ã€ŠA Friendly Shadowã€‹


 Chapter 1: Sometimes sleeping is the best!

    *poke*

    Hmmm¡­

    *poke* *poke*

    Five more minutes¡­

    *poke* *poke* *poke*

    God okay I¡¯ll get up geez! Regrettably, I slowly start the process of opening my eyes. I¡¯m still so sleepy just five more minutes?

    *poke*

    Well guess I actually have to wake up¡­ Slowly I get my tired eyes to open and what do I see, a gigantic red fox. I mean like David vs Goliath gigantic, maybe if I close my eyes it¡¯ll go away!

    Closing my eyes¡­

    1, 2, 3¡­

    Slowing opening my eyes one at a time, and guess what the gigantic red fox is gone! NOT!!!!

    I slowly start to shuffle away as not to provoke the giant fox.

    *shuffle*

    Please don¡¯t notice me¡­

    *shuffle* *shuffle*

    It hasn¡¯t noticed yet!

    *shuffle* *shuffle* *shuffle* *shuffle*

    Its big head suddenly turns in my direction and opens its giant muzzle. Please don¡¯t eat me!!!! I squeak. Wait did I just squeak? Why aren¡¯t I hearing words instead? Oh no the muzzle is getting closer¡­.

    No no no no no¡­. is what I¡¯m actually saying but its only coming out as a small little whimpers.

    The giant muzzle is right over top of me, when I¡¯m suddenly picked up and what I see surprises me. There are about 7 or 8 smaller red foxes on the ground from where I was just picked up. And the surrounding green plants are all the same, if not a little bit taller than the gigantic fox. Then what size does that actually make me?

    Just what is going ooooon!!!!! I yell, but it only comes out as a weakly and pathetic howl. Which slowly dies on my tongue as I slowly start to feel sleepy and soon close my eyes.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    <u>A couple of hours later</u>

    I wake up to something licking me, and let me tell you whatever it is it has a huge tongue. Like it starts at my rear end and doesn¡¯t stop until it¡¯s passed my head. Should I even guess at what it is or assume it¡¯s the gigantic red fox from earlier?

    *sneakily opens one eye*

    Yep it¡¯s the gigantic red fox all right.

    Swinging my head around to get a better look at my situation, I notice that I am surrounded by all those smaller foxes I saw earlier. Some are playing together, like new born pups and that¡¯s when it hits me! These smaller foxes are roughly the same size as me and I¡¯m being licked by the bigger fox, which must mean¡­¡­

    Oh no¡­. it could not be could it?

    No really please tell me I¡¯m not a fox¡­.

    Looking at myself for what must have been the first time, or at least my first time noticing, I see that I do indeed have fur but it¡¯s not the same as my ¡®siblings¡¯ it¡¯s more of a blackish red then the warm red they have. Okay next thing to check are my hands/paws, yup I¡¯ve got paws and they are soo cute!!! I mean they are completely black, it¡¯s like I¡¯m wearing black fur boots!!!!!! Oh and now the tail! I¡¯m really excited hopefully its fluffy and has a black tip to match by paws!!!!

    BEST THING EVER!!!!!

    My tail is as fluffy as sin and there is indeed a black tip! I think this is the best thing to happen to me since opening my eyes and seeing that gigantic red fox from earlier.

    Ahhh the gigantic fox from earlier is my mother¡­.

    And I tried to run away too¡­. she probably thinks I¡¯m going to be a problem child in the near future. Oh well can¡¯t change the past! Moving on!!!

    So I¡¯m a fox, what do foxes normally do around my age? I just squeaked again didn¡¯t I¡­.. Another thing to get used to *paw-palm* Oh and look, all my ¡®siblings¡¯ are looking at me! I wonder what they want? *head tilt*

    Unknown to me at the time, but my rather ¡®unique¡¯ gestures and trying to form sentences while squeaking made all my siblings very cautious of me.

    <u>A week later</u>

    I really really love running through the grass!!! I mean the way the wind feels against my fur as I¡¯m running is the best thing I¡¯ve felt soo far!! I sometimes wonder why my siblings aren¡¯t enjoying running as much as I am.

    Well that¡¯s something I¡¯ll ponder about later!

    It¡¯s time for me to run in the forest!! After all I¡¯ve mastered running in this grassy clearing my mother lets us play in, but seriously I need more space to run!!! Maybe she¡¯ll let me this time, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m trying to run away again like the day I became aware!

    I start to make my way to the edge of the clearing when all the sudden it¡¯s not as bright out as before. I turn towards the sun, maybe a cloud suddenly decided to cover it? Nope, not even close¡­.

    Now I¡¯m in time out¡­ *head hanging in dejection*

    Well I¡¯m guessing that is what it is, since I¡¯m not allowed to be out of reach from my mother for the rest of the day.

    *snicker* *snicker*

    Lifting my head, did I just hear someone snickering? Looking in the only possible direction, I see one of my ¡®siblings¡¯ looking straight at me. Not even caring that I caught him snickering at me. What¡¯s wrong with him? *signature head tilt*

    *snicker*

    One last snicker, and then he walks away to start to play with the other pups. What!!! They are all playing together, why haven¡¯t they invited me to play with them? *silently sobbing to myself*

 Chapter 2: Lone fox pup that still has her mother

    So the snickering fox sibling of mine is apparently our elder brother and is the leader of our little pup pack. Well he¡¯s still under our mother, so not technically the one in charge.

    While I was running around *cough* I mean training my agility and reflexes. He made all of the other pups submit to him in one way or another and decided that I was too weird to even be worthy of being included in his quest for dominance over the other pups. Not like I would have let him be dominant over me or anything, but that is apparently making me the lone pup of the pack.

    Well I guess the only thing I lose from not playing with them is the ability to learn and refine any natural instincts that would be used when playing with them.

    So now running through the forest *cough* hehe, I mean the training obstacle course known as the forest. And its not like I¡¯m doing it because of the feeling of the wind on my fur makes me forget my loneliness!!

    No, I still have my mother and she at least thinks I can go in the forest now. Although not too far, I still have to be within eye sight of her when I¡¯m in there.

    <u>A few days later</u>

    Dodging, climbing and leaping through the treacherous obstacle course known as the forest, has been fun. But getting leaves and other small things out of my fur has been a pain. The first couple of times that happened I had to get my mother to teach me how to safely pull them out without hurting myself too badly or giving myself bald patches.

    I¡¯ve also noticed that none of my other siblings have been brave enough to go into the forest not even the snickering brother of mine. Oh well, more room to run for me then!

    Going back towards my mother and the submissive pup pack, I make my way towards the dead carcass that my mother hunted for us during our nap time. And I guess I¡¯ve been acting normal lately because that snickering brother of mine decides that at this exact moment he needs to show his dominance over me.

    Nope not happening, time to run back into the forest.

    Apparently running back to the forest and waiting out my snickering brother of mine out, was not working. Every time I tried to go back into the clearing he ambushed me and I ran back into the forest, so he couldn¡¯t pin me down. Finally fed up with his dominating attitude I pounce out of the forest, into the clearing and tackle his stupid body to the ground. Putting as much of my non-existent weight on top of him and cutting off his means of movement by putting pressure on his other limbs I start to snap at his face.

    Then giving him the meanest growl I could muster *grrr* *grrrrr*

    I know so evil, right. But luckily it¡¯s enough, Snickers as I¡¯m going to be calling him from now on slowly walks back to the rest of the pack with his head down in shame.

    Tehe¡­. *sticks out tongue*

    <u>A month later</u>

    Mother started to teach us how to stalk and hunt our prey. And let me be the first to tell you it¡¯s so exciting! It¡¯s my first step towards independence. Well technically second if you count that incident with Snickers trying to be dominant with me.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    So following Mother in the forest, all of us small pups diligently follow behind and try to keep pace with her. Running through the forest with others is not equally as fun as doing it by myself, since I¡¯ve got to make sure I don¡¯t run over anyone or block their paths. But it¡¯s still fun, maybe only because I¡¯m not alone anymore? Or is it just the wind in my fur making it feel better?

    Regardless, it¡¯s a productive day! I managed to stalk two rabbits and I tried stalkingthis frog, but it was no fun at all! Like come on, it hardly moved and when it did it wasn¡¯t moving in a straight line!! It just kept hopping left then right then left then right! Frankly, I¡¯m never EVER stalking a frog again.

    My siblings kinda suck at it, but they get better later in the day. And that¡¯s when mom calls it quits and we head back to our little meadow.

    This continues until all of us have at least caught some sort of creature, either by ourselves or in pairs. Of course I caught the most because I¡¯m awesome.

    <u>A year or so later</u>

    Nothing really new has occurred in a while, just practicing hunting and other foxy things. To be honest sometimes it¡¯s exciting, like how I can now sneak upon someone and they won¡¯t even realize I¡¯m there until I pounce upon them. But then there¡¯s some really negative things, for example owls¡­ let¡¯s just say I may have or may not have been carried off once or twice in the middle of the night. But obviously they failed because here I am!

    I am now noticeably bigger than Snickers and the rest of the pups, so I¡¯m pretty happy with myself since I¡¯m no longer considered the ¡®problem child¡¯ by our mother. That¡¯s fallen to the pups who haven¡¯t been preforming as well as the rest. Although sad news, one of those pups did die a while back. Don¡¯t remember which one exactly but there¡¯s one less then when I first counted so yeah¡­

    A week or so after I finally realize one of us is gone, all of us are resting in our little meadow that will soon be too small to contain all of us. Our mother suddenly swivels her head to the right, looking off in the distance and starts to smell the air.

