope. Though it was a horn, it somewhat resembled ivory.What could be the use of a horn to a carnivorous animal?I thought. And that question was answered as soon as I tried to approach him. He pointed his horn towards me as he jumped to take some distance. Sensing considerable disturbances in the air, I defensively jumped back too. And immediately, a massive bolt of plasma hit the spot where my foot was. Oy oy! That high voltage attack could cook someone alive. Though I have resistance for thunder attacks, I highly doubt I will remain unharmed if I take that attack directly.He was using his horn as an electrode to direct his attacks, making pinpoint hits.Damn... this guy is dangerous. I counterattacked with my mana bullets, but he defended against them with his own mana bullets that he shot from his mouth. He stared directly in my eyes, and I stared back. This is a perilous situation. Both of us are predators, and the side at a disadvantageous position will be the one hunted by the other. I cannot make any mistakes here. Suddenly, I heard a howl on the distance. It was from one of the males who had retreated with the females. I could tell that had already escaped further up in the mountains as I concentrated my presence perception in that direction. The alpha wolf let out a small growl, and the rest of the wolves retreated too, leaving only the two of us interlocked in a furious battle. Both of our magic attacks were ineffective on each other. I couldn''t carelessly approach him either, and he was maintaining the distance with all his power. I knew that he was stalling for time... and he had succeeded in his efforts. When all of his pack members had run away, he retreated too. Yare yare! He was the winner this time as he flawlessly completed his objective. Well, I respect his bravery and intelligence. Though it is frustrating to let go of my prey, I shall think positively. Let''s be optimistic that I will catch my prey next time. ---- I went further south-west, opposite the lake, in search of other prey. I was able to venture into unknown depths of the Forest because of my heightened abilities.Well, there are no pressing problems, and I have quite some time before nightfall, so I can continue my hunt. If I am correct, then by continuing further, I will go out of the Red Forest and reach the headwaters of the Abwoth river, which starts from the northern part of the Aster mountains. After running for some time, I sensed many presences further deep inside the Forest. And... they were definitely not of that of beasts. That''s unusual, as I have heard that no people are living in such remote parts. Though that is a claim made by some brave adventurers of the past who ventured deep in the wilderness. Some people might have settled here in recent times because of unavoidable circumstances. But still, living here alone, cut off from civilization, is also very difficult. They might be some powerful hill tribe, or so I guess.I decided to go and check while looking for probable prey at the same time. ---- I was atop a very high branch of a tree near the southern entrance of the Red Forest, looking at the mysterious group of people that I sensed from far away. Whom I was suspecting for some hill tribe settlement was actually a traveling party. I could see several specially made horse carts, probably used for rough road travel, many temporary tents and toilets, outdoor cooking, and many rough people, who are carrying weapons, drinking and singing near bonfires.Are they some kind of traveling nomadic, hunter-gatherer tribe?I wondered. One of the men, who was with his comrades around a bonfire, seemed to have noticed my presence. Though he had not been able to pinpoint my location, his predator-like eyes were scanning the treetop. The man looked sharp with his high-grade armor and strong magic presence. His muscular build amplified the effect of the fierce aura that he was emitting, and his black hair and mustache accentuated his expensive-looking black leather armor. Moreover, one of the dwarves seems to have noticed me too. Dwarves are similar to humans, except they have a small height with reddish-brown skin and a larger head with brown or white hair. Most of them are muscular, with only a few obese individuals. The old dwarf, with a long beard, looked straight at me with strong murderous intent. He pointed his left hand towards me and started gathering mana, and a second later, a small shard of rock was formed and was shot towards me. The rock shard was very slow and lost most of its momentum as it reached the branch on which I was standing and struck the tree trunk a few feet away from me. The black-haired man from before quickly obstructed him and told him to stand back. Then he looked straight at my eyes and shouted with a firm voice, "We have already spotted you. If you mean no harm, then come down and report your real intentions of observing us." Yare yare! I have been seen through, by this man. I have to be very careful around him, I guess. I quietly jumped down and approached him, suppressing down my magic presence to a bare minimum, which was taught to me by the prof. before going to the town. Additionally, I showed my bare hands to imply that I mean no harm. "Ho, from ya appearances, I say that you''re a pixie lad, aren''t ya?" the old dwarf commented. "Haven''t seen those in a long time..." The big black-haired man continued after, "I am Alderman Yon, Captain of the expedition team organized by the ''Silver Hammer'' guild, under the orders of His Majesty King Agonis El Von Chrysanthos. We started our journey from the commercial town MoonHarbour and have mapped the southern parts of the Abworth river." Saying so, he pulled out his id card and showed it to me. ---- Name: Alderman Yon Level: ____ Race: High Human Age: ____ Sex: male ---- He probably hid his level and age, as the fields appeared blank. It is possible to protect your info while showing your card to someone else, but it is not possible to make something new appear on it. And as a matter of fact, it is entirely natural to not reveal your level and age, to hide your real power. Then he asked me to introduce myself. I hid my level, age, and ''High Undead'' racial tag and showed my card, and politely introduced myself. As for a reason of me being in the Forest at that hour, I mixed in some lies with the explanation. "Hello Captain, my name is Kenny. As you can see, I am a Sprite, so I look like the pixies." As sprites are said to be the ancestors of the elves and the pixies. I continued, "I live in a Ruin located in the northern part of the Red Forest with my relatives as its caretaker. I came for a short hunting trip. Then I happened to sense your presence and decided to check on you. So you see, I mean no harm. "I requested, "Please don''t attack me like before." Though I doubt that he will be able to harm me, it is better to avoid unnecessary fights. "That''s amazing. For you to come alone inside this Forest for a hunting trip. You must be pretty strong." said another young dwarf who was standing behind the old dwarf. He introduced himself to be a dwarf mage. "No, no, I am not that strong. I just avoid the dangers after sensing them." I said. Even today, I couldn''t catch a wolf. After listening to our conversation, some more people gathered. But the Captain didn''t mind them and continued, "Hmm... so you live in some ruins inside the Red Forest. Then you might be very familiar with the Forest." "Well, indeed, I do know most of the northern and southeastern parts of the Forest. But, today is the first time I have come this far in the south-western end. I relied on my perception abilities to venture this far." I said. "But still, you are far more knowledgeable than any other person here." He smiled and continued, "You see, our last objective of this expedition is to find a route to the great plains of the east, which frequently occur in the legends and stories. There are also accounts of them being very fertile and hospitable for the living. But to do that, we will have to safely cross this dangerous mystical Forest. Although I have already sent for reinforcements, I think it will be reassuring with you guiding us. What do you say?" To find a way to the east, he said. Hmm... I didn''t know that the east was unknown lands. Didn''t Mary-san say that her house is somewhere in the east? Wait a minute... Mary-san is not a living person. She is a strong High Wraith. Those things are very dangerous for ordinary people. There might be other unknown threats too. And that might be the reason why nobody lives there. Should I tell them to halt their expedition and warn them? I cleared my throat and politely said, "Though the Red Forest is particularly safer with only some fierce wolves that occasionally come down from the mountains to hunt, the same cannot be said of the east. As far as I know, you will find many dangerous beasts and other monsters after you cross the southern shoreline. I fear that the east is not as hospitable as you imagine. So, it will be better to stop the expedition for now and return back. I can guide you through the Red Forest to the lakeside city Alison. From there, it will be safer to return to MoonHarbor." "You little runt! What did ya say? Retreat now? We have already crossed the murderous Hissing Forest and survived in the cold and dark nights in the headwaters. We''ve also defeated the mystical Shadow Cats. And ya say we are weak?" the old dwarf shouted angrily at the top of his lungs. Yare yare! I didn''t mean to belittle your strengths. I just told the truth based on my personal experiences. "Calm down, Alfosdor." the Captain reprimanded him. "What Kenny says is not outrageous in any way. There may be many other dangerous monsters ahead in our way. We will have to be careful." Then he looked at me and said, "I want to thank you for your advice, Kenny. We have indeed lost some of our active members in fierce battles. But I have called for reinforcements from Alison. And they will be arriving shortly. With their support, I think we will be able to handle most of the beasts. And, if you guide us through the safest path with your knowledge of the Forest, we will definitely be able to keep the encounters to the minimum. Additionally, if you help us, I promise to offer you a large sum of money as a reward and right to directly join the ''Silver Hammer'' guild without any major issues." The old dwarf, Alfosdor, was very shocked after hearing that. "Master Yon. Will be alright to let this little runt join our honorable guild without any test?" He asked. Huh... test? Do I have to give tests in this world too?I thought.Anyway, he said that reinforcements will be coming from the town. Well, if they are at the level of Mimosa or the prof., I guess there will be no significant problems. Still, guiding such a large group of people through this Forest will take a long time. And I will be away from my sweet home... I shall go and ask the prof. for permission. I doubt that he will refuse. *sigh* All this feels a little unreal. I came to practice using my powers and hunt a wolf, but was requested to take part in an adventure... To be honest, I am very excited. "Well, I cannot give my consent without asking my guardian. So, I would lie to make a short trip back to take their permission." I said with a small smile. Chapter 10; Emulous Plume Emulous Plume The following morning was chilly in the cold mountainous region of the southwestern part of the Red Forest. The coward sun was veiling itself with a thick curtain of heavy clouds since early morning, although it was almost 10 am. Hence, the activity in the camp was undoubtedly low. Nevertheless, the veteran adventurer ladies of the group were not perturbed by the wild changes in the weather. They woke up early as usual and started preparation of breakfast for the whole expedition group. The breakfast was light and consisted of dried meat, cooked animal fat, fresh eggs of a big emu-like bird called ''Aptery,'' collected by the hunters, and cheese, which they brought with them. Though most of the adventurers prefer this usual calorie-filled light breakfast, a dense soup and hot mead are prepared for the craftsmen and the scholars who are accompanying them. One of the fine young ladies, who was entrusted with serving food to the men, was asked out of the blue by her senior to serve breakfast to the new member of their expedition group. Although she has not yet met him, she heard from the gossips that a male pixie, a local of the Red Forest, came to their camp last night and decided to help them while crossing the dangerous Red Forest. The young Lady has heard numerous tales of the beautiful cities of the pixies in the mysterious elven forests from her mother, though she had never met one of them before. So when she was given the job, she was very delighted. But then, she remembered the numerous rumors floating about him, that he is a strange wildling with little to no knowledge of the outside world, and that he looks so pale as if he is a living wraith. Clearing her mind, she decided to ignore all the rumors and her nervousness as she entered his tent after taking permission. She was immediately charmed by the faint but clear voice that asked her to come in. And as she entered, she was almost enthralled by the pale doll-like figure she saw. His big bluish-white eyes emitted a faint glow, like that of precious gems, and his black hair, which was cut short like that of a child, looked silky like Unicron tail but black. He graciously got down from his hammock and took a deep breath. And as he exhaled, the mysterious charm and the faint glow in his eyes disappeared and all life left from his body. No, it was literally, as if all his lifeforce has been sucked out from him, leaving behind an empty doll-like husk. She was at a loss and stared at him in a daze. He was dressed rather properly, for a wildling, and she couldn''t help but find him a little, cute. The ice was broken by him as he introduced him as Kenny, a sprite, with an elegant bow. His gentlemanly adult-like voice, which didn''t match his young face at all, rang sweet bells in the young Lady''s heart, and she nervously answered, "I... I have brought your breakfast," and while attempting to do the daunting task of placing the tray on the nearby foldable stool, she dropped it, probably comically. But in a split second, as if time had been reminded, the tray with its contents, held in his porcelain-like white hands, was perfectly safe. "Yare yare! A pretty lady like you should leave the tasks like preparing breakfast to us," he said with a refreshing smile. "Yes!" With her cheeks reddened, she could answer only one word and hurriedly left his tent with the tray hiding her face. After that, the rumors of his being a strange dead-eyed wildling were replaced by a handsome gem-eyed gentleman of exquisite skills. ---- Kenny was woken up early in the morning by a young adventurer girl who came to serve him breakfast. As he was not used to the waking-up-early thing, he mistakenly released his strong magic presence for a few seconds, which scared the girl - according to him. She was so scared that she dropped the tray. But Kenny acted fast and caught it while uttering a dandy line to calm her down. The girl then ran out of the tent in fear - all according to Kenny. Poor Kenny could only hope that she does not spread any strange rumor about him. But he didn''t know that his fear will come true - in a different way. Last night Kenny was allowed to return to where his guardians were to take their permission. Kenny ran back to the High Gardens and told Mimosa and the prof. about the circumstances. They nodded with a smile like they understood all of it. "Kenny, I think it is a nice opportunity for you to meet more people and learn about the outside world. Go for it, my boy," the professor, "Kenny, be careful while using your power and never release your full magic presence, okay. They might get scared of you." and Mimosa gave him lectures like real guardians and sent him off with, "Behave properly," and "Don''t forget to change your dirty clothes regularly, okay." Saying so, she handed him a small bag containing changes of clothes. I feel nostalgic somehow,thought Kenny as he ran back to the camp of the expedition group. When he returned back quickly, they thought that his guardians were nearby as it was almost impossible for an average person to cross the Red Forest so fast. They urged him many times to introduce them to his guardians too. Kenny explained again and again that they were not near, and after some time they seemed to reluctantly give up on the idea. Dinner was served shortly after, and Kenny was given a small tent of his own to sleep. They were quite surprised, though, when he said that he didn''t require the warm blankets. Kenny doesn''t really feel the difference in the temperature as he is a part High Undead. Rather he enjoyed the outdoor camping and slept peacefully. ---- After washing his face and eating breakfast, Kenny walked out of his tent. The sight which greeted him was a fascinating roll of various people engrossed in their work. As the group was to camp there for a few days recovering their energy while also waiting for their reinforcements to arrive, they had reformed their camp area to a certain extent, and it could be called a small settlement. Trees had befallen down, the ground was leveled, and temporary cooking, washing, and toilet facilities were constructed. And, as their camp area was under the shadow of a high rocky cliff and bounded by streams, they felt a small sense of security when compared to their previous camps, which attracted many small and large disasters. The members of the group consisted not only of humans but also several dwarves, a few elves, few demi-humans and 2 orc warriors, who happened to be brothers. As Kenny had never seen demi-humans before, the sight of the feline Lady, with her animal-like feet, hairy back, big blue cat-like eyes and lion''s mane like hair left him in awe. Unfortunately, the orc brothers perished in the hands of monsters on their way here. So Kenny couldn''t meet them. As he was asked last night, Kenny went to meet the Captain to discuss their further plans. Finding his tent was not a problem, as it was the largest one among the rest. In his way, he noticed some young men approaching him. ---- Filbert had a big haul yesterday. He and his party successfully hunted an Aries yesterday. The massive mountain goat is said to be one of the strongest undomesticable goats in all of Wisteria. Its beautiful white fur is a costly material, and its delicious red meat is eaten by the Royals in big ceremonies. So, Filbert and co. were delighted when they found a small herd of them grazing near their camp area. Unlike the SnowDeers, the Aries is not an endangered species, according to the scholars. So, they put all of their strength in ambushing and killing one of them. The rest of the group was also delighted after seeing the hunt. Not to mention, Filbert was loaded with praises by everyone for his remarkable feat. And so he partied all night. Maybe that way, he was not aware of the events when a new member, a local of the Red forest who is supposedly very strong and could hunt and survive in the wild alone, had joined their group. And, according to the ladies, he is a young and handsome skinny lad possessing some excellent skills. For Filbert, who was called a young prodigy in swordsmanship and elemental magic, the appearance of another strong individual of the same age as he was very irritating. But, according to the rumors, the new member is a wildling and has almost little to no knowledge about the civilized world. Maybe he survived in the forest so far by relying on his primitive skills and by avoiding the strong monsters with his understanding of the surroundings.