    I look in the same direction as Mother and what I see is a little scary. There¡¯s a column of smoke rising above the tree tops and a burning smell is starting to invade our noses. At this point all of us are awake and alert. We wait for what feels like forever and that¡¯s when I see it off in the distance¡­. Fire.

    Correction from my previous thought, what I see is terrifying!

    *POV: Human*

    ¡°Now boys gather around!¡± yells the human who seems to be in charge of some small group of adult men.

    There¡¯s about 10 or so humans grouped together at the end of the forest where our little fox is currently residing. They are all gathered here for one reason and one reason only, human greed. All of them are hunters or poachers in some way or another, and their goal is to collect as many little creatures as they can for the purpose of selling them off to the wealthy for multiple purposes.

    All of the men have gathered and there¡¯s nothing remotely remarkable about any of them in this bunch. Not even the leader is anyone special.

    ¡°In this forest behind me are some of the most exotic creatures around! And let me tell you, if u think that some of the animals in here are simple animals than your dead wrong!¡± The leader then pauses for dramatic effect to help raise the moral of the men gathered.

    ¡°This isn¡¯t called The Jade forest for nothing! For as there are many different colours of jade there are many variations of animals in this forest that more often than not they evolve into magical creatures!!¡± says Leader

    At this point most of the humans are brimming with excitement. They¡¯ve travelled for weeks to reach this edge of the forest where they could start to burn some of the forest and have the animals run towards the river on the other side and fall into their traps that they¡¯ve set up a week prior.

    By setting the forest a blaze the smoke and flames would cause all the animals and magical creatures in the area to flee to safety, which is in the direction of the river.

    ¡°Men light your torches!! It is time to set this forest a blaze and get us some gold!¡± And with that the leader of the groups of humans lights various torches in his possession and throws them into the brush of the forest. All the other humans in the group follow suit right behind their leader.

    The forest slowly starts to become filled with gluttonous flames from hundreds of torches and starts to work its way into the depths of the Jade Forest.

 Chapter 3: The Burning Forest

    When my Mother first noticed the fire, she gathered all of the pups together and ran towards the river with us in tow.Running through the forest for the sake of not being burned alive is horrible. I don¡¯t even get to enjoy the wind in my fur, as the fire is consuming all the oxygen it can. I hope we make it there safely so running through the forest can be fun again and not for our life.

    Thirty minutesinto our run towards the river, we crosspaths with a herd of GreenJade Deer. These creatures are called that because they have jade for antlers, a sleek green body with black hoofs and spots. Normally they are hard to spots because they blend into the background of the forest. However, with them being in such a large group and about to cross pathswith us they aren¡¯t hard to spot. They basically over run us and almost trample some of my siblings. Mother is doing her best to find an area clear of these massive creatures, by constantly looking left and right. As she was doing that, I see Snickers is about to get trampled, so what do Ido? Of course I try to save his sorry butt!But as I¡¯m about to save him, my left hindleg gets stepped on by a Jade Deer¡¯s hoof in the process. Seriouslythe pain for my leg is enough to knock me out!?!

    I¡¯m guessing I blacked out from getting my leg stepped on, because now there are no more Jade Deer around and the fire is even closer to me then it was before. Lifting my nose into the air, I start to sniff around to see where my mother and siblings are.

    *sniff* *sniff* *sniff*

    Nothing, but I do smell water and that¡¯s the direction we are supposed to be travelling towards or at least where my mother wanted us to go.

    Slowly pushing myself in the direction I smelled waterfrom, was a really painful process. I had to take multiple breaks and detours too so I wouldn¡¯t over strain my body andnot make my damaged leg any worse! Of course there was a couple whimpers here and there, but what can I say! It hurts really badly.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    In the distance, I can see a body of water. Don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the one my mother wanted us to head towards, but it¡¯s the only clue I have at the moment. Getting closer to the body of water up ahead I notice something¡­ I can¡¯t hear the sound of moving water!?!

    Did I go in the right direction? Well it¡¯s not like there could be any other body of water in the same direction as the river right?

    Finally clearing the shrubsto the body of water, all I see is a medium size pond with a very steep slope to the middle followed by what looks like a bottomless center. But that¡¯s impossible right? If it¡¯s a pond it shouldn¡¯t be bottomless¡­ at least that¡¯s what I think.

    Making my way to what looks to be the shallowest area on the edge of the pond. I slowly wade my body into the water and cling to the edge. Lifting my head once again I start to sniff the air. *sniff* *sniff* *sniff* *sniff sniff* Nothing again. Maybe the river is further ahead? Grrrr, I don¡¯t have enough strength to hobble my way across an unknown distance! Let alone hope for there to be another body of water to save me from the fire that¡¯s closing in on me.

    As I watch the fire getting closer from the pond, I slowly slide further into the water so only my head is peaking above the surface and my paws can still touch the bed of the pond. Hopefully I¡¯ll be safe here, I don¡¯t think Ican make it to another source of water until my leg has healed up. However, sliding further into to the pond would make it harder for me to get out with a damaged leg; since there is only a steep drop from here. So I shouldn¡¯t go in any further, too bad Fate has other plans. I slip suddenly and to make it an even better plan I¡¯m no longer able to touch anything that remotely resembles the bed of the pond.

    Looking towards the direction of the fire, I see a dark smoky looking cloud of smoke arrive before the fire and descends upon the space about my safe haven. Finding it hard to breathe all the sudden, I instinctively start to panic. Moving my legs back and forth erratically, I manage to touch something. However, after touching whatever that was, I start to panic even more, kicking with all my might I try to keep myself afloat and not submerge myself any further. Doing that ever so poorly, I keep at it as much as I can. Not being fully submerged and not having any air to breath while being underwater is far worse I believe. But something completely random occurs¡­.

    Something grabbed my damagedleg!

    Transitioning from total panic to utterly terrified, I notice I¡¯m being pulledfurther and further away from the surface of the pond. So apparently theimpossible notion of the pond actually being bottomless is true!That doesn¡¯t make any sense at all!! And I¡¯m currently being pulled into it.

    Looking up,I can no longersee the light from the surface or the fire and the ¡®pond¡¯ is feeling narrower, like if I stretch out one of my free paws I could totally touch the side rock. But before I could even test out my theory or composeany other thoughts, I once again blacked out.

 Chapter 4: Human Greed

    *<u>POV: Mother Fox</u>*

    When I first noticed the smell of smoke, I gathered up my pups and headed towards the forests only source of running water. Surely if we cross that the fire won''t spread to the other side and my pups will be safe.

    While running through the forest at a pace I knew my pups could keep up and still be ahead ofthe spread of fire. I look back every so often to see if any of them fall behind.

    I am so proud to have more than half my pups almost fully grown. I was so sure that at least half would last like my first litter and that this litter would never end up like my last one. I will never let that happen again, to have all of them be killed in my last meadow while I was away hunting larger prey to feed all of them for their firstwinter. Plus finding another mate for the next little was tiring. I am not cut out to explore and find suitable male foxes to breed with.

    It''s good that months prior to this I took them running through the forest, so they could learn to traverse through it without much difficulty. Sadly I notice some of the pups aren''t keeping up. So I slow down and encourage them from behind to keep going at the current pace.

    *howl* *howl howl*

    Telling all my pups that we are almost there and safety is just ahead should help encourage them alittle more.

    I noticed that Dark Red is keeping to the back watching over her brothers and sisters. I seriously thought that she would be a trouble pup. She kept running away when she was newly born, even if that means dragging her body along then grass. But putting her in a couple time outs probably did the job. I''m glad she''s making sure no one fall to far behind and that she''ll caught anyone I might miss.

    Thirty odd minutes into our mad trek toward the river, a group of Jade Deer cross our path. I can''t look back at this point so I can only hope that all of my pups make it through. Weaving in and out of the legs of these deer is treacherous, hopefully my pups make it through.

    *pant* *pant* *pant*

    Finally I''m out of that! Turning around from my current spot, while heavily panting, I look to see how close my pups are. I start counting my pups and I see the one Dark Red named Snickers being the last among them to make it through. For a while Iwas having a hard time thinking of a way to identify this pup, so when I heard Dark Red calling him Snickers I decided to keep it.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    I waited a couple more minutes for Dark Red, since it seems that she''s the only pup that has yet to make their way out of the deer. To my dismay the deer are finally gone and I''m left with the decision to abandon Dark Red or wait for her and watch the fire get closer.

    When the smell of smoke and burning wood reach where me and my pups wait for Dark Red, I make my decision. I have to abandon Dark Red in order to make sure that the rest of my pups survive. It kills me to leave her, especially with how much time I took to discipline her so she could be a good role model. But I can''t have any more pups die on me, it''s too hard. All I can do is hope she makes it out alive somehow.

    Gathering my remaining pups we continue towards the river. With that little rest waiting for Dark Red, most of the pups have caught their breaths and have enough energy to make it the rest of the way. And this time, I''m making sure that my ears are on high alert so we don''t run into any other herd of creatures also fleeing the fire.

    I finally can smell and hear the sound of the river in the distance. Quickly notifying my pups that safety is close their spirits are renewed and they push forward even harder.

    Looking at the river, I see more bushes on the other side than when we were here not too long ago. I don''t think bushes can grow that fast, but I need to get my pups to the other side of the river. There''s no time to worry about minor details like that.

    The river itself is not flowing too strongly today so I don''t have to worry about my pups getting dragged down stream. Finding the shallowest section of river I can, with the timeI''vegot,I start herding my pups across one at a time. Eventually all of my remaining pups are across and I start pushing them towards the newly grown bushing.

    All of the sudden *snap*

    I turn towards the sound and see that one of my pups have stepped on something that oddly doesn''t look like grass upon further inspection. However, that''s all the time I''m given to react, because in the next instant all of us are hanging in the air in some sort ofcontraption.

    Looking around,Inotice that there are other creatures in a similar situation, however, they aren''t moving. From above a fog of yellow gas touches me and my pups. Followed by my vision slowly blacking out, I struggle with all my remaining strength to try and escape. But my attempts are futile as the darkness consumes everything.

    *<u>POV: Human</u>*

    Finished with setting the fire to the edge of the forest, me and my men make are way slowly towards the river where we set the traps. Once in a while a brave creature would jump through the flames and into the open field. Of course we would slaughter these creatures, being this brave and bold they wouldn''t make good pets for the nobility, we plan to sell these creatures on the black market after all.

    Reaching the river where all of our traps are, I notice that most of them are full and have been replaced with empty ones. Looking through all the occupied crates I see Jade Green Deer, Metal Wolves, Ash Foxes, Bark Salamanders and Cloud Rabbits. Nothing too exotic, but the foxes and wolves will make good pets for the more battle oriented noble children, while the deer and salamander will probably be sold to the alchemic and herbalist customers.

    Yelling at my men, I tell them that we have a good enough haul to start shipping the first set of crates.

    Couple hours later the fire that we started finally reaches the river. Some of my men happen to know water magic so they start to dose the fire until it was no more.

    With all but one or two empty cages, me and my men pack up and head to our campsite which is a day and a half ride from our current location.

 Chapter 5: Nightmares and Crystals

    *Yawn*

    Well that was a horrible nightmare¡­ Who knew I could dream of something so terrifying? Considering I haven¡¯t had that much experienced to begin with. However, it still looks like I am in the pond, well at least under itssurface.

    Remembering I had injured my leg, I turn my head downwards, and try to see how bad it is with what little light is being emitted from the surface. Seeing my leg, I noticed a dark greenish-blue thing wrapped around my leg. Okay, now that wasn¡¯t there before¡­ Tiring to keep my inner terror and possible reoccurring nightmare from surfacing in my mind, I calmly start to panic my way to the surface.

    *whoosh* *whosh* *whosh* *whooooossssh*

    Yeah, so that totally didn¡¯t work like I thought¡­

    Turning my attention back to the dark greenish-blue thing attached to my leg, and I do the only second thing I could have done. Bite it. Yes, I opened my muzzle, which isn¡¯t the smartest thing to do I might add. But hey I am currently panicking, soo give me a break on making smart choices.

    With my muzzle opened, I gargledRelease ME!! You vile dark greenish-blue thing!

    Followed by biting the dark greenish-blue thing extremely hard. Suddenly the thing loosens its grip ever so slightly and I swam like there was no tomorrow, because there certainly wasn¡¯t gonna be one if I stayed underwater any longer.

    Making my way towards the surface while doing a panicky swimming motion with my injured leg. Breaching the surface, I take the biggest breath that I have every taken and enjoy my freedom. Swiveling my head back and forth, I noticed that the light from the surface of the water wasn¡¯t from the sun or any of the flames from the fire. Looking closely, the glowing came from the cave walls surrounding this underground pond?

    Huh¡­ odd, I clearly remembered being in pond surrounded by lush green trees, which were being burned to death from the fire under a clear blue sky.

    Oh no¡­ No no no, NO!! My nightmare couldn¡¯t have been real? Could it?

    Please, please PLEASE don¡¯t be real¡­

    Observing the cave walls I see that the glowing light is coming from the dark green veins crisscrossing through the wall face. They were so pretty looking, so sparkly¡­

    NO!!!*waaa*

    Crying like a little baby, I swim my way to shore. Making it to the shore I push myself out of the water and proceed to curl up into a small ball of wet fur.

    Announcing my sorrow to my surrounding by constantly crying and whimpering, I almost miss the sound of something leaving the underground pool. Unraveling my head from my ball of fur, I turn my head towards the direction of the sound. Completely forgetting that my nightmare from earlier wasn¡¯t actually a dream but reality, I witness something equally or maybe more terrifying.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    An almost shriveled up corpse of a creature emerged slowly and reluctantly from the underground poolI just escaped from and is being dragged towards the shoreline by the same thing that had me trapped. Another vile dark greenish-blue thing had appeared, however its only actionwas bringing that shriveled up corpse of a creature out of the depths of the underground pool.

    Not uttering a sound, I watch as the vile dark greenish-blue thing dragged that poor creature above the surface of the underground pool and onto the cavefloor. However, instead of dropping it like I assumed it would, it just continuedto drag the poor creature further away from the pool of water and towards the cave walls in the distance.

    Deciding that staying near the shore of the pool of water wasn¡¯t such a great idea anymore, I start quietly walking in the only direction I hoped would lead somewhere else. Sadly, that meant following the vile dark greenish-blue thing and the creature it was dragging along.

    Keeping a safe distance from the vile thing, I follow it to what looked like the entrance of a tunnel. And the dark green glowing crystal veins from earlier seem to converge into the entrance, making it brighter than the current cavern I¡¯m in.

    Entering the tunnel and staying as close as I can to the tunnel wall, I continue to follow the vile dark thing. Looking at the tunnel walls to avoid the obvious nightmarish scene that¡¯s happening to the poor creature, I trace with my eyes the veins of the glowing dark green crystals. Noticing that sometimes they form large thick veins and sometimes they teeter off into small veinlets, I begin to distract myself.

    They are really pretty you know, these glowing dark green crystal veins. Sometimes they ever so slightly pulsate, but it¡¯s a complete mystery to me as to what they are? I¡¯ve never seen glowing rocks before and the closest thing I have seen to having the same glowing effect are from those Green Jade Deer from my home forest.

    Deciding that I should take a small break from walking, I sit right in front of one of the larger glowing dark green crystal veins and lift my paw up towards it. Touching the dark green crystal, I watch as it starts to pulsate faster than before and the dark green becomes more saturated and brighter around the area of my paw.

    Tehe*haha* it tickles, lets add the other paw.

    *giggle* *giggle*two paws, tehe, I feeeel ammaazzinnng!!*giggle* *giggle* *hiccup*

    Huh? *hiccup*

    Why am I hiccupping? My paws feel tingly¡­*hiccup*

    Removing both of my paws from the glowing dark green crystal, I start to sober up from whatever weird effect that crystal did to me.

    Swearing off touching the wall and keeping a safe distance from the vile dark thing, that seemed to have no end, I continued down the tunnel. Quickly making my way towards the poor creature that looked almost dead at this point, I noticed that the tunnel is yet again becoming brighter and brighter. However, from my earlier experience back at the entrance of the tunnel I knew that it was getting brighter due to the increase in those glowing dark green veins and not natural sunlight.

    Soon the tunnel ends and another wide cavern is shown up ahead. This time though, there are several other tunnels, with one or two of them having more of those vile dark greenish-blue things dragging poor helpless creatures, spaced along the cavern wall. And in the center of the cavern is a large pool of a dark green glowing liquid.

    Watching the vile dark thing drag the shriveled up creature closer and closer towards the dark green glowing liquid, I decided to hide behind a nearby boulder and continue watching from afar. And I¡¯m so glad I did! Because it turns out that watching the vile dark greenish-blue thing dunked the poor shriveled up creature into the dark green glowing liquid!

    Soon after the shriveled up creature started to fill out its body and emit a faint green glow. Gaining in size, the once shriveled up corpse rapidly took on the appearance of a mighty Obsidian Salamander!

 Chapter 6: Red and Green make Black

    An Obsidian Salamander is one of the existences that my mother warned me and the other pups about. Apparently, they are one of the higher forms of the species that can evolve into a low class wyvern if given the right circumstances. Mother always said to never go near the dark mountains to the southeast of the forest, because that¡¯s where they can be found, among other equally or slightly more terrifying creatures.

    After witnessing the transformation, the once shrivelled up corpse had when it entered the dark green glowing pool, it started to wiggle in defiance of the vile dark thing holding it captive. Unlike my earlier escape by a simple bite to the thing, this vile dark thing seem to have been expecting the creature it held captive to fight back once it was rejuvenated by the dark green glowing liquid.

    Hahahahahaaa¡­..

    Does that mean the only reason I escaped from my own vile dark thing earlier was because it never thought that I would wake up and attack it?

    Just thinking that gives me the shivers. From the tunnel I exited out of earlier, another vile dark greenish-blue thing appeared and guess what! It had a small bite mark an inch or two from the pointy end! Seems like my old nemesis is back, good thing I¡¯m hiding behind this boulder!