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Analyzing the information in that way, Filbert concluded that he is definitely stronger than that newbie. But still, he couldn''t suppress his curiosity and decided to meet him. ---- "Hey, are you the wildling that joined our group yesterday?" Filbert asked in a cocky voice after he confronted with the new member. "Now, listen to this closely, forest ape. This expedition team is a collection of some of the best adventurers and scholars of MoonHarbor. Almost all of us were selected after rigorous tests, overseen by the Captain and Lady Janet themselves. So, don''t get arrogant just because you were asked by the Captain to join our group. You are just another scout who has a little bit of knowledge of the Red Forest." The pale white lad seemed to wonder about something after listening to him. A few seconds later, he looked directly at his eyes and said in a soft voice, "You must be FIlbert, right? I was told about you yesterday. By the way, my name is Kenny. And I am a Sprite. I wonder if there are apes like me, though. Well, anyway, nice to meet you. I was asked by the Captain to help while crossing the Red Forest. So, please don''t worry about me, as I am just a temporary member." "Heh, you must have some guts to say that. Though the Captain might have accepted you, the rest of us are will never accept a weakling like you. You better suck up to Lady Mylisant, or don''t come crying to us when in danger." Filbert replied with a *hmph*. "Please don''t worry about me, Filbert-san. As I said, I am just a temporary member," he said and continued with a confused smile. "And, I guess, I will be able to handle most of the beasts of the Red Forest." "What did you say?" Filbert was clearly angry. "Do you know how many strong monsters are there inside this legendary forest of death? Just yesterday, we took down the level 440 mountain goat Aries." Hearing that, Kenny looked more confused. "Oya! My bad, you might not even know about the level records of beasts and monsters. ''cause you are a wildling, right?" saying so, he and his friends started laughing mockingly. But he was reasonably mistaken, as Kenny knew about the leveling system of beasts. The beasts of this world are also given levels which determine their combat strength. But, as the beasts gain their levels almost entirely by fighting in real combat scenarios, they are certainly stronger than people with the same mana levels. A level 200 beast will be somewhat hard to beat by a level 200 person. And also, their levels are assigned to their entire species. So, a specific individual might be stronger than the rest. And when the beasts absorb the mana cores of other beasts or people, they may evolve into a superior version of their species, like the alpha wolf Kenny encountered yesterday. Kenny read about it in the library of the High Gardens. By the way, the malevolent beasts and others are called monsters. But it is more of a subjective choice. "Well, I do know about the level records of the beasts and monsters, you know," said Kenny the exact same face. "Hmpf, don''t you lie, you wildling. I think I should teach you your place." Saying so, a smile sprouted on Filbert''s face. "Let''s have a duel, a knockout battle. What do ya say?" "Oh! are duels allowed here? What will you do if you get hurt?" asked Kenny. "Listen here, you forest ape. You should really worry about yourself," said Filbert with an angry countenance. "But don''t ya worry. I will surely ask Lady Janet to heal you." His friends started encouraging him and cleared space near the camp for the battle. The news spread quickly, and other curious onlookers began gathering. Yare yare! I thought I could be away from all these as Mimosa is not here, Kenny thought. Looks like I will have to prove myself first, to get a little respect from these people. The opponents stood to face each other in the open space. "Oya looks like you don''t have a weapon or a staff. Don''t tell me you are going to fight barehanded with that skinny body of yours." Filbert and his friends laughed. "Let''s make it even. I will not draw my sword too. What do ya say?" "I don''t mind," Kenny said with an expressionless face. "Hmpf, you arrogant bastard! Here I come." Saying, so he enveloped his fists with mana. The mana released violent sparks as it glowed yellow. It is a martial arts technique called ''Thunder fists'' whose efficiency increases with the capability of the user. Filbert approached Kenny with a powerful jump and lunged his right fist in to hit his opponent''s face. The ''Thunder Fist'' is a powerful attack, as the part of the body which is run by it is immediately paralyzed, and the shock travels up to the head, making you feel like you were just punched in the ear. But, Kenny calmly blocked his punch with his left hand making minimum movements, and his expression divulged that he was not affected by the spell. Filbert was further irritated and attacked violently with both his fists. But all of his attacks were blocked similarly as if Kenny could predict them. Sensing something was wrong, Filbert leaped backward and took some distance. "Tch! It looks like you have some excellent pieces of equipment. To be able to block my ''Thunder Fists'' without any effect!" Saying so, he quickly formed a big red fireball and launched it towards him. The fireball was not that fast, with speeds comparable to the wind sphere. So, Filbert closed in following it, after strengthening his arms by mana circulation. He knew that Kenny might be able to nullify the fireball like his ''Thunder Fists.'' So, he used it as a cover to hit Kenny in the split time, after his equipment nullifies the spell. But, when he saw a white palm coming out of the fireball, he was quite dismayed. The palm didn''t stop and struck his chest at impossible speeds. And before he could react, he was thrown backward. He hit the ground with a significant impact. A second later, the pain kicked in from his hips and chest, making it difficult for him to get up. The fireball vanished, and Kenny was suddenly near him in a completely relaxed state as if it was all a lie, leaving the spectators speechless. Then he looked towards Filbert''s party members, and after meeting his eyes, they rushed in to help him get up. One of them gave him a potion, which probably healed his internal injuries. Suddenly a long-faced young but handsome man came out of the crowd with a laugh. "Hahaha... quite a Godling you are, Filbert! Losing so pathetically to a wildling," he said with scorn and continued to laugh. "Shut up, you ex-prince. I lost because I didn''t use my sword and went easy on him." Filbert said with soreness in his voice and irritation on his face. "Heh, you glorious frog of the well, looking down on others just because you are a little good at swordsmanship." The ex-prince continued, "You will never become strong." "You bastard, come here and fight me. I will show you how strong I am." Filbert roared and tried to wake up. He gripped his sword and used it as a cane, and when he was up, he unsheathed it. "Hmpf, my dagger will be enough for the likes of you." Saying so, the ex-prince also drew his shiny aureate dagger. But suddenly, Kenny appeared before him blocking his way. He was asked to stop them by a tall lady with ample bosom. "Both of you stop right now! Ryan, you shouldn''t inflame people like that. And Filbert, stop your childishness," said she, who seemed to appear out of nowhere and to yell at them. Her long ''magician cloak,'' which was worn over her ordinary-looking hunting gear, fluttered; and anger glistened in her eyes. But still and all, a charm could be felt from her waist-length brown hair and feminine curves. Everybody present there were terrified when they saw her like that and dispersed as fast as they assembled. "Hmph, I should not waste my time with a pitiful weakling like you." Ryan walked away too, after uttering so. "Filbert-san, please try to calm down. Anger is nothing but a brief madness." Kenny said so while looking worried. "And I would like to apologize for all the troubles that I have caused." "Damn you, stop talking to me like that. I am the strongest young Godling from MoonHarbor," Filbert cried out. "I will never lose to the likes of you all." *slap* It was the tall Lady. Though she lightly hit him, her movements were so fast that almost nobody except Kenny could see. "Filbert, stop with this now. That Captain! He has really pampered you to the bone." "But, but, Lady Janet..." Filbert tried to reason but in vain. "Both of you come with me." she, one of the strongest mages of MoonHarbor, Lady Janet said with a relaxed tone, as her anger finally calmed down after thinking about what Kenny said. "Let us take a walk near the stream." ---- After that, the three of them took a long walk in the surroundings, near the streams, with Lady Janet in the middle, while Kenny and Filbert on either side; as the latter, still hadn''t accepted Kenny. But after listening to the insightful words and tales of the past adventures of Lady Janet, for a long time, until they realized that it was already afternoon, Filbert slowly began to lose some of his arrogance and ego, and even apologized to Kenny, though not by directly looking at his face. And, that was probably the beginning of their legendary friendship, one that would last as long as Filbert''s High Human lifespan. ----- But then, suddenly, Kenny felt the presence of a small group of people heading towards them from the north. An individual then separated from the group and sprinted towards them. Kenny immediately informed Lady Janet about the approaching unknown group of people and the runner. She asked Filbert to go and inform the rest of the group and decided to rendezvous with the approaching party at that place with Kenny. When the man noticed them, he stopped and approached them with a gentle walk. He was wearing ordinary looking light leather armor on his skinny body, and a hood fastened on his head. "You are Lady Janet, I presume." He said with a small bow and continued with a respectful manner of speech, "I am a scout, sent ahead by Lord Dogbane to check out our path, and also, if I happen to come across any of you, I was to inform that we have come as per the request. The rest of our party is on the way and would reach here by evening." Chapter 11; Revenants Revenants "Once again, I would like to thank you for coming to our help Louis." The meeting commenced as soon as everyone was seated, and it was the Captain to say the above words. He was pretty much straightened out, which was apparent in his visage. "Ah! Never mind the small stuff, old friend. And it is my duty as the ''Merchant Lord'' of Alison to protect the people from the dangers of the Red Forest." said Louis Dogbane with a big smile on his face. "As far as I know, the ''Merchant Lord'' isn''t charged with any such responsibilities, my lord." His butler Balcro corrected him with his usual nonchalant voice and expressionless face. "Is that so? Hahaha..." but the plump middle-aged man laughed out loud and replied with his usual big smile, "As I said, never mind the small stuff. Hahaha..." "Mr. Dogbane, I have heard that you are a master in large scale destruction magic and in the elementary magic systems. My apprentices and I would be delighted if you would kindly show us some of your expertise," asked Lady Janet sincerely. "Oh! Come on. He''s not here for a trip, ya know?" and barged in the bearded dwarf Alfosdor. "Yeah, enough fooling around. Just get it over with." it was the ex-prince Ryan, mean as usual. Well, most people just ignore his unnecessary mean remarks, but sometimes Alfosdor retorts and this time too, "Young lad, that was a harsh way to put it, ya know. As far as anything goes, he is a Lord, you know." he failed miserably in the ignore-play. "Hoh ho! You have it quite lively around here, Aldy." and so their guest laughed again. Quite a jolly fellow he is! But somewhere in the midst, a little seriousness came over him, and he managed to squeeze out a question. "By the way, how did you manage to send a message using the lay lines from here, Aldy?" "That will be the handiwork of Alfosdor. Guess, such skills are necessary if you are living deep in the southern mountains." said the Captain looking towards him, who was still busy bickering with the young fellows. "Alfosdor, you listening?" "Ah, Ah, yes, cap''n!" finally catching up, he continued, "My Lord, it can be done very quickly by using a rather rare spell, probably known only to the dwarf settlements from the southern mountains. The spell can be used to contact the ''Gnomes,'' and they do the work for ya if your mana pleases ''em. In the past, the miners used to rely on them for their communications and safety whenever they went very deep in the mountains." "That''s marvelous, Alfosdor." The guest praised him and continued, "It''s wonderful to have such skillful men in the team." He seemed very satisfied. "The ''Gnomes'' are a really wondrous bunch. I have heard men attempting to contact them, and almost none of them succeeded in pleasing them." "Hahaha.. well, that''s true, my Lord. It takes a lot of hard work to get in their good books," said Alfosdor. "But some say that the ''Gnomes'' are biased in their way of selecting." "Hmm... they are a very shy bunch after all. These ancient earth spirits rarely make contact with people." continued Louis. "By the way, Aldy, do you plan to fully map the Red Forest this time?" "I would gladly do it if I could, Louis. But we have already explored a lot in our way here. So, we are low on resources. And most importantly, we have lost some of our veteran warriors. It will be a struggling fight for survival from now on." the Captain answered. "I would have called it a day if you weren''t here, Louis." "Right right, mapping the whole southern bank of the Abworth river, you have achieved something tremendous big this time, Aldy. Even if you return now, I guess, they will revere you as a hero or such." his old friend said with a warmth in his voice. "So, why are you fixated with continuing Aldy? In the thousands of years of recorded history, no one has ever crossed to the east. And now that we are down on men, even with my help, it will be challenging, you know." "I know. It will be tough. But I want to make one last try Louis," the Captain said with a distant look in his eyes while sinking in his chair. "From my childhood, I have heard stories - stories of the beautiful flowery plains and cozy little abandoned houses of the far east. And, maybe, at some point, I thought about retiring there." "Hahaha..." his friend laughed like anything. "That sounds really strange coming from you, Aldy. Retiring to a tranquil place surrounded by flowery plains - has MoonHarbor caught you that hard?" "I don''t know for sure, my friend." The Captain chimed back in. "But now that we are here let''s try our best. This time we have a bigger group than any exploration team in the past, winter is not here yet, and the winds are certainly calmer than usual. Also, a local of the Red Forest who has been living here for a long time has joined us. Though I want to keep him away from the frontlines for his safety, he will certainly be helpful as a scout and a local guide." Saying so, the Captain turned towards the newest member of their group, who was curiously examining a dagger embedded with various spells, borrowed from one of Louis''s party members. "I suppose you have already met him." "Ah, yes. Admittedly I had met him, not only here, but also when he came to remake his ''id'' in the town hall." Louis said, while looking at the newcomer with a certain interest in his eyes. "He is a relative of a certain eccentric friend of mine. They live somewhere in the northwestern end of the forest, in some recently discovered historic ruins." "Oh, so you know his guardian too. Can you, like, request him too, to help us in this expedition? I can arrange for money and rewards if they so desire." asked the Captain with excitement reeking from his voice. "Hmm... It will certainly be an overstatement to say that I know him." This time it was Louis sinking into his chair. "And I highly doubt that you will be able to persuade him with money or rewards. But one thing that I certainly know about him - he is a genius magician and a scholar." "Oh! Is he some big shot?" "He may be.. to the people who know him. But for a High Elf like him, who have probably lived longer than both you and I - I suppose there are very few of those people." He continued, "But if he has entrusted his relative with you, then perhaps there is not much to worry." "I hope so.." Saying so, both of them looked at the pale-skinned child who was still curiously looking at other items in the Captain''s tent. "Well, let''s discuss our plans for tomorrow, Louis." The meeting continued for sometime in the night. It was decided they would rest early tonight and get up early in the morning. Then they would pack their things by noon and depart as soon as possible. ---- After much discussion and deliberation last night, the plan was laid out as such - they would first travel north from their current location to reach one of the major streams that flow through the Red Forest called the ''Rake''. From that point onwards, they would follow it until they come out of the Red Forest at the southernmost shore of the Lake of Alison. And then they would cross the Lake along the bank to reach the ''East''. The Lake is almost impossible to cross by sailing on it, as the wind is low and small boats are capsized by large monstrous fish and other creatures living in the middle of the Lake. As per the schedule, the group was ready for the journey by noon. Essential food items and clothes were loaded on their small, maneuverable horse cart, and the instruments and weapons that could be stored away in their cases were stored. The rest of the little things were put inside backpacks, which were to be carried by everyone. Now there are 49 members in the group, including the ones that joined them later. Alfosdor and his party took the frontlines, as usual, followed by Filbert and his party. The others followed behind with the Captain as the rear guard. Kenny, Lady Janet, Mylisant and Louis Dogbane were at the center, tasked with protecting the group at the flanks, and guarding the cart as well all the other non-combatant members of the group. As they planned to leave out the mapping of the Red Forest for this time, the group was more focused on just crossing the Red Forest without many casualties. ---- Kenny was very excited to be a part of such a large expedition group as it was the first time for him. Taking in everything he could, he concentrated on doing the job that was assigned to him by the Captain, that is finding a proper route and protecting the others. Sometime after they have started their journey, the Merchant Lord of Alison, Mr. Louis Dogbane, walked up to him, and they had a little chat. "So, Kenny, where are you originally from?" "I am from the far west, my Lord, born in one of the pixie villages in the elven woods. Though I don''t remember much about my homeland. As I left when I was very young and haven''t returned for a while now." Kenny beautifully excerpted from the story that was taught to him by the professor. The merchant lord gave out a gentle laugh. "Ah, well, as expected. Though it would have been a pleasing experience to hear about the mystical Elven woods," he said. "You should return to your home once in a while." "Yes, whenever I get the chance, I certainly will, my lord," said Kenny respectfully. "I am currently studying various topics under the professor. So, it might be a while, ''till I get the chance." "Is that so? Does he also teach you magic and combat arts?" "No, my Lord. The small number of combat arts that I know have been taught to me by sister Mimosa." "Mimosa? Is she that scary maid of the prof.?" he asked jokingly. "Hahaha, well, yes, my lord," Kenny replied with a smile as well. Suddenly Kenny sensed a few rabbits like creatures, some 500 meters away from the group. When he looked by using his far sight abilities, they looked similar to the rabbits that he knew, but the ones here are definitely larger and faster, and omnivorous. Some were hunting other smaller rodents, and others were eating berries and mushrooms. Indeed, these red-eyed white creatures are dangerous than the ones Kenny knows. Ryan, the ex-prince, also noticed them. He immediately geared up his bow and shot an arrow. But the wild rabbits were faster, and with their sharper senses, they easily avoided the arrow. "Damn it. I almost got them," Ryan said with disappointment. "Leave them be, Ryan. We should not spend time on hunting," said Lady Janet. "We have to reach the stream by nightfall." It was then, suddenly, Kenny felt a faint, but very pleasant magic presence in the surroundings, similar to Mary-san, emanating from - or so he guessed to be, Mylisant, the leader of the scouts and the rangers. Or maybe he was wrong, as in the next moment the presences turned vile and amplified, and were definitely... coming from under the ground. "Enemies ahead..." shouted the dwarf Alfosdor at the top of his lungs. They were corpses or more like skeletons, and... they were moving, digging their way out of the ground. A visible thin film of mana enveloped their bones and whatever dried skin or organs left on them, with a mana core embedded in their chest area where the heart is supposed to be. Many of them carried old rusted weapons like swords, daggers, and spears, and others picked up fallen branches and stones, whatever they could use as weapons.