    My nemesis enters the cavern and slowly starts to feel around, almost like it¡¯s looking for something¡­or someone! Eventually it makes its way over to my boulder, well I guess I need a new hiding spot now. Looking around the cavern and I spot some other boulders in the distance but I would have to cross over my nemesis at this point. Is there any other place I can hide?

    The dark green glowing liquid.

    If I hide in there it might work, it¡¯s not like they¡¯ll suspect their prey to go in there willingly right? Hopefully I¡¯m right! And luckily the path to the dark green glowing liquid isn¡¯t block by my nemesis!

    Rushing towards my new hiding place, I managed to not alert my nemesis to my plan and cannonball into the glowing liquid.

    *splash*

    So maybe cannonballing into the glowing liquid wasn¡¯t the smartest idea, but it sure was satisfying!

    *hum* *hum*

    While swimming in this pool of glowing liquid I hear a humming noise, the humming noise gradually intensifies until all I hear is an ungodly screeching sound replace it.

    As the once humming noise is now a screeching, the glowing dark green liquid starts whirling around my body like a whirlpool. The surface than starts to ascend until it¡¯s above my head, fully encapsulating me in my own pocket of the glowing liquid. A pulling sensation starts to effect both me and my new capsule, than the feeling of falling appeared. With what I can only assume is downward based on the pull, I eventually find myself at what appears to be the floor of the pool.

    In front of me, imbedded into the floor of the pool, is a dark black crystal. About the size of one of my little jelly beans at the bottom of my paw with a polishing finished on it, that looks like it¡¯s once been in a sentient beings hands. Staring at the crystal since it¡¯s appeared, I¡¯ve become mesmerized by it and slowly start to crouch down while opening my muzzle to release the imbedded crystal.

    Taking the imbedded crystal out of the floor was simpler than it looked. With it at the tip of my muzzle, I swallow it whole and break out of the trance I was in. Without having the time to notice I was once in a trance, the capsule in which kept me safe from the surrounding dark green liquid collapses and the dark green glowing liquid rushes in to fill the unoccupied space.

    Fully immersed in the dark green glowing liquid, my body starts to spasm slowly then rapidly. My whole body felt like it was constantly being ripped apart by the dark black crystal, however, the dark green glowing liquid kept healing me like it did for the Obsidian Salamander. This process kept repeating and repeating becoming an almost endless cycle.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Until finally all the energy within the dark black crystal was gone and the once dark green glowing liquid was now a soft green glowing liquid.

    Gaining some of my strength back from the ordeal, I push my way to the surface. Constantly reminding myself that this bad habit of thinking pools of any sort of liquid are safe needs to go away. Reaching the surface, I notice that my nemesis and his twin are gone and so are their victims. Believing that it¡¯s now or never to get out of this pool, I swim to shore and start running towards one of the many tunnels connected to this cavern.

    Even though I should have no strength left in me, the fact that I¡¯m terrified and just want to get away from that particular pool of liquid drives me forward. Running down the tunnel, I notice the same veins of dark green crystal from before, however, like the pool they have now become a soft green. During my trek, I slowly start to lose the strength that had previously been empowering me forward. And I collapse on the ground.

    Regaining consciousness by the feeling of my tired body being dragged against the cave floor, i open my eyes and see my nemesis dragging me. Not knowing what else to do i use the same tactic that i used the first time to get away from it.

    *crunch*

    However, this time my luck has seemed to run out. For as soon as i finish my bite, my nemesis lifts me off the ground and slams me into the cave wall. Making me lose consciousness once more.

    *tick* *tick* *crunch*

    This time, i wake up to a bunch of ticking and crunching noises. Not the most pleasant of wake ups I''ve had, but at least it woke me up to witness the true form of my nemesis! Looking in the direction of the sound, i spot an enormous creature.

    Covered in dark azure scales with an unknown amount of my dark greenish-blue nemeses attached to it, a pair of dark crimson eyes above a golden beak devour the surrounding creatures that are in its grasps. This enormous devouring creature, looks at the approaching me while eating its remaining victims. Its glare seems to penetrate deeper and deeper into my mind as it brought me closer, showing an uncontrollable rage.

    Finally being in front of those raging crimson eyes, I feel a slight zap in my brain.

    < HOW DARE YOU!!! >

    Oww... That hurt!

    < I DON''T CARE!! DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT''LL TAKE FOR THE GREEN MANA CRYSTALS TO REPLENISH ALL THE ENERGY, YOU HAVE SO CARELESSLY WASTED!?! >

    Umm, no?

    < A CENTURY!!! THAT¡¯S 100 YEARS YOU HALFWIT! >

    So?

    <ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THAT STUPID? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FEED MYSELF? >

    But aren''t you feeding yourself perfectly fine right now?

    < YOU CALL THIS EATING!! FILLING MY GLORIOUS MOUTH WITH THESE FILTHY CREATURES OF FLESH AND BLOOD?!? HOW WILL I SAFELY CONSUME THE MANA FROM THE MANA POOL NOW!!! WITHOUT THESE FILTHY BODIES OF FLESH AND BLOOD ABSORBING THE UNSTABLE MANA FROM THE MANA POOL AND STABILIZING IT IN THEIR FILTHY BODIES, ONLY TO BE BROUGHT BACK TO ME TO BE SQUEEZED OUT AND REPEATED UNTIL THEY HAVE SERVED THEIR PURPOSE! ONLY THAT CAN BE CALLED EATING! SO TELL ME!! >

    Umm... Maybe there¡¯s another mana pool nearby? It can¡¯t be the only one right?

    < IT CANT BE THE ONLY ONE. THE ONLY ONE. OF COURSE IT¡¯S THE ONLY ONE, YOU HALFWITTED FILTHY PIECE OF FLESH AND BLOOD! >

    Wow, and here I thought the voice inside my head couldn''t get any louder...

    < ARE YOU SERIOUSLY NOT AFRAID OF ME! THE AZURE QUILM OCTOVARIOUS!! >

    Who?

    < THE AZURE QUILM OCTOVARIOUS! >

    Sorry, never heard of it. Is it like some important person?

    < YOU HAVE NEVER HEARD OF MY GLORIOUS SELF? >

    Nope, sorry can¡¯t say I''ve had.

    < HOW IS THIS EVEN POSSIBLE! I''VE FOUGHT IN ALMOST ALL THE MAJOR CREATURE WARS BETWEEN THE SENTIENT HUMANOIDS AND US. I HAVE SLAUGHTERED THOUSANDS OF THOSE FILTHY BAGS OF FLESH AND BLOOD. I WAS KNOWN AS THE AZURE DEVOURER!! HOW COULD YOU NOT HAVE HEARD OF ME! >

    Because I haven''t lived that long... And I kind of got separated from the one person who might have known about you.

    < ENOUGH OF YOUR PATHETIC EXCUSES!! YOU HAVE CONSUMED ENOUGH MANA TO SATISFY ME UNTIL I CAN FIX THIS PROBLEM YOU''VE CREATED! I THE AZURE DEVOURER, THE AZURE QUILM, OCTOVARIOUS WILL NOW TRULY DEVOUR YOU! BE GRATEFUL THAT YOU ARE ABOUT THE BE DEVOURED BY THIS GLORIOUS BEING!! >

    Actually let¡¯s just say we did that and not actually do it. Sounds like a good plan right?

    Octo, as I''m calling him since his name is way too long and ridiculous, opens his golden beak and an azure light starts building up inside his mouth. Wait? Didn¡¯t he ask something about me not being afraid of him? I wonder why I¡¯m no longer afraid, of my nemesis or even Octo¡­

    Shouldn¡¯t I currently be feeling like hiding in the deepest darkest corner?

    *poof*

    Okay¡­ Apparently I got my wish.

    < WHERE ARE YOU FILTHY BAG OF FLESH AND BLOOD!!! HOW DARE YOU REJECT MY GLORIOUS MOUTH! >

    Right, I¡¯m currently in a dark corner. Should I run? Or should I try to ¡®poof¡¯ again? Decisions, decisions¡­

    < WHEN I FIND YOU, I WILL MAKE SURE YOU SUFFER FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE! THAT CHROME BLACK FUR THAT¡¯S HANGING ONTO YOUR FILTHY BODY OF FLESH AND BLOOD WILL MAKE THE NICEST BAG WHICH HOLDS ALL OF THE ROTTING CORPSES THAT I¡¯VE KEPT THROUGHOUT THE EONS! >

    Well he must be mad at someone else, because I¡¯m definitely a dark red. Right?

 Chapter 7: The Burial of a Glorious Being

    With constant yelling about murdering and torturing a creature with chrome black fur in the background, I leisurely concentrate on trying to ¡®poof¡¯ again. Sadly, it¡¯s harder than I thought. Wonder what that creature did to get him so mad. Oh well, not my problem.

    Let¡¯s see¡­ Last time I wanted to disappear into a dark corner and then what else, what else¡­ hmmm¡­

    *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

    Looks like he started to move my nemeses around the cavern, hopefully searching for that black creature and not me.

    *RUMBLE RUMBLE*

    *BOOM*

    And that was a part of the ceiling¡­ he should really be more careful.

    Alright back to escaping. So I was thinking about a dark corner, no wait wasn¡¯t there something before that? Or was there something after that? The ranting in the background is making me forget.

    As you can see I decided to ¡®poof¡¯ out of this cavern, just in case leaving the normal way brings the attention of that loud mouth back to me. I¡¯m perfectly fine with him focusing his attentions elsewhere.

    Suddenly I *poof*.

    Looking at my new surroundings I notice that I am no longer in a dark corner, nor I am close to the cavern walls. Instead, what I see before me isn¡¯t exactly what I wanted to see again.

    < WELL, WELL. LOOK WHO WE HAVE HERE! WHY ISNT THE FILTHY BAG OF FLESH AND BODY THAT WILL SOON BE TURNED INTO A BLACK BAG FOR ALL MY ROTTING CORPSES! >

    < MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA >

    Yep, so I reappeared right in front of the loud mouth. Great, what happened to that black creature he was so focused on earlier? Hopefully he didn¡¯t escape¡­ I have not even escaped yet! How dare he escape before me!!

    < AND HERE I WAS, JUST ABOUT TO MOVE MY WHOLE GLORIOUS BODY AROUND TO FIND A FLITHLY BAG OF FLESH AND BLOOD. YOU SHOULD BE HONORED, NO, YOU SHOULD BE SO DIVINELY HUMBLED TO BE ABLE TO SEE THIS GLORIOUS BODY OF MINE THAT YOU DECIDED TO COME BACK BEFORE I COULD GO AND FIND YOU, RIGHT? >This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    Umm¡­ What happened to that black creature you were chasing just a minute ago?

    < YOU ARE THE BLACK CREATURE THAT I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR, YOU STUPID FILTHLY BAG OF FLESH AND BLOOD!!! >

    < MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I AM GOING TO DRAG YOU THROUGH ALL THE CAVERNS AND DROWN YOU IN ALL THE BODIES OF WATER THAT I CAN FIND! THEN AND ONLY THEN WILL I CONSUME YOU!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! NO, NO THAT¡¯S TOO GOOD FOR YOU! MAYBE I SHOULD -- >

    And there he goes again¡­ thinking of ways to torture that black creature.

    Wait¡­ didn¡¯t he just say that I was the black creature. I thought I heard him wrong the first time, but he totally just said that I was the black creature that has caused him to be in such a torturous mood.

    Examining my body for the first time, since forever, I notice that I no longer have the cute black boots or the black tip on my tail. Nor do I have my dark red fur further up my legs or tail. How is this possible? There is no way for me to change my fur now, I¡¯ve literally grown out of my pup fur already¡­

    Could it possibly be that black crystal from earlier? I shouldn¡¯t have eaten it!! Now I no longer have my awesome fur!

    WAAaaaa!! Crying my misfortune to the world, Octo stops his torture filled rant.

    < NOW YOU FULLY UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION YOU ARE IN! DO YOU FEEL THE FEAR AND HORROR OF THE INSULT YOU HAVE GIVEN BY YOUR ACTIONS TO THIS GLORIOUS BEING!! >

    Still crying up a storm that would put most babies to shame, Octo finally decides to act. Reaching out with one of my nemesis, I slowly get wrapped and lifted off the cavern floor.

    *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*

    *BOOM* *CRASH* *BOOM*

    And just like that, Octo¡¯s previous tantrum when he was looking for me, causes the cavern to become unstable and various rocks from the cavern ceiling start to come lose and crash onto the cavern floor. As rock after rock fell, some of my nemeses started to get crush under the falling rocks. Eventually even larger rocks started to fall on top of Octo¡¯s main body.

    < YOU INSIGNIFICANT PIECES OF DIRT, YOU DARE TO TOUCH MY GLORIOUS BODY WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!! >

    And there he goes on another rant, this time at the falling rocks. He seriously needs to get over himself and I seriously need to actually escape this time.

    Remembering that, every time I ¡®poof¡¯-ed, I thought of a certain location and that I could visualize it in my mind. Thinking of a sure fire place I could move to, I visualize being outside. A warm breeze blowing through my fur, the bright sun hanging in the sky with one or two clouds floating majestically nearby. Green lush grass underneath my paws.

    And just like that *poof*

    Opening my eyes, I notices the faint traces of a black mist slowly dissipating from my body. Totally weird, but if it''s connected to my ability to ¡®poof¡¯ then it''s more than welcome. Looking passed my body, I find a lush green field of grass and behind me appears to be some sort of mountain?

    Suddenly the ground starts to shake.

    *Rumble* *Rumble*

    And I notice that not too far away a small mountain peak starts to crumble, followed by:

    < YOU INSIGNIFICANT PIECE OF DIRT! WHEN I GET OUT FROM UNDER YOU I WILL PULVERIZE YOU INTO NOTHING! DO YOU HEAR ME!! >

    Seems like someone hasn¡¯t given up yet¡­

    Turning away from the mountain, I leisurely skip into the unknown. Nothing looks familiar but that¡¯s okay. Anywhere is better than in that cavern with Octo, that is for sure.

 Chapter 8: Ian Blackstone

    Waking up alongside the sun, like every other day, is tiring. But I''ll wake up the instant I splash cold water on my face, so it''s alright.

    My name is Ian Blackstone, but everyone just calls me Ian or boy. Growing up in a small village hasn''t been a treat, but it''s not like I can go anywhere else after all I''m only seven.

    Changing into my, not so clean, cloths I say, "Status"

    [Name: Ian Blackstone]

    [Species: Human]

    [Class: None]

    [Class EXP: None]

    [Title(s): None]

    [Stats: Vitality 10, Agility 8, Strength 7, Mana 15]

    [Affinities: Fire 1%, Earth 1%, Water 1%, Air 1%]

    [Skills (Active): Woodcutter Lvl 1/10, Laundered Lvl 2/10, Herb Gathering Lvl 2/10]

    [Skills (Passive): Lesser Breathing Technique Lvl 1/10]

    [Magical Skills (Active): Mana Sphere Lvl 1/10]

    [Magical Skills (Passive): Lesser Meditation Technique Lvl 1/10]

    Still seeing my below average stats, with the exception of mana, I slowly exhale...

    This system was created for humans and other races, during the era where humanity and the other prominent races were suffering at the claws and teeth of magical creatures (Well the humans more than the other races). So a group of powerful mages, called Salazar Imperials, managed to create a world-class spell that would affect all of the prominent races from that day forth with what they called the World Status System.

    Only the prominent races would be affected by this spell, no magical creature was affected by the spell. Meaning, that they would either have to become a familiar or a guardian of one of the prominent races to have access to the world status. To become a prominent race, your race would have to have been included or similar race to that of Salazar Imperial mages. Since, when they created the world-class spell, every member in attendance was of each race.With the creation of this spell, all the prominent races began to understand their potential, even how strong they needed to be in order to face certain magical creatures and live out their lives. Many started to realize their limitations, whether it came to certain monsters or affinities and skills, in general, became easier to acquire or advance because there was now a less vague visual guideline to follow.

    Thousands of years have passed since that day. And this World Status System is now a common place thing, it distinguishes the elite from the common. Which is where I am at the moment, stuck with being a below average common human. Usually kids my age have started going to school to help figure out what future classes are available to them, and what stats they need to increase or add in order to actually get said future class. As for me, well let¡¯s just say I cannot spend my time sitting around listening to teachers and figuring out my future class.

    After eating breakfast, I head out to do my morning job of cutting wood for the carpenter around the corner. Even though my strength stat is low, I¡¯m the only working child in the village. So the carpenter doesn¡¯t get mad at my lack of productivity, as long as he doesn¡¯t have to do it himself he doesn¡¯t mind letting someone like me doing it. Usually for a kid my age, their stats average around 10 to 12, however, I¡¯m at 7 in strength and that¡¯s only because I¡¯ve been cutting wood daily for the past 4 months. If I hadn¡¯t been cutting wood it be at 5, which is even worse.

    The other children in the village just play and attend the only school in the village every day. Whereas, I have to work to make ends meat, as the saying goes. Unlike the others, my parents left the village around two years ago and I haven¡¯t heard from them since. They of course left me enough money and food for several months, however with them not returning and all, I had to start making money by doing various miscellaneous task around the village just to get by! No family from this village can afford to support an extra child and it is too small to have a church in it, so there goes the ¡®orphanage¡¯ option.

    Needless to say I am on my own, but that¡¯s alright. I enjoy my life, although not as much as when I had parents, more like I¡¯m not crying in a corner waiting for someone to save me.

    Continuing my morning routine of chopping wood, I take a quick break and look out into the field where all the other village children are. Looks like Miss Lily decided to have class outside today, cannot disagree with that. It¡¯s pretty nice out today, the sun is shining, there¡¯s a cool light breeze coming from the southwest and not a cloud in the sky. Too bad that I couldn¡¯t join in on the lessons, the school day lasts for 6-8 hrs every day except weekends. And I need to work, to keep both a roof over my head and food. Not to mention a boat load of miscellaneous things that a growing boy requires. At least I¡¯m not daydreaming of things I don¡¯t have¡­ Back to wood chopping I guess.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Finishing chopping wood, I head back to my house after I collect my daily coins from the carpenter and make myself some lunch. Nothing too exciting, just a piece of bread from the local baker and some cheese from the dairy farmer¡¯s wife.