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Though an average person who has never seen such a monster before, would be very terrified by the vile and repulsive-looking undead; the veteran adventurers of the expedition party adapted to the situation very calmly and took their battle positions. But the most surprised one was Kenny. He had spent most of the time practicing and playing with Mimosa in the Red Forest as if it was his own backyard, but he had never before heard of these creatures, let alone see them. Of course, Kenny didn''t know that these weaker monsters are generally afraid of Kenny and Mimosa when they are not suppressing their strong magic presences. So, they would never show up to attack them. But now, as Kenny is containing his magic presence to a bare minimum, the well-known as well as the rare and dangerous monsters, for which the Red Forest is infamous, are starting to make their move. "Hahaha... the forest is starting to make its greetings," Louis said with excitement in his voice. "Don''t you worry, Kenny. These skeletons are the lowest level of undead monsters, with an average level of about 100. We can easily beat them if we are careful." "Louis, we shouldn''t spend much time on time. Finish ''em up with a big one," said the Captain. "As you wish, Captain," replied Louis jestingly and then loudly announced with excitement in his voice. "One big one, coming up." Then he pulled out a pretty wand from his holster, which is usually hidden by his long coat. His wand is a foot-long stick made up of unknown materials, with a metallic look and a crystalline handle. The whole thing sparkled with beautiful painted designs. He held his wand high and started pouring mana in it. His slightly reddish mana collected and converged at the tip and shot off multiple firey spheres, similar to the wind ones Kenny used to make, but smaller and faster. Though they looked like they were shot randomly, many of them managed to hit the target. The Skeletons were blown away by the blast and completely destroyed. Though there were more than 30 of them, all of them were done-in in less than a minute. "That was wonderful," praised Lady Janet. "The mana was used quite efficiently." The others also looked admirably at him. "That comes naturally with experience, young lady. I am sure anybody will be able to do that with enough practice." "Well then, let''s continue when we have the chance," said the Captain. " I am sure that these were not the last ones of them." And he was not wrong, a small force was set into motion in the shadows, working to halt their advance, and it was nothing but trouble for the expedition group, while possibly quite crucial for others. ---- The small wraiths of the Red Forest, which are freely foraging for lifeforce and mana, was a surprise for the adventurers from MoonHarbor as well. They had never seen anything like the fog-like mischievous wraiths before. Though most of them are harmless, they are parasitic in nature. Occasionally a strong one would show up to attack the group. Shaped like rabbits or other rodents, they would attack with mana balls and bullets or sometimes with ''stun.'' The mages of the group were enough to handle them, and so the group continued without any major hindrances. Though the most surprised was Kenny, to find many unusual creatures living unnoticed near his house. It was late in the evening, and the group still hadn''t reached the stream, so they decided not to stop. And in the darkness, more unusual creatures came out to greet them. The non-corporeal phantoms or ghosts, damaged by the sunlight, were the ordinary beings that attacked at night with their ''confusion'' and ''stun'' spells. But they are highly ineffective in people with levels above 200. So, they were largely ignored by the group. The stronger wraiths, who would occasionally show up, were troublesome opponents for the dwarfs, who knows only a particular branch of spells. But Filbert and his party efficiently dealt with them with their magic endowed swords and shields. The ones who made past the frontlines were one-shotted by Louis or Janet. The group finally reached the stream by about 10 at night. The mountain stream has a fast-flowing current that cuts a gorge through the forest. It was no surprise considering its name ''Rake.'' And when they looked down the cliff, they could see a beautiful rocky stream, with frozen parts here and there, and lovely blue fireflies hovering above the water. No, when they looked closely, they noticed that they were not fireflies. And, as soon as the expedition group was seen by them, they swarmed up the cliffed. "Be careful, they are ghost lights," Alfosdor warned everyone. Quickly the group was surrounded by them, and - there were many of them. The blue flame-like wraiths spread a cold wind as they pass over their heads. The temperature dropped fast, leaving everybody trembling in the cold. Everybody attacked with any spell they knew. Though they were effective in destroying the wisps, they were slowly overwhelmed by the numbers. Some of the stronger wisps also attacked with ice bullets, but they failed to penetrate the strong leather armor worn by everyone. "Young Lady, let''s pull up a big one again," Louis shouted amidst the confusion. "Yeah, we need to attack them with fire," Janet said by stealing a glance at him while confronting the wisps. "Right, buy me a few moments." "Okay." He started pouring vast amounts of mana in his wand, which collected at the tip and glowed brightly. Then he raised his wand atop his head, and a sizeable firey snake emerged from the tip, which began to devour all the wisps. "I will take care of the riverside. You handle the rest." As he said that, another firey snake emerged from his wand. Janet poured in her mana in her wand, and took hold of that snake and attacked the rest of the wisps. And so, with the continuous effort of the two, all the wisps were defeated. After confirming that no more of them are near, everybody breathed a sigh of relief and loaded Louis and Janet with praises. "That was very exciting," said Louis with modesty. "I haven''t used that spell in a while. So, I was worried if it would fail. But the young lady marvelously handled the spell." "I was able to handle it easily because you had splendidly formed the spell, my lord," said Janet with embarrassment. "We would have been in big trouble, if both of you were not here," chimed in the Captain. "Ah Aldy, I know you would have defeated them some way or other," said Louis. "Well, let''s talk later. We should find another place to camp for the night, as the remaining ones might attack again." "Yeah, right." said the Captain and shouted his orders. "Everybody get up. We keep moving." They traveled upstream, keeping a fair distance from the cliff, until Mylisant who was sent ahead of the others, reported that she had seen a big cave down the cliff near the bank of the stream. When they reached there, they were surprised to see the strange cave on the opposite side of the cliff. The Captain decided to investigate it. "Aldosdor, make a path to go down with your magic." "Aye, leave that to us, captain," replied Alfosdor. Saying so, he pulled out a large war-hammer from its case and went towards the cliff. Some 10 meters away from the cliff, he lifted the hammer with all his might and struck the ground. The hit sent tremors in the field, and the cliff broke down in a landslide. His other party members cast another spell, which hardened the ground after the landslide, making way for the whole party to move down the gorge. The rubble from before has got into the stream, making it shallow enough to be crossed by just walking. But when the group reached the entrance of the cave, they were greeted by a deafening cracked roar. Alfosdor and his party, who were at the front lines, were the first hit to be hit by the roar. It contained ''paralyze'' and ''confusion'' effects, but they were not very useful as the dwarf party had high resistance against such spells. "It''s a ''Draugr''." The Captain yelled at the top of his lungs. "Al the non-combatants get to the other side of the river. Janet, you keep them safe with a barrier." "Yes, Captain." "Others get into formation. Dim the mana lights and keep your presence low." He gave his next orders. "Alfosdor, you keep its attention. We will attack from the flanks." "Get ready, it''s coming," yelled Alfosdor. As everyone got ready to confront the Draugr, a terrifying silence prevailed on the bank. The moonlight didn''t travel deeper into the cave. So, their enemy was in complete darkness. A few moments later, it finally came out - large and horrifying with pale dried skin sticking to the bones, and large glowing blue eyes, wearing old worn-out leather armor and carrying a long broadsword. Everyone buckled up their courage as they readied their weapons. Suddenly, more mana gushed up the Draugr, as if reviving its dried up muscles, pumping more strength in its bones. "It just activated full body enhancement. It will be coming with its full power. Be careful, lads." The Captain warned everyone. """Aye.""" But the Captain was mistaken this time. He didn''t notice the other smaller Draugr mage, which was hiding inside the cave and buffing its ally. Though Draugrs have very little intelligence, they are lead around by their will when they were alive, and they retain their strengths and skills. Moreover, they receive various racial traits and benefits when they become Draugr. They are greedy and have violence oriented motivations. With their level averaging around 300, they are a dangerous foe for the living. Kenny, who was at the rear guard of the attacking squad, immediately noticed the Draugr when it woke up and used magic. He decided to take this one by himself to help others. By using his high-speed movement, he quickly slipped out of everybody''s notice and went inside the cave. But, the smaller Draugr noticed him and quickly pulled out a bow and arrows and shot. Kenny easily avoided the arrow and fired a very powerful mana bullet in return. Though he aimed at the Draugr''s chest area, it managed to avoid an instant-death by quick movements. But, still, the bullet managed to hit its left hand and tore it off from above the elbow. The Draugr, now enraged, pulled out a dagger and charged at Kenny for a close-quarters battle. But was quickly overwhelmed by Kenny''s speed. Kenny caught it by its remaining hand and slammed it on the cave wall. The Draugr''s head cracked by the hit, and its the lifeforce drained into its heart area, forming the mana core. The battle inside was over in a few seconds, but the struggle outside has just started. Alfosdor released all his magic presence, luring the Draugr to attack him. The Draugr released another roar at point-blank range on Alfosdor. But he managed to protect himself by quickly pulling out a broad shield from its case. The little damage he received was healed by his auto-recovery skill. Alfosdor quickly counterattacked with his massive Warhammer. The Draugr blocked his attack with his broad sword and unleashed a strong kick. His other party members tried to block his strong kick but were blown away by the Draugr''s superhuman level strength. In the small gap, Alfosdor managed to make a thrashing attack with his shield. The Draugr stumbled, and Filbert and the others didn''t miss that chance and attacked from all sides. The Draugr tried to block with his sword but failed, and the attacks hit him at his fatal spots. He noticed that his partner has not been buffing him anymore, either. Enraged, he made blind attacks at everybody. But his superhuman strength attack was splendidly blocked by the Captain with his big black broadsword. The Draugr attacked restlessly, but all of his attacks were parried or blocked by the Captain. And when all of its attention was on the Captain, a small but mighty fireball hit its back. "Thanks, Louis." said the Captain. "As I said, don''t mind the small things and quickly finish it." The Draugr, whose back was on fire, struggled to maintain his stance and was attacked mercilessly by all. Finally, the Captain put it out of its misery by beheading it with one strike. "Aldy, haven''t you become a little rusty?" Louis asked passionately to his old friend. "I am sure its the age. Now then, let''s check the insides of the cave quickly. I am sure you felt the magic from inside too." "Yeah, it was a powerful momentary surge. But I think it was Ynni, as it felt - very ''formless.''" "Whatever it was, I am sure we will find out soon. Alfosdor leads us inside." "Aye Cap''n." "Louis, I want you to stay here and protect the others." "Don''t worry about us. Go and investigate the unknown source." But by now, Kenny was out of the cave, and the Draugr was killed. So, they would never find out what happened inside the cave. Kenny again followed the investigation party inside the cave-like a pure rear guard. Upon closer look, the cave looked like a natural one. But signs of people living inside were apparent in the diggings here and there. There was also trash like a torn rag, clothes, animal bones, and rusted tools lying here and there. About 200 meters inside, they saw the corpse of the smaller Draugr. "Its skull has been crashed by a hit in the wall, Cap''n," Alfosdor confirmed. "Be careful, there may still be lifeforce in it. Shoot fireballs on it from afar." As Alfosdor burned the Draugr, Filbert asked, "Old man, are they supposed to be so dumb to go and simply hit their heads on the wall." "Well, their intelligence is supposed to be very low," replied the Captain. "It might also be the work of the other one we fought outside." "They are pretty dumb..." Losing interest in the undead, Filbert began his investigation with his party members. "Aye, there is an iron chest," announced one of them. "Ah! Draugrs are supposed to be guarding their treasure chests, aren''t they?" interested by the thought, everybody rushed in to check the chest. It was a regular old metallic chest, about 3 ft long and 2 ft wide. "Alfosdor, come check it." called the Captain. As unknown treasure chests can have poisonous substance and weapon traps, they should be opened very carefully. Alfosdor, having the highest resistance, is often asked to do such a dangerous job. After taking care of the Draugr, he put on leather gloves and slowly opened the chest, covering the rest of his body with his shield. But anticlimactically, the chest didn''t contain any such dangers. There were some old clothes made of monster materials, some weapons, ancient coins, and mana potions. But upon closer look, they discovered some rough writings, in the old language, on the underside of the cover of the chest. It was decided that a copy of that message will be sent to the university to be decoded later. Leaving behind the chest, they went further inside to investigate. The cave got narrower, and some 400 meters inside, they found a large metallic door blocking their path. Increasing the brightness of his mana light, Alfosdor checked the door for some contraptions to open it. Suddenly a memory flashed in the Captain, and he yelled, "Alfosdor, get away from it. It''s a seal." Alfosdor quickly hurried back. The Captain continued, "And it will be better if we leave it as it is for this time, ''cause I think I know what is inside. It is a sealed dungeon." Chapter 12; Out of ones sight Out of one''s sight Leaving behind the chest, the small cave-exploration-party went further inside to investigate the mana source. The cave got narrower, and some 400 meters inside, they found a large metallic door blocking their path. Increasing the brightness of his mana light, Alfosdor checked the door for some contraptions to open it. Suddenly, a memory flashed in the Captain, and he yelled, "Alfosdor, get away from it. It''s a seal." Alfosdor quickly hurried back. The Captain continued, "And it will be better if we leave it as it is for this time; ''cause I think I know what is inside... It is a sealed dungeon." "Woah! An undiscovered sealed dungeon!" Filbert admired in awe. "Will it be named after me if I report it?" "Certainly you were not alone when you discovered it, kid," and Alfosdor retorted as usual. "So, Captain, what do ya say? Well, you can take the name for yourself if ya want." "Stop it, you grumpy fellas!" the Captain grouched. "Rather than fame, doesn''t it make you wonder, who or why sealed this dungeon? A true adventurer always has a thirst for such knowledge." "Ah, well, this seal looks something made by the ancient people," Alfosdor said with an apologetic smile. And Filbert responded with a "Yes, I mean yeah. So it seems." " *sigh* When you are adventuring, you should try to forget what you left behind, and only focus on what you are looking for and what you find," said the Captain. "Well, anyway, the stories of these sealed dungeons go far back. I am sure you lot have heard about the myths and legends of the old Gods defeating the evil God and sealing his parts in the age-of-Gods dungeons. For sometime back, people believed that these types of sealed dungeons were the ones from the legends. So, they feared them until a few centuries ago, when those dungeons were explored by a group of pioneer explorers. Though not much is known about them, their findings were delivered by a familiar to the University of the north. And surprisingly, no such evil God parts were discovered in them. But, after the recent events and the prophecy of the return of the evil God, exploring such dungeons have been banned by the government. You will need special permission if you want to enter one." "Aye, that''s nasty," said Alfosdor with an unpleasant face. "Well, I don''t believe much in the Gods and stuff. But my old man always used to say - that one day, He will return, and it will be either the end, or the beginning." ---- Finding nothing else of importance in the cave, it was concluded that the sensed mana was probably from inside the dungeon, and very unlikely from the collapsed smaller Draugr. Afterward, they reported back to the group outside, and it was decided that spending the night in the safety of the cave would be better than out in the Forest. And that, of course, until and unless someone stupid messes with the seal, which was immediately forbidden by the Captain with a shout of his loud voice. Furthermore, monster repellents were made from the mana cores of Draugrs and put outside at the mouth of the cave for more safety. Monster repellent can be made by chopping off a little bit of a mana core of a strong creature and putting them in some holy water. The mana core dissolves after coming in contact with holy water. As the water evaporates, it somewhat replicates the magic presence of the owner of the mana core keeping weaker monsters at bay. Though its range is limited, it was enough to guard the mouth of the cave for the night. When the group was settled inside the cave and Supper was being prepared, the party leaders and the Captain held a discussion around a bonfire near the bank. "Don''t worry, Kenny. You did a very good job today." reassured the Captain after Kenny apologised for the encounters with the monsters today. "And nobody can just pass through the Red Forest without making a greeting to its inhabitants. The Draugrs were coincidental too. But looking at the bright side, we''ve got a very nice camping ground for tonight. And I guess, nobody would argue that this is the best place to camp in the Red Forest." "Aye, Cap''n. This place is good," agreed Alfosdor. "Well, unless the stream gets flooded." "For emergency, we should make a path to climb up on this side of the stream as well," said another party leader. "Yes, that''s a good idea. Alfosdor, I count you on that." "Aye, Cap''n." "So, how should we travel tomorrow?" asked Lady Janet. "Well, we can follow the stream along the gorge too. That way, we will be safe from the beasts of the Forest, as they would never come down here. And in emergencies, we can climb back up." said Louis. "What do you think, Kenny?" "That''s a good idea, my lord," replied Kenny. "But down here, it will not be completely safe either. One day, I saw a big spider and some giant ants near the bank." "Big spider, ya say, how big was it?" asked Alfosdor with fear. "I think it will be about 5 feet in diameter," replied Kenny. "Ah, that would make the wild tarantulas, I guess. We found one too when we made our way through the western part of the Forest," said Louis. "Well, they rarely attack humans unless provoked, as they are somewhat intelligent. And in the worst case, they are weak to fire." "Tarantulas are fine," said Alfosdor. "What I fear are the goliath man-eaters." "The real problem will be the ants, which I presume to be giant carpenter ants. We will have to retreat if their whole colony shows up," added Lady Janet. "They are underground creatures. So, they will not give chase to above, I guess." "You seem to have some bad experiences with the ants, young Lady," said Louis. "Not just bad; it was terrible. When I was in the capital, a large colony of them showed up in the sewers. In the end, we had to poison the whole network of sewers and exterminate the remaining ants for 2 whole weeks." Janet said with a cramped face. "Ah! that sounds really painful," added Louis. "Well, let''s just hope we don''t face them this time." "Hmmm.. let''s just follow the gorge tomorrow." declared the Captain. "We will use the monster repellent to ward off the Ghost-lights. Though I doubt that they will be active in day-time." "Now, then. Who knows to sing?" asked Louis. "Aldy here, is quite good with the bongos you now?" "Ah! Come on, Louis. That''s something when I was a kid." "Then, let me start." Saying so, Louis began to sing in his old but clear voice. Slowly the others joined in as well. A dwarf mage from Alfosdor''s party had a harmonica, which was a perfect fit for the occasion. And surprisingly, the Captain had a tambourine. Though dangers were crawling in the Red Forest, the night was surprisingly lovely in the cave. ---- The next morning was chilly, and the signs of winter were visible in the Red Forest. The group started their morning with a popular local drink, which is made with hot spruce tea, honey, and rum. Then they packed all their stuff, sharpened their weapons, did some morning exercises, and embarked on their journey again by 10 am in the morning. The weather was windy as well, but the group was protected from the chilly winds by the gorge. And by noon, they had already traveled quite some distance. The stream was shallower upstream too. The water was crystal clear and contained small amounts of Ynni, making it akin to holy water, though very, very diluted. "This is so, refreshing," said Lady Janet washing her face in the stream. "I have never seen such a natural stream of water containing holy water like properties. I wonder what its source can be." "The Red Forest has its secrets, young lady," said Louis in a melancholic tone. "Louis, why the somber mood suddenly?" asked the Captain. "Well, to be honest, it is related to the story of the creation of this Forest," said Louis. "Its - a story of death." "Well then, let us hear it as we continue," said the Captain. "Buckle up, lads and lasses. Let''s wrap up lunchtime and keep moving." ---- "So, this myth of the creation of this forest was told to me by Professor Agusthus, Kenny''s guardian, when he came to the town for his occasional drinking night-outs." started Louis while keeping the occasional eye for potential dangers. "According to the myth, there was a big war here, probably a few thousand years after the age of Gods. On one side were the human-kind and the demon-kind and the elves. And they were against the High Wraiths, High Undeads, High Orcs and other strong beasts and monsters from the age-of-Gods. The war was devastating for both sides, and rivers of blood flowed in this valley. Vasts amounts of mana and strong lifeforce permeated the soil rendering the place inhabitable for any living organism. For many years, the lesser undead roamed here feeding on that mana and lifeforce evolving into their higher races and also acquiring some intelligence. And one day, the higher races just vanished, gone completely."You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Another