    After eating, I sit in the middle of my bed and start both my [Lesser Meditation Technique] and [Lesser Breathing Technique]. Both of these skills are passive, ones magical in nature and the other is physical. My parents taught me the basics of these two skills before they left, however, they told me never to do them at the same time. Something bad is supposed to happen, but for some reason I¡¯ve managed to find a natural rhythm between the two skills that allows me to do them at the same time. Guess that¡¯s because I¡¯m working with the ¡®lesser¡¯ version instead of the ¡®basic¡¯ version my parents taught me. But as a result my mana stat is at 15, which is above the average for my age. Makes me pretty happy!

    Controlling my breathing and calming my mind, I invited the surrounding mana in the atmosphere to enter my pores and circulate through my body. Not all the mana gets absorbed into me, but enough to make me more aware of how it flows through my body each and every time I take a breath. It does nothing to increase my total mana, however it makes my recovery rate faster than normal.

    A minute or three later, I finish my meditation and breathing techniques. Still sitting on my bed, I¡¯m a little sweaty, but it¡¯s nothing compared to after a session of wood chopping so I¡¯m fine. I start to gather the stored mana in my body into a small sphere in the palm of my hand. This skill is called [Mana Sphere], it¡¯s currently at level one but once it reaches level five I should be able to shoot it outwards to my intended target. Holding the [Mana Sphere] in the palm of my hands, I try to get the sphere as smooth as possible. Accomplishing that, I cancel the skill and restart it from the beginning.

    It¡¯s the middle of the afternoon, when I finish practicing my two passive skills and my only active magic skill. Taking a drink of water from my water container I left on the table, I get up and walk out of my home and onto my next job. Herb gathering for the local herbal store.

    The lady, Mrs. Hemsworth, lets me collect the more common and daily purchased herbs that she sells at her shop. It was really nice of her, because some day I want to be able to go out into the world and at least be able to tell edible plants from poisonous ones. But that dream is far, far away. Entering her shop, I head to the main counter where I can see her sitting behind it humming some soft tune while there is a lull in customers. And to the right of her, on the counter, my list of herbs that I need to gather for her.

    Finally noticing that someone has entered her shop, Mrs. Hemsworth says, ¡°Hello, Ian my boy! Isn¡¯t today such a beautiful day? I wish I could close up shop and enjoy the day.¡± With a heavy sigh she continues talking, ¡°Well here is the list of herbs I need you to gather for me today. There¡¯s nothing new or dangerous on the list. But more importantly, you remember how to pick the Breeze Grass, right?¡± Looking at the list that she handed over to be while she was talking, I notice that most of the herbs on the list are something anyone with a level one in [Herb Gathering] can do. And the Breeze Grass, she mentioned, is the first level two herb that she¡¯s allowed me to gather.

    Remembering where each of the five herbs are on the list, I reply, ¡°Hello to you to Mrs. Hemsworth! And yes I remember how to properly gather the Breeze Grass.¡± Looking at me like she wants to see if I remember it, I start to explain how to gather the herb like she told me to from the last time I gathered this herb for her. ¡°First, I need to create a small barrier that¡¯s blocking the direction of the wind. Second, I slightly water down the blades of grass. And lastly, I cut the blade of grass and instantly put it in the special pouch that you have provided me!¡±

    Satisfied with my answer, she hands me five individual pouches. Four of them are made of a common brown cloth material, while the last one is made of a black leather with a silver cord to close the pouch with. The last pouch is for the Breeze Grass, it has both the wood and wind element in it. So as soon as the blades of grass have left the earth they immediately start to follow the wind currents, three times faster than a normal blade of grass. So by creating a small barrier and then wetting the grass with water, I can reduce the chance of the Breeze Grass escaping my grasp.

    Exiting the shop, I head out of the village and towards the forest nearby. The other four herbs I¡¯m gathering are on the edge of the forest, but the breeze grass is further south. So I¡¯ll start with these four.

    The four herbs I have to collect, beside the Breeze Grass, are: Yellow Blue Grass, Bolted Flower, Swaying Toadstool and Iron Berry. Each of these herbs can be used to help the various people who enter and exit the forest every day.

    Yellow Blue Grass, is just like the name. It¡¯s a grass that is both yellow and blue. Depending on the yellow and blue ratio the grass can be used as a paralytic or a sleeping aid when turned into a cream. So it¡¯s not dangerous in its unprocessed form and it requires no special gathering method. It¡¯s a level one herb after all.

    The Bolted Flower, is a flower with its petals in the shape of a lightning bolt. With its electrifying yellow color, it¡¯s a counter agent to the Yellow Blue Grass when it¡¯s turned into a paralytic cream. Another level one herb.

    Next, the Swaying Toadstool, is a bluish mushroom that sways on the edges of windy plains that are about to turn into a forest. Even if there is no breeze, this mushroom will still sway. I don¡¯t remember what it¡¯s for, but it¡¯s a level one herb so it¡¯s not poisonous.

    And lastly, is the Iron Berry; a red and gray berry that grows on an Ironwood Bush. It has both the wood and metal element in it and it¡¯s known for being one of the ingredients in making a Strength Boosting Potion.

    By the time I gather all five herbs, the Sun has almostdisappeared from the sky. I should have enough time to get back to Mrs. Hemsworth, collect my coins from her and head home for dinner. Managing that, I get home with time to spare. While I was at the store, giving Mrs. Hemsworth back the herbs I gathered. She was glad that I was able to collect more Breeze Grass then the previous time, so she gave me an extra coin!

    At home, I reheat the leftover soup that Mrs. Chastely taught me to make. It¡¯s real easy! Even a seven year old can make it! Finishing my meal, I count the number of coins I earned today.

    15 copper coins from the Carpenter and 30 copper coins from Mrs. Hemsworth. So that¡¯s a total of 4 ? bronze coins. I¡¯m gonna put 20 of the copper coins into my collection for rent and use the other 25 to buy food for tomorrow.

    Just to let you know, in case you were wondering, my rent costs 62 copper coins or 6 bronze coins a month. The house isn¡¯t that big and neither is the surrounding properties, so usually it cost 7 bronze coins. But the person I¡¯m renting took off a whole bronze coin worth, mainly because I¡¯m a child and I¡¯m not destructive like the other boys in the village. I¡¯m really grateful to that person!

    Anyways that¡¯s a typical day for me. Although, usually I alternate wood cutting and laundry duty every other week.

 Chapter 9: My First Day Off

    <u>Chapter 9: My first day off</u>

    Completing my morning routine like I have every other day of my life. I walk towards Mrs. Hemsworth¡¯s shop. Usually I¡¯m working for the village wood cutting in the mornings, however, sometimes I like to visit her in the morning just to spice up my seven year old self¡¯s life.

    As I approach Mrs. Hemsworth¡¯s shop, I notice her standing outside looking up and down the only road in the whole village. Quickening my pace, I jog up to her shop. Having arrived right beside Mrs. Hemsworth, she notices me and plans a huge smile on her plump round middle-aged face. Followed by her hands landing of my shoulders.

    ¡°My boy!¡± She exclaims with a joy filled tone. ¡°Last night, some hunters from our village returned from their monthly hunt into the Crescent Moon Forest! And guess what they said they saw!¡± The excitement and happiness in her voice increased with each word she spoke to me.

    ¡°What did they see Mrs. Hemsworth?¡± I asked, because the hunters from are village may be have limited knowledge in the more rare plants then her. So the fact that these hunters from a small village like ours, Tallows Village is the name of our village, means that it¡¯s a rare plant that almost everyone has heard of.

    ¡°They saw a Crescent Moon Yin Flower!¡±

    Crescent Moon Yin Flower, was a legendary magical flower usually in the deepest parts of the Crescent Moon Forest. The legend behind the flower is that the Silver Moon Goddess Aurora was weeping in sorrow for all the blood shed between the races. And from a single tear, the Crescent Moon Yin Flower blossomed into existence. With its silver white petals and glow in the night along with its creator.

    This legendary flower was the reason this village was established in the first place, over 200 years ago. When this flower was discovered there were thousands of them located in the forest. What made this flower so desirable was because it possessed the properties to hold liquid mana, when it was processed and mixed into the clay and silt used for crafting either glassware or pottery.

    However, 150 years after they established the village the Crescent Moon Yin Flower was starting to become scarce. Almost to the point where it took days of searching the forest in order to find it. And eventually it was rarely seen.

    No wonder Mrs. Hemsworth is so excited about the sighting of this flower! It could bring some money to this small village. Especially if there is more than one!

    ¡°That¡¯s amazing Mrs. Hemsworth! Are you going to request some of the hunters to go back out and acquire the flower for you?¡± I asked because that¡¯s the only reason she would still be in the village and not out in the forest searching for them herself.

    Hearing my question Mrs. Hemsworth slowly losses her smile and retrieves her hands from my shoulders. Looking at me, Mrs. Hemsworth says something that I¡¯d never thought she¡¯d say.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°Well the thing is Ian, I was hoping that you could go with the group of hunters and gather the flower for me. I don¡¯t have the energy to go all the way to where the flower was spotted. But you my boy do! And I do feel bad asking but those hunters wouldn¡¯t know how to properly collect and store such a precious flower.¡±

    Looking at Mrs. Hemsworth like she¡¯s joking with me, I reply, ¡°But Mrs. Hemsworth! The highest level plant that I¡¯ve managed to gather was the Breeze Grass. And that was only yesterday! I didn¡¯t even go up a level in [Herb Gathering]!¡±

    Showing her my complete lack of confidence in properly collecting this flower, Mrs. Hemsworth slowly shakes her head like she knows what I¡¯m currently capable of and yet thinking I should have the confidence to do more.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry my boy! Starting right now I¡¯m going to teach you how to properly pick this flower! Plus those hunters are going to take a quick rest for about three days, then they¡¯ll head back out of the forest with you in tow.¡± With her smile slowly making another appearance, Mrs. Hemsworth returns her hands onto my shoulders.

    ¡°There¡¯s no way I can do that! I have other responsibilities that I need to take care of! And to gather the Crescent Moon Yin Flower don¡¯t you need like at least a level 5 in [Herb Gathering]?!?¡± Continuing my plea of getting out of this task. I cry to Mrs. Hemsworth, sadly it was to no avail and she had managed to think of everything before we crossed paths.

    ¡°Ian my boy! How could I forget about your other responsibilities, I¡¯ve already asked Mr. Sherwood about your wood cutting arrangement and he agreed that you going out to search for this flower is more important than cutting wood.¡± Mrs. Hemsworth exclaimed.

    I totally didn¡¯t believe for a second that that¡¯s what Mr. Sherwood said. It would more likely to be along the lines of ¡®Won¡¯t make a difference to me if the boy missed a day or two. But he¡¯ll have twice or more to finish before I even think about paying him¡¯ Then think of the grumpiest face and tone at the same time and you have successfully embodied Mr. Sherwood.

    So when Mrs. Hemsworth said those words earlier I knew she was fluffing it over since I am only a seven year old boy. But still¡­ I am a lot more mature for my age than every other seven year in the village.

    Realizing my lack of ability to win in this arrangement against an adult, I walk into Mrs. Hemsworth store without uttering another word. Seeing my actions, Mrs. Hemsworth follows me inside and starts happily taking out the necessary material of how to gather the Crescent Moon Yin Flower from her personal work bench at the back of the shop.

    <u></u>

    <u>*POV: Random Silver Star Wolf*</u>

    Over a day or so ago, me and my brother heard a loud roar come from the mountain where the Hidden Danger of the Mountain lives. Our Pack Ancestors always told us, when we were growing up, to never use the small ponds of water near that mountain. For the Hidden Danger of the Mountain could prey upon you. So when we heard the savage roars of a creature that could only be the Hidden Danger that our Ancestors talked about, we couldn¡¯t help but make our way over to the mountain to see what kind of event could make this terrifying creature make such savage roars.

    However upon coming upon the meadow that is directly before the mountain, me and my brother couldn¡¯t help but stare at the weirdest little fox we have ever seen.

    In the middle of the lush green meadow was a little black fox. Without a care in the world it was rubbing its body all around the grass while giggling non-stop. It even stop to chase a butterfly once in a while.

    During one of its butterfly chasing moments it accidently sneezed and black fire came out of its small jaw. Looking curiously at the destruction that its small sneeze just caused, the little black fox looked around curiously, almost like it was wondering what could have done this horrible thing right in front of it. Then it shrugged its shoulders and blinked out existence. Only for it to reappear on the other side of the meadow and continue on with its life as if nothing had happened.

    Turning towards my brother who stopped watching such a weird fox and was waiting for me to move on towards the mountain. An enormously loud voice came out from the mountain.

    <HAHAHA! I AM FREE! YOU BETTER HAVE RUN FAR FAR AWAY LITTLE BLACK PIECE OF INSIGNIFICANT DIRT! MUHAHAHAHAHA!!!>

    The booming voice continued on it loud rant, but I tuned it out the moment it said ¡®little black¡¯ for the chance that it¡¯s actually describing the little black fox in front of me and my brother isn¡¯t worth even considering to be the truth or not.

    Signaling to my brother that we are turning back. I dash as fast as my wind element will take me, not even caring if my brother is right behind me. I need to tell the Elders of our pack that the Hidden Danger of the Mountain is free of the mountain.

 Chapter 10: Crescent Moon Forest

    For three days straight I was stuck in Mrs. Hemsworth¡¯s store, learning the fine art of gathering the Crescent Moon Yin Flower. The only positive thing I gained from this torture session was 3 levels in [Herb Gathering], which is the minimum requirement for gathering the Crescent Moon Yin Flower.

    She literally kept me in her shop the whole time too¡­ Gave me food, a place to sleep. All so every other waking moment of the past three days at her store, I could be devoted to raising my [Herb Gathering] level.

    However, now the torture sessions have finally ended.

    Every village hunter who is going on this exhibition has been gathering at a small clearing outside of the village since early noon. I, however, was dragged out at the crack of dawn by Mrs. Hemsworth and have been waiting here ever since. While, of course, being lectured for one final time as well.

    ¡°Now Ian, we have been spending the pass three days learning how to pick this flower and any other herb you may encounter on your journey. And I want you to know that for every correctly picked herb you bring back with you I¡¯ll pay you back double what I would usually pay you. Since I am, after all, taking you away from your other responsibilities.¡±

    Mrs. Hemsworth continues on with her lecture for a bit, but I tune her out. I¡¯m so nervous and excited about this exhibition. It¡¯s almost like I am going on an adventure, like real adventurers do. Sadly my feeling of adventure is squished when the captain of the village hunters starts to talk to the crowd of hunters.

    ¡°Hello everyone, I¡¯m glad that all of you have decided to humor Mrs. Hemsworth with what she believes is a very precious plant. If she is right about this, it could bring extra income to our small village. If not, then all the game and other materials we manage to gather along the way better make up for it.¡±

    After giving his opening statement, George Markson, surveys the crowd around him. Apparently he was searching for a specific individual, because his next words begin as soon as he lays eyes on me. ¡°And here with us today is the boy, Ian Blackstone, apparently he¡¯s gonna be picking the plant. So let¡¯s make sure the boy makes it through the end of the day, alright!¡±

    With that remark, all the hunters that have been gathered turned their heads towards me. Looking like they are memorizing my very existence before turning away with last minute preparations. As if I will no longer exist to them outside this exhibition.

    Finished gathering all their gear, George gives a small pack to me and Mrs. Hemsworth gives me her special herb gathering pouch. The reason why the pouch is special is because it contains a small space magic formation inside of it that lets the user carry around 10kg. Mrs. Hemsworth never lets this pouch out of her sight. So the fact that she has given me this pouch means how much the Crescent Moon Yin Flower is worth.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    With both adults making sure I have everything I need to go into the Crescent Moon Forest, everyone else starts to move out. All while the Captain has kept a close eye on me as he moves along with his men, probably thinking I¡¯m going to try to sneak back into the village or something.

    Seriously, I was literally in torture hell raising my herb gathering level. No way am I going to sneak away! Plus with the money Mrs. Hemsworth is promising me for the Crescent Moon Yin Flower, I wouldn¡¯t miss this for the world.

    Finally leaving the image of the village behind us, we trek through the plains between the Crescent Moon Forest and the village.

    By the time night descends, we have made it to the border of the forest. The Captain signals for everyone to start setting up camp. Apparently entering the forest while its dark out isn¡¯t a smart idea.

    As I watch the Captain setting up a tent like the rest of the hunters, he notices me in the distance watching everyone else. ¡°IAN!¡± He yells over the noise of the camp. Some of the hunters turn their heads away from what they are doing to see why the Captain was shouting but upon realizing it wasn¡¯t important they continue with their tasks.

    Running towards the Captain, I notice him pointing to a small area beside his tent. ¡°This is where you will set up your tent.¡± And tosses a small bundle onto said spot. I was never taught how to set up a tent, so this is gonna be fun.

    Several minutes and a frustrated captain later, my tent for the night was set up. Some of the hunters watched out of the corner of their eyes and tried not to laugh for fear that the captain would pass the duty onto them. I¡¯m apparently not the camping type¡­

    After eating some warm soup made by the hunting teams ¡®chef¡¯ and I use that word lightly, it¡¯s time for me to spend my first night outside of the village.

    The next morning, the Captain signaled for us to break up camp and get ready to enter the forest. The process of breaking up camp, was slower than usual due to my presence. Like setting up a tent for the first time, breaking down one took me a lot of time too. So much time, in fact, that the Captain decided to assign a hunter to mentor me in camp set up. Apparently the Captain decided that he didn¡¯t have enough patience or time to mentor me in the ways of camping. He probably doesn¡¯t want to go through the frustrating process like last night.

    The forest we are entering is called the Crescent Moon Forest, and it¡¯s known for two things; the only place where the Crescent Moon Yin Flower grows and the magical enhancement called Moonlight Boost. The last one is only for the magical creatures that roam the forest. The moonlight from the Silver Moon Goddess turns into raw mana and is absorbed by the magical creatures and they gain a boost is their strongest stat trait. But this only occurs during the nighttime when the moon is visible in all of its phases.

    Entering the forest, the mood of the hunters changed completely from when we were traveling on the first day. There was no funny banter, no unnecessary sounds were made like before. The hunter crept through the forest ready for anything.

    Then there¡¯s me. I¡¯m literally the loudest thing walking in this forest. So loud in fact that I manage to scare a red-orange horned rabbit. It scared me too! I fell on my behind and could see all the smiles from the surrounding hunters that witnessed it. The red-orange horned rabbit was the first living magical creature I¡¯ve seen.