thousand years later, life found its way here, and the trees that grew evolved into these strange red-leaved large trees, which grow only here." He continued, "Basically, that was how this Red Forest came into existence. But, don''t mistake the Forest to be less dangerous now, as very few returns back alive after venturing this deep into the Forest." "Aye, but this time it won''t be able to stop us," declared Alfosdor with excitement in his voice. "We will safely cross it this time." "Well, let''s hope for the best." added the Captain in a melancholic voice as well. The story of death really had an effect on everybody, making them wonder about the deep meaning behind the redness of every leaf. The somber mood of the group was further dampened by the slight drizzle that came down sometime in the afternoon. When the water level started to rise, the group decided to leave the gorge behind and climb back up. "Well, the beasts rarely come out on hunts when it rains. So, I suppose it will be better for us to continue," said Kenny. So, the group traveled in the rain wearing leather hats. By evening, they came across some fallen trees. The giant trunks looked somewhat freshly cut and in an unnatural way... as if they had been sliced off with a tool. The destruction of the Forest reminded Kenny of his misdeed with the sword of Mimosa. Embarrassed and worried, Kenny decided to keep it a secret that it was his doing. "This is highly unusual. I wonder how did this happen," pondered Louis. And everybody started gossipping as well. "Well, this might be the work of them," said Kenny pointing to an old black tree trunk, trying to put the blame on others. Upon closer look, the large fallen trunk appeared moving, or rather, its bark was moving in various patches. "Hou! are they worms? Woodworms, perhaps?" asked Louis. "Yes, they are woodworms. I have seen numerous varieties of them in the south." said the Captain. "But all of them have one thing in common. They take the appearance of the bark of the tree they are feeding on, and they spew dangerous acids." "Then, it will be better if we stay away from them. We don''t want unnecessary trouble," said Janet. The group continued while avoiding all the fallen trees infected with woodworms. But then, suddenly, a giant centipede, about 10 ft long with purple scales and red legs, came out from one of the hollowed-out trunks and charged on the group. And there was not only one, but two more of them, though smaller in size, but the same deadly in appearance. "Purple centipedes incoming!" cried Alfosdor. "They are very poisonous. Don''t let them come close." yelled the Captain. Alfosdor pulled out his giant shield and bashed at the incoming centipede. And the centipede''s front part of the body was blown away by sheer force of the hit. But the legs on its lower part of the body managed to hold their ground, and the agile centipede quickly made a turn-over, and now, with its towering front part of the body, it was ready to unleash attacks on Alfosdor again. Suddenly, an arrow came flying and splendidly struck the head of the giant centipede, dealing the final blow. It was Ryan. "Splendidly shot, young one." praised Louis. "Now then, let me take care of the other two." Saying so, he collected mana in his wand and, "Bolt" shot a stronger version of the stun spell on them. But the agile centipedes managed to evade, and only one of them was hit by the strong bolt of electricity. The other one, which was only slightly injured, now enraged, charged at the group again. "Let me take care of the remaining one." Saying so, Kenny confronted the centipede head-on. "Boy, be careful." Ignoring the words of Louis, Kenny beautifully evaded the attack of the centipede and managed to reach its rear part. The young but agile centipede turned to face him again. But Kenny had already caught it by its back part, and with a strong swing, he thrashed the head of the centipede on a nearby rock. "You are quite agile and fast, aren''t ya?" -Alfosdor. Kenny blushed and said, "Well, that much is necessary to live here." "Good work, Kenny." said the Captain. ---- By evening, the group came across a large patch of clearing in the Forest. The scene was of pure devastation. The trees were violently broken down, uprooted in some case, the ground was dotted with numerous craters, the rocks were smashed, and some parts were wholly charred with mana burns. While the leaders in the group were entirely in wonder, thinking what might the cause of such destruction, Kenny, of course, knew the cause, as it was him and Mimosa, who came this far during one of their practice sessions in which use of magic was allowed. But once again, he decided to keep it a secret. "This certainly does not appear to be caused by natural forces," said Louis. "Yes, it was not natural." said the Captain. "It looks like a big battle took place here among many people or creatures, whatever they might be." "Aye. I think so too. Let''s get away from here before they, whoever they are, come for us," said Alfosdor. The group hurriedly left and continued their journey in the darkness too. After traveling for another few kilometers, they laid camp near some giant rocks in a hilly area where the Forest was thin. They built giant bonfires along the perimeter of their camping area to keep the wild beasts at bay. They also made more monster repellents to keep out the wraiths and ghost-lights. Still, occasionally a strong wraith would come to attack. But the night lookouts were able to safely deal with them. And so they passed another night safely in the Red Forest. ---- The next morning, the sky was clear, though the wind was strong as usual. After breakfast, everybody was present before the Captain''s tent, for the regular morning discussion. Usually, they would convey their problems and reports to the Captain, the headcount will be done, and plans for the day will be laid out. But today, a different problem had occurred. "What did you say?" asked the Captain in disbelief. "Kenny is missing?" A girl from Lady Janet''s team was reporting to the Captain, "Yes, Captain. When I went to his tent to serve him breakfast, he was not there. Then we looked for him in the whole campsite. But he was nowhere to be found. The men looked for him in the men''s toilet and bath area as well." "Damn it. Did that guy chicken out and ran back to his guardians," said Alfosdor grumpily. "No, Alfosdor. I know that guy. Whatever he is, he is definitely not a coward." said Filbert. "Hou, when did you become his follower?" asked Ryan with a nasty smirk. And as Filbert was about to retort back, the Captain yelled, "Stop it, you guys." "Well, I am sure wherever he is, he will surely return," said Louis. And the Captain added, "Let''s look for him properly once again before we depart." ---- It happened sometime before dawn. It was still dark outside, and Kenny was asleep in his tent. But then, Kenny''s sharpened senses, which still remain active when he is sleeping, picked up some trouble near the southern exit of the Forest. He immediately got up and put on his outdoor gear.Yare yare. This is something way out of the league of these people. It looks like I will have to deal with it before it reaches here.He then carefully got out of his tent without making any noise, leaped onto a nearby tree, and disappeared into the Forest. ---- It was a group of heavily armed undead soldiers lead by a knight riding a skeleton horse. The bone creatures, as hideous as usual, were marching in a perfect formation. Though they were small in number, each one of them looked like a battle veteran with leather armor, metallic guards, and well-maintained swords and shields. The knight leading was even more terrifying with grey metallic armor, a long sword, and a pair of flickering red fire burning in his eye sockets. Suddenly, a pale white boy jumped down from a nearby tree before them and walked menacingly towards them. Seeing him, the swordsman undead at the frontlines gave out a battle cry in an unintelligible voice and lashed at him. But the boy stood there unmoving, and as the sword was about to cut down his neck, a cracked voice, "Stop." came from the back, and the skeleton soldiers fell back. "Let. Me. Deal. With. Him." It was the skeleton knight, uttering his command in his broken voice. Then he gracefully got down from his steed and approached the boy. "I. Am. A. Caretaker. Of. This. Forest." said the knight. "But. I. Am. Also. Tasked. With. Stopping. People. From. Crossing. This. Forest. And. Reaching. The. East." "Is that so? But you never stopped me when I was here, nor did I ever saw you, less even taking care of this Forest." "We. Only. Come. To. Stop. Those. Who. Are. Marked. Dangerous. By. My Familiar." As he said that, the small wraiths in the surroundings gathered near him and converged to take the shape of a large grey wolf. "And. It. Is. Our. Little. Friends. Who. Actually. Take. Care. Of. The. Forest. When. We. Are. Not. Here." said he, referring to the other freely foraging wraiths. "Ah! There was always such a big secret of the Forest hiding in plain sight." "So... Are. You. With. The. Ones. Trying. To. Get. To. The. Other. Side." "Yes. Though only temporarily." "Do. You. Want. To. Retreat. With. The. Rest?" The pale white boy paused a while before answering, "NO." And considering that as the signal, the battle began. As the other skeleton soldiers fell further back, the skeleton knight unsheathed his long sword, with the rising sun on his back. Though his sword appeared dull, as he passed mana into it, red veins appeared on the surface of the blade and gave out an ominous red glow. "It is good that I brought a sword as well." It was an ordinary double-edged sword that was borrowed to him by the Captain. But as he passed mana into it, the sword gave out cracking sounds, and similar bluish-white veins appeared on its surface as well. "That. Is. An. Ordinary. Sword." said the knight with a heavy voice. "It. Cannot. Hold. That. Amount. Of. Mana" "I know." replied the boy. "But it will be enough for this battle." As the knight heard this, the red flames in his sockets burned brighter, and he disappeared. But not from the eyes of the boy who could read his movements very clearly. And as he took his stance, his eyes gave out a blue glow as well, and he too disappeared. The battle which followed after was certainly not for the eyes of ordinary people, and only red and white splashes and after images could be perceived. The knight violently slashed at his opponent. But all of his attacks were splendidly parried or blocked by the white boy with his agile movements. So, he started using occasional kicks, which managed to blow away the boy. But every time, he would get back up as if nothing had happened. "Okay, now. Enough practice." said the boy and slashed at the knight from below. The knight somehow managed to avoid the blow by blocking the mowing sword with all his might. But the next strike was even faster and managed to break his shoulder. And as the knight fell back to recover. A violent series of slashes rained on him, destroying his armor and breaking his bones. And so, the battle ended quickly after it began. The knight lay down flat on his back, and the white boy held the sword at his chest. "Come. On. Finish. Me." the knight asked. "No." the boy replied with a pause. "Just go back to your place, where you came from." Saying so, he unsheathed his sword, leaped onto a nearby tree, and disappeared into the Forest. Why did the boy spare the skeleton knight? Was it because he was an undead too? Nobody knew, and maybe no one ever will. Chapter 13; Callow Revels Callow Revels The mornings in the Red Forest are generally foggy; well, except in the soaring summer days when the temperature crosses 25 by midday. But those days do not last very long, and by the end of the seventh month of the year[1], the temperature trickles down until it reaches only about 15 by midday. And slowly but steadily, the temperature falls down further. So, by the end of the next month, the midday temperature climbs only to about 10. The sun is usually late in the morning, and the cold, humid air from the Lake brings the usual dense fog in the Red Forest with it. Though it makes the mornings very difficult for those creatures which are unskilled in sensing a magic presence, it is a prime time for those hunters who rely not only on their eyesight for vision. After dealing with the squad of undead soldiers at dawn, Kenny was making his way back to the camp of the expedition group through the fog, which was at its thickest point. The temperature was very low too, at about 4 degrees, as winter was near. But then, Kenny sensed the presence of some more unusual creatures which he had never seen in the forest before. Though they were in the far end of the forest, near the foot of the mountain, he decided to have a closer look. By concealing all of his magic presence, which he does by using a make do technique he invented himself, Kenny ran towards them. The method is a straightforward one, where he collects all of his mana near his heart area, passing only the bare minimum to his limbs required to many basic movements. When he reached there, he stood on a high branch of a tree and watched the mysterious but beautiful creatures of the Red Forest. What he saw there amidst the fog was a cute white fox running gleefully after some hares. The mountain hares themselves are not very rare. About the size of a large dog, the hares roam freely near the town of Alison. As the fat content is low in their meat, they are rarely hunted by the large carnivores of the forest. But they are prized preys for the hunters of Alison. And, as for their feeding habit, they are herbivores and are very swift on their legs. But the junior hunter running after it was not ordinary. It was a child of one of the most mystical creatures of this mystical world - a pup of Celestial Fox. It is said that Celestial Foxes have a golden color, jade eyes, and nine tails, and are as big as an ancient dragon. Though this small pup is only the size of a giant mastiff, it is slender and snow white with only one tail and looks more like a giant arctic fox. But Kenny could tell that it was a pup of a nine-tails from its beautiful glowing jade eyes and the enormous amount of mana that it possessed. Hmm... It will be a formidable opponent if it learns to make proper use of all of its mana,thought Kenny. Ignoring all the intricacies and troubles of the world, the young, innocent fox was running merrily after its prey. Though it could easily catch it by making use of body enhancements, it looked like the young fox didn''t know how to do that yet. But it probably knew some elementary spells. Sometime later, it shot small icicles by converging mana in its mouth at the hare. The hare quickly managed to avoid the incoming icicles by making full use of its agility. But the fox didn''t give up and finally managed to injure the hind legs of a hare after about 6 attempts. But there was not only one rare creature that had attracted the attention of Kenny. Another occasional visitor of the Red Forest was also keenly watching the young fox hunt from one of the treetops opposites to Kenny - It was a mountain eagle. With a wingspan of 4 meters, it is a giant bird that can hunt down any unwary creature of the forest. But it was also a youngling too. Kenny had heard from the prof. that the adult birds can even hunt stray wyverns. As the hare stumbled down after getting injured, the young fox joyfully ran towards it to claim the prey. But before it could reach, the ever-observant eagle swooped down lightning-fast, picked up the hare, and perched some 150 meters away from Kenny on a branch glaring at him. Following the eyes of the eagle, the young fox also noticed him and stood stiffly scared. Slowly moving back while keeping its eyes on him, the young fox turned back and ran fast as if to escape. Leaving behind the hare, the eagle soon followed the fox back to the mountain. Yare, yare. I didn''t mean any harm, you know,sighed Kenny. Picking up the injured hare as a souvenir for the others, Kenny decided to quickly return back without wasting too much time. ---- From their last campsite, the expedition group continued south, towards the north-eastern tip of the Aster Mountains. As they had entered the final phase of their journey to cross the Red Forest, they were very cautious of any probable danger that may try to hinder them, as happened with the others who ventured this far but never returned. So, although they were progressing very slowly, it might also be because of the occasional steep slopes and rugged terrain that was harder to cross by the cart and the non-combatant members of the group. The had to heavily rely on scouts and mages to find traversable paths, and for clearing rocks and earth from their way. They even found a 23 feet long python blocking their way. But, as the cold-blooded creature hadn''t soaked enough warmth from the sun to attack with its full agility, it was pretty easy to deal with by the keen adventurers of the group. Sometime later, after the sun rays filtered down from the dense canopy of the forest, the Captain sensed Kenny, who was approaching the group. A moment later, Louis also noticed him, "Oh ho ho. Didn''t I tell you all that Kenny would return?" As he said that, Kenny appeared from the disappearing fog with an animal on his shoulders. The members hurled towards him and started asking various questions. Although Kenny answered with a just ''stroll for a small hunt'' and managed to pass the inquiry, he had to again explain to the inquisition of the Captain as he had gone out without taking permission. After Kenny answered him too with the same excuse and a poker face, the Captain continued preaching him for some time. ".....we are an expedition team, ain''t we? So, you should refrain yourself from taking independent actions, and always try to maintain the order in the group. Even if you are going for a hunt, you should take prior permission. Everyone was anxious for you....." Geez, Captain! Cut me some slack, will you?Puffed Kenny.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After the situation had calmed down, everyone, including the Captain, praised Kenny for capturing the mountain hare. Though it was not him, Kenny decided to keep quiet about the rare visitors of the Red Forest for the safety of both sides. Apparently, the meat of the mountain hare is a delicacy reserved for the wealthy. Though it is abundant in the surrounding areas, it is tough to catch, for it is quick to escape on its last legs. Cutting their quick break further short, they immediately continued on their journey after the dismantling the hare. Surprisingly no more undead monsters or wraiths attacked them for the rest of their journey, and so they reached their next camping point by dusk. But before they could settle down, they felt high amounts of natural Ynni in the surroundings. "Hou, is this mana? It seems very well dispersed, though," asked Louis. "Waterfall? There is a faint sound of falling water," exclaimed Janet. "Yes, I hear it too." said another of her teammates. Of course, Kenny knew about it. "Well, there is a beautiful waterfall called ''SnowFalls'' some 600 meters ahead. The water in its small ''waterfall lake'' contains mana and lifeforce. So, the mana in the surroundings probably originated there." "A waterfall containing such large quantities of mana, that it has spread till here!" Janet was shocked after hearing the explanation from Kenny. "Right. This is quite unbelievable. Let''s check it out." said the Captain. "Captain, let me check it out first to ascertain its safety," asked Mylisant. "No. I think it will be difficult for you to handle if it becomes dangerous." said the Captain. "Alfosdor, you stay here to protect the others. Louis, Janet, Filbert, and Kenny come with me. Mylisant, inform us immediately in case of any danger." After giving out his orders, the Captain left for the waterfall with the assigned members, while the others set up a perimeter and started preparing wood for the campfire and food for dinner. As all the accompanying companions of the Captain were all high leveled, they decided to run fast through the forest and the rough terrain. And while they approached nearer to the waterfall, the sound of the falling water as well as the mana in the surroundings, started increasing. Coming out of the forest, they were awestruck after seeing the mesmerizingly beautiful waterfall. The small water streams falling from the high cliffs sparkling in the moonlight like snowflakes was a surreal sight to behold. The water in the small waterfall lake was as clear as freshly mined Virgin Crystals. But still, the bottom could not be seen, and so the source of the faint white light coming from the depth could not be identified. Nevertheless, the rare flowers which Lady Janet managed to identify surprised everybody the most. "Hey, are those La Vie lilies?" she asked, pointing towards the beautiful lotus-like bluish-white flowers blooming near the center of the Lake. What''s with that french naming?Kenny wanted to retort but was quickly overwhelmed by the excited shout of Louis. "Hou, you mean that legendary plant whose extract is used to make super high-grade recovery potions that can even recover lost limbs or organs." "Yes, they are certainly those, I think," said the equally excited Captain. "Then, won''t we be filthy rich if we present them at the auction in the capital?" Saying so, Filbert ran towards the water after quickly removing his long boots. "Wait!! " Ignoring the warning of lady Janet Filbert jumped in the Lake. But as soon his legs touched the water, he let out a pained scream. His eyes glowed white, and his consciousness escaped immediately. Seeing his nephew in great pain, the Captain let out a loud shout, ''Filbert... '', and ran towards the water with all his might. But Kenny acted even faster and held him down. Of course, Kenny could have stopped Filbert too if he knew that the water has adverse effects on humans. Blood flowed out from Filbert''s nose and eyes and started changing the color of the water near him. "Quick, we have to get him out immediately." cried out, Lady Janet. And Louis quickly pulled out a rope from his backpack. "Wait. Let me get him," demanded Kenny after pushing away the Captain towards Janet, and jumped in the water. All three of them were surprised to see that the water had no effect on Kenny and how he was unconvincingly swimming in the Lake carrying FIlbert to the sandy bank at the opposite side of the Lake. They all rushed towards the bank immediately and helped him move Filbert to the shore. Filbert was still unconscious, but the glow from his eyes had faded, and his heart was still beating, though at a fast rate. It was because of mana poisoning. The extremely high quality and quantity of mana and lifeforce - though from the viewpoint of people with not very high levels - which entered his body through his skin burned his capillaries, and his body trying to maintain bearable amount of mana in the circulatory system made the arteries contract, which resulted in extremely high blood pressure. Lady Janet quickly cast a spell while holding Filbert''s head with both of her palms. And Filberts consciousness returned seconds later. The spell has the effect of oxygenating the brain, which forces it to activate. Louis pulled out a small case and passed it to the now awake Filbert. "Pour out the excess mana in here." And as he did, his complexion slowly changed for better, and the case turned from blue to deep blue and then purple. "It is overloading," exclaimed the Captain seizing the case from his hands. He then threw it towards the Lake. And, as it touched the water surface, it burst like a pressurized glass bottle. Now, that the mana circulation in his body has stabilized, Filbert was safe from danger. But several parts of his body were still unmovable from pain due to internal damage. Suddenly Kenny passed a blue bud towards Lady Janet. Surprised, she asked, "Is it perhaps..." "Yes. Let us use it as it is for now," replied Kenny while cutting her short. She peeled the petals of the bud and used another spell with her wooden wand. The nectar beautifully separated and floated like a water-droplet-in-space, enveloped by a thin film of mana. And after Filbert was made to drink that drop of nectar, he let out another small pained scream. His original yellow mana gushed out from every orifice of his body and enveloped his body. Though he didn''t lose his consciousness this time, he was in intense pain, which was noticeable from his constant scratching of the ground with his nails. The old Guildmaster had adopted Filbert when his parents, who were former adventurers and his colleague, died during a dangerous job. But he could do nothing but watch his nephew struggling in pain, as he was not knowledgeable in healing arts. Instead, he consistently gave him courage, "Hang in there, my boy," while holding his body. A few minutes after suffering, Filbert''s condition became stable, and blood returned to his body parts as his damaged blood vessels were healed by the nectar. Everybody gave out sighs of relief. But apparently, the suffering was still not over for Filbert as the Captain started shouting at him for his stupidity. "Aldy, calm down." urged Louis. After the yelling of the Captain slowed down a little, Louis continued, "The west side of the waterfall lake looks relatively safer to me for camping than in the middle of the forest." "The high cliff at the back will also serve as extra protection. And monsters and beasts will also stay away from the strong mana emanating from the Lake," added Lady Janet. "Okay, then. We should guide everybody here for tonight''s camp." agreed the Captain. "But pass the warning that no more fools should touch the water." Chapter 14; in days of yore in days of yore The sky was unexpectedly clear for a night in autumn in the Red Forest, when rains frequent. And the half-moon was shining peacefully over the little clearing near the SnowFalls. The expedition group had decided to settle down on that clearing for two nights to rest and prepare their mind and body for the harsh adventures to come. Some grumpy explorers started the rumor that the Captain just wanted to wait for Filbert to rest and recover from his injuries, as he was still not able to properly use mana like his former self. But those rumors couldn''t perturb the old and experienced Captain, Alderman Yon, who has seen many different types of people and situations during his own adventures. By the way, the Captain still looks to be in his forties, despite being some 400 years old as he is a High Human. The average lifespan of a High Human is said to be about 500 years. Also, the same thing can be said about the Merchant Lord of Alison, Louis Dagbane. Louis and Alderman are childhood friends. They met when both of them took admission at the UniversityUniversity of the north in the same year. Though Louis was the son of a wealthy merchant dealing in expensive clothes and Alderman was the third son of a small blacksmith, they quickly became friends because of their likemindedness. Louis was revered as a genius in magic systems. He learned large scale destructive magic and several elemental spells during his study. He also studied arithmetic and the basics of magic engineering. And Alderman was a maniac for body-building. He learned martial arts during his tenure and some metal works. After graduating from the UniversityUniversity, they went on to form an ''Adventurers Guild'' together. But one black day, their whole guild, which consisted of only 8 members, was caught in a trap in a dungeon. Miraculously Louis and Alderman were able to escape, though with injuries, due to the efforts of the later. But the others perished in the darkness of the labyrinth. Due to this disaster, their guild was disbanded by the then managing union of the Adventurers Guilds. Now depressed and aimless, Alderman trained in sword techniques to further increase his strength. Some years later, he was requested by the army to join the war against the orc kingdom, which had been raging for some 50 long years. The war, fortunately, ended after 9 more years. Alderman and some other valiant generals were honored as war heroes by the King and exempted from military duty. After the war, he returned to his old friend Louis to live with him. But Louis, now married, had become a family man and was securing livelihood by doing some odd business. So, trying not to disturb his friend''s private life, he went to MoonHarbor and established a small smithy called ''SilverHammer,'' after his now-dead father''s original silver hammer. Some years later, after the request of his friend and in the memory of their former guildmates, he converted it to a new adventurer''s guild. And due to his reputation as a former war hero and a master adventurer, many big names in the industry joined him, and the guild slowly became the largest adventurer guild in whole Wisteria[1]. In the meantime, Louis was scouted by the King to become the Merchant Lord of Alison on the surface, and secretly protect the town from the dangers of the Red Forest and the northern mountains. Apparently, the King somehow heard of his raw skills and gallant adventures with his small but powerful guild members. But well, these are stories from some 300 years ago. Now, Louis has gained some extra weight, and Alderman has lost much of his vigor. Only their ages-long friendship remains and is as fresh as when it began. They spent that night drinking some strong rum and talking about their lives. ---- The next morning was again cold, and the activity in the camp was undoubtedly low. But, the loud wood cracking sound could be heard coming from the forest. It was the dwarf leader Alfosdor; he was chopping a large fallen tree some 100 meters away from the camp. Some scholars of the northern UniversityUniversity hypothesize that the dwarves have initially been humans, as there has been no mention of them in the tales of the Old Gods. They say that some miner humans who secluded themselves in the mountains, working with ores and metals, crafting tools and weapons evolved into dwarves due to their peculiar living and working conditions. Whereas the dwarves claim that their ancestors were ancient earth spirits like the Gnomes. The scholars are reluctant to accept these ideas as reproduction between spirits, who lack corporeal bodies, and the living should not be theoretically possible. But Alfosdor never concerns himself with such disputes. He came to MoonHarbor after the foreign business treaty was signed with the dwarven colonies in the Amber mountains[2] by the kingdom. Well, more honestly, he was thrown out of his household as he was not useful in mining or blacksmithy or any other kind of craftsmanship. But his innate talent in battle was recognized by the Captain. And so, he was recruited in his then-newly-formed guild. Thus, he is one of the oldest members of the guild. Alfosdor was very proud of his position in the guild and as one of the senior members. He worked hard day-and-night to increase the reputation and the scale of operations of the guild. But now, at 310 years of age, he has passed on his responsibilities to the younger generation and is thinking about his retirement. Apparently, the dwarves have an average lifespan of about 400 years. But the rare elder dwarves can live for about a 1000 years. Still, he never fails to keep his muscles in good condition as taught to him by the Captain when he was a muscle maniac. Today too, he has been swinging his broad dwarven ax to chop wood for campfire in the forest as a form of training. ---- "I see them. There are a few hiding near those shrubs. I think you will be able to spot them when they make small movements. Shoot quickly, as soon as you see them." said Mylisant from atop a tree by using a small binocular-like tool. It didn''t look like an ordinary tool, though. It was actually a magic tool, an artifact created by a famous magic engineer of the royal capital. It can detect living organisms with high enough lifeforce when viewed through it. "I know when I have to shoot. You don''t have to tell me everything," said Ryan with slight irritation in his voice. He was also equipped with a one-eyed scope strapped on his head. He then geared up his bow and stood atop a rock to have a better view. He was asked by the Captain to hunt for food during the morning discussion. Usually, he hates doing such manual-labor-like work due to his royal background. But harsh life conditions after leaving behind royalty forced him to change his views, and he accepted the job with a ''tsk.'' And Mylisant, who acts as his current guardian, decided to go with him for his safety. Well, formerly, Mylisant was not acquainted with the royalty. She was an orphan living in an orphanage in the royal capital. But the deplorable living conditions in the orphanage forced her to steal money from the manager. And as a consequence, she was expelled from the orphanage at a young age of 9. After that, she roamed the dark alleys of the capital, stealing more and more, eventually becoming a phantom thief, stealing money and ornaments from the wealthy, and then distributing them to the poor. But her large scale operations enraged the victims, and a signed warrant was issued of her arrest. Eventually, the royal knights intervened, and she was caught. She was 20 by then and was sentenced 25 more years in prison. While in prison, the prison master noticed her talent and decided to train her in the scout and ranger jobs, who was an expert himself. She worked hard diligently, and after her release, she was immediately hired by the royalist faction of Ryan to be his bodyguard, who was a small child then. Ryan''s mother was one of the mistresses of the King and a foreign princess. But Ryan was not a Godling by birth. So, his mother was treated poorly by the other consorts of the King, as there has been a tradition, or more like a pattern, that the royal Prince and Princesses have always been strong Godlings by birth. The small feud leads in no minor dispute in the capital, and assassination attempts were made on Ryan and his faction. Somehow Mylisant managed to safeguard the young Prince and escape. Later, when the King got word of the truth of the story, he offered him amnesty and funds to live a worry-free life away from all the backbiting and politics of the capital. And the young ex-prince grew up strong under the care of Mylisant. But he was not satisfied with the handling of the case by the King. And the loss of his mother fueled thoughts of revenge in his mind. One thing led to another, and the ex-prince Ryan found himself entangled in some pretty complicated business once again. Mylisant tried her best to calm him down and ease his sufferings. But hatred had already planted firm roots in his heart. So, she had no other way but to listen to his selfish desires and protect him in his mission. Well, she was still vexed by the details of the mission. But the figure of Ryan, whom she had raised like her own brother, carefully taking aim with his longbow, filled her heart with love. As he pulled the bowstring, an arrow of mana was formed and knocked. After two long breaths, the arrow was released, and it flew straight for some 300 meters and struck one of the rabbits hiding in the shrubs. "Got it!" He said in a low voice and ran towards the now immobilized prey. But Mylisant had already caught it and killed it. "A splendid shot, my young hero!" she said with a sweet voice. By the way, Mylisant still looks like in her twenties despite being in her fifties, as the humans in Eden have a longer lifespan of 200 years. "That was not difficult. I could have easily caught it even without your help." "My my, the little Prince has magnificently grown up. He doesn''t need his big sister''s help anymore. Ahh! How will I live without him!!" Mylisant started her crying or acting. Well, whatever she did, she was good at it. "Come on..." saying so in a bored tone, Ryan ran towards the base of the mountain in search of other prey. Mylisant packed the rabbit in an odor-proof leather bag and ran after him.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. They stopped atop a large rock overlooking a small stream and surveyed the surroundings. "Shall we use it again? We are at a sufficient distance from the camp and pretty close to the mountain," asked Ryan, while shooting at another rabbit he saw at the opposite side of the stream. The rabbit couldn''t evade and was shot at the head by the small arrow shot by the small but powerful bow that was used this time. Ryan carries two bows. One is small, about 2 feet long, while the other one is as long as the English longbow. He then excitedly crossed the stream by making a jump and picked up the rabbit. Mylisant also followed him and asked, "Are you sure?" "Yeah. I have brought all the necessary tools. Let''s try again." Ryan answered. "Okay." Saying so, Mylisant pulled out a palm-sized capsule-like object from her pouch tied on her belt. The crystalline artifact was divided into two parts in the middle. The lower part was opaque and perforated. The upper part was transparent and contained a liquid inside. Another translucent oval crystal was floating inside it, which contained a small piece of bone. She held the transparent part in her right hand and passed mana into it. The liquid emitted a faint blue glow, and then, white mana, more like Ynni, was slowly emitted by the perforated upper part. The mana gradually dispersed in the surroundings as they lacked a will controlling it. "No matter how many times I use this, I am always stupefied by this mana," said Mylisant while frowning her brows. "Don''t worry. You will not have to do it anymore." Saying so, he focused his attention on the top of the mountain. "Is it coming?" asked Mylisant putting the capsule in her pouch and then readying her black colored dagger. "I cannot guarantee that it is what we are looking for. But something is coming. And... it is powerful." said Ryan while calmly taking a stance with his longbow. But Mylisant was not composed. The strong magic presence she felt coming from the mountain slope sent chills down her spine. "It is terrible," she whispered. Suddenly they heard a short howl in the distance. "They are mountain wolves. We are retreating," cried Mylisant. "Tsk." Ryan clicked his tongue and ran after her. ---- As usual, Kenny was late to get up in the morning. Slowly trotting out of his tent, he washed his face in the waterfall lake, gargled his mouth, and walked near a campfire after feeling refreshed by the magical water. Some of the other explorers, who were also late in the morning, were sipping hot herb tea near the fires. Kenny approached the one where he saw a person he was familiar with. It was the young, sociable dwarf mage with whom Kenny got acquainted on his first day in the camp. When he noticed Kenny, he merrily asked him to sit on the stool him and offered him a big cup of herb tea mixed with honey and rum. "Thanks, Reidrin," said Kenny to the young, lively fellow while taking the cup and sitting down. And yeah, Reidrin is his name. "Hahaha, it''s no bother," he replied with a hearty laugh. "Here, chew these for breakfast." Saying so, Reidrin passed the meat skewer, which was left to cook on the fire to Kenny. "Since there is no breakfast for the late risers like us." Kenny passed the cup to his left hand and took the tasty looking skewer with the now free right hand. "Looks delicious," he replied. The third person who was around this campfire was the one preparing them. She was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed. It was the demi-human feline girl whom Kenny saw on his second day in the camp. Though being in the same group for some days now, Kenny had never talked with her. Well, actually, she was the one who seemed more distant with a gloomy atmosphere around her. But now, as Kenny observed her, she looked exquisitely attractive. Her bluish-silver dorsal fur shined like silk under the sun. Her cat-like ears and whiskers, and the big round pink eyes together with her small mouth could only be described as extremely cute. Though Mimosa is in an entirely different league, he concluded. Intrigued by the sadness in her face, Kenny asked Reidrin with a whisper, "What happened to her?" And Reidrin replied with a whisper as well, "Well, it was terrible. She lost her cousin, whom she loved a lot. It was when we were attacked by some Shadow Cats." "She loved her cousin?" Intrigued by the incest like events, Kenny asked. "Well, mating between brothers and sisters or cousins is common among demi-humans," Reidrin answered, maintaining the whisper profile. "... " the culture shock made Kenny fall silent. Reidrin continued, "That guy was a fine warrior. So, everybody mourned for him. And he belonged to our guild, the SilverHammer." Suddenly, the feline girl who caught them whispering glared at them. Reidrin looked troubled, and while sweating from his forehead, he let out a dry laugh, "Haha... Well, Nensi, why don''t you introduce yourself to Kenny. I am sure you heard about him - the guy who joined us in the Red Forest." She stared with the same mean look at Kenny and curtly introduced herself after a pause. "I am Nensi, an apprentice cook of the AquaRoses guild." And taking no offense with the behavior of the lady cook, Kanny introduced himself as well. The AquaRoses guild she mentioned is the second-largest guild of Wisteria. They are led by a team of leaders who specialize in various fields, and Lady Janet is one of them. The services provided by them range from sorcerers to healers, from maids and cooks to artists and decorators, from weavers to stage performers. In fact, it is one of the oldest surviving guilds of Wisteria, dating back to a thousand years. Kenny had heard about AquaRoses from Lady Janet herself. But, he was surprised by the fact that they also trained cooks. With a ''hmph,'' Nensi looked away and focused on her work. "Why is she angry with me? I am sure this is the first time we have met." Kenny again asked Reidrin with a whisper, and Reidrin paused to think for a while and answered, "I can''t think of anything." Looking up, she again glared at Kenny for a while and said in a low voice, "Those eyes of yours; they remind me of those vile Shadow Cats." Then she quickly got up and walked away with the bowl towards her tent. "Is she gonna be okay?" Kenny asked the only person who was now around the campfire beside him. "Well, they say, ''Time is the best medicine,''" replied Reidrin softly while sipping the hot liquid in his cup. "Don''t worry, Kenny. The people who were selected for this expedition are strong, both physically and mentally." Kenny sipped from his cup as well. Reidrin picked up the last one of the skewers that Nensi prepared before she left. And then they enjoyed the warmth of the fire in the cold morning in tranquil silence. Sometime later, Reidrin informed Kenny that the Captain had tasked him to help Lady Janet with her work today during the morning discussion he missed. And as Kenny was about to start his day''s jobs, he sensed peculiar mana like that day, before the skeletons attacked the group. He focused his attention towards the direction from where it originated, but couldn''t make out the possessor of the pleasant mana. It was definitely not coming from Ryan or Mylisant who were hunting in the foot of the mountains. "Kenny boy, is there something wrong?" asked Reidrin when he saw Kenny staring blankly at the empty forest. Then trouble showed up. Kenny sensed some wolves who were coming down from the mountains. "Aa, its nothing. Just going to take a leak." Saying, so he walked briskly away from the camp and disappeared into the forest. ---- It was the afternoon, and most of the people in the camp were listlessly taking a nap after lunch or working silently inside their tents. But if one were to look at the east side of the waterfall lake, one could see a series of small puddles carefully dugout on the sandy shore. And by listening closely, one could also hear some burbling sounds. By following the puddles from the largest one situated near the lake, one would come across a girl who looks like in her twenties. She was filtering the water from the puddle beside her using a handmade, small, but handy filter. It was basically a long glass cylinder fitted with sand, gravel, and other materials for precise filtering. She is actually one of Lady Janet''s attendants. And her master, Lady Janet herself, could be spotted if one would look some 10 meters away from the sandy shore. She was carefully observing a small fractional distillation setup while stirring some other substances in a beaker. The problematic process of fractional distillation was being carried out in glass apparatus atop a small, low wooden table, while other equipment was laid out bare on the rocky ground. An ornate box of various chemicals, contained in small bottles, was also lying open near her. Due to the availability of a convenient carrier tool like the ''case'', it was effortless for Lady Janet to carry these apparatus with her wherever she went. So, she can test unknown substances on the go and also bring the bulk of those substances back with her for further research. "Kenny, where were you?" Recognizing the presence at her back, she asked without turning. "I was waiting." "Sorry for making you wait, Lady Janet. There were some troublesome beasts on the western side of the camp. So, I was held up in chasing them away." replied Kenny in a polite manner. Ignoring the reason Kenny used for being late, she started talking fervently about her work and findings. "Look, Kenny, after diluting and filtering the water from the lake, we have been able to separate its main contents and also identify the trace minerals present in the water." "Oh! Ain''t that impressive!" Kenny exclaimed her with a smile. She gave out a big smile and said while turning back, "Thanks! I hope I can keep it up!" With excitement in her voice, she continued, "Now, listen to this, Kenny. After numerous testing, we have figured out that it was not the mana in the water which injured Filbert yesterday. As we know, normal mana, no matter how high grade it is, cannot harm a person to this extent." "Then...?" Kenny appeared shocked and curious. "Well, you see, it was the lifeforce which is dissolved in the water, something like the monster repellents we use to make. And this lifeforce is very strong. No wonder Filbert leveled up a lot after surviving that ordeal." It is true. Filbert leveled up by almost 110 units after he checked his level with his ID card. He is currently at level 609. She continued, "This probably means that a lot of high-level creatures'' dead bodies were dumped in this waterfall lake, which abounds in natural Ynni. Their mana and lifeforce dissolved in the water creating this beautiful yet deadly lake." "Yes, right. That seems to be the case," said Kenny, while making a satisfied smile as if the big mystery has been solved. "I think that their remains should still be at the bottom of the lake. Kenny, can you go and check?" she asked. Puzzled by the sudden request, Kenny cooked up another excuse, "Ah, well, the waters are deep. And although I am not affected by the water, it is challenging to dive," said Kenny, deciding that it will be better for the other people do not know what is really there at the depths. "Hmm... you''re right," she said with a thought. "It might be dangerous. There may also be underwater undead." Then, a faint sound of a small pebble dropping on the glass came from her back. "Ah, it distilled out," she exclaimed delightfully. A tiny pearl-like crystal dropped down from the setup inside a small empty glass jar. She immediately closed it off with its glass cap. "This is the crystallization of the lifeforce in the water. We will have to send it to the University to identify its source," she said while pleasantly looking at it. Though he knows that it is not possible, Kenny maintained a poker face and congratulated her. "The mana has also been distilled out," said she while pointing at another beaker which was collecting a fuming and glowing liquid dropping from another small tube. "This mana can be used to make very high-grade medicines and magic potions." "It will be quite valuable if sold in major towns," commented Kenny. "Not just valuable Kenny, it will be sold as a legendary item, if put in the auction," she said while refilling the distillation cylinder. "Hmm... on second thought. We should make potions for ourselves. We might need them on our journey." "I wish we could make them here and now. But there are no experts in alchemy with us in the camp. So, we should bring it to my colleagues from the AquaRoses guild. It will be a perfect souvenir." "Then, shall I collect more samples?" "Right, Kenny. Please fetch me water from different parts of the lake? The concentrations may vary depending on the location." And so, Kenny spent the afternoon helping Lady Janet with her field study. She also told him about the general progress in alchemy in recent years. He was surprised that the field has developed to such an extent, considering the level of scientific development in this world. Kenny shared some of his knowledge, too, while being careful not to mention any groundbreaking theory. He also helped in her work. Pleased with his knowledge and skills, Lady Janet asked him to visit her guild once whenever he visits MoonHarbour. She even handed him an AquaRoses badge to be used when visiting. The coin-shaped badge was beautifully made up of a crystal with wave-like patterns, and a red rose inside like a colored marble. They continued their work until dark and then returned to the camp. The dinner, which consisted of soup and foraged vegetables, was light but tasty. But the most beautiful part of the experience was having dinner near the campfire and under the starry sky. After warming themselves up near the fire, they went to bed early as they had planned to continue their journey soon the next morning. Chapter 15; Blitz & Recoil Blitz & Recoil It was a big day for everybody, and they were getting ready for departure from early dawn. A small scout party, which came with Louis, was sent ahead yesterday to investigate and find a route that can be ensued. They searched the surroundings unobserved while making a map, and after 5 hours of following a rough path, they reached the southern shore of the lake of Alison. The reports they brought in delighted the big shots of the group. After an early dinner, they discussed their further plans and did maintenance on their weapons and tools, preparing for a long unforgettable adventure. With courage and excitement in their heart and a burning passion for exploration in their eyes, they departed at about 8 in the morning, following the same path which was discovered yesterday. But, because of the uneven high terrain and various obstacles like fallen trees and gouged out ground and rocks, their progress was rather slow. Though they were curious as to what caused the destruction of the forest, a natural explanation required a lengthy investigation. So, the group decided to not spend their precious time there and continue their journey. Moreover, there was the danger that the beasts, which were probably the cause, might return, resulting in an unnecessary confrontation, which they wanted to avoid at all costs. It was about 4 in the afternoon when they reached their destination. Coming out of the forest, the group was greeted by a high rocky cliff. The rock in the cliff is an excellent building material. And a quarry in this area will definitely yield a high profit. But such thoughts were utterly absent from the mind of the explorers. Instead, they were enthralled by the beautiful scenery of the lake and the southern bank. Down the cliff, a long sandy beach extended in both directions. Numerous debris were scattered on the beach, brought ashore by the small humming waves, or maybe during storms. Among them were rotting wood, dead fishes, broken wreckage of small ships and boats, floating rocks, and countless valuable little gems and crystals. On their right, the beach curved about a kilometer ahead, where the Aster mountains meet the lake. Along the shoreline, that part of the beach was very narrow but still wide enough for a small group of people to pass. And finally, after crossing that, they will officially reach the eastern plains of Westeria, which was their last objective. They immediately set to work as planned. Using all of their ropes, they made several rope ladders. The work took almost an hour. But, after the job, seven rope ladders had been arranged for everybody to get down. The cart was stored away in its case and the horse was carefully lowered using ropes. For convenience, the horse was first knocked out of its consciousness using a spell by Lady Janet. When everybody had got down, it was almost dusk. And the group had to find shelter soon to protect themselves from the sharp winds blowing from the lake. Fortunately, they spotted a few giant boulders in the distance, which might have broken down from the cliff several years ago. The scouts, who were sent ahead to check, reported that the backside of the boulders could be used as a protection against the winds. And that was where the group set up their tents for the cold and windy night. They quickly collected the stowed away wood and logs from the beach and built small campfires in front of their tents. After a dinner of dried meat, everybody went to bed early after another long day of adventures. But this night was far from over, and would probably be the longest night for them in this expedition. ---- As they were camping in a dangerous zone, Alfosdor and his party were deployed as night lookouts. Everyone was to keep watch in shifts. They pitched their tents facing the lakeside and then sat around a small fire, staying vigilant of their surroundings. Sometime before midnight, Alfosdor saw strange lights under the water a few meters into the lake. He stared confusingly at them. But it was Reidrin, who was able to identify them and stood up scared stiff. "Chi...chief! They are underwater Ghost Lights. They always accompany the undead monsters." "What did ya say??" Alfosdor cried out. "There is no magic presence, though," said another. "You will feel their evil mana after they come out of the water," answered Reidrin. Alfosdor, who had gone to inform the Captain, returned equipped with his great shield. "Boys, I have informed the others. We are to hold the monsters back before everyone gets ready," he said. ""Aye"" With Alfosdor at the front, they marched on the beach. As the lights approached the shore, they slowly dimmed and vanished. Seconds later, three giant undead crocodiles leaped out of the water with a big splash and shot water bullets at the nearing adventurers. Alfosdor deployed a magic shield and managed to block all incoming attacks. Reidrin, who was behind him, barraged the undead with fire bullets. But the cunning crocs applied a mana layer on their bodies for magic defense. When the continuous fire of Reidrin stopped, the crocs were dazed for a second. And using that opportunity, Alfosdor swung his giant Warhammer and crashed the head of the croc at the front. The other two, now enraged, charged at them. Suddenly, Filbert, who appeared to have recovered to a certain extent, jumped out from the back and slashed at one of the crocs at hand. The bony jaw of the croc broke, and it struggled to retreat back for recovery. But Filbert''s two-party members defeated them in no time. He now paid attention to the remaining croc, which was slowly retreating towards the water. And as Filbert was about to leap at it with his yellow bladed sword, Alfosdor quickly approached him and pushed him back. "Stop, Filbert," he said and shouted his next commands to the warriors who have now gathered, "Everybody pulls back. And get into defense formation. More enemies are coming."This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. After giving out the orders, Alfosdor turned towards the water and stood there with his shield held high and fixed eyes. Seconds later, several dimmer lights appeared under the water. And as they approached the shore, their figures slowly appeared out of the water: rotten flesh and tethered old clothes, bones and weapons, a putrid smell and with a nasty glow in their eye sockets. They looked entirely out of a horror story. The female mages and warriors who were standing behind the frontlines shrieked at the dreadful Revenants[1]. Louis, who was late, ran to the front. Lady Janet frantically ran here-and-there, trying to get her commands to all of her terrified followers. And the Captain, he unsheathed his long black sword and walked out to the battlefield with determined steps. ---- But the one who had accurately perceived the great trouble was Kenny. As he was sleeping, his presence perception abilities were not sharp enough to detect the undead moving underwater. But as they came out of the water, his senses rang bells in his head. And as he woke up, he amplified his perception abilities and discovered the dread of the situation. Realizing that he has to act quick, he quickly got down from his hammock, put on his outdoor gear, and ran towards the battlefield. ---- The battle began soon, and both sides clashed at the sandy lake-beach. The skeleton soldiers at the frontlines were relatively weak, and so they were splendidly blown away by a single bash of Alfosdor''s shield. The slow-moving undead of the second wave, let of horrendous cries and charged at the group holding small knives and daggers, rocks and sticks, etc. The Revenants, with the lowest intelligence among all undead monsters, were also quickly dealt with by the strong spells of the mages. The ones which escaped were dealt with by the scouts and rangers. Filbert and his small party joined the extermination too. But it was more like a test of his new-found strength for Filbert. After a few minutes, they realized that the Revenants were not decreasing in number. More and more of them were coming from the lake, seemingly endlessly. Occasionally, a strong one would also show up, giving a little trouble to the adventurers. The Captain acted in such cases, and meticulously handled those troublesome fellows. With a swoop of his black sword, the undead monsters were sliced in half, and others who were at some distance were blown away by the resulting pressure wave as if hit by a charging rhino. Slowly, the battle heated up when stronger skeleton soldiers and mages showed up. The battlefield turned into an all-out war. Fireballs and fire-lances were flung here and there, and mana bullets and ice bullets were aimed at the blind spots. The adventurers who were at a numerical disadvantage teamed up in small groups of two, watching each other''s backs. The mages reinforced themselves and others with a protective layer of magic, and the warriors quickly put on metallic armor covering their vital spots. The clash was fierce, but still under the control of the experienced adventurers. Nonetheless, there were few injuries, and they retreated back. Lady Janet and her skilled attendants maintained the rear, preventing any monster from making their way to the camp where the non-combatants were healing the injured. Louis'' butler Balcro joined the fight as well, protecting his master from attacks at his blind spots. Though his prime days were nearly over, he still retained the vitality of an expert combatant. With his full body enhancement technique and splendid kicks, he rained destruction on all the skeleton warriors. He blocked all of the incoming sword attacks with his well-trained skills. Though some of them managed to cut him here and there, he recovered from those injuries with his self-healing magic. Due to his constant support, Louis managed to push the army-like skeleton soldier troops with his large scale destruction magic. As he flung his wand, the water from the lake coiled around the undead and froze rock solid. Then numerous rocky spikes protruded from under the sandy ground completely annihilating them. The ones who managed to escape were caught ablaze by the flame tornadoes. And, sometime in the midst of all that, he was seen handling two spells at the same time with two wands. With the last of the skeleton mage cut in half by the Captain, the battle appeared to be over, and everybody rushed in to help their injured friends. Suddenly, the Captain felt a presence coming from the water, and as he turned to look, he was surprised to see Kenny coming out of the water with a serious face. He rushed in towards him and asked with an equally concerned voice, "Kenny, are you okay? It looks like you were pulled inside the water by the undead. If you were in trouble, you should have shouted for help." "No, Captain. Please don''t worry as that was not the case," he replied while arranging his wet hair back with his fingers. "More importantly, there is a bigger problem at hand. More undead monsters are coming, and they are stronger and several times in number than before. We shall retreat to the Snowfalls as quickly as possible." After hearing the terrible news, the Captain''s face cramped, and he squinted his eyes while shifting his view to the lake. Although at a distance, he saw faint lights under the water, and they were approaching fast. He racked his brains and analyzed the situation. And a second later, he had made his decision. Taking in a deep breath, he shouted his orders, "Everybody, listen up. We are retreating to the SnowFalls. We will follow the same path we took today. Now, quickly pack up and get going." "Wait up, old man. Didn''t we just beat them real quick? Why are we the ones to escape like terrified rats?" Filbert flared up. "You are one to talk," Alfosdor rebutted. "You were writhing in pain on your hammock just a day ago." "Now now, didn''t you all hear the Captain''s orders? Quickly wrap up your tent and belongings," said Louis with a serious tone. And although Filbert was reluctant, he grumpily followed the others. Ryan, who was providing support from the distance, clicked his tongue again after hearing the orders of returning. Mylisant approached him and asked with a low voice, "This might become the end of the expedition. What will you do about the mission, my prince?" The ex-prince paused for a while to think and answered, "If it happens to be the end of the line for this expedition, I would like to make one last try." ---- Janet was occupied with treating the heavily injured after the battle. She was also shouting out her orders to her fellow healers while handling the problematic cases herself. Of course, her holdings were packed up by her attendants. Finding out that the Captain was approaching her with brisque steps, she quickly wrapped up what she was doing and reported to him. "Captain, we are almost done. A few more minutes will suffice." "Good work, Janet," he said while looking at the conditions of the injured. "I am tasking you with another important role. The undead will reach our cliff-climbing-point quickly. And it will take a while for everybody to climb the rope ladders. So, some of us, mainly the old bunch, will stay behind to intercept them, while you will lead the others back to the SnowFalls." "But, Captain..." she tried to protest. The Captain interrupted her mid-sentence. "There will be no ''buts'' Janet. This is my selfish order. You haven''t lived out your human life yet. Being a High Human, you have many more miles to go." "..." Realizing that the Captain had already made his decision, she had nothing more to say. "Now then, time to go." "Aye, Captain." With determination, she ran towards the camp. And as she left, the Captain turned his attention towards the lake and said with a refreshed look in his figure, "They are almost here." Chapter 16; Ones darnedest One''s darnedest Everybody was running as fast as they can to the cliff-climbing-point while carrying their essential belongings in backpacks. Though the scene appeared to be of complete chaos, there was undoubtedly an order, which was proof that they were highly experienced adventurers. Janet was leading the group at the front, while Filbert and a few other unwounded warriors were at the rear Their enemies were also slowly showing up from the lakeside in bulks. But, the stronger ones were yet to arrive, so the relatively weaker ones were annihilated as before by Alderman, Alfosdor, Louis, their parties, and a few other old warriors. Occasionally an irregularly strong one would up. But Kenny would deal with them before anyone could notice. The group reached the ladders and began the climb. The horse was abandoned because of the emergency. And then, they finally appeared: the giant monstrous undead creatures. To make the situation worse, there were more than a hundred of them. Most of them were formed by the fusion of two or three lower undead monsters. As a result, they were huge, with more than one set of arms, they could attack with spells and weapons at the same time. Moreover, they harbored vast amounts of vile mana, further enhancing their physical strength and magic abilities. "Everybody does a full-body-enhancement. Go with full power from the beginning." The Captain gave out his directions. "And don''t separate from your partners while watching each other''s backs." Alfosdor stored away his regular hammer and pulled out a two ball Flail, a War Mace, from its case. With his blueish mana, which shows that he has endowment type abilities, he passed special skills to his mace. The large metal balls at the end of the chains glowed with yellow and white light, which hosted thunder and freezing abilities, respectively. ---- The undead monsters unleashed a war cry and charged at the group of adventurers. With a massive swing of his mace on the ground, Alfosdor managed to create a diversion by breaking their stances and creating cracks and earth spikes near their feet. Taking advantage of that, the adventurers charged in with everything they had. The Captain engaged in a fierce sword fight with another giant boney swordsman. Though it managed to block some of his strikes, with every hit, its broadsword was chipped off, and the mana is used to buff itself was snatched away. After finishing it off with another mighty swing, he parried the next attack of another one, which was trying to slip into his defenses and assault with a dagger. Louis took care of his back by attacking with fire bullets at the undead. His butler Blacro fended off the ones which he missed. And the other adventurers, in turn, protected them. It was slowly developing into a highly organized and co-ordinated group battle. But still, they were at a numerical disadvantage. Alfosdor''s party was surrounded, and mana bullets were barraged at them from all sides. The dwarves put up their shields and counterattacked with spells of their own. Still, the biggest threat, unknown to them, was handled by Kenny. Behind the enemy lines were three skeleton leaders who were commanding the enemy and maintaining their front. Two of them were on the battlefield while the third one was surveying the battlefield from under the water. They were similar in appearance to the skeleton knight, which Kenny defeated that day. Though in terms of strength, they were a little stronger. Proud of their abilities, they marched on the battlefield without any fear. But, unfortunately for them, their opponent was Kenny, who showed no mercy like last time. Though they tried to put up a gallant fight, they were overwhelmed by the speed and strength of Kenny. With sword strikes, seemingly coming out of nowhere, their skulls were crushed, and weapons were broken. With the defeat of the two, the third one came out of the water with a big jump. As if dwarfing the other giant fused undead monsters, this mega-monster bellowed like a buffalo with its croc head. The roar had spells endowed in it, which blew away almost everybody on the battlefield, both allies, and enemies. The adventurers managed to somehow defend themselves with magic shields. But the next torrent of attacks made a heavy blow on them. The giant monster had three sets of arms. The first set held two large swords in both arms. With the sword on its right hand, it made a fast sweeping attack on Alfosdor and his party. Trying to take the full brunt of the blow, Alfosdor stood at the front with his shield reinforced with several defensive spells. But a slight miscalculation of the power by Alfosdor opened a window of opportunity for his opponent. And the sword, which was supposed to be parried, slipped off and hit Alfosdor''s head. The blow was so sharp that his consciousness flew out in an instant. Taking the opportunity when the undead was focused on Alfosdor, Louis hit it with several earth lances from its flank. But the swift monster managed to deflect them with its strong arms. Using that small diversion, Reidrin managed to pull Alfosdor from the front lines. But now, with the frontlines collapsed, the full burden of attack and defense fell on the Captain and Louis. The other warriors were also falling back because of their injuries. Some of them were even climbing the cliff for an escape. And though very few in number, there were some casualties too. Alderman was fending off as many attacks as he could while keeping the giant undead busy. While Louis was somehow keeping up the defenses with his spells. The conditions were dire. It was a do-or-die situation for the remaining warriors on the battlefield. Suddenly, a massive surge of thunder emerged from a few meters behind the enemy lines. With the majority of the attack focused on the giant undead monster, it was cooked up from inside by the powerful bolt. The remaining streaks of thunder took down the other monsters. And almost in a split second, the majority of the enemies on the battlefield had been decimated. The thunder attack was made by none other than Kenny. After defeating the first two skeleton leaders, he was caught up by their underlings. Though he was cleaning up fast, amid the action, he missed the chance to hold down the third undead leader, which immediately charged at the adventurers after coming out from under the water. As the frontlines collapsed, Kenny realized that he has no leeway left to hold back now. So, he unleashed the most potent area-of-effect attack he recently devised. Actually, the thunder was not something created by his magic. It was his own bio-electricity, which he managed to channel out through his hands after some precise manipulations. And the reason why the electricity was so powerful is that - his muscles and skin are extremely stiff and inflexible. Thus, his nervous system naturally creates these high voltage currents to move them. Kenny just had to feel the bioelectricity running under his skin and channel it out using his mana as a medium. ---- The Captain plopped down on his butt after watching the giant undead monster being burned down by thunder in front of his very eyes. There were visible hints of nervousness and confusion in his eyes. Louis and Balcro were cleaning up the few remaining ones which were still moving. Kenny moved closer to him to give a hand. Seeing Kenny approaching him, Louis praised Kenny cheerfully, "That was brilliant, Kenny. You caught me by surprise there."This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Kenny sliced up a nearby undead croc and replied, "Ah, well, I just wanted to be of help to everybody." "Well now, no need to be so modest, Kenny. That was a wonderful spell. The power in it was, honestly, way out of the norm." said Louis with a smile. "Woah, man! That was really amazing." said another familiar voice. Alderman looked behind and found Filbert and his party at the rear, whom he had ordered to go with the retreating group. But here they are, helping the wounded with potions and magic in the dangerous battlefield. Flared up with anger, the Captain shouted at them, "Are you all a bunch of stupids? What are you doing here?" "Don''t you worry, old man. We have come to help," said Filbert with a lofty smile. Rody, his party member, pushed him back and gave the formal report, "Captain, the retreating party has reached a safe distance from the lakeshore. We were asked by the injured adventurers who ran to us for help. Accordingly, we are carrying out the rescue mission." Alderman looked past him by tilting his neck and saw other members of the group, who should have escaped by now, helping the wounded. Nensi was also there as well, assisting Reidrin and the other dwarves to carry Alfosdor to the top. Ryan, the ex-prince, was doing something with magic in a corner, and his guardian Mylisant was helping the healers with the few spells she knew. He was still angry at them for defying his orders. But, as the long hard battle is over now, he couldn''t help but be thankful to them for returning. It really fills your heart with warmth to know that someone is looking out for you. ---- But the beautiful moments of solace were short-lived. A few minutes later, they heard the most dreadful of roar any men could ever hear. The air shrieked with fear; the ground shook like an earthquake, and any living or non-living being in the vicinity felt like the ripper''s scythe was tracing their neck. Somebody gulped, and the sound reached everybody''s ears as if it was louder than the now roaring waves of the lake. Kenny was not an exception, as well. Chills ran down his spine, and he looked up to see an extraordinary being, circling the sky at a great height as if it was the sole ruler of heavens. Kenny used his far sight abilities and was honestly amazed to find out that - it was a dragon, a silver-scaled hexapod dragon, entirely out of western fantasy. But upon further observation, he found out that it was actually a quadruped, and its wings were simply mana given shape. Captivated by romance and excitement, Kenny could do nothing but marvel in awe. ---- "Hahaha.......HAHAHA" Suddenly, Ryan started laughing like a maniac, while walking to the front. Everybody slowly rotated their heads, like a machine clogged with rust, to see why their fellow group member has started laughing like a madman in such a perilous situation. But he didn''t mind the confused gazes at all and continued his dry laughter, "HAHAHA... at last! At last, it came down. After days of secretly using the artifact and attracting those vile undead monsters, at last, my mission shall be accomplished. Those suspicious guys from Asphodel had some truth in their words, after all." The betraying revelation made by their comrade sent despair and sad feelings of disgust through their minds. Some fell silent while others like Filbert - Filbert shouted, "Wha... what the hell are you saying?" "Do you mean that the unnatural attacks of the beasts and the suspicious occurrences of the monsters in large numbers were your doing?" asked Alderman with calm in his voice but anger in eyes. Ryan turned to look at the Captain with excoriation and said after a ''hmph,'' "I don''t care. I don''t really care for anybody at all. Yes, many of the abnormal monster attacks were probably because of me, while I was trying to get that thing come down. But, it was all necessary for my mission." "I don''t know how important your mission was." said the Captain in a grave voice while slowly getting up, "But, sacrificing others for your own benefit is nothing but selfishness." and leaped towards him with his black sword in his hand, which was incessantly giving of black fumes. But Ryan stood there fearlessly and took a stance with three red darts among his fingers. And, as the Captain got close to the slashing range, he threw them like a skilled ninja while jumping back to take some distance. The Captain swung his sword to deflect them. But, one of them had a lower trajectory, and it did manage to hit his thigh, and almost immediately ropes made of white Ynni came out of it and bound the Captain, completely immobilizing him. "Crime ropes!" shouted an astonished Louis. Crime Ropes, like handcuffs, can only be used by someone with an adequate government authority to catch criminals who are strong enough that they cannot be held down by conventional means. Their strength is enough to tie down people with a level of more than 700. It also has the functionality to disperse the mana used by the convicted. Taken over by rage, Louis ordered Kenny, "Detain that criminal." "Yes," answering to Louis, Kenny carefully approached him. The worried Ryan now took a step back while shouting, "Don''t meddle with my mission, you irregular wildling." Suddenly, Mylisant slipped in between them with swift movements while attempting to cut Kenny''s neck with a knife. Kenny easily evaded it by bending his upper body a little at the moment. And simultaneously landed a kick on her abdomen. Losing his cool for a second there, he forgot to restrain his strength, and Mylisant was flung away, bouncing on the beach like a rubber ball. "Mylisa...." Ryan shouted with anguish and ran towards her. In the very next moment, Kenny felt movements in the sky and saw the dragon swooping down on them with tremendous speed. Shouts and screams could be heard from the resulting chaos. And everybody, who was stiffly scared just a moment ago, had nothing in their mind now other than escaping. Realizing that he has to take care of the more significant problem at hand first, Kenny passed mana into his sword while taking a stance. The mana overflowed, and bluish-white fumes emerged from the cracks of the scabbard. ---- A few meters away, Mylisant opened her eyes on the lap of Ryan and said with a weak voice, "My prince... complete your.. mission. This is your... chance... to get... what you always wanted." Ryan passed a high-grade healing potion to her and stood up while facing Kenny, "I said, DON''T YOU INTERFERE, you stupid wildling. Watch me how I catch that damn thing." Wiping away his tears while taking some deep breaths, he immediately equipped his longbow and knocked a special arrow which he had taken out from a case. The arrow, with a grey crystalline arrow tip, was shot at the incoming dragon after a careful aim, and it flew straight, leaving a flat trail of mana. And the silver-scaled dragon, proud of his strength, never tried to avoid the puny little arrow. The arrow splendidly struck its shoulder after ignoring all of its defenses. Then the dragon let out a loud roar once again, but this time of pain. The arrow-tip grew like a wave on a pond, covering the vast body of the dragon with similar grey crystal. The chaos once again calmed down as they witnessed a mind-boggling spectacle. The terrified people were utterly shocked to see the pitiful condition of the majestic dragon, which was now randomly gliding in the sky like an aimless housefly. "That''s what I call a good hunt," shouted Ryan with delight. And Mylisant slowly stood up, holding his hand, as her injuries were being healed by the potion. ---- But the ex-prince made a big mistake by underestimating the power of an ancient dragon, which he got to learn shortly after. The dragon writhing in pain, now released all of its power. And, after trying for a few more seconds, it managed to activate full body enhancement even in the presence of the binding force of the crystal. As a result, a tremendous surge of mana blasted off in every direction. The grey crystal growing on its body shattered like glass and fell down on the lake. And the strong mana wave had very adverse effects on the people left on the beach. Some coughed out blood and vomit, while others were almost petrified. Ryan fell on his knees, and his jaw dropped to the ground. "Impossible... That''s ridiculous." he stuttered. But the now enraged dragon didn''t care anymore. By accumulating mana, it formed a giant blue ball of fire and shot it at the people on the beach. The imminent looming death sent waves of dismay among the people who were still conscious. ---- There was no time to waste, and Kenny acted quick. He picked up the Captain, who was lying motionless on the beach near him. And then threw him with his superhuman strength to the cliff-top, hoping that he suffers little damage from the rough treatment. Then his eyes began scanning for people who had relatively weak to no way of protecting themselves. He saw Nensi and one other girl. He picked them up on both of his hands and jumped using the footholds on the cliff, instantly reaching the top. After dropping them there, he came down again. But now, the fireball was close enough that its heat has begun to evaporate the water on the lake. As Kenny''s skin is fireproof to some degree, he continued his rescue mission. ---- And then... the fire fell. The water near the shore was immediately steamed away. The sandy ground scorched red hot. The vegetation on the cliff walls was instantly charred, and the rocks beneath them burned. As the flames went cold, the hot air rose up, calling in the crisp mountain air from the surroundings. The vapor slowly cooled and formed a haze near the ground. The smoke quickly mixed with the dense fog and developed a difficult to see or breathe smog. Then, the ashes fell. Chapter 17; Life, Death & Magic Life, Death & Magic Feeling a tightening in his chest, Filbert opened his eyes startlingly while taking short heavy breaths, as if he had just stopped after continuously running a super long marathon. Slowly pulling his upper body up, he looked around to take a grasp of the situation. The air was heavy, and the smog was making it difficult to breathe. The faint moonlight, which filtered down the fog, showed the terrible condition of the surroundings. Through the hazy atmosphere, Filbert could see numerous unmoving bodies lying on the still-hot sand of the beach in strange positions while the ash was piling upon them, and the cold air was tingling his nose with the smell of burnt. Trying to move his legs, he saw the back of a familiar person lying on his lap. "Oy, Rumi. Rumi!" shaking her shoulder, he tried to wake her up. Rumi, his party member, had the knowledge and expertise of many different categories of spells. So, she used her best barrier spell to protect themselves when the party failed to escape towards the water before the giant fireball hit. Getting no response from her, he slowly turned her body to face up. But her face... was not complete anymore. One side of her face had charred, leaving only bones and ash. The unreal scene gripped Filbert''s heart and mind. He opened his eyes wide in vivid horror and grief. Tears streamed down his face, and involuntary sobs leaked from of his throat. Woken up by the low wailing cries, Rody, his third and last party member, found his right hand severely burned. As he looked around for the source of the scream, he saw Filbert''s back a few meters in front of him. Slowly, he mustered up the remaining strength in his body and crawled towards his childhood friend. As he neared Filbert, he gripped his shoulder from behind and saw the corpse of his other friend on his lap. But the terrible reality was way more devastating to him than anyone else. His throat dried up immediately, his chest creaked in pain, and his hand trembled. Holding her head with his left hand, he burst up in tears. Filbert hugged him as well, and both of them cried in low muffled voices for a few minutes. Suddenly, Filbert caught the figure of a shadow moving in the fog. It was short and thin but confident and was moving towards them with small steps. The faintly glowing blue eyes on its head reminded him of the undead monsters, and he immediately stood up, holding his sword. "Rody, get up. We have to leave now." He whispered to his friend. But when he turned his attention to his friend, he noticed that Rody had fainted, probably due to the smog. "Ah, good God!" He quickly picked him up on his back and ran towards the cliff-climbing-point. And after running for about 15 meters, he shot a fireball at the corpse of Rumi, setting it on fire, to make sure that his dear friend does not become an undead monster. Also, it would act as a diversion against other monsters allowing them to escape. --- A few meters to the north, Ryan woke up to wailing cries. But the situation was not any different for him. Mylisant, who tried to protect him by sacrificing herself, was lying motionless on top of him; her back completely charred. Ryan looked at her dazed, his mind was completely blank. Suddenly, a small sound in the distance caught his attention, and he saw a fire crackling some meters away. Little shadows were moving in the fog also. One of them looked menacing with blue, glowing eyes on its head. Fear crawled up his spine, and he shivered. And then the last words of Mylisant, "Stay safe," crossed his mind, and involuntary urges of running away arose in his mind. Then, his body moved on its own. He quickly stood up, took some things from Mylisant''s small pouch on her belt, and escaped into the forest. ---- Near the water, Balcro was washing the wounds of Louis. Suddenly, he felt someone approaching them. He gathered mana in his fists and took a stance to intercept the approaching shadow with blue, glowing eyes. "It''s alright, Balcro," Louis said with a low groan. "It is no monster, but Kenny." Coming out of the fog, Kenny said, "My Lord. I have carried the defense-less to safety. Though I failed to save all and some perished out of my expectations." "It''s okay, Kenny," said Louis with fatigue in his voice. "It''s okay." Kenny then helped Balcro to clean up the burns of Louis on his left side. Before the fire fell, Kenny approached them to help. But Louis requested him to help others instead, who had no way of protecting themselves while protesting himself that he will be able to handle the intense fire with his advanced barrier spells. Louis held out well during the hell-fire. Though in the last moments, his mana ran out, and his left side was burned to the bone by the intense heat. Balcro suffered from burns as well. But his self-healing kicked in and quickly closed his wounds. After washing his burns, Balcro passed a high-grade healing potion to him, which quickly closed up the wounds. He drank two more potions, and vitality finally returned to his face. "Shall I carry you?" Kenny offered. "Don''t worry about us, Kenny." Louis took out a metallic cane from its case and stood up, clutching it. "We should be fine now... until ''that'' decides otherwise," he said while staring blankly into the fog towards the South. Unsurprisingly, Kenny looked in that direction too and said after a pause, "I shall do something about that... Please escape before things get nasty." "But. Kenny boy, it will be... " "Please don''t worry. And get to safety, quickly," said Kenny while turning to look at Louis, his eyes glowing brighter. "...okay then. Don''t push yourself, my boy," said Louis and began walking briskly towards the cliff-climbing-point with the support of Balcro, leaving Kenny with the words, "Remember. The one who survives the battlefield is the true victor." ---- ''Aisyn - the bright'' is an ancient dragon, as he has lived for more than 50 thousand years, since the age-of-the-Gods. In his earliest days, he was very active and witnessed or created many historical events. But now, he seldom comes out of his shelter at the top of the Aster Mountains. He spends most of his time collecting the necessary energy from the ley-lines and wisdom from the ancient earth spirits dwelling there. And when he is not doing so, he is either hibernating or sleeping in a state of suspended animation, some time for more than 5-10 years. Recently, he has been woken up by a familiar presence coming from the northern foot of the mountains. The presence lasts for only a minute or two at times and is weaker compared to the actual owner of the presence. The unique magic presence was definitely not coming from any grave under the ground as it was moving on the surface towards the east. So, the most probable explanation was that somebody or something was carrying the remains of the owner. Some days later, he felt a stronger presence at the southern shore of the lake of Alison. Heightening his senses, he surveyed the situation. He was surprised to find that a weak human child was carrying the remains. The child was also using an artifact to mimic the magic presence of the actual owner. Willfully mimicking the magic presence of a dead person is a great disrespect, until and unless he or she is an inheritor of the person. Enraged by the mistake of the human child, he decided to go down himself and confiscate the remains from him and also etch a fear in his mind, so that he never repeats the mistake again. But when he got there, he was surprised to find a whole group of people, with enough preparation for an expedition, repelling a group of undead. They were probably heading for the East, like the many other explorers in the past. So now, he has another reason to scare them away. Sometime later, the battle ended because of the help of a strange creature in the form of a human boy. But his attention was caught by the foolish human boy with the artifact, who used it once more. Irritated by him, Aisyn released a ''dragon roar'' and swooped down to pick him up. But the pitiful human child tried to attack him with archery. Aisyn decided to ignore the arrow to show how deplorable his situation was. But surprisingly, the arrow easily penetrated his defenses and struck his shoulder. Foreign mana rushed towards his heart, trying to paralyze him. He screamed in pain. It was then when he realized his grave mistake. The arrow-tip contained a piece of charged ''Soul Crystal'' and was slowing eating him up. Ignoring the pain, he concentrated on diverting the crystal shoots away from his brain and heart while fervently trying to expel the foreign mana. At last, he managed to achieve full-body-enhancement by using up all his mana, and the weaker soul crystal lost its control over his body. He looked down on the ground and found the group of people looking down on him in pity. His anger flared up, and he used up his remaining mana to form one of the most potent fire spells he knew, ''Star Fall.'' ---- After the fire fell, Aisyn flew down to the southern cliff-top to take some rest while recovering his mana. He was observing the people on the beach as well. The unusual creature was rescuing the vulnerable and carrying them to safety. That creature was unharmed. But the other people, left on the beach, were severely affected by the intense heat, while few have even lost their lives. Sometime later, he saw the strange creature moving towards him. A small shadow was gradually growing distinct in the fog, his eyes glowing as bright as ever, as he was releasing his full magic presence, not trying to hide anymore. Aisyn slowly rose his head and spoke in a low growl, "Hmm. Mana and features like that of the Sprites. Though you do not seem to be one of the living. Quite an extraordinary creature, aren''t you?" The peculiar being in the form of a human boy halted, seemingly surprised by him and said, "A talking Dragon. Aren''t you a special beast as well?" His voice was gentlemanly adult-like, which didn''t match his young face at all. Aisyn chuckled with his cracked heavy voice and finally stood up, having regained some mana. Then he jumped down the cliff. But halfway through, his body glowed and deformed, creating a vicious ball of slime, which again took a different shape as soon as it touched the ground. When the glow receded, a tall young man appeared, with waist-long silver hair, long elf-like ears, and sharp golden eyes. As for his clothes, he was wearing leather armor made of unknown materials, decorated with white scales. "I am Aisyn - the bright, an ancient Dragon. This is my humanoid form," said the handsome faced man with a clear voice, utterly different than before. "I am Kenny," said the boy in return. And both of them stared at each other with an impassive show. Aisyn broke the ice once again and asked the boy, "Do you resent me?" "I think it will be foolish to resent anybody for the unfortunate chain of events. The explorers from MoonHarbor were not at fault for trying to reach out to the unknown. And the monsters, they were not wrong in defending their territory as well. It is tough to seek justice without taking a side." "..." "But, Ryan was definitely wrong and selfish. " He paused for a second and continued, "And, you were guilty too. You attacked the innocents and killed many." "That is correct," said Aisyn. "However, I as well will be taking a side here. Those foolish people are blameworthy in my eyes."This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. "Then, I ought to stop you." The golden eyes of the ancient Dragon glowed brighter after hearing that. "Well, then." Saying so, he took a stance like a martial artist and gathered mana in his arms. "The one who survives shall do as he please." Kenny took a similar stance, and both of them locked their eyes, trying to find a slight opening in their opponents. With a slight breeze as the signal, both of them ran towards each other with unimaginable speeds, and a violent and destructive battle began in the distant sandy shore of the lake of Alison. ---- The southern part of the beach gradually became dotted with large craters and charred ground. But the action has now shifted to the northern region. From a tremendous explosion of magic, a small body flew out like an arrow and hit the tall wall of the cliff, gouging out a large part of it. Immediately, another young man with a bloodied face jumped out of the smoke, and spew out a beam of fire from his mouth aiming at the boy struck on the cliff. Noticing the incoming attack, the boy quickly straightened his body and ran away from the spot escaping the beam. His opponent predicted his movement and followed him on the cliff with his laser-like attack. The boy ran fast on the cliff wall and launched off to the sky. Seconds later, a volley of mana arrows rained down on the handsome man. But the agile man easily evaded most of the bolts and deflected the remaining ones with his fists. But that was not the boy''s real card. As soon as the arrows stopped, bolts of thunder seized up the young man from his back. Somehow deflecting the attack with magic shields, the young man traced the attack, and upon reaching the boy, he counters with fire arrows at point-blank range. The boy ignored them as if nothing and focused on the other incoming attacks of his opponent. A side punch parried; a return kick to the waist evaded with a backflip; followed up by a thunder attack; blocked with magic shields; an instant uppercut, landed; a roundhouse kick, perfectly hit and this time it was the young man with long hair who took to the sky. After shooting up for about a hundred meters, a pair of dragon wings sprouted from his back, and the handsome man hovered in the sky. Of course, those wings were mana-given-shape like before. He then slowly flew down to the ruined beach and picked up a rusty double-edged sword from a crumbled undead monster. And as he passed mana, the sword glowed up from within like glass, and the edge shined white. The young boy unsheathed his own sword and took a stance after charging it up with mana. And so began the second round. Though it ended sooner. ---- After one more fierce eyes lock, both of them ran parallel towards the cliff and stood there on small footholds still glaring at each other. The rocks crumbled and rolled down, and that as a signal, both charged towards each other. The battle which followed was a fierce competition of speed and techniques, but on a scale completely unimaginable. The strikes of the man with bloodied faces were simple but perfectly timed and placed. One attack followed up the other in such a way that the young boy found it extremely difficult to evade or block. Slowly he was being pushed back. But he had another card he could play. The young boy used his sword as an electrode to entirely direct his thunder attack from point-blank range. Then, a rapier stab to the left shoulder, evaded but hit by thunder, screamed; a sweeping slash at the belly in return, avoided by bending the body; followed up by cross slashes at the face, blocked by shooting wind spheres from mouth; more wind spheres, easily blocked; a sweeping kick, jumped and attacked with more slashes to the body; blocked the fatal ones and retreated; kicked a rock to the face, evaded; followed up by stabs, parried but few managed to hit; insane breath attacks at point-blank range, somehow escaped with great difficulty. But one of them managed to hit the shoulder and burned the boy to the bone. Dense white fumes emerged from the wound, and seconds later, bluish-white blood flowed down his left hand. The ancient Dragon stared at the young boy with great interest. "Pureblood. A High Wraith... no, you are a natural-born High Undead, aren''t you?" "...no one is supposed to know that," said the boy. "I shall kill you now." "I understand your circumstances. But I have my reasons as well. Now, come." declared the ancient Dragon taking a stance. And as soon he heard that the young boy attacked the Dragon with even higher speeds, violently slashing with hit-and-run tactics. For a moment there, it seemed like it was difficult for the Dragon to completely block all the attacks, producing a window of opportunity for his opponent; then a swift slash from the blind spot evaded with acrobatic movements; thunder attacks to the legs, a distraction; a swift kick to the belly and the Dragon was blown away to the skies. The boy made a jump and chased him in the air; a slash to the chest, the Dragon used his wings and climbed higher; followed up by another thunder attack, the left leg burned. But the ancient Dragon maintained his composure and immediately transformed into his Dragon form. With a low laugh, he faced the boy and said, "High Undeads are weak to strong ''Dragon Breaths.'' And, you don''t know any barrier spells." And it was then, the young boy realized his mistake, that he has been played and entrapped. Everything led up to this situation, and he has no way to evade or block. The Dragon opened his mouth wide and fired a massive ''Dragon Breath'' from a very close range. And his vision went white. ---- Or so was supposed to happen. Just before the strong ''Dragon Breath'' could reach the boy, another legendary creature jumped towards him, seemingly out of nowhere, and caught the boy in its jaws carrying him to safety. It was a mythical ''Celestial Fox.'' And her name is Mica. On her back was riding Lady Mary, the Snow Princess. ---- Sometime later, Kenny opened his eyes only to find himself on Mary''s lap once again. But this time, instead of jumping away in surprise, he gently stared at her and smiled. "Thank you, Miss Mary, for saving me again," he said, slowly reaching out for his wound on his shoulder, only to be surprised that it has been completely healed. "Please, don''t worry," she said. "I have healed your wound." And gently caressed the spot. "And it is not me that you should thank first," she continued in her lovely soft voice. "It was Mica. She heard about an unusual being from her son, who was playing near the Red Forest. And when she talked about him, I immediately realized that it was you, Kenny. Then I came with her to see you again, only to find you in a precarious situation." Kenny slowly turned his head to look at the majestic creature which was peacefully resting on the beach. Her beautiful golden coat of fur was emitting a faint shine, and her jade eyes seemed more precious than diamonds. She made a polite bow and said, "Hello" in a gentle voice. Although charmed by her sweet voice, Kenny remembered another legendary creature who was about to annihilate him just a moment ago. Raising his upper body, Kenny tried to feel his presence. "Where is the Dragon Aisyn?" he asked, while confused. "Ah, that stupid old geezer! I broke his bones and chased him away," said Mary with a satisfied and happy smile. Listening to such eye-watering revelation, the pale face of Kenny paled out. Forcing a dry smile, he corrected his position and sat in front of her. "So, Kenny, tell me everything that happened, okay," she asked with a firm voice. And Kenny repeated the events and situations as seen through his eyes. "Hmn, hmn. I get it," Mary replied after he finished. "None of it was your fault, Kenny, as currently, you know nothing!" "Ah, hahaha!" Kenny scratched the back of his head. "I am very new here." "I know," she said with a gentle smile. "And I think it is time to tell you a few things." "..." "First of all, it is good that the expedition stopped at this point. And no one will probably venture out this far again after the news of the dangers spread." She continued, "You know Kenny, beyond the lake, there is a city of beings which are denoted to be ''evil'' by the other people of this world. So, it should remain undiscovered until the right time comes." "Ah, is it alright for me to know this?" Kenny asked. "Yes, of course. Cause'' I believe in you." She smiled again. "Now, the ancient Dragon, Aisyn - the bright, is protecting a very sacred place at the top of the Aster Mountains. Though it is not restricted to anybody, it is challenging to reach by weaker beings. Well, I think you should pay that old geezer a visit sometime and reconcile with him. I am sure he will forget his anger by then." "Okay. I shall do as you say when I get the opportunity." "Hmm. That should be okay. Let me tell you another story, Kenny." She cleared her throat. "Once upon a time, there was a handsome young prince, who was a brilliant and kind man. One day, when he was hunting in a nearby forest, he met a beautiful little girl. But, take heed that she was no ordinary forest girl. The purest of blood, she was the child of Eden itself. Now, it is said that both of them fell in love with each other at first sight. The prince brought beautiful flowers and exquisite artifacts for her every time he visited. And she used to cook delicious food for him using all of the blessings of nature." "Woah!!!" exclaimed Kenny, acting like a kid being told a story by his mother. And she gave a sweet motherly smile. "And then, they would walk around in the beautiful flower beds near the forest and whisper sweet words of love in each other''s ears." Kenny was listening with sparkling eyes, and Mary continued. "One fine day, the prince was crowned as the new king. By then, the little girl of the forest had grown up to become a fine lady of unparalleled beauty. So, she was invited by the new king to his beautiful kingdom, and they got married." "After their marriage, they traveled to far and distant kingdoms by riding dragons during their free time. But the young queen was surprised to see the difference in the prosperity between their own kingdom and other kingdoms. So, she asked the reason to her beloved king. And he explained to her that their kingdom had flourished to this degree because of the numerous discoveries and artifacts made by him." "Oooh! Is this story about the being called the ''Guardian'' who is mentioned in the tales of the Old Gods?" "Wow, Kenny, you are very quick to catch," she said with surprise. "Yes, this is the story of the legendary Guardian, the first of the Godly beings known to have ever walked on Eden. His strength and knowledge were unparalleled. Under his reign, his kingdom was ushered in an era of development and prosperity." "He discussed all of his ideas and visions with his beautiful wife, Rose. And she was wonderstruck by his dreams of a Utopia." "With her identity as the child of Eden and the truest of blood, she tasked him to spread his knowledge and creations far and wide to help the people of this world live a better life." "Wow! The ''Guardian'' was a fantastic person. But why isn''t this found in the standard history books?" "That is because most of the records of him were lost during the Great War. Nowadays, only a few long-lived people like us know these stories." She took a deep breath and continued. "Now Kenny, as an inheritor of some of his powers, you are a strong Godling. So, the first and the foremost thing that you should always be aware of is to never allow your powers to be misused. Then, you should try to follow His ideals in your everyday life, spreading your knowledge far and wide, and, if possible, help the needy with your power and wisdom." "I give my words, Miss Mary." "Thank you, Kenny." She continued. "And if you are ever in any trouble, I will help you." "You have my gratitude." "Hahaha... Don''t be so formal, Kenny." She giggled. "Well anyway, Alison is an old and remote town. So, I think you should head out to the big cities for a fresher outlook at life and, more importantly, at yourself." "And yeah, don''t forget to have fun." She said with a sweet grin. And Kenny smiled as well, absorbing all the warmth in her gentle eyes. "Come here," she beckoned and asked him to lay on her lap once again. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, and she ran her fingers in his hair. With the gentle sound of waves near the shore and the beautiful moonlight creating an envelope of tranquillity, it was no wonder Kenny fell asleep. ---- "Ken......... Ken...nny. Oy... Kenny." Slowly opening his eyes, he saw Mimosa''s face next to him. "Good Morning, Mimosa." he greeted. "Good God, Kenny! If you had returned, you should have woken me up. And why are you sleeping here, outside?" she rumbled after getting up, with her hands on her hips. Looking around him, he found himself in the beautiful flower bed of the High Gardens. "Aa, I was exhausted last night." He said with a dry smile and sweat bead on his head. "Good grief." she sighed. "Now come. Let''s have breakfast." He slowly got up and followed her. "Was it fun?" she turned her head and asked with a gentle smile this time. And, gazing at her, Kenny''s expression softened as well. He gave a satisfied smile and said, "Yes, it was fun. I had an amazing adventure. Do you wanna hear about it?" ---- It was sometime past midnight, and the waning moon was peeking from behind the scattered clouds. Occasionally, the moonlight would illuminate a tall figure walking in the dark, seemingly aimlessly. *gulp gulp* He goggled up the remaining ale from the bottle in his right hand and then jumped down a cliff instantly appearing in front of a large cave on the other side of the gorge. "Oh! Such a big entrance," he exclaimed with delight and entered the cave. After walking straight for some more meters, he approached a large metallic door. "Aha! A sealed dungeon. Guess'' Kenny was right!" And as he was about to touch the door, he felt a presence approaching him. "Fortunately, I didn''t forget my wand this time." Saying so, he pulled out his strangely shaped wand from inside his long coat. The approaching figure immediately came out from the shadows with his hands raised up. "Wait. Professor. Agusthus. I. Mean. No. Harm." "Oh! An intelligent lower undead," he exclaimed. "This. Dungeon. Leads. To. The. East. So. We. Sealed. It. Off." The prof. replied with a smirk. "But, this seal looks old, though." "Actually. The. Seal. Was. Made. By. Lady. Snow. Princess. Using. Ancient. Spells." The undead continued, "And. Today. Too. I. Was. Sent. By. Her. To. Remind. You. Of. The. PROMISE." "Yare yare, the Lady sent for me herself. Aah!! I''m soo happy..." "Remember...." leaving the echoing word, the undead ran out of the cave. The High Elf remained there in silence for some time, now completely sober. "Now then, I shall return home quickly. Or Mimosa will fry me up." ---- Today, the fog was absent in the southern shore of the Lake of Alison, and a fair beauty in a lovely one-piece dress was gazing at the twinkling stars with her pearl-like blue eyes. A teardrop slowly prickled down her cheeks from her moist eyes, though she was smiling. Actually, if someone were to ask her the reason for her tears, she would definitely say that they were tears of joy. "Good times are coming." The sweet words leaked out of her mind. "Now then." Turning back to face the beach, she loudly clapped her hands once. And as if someone had pressed a button, all of the corpses on the beach slowly began to move. With a white light in their eyes, they walked trotting towards her. This time, with a snap of her fingers, they stopped, and the white light from their eyes vanished. Then their eyes glowed with similar red light, a proof that they have become normal undead monsters. So now, livelier then before, they made loud noises and ran towards the water disappearing into the lake. The fair Lady, now alone again, decided to take a stroll on the beach. Along the way, she picked up an odd capsule-shaped artifact from the beach. Taking a closer look, she passed mana into it, and the white capsule quickly dissolved into thin air, leaving a small piece of bone fragment atop her palm. As she neared the water, she stopped and stared at the bone fragment held between her fingers with the moon in the backdrop. "Dragon bone. It would have been really dangerous if they had not mistaken it for the real thing." Then the bone fragment evaporated similarly, disappearing into nothingness. She lowered her hand and smiled again, this time gazing directly at the slightly deformed moon. "O boy, your Mary will be waiting for you..."