    Earlier in the day, the hunter that the Captain assigned me said that these horned rabbits were graded based on how many colors that they have on them. The highest seen horned rabbit is a rainbow horned rabbit. It has seven colours, just like a rainbow and apparently it is almost equal in strength to an adolescent dragon. Which is pretty scary considering it¡¯s a rabbit.

    Luckily this one is only a second grade horned rabbit. Apparently I could take it on equally, but if it was a third grade horned rabbit than I¡¯m dead.

    After my little embarrassment, we continued through the forest. It¡¯ll take another two days to reach the location of the Crescent Moon Flower but hopefully nothing too exciting will happen in the meantime.

 Chapter 11: Black Clouds and Smokey Battles

    <u>**POV: Dark Red**</u>

    ACCHHOOO!!!

    I really need to get out of this meadow. It¡¯s a nice meadow and all, reminds me of the one I use to run around and play in with my siblings. But there¡¯s these stupid white cotton ball flower things that keep making me sneeze! And worst of all, every time I sneeze black flames follow¡­

    I know I know, I should totally leave the meadow but I¡¯ve made friends with so many of the butterflies in the meadow it¡¯s hard to leave! Friends are hard to come by these days!! Like, I¡¯m lucky that there¡¯s so many butterflies in this meadow.

    Every time those black flames show up I lose my current bestie! There was this gold and blue butterfly I was following around, I named him Dave, he would show me all the cool spots in his meadow. Sadly they contained the stupid white cotton ball flower. And well you can guess what happened next, good bye Dave you will be missed!

    After the passing of Timothy, I decided to leave the meadow. Using this blinking ability I learned when I was hanging out with Octo, I cross through another meadow and then enter a forest.

    Sadly this forest doesn¡¯t look anything like my home forest. That one was all vibrant greens and small tones of blues. This forest is dull in comparison, which means that I must blink on!!

    Once in a while dark shadow like things jump out at me during the brief periods where I pause for a couple of minutes to catch my breath. It¡¯s weird like how do these things know where I am! Even Octo could not find me! So how can they!!

    Picturing a forest for my next blink, I once again move further into the forest.

    Only to be tackled by this gray lizard upon my ¡®landing¡¯. It goes for my neck as I claw at its face. I should totally blink out of here, but I¡¯m out of breath!! So I do the next logical thing!

    Waahhh!!!! Waahhh!! No sane creature would attack a crying little fox right?

    Wrong¡­ I was very very wrong!!

    When I started to cry the gray lizard starts to make these weird clicking sounds of joy.

    An odd dance of rolling around starts as I try and make sure the gray lizard doesn¡¯t bite my neck, while hopefully scratching him in the face with my claws.

    Eventually we roll into a clearing and on the far side I see a patch of plants that look oddly like the ones in the Sam¡¯s meadow from a while back. Thinking up an awesome plan, I try to roll in that direction.

    As we draw closer to the plants, the gray lizard stops making those weird clicking sounds. It probably realized I was fake crying earlier and has renewed its fighting spirit in anger. Finally we make it to the patch of green and blue cotton ball flowers.

    Are rolling manages to shake loose some of the cotton balls and next thing you know my awesome plan is put into action!

    ACCHHOO!!!

    I sneeze like there is no tomorrow and am greeted by the butterfly killing black flames. They managed to catch the gray lizard right in the face and it rolls away from me in agony.

    Ha! My awesome plan worked!!!The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    I knew that with my awesome sneezing power those black flames would appear!

    Waiting in the patch of green and blue cotton ball flowers, the gray lizard slowly get back to its feet and charges straight at me. But don¡¯t worry your little fluffy tail about me! Because as soon as I see that, I start spinning in a circle letting all the surround cotton balls around me fly free. And then the trusty black flames appear once again, as soon as I sneeze.

    This time I think the lizard finally took one too many flames to the face, because it rolls away again. However, this time it doesn¡¯t roll around in agony afterwards. Instead it lies very still.

    Did it suddenly decide to take a nap? That can¡¯t be right?

    I mean it was just literally trying to kill me, no way it coul-

    Wait, kill me¡­.

    Oh no! Don¡¯t tell me I kill it instead!!

    No no no!!! Gray Lizard dude please don¡¯t be dead!!!

    Creeping toward the ¡®sleeping¡¯ gray lizard, I pick up a nearby stick and use it to poke the gray lizard.

    *poke*

    See he¡¯s asleep.

    *poke* *poke* *poke*

    He¡¯s totally a sound sleeper, that¡¯s all.

    *strong poke*

    Nope, he¡¯s totally dead¡­

    Laying down in from of me is the corpse of the gray lizard. Looking at the lizard, I try to think of what I should do next.

    *growl*

    From my sitting position, the most embarrassing sound was just made from my stomach. Now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t had anything to eat since the whole forest fire incident.

    Hmm¡­

    I shouldn¡¯t should I.

    Well it¡¯s not like it¡¯s using it any more. Time to eat!!

    <u>**POV: Cres**</u>

    <u> </u>

    Ross and I are swiftly moving through some random forest as fast as our wind element will take us. The other day we told our Elders about what we had witness with the Hidden Danger of the Mountain getting freed and all.

    He then told us that we need to inform the head pack about this calamity. So once again my brother and I are headed out of our forest and towards the forest where the head pack of the Star Silver Wolves is located.

    Suddenly, while passing through the forest, a small black shadow pops out of nowhere and disappears in the same matter only seconds later.

    Pausing to make sure the coast is clear, we continue forward at a much slower pace. Only to see the same small black shadow reappear mere meters away and disappear again. This time I signal to my brother that we should hold for a bit to see if this shadow is attacking us or something.

    As we hid in the bushes nearby, I notice that the black shadow has once again reappeared. Only in the exact same spot that I saw it reappear the first time. Odd¡­ Why would it do that?

    Continuing to watch the black shadow reappear and disappear again and again. I come to the realization that whatever creature that this is, it¡¯s incredibly dumb. Because, it is literally moving in a circle. A medium sized circle but that¡¯s not the point!

    Finally the black shadow stops to take a break or something.

    Turns out that the black shadow is that chrome black fox from the other day, guess I can add dumb to its title now. Seriously, how can it not realize that it¡¯s moving in circles. Well than again maybe it does¡­ Who knows?

    As I watch the fox, my brother silently nudges me and motions with his jaw to a large tree that¡¯s in the centre area of the circling fox. Slowly creeping down from the top of the tree is a smoke lizard. Its eyes watching the circling fox, until it finally pounces in the next landing spot.

    Missing the circling fox, the smoke lizard tries again. And again and again. Wow this smoke lizard is very determined.

    Eventually the smoke lizard manages to tackle the chrome black fox and they begin the worst fight for their lives I¡¯ve ever seen.

    Apparently the only thing this smoke lizard knows how to do is trying to bite the fox¡¯s neck, and the fox¡­again it¡¯s literally the dumbest creature I¡¯ve ever seen. It looks like it¡¯s trying to claw at the smoke lizard¡¯s face, but its claws are retracted.

    Seriously, like why isn¡¯t it poofing away or blowing black flames into the smoke lizard¡¯s face.

    *Waahh* *Waahh**

    Is it crying? That¡¯s only going to make the dumb lizard happier, and you¡¯re not even hurt! Why am I watching this again?

    *click* *clickclickclick*

    Great now it¡¯s weirdly clicking in joy.

    Turning towards my brother, signalling that we should leave before we become stupid like them. He signals me back in reply, stating that he wants to see how the ¡®battle¡¯ ends.

    Getting back into position I resume watching the ¡®battle¡¯.

    The fox has finally stopped crying and the lizard looks angry. It probably realized that the fox was fake crying or something.

    During the ¡®battle¡¯, the lizard and the fox roll into a nearby clearing. And there¡¯s a slight pause in the ¡®battle¡¯, where it looks like the fox has an idea¡­ hopefully?

    The fox then starts to move the rolling routine of theirs towards a patch of Forest Cottons. These plants cause some magical creatures to sneeze, so most magical creature avoid them while moving through the forest.

    However, the fox manages to get the ¡®battle¡¯ to roll into them. Finally the smoke lizard realizes that it¡¯s going to probably start sneezing now that they¡¯ve shaken loose some of the cotton ball spores.

    *ACCHHOO*

    Following the sneeze, the fox manages to finally shoot its black flames in the face of the smoke lizard. Making it roll away in agony. Once it got over the pain of being burnt, instead of running away it charges towards the chrome black fox. Which is currently spinning in a circle¡­

    Is this fox dumb or smart? I really cannot tell.

    Black flames consume the face of the smoke lizard again as it enters the patch of forest cottons. Sadly that¡¯s the last decision it¡¯ll ever make. The smoke lizard is pushed out of the patch of forest cottons for a final time and drops dead onto the forest floor.

    When it doesn¡¯t get back up the fox starts to panic.

    Why is it panicking? It won, somehow¡­

    Then it does something totally unexpected, it starts to poke the corpse of the smoke lizard with a stick. First it¡¯s a single poke, followed by three quick pokes and finally a ¡®strong-ish¡¯ poke. With a face that finally looks like it knows the smoke lizard is dead.

    *growl*

    Now I can hear the sound of its stomach and its face is blushing for some odd reason. A second later the fox decides to eat the smoke lizard. Which is only natural.

    Signalling to my brother once again that we should continue on our journey we leave the chrome black fox behind. And hopefully for